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Unassuming extortion report in Sydney sparks downfall of global organised crime network
In December last year, police received a panicked report from a person in fear of their life after being stood over by bikies.
On the surface the information was not all that unusual. Bikies often used muscle and fear to extort money from others.
But further digging revealed this victim was the way in to crushing a transnational, multimillion-dollar organised crime ring.
In a series of 27 simultaneous raids on Wednesday morning, more than 250 police officers banged down the doors of bikie associates, Asian crime figures and seemingly-upstanding businessmen as the investigation into large-scale ice supply came to a peak. Read more.
Play School is moving to a new time, and parents are not happy
ABC KIDS has announced it will move Play School to an earlier timeslot and parents have thrown themselves on the floor, flailing their arms around in protest.
The national broadcaster announced on its Facebook page that it was making scheduling changes to its kids' television viewing times.
So upset are parents that, if they had their way, they'd put the television station on the naughty chair in time out. Read more.
School's controversial Stolen Generations lesson draws parents' ire
Kynan Wykes, 10, and his year 4 class thought they were starting a normal school day when a nun walked into the classroom at 9.30am on Tuesday, holding a letter that she said came from the Prime Minister's office.
Their parents weren't looking after them well enough and they would be taken away, she told students at St Justin's Catholic primary school in Oran Park.
They didn't believe it at first and some of the students went to the teacher to ask if it was true. She said it was real, and several started crying. Read more.
Outgoing passenger cards no longer needed
Come July 1, one of the small rituals inflicted on travellers departing our shores will no longer apply. From Saturday onward, air passengers will not be required to complete the green Outgoing Passenger Card (OPC).
This is every bit as monumental as the demise of the chaps in baggy khaki shorts who used to board every aircraft arriving from overseas and march down the aisles squirting aerosol insecticide. Read more.
Modelling forecasts surge in traffic for congested Sydney CBD bypass
The state roads agency's own modelling shows traffic on a heavily congested corridor south of Sydney's CBD will surge by at least 50 per cent within the next four years due in part to vehicles funnelled from the WestConnex motorway.
Acknowledging that WestConnex will partly cause the major increase, Roads and Maritime Services is also forecasting travel times along a 3.2-kilometre corridor stretching from Alexandria to Moore Park to blow out.
The roads agency is using the traffic forecasts as justification for a major road widening. The widening will include extra lanes, bigger intersections, 24-hour clearways, at the cost of car parking, trees, and properties – potentially including a large pub. Read more.
Police car involved in Picton Road smash
A police car has been involved in a crash on Picton Road at Wilton which left two people injured on Wednesday morning.
The highway patrol car collided with a white Toyota Corolla hatch at the intersection of the Hume Highway and Picton Road about 9am. Read more.
Calls for new laws after pedestrian near miss at Woolooware
Pedestrians are being reminder to be aware of their surroundings after a near miss at Woolooware earlier this month.
Vision captured on a dashcam show the moment a woman walks across an intersection on the Kingsway near Swan street. Read more.
Surgical services at Springwood Hospital are under threat by bureaucratic changes being considered by the local health service.
Fairfax Media understands a new surgical requirement for x-ray and pathology services to be provided at the hospital would put gynaecology, urology, and ear, nose and throat procedures at risk.
Local medical staff fear the proposal is a deliberate obstacle aimed at downgrading surgical services at the hospital. Read more.
Royal National Park boundary could be ‘tweaked’ for F6
The western boundary of Royal National Park, along the train line, could be “tweaked” to accommodate the F6 extension, says Cronulla MP and Attorney-General Mark Speakman
His comments came as two public meetings over the controversial project were being organised for Sunday, July 2. Read more.
Windsor Courthouse to receive new Audio Visual Link technology
Windsor Courthouse has received state government funding to have an Audio Visual Link installed in the courthouse.
AVLs are used to hear bail applications from prison, testimony from remote witnesses and evidence from vulnerable victims.
They also reduce the need for prisoners to be taken from holding facilities to courthouses for what are often very brief appearances. The state government has allocated $160,000 to install the technology in the Windsor Courthouse. Read more.
FIFA report on World Cup scandal highly critical of Australia 2022 bid
A report has revealed explosive new evidence that undermines longstanding assurances by Australia's peak soccer body and its former chiefs, billionaire Frank Lowy and North Melbourne football chairman Ben Buckley, that the nation's bid to host the World Cup wasn't tainted by corruption.
The 2014 report by FIFA ethics chief investigator Michael Garcia, which was leaked overnight to a German newspaper, details "strong evidence that FFA [Football Federation Australia] made improper payments intended to influence the vote of an executive committee member" on the FIFA panel deciding who should host the World Cup. Read more.
Cricket Australia to offer unpaid contracts to five players in pay dispute
Five of the country's elite cricketers will be offered the chance to join an Australia A tour of South Africa next month on unpaid contracts in an extraordinary move by Cricket Australia to save the trip.
On another day of drama in cricket's bitter fight over a new memorandum of understanding, Fairfax Media can also reveal the cricketers will not be locked out even if a new pay deal is not struck by Friday's deadline for a new memorandum of understanding. Read more.
Jayden Brailey breaks jaw in two places
They began the NRL season with four hooking prospects, but Cronulla will now enter Saturday's clash against the Sydney Roosters without a recognised rake.
The Sharks are officially in a hooking crisis after confirmation rookie Jayden Brailey will undergo surgery to repair a jaw broken in two places during Sunday's loss to Manly. Read more.
Indian suitors ready to strike as Australian cricket pay dispute careers towards deadline
Australia's cricketers will convene at a Sydney hotel on Sunday in one of the most extraordinary assemblies of players in years as Cricket Australia faces the prospect of watching their stars' image rights being sold offshore next month.
With talks having broken down, only the most optimistic of observers believe there is any chance a new pay deal, or even an agreement in principle, will be struck between CA and the Australian Cricketers' Association by Friday's deadline and suitors in India and England are ready to pounce on the looming lockout.
The likes of David Warner, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc and Glenn Maxwell are huge names on the subcontinent and with CA no longer controlling their intellectual property rights after their contracts expire this week and they are effectively rendered unemployed, the game's escalating industrial crisis could be seized upon by opportunistic foreign entities. Read more.
