What we learned, Sunday 9 February
Thanks for following along on the blog today. Here is a wrap-up of today’s news, in case you missed it:
The federal Labor party announced a $573m package it says will deliver more choice, lower costs and better healthcare for women. The package of measures includes the first PBS listing for new oral contraceptive pills in more than 30 years, and larger Medicare payments and more bulk billing for IUDs and birth control implants.
More severe weather was forecast to hit north Queensland, with already sodden parts of the state expecting further heavy rainfall after near-record flooding that isolated towns and required defence force assistance.
Forced displacement of people “is not consistent with international law”, finance minister Katy Gallagher said on ABC Insiders this morning. Host David Speers asked a number of times for her response to Trump’s proposal that the US should “take over” Gaza and “own it”, which the UN secretary general, António Guterres, has warned would be “ethnic cleansing”.
Two women in their 40s were hit by fragments of a tree after a lightning strike south-west of Sydney yesterday, killing one of the women.
Jacinta Allan was pushed on the Werribee byelection – where Labor’s once-comfortable margin has gone from 10.9% at the 2022 state election to a razor-thin 0.6%. Asked whether she is the right person to lead the Labor party after the result, Allan said there is “more to do” before the next state election.
The Greens leader, Ellen Sandell, conceded the party has lost the Victorian state seat of Prahran in the byelection.
We’ll see you back on the blog tomorrow.
Updated
Bird flu case detected in Victoria’s north
Australia’s recent declaration of being bird flu-free has proved short-lived, with the Victorian agriculture department announcing an outbreak at a farm in the state’s north.
The Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness conducted testing at Geelong confirming a H7N8 strain, which is different to the strain that hit Victorian poultry farms last year.
The property has been placed in quarantine and arrangements made to ensure the disease does not spread from the Strathbogie shire in Victoria’s north-east, the department said.
On Thursday, the federal government announced Australia was officially bird flu-free after there had been no detections of H7 avian influenza since July.
More than 1.8 million birds were killed in a quest to rid the nation of the disease after Victoria, New South Wales and the ACT experienced outbreaks.
The Victorian Agriculture Department warned people should contact the 24-hour hotline, on 1800 675 888, or their local vet if they have any suspicions about possible bird flu cases.
“Consumers should not be concerned about eggs and poultry products from the supermarkets, they do not pose a risk and are safe to consume,” the department said.
Cases among humans in direct contact with animals infected with avian influenza viruses are possible, the department noted. But it said the risk to the public remains low.
– AAP
Updated
Crime a ‘massive issue’ in Prahran, Rachel Westaway says
Rachel Westaway said she was so grateful to take on the seat, having worked “tirelessly every day” during the campaign to advocate for the community:
As a 20-year local in the area, raising three children in this area, I know what we are feeling, and I know the results are demonstrative that this is a vote against the Allan Labor government. This is a vote against 10 years of waste that we’ve had. This is an opportunity, and this is an exciting time. I love Prahran, I love our Chapel Street … I will listen to every single one of the people of the Prahran electorate and work tirelessly for them.
She said crime was a “major issue” in the electorate. Westaway says:
Crime is a massive issue, it’s been spoken about constantly by me. People are feeling unsafe, whether it be South Yarra, Prahran, Windsor, St Kilda East – all the parts that cover this electorate with Chapel Street running through the centre of our electorate … They’ve seen more and more issues, people running down Chapel Street with a machete, firebombings, the firebombing of a local synagogue. These are outrageous things that we haven’t seen before and we’ve just got to get on top of it.
Updated
Battin ‘very proud’ to claim victory in Prahran
Earlier this afternoon the Victorian Liberal leader, Brad Battin, claimed victory in the seat of Prahran. Joined by his soon-to-be Prahran MP, Rachel Westaway, he said she won by “listening to locals”:
She’s lived here for 20 years. She knows what it’s like when Chapel Street has changed so much and the impact on the families. She knows the impact of crime through this local community, the cost-of-living crisis, and the issues that are happening across our state have been reflected here in this electorate … We know that the message from both of these electorates is that they are sick of the Greens and Labor destroying their lives … we are very proud that we can claim victory in a seat that many didn’t think was possible just three or four weeks ago.
Updated
From empty homes to dead possums, tenants reveal laundry list of problems in Victoria’s community housing
One of Victoria’s largest community housing providers has been accused of leaving apartments empty for more than a year and failing to address maintenance issues raised by tenants, including broken windows, missing floorboards and dead possums left to rot.
The claims come as housing advocates warn of widespread problems with community housing, including poor standards and a lack of transparency.
Read the full story here:
Gunshots fired at home in Sydney’s west
Police are appealing for information after a firearm was discharged towards a home in Sydney’s west this morning, NSW police said in a media statement.
Around 2am this morning, police were called to a home in Stanhope Gardens after reports of a break and enter.
Officers were told a group of people broke into the home before fleeing the scene. No injuries were reported.
Police found evidence that a firearm was discharged towards the home, according to the media statement.
A crime scene was established and investigations are under way.
Police ask any witnesses or people with dashcam footage nearby to contact Crime Stoppers.
Updated
Business and consumer spirits expected to lift on hopes of rate cut
Rising hopes of a Reserve Bank interest rate cut are expected to be reflected in growing confidence among businesses and consumers.
NAB will release its January survey of business conditions on Tuesday, the same day as Westpac and the Melbourne Institute’s February consumer confidence index is unveiled.
NAB’s business survey for the December quarter, released last Thursday, showed a small lift in confidence, though it remains in negative territory.
“However, expected business conditions in the next 12 months and [capital expenditure] plans in the next 12 months both improved – possibly boosted by the prospect of rate cuts, recovering consumer demand and easing costs growth over 2025,” said the bank’s chief economist, Alan Oster.
Since then, expectations the RBA would begin cutting rates at its February meeting have only increased further, given the softer-than-expected CPI figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics at the end of January.
As the rates outlook improves, increased investor appetite for property could show up in lending figures released by the bureau on Wednesday.
– AAP
Updated
Labor v the Coalition: who is leading in the polls?
As the Australian federal election approaches, political polls are coming thick and fast.
Read the story below to see regular updates, so you can track who is polling up, how the independents are faring and how the parties stand with different demographics:
Severe weather to batter Australia’s north-east and north-west coasts
Flood-hit communities are being urged to keep up to date with the latest warnings, with fears more severe weather and volatile conditions are on the way.
Heavy falls hit northern Queensland after a brief reprieve, with coastal and inland centres including Townsville, Cardwell and Ingham in the firing line.
Major flood warnings are in place for the Herbert, Burdekin, Haughton, Flinders, Cape and Western rivers, with minor-to-moderate warnings in place for a number of other catchments through north-east and northern inland Queensland.
Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Myriam Bradbury said 24-hour rainfall totals could reach up to 250mm.
“This rain is falling on to saturated land, meaning it will quickly run off and top up already swollen rivers,” she said.
This means that even moderate rainfall totals could cause swift river rises and could lead to dangerous flooding conditions.
The flood warnings come as communities in northern Western Australia remain on watch for a possible tropical cyclone.
A tropical low is expected to move along the Kimberley coast on Sunday, whipping up damaging gusts of up to 100km/h.
The low could reach tropical cyclone intensity late on Sunday or early Monday as it heads towards Broome and the Pilbara, bringing widespread falls.
Bradbury said gales could develop as early as Monday morning with increased rain and large waves from late Sunday.
“Forecast rainfall in the flood watch area is expected to result in river rises, areas of flooding and may adversely affect road conditions,” she said.
“Roads may quickly become impassable and some communities may become isolated once that rain starts to fall.”
– AAP
Updated
‘Only buy what you need’: Flood-affected Queenslanders warned against panic buying
Queenslanders have been warned against panic buying, as the deputy premier says that the government is working to restock and resupply areas of the state cut off by floods.
“One of the challenges that I’m dealing with is supply and resupply to many areas, and as I indicated, far north Queensland has been cut off from road, rail, freight,” Jarrod Bleijie said on Sunday morning.
I just plead with people, particularly in far north Queensland, when shops are resupplied, please only buy what you need, because there is difficulty in getting the supply.
Bleijie said that government was using a range of methods to try to get stock to shops in flood-affected areas, including trucks which were ready to go as soon as rivers dropped sufficiently to allow them to safely cross, rail, air, and even barges.
He offered the example of Weipa, a mining town on the Cape York peninsula. “I’ve got real concerns about resupplying to Weipa. We are currently loading barges up, which will take off from Cairns, but it’s a three-day trek to Weipa. We are looking at all options to get resupply into these areas that are cut off.”
Bleijie said the Queenland government was working with the federal government to address supply needs.
The premier, David Crisafulli, said that the government had spoken with the major supermarkets in far north Queensland several months ago about getting extra stock into warehouses in the area in case of flooding.
“They got six weeks of the non-perishables into there,” he said. “There is food in those warehouses. The issue has been the access to the fresh fruit and veggies and the milk and the meats, the stuff that people really need and that’s why flying the aerial route became the only available option.”
Updated
Greens leader cites low turnout and lack of absentee voting as factors in Prahran loss
Sandell also says turnout was also low. She believes a high proportion of young people who rent in the area may have moved since the 2022 election or were away over the summer university break and unable to vote absentee.
She says:
Absentee votes overwhelmingly favour the Greens, and we didn’t have any absentee votes in this election. And so what that largely means is that young people who are not physically in the electorate of Prahran on the day, were not able to vote. So you might have someone who’s moved from Prahran to Brunswick or moved to a regional area – they can’t turn up at their local polling group, find out that they’re still enrolled in Prahran and cast their vote. And those votes are a huge chunk of votes in the general election, and they overwhelmingly go towards the Greens.
When it was put to her by a reporter that people should check their enrolment, and that they had a week to get to Prahran and vote, Sandell replied:
It was a time when young people were not around, and during the summer holidays, that’s actually the difference. I’m just being honest with you – if you look at the figures in the election, that’s actually what the situation is … and young people are the ones who are renting and then getting kicked out [or] having to move because of rent increases. They’re having to move all around the city, so it’s pretty hard for them to keep up with where to enrol every single year. So it’s very common not to be enrolled where they live because of those structural factors.
Updated
Greens leader concedes party has lost Prahran byelection to Liberals
The Greens leader, Ellen Sandell, has conceded the party has lost the Victorian state seat of Prahran in the byelection.
“Obviously it’s not the result we had hoped for,” she told reporters.
Sandell says while Greens’ primary vote held up, the party did not pick up any of Labor voters. This is despite Labor’s decision not to field a candidate in the seat.
She says the Liberal candidate, Rachel Westaway, benefited from the preferences of the former Labor MP turned independent candidate, Tony Lupton, who received 12.8% of primary votes.
Lupton had instructed voters to preference the Liberals second and Greens last, pushing Westaway to 51.6% in the two-party-preferred vote.
Sandell says:
What actually made the difference here is that we had the Labor party make a decision not to run a candidate in Prahran, which left the field open for a former Labor MP and unofficial Labor candidate to run and funnel preferences to the Liberals.
More details soon …
Updated
Allan says Liberals’ platform ‘hurting vulnerable people in our community’
Allan:
What’s clear to me, is that communities are looking for their governments and their members of parliament to be focused on them, understanding, in a cost of living crisis, a global cost of living crisis, that they need. It’s also clear in Werribee that they looked at the Liberal party and didn’t like their division, didn’t like their program of cuts and didn’t like their program of hurting vulnerable people in our community. It’s clear the Victorians know that they can’t trust the Liberal party, that what I’m focused on will be supporting those working people and families who need a Labor government that is focused on them, working hard for them and fighting for them.
Updated
Allan says steady first-preference vote shows Victorians ‘do not trust the Liberal party’
A reporter notes despite the huge swing away from Labor, it didn’t reflect in a huge bump in first-preference voters to the Liberals. Asked what she makes of that, the premier said “Victorians can’t trust them”.
They’re divided. They have a program of, what will they cut next, and what vulnerable members in our community will they hurt next? And it is absolutely clear that the Victorian community do not trust the Liberal party, because they are divided and all they want to do is hurt communities.
Updated
Premier says infrastructure projects elsewhere in Melbourne will benefit Werribee voters
Asked whether she will reconsider going ahead with the Suburban Rail Loop project, which is set to benefit the eastern suburbs well before it makes its way to Werribee, Allan says:
The Suburban Rail Loop is part of our program of transport projects that is supporting working people by supporting jobs. Maybe some of us have been around a little longer, but we all remember a time when a Liberal government, aided and abetted by a federal Liberal government, didn’t invest in infrastructure projects in Victoria. That hurts working people because they don’t have a pipeline of jobs, good secure jobs. It’s also working people who need those transport connections so they can get to work, they can make their medical appointments, they can go to university or Tafe and pursue the career they want. That is why transport connections are just so important. They provide an equality of opportunity for working people. It is why in that pipeline we have the Metro Tunnel, the West Gate Tunnel, the Suburban Rail Loop, the North East Link, removing level crossings. This is all about making sure that we are supporting the transport connections our community needs.
Updated
Places like Werribee ‘looking for governments to do more’, Allan concedes
Has the Victorian Labor government lost sight of the voters it’s meant to represent? Allan makes somewhat of a concession:
Places like Werribee, some of the fastest growing places in the country, are looking to governments to do more. Now we have made meaningful investments in more schools, seven more schools, in road investments in the local community, but it is absolutely clear that there is more to do.
That’s a responsibility I take very, very seriously, to work hard every day, because I’ve never lost sight of what it means to have the privilege of being in government and to be in a Labor government to make a difference for working people. For people who need a Labor government, fighting for them against the big multinationals – like we saw recently – multinational companies who wanted to take penalty rights away from retail workers. Working people need Labor governments to fight for them, and that is what I will continue to do.
Updated
Premier says federal Labor will hear ‘message’ of Werribee byelection
Does she think the result will translate in the upcoming federal election? Allan replies:
We know that the global cost-of-living crisis, governments around the world are being sent a message. Governments around the country are being sent a message. People want their governments and their members of parliament focused on them, and they’re looking for support from their governments. Now, federal Labor, they’ve rolled out a range of important initiatives that focus on working people and their families. I think we all know that there is more to do.
Updated
Asked whether Labor handed Prahran to the Liberals by not running a candidate in the seat, Allan repeats the same line:
Again, I’m focused on working hard for all Victorians, and we know that the cost of living crisis is hurting families right across the state, which is why the school saving bonus, the fair fuel plan is so important. And where there is more to do, we will do it.
Updated
Jacinta Allan admits ‘more to do’ after Werribee byelection collapse in Labor vote
First questions of the bat are about the Werribee byelection – where Labor’s once-comfortable margin has gone from 10.9% at the 2022 state election to a razor-thin 0.6%. Asked whether she is the right person to lead the Labor party after the result, Allan says:
We know byelections are tough for governments. We know that’s particularly so for governments when we’re in the midst of a global cost-of-living crisis. My focus is on supporting those working people and families who need the government working for them. And working people and families across the state – across the world – are looking to their governments to listen to them and do more to support them, and that’s exactly what I will do. I know that there is more to do, to build on the work we’ve already been doing to support working people and families, but we’ve heard very clearly that people are looking to governments to do more, and we are listening to that, and we will.
Asked what she means by doing more, she says:
In a global cost-of-living crisis, we know working people and families are hurting. I also know, and I know this from talking to people in my own community and also in communities right across the state, that quite rightly, they’re wanting their voice to be heard. And byelections are an opportunity for people to make sure their voice is being heard. It’s so important that the listening that we have already been undertaking, the listening we do every single day, is that we take that into action, meaningful support for working people and families.
Allan begins spruiking the government’s $400 vouchers for schoolchildren and her “fair fuel plan”. A reporter points out Labor campaigned on the vouchers but still saw the party’s primary vote go back a whopping 17%.
She replies:
We know that there is more to do, and I will always listen to working people and families across the state, but also, importantly, I will fight hard and work hard for them every single day.
Updated
Jacinta Allan speaking in Melbourne
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, has just held a press conference in North Melbourne as the byelection in Werribee remains too close to call.
She’s at Arden station, on the yet-to-open Metro Tunnel train line, which she says will “transform the way people move around our city and state”.
She goes on:
This is a project that’s opening later this year, a full year ahead of schedule. But of course, this was a project that the Victorian Liberal party described as would be “disastrous” for our city. It’s a project that Peter Dutton’s Liberal party ripped billions of dollars from. When they had the opportunity to make a choice, to invest in infrastructure in Victoria or not, they took billions of dollars out of this project. Our Labor government, we were determined to get on and deliver the Metro Tunnel, and that’s exactly what’s happening.
Updated
Queensland premier says flood recovery will focus on making state more ‘resilient’
David Crisafulli, premier of Queensland, has vowed the state will rebuild to be “more resilient”, in an update on the Queensland floods.
“My team remains focused on the recovery, and we will be there and will be there for the long haul,” he said, adding that government ministers were on the ground in flood-affected areas and he would be returning to the area soon.
“I want Queenslanders to know the things that we have said will be delivered, will be delivered to every resident,” said Crisafulli.
To every resident of north and far north Queensland, we want to say we acknowledge how tough things have been. Lives have been lost, livelihoods have been destroyed. People have seen water in places they never thought possible.
Crisafulli warned of highway closures across the state, including on the Bruce Highway. The road out of Townsville, both to the north and south, is closed to all forms of traffic, though controlled and limited access south of Townsville to larger vehicles is beginning to be arranged.
Crisafulli praised the efforts of defence force and volunteers from the SES, saying: “It’s been a long time in this country since we’ve seen the mobilisation of the defence force the way that they have done.”
“To be able to thank 100 SES volunteers from almost every state and territory who have come and helped Queenslanders in their hour of need was one of the most fulfilling and humbling experiences of my life,” he said. “It’s been amazing, and to see the way that the emergency services personnel have rallied, I think give Queenslanders hope about the way this recovery can unfold.”
Crisafulli said it was crucial that in the recovery phase recovery from the floods was a crucial time, making sure that infrastructure was built back in a more resilient way.
Some good has to come through this heartache … and that some good has to be in the form of: can we replace the infrastructure when it needs to be replaced, to a more resilient standard, and build in a greater ability to deal with what Mother Nature has to throw north and far north Queensland.
Updated
One in 10 federal electorates have no bulk-billing GPs for standard consultations, survey finds
An adult without concessions would not be able to find a bulk-billing GP in 10% of electorates, according to a new report.
The online healthcare directory Cleanbill on Sunday released an electorate breakdown of its third annual Blue Report, based on a survey of 6,925 general practices carried out in October 2024.
The Blue Report, published in January, found that for new adult patients without a concession card, four out of five GPs will charge a gap fee.
Cleanbill collects its information, according to its founder, James Gillespie, by compiling a list of GP clinics nationally, which they call to ensure they are operating, ask if they bulk bill adult patients and, if not, what out-of-pocket fees they charge.
Data managers then check that information against what is stated on clinics’ websites and repeat calls until they can ensure consistent information.
Across the 151 commonwealth electoral divisions, Cleanbill was unable to find any available bulk-billing clinics for adult patients in 15 electorates, compared with four in its first report in 2023.
Those 15 electorates were Bass (Tasmania), Boothby (South Australia), Braddon (Tasmania), Brisbane (Queensland), Clark (Tasmania), Fairfax (Queensland), Franklin (Tasmania), Jagajaga (Victoria), Kingston (SA), Lyne (New South Wales), Lyons (Tasmania), Mayo (SA), Newcastle (NSW), Shortland (NSW) and Swan (Western Australia).
Read the full story here:
Updated
Victoria byelections: Liberals projected to win Prahran off Greens, Labor holds narrow lead in Werribee
The Liberal party expects to win the Prahran byelection, taking the Victorian state seat off the Greens for the first time since 2010. It comes as Victorian Labor struggles to retain its previously safe seat of Werribee in the other weekend byelection.
As of 10am this morning, Labor have 50.6% of the Werribee vote, leading by 441 votes. The Liberal party are polling 53.0% of the postal votes counted so far, leading that count by 199.
“If the Liberal percentage continued at this rate with outstanding postal votes, it would narrow Labor’s lead but would not be enough to overturn it,” the ABC’s election analyst, Antony Green, said on Sunday.
A maximum of about 3,000 postal votes can still make it into the count, which will resume tomorrow.
Read more on the Victoria byelections from Benita Kolovos here:
Updated
Climate simmers in background of hip-pocket election
The climate crisis may be struggling for airtime as voters suffer acute hip-pocket pain, but support for action isn’t waning.
Tax, geopolitics and other issues dominated the first week of parliament for 2025, potentially the second-last before the upcoming federal election were the prime minister to call it early. Yet pressure to keep the ball rolling on climate and net zero policy was not entirely absent.
A politics-proof net zero pathway and national carbon market strategy featured on the Business Council of Australia’s pre-election wishlist unveiled on Tuesday.
Zoe Daniel, who became the MP for Goldstein in 2022 amid the “teal” wave in which independents secured formerly blue-ribbon city Liberal seats campaigning on climate and integrity issues, used a national address to link global warming to financial strain.
“If you think climate policy is a ‘woke’ issue, wait until you see the spike in your insurance premiums after the LA fires,” she said during her pre-election pitch at the National Press Club on Wednesday.
Polling shows a tight race between Anthony Albanese’s Labor government and the Coalition led by Peter Dutton, with neither likely to win an outright majority and the door open to minority leadership with crossbench support.
Redbridge’s director of strategy and analytics, Kos Samaras, expected to see a few more contests over climate issues involving independents, including in the regions, in part reflecting an ongoing shift away from the major party duopoly.
The electorates of Wannon in Victoria and Forrest in Western Australia were flagged as seats where independents campaigning on climate issues could help garner support.
– Australian Associated Press
Updated
Call to end ‘tech bro’ era to bolster national security
The cyber security industry has been told to change its “bro culture” to attract the next line of digital defenders.
Speaking at an elite cyber security summit at Parliament House, Australia’s National Cyber Security Coordinator Lieutenant General Michelle McGuinness issued a clarion call for more women to become the nation’s digital defenders.
The three-star general, one of only three women to hold that rank in Australia, says she has navigated a significant gender gap for most of her career.
“There is nothing particularly masculine about cyber security,” she said.
One of the biggest misconceptions about cyber security is that that it’s all about coding or sitting in isolation behind a computer screen.
It’s a field that requires teamwork, innovation and creativity, it requires risk analysis, it requires leadership.
On current estimates, the cyber workforce is short by 30,000 employees and women make up 17 per cent of the sector.
“That’s not just an imbalance, it’s a security risk,” special envoy for cyber security and digital resilience Andrew Charlton told the Australian Information Security Association event.
The digital world is tied to every aspect of national security and economic prosperity for Australia and its immediate region, the nation’s ambassador for cyber affairs and critical technology Brendan Dowling said.
The “bro culture” of a male-dominated sector where others are made to feel uncomfortable must change, he said.
“Unless you have the diversity and imagination to recognise how bad actors misuse technology, then we actually let all of ourselves down.”
- Australian Associated Press
Woman dies after lightning strike near Sydney
A woman has died after a lightning strike yesterday south-west of Sydney.
Emergency services were called to a home in Cawdor, near Camden, about 5.30pm after reports of two women in their 40s hit by fragments of a tree after a lightning strike.
One woman was treated at the scene but could not be revived. The second woman remains in a serious but stable condition at Liverpool hospital.
A report will be prepared for the coroner.
Updated
‘One of the big changes we have made is greater access to medical terminations’
Katy Gallagher said a response to Senate reports into reproductive choice, perimenopause and menopause was coming this week. She told ABC Insiders:
Part of our finalising our response have been linked obviously with us making some decisions about the investments we want to put in women’s health. On the issue of termination of pregnancy, I mean, one of the big changes we have made is greater access to medical terminations and we have seen improvements and increases in access, so better access to medical terminations.
We have also done that as I referred to earlier that big $1.7bn investment into public hospitals. They’re run by the states and territories. So, you know, that really is a decision for them about access to surgical terminations in those facilities.
Updated
Coalition backs healthcare package
Gallagher welcomed the opposition backing Labor’s package for women’s health this morning. She said on ABC Insiders:
We know Peter Dutton wanders around saying he’s going to cut a whole range of things. He’s clear he sees a lot of our investments in Medicare as wasteful spending. But these are really good investments into women’s health. And it will make a difference for millions of people across the country including women who are going through men who really have felt left behind by the health system and hopefully these new measures will address all of those issues.
Updated
Women’s health in spotlight
Gallagher was asked about the measures chosen in Labor’s $573.3m package for women’s health. She told ABC Insiders:
It’s come down quite obviously for women across the country, the use of contraception, going through different stages of your life, including menopause, that these are areas that either haven’t been addressed for decades, or haven’t been met appropriately through the Medicare system. So, you know, we have landed the hospital deal, keep investing in the public health system, we have got a lot of initiatives about strengthening Medicare and this builds on that.
Updated
Gallagher backs diversity targets
Katy Gallagher, who is also minister for women, was asked whether US president Donald Trump’s executive order ending diversity targets was of concern.
She tells ABC Insiders host David Speers:
We have arrangements in law, the Workplace Gender Equality Agency has requirements for businesses to report against certain targets and measures. So that will continue.
Speers listed Google and Meta as among companies to have dropped their diversity, equity, inclusion and gender quotas in the US. Gallagher said:
I note all of those companies that have operations in Australia have confirmed, of course, that they would continue to operate with Australian law, which does allow for reporting and for progress to be made, particularly around issues of gender equality.
And as an employer, I guess for us, in the public service, you know, we have measures where we want to see more First Nations people attracted and retained in the public service, more people with a disability, from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, and make sure women are getting fair opportunity.
We’re all searching for talent and we know the services we provide as a public service are stronger based on the makeup of your own workforce.
Updated
‘We will make decisions in our national interest’
Asked if there is “any fear of upsetting Donald Trump”, Katy Gallagher says Australia’s national interest comes first:
The finance minister was speaking on ABC Insiders a short while ago:
We’ll always make our decisions based on Australia’s national interest. Obviously … America is an important strategic partner and our closest ally, has been for decades through different administrations. We will make decisions in our national interest and we will navigate the relationship and President Trump’s presidency in accordance with those principles.
Updated
Forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza would be against international law, Katy Gallagher says
Forced displacement of people “is not consistent with international law”, finance minister Katy Gallagher said on ABC Insiders this morning.
Host David Speers asked a number of times for her response to Trump’s proposal that the US should “take over” Gaza and “own it”, which the UN secretary general, António Guterres, warned would be “ethnic cleansing”. Gallagher said:
I think President Trump has made it clear that he’s going to do things differently. I think the prime minister was right to, you know, confirm what our position is – which is a two-state solution that supports the rights of the Palestinian people, the state of Palestine, and the state of Israel to coexist peacefully.
Speers asked whether Gallagher supported “the idea of an American-owned Gaza?”.
Gallagher said:
Well, we have made clear what our position is – two-state solution – and that the conflict in the Middle East is resolved as soon as possible and peacefully, and in accordance with international law.
Speers pushed again: “And this wouldn’t be consistent with international law?”
Gallagher responded:
If you’re talking forced displacement, David, that is not consistent with international law. So our position is and has been very clear and consistent and remains consistent and it’s a bipartisan position in this country.
Updated
Triathlete dies in Tasmania
A man in his 60s died on Saturday while competing in the Coles Bay Triathlon, on the east coast of Tasmania.
The man from Launceston was taking part in the swimming leg at Muris beach when he died, police said:
He was known to be a strong swimmer, and investigations are continuing into the cause of death.
A report is being prepared for the Coroner. Our thoughts are with his family.
The triathlon features a 1.9km swim, a 90km bike and a 21.1km run.
Updated
More severe weather to hit north Queensland
Already sodden parts of north Queensland are set for further heavy rainfall after near-record flooding that isolated towns and required defence force assistance.
Totals in excess of 200mm were possible in areas spanning from Tully to Ayr, south of Townsville, before additional rainfall blankets the region through Monday.
The Bureau of Meteorology warned a strengthening monsoon trough lingering across northern parts of Queensland will drive the intensification of rainfall in tandem with a tropical low off the coast.
It comes after a week of wet weather that cut power to communities, forced hundreds to evacuate and required the Australian defence force to erect a temporary bridge near Ingham for critical supplies.
A number of flood warnings remain in place through the weekend, with river systems and catchments likely to respond, the bureau warned.
High weekend totals and another severe weather warning are hammer blows to residents who have begun returning to their inundated homes.
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– Australian Associated Press
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First new contraceptive pills in more than 30 years on PBS
Some measures will take effect almost immediately, including the PBS listing of the first new contraceptive pills in more than 30 years, and the first new menopausal hormone therapies in more than 20 years.
Other measures will be implemented after the re-election of the Albanese Labor government, the party says.
Minister for women Katy Gallagher:
Women have asked government to take their healthcare seriously, and we have listened.
Our investment of more than half a billion dollars will deliver more choice, lower costs, and better healthcare for women at all stages of their lives.
These changes could save women and their families thousands of dollars across their lifetimes.
Whether it’s saving hundreds of dollars on contraceptives, opening more endo and pelvic pain clinics, or ensuring more reliable support for women going through menopause – this comprehensive package will deliver for millions of women and their families.
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Labor's $573.3m package for women's health
Today the Labor party will announce a $573.3m it says will deliver more choice, lower costs and better healthcare for women.
The package of measures includes:
The first PBS listing for new oral contraceptive pills in more than 30 years.
Larger Medicare payments and more bulk billing for IUDs and birth control implants saving about 300,000 women a year up to $400 in out-of-pocket costs.
A new Medicare rebate for menopause health assessments, funding to train health professionals, the first clinical guidelines and a national awareness campaign.
The first PBS listing for new menopausal hormone therapies in over 20 years.
Opening 11 new clinics for endometriosis and pelvic pain, and ensuring these and the existing 22 clinics are also staffed to provide additional specialist support for menopause.
Contraceptives and treatment for uncomplicated UTIs directly from pharmacies, with two national trials to benefit 250,000 concession cardholders.
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Good morning
And welcome to our live news blog. I’m Rafqa Touma updating you with the stories of the day as they happen.
We woke up to news that a heatwave, bringing high humidity and hot nights, is moving east from southern and central Australia. Southern parts of the Northern Territory and far western parts of Queensland are bearing the brunt, while Melbourne and Hobart are also expected to experience a run of unusually hot weather.
Yesterday thousands of people attended rallies across Australia to show solidarity with transgender youth and their families, after the Queensland government’s decision to pause essential healthcare for trans minors. Twenty rallies were held, including crowds of 5,000 gathering in Brisbane and Melbourne, 2,500 in Sydney and more than 200 in Cairns, a lead organiser said.
And Australia’s largest childcare provider is facing activist pressure to give staff paid parental leave. Australian employers commonly offer paid parental leave – in addition to the government scheme – to attract and retain workers in a competitive jobs market. But the largest listed childcare provider in Australia, G8 Education, has no such policy, drawing the attention of activist shareholders who want to pressure it to change.
Now let’s get into the news of the day.
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