Lucy MacDonald
Lucy MacDonald is the courts and environment reporter in the ABC Hobart newsroom. After completing her Journalism degree at UTAS in 2012, Lucy created Aphra, an online and print, feminist and sociopolitical magazine. Follow Lucy on Twitter @lucy_macdonald1
Latest by Lucy MacDonald
Outdoor life comes at a price for farmers as they face a greater risk of skin cancer
Living your best outdoor life could be putting you at risk of the "national cancer", health workers warn. Here's why annual checks should be part of everybody's beauty routine.
After 30 years, O'Byrne quits Labor to run his own race as an Independent
By state political reporter Lucy MacDonald
Exiled former Tasmanian Labor leader David O'Byrne has finally quit the party, saying he wants to put a "difficult time" behind him and stand as an Independent at the next state election.
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Tasmanian premier's proposed deal to avoid early election 'a mockery', key independent says
By state political reporters Lucy MacDonald and Adam Langenberg
Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff issues an ultimatum to the two Liberal-turned-independent MPs who continue to threaten his government — get in line or face the prospect of an early election.
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Australian of the Year finalist denounces 'crazy vegans' after divesting abattoir co-ownership to husband
By Lucy MacDonald and Alexandra Alvaro
An Australian of the Year finalist divested shares in an abattoir owned by herself and her husband in the wake of "animal welfare issues".
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A Tasmanian abattoir's licence to export calves has been suspended following animal welfare concerns
The federal government has partially suspended Tasmanian Quality Meats' export registration and placed several conditions on the business. Any decisions about domestic market supply is up to the Tasmanian government.
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Husband ran to landline rather than use his mobile and perform CPR when he found wife's body, inquest hears
Helen Bird died in 2010. Her death is being re-examined at a coronial inquest, which has heard her husband, who has been named a person of interest, has given differing accounts of Helen's state before her death.
Dead salmon pumped into crates at Tassal pen as environmentalists warn of heatwave
The Bob Brown Foundation films thousands of dead fish being pumped from the bottom of Tasmanian salmon pens. The owner, Tassal, says the incident is "minor".
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Hobart faces worsening fire danger. This tool shows which areas are most at risk
Surrounded by bush and with hills and valleys, the Greater Hobart area presents a challenge for fire preparation. A new tool shows residents the risks they face.
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Youth crime is on the rise. Police say the 'patrol, catch, prosecute' model isn't working
By Lucy MacDonald and Adam Holmes
Eastlands shopping centre could be anywhere in Australia. It has the usual shops, and a growing youth crime problem. The Tasmanian government is moving to a new model of youth justice.
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'Real change' will happen, victim-survivors told, as Tasmanian government responds to damning report
By state political reporter Adam Langenberg and Lucy MacDonald
Tasmania's Premier Jeremy Rockliff has released the government's full response to the damning findings of the child sexual abuse commission of inquiry, and has pledged to rebuild trust in government institutions that failed to protect children from sexual abuse — while promising "real change" will happen.
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Fire at sea thousands of kilometres from home — narrow escape from maritime disaster detailed in ATSB report
By Lucy MacDonald and James Dunlevie
A scathing report finds equipment failure, overworked crew — many who had never been in Antarctic conditions before — as well as other factors contributed to a 2021 fire on board a ship which was thousands of kilometres from help "in some of the harshest and least-forgiving oceans on the planet".
Some of Tasmania's public servants accepting 'additional reward for doing work the public pays them to do'
Some of Tasmania's public servants are wrongly accepting gifts such as event tickets, cash and even membership to the Qantas Chairman's Lounge, and listing "networking and goodwill" as the reason for accepting, a report finds.
No jail time for wildlife rescuer on call-out who sexually assaulted three young girls while burying dead bird
A wildlife rescue volunteer called to a Tasmanian family home to assist with an injured bird went on to sexually assault several children, who since the abuse last year have "rejected contact and affection" from their mother, a court hears — with the man escaping a prison sentence.
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'Great in theory': Grace Tame's warning as Tasmanian Labor flips to support mandatory child abuse sentencing
By Lucy MacDonald and Adam Langenberg
Tasmania could become the first state to introduce minimum sentences for child sex offenders as Labor flips its position, but the controversial legislation has drawn the ire of legal groups and victim-survivor Grace Tame.
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Salmon farming in Macquarie Harbour may be paused for skates' sake, Plibersek warns
Salmon farming operations in Tasmania's Macquarie Harbour could be temporarily halted, Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek warns, amid a push to protect the endangered Maugean skate.
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Mother shocked by NDIA's demand for proof daughter 'disabled enough' to keep funding
Stephanie says a letter from the National Disability Insurance Agency that said her six-year-old daughter could lose her funding earlier than expected came as a shock.
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'An astonishing list': Tasmanian MP names high-ranking public servants who may be subjects of misconduct allegations
A number of senior Tasmanian public servants are named by an Independent MP under parliamentary privilege as people who may be facing misconduct notices over the way reports of child sexual abuse were handled.
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Bruce Fairfax and his wife went for a bushwalk six years ago. What happened is now part of a criminal probe
The Tasmanian man was reported missing on a bushwalk with his wife and their dog six years ago but now police say they're reinterviewing old witnesses.
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Urgent care clinics — the new medical service designed to ease pressure on hospital EDs
Urgent care clinics have been opened around Australia to help ease the pressure on hospital emergency departments — so where are they? When are they open? And do they bulk-bill?
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This greyhound trainer has lost his licence — but it wasn't because he broke animal welfare laws
For years, Tasmania's top-ranked greyhound trainer was on the RSPCA's radar, but inspectors could find no wrongdoing despite monthly visits to his facility. In the end, what brought him down was not how he treated his dogs, because he did so inside the law.
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Little Athletics president stole fundraising money and rigged Thermomix raffle, court hears
A former president of Little Athletics Tasmania has admitted she used the not-for-profit's fundraising money to go shopping and then fabricated bank statements to cover her tracks.
'We can't stop it': Bird flu strain that has devastated seabirds worldwide will likely reach Antarctica this year
By Lucy MacDonald and Meg Whitfield
A deadly strain of bird flu that has already killed millions of seabirds across the world is likely to land on Antarctic shores this summer, threatening already struggling penguin colonies and marine mammals.
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Angus needs more time in exams to help his 'brain think', but he won't get it at his finals — and advocates say that's unfair
Angus isn't like most other year 11 students — it takes him a lot longer to read and understand information. His school gave him extra time at his mid-year exams which really helped. The trouble is, at finals, he won't get anywhere near that — and experts say that isn't fair.
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'It's up to Elise': Premier warns Tasmania may head to early election
The last Liberal government in the country is in turmoil as it faces the threat of an early election, brought on by the resignation of the former attorney-general.
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It took a call between two old housemates to expose a paedophile and change a state forever
That a paedophile had worked on a children's hospital ward for almost two decades was Launceston's worst-kept secret. Then one phone call changed everything, setting in motion a series of events that would alter Tasmania forever.
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