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A man has died and another is fighting for his life in hospital after a mine collapse in Victoria’s Goldfields region.
Thirty people were working about 3km from the entrance of the Ballarat Gold Mine at Mount Clear when the incident occurred about 4.50pm on Wednesday.
WorkSafe confirmed it would be undertaking a “complex, detailed investigation”, but according to the Australian Workers Union Victorian branch secretary, Ronnie Hayden, the man’s death “should have been avoided”.
Hayden told reporters the workers were performing a manual type of mining called “air-legging” on “unsupported ground at the time of the accident.
The method involves the use of a handheld drill operated by two miners. He claimed the ground gave way, trapping both miners and killing one.
“This form of air-legging shouldn’t be used to do this type of work. This form of air-legging should be used, if it’s ever used at all, to investigate the ground,” he said.
Top news
Australia went to war in Iraq based on ‘oral reports’ to cabinet | Australia joined the US-led invasion of Iraq, one of the most contentious decisions of John Howard’s prime ministership, without a formal cabinet submission setting out a full analysis of the risks. Cabinet papers published by the National Archives on Monday show the full cabinet signed off on the decision on 18 March 2003 based on “oral reports by the prime minister”.
Australia has no plans to ban TikTok, says PM | TikTok’s future is in peril as the US threatens to implement a nationwide ban, but Australia has “no plans” to follow its ally’s footsteps, despite national security concerns. The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said on Thursday the Australian government was not expected to emulate the US, where the House of Representatives passed a bill that would give ByteDance six months to divest from the app and sell to a company that is not based in China.
Man, believed to be in India, sought over body found in bin | Police have confirmed they still wish to speak to the husband of a Melbourne woman who was killed and her body dumped in a wheelie bin. The body of 35-year-old Point Cook woman Chaithanya “Swetha” Madhagani was discovered in Buckley, south-west of Geelong, at about noon on Saturday.
Josh Cavallo announces engagement | The Australian footballer who in 2021 became the only known openly gay top-flight player in the world at the time has got engaged to his partner, Leighton Morrell, after proposing on the pitch of Adelaide United’s home ground.
Woman found guilty of manslaughter over fatal botched breast augmentation | A woman faces a potential jail sentence after being found guilty of the manslaughter of a woman who died after undergoing a botched breast augmentation procedure in Sydney. Jie Shao’s trial – which began in February – heard evidence about what she did and did not do before and after Jean Huang lost consciousness at the Medi Beauty Clinic that Huang operated in Chippendale in inner-city Sydney.
Australians warned not to expect a ‘big cash splash’ | The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has cautioned Australians to have realistic expectations when it comes to this year’s federal budget. Chalmers said there would probably be “additional cost-of-living help in the budget but it won’t be anywhere near the magnitude of the tax cuts”.
Polio survivor who lived for decades with an iron lung dies | Paul Alexander, who lived much of his life in an iron lung after contracting polio at the age of six, has died at the age of 78. The Texas resident was paralysed from the neck down by the disease and went on to become an inspirational figure, graduating from law school, writing a memoir and painting using a brush that he held in his mouth.
US rancher used tissue and testicles to breed ‘giant’ sheep | A Montana rancher illegally used tissue and testicles from wild sheep killed by hunters in central Asia and the US to breed “giant” hybrid sheep for sale to private hunting preserves in Texas. Arthur “Jack” Schubarth, 80, of Vaughn, Montana, pleaded guilty to felony charges of wildlife trafficking and conspiracy to traffic wildlife.
‘Restless, angry’ voters vulnerable to far-right extremism | British voters are restless, angry and demoralised and more than half of them are pessimistic about the future, according to polling that a counter-extremism organisation has said shows warning signs of future unrest. The findings are contained in the latest annual report on extremism in Britain released by Hope Not Hate.
In pictures …
Gaza needs aid – and time is running out, Fiona Katauskas urges in her cartoon.
What they said …
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“It’s clear that without any meaningful criminal justice reform this trend will continue to climb, with little benefit to community safety.” – Mia Schlicht, research analyst at the Institute of Public Affairs
New data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows the number of incarcerated Australians has risen over the past 12 months. The number of people in prison has increased from 41,029 to 42,274 over the past year, with the incarceration rate now at 202.5 prisoners per 100,000 adults.
In numbers
That is not a typo – the top-of-the-line Hanzo track cycling bike from Factor bikes offers the latest in aerodynamic advancement. In a sport where every millisecond counts, here’s hoping the bikes are worth the price tag.
Before bed read
Dutton’s blast of radioactive rhetoric on nuclear power leaves facts in the dust
We may not yet be entering a nuclear age in Australia, but we would all be best advised to handle the rhetoric around the issue as carefully as we would radioactive waste, writes Graham Readfearn in the latest edition of Temperature Check.
Daily word game
Today’s starter word is: TORT. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
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