Australia news live: Sydney-bound passengers stranded on Pacific island after emergency landing now ‘drinking beers on a deserted beach’ | Australia news

Police investigate potential double murder after body of second woman found in Melbourne’s CBD

Flood waters are not for fun!

Just a reminder to everyone going to watch the Sydney fireworks in person – there are road closures all around the CBD. The best way to get to the harbour tonight is by public transport:

Plan on kissing a stranger tonight? Make sure you do it with a mask on. That’s the advice from our guy Prof Adrian Esterman.

Hello FNQ – you’ve got a severe thunderstorm waring in some areas. You can check it here:

Transgender woman sues female-only app Giggle for Girls for alleged discrimination

A woman barred from using the female-only platform Giggle for Girls because she is transgender has accused the social media site of discrimination.

In a federal court lawsuit filed on 22 December, Roxanne Tickle claims she was unlawfully barred from using Giggle in September 2021 after the firm and its CEO, Sally ‘Sall’ Grover, said she was a man.

The NSW activist is seeking damages, a written apology and complete access to the platform.

Attempts to contact Giggle or Grover in the months after she was barred were unsuccessful, she said in documents filed with the court.

In a complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission filed in December 2021, Tickle said:

I believe that I am being discriminated against by being provided with extremely limited functionality of a smart phone app by the app provider compared to that of other users because I am a transgender woman.

The app provider appears not to recognise transgender women as female. I am legally permitted to identify as female.

On 3 March 2022, Giggle’s lawyers at the Feminist Legal Clinic responded to the complaint, saying Tickle was “considered male” based on her appearance in the selfie and that this was why she had been removed.

[Ms Tickle’s] gender identity was not known to [Ms Grover] or other Giggle personnel at the time of removal and did not inform the decision to preclude [Ms Tickle] from the app.

– AAP

Victorian lifesavers urge beachgoers to take care after 21 people rescued on Friday

More than 230 people have been rescued off Victoria’s beaches since the start of the summer lifeguard patrol season, with more than half of those brought to shore since Christmas Day, AAP has reported.

The high number of rescues has prompted urgent warnings from Life Saving Victoria, after lifeguards and lifesavers rescued 21 beachgoers on Friday.

A father and his young son were pulled from waters at Venus Bay at South Gippsland, with the boy later flown to the Royal Children’s hospital for treatment.

The beach was shut down while lifeguards responded to incidents.

Within an hour, another three people at an unpatrolled beach a couple of kilometres away had to be rescued by paramedics along with lifeguards.

That incident was particularly concerning given the three were close to where lifeguards were patrolling, Life Saving Victoria’s state agency commander, Kane Treloar, said.

“Statistics show that you’re almost 68{95dd749b4a874bc27f565dcef4d2c503df0cc86c9838335621b407362d2ba4ee} more times more likely to drown on a public holiday,” he told reporters on Saturday.

“With the behaviour that we’ve seen from some people over the last couple of days, that leaves us concerned, so we’re urging everyone to make good decisions around the water.”

Since July this year, 22 people have drowned in Victoria. Four people have drowned since Christmas Day.

The fight to save Sydney’s struggling bowling clubs

When Sebastian Compton walked in the door of the Leichhardt Bowlo to discuss taking a job as secretary and manager of the struggling club, a team of bowlers in the middle of an event eyed him up and down.

“I had no idea who they were, but they knew who I was,” says Compton, who is affectionally known as Baz. “I remember one old bloke walked up and shook my hand, saying ‘I hope you’re up for a challenge’.”

The 33-year-old former publican was walking into a club in crisis. The bowlo’s two greens and sprawling clubhouse had seen better days. Worse, the club, in Sydney’s inner west, had squandered opportunities.

One of those was embracing diversity. Compton points to the neighbourhood’s working class Italian community whose game of choice, bocce, was a variant on bowls. “We never welcomed them and they never came,” Compton says.

“How much have we missed out on? Why are we now almost extinct when the answers were right there in front of us the whole time?”

For more on how bowling clubs are reinventing themselves, read the full report here:

Fireworks display in Darwin cancelled over weather safety risk

Those planning to head out to the fireworks in Darwin this evening will be disappointed after the show was cancelled due to safety risks form severe winds and rain.

The Darwin Waterfront Corporation, which was hosting the event featuring performances by Bananas in Pyjamas and Birds of Tokyo between two fireworks displays, was forced to cancel due to the monsoonal conditions.

In a statement released this morning, organisers said they were “disappointed”, but the risk was not worth going ahead.

Australian expedition to search for million-year-old ice in climate change investigation

Australian researchers have set off on their most ambitious polar expedition in two decades, aiming to drill down into million-year-old ice to learn about climate change.

A convoy of five specially designed tractor trains intends to traverse 1,200km to Little Dome C in Antarctica, where – if successful – they will set up a camp for scientists to start drilling as early as next summer.

The team of 10, which includes a field leader, glaciologist, doctor, engineers and mechanics, began their journey from Casey research station in East Antarctica on 23 December.

They are travelling at about 10km/h and are set to face temperatures potentially as low as minus 50C, changing ice conditions and challenging terrain.

The tractors are pulling sleds containing living quarters and equipment.

Scientists hope to ultimately drill down about 2.8km to retrieve core from ice that is more than one million years old.

Little Dome C, the site of the ice core, is 3,230 metres above sea level.

Researchers will analyse air bubbles trapped in the core to help inform what scientists understand about the climate system’s stability over the past one million years.

The mission should also help scientists make predictions about the future, and shed light on why the ice age cycle changed from a 41,000-year cycle to a 100,000-year cycle about one million years ago.

The environment and water minister, Tanya Plibersek, hailed the mission as “one of the most significant Antarctic science endeavours ever undertaken by Australia”, or indeed, any country:

The departure of the traverse team is a major milestone in the Million Year Ice Core Project.

The effort of this team and their summer expedition will provide the logistical support for Australia to drill and return the ice core for climate research.

If successful, it will be the oldest ice core ever obtained.

– AAP

Beers on the beach and a tour of the island: passengers on UA839 safe and well

Relatives of passengers on board the United Airlines flight 839 that has been diverted to Pago Pago in American Samoa have taken to social media.

One woman, who said her son and granddaughters were on the flight, was initially concerned for their safety and frustrated at the lack of clear information from United early on.

However, she said that after speaking to her son that they had been welcomed by locals who were taking care of them.

Another man said his daughter had been travelling with friends to spend New Year’s Eve in Sydney when the flight had been diverted.

He said that upon landing they were given the chance to shower in the hangar, had a tour of the island, had found some beers and were passing the time drinking on the beach.

However, the Twitter user reported that Pago Pago international airport was not equipped to handle a surprise visit from 325 people and there was no food.

Another user posted a photo of the runway at Pago Pago airport which has no lights.