Australia news live: sexual misconduct complaints almost double at University of Sydney; NSW to crack down on illegal tobacco shops | Australia news

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Nearly 40 flood rescues among the 2,500 incidents tackled by NSW SES

NSW’s State Emergency Service has responded to more than 2,500 incidents, including nearly 40 flood rescues, as severe weather batters the state.

The SES said 143 of those emergency incidents had occurred in the 24 hours to 9am Wednesday. It also recorded more than 4,800 calls for help since heavy rain began threatening communities in the state’s north on Monday.

The SES warned of further flooding this afternoon in Narrabri and Wee Waa, in the state’s New England region, sending support to the region and warning residents to evacuate or prepare to leave.

Nearly 50 warnings remain in force across the Mid North Coast, Upper Hunter and New England regions. The SES expects flooding to endure in Gunnedah despite rain easing, while floodwaters are continuing to fall in the Hunter.

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NSW Greens voting down Mark Latham censure ‘troubling’, independent MP targeted by him says

Staying with New South Wales politics:

The independent Sydney MP Alex Greenwich, has responded to the censure motions against Mark Latham failing. He said:

Given the seriousness of the issue raised, and the public outrage, it’s deeply troubling that the Greens voted to protect Mark Latham.

Labor’s leader in the upper house, Penny Sharpe, had pushed for a censure motion against Latham, a former One Nation and now independent MP. But the opposition, Greens and some of the minor party members voted against the move, arguing members should wait for the results of the privileges inquiry.

Alex Greenwich (left) leaving federal court in 2024 after bringing a defamation lawsuit against Mark Latham. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAP

Sharpe had detailed Latham’s use of parliamentary privilege, which protects MPs from defamation proceedings, to share the medical records of Greenwich. The records had been part of a workplace sexual harassment and vilification claim that Greenwich won against Latham.

More on this story here:

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Updated at 22.47 EDT

NSW moves to hike illegal tobacco fines and prison sentences

Sellers of illegal tobacco will face large fines of up to $1.5m and seven years imprisonment under new laws before the NSW parliament today, the state’s health minister, Ryan Park, has announced.

The government also will introduce short term 30-day closure orders which can be followed up with longer 1-year closures issued by courts, as well as powers to remove licences to sell tobacco legally from those caught also selling illegal tobacco.

“What we are determined to do is stem the spread of these illegal tobacco shops across NSW and across Sydney,” Park said.

The premier, Chris Minns, said NSW had been prompted to act after Queensland introduced tough new laws. He said:

I don’t want to be in a position where that illegal trade migrates across the Queensland-NSW border into our state.

Park said:

We don’t pretend we can stop this trade immediately. But it is another step to reduce the availability of this product across NSW.

The government is also increasing the number of enforcement officers within the health department who will work with NSW police.

Minns said NSW would continue to advocate for the federal government a cut to the excise on legal tobacco, despite the federal health minister, Mark Butler, rejecting this approach.

Minns said it was “a commonsense approach” to cut excise on tobacco to bring down the cost of legal tobacco.

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Updated at 22.33 EDT

University of Sydney responds to increase in sexual misconduct complaints

In an email to the university community on Wednesday, the vice chancellor, Prof Mark Scott, said the report underscored the university’s commitment to “transparency, accountability and care” in addressing sexual misconduct.

Scott said:

We acknowledge the strength and courage of all victim-survivors … Sexual misconduct is unacceptable in any form, and we recognise our unique responsibility to help drive meaningful change in our community.

While we have made progress in fostering a safer and more respectful environment for our community, we continue working to listen, build trust, and reduce barriers for those who bravely report sexual misconduct.

Scott noted there was a 7% increase in the ratio of complaints to disclosures, which may reflect a “greater awareness of and confidence in our complaints handling processes and a higher number of bystander complaints”.

The quadrangle at the University of Sydney. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP

There were 176 disclosures to the university, which are reported by people who don’t want investigations or specific actions to be taken but may be seeking support.

All disclosures and complaints are reflected in the university’s report regardless of where the incident occurred or who it involved.

This year’s report comes as a National Student Ombudsman has been operating on campuses as part of the federal government action plan to address gender-based violence in higher education.

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Updated at 22.13 EDT

Sexual misconduct complaints nearly double at University of Sydney

Sexual misconduct complaints have almost doubled at the University of Sydney in the past year, new data shows, with the vice chancellor attributing the rise to greater awareness in its processes.

The university’s third annual report on sexual misconduct, released on Wednesday, found there had been 55 sexual misconduct complaints in 2024, including 38 that were victim-survivor led, 10 lodged by bystanders and seven initiated by the university due to concerns over student or staff safety.

All were confirmed to be incidents of university-related sexual misconduct, up from 29 in 2023 and 22 in 2022. Eight of last year’s complaints were categorised as sexual assault and 47 were categorised as sexual harassment.

Since 2023, one person has been expelled from the university over sexual misconduct and two have been suspended, the report found.

Universities are not required to publicly release sexual misconduct data, but it is becoming more common as the sector addresses backlash over poor complaints mechanisms. Of Australia’s 39 public universities, almost a dozen – including the University of Melbourne, ANU, UNSW and Monash – have begun formally disclosing annual reports.

The latest National Student Safety Survey, released in 2021, found one in 20 students had been sexually assaulted since starting university and one in six had reported being sexually harassed. Universities Australia, the peak body for the sector, was due to hold another national survey in 2024 after criticism over its response to student safety but it was yet to be released.

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Updated at 22.33 EDT

Rockliff says he expects to govern for a full term

Jeremy Rockliff, newly reappointed as Tasmanian premier, said he believes the Liberal party will govern the state for the next four years despite its minority in parliament.

Rockliff has been speaking to reporters in Hobart. He said:

I believe that through sensible communication, everyone working together, pragmatism, working together on policies, working together in the best interests of Tasmanians. This is a government and a parliament that will last the full term.

Asked if he would serve as premier for the full four-year term, Rockliff said: “Yes”.

The premier said the Liberal party had no position on who should serve as speaker in the new parliament:

The next speaker is determined by the parliament. … I would welcome nominations from our party room, and would support someone being progressed forward from our team, of course. But that’s up to our party room.

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Updated at 21.59 EDT

Rockliff thanks governor after being reappointed, says he’s ready to ‘get on with the job’

Jeremy Rockliff is speaking at a press conference for Nyrstar, which received a bailout from the federal government and state governments of South Australia and Tasmania yesterday. Rockliff said he wants to build on the progress made before the state’s snap election, saying:

What we want to do, by evidenced of today, is get on with the job. …

We all need to take learnings from the previous parliament. And certainly, I have. And we want to build on the progress that was made in terms of how parliament works for the betterment of all members of parliament and, of course, that means the betterment of all Tasmanians. And move forward.

Rockliff was asked if he would survive as leader in his first day of parliament, but said Tasmanians wouldn’t stand for any more “political games”:

Tasmanians are sick of the political games, and, frankly, they are turned off by the hostility. And so, what is important is that we are all mature in our approach.

ShareRockliff reappointed as Tasmania’s premier

The Tasmanian premier, Jeremy Rockliff, has been reappointed until at least 19 August after his meeting with the state’s governor, Barbara Baker.

Baker said in a statement:

In a hung parliament, where no one clearly holds the confidence of the majority of the House of Assembly, the incumbent has the right to remain in office in order to test the numbers in the House of Assembly and for Parliament to have the final say in who should be Premier.

I consider the convention of incumbency applies in the current circumstances. I shall reappoint the Premier.

Rockliff and his cabinet will be sworn in early next week, with the next session of parliament to begin on 19 August.

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Updated at 21.32 EDT

Jeremy Rockliff formally asks for Liberals to form government despite no crossbench deal

Tasmania’s premier has visited the governor in a bid to secure power and end weeks of political limbo after the state election, AAP reports.

Jeremy Rockliff arrived at a meeting with the governor, Barbara Baker, on Wednesday morning to formally ask for his government to be recommissioned, following a snap election that did not deliver either main party a majority.

Jeremy Rockliff. Photograph: Chris Kidd/AAP

Rockliff has not secured supply and confidence agreements with key crossbenchers, who are needed if a party hopes to govern in minority. However, he had previously indicated he thought it was “not necessary” in this instance.

The Labor leader, Dean Winter, is still vying for his party to form government, after revealing he had stepped up negotiations with crossbenchers – in particular independents – in recent days. Winter has so far ruled out a deal with the Greens, despite Labor needing the minor party’s support as well as that of the crossbench to form a majority.

Winter said Rockliff had the first shot at asking the governor to recommission him but it was not the only opportunity to form a government.

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Updated at 21.29 EDT

Narrabri residents told to evacuate amid flooding on Peel and Namoi rivers

The NSW SES just issued new flood evacuations and warnings for the New England region as flood waters from a weekend of heavy rain head downstream.

Large parts of the town of Narrabri are being urged to evacuate by 2pm, with other areas under watch and act guidance. The warnings come as parts of Gunnedah are still under evacuation as authorities caution other areas could face similar threats as flood waters move down the Peel River and Namoi River.

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Updated at 21.03 EDT

Digital incoming passenger card trial expands to NZ-Sydney flights

Qantas travellers from New Zealand into Sydney airport will be the latest to trial new digital incoming passenger cards, ditching the infamous double-sided paper forms everyone is required to fill out before entering the country. Passengers on two inbound Qantas flights, QF144 from Auckland and QF122 from Queenstown, will now be able to complete the digital form in the airline’s app prior to travelling.

If travellers complete that declaration, they’ll be given a digital pass with a QR code meant to streamline their security clearance. Tony Burke, the minister for home affairs, said in a statement:

When people arrive in Sydney, I want them out of the airport and experiencing the city as fast as possible. Extending the trial to Australia’s busiest airport means every day, hundreds more passengers will have a more seamless travel experience.

More than 70,000 people have trialled the digital cards since the project was launched in Brisbane in October.

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Updated at 21.02 EDT

Peter Garrett says Australia can play ‘good, productive role’ in nuclear disarmament

Peter Garrett, Midnight Oil frontman and former federal environment minister, was asked earlier today about a new poll that found a majority of Australians support ratifying a treaty banning nuclear weapons. Garrett told RN Breakfast Australia had an important role to play in nuclear disarmament:

That’s a lot of Australians who are ready for this nuclear weapons treaty, an important treaty, to be signed. And a lot of those people would have voted for the government, and a lot of them would be Labor party members as well …

We’ve got to reduce the possibility for them to be used, and we’ve got to start working towards disarmament …

Essentially, what’s happened is that those powers that hold nuclear weapons, that believe that it does increase their security, [they] have held the world to ransom ever since that period of time … It’s not a good place for the world to be in. And Australia can play a really good, productive role here.

Peter Garrett. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAPShare

Updated at 20.38 EDT

Unicef says eSafety transparency report shows ‘patchwork effort’ to tackle child exploitation

Unicef Australia said laws need to be strengthened, including legislating a new duty of care on tech platforms, following the eSafety commissioner’s transparency report, as reported earlier in the blog.

Unicef Australia said in a statement:

The report shows a patchwork of efforts from tech companies to tackle child exploitation, but what we need is consistency. From our work around the world, UNICEF knows that consistency is paramount, particularly across platforms and across countries, because people who intend to harm children will exploit inconsistency wherever they find it.

Every sector has a role to play in tackling this terrible problem, including governments, law enforcement and tech platforms. Our laws need to be strengthened, and top of the list is legislating a new duty of care on tech platforms to ensure the safety of users, particularly children.

Photograph: Elly Godfroy/Stockimo/AlamyShareCol Joye, rock’n’roll trailblazer, dies at 89

Col Joye, the first Australian rock’n’roll musician to land a No 1 on the national music charts, has died aged 89.

The singer, born Colin Jacobsen in 1937, died on Tuesday night, his brother and former bandmate Kevin Jacobsen confirmed to Guardian Australia.

Joye started out as a member of the KJ Quintet, which was fronted by his brother Kevin and included their brother Keith, in Sydney in 1957. The band “impulsively” changed their name to Col Joye and the Joy Boys – a decision they later regretted – but their single Bye Bye Baby hit No 1 on the Sydney music charts in 1959 and No 3 nationally.

Their third single, Oh Yeah Uh Huh, released in October 1959, was the first rock song recorded and produced in Australia to become a national No 1 pop hit; unusually, the song’s beat was provided by the sound of a typewriter.

Both Kevin and Colin went into entertainment management, with Colin signing the Bee Gees to Joye Music after seeing them perform in Surfers Paradise in 1961. The Gibb brothers performed backing vocals on Joye’s 1963 hit Starlight of Love.

Joye was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 1981 and inducted into the Aria Hall of Fame in 1988.

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Updated at 20.05 EDT

Victoria records 82% spike in e-bike collisions

There’s been a 82% rise in collisions involving e-bikes in Victoria, prompting a crackdown over lingering “confusion” about how powerful the bikes can be, AAP reports.

There were 144 collisions involving e-bikes on Victorian roads in 2024, compared to 79 the previous year. It’s on track to be even higher in 2025, with early police data revealing 113 e-bike collisions were recorded in the first seven months of the year.

Road policing assistant commissioner Glenn Weir said 90% of the time e-bike crashes involved bikes that were overpowered, non-compliant with safety regulations or riders who had flouted road rules.

He pointed to community “confusion” over e-bikes, but stressed the onus was on riders to make sure their bikes don’t exceed power or speed rules, on top of complying with laws that affect all cyclists, like wearing a helmet.

Victoria police launched a fresh crackdown on Wednesday, targeting riders on overpowered or illegal e-bikes in Melbourne’s CBD.

Police said most e-bike crashes involved bikes that were overpowered or non-compliant with safety regulations. Photograph: Jessica Hromas/The GuardianShare

Updated at 20.02 EDT