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‘Flamin’ cockatoos’ have lost much of their habitat to bushfires. Can the species survive?

13 June 2026 at 21:00

Two fires in 12 years wiped out all but a handful of the mature native pines in Victoria’s Wyperfeld national park, a key breeding ground for endangered pink cockatoos

At the entrance to Wyperfeld national park, in north-west Victoria, more than a dozen pink cockatoos are sprinkled across a hedge row of pine trees like Christmas decorations. These are Aleppo pines, not the native conifers that the birds rely on for nesting habitat and as a primary source of food.

Still, the feathered ornaments appear quite content, nestled in among the spruce and ripping into pine cones with their dexterous claws and beaks, making gentle cracking sounds that punctuate the soft roar of Mallee winds.

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© Photograph: Ellen Smith/The Guardian

© Photograph: Ellen Smith/The Guardian

© Photograph: Ellen Smith/The Guardian

Protesters clash outside One Nation fundraiser while Labor says opposition parties will ‘give us chaos’

Pauline Hanson claimed fundraiser was moved from original location due to ‘too many bookings’, not because of expected protests

Protesters have clashed with Pauline Hanson supporters, with one man given a move on notice outside a Melbourne venue hosting a One Nation fundraiser on Friday.

Michael Nelson, who was convicted of offensive behavior and fined last week for disrupting a Melbourne Anzac Day dawn service, was restrained by officers outside the South Melbourne venue.

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© Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP

© Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP

© Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP

Woman in critical condition after shark attack at Coogee beach

13 June 2026 at 03:03

A woman in her 30s has been transported to hospital with arm and leg injuries and beaches in Sydney’s east have been closed after the attack

A woman in her 30s is in a critical condition after being bitten by a large shark at Coogee beach on Saturday, with a witness describing the scene at the popular Sydney beach as “shocking”.

A spokesperson for New South Wales Ambulance said the woman suffered arm and leg injuries and had been taken by road to St Vincent’s hospital.

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© Photograph: Hollie Adams/Reuters

© Photograph: Hollie Adams/Reuters

© Photograph: Hollie Adams/Reuters

Australia can switch from fossil fuel exports to renewables, says next Cop president

Climate minister Chris Bowen says country must prepare for changing world and can play bigger role in reducing emissions

Australia will find exporting fossil fuels increasingly difficult but can switch to exporting clean energy products, the president of the next UN climate negotiations has declared.

Speaking at a climate conference in Bonn, Germany, Chris Bowen, Australia’s minister for climate change and energy, argued his country had led the global push to “transition away from fossil fuels” – based on the rapid growth of renewable energy and batteries in its domestic power grids – and that its economy could manage the switch.

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© Photograph: Bec Lorrimer/The Guardian

© Photograph: Bec Lorrimer/The Guardian

© Photograph: Bec Lorrimer/The Guardian

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