Author: info@thewitness.com.au

SaveYou have reached your maximum number of saved items.Remove items from your saved list to add more.AAAThe 15-year fight to bring an accused childcare paedophile to justice has left Sydney parents Jacqui* and Rachel* bankrupt, their children retraumatised and the families distrustful of the judicial system.The childcare centre hired its own investigator and child protection teams closed the reports, while criminal charges were dropped at the eleventh hour. Later, a successful civil lawsuit was overturned on appeal, leaving the women and their children still fighting for justice.(Left to right) Jacqui, daughter Julia and Rachel. The women have waged a 15-year…

SaveYou have reached your maximum number of saved items.Remove items from your saved list to add more.AAAWarning: This story contains graphic content.A man who spent two decades in jail for killing his wife before putting her body into a wheelie bin filled with acid has gone on hunger strike at a detention centre in Nauru, sewing his lips together in protest after being deported from Western Australia last month.Tony Kellisar, 64, is on day six of his hunger strike, claiming he has been unable to leave his room in what he describes is a “hellhole prison camp” after being transferred…

SaveYou have reached your maximum number of saved items.Remove items from your saved list to add more.AAAAn otherworldly cluster of mushrooms, connected by heavy coils of fibre-optic cables spooled through the trees, is waiting to cast its glow on Perth’s Kings Park.The inner-city park and botanic garden is set to be illuminated by a sea of lights when the annual Lightscape event kicks off on Friday.Lightscape installation Mycelium Network by international artist Stevie Thompson. Kat GollockMore than 50,000 kilometres of cables, optic fibres and lighting components will power the 18 light installations across the park as part of the immersive…

Stan ChoeJune 3, 2026 — 5:15amSaveYou have reached your maximum number of saved items.Remove items from your saved list to add more.AAAThe US stock market is ticking toward more records as winners of the artificial-intelligence boom keep driving higher.The S&P 500 rose 0.1 per cent a day after setting its latest all-time high. The Dow Jones was up 168 points, or 0.3 per cent, and the Nasdaq composite was mostly unchanged. All three indexes erased modest losses from the morning.AI-related stocks boosted Wall Street on Tuesday. APThe Australian sharemarket is set to rise, with futures pointing to a gain of…

June 3, 2026 — 5:00amSaveYou have reached your maximum number of saved items.Remove items from your saved list to add more.AAAHow are you going? Enjoying the winter sun? Feeling optimistic about the future? Well, for one day only, let me try to ruin your day. Or rather, let me let Dr Andrew Leigh ruin it. They say the devil makes work for idle hands, and that sums up Leigh in one go.Leigh is a former economics professor, who for ages has been the federal government’s assistant minister for productivity, competition, charities, treasury and the kitchen sink.Andrew Leigh has been giving…

SaveYou have reached your maximum number of saved items.Remove items from your saved list to add more.AAAReserve Bank insiders are tipping Labor’s tax reforms and the decline in consumer sentiment might dampen house prices and spending, inadvertently lowering the prospect of more interest rate rises after years of claims that government policies were pushing up inflation.Sources familiar with thinking inside the RBA and former monetary policy officials said an unintended consequence of a projected drop-off in values would be a slowdown in spending by home owners who feel less rich.Anthony Albanese and Jim Chalmers are punching back at critics of…

June 3, 2026 — 5:00amSaveYou have reached your maximum number of saved items.Remove items from your saved list to add more.AAAWhen the Fremantle Dockers lost to the Suns by a point in last year’s elimination final, the fans seemed to shrug it off as just another episode in the club’s colourful history.After all, long-suffering supporters have been forced to cultivate a steely resolve, a trait forged over decades of Freo promising the world and delivering nothing.Murphy Reid in action for the Dockers. Reid has emerged as one of the team’s star players, with a football IQ that belies his age.Getty…

SaveYou have reached your maximum number of saved items.Remove items from your saved list to add more.AAA Photo: ArtistsEssendon will let the dust settle after the sacking of coach Brad Scott before committing to any of the 13 players who remain without contracts beyond this season.After extending injured forward Archer May, defender/ruck Lachie Blakiston, tough half-forward Archer Day-Wicks, defender Zak Johnson and Lewis Hayes (who suffered another ACL injury on the weekend) beyond 2026 earlier this season they are keeping their options open as the club navigates the year under interim coach Dean Solomon. Elijah Tsatas should get a chance to…

SaveYou have reached your maximum number of saved items.Remove items from your saved list to add more.AAAAustralia’s data centre boom risks driving up the cost of electricity and derailing emissions targets unless governments force operators and their global tech customers to directly fund new renewable energy projects, climate advocates warn.A new report from the Climate Council, Clouded future: Managing risks of the data centre boom, lands as Australia jostles to become one of the world’s hottest destinations for data centre investment, currently sitting second only to the United States. The country is home to at least 162 operational data centres,…

June 3, 2026 — 5:00amSaveYou have reached your maximum number of saved items.Remove items from your saved list to add more.AAAThe last time NSW senator Jess Collins surfaced in this column was after the Liberal Party MP had fired off a missive to her colleagues, bemoaning “factional hacks” who she accused of weaponising the Constitution to consolidate power.Senator Jess Collins (right) and her husband Ben Collins (left).So we can’t imagine the freshman senator has been loving what she’s been hearing about her husband, Ben Collins, who has recently been the subject of mounting intrigue on Macquarie Street over at least…