Headlines

10 February, 2015. 12:15 EDITORIAL | Contact A very successful start to the week saw The Betoota Advocate’s editors making the most of their 28-hour drive to Canberra with an array of timeless interviews. No one was safe from the gritty journalism that our humble Outback newspaper is famous for - with some of Australia’s biggest and brightest political and media identities being...

9 February, 2015. 13:30 EDITORIAL | Contact Prime minister Tony Abbott has declared the Liberal leadership speculations are now over, after he survived the crucial secret ballot vote in the party room this morning. Liberal MPs voted 61 to 39 against making the leader's position vacant to contenders. Media commentators have suggested the result was set in stone after a long weekend working the phones - making...

6 February, 2015. 14:15 IMRAN GASHKORI | Sports Editor | Contact Prime Minister Tony Abbott will face a spill motion against his leadership early next week after West Australian Liberal MP Luke Simpkins emailed party room colleagues to announce he would push for the PM's leadership to be put to a vote. The spill motion will be seconded by MP Don Randall, with a...

6 February, 2015. 17:21 ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact A RARE SUMATRAN tiger has escaped from its transport enclosure after a truck accident in Tasmania. The truck rolled over in wet conditions about 10km south of Deloraine, in the north-central region of the island state. Residents of the sleepy hamlet in north-central Tasmania have been warned to stay indoors until the all clear is...

5 February, 2015. 12:06 ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact A LIGHT aircraft pilot has been arrested on the tarmac at Alice Springs airport after allegedly performing a "touch and go" on the top of Uluru. The 27-year-old man from Yaraka, in central western Queensland, was granted bail by Alice Springs Magistrates Court as his legal team arrives in the red centre over the...

27 January, 2015. 10:51 ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact OPPOSITION leader Bill Shorten says he "toyed" with the idea of making Prince Phillip the national secretary of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union  (CFMEU) to compliment his new title, knight of the Order of Australia - the country's highest honour. The title of national secretary of the CFMEU is the Labor Party's...

23 January, 2015. 15:10 ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact THE "one-percent" of Western Australia launched a campaign this morning to better the work conditions of the state's lowest paid workers. This has sparked outrage among the remaining 99% of the WA's workforce, which says the greedy "one-percenters" should either "get a better job" or move away. A small demonstration has begun at...

22 January, 2015. 12:34 ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact LONG-AWAITED coral cleaning machines have arrived at The Great Barrier Reef, heralding a new beginning for the World Heritage Site. The revolutionary technology has been under development in China for the past decade - with the goal of repairing the damage done by the warm phase of the El Niño Southern Pacific Oscillation. Commissioned by...

2o January, 2015. 11:30 IMRAN GASHKORI | Sports Journalist | Contact Explosive Australian opener David Warner on Monday defended a heated on-field exchange with Indian batsman Rohit Sharma in which he demanded the Indian cricketer "speak English" Warner said the verbal exchange at a one-day international at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday earned him a fine of 50 percent of his match...

19 January, 2015. 15:37 IMRAN GASHKORI | Sports Journalist | Contact In the last few weeks we have seen a rise in the number of current, former and returning NRL players to be involved in the world of crime. Drug Trafficking (Former Players Jason Smith, Matt Seers), Drug Manufacturing (returning player, Danny Wicks) and Grievous Bodily Harm (Russel Packer, signed to St George while in...