What we learned: Sunday 23 February
With that, we will close the blog for the afternoon. Enjoy the rest of your weekends, we’ll be back first thing tomorrow for all the latest.
Until then, here were today’s major developments:
The prime minister has announced “the biggest boost to Medicare in its history”, with an $8.5bn commitment to expand bulk billing from 11 million to 26 million people. Anthony Albanese wants nine out of 10 GP visits to be fully bulk billed for all Australians by 2030, an “ambitious” goal but one “people deserve”.
The opposition has backed Labor’s pledge and gone further, promising $9bn towards the general practice system and calling for parliament to reconvene before election to pass the Medicare legislation.
Two tropical cyclones could form off the Australian coast on Sunday – one off the north-east and the other the north-west coast – the Bureau of Meteorology forecasts.
The federal treasurer, Jim Chalmers, will fly to the United States tonight to meet the US Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent. Chalmers will continue to push for Australia to be exempt from the Trump administration’s tariffs on steel and aluminium. Albanese has already made his case for exemption to the US president, Donald Trump.
And Pro-Palestinian groups have held a rally outside the National Gallery of Australia in opposition to the censorship of the Palestinian flag in an Indigenous art installation
Updated
Australian super on track to become second richest in the world
Australian retirees could become the richest in the world, according to new research, AAP reports.
As a voice for more than 11 million Australians, the Super Members Council says the nation’s pension assets will surpass the UK’s in 2030 and Canada’s by 2031.
The milestones will mean the collective nest egg will become the second richest in the world behind only the United States’ despite having the 55th-highest population.
The council’s analysis shows that between 2001 and 2023, Australia’s cumulative superannuation contributions were the highest among OECD countries and well above the OECD average.
Super Members Council CEO Misha Schubert:
Australia has the fastest growing super system globally – twice the rate of international peers. We’re the only OECD country where spending on government-funded pension payments is falling and will continue to fall.
Funds under management in Australia are now $4.1tn, exceeding any single Sovereign Wealth Fund including Norway ($2.8tn) and China ($2.1tn).
A delegation of Australian super fund representatives is now in the US looking for new investment opportunities to further grow Australians’ super savings. The group will join Australia’s ambassador to the US, Kevin Rudd, and Australia’s consul general in New York, Heather Ridout, in Washington DC and New York at the Superannuation Investment Summit.
Updated
Banana growers expect to face longer-term effects on fruit production
In the 2022-23 financial year, banana production was worth more than $583m, according to the growers’ council.
Collins, who grows bananas on farms at Tully and Lakeland near Cairns, said the recent flooding could have a longer-term effect on fruit production.
While some losses were immediately apparent – for example, to roads and irrigation – the long-term impact on production is starting to become clear.
He said many affected banana farmers were still looking at clean-up costs of more than $25,000.
The deputy chair of the council, Stephen Lowe, previously told Guardian Australia that while only a small percentage of flooded farms’ banana trees would be destroyed, a far larger proportion would have waterlogged roots.
Updated
Banana prices returning to normal as north Queensland roads reopen
Bananas are expected to return to their usual retail prices as the “backlog” of demand eases amid the cleanup from serious flooding in northern Queensland, growers say.
Farmers in the region – which produces almost 94% of Australia’s banana crop – have been grappling with the fallout from devastating floods earlier this month.
Queensland’s gulf country was hit by heavy rainfall that lasted more than a week, leading to flooding that isolated entire towns including Ingham, killed two people and forced hundreds more to evacuate.
The Australian Banana Growers Council chair, Leon Collins, said there had not been an immediate banana shortage and that any gaps in supply and price fluctuation were due to extended road closures.
Thankfully, we do not expect this to last for much longer as roads are now open and the backlog is clearing. There has never been a shortage of bananas – just a lack of options to get them out of far north Queensland.
He urged the government to prioritise improving road infrastructure in the region, saying the banana industry had been losing approximately $20m a week while the Bruce highway and alternate routes were cut off by flood waters.
The disruption to supply from northern Queensland meant major supermarkets turned to the much smaller community of growers in northern New South Wales, according to Coffs Harbour banana farmer Paul Shoker.
Shoker said he usually sold his Cavendish bananas – the most popular commercial variety – locally but had been supplying them to Coles and Woolworths to sell in Sydney and other metropolitan locations since the floods.
Coles is selling Cavendish bananas online for $0.77 each or $4.50/kg. Woolworths is selling them for $0.86 each and does not have a price per kilogram available on its website.
Shoker said before the flooding, both major supermarkets had been promoting a back to school special, with bananas on sale for $2.50 a kilo.
I think we will see in the coming week prices easing a little, but I expect bananas to still be around that $4.50/kg to reflect the fact they’re not cheap to grow. At $4.50, generally speaking, growers are breaking even.
Updated
Can parliament legislate bulk-billing changes before the election?
With Peter Dutton urging Labor to legislate their investment into Medicare prior to the federal election, let’s have a look at dates.
The federal budget is due to be handed down on 25 March. Both houses are next due to sit from 25 to 27 March, and again after Anzac Day.
The last date the next federal election can be held is 17 May, and there can be no fewer than 33 days between an election being called and hitting the polls – which means it must be called by 14 April at the latest.
In other words, it’s a tight squeeze.
Updated
Dutton calls for parliament to reconvene before election to pass Medicare legislation
On to questions: Dutton is asked if he can rule out other cuts in government spending, such as hospitals or the NDIS, to fund the changes.
He says all you need to do is “have a look at our track record”.
We support legislation that the government has put forward in this term of parliament, which provides an underpinning of support to the NDIS and funds into those two important areas.
I just make this point. The prime minister obviously doesn’t want to go to a budget. Now, I think the prime minister is running from a budget because he doesn’t have a good story to tell. The cost of everything is up.
He calls for Albanese to make sure the parliament sits again prior to the election so that the legislation can be passed.
That can happen unless the prime minister runs to an early election. If he’s running to an early election to get away from delivering a budget, you know that he’s hiding the numbers. You know that he has no good story to tell about the achievements of this government over the last three years … So I think the onus is on the prime minister to make sure the parliament sits as scheduled and we can legislate to provide a guarantee around this funding, which is important for general practice.
And that is something we would support, and we’re happy to sit down and help draft the legislation with the government.
Updated
Ruston accuses Labor of “using one of the most important issues facing Australia … as a scare campaign”.
Yesterday in their press release, all they could do is talk about Peter Dutton. Today in the press conference, all Mr Albanese could talk about is Peter Dutton.
Peter Dutton, a man who has got a very strong and proud track record as the leader of the opposition, but also his time as the health minister … We will support them fixing the mess, because we believe that Australians deserve to have the support, the primary care support underpinned by Medicare.
Ruston says Coalition would double number of Medicare-supported mental health sessions
Ruston says the Coalition particularly backs announcements into the workforce to leverage the number of GPs and a strong primary care workforce.
On the eve of the election, the government has obviously seen the need to … back a strong primary care workforce, because a strong primary care workforce backs in Medicare.
But we remain very, very disappointed that despite us saying that we would restore the cuts made by the Albanese government early on in their period in government to cut Medicare supported mental health sessions for the 240,000 Australians who live with chronic and severe and complex mental health conditions that was slashed in half by this government in early in the first part of this term.
So we have said that we will reinstate those. We will reinstate the cuts made by Labor, by doubling the number of Medicare-supported mental health sessions for Australians who so desperately, desperately need it.
Updated
Shadow health minister says Australians ‘have been successively denied’ by Labor on health
The shadow health minister, Anne Ruston, follows Dutton. She says the Coalition “will not stand in the way of a mess that the Labor government have made”.
By absolutely every measure the Albanese government has failed Australians on health … We know that bulk-billing rates have plummeted 11% just in the last three years. They went up 6% under us.
As Peter said today, we will match dollar for dollar the announcements that have been made by the government, in addition to the mental health supports that have already been committed by Peter Dutton for a Coalition government.
We will do that because Australians deserve the quality healthcare that they have been successively denied over the last three years. And also, we will not stand in the way of a mess that the Labor government have made, that they’re now seeking to try and remedy.
Updated
Coalition funding would ensure GP practices are ‘viable’: Dutton
Dutton says there is a “cost-of-living crisis” occurring in Australia where families can’t afford groceries or items in their household budgets.
He says the additional funding to the healthcare system will go towards training, mental health services and ensuring practices are “viable” and can provide a “mix of services to patients”.
And it’s not just households. There are 27,000 small businesses which have collapsed over the last three years … and importantly, 272 GP practices have closed over the course of the last three years … the prime minister might tell you different things about health and the investment in it, but the outcomes are very different.
So I’m pleased to announce today that a Coalition government is committed to $9bn worth of investment in to our general practice network. It will provide support to training. It will provide support to mental health services, and it will provide support to making sure that practices are viable and can provide a mix of services to patients.
And it will help build those bulk-billing rates back up to what they were under a Coalition government.
Updated
Dutton says Coalition will invest $500m more than Labor in GP network
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, is speaking now from Albany Creek in Queensland in response to Labor’s Medicare announcement.
As he flagged earlier, the Coalition has backed the proposed funding and says the party will commit $9bn towards the general practice network, going further than the $8.5bn promised by Labor.
Dutton says the Coalition “always manages the economy more effectively, and that’s why we can afford to invest into health and education services and other important needs for Australians”.
It’s important that we have a balanced investment into the health system and when we were in government, we invested significantly into health. We also increased the bulk billing rate.
Updated
Tropical cyclones expected to form off northern Queensland and WA coasts
Two tropical cyclones could form off the Australian coast on Sunday – one off the north-east and the other the north-west coast – the Bureau of Meteorology forecasts.
Both weather systems are well offshore but that near Queensland in particular will be closely monitored, with both states already reeling from natural disasters – although the system off Western Australia is not predicted to impact the state.
The bureau issued a tropical cyclone information bulletin at 10:45am Sunday for a tropical low in the Coral Sea about 730km east-north-east of Cairns.
The low was moving east-north-east at 13 kilometres an hour, the bureau said, and was expected to develop into a tropical cyclone later that day.
The weather system was expected to continuing building strength as it turned south-east and then south during the week.
“Considerable uncertainty exists in the track the system will take beyond that, but there is a risk it will move closer to the central Queensland coast later in the week,” the bulletin said.
Whether or not the cyclone itself makes landfall, it could still bring heavy rain to the state – large swathes of which are still recovering from disastrous flooding.
Earlier on Sunday the bureau issued a separate cyclone bulletin for a tropical low 890km north-west of Exmouth in the Indian Ocean.
It was moving towards the south-west and was expected to strengthen slowly throughout the day, possibly reaching tropical cyclone strength Sunday but more likely during Monday.
It was expected to start weakening on Wednesday and not have any direct impacts on any Australian mainland or island communities from that system.
Updated
Strong winds and lightning hit Victoria ahead of expected cool change
In Victoria, wild winds and lightning have lashed parts of the state this weekend, leaving 15,000 residents without power, mostly in the Dandenong Ranges.
In the past 24 hours, the SES received more than 220 calls for help – 100 of them overnight for fallen trees and property damage.
Fires that started on Saturday in Donnybrook, Willowmavin, Drouin West and Boho are all under control and pose no risk to communities.
Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Angus Hines said elevated fire danger was expected to continue on Sunday across Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia.
He said a cool change had already moved through SA and would continue to cross Victoria and Tasmania into the afternoon.
That cool change would bring gusty winds and showers, including severe thunderstorms with damaging wind gusts, in eastern Victoria and Tasmania’s south-east, Hines said.
Another high pressure system will move across south-eastern Australia on Monday bringing warmer conditions by the middle of the week.
Updated
GP advocacy group welcomes ‘historic’ bulk billing announcement
General Practice Registrars Australia (GPRA) has welcomed Anthony Albanese’s announcement today as a “significant investment in general practice training and the broader GP system”.
The GPRA president, Dr Chris Dickie, said:
For GPRA and our members, today’s announcement is historic – a real gamechanger for the future GP workforce.
The commitment to improve pay and leave entitlements for GP trainees – a reform GPRA and our members have been actively advocating for over many years – is a fantastic step forward in attracting doctors into general practice and increasing access to care for patients.
Updated
Labor's bulk billing announcement: what we learned
Here is a little recap of what we learned from the Anthony Albanese and Mark Butler’s campaign rally speech in Launceston.
The prime minister has described today’s healthcare announcement as “the biggest boost to Medicare in its history”, with an $8.5bn commitment to expand bulk billing from 11 million to 26 million people.
Albanese wants nine out of 10 GP visits to be fully bulk billed for all Australians by 2030, an “ambitious” goal but one “people deserve”.
Clear lines have also been drawn between Australia and the United States. Albanese said we “don’t want our health system to be more American” or “copy the ideologies of any nation”.
Labor has made a clear effort to market itself as the party of Medicare, with the Mark Butler accusing Peter Dutton of having a “bloody terrifying” record as health minister.
The Coalition, however, has been quick to back in Labor’s pitch, releasing a statement the same time as the prime minister was speaking that confirmed it would match the announcement “dollar for dollar”.
Updated
Coalition pledges to match $8.5bn bulk billing investment ‘dollar for dollar’
Meanwhile, the Coalition says it will match “dollar for dollar” Labor’s Medicare announcement today, pledging to also invest $8.5bn into bulk billing in a commitment the government says will make 90% of GP visits free.
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, and shadow health minister, Anne Ruston, said “it has never been harder and more expensive to see a doctor”, pointing to figures about people avoiding GP visits due to cost concerns.
The Coalition announcement was made at the same time Anthony Albanese was standing up in Launceston in a campaign rally speech.
“The Coalition recognises the urgent need for better access to bulk billed services in the middle of Labor’s healthcare crisis,” Dutton and Ruston said in a statement.
That is why a Dutton Coalition Government will match the $8.5bn investment into Medicare dollar-for-dollar to fix Labor’s mess and restore bulk billing back up to Coalition levels.
This investment builds on the $500m commitment already announced by the Coalition to restore critical Medicare funding for mental health support, after it was slashed in half by the Albanese Government. We continue to call on Labor to match this funding and support vulnerable Australians with more complex or chronic mental health conditions.
The $8.5bn figure is likely to be one of the biggest single commitments of the election campaign, before the poll due by mid-May. Health is to be a major campaign point for Labor and the Coalition, as Albanese seeks to keep scrutiny on Dutton’s record as health minister, including his ill-fated 2014 plan for a $7 GP co-payment.
“The Coalition has a strong record on health,” Dutton and Ruston said.
Without sound and prudent economic management – something Labor is incapable of – investments like this cannot be delivered. Only the Coalition can guarantee a strong economy to deliver better healthcare.
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‘We don’t want our health system to be more American’, PM says
Finally, the prime minister pitches this year’s election as “so much more than a choice between two different parties or two different plans”.
On every different issue that matters, jobs and wages, education and skills, energy and housing, cost of living and the economy, the difference and the contrast between us and our opponents is night and day. When the Liberals left office, inflation was rising, wages were falling and interest rates were going up. Together, we have turned this around. Under the Liberals, inflation had a six in front of it and was rising. Under Labor, inflation has a two in front of it and is falling.
My fellow Australians, this election is a make or break moment for Medicare. A re-elected Labor government will make it easier for Australians to see a doctor for free. We will make Medicare stronger than it has ever been. But if the Liberals get their way, they will break bulk billing and break the promise that Medicare is built on. Through half a century of change, through everything the world has thrown at Australia, Labor’s commitment to universal healthcare has never, ever wavered.
Labor built Medicare for Australia and it was built on the Australian values of fairness and opportunity for all. We don’t want our health system to be more American. We don’t need to copy the ideologies of any nation. We only want our health system to be more Australian.
Only Labor is building stronger Medicare and only Labor is building Australia’s future. Thanks very much.
Updated
Albanese turns to Labor’s broad election pitch – all about equity and access.
A tax cut for every taxpayer not just some. Energy bill relief for every household, not just some. We are cutting student debt for all 3 million students, not just some. And we will boost bulk billing for all Australians, not just some!
He turns to the Coalition, accusing Peter Dutton of only coming up with “three ideas over the last three years”.
One, $10bn for all taxpayer funded long lunches for just some people. Secondly, $600bn for seven nuclear reactors that won’t be ready until sometime in the 2040s. And, three, cutting everything else to pay for them … But they will let you know where the cuts are after the election.
… Australians know that every single time the Liberals have come to government with a plan for cuts, Medicare is the first place that they look … the Liberals will never stop trying to make Australians pay more for their healthcare. The only way to stop them, the only way to protect Medicare, strengthen it and secure it for all is to re-elect our Labor government.
Updated
Labor pledges bulk-billing incentives for doctors and new GP training program
Albanese describes the reform as “the biggest boost to Medicare in its history”.
From 11 million people to all 26 million of us, this is the biggest boost to Medicare in its history … an $8.5bn commitment to deliver stronger Medicare everywhere, saving people hundreds of dollars in out-of-pocket costs, getting bulk billing up to full strength and making it easier for Australians to see a GP for free wherever they live.
Today I announced we will offer every GP practice a new incentive payment to bulk bill. This payment will go to every doctor in every practice that commits to bulk billing every patient every time. This will mean three times as many GP practices fully bulk billing.
He says starting next year, Labor will also build the “biggest GP training program in Australian history”, encouraging junior doctors to become GPs and work in the regions and suburbs with the highest need, on top of 400 new scholarships for nurses and midwives.
Updated
Nine out of 10 GP visits will be free, Albanese says
Albanese says the government’s goal is for nine out of every 10 GP visits to be free.
That is an ambitious goal. But people deserve ambition from their government on Medicare because just as every Australian wants the best healthcare for their family, our government wants the best for every Australian.
He points to a $1.7bn funding boost for public hospitals in the coming year, and the opening of 87 Medicare urgent care clinics which are fully subsidised.
You should be able to see a doctor for free. That is the meaning of Medicare. It for too many people, that security has been slipping out of reach. When we came to government, doctors were warning that bulk billing was in freefall.
So we took action. We tripled above billing incentives for 11 million people. The people who need to see a GP most, pensioners, concession card holders and families with young children … today we go further. Today I announce that our government will expand the bulk-billing incentive to cover all Australians.
Updated
Albanese continues to critique the Coalition’s record on healthcare, accusing them of imposing successive cuts on the system.
Thirty and 40 years ago the Liberals were open and honest about trying to abolish Medicare. These days they approach it somewhat differently. Even Tony Abbott promised no cuts to health … The Liberals have changed what they say, but they will never change who they are. When they talk about “efficiencies”, they mean cuts. When they talk about “economic surgery”, they mean cutting bulk billing off at the knees.
When they talk about “contributions” or “copayments”, that means user pays. User pays means patients pay. It means family pays, and it means doctors and nurses and healthcare workers pay. That’s why in the Labor party we don’t call people who rely on Medicare and bulk billing in the PBS and public hospitals “users” – we call them Australians.
Updated
Albanese: ‘A strong economy depends on a healthy society’
The prime minister says Medicare is at the “heart of people’s lives” – fundamental to health and security, and front and centre to the cost of living.
He says Medicare also represents the Australian idea of a “fair go”.
That is why Medicare is much more than ordinary policy or program. Medicare is a promise that the government makes to every citizen. If something goes wrong, if you get hurt, if your child is sick and you need help, you are never on your own.
Medicare will be there for you. That’s a statement about who we are as a society, as a country, as Australians. We look after each other. We matter to each other. Medicare is a promise that no one will be left behind and it’s a platform that ensures no one is held back. Because a strong economy depends on a healthy society and reliable, affordable services are the foundation for aspiration. A starting point for so much else. Because if you don’t have your health, if you don’t have the security of knowing that a great doctor and the best medicine are always in reach, if you have to put off seeing a doctor because you can’t afford it – it’s not just the individual who suffers, our whole society pays a price.
That is the cold hard lesson of every Liberal government … it is why Peter Dutton’s number-one priority as health minister was a GP tax designed to destroy bulk billing altogether.
Updated
Albanese calls Medicare the 'beating heart' of Labor's election pitch
Anthony Albanese is up next. He says it’s “great to be back” in Tasmania.
My fellow Australians, building Australia’s future is about your future. It’s about your right to a great education. Your dream of home ownership, your hard work being rewarded with fair pay. Your aspiration to build a good life for yourself and your family. And building Australia’s future is about making Medicare stronger.
Stronger Medicare is at the heart of our government and it will be the beating heart of our election campaign.
Updated
Butler labels Dutton’s record on Medicare ‘bloody terrifying’
Butler says bulk billing was critiqued at the time by the Liberal party and the Australian Medical Association, “but Labor was prepared to fight”.
For 41 years since we’ve kept up the fight. Remember that the father of the modern Liberal party, John Howard … tried to kill it, election after election. But Labor kept fighting for Medicare and the Australian people kept voting for it.
And when the Liberals finally had to raise the white flag on their idea of completely abolishing Medicare, instead they tried to kill it with the death of 1,000 cuts … which Liberal health minister did more than any other to undermine bulk billing? … Of course it was the man who Australia’s doctors voted the worst health minister in the history of Medicare. You know him, Peter Dutton.
He started a six-year freeze on Medicare funding that stripped billions of dollars out of Medicare and froze the income of all general practice … when we came to the government almost three years ago, bulk billing was in freefall.
Friends, I’m told we are heading towards an election soon. We need to brace ourselves for some rubbish that will be coming our way. You will be told Labor pointing out Dutton’s crystal-clear record as health minister is a scare campaign. To which I say, Peter Dutton’s record on Medicare isn’t just scary, it’s bloody terrifying.
Updated
Health minister introduces Labor bulk-billing platform
The health minister, Mark Butler, is appearing now at an event in Launceston to formally announce Labor’s pre-election Medicare plan.
He says at this election, voters face the “clearest choice possible”.
On the one hand a stronger Medicare under Labor and on the other more cuts to Medicare under Peter Dutton. Bob Hawke, Paul Keating and Neil Blewett 41 years ago introduced Medicare.
It was the promised of making healthcare cheaper, simpler and fairer. Bulk billing was the beating heart of that promise. Because what could be cheaper, simpler, or fairer? The idea that every Australian no matter where they lived, no matter what, could see their doctor for free.
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Protesters gather outside National Gallery of Australia against Palestinian flag 'censorship'
Pro-Palestinian groups will hold a rally outside the National Gallery of Australia in opposition to the censorship of the Palestinian flag in an Indigenous art installation.
The Palestine Action Group Canberra (PAGC) and Canberra Palestine and Climate Justice Group (CPCJC) will gather at 1pm today, calling the censorship of any artwork or nation’s flag “unacceptable”.
The CPCJC’s Dr Tamara Kayali Browne said “once censorship starts, it is the beginning of the end”.
If an institution can censor, particularly on such spurious grounds, there is no logical reason why you would censor one thing and not another.
Even if you are not passionate about the struggle for Palestinian liberation, everyone has an interest in opposing this censorship, because if this is permitted, it sets a very bad precedent and we could all be censored.
The gallery claimed it covered the Palestinian flags in the major exhibition after undertaking a security threat assessment. They said, in a statement:
Consideration was given to past protest activity and vandalism at the National Gallery, the volatility of the environment and reported violence, vandalism and threats in Canberra, and across Australia at the time.
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Victorian government tweaks plans for high-density housing ‘activity centres’
The Victorian government has made a concession on housing, releasing updated plans for its first 10 pilot “activity centres”, which are expected to deliver 60,000 homes to suburban areas by 2051.
The update, introducing boundary restrictions and lower height limits, follows two rounds of community consultation with more than 10,000 people, councils and other key groups.
The plans, to become law next month, allow for fast approvals in busy commercial precincts, with lower height limits for the residential areas.
They will operate in Broadmeadows, Camberwell Junction, Chadstone, Epping, Frankston, Moorabbin, Niddrie, North Essendon, Preston (High Street) and Ringwood.
Under the previous draft plans, all proposed catchment areas had a four-storey height limit – with scope for up to six storeys on large blocks. Instead, catchment areas will be split into two: inner and outer.
Inner catchments will have the same limit, while outer catchments will have a new three-storey limit, or up to four storeys on larger blocks. Maximum heights range from 10 up to 20 storeys for developments using the fast-tracked “deemed to comply” process.
Catchment boundaries have also been reduced in most centres after local feedback.
The premier, Jacinta Allan, said the status quo “won’t cut it”.
There is only one way out of the housing crisis – build our way out.
The state government announced plans in October to add another 50 activity centres in some of Melbourne’s most affluent suburbs, in an effort to build thousands more homes.
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Advocates call for holistic approach to combating domestic and family violence
Anti-violence campaigners are calling for a holistic approach to domestic and family violence prevention as well as specific help for child victim-survivors, AAP reports.
Successive governments have failed to stem what has become a national crisis, despite allocating millions of dollars to do so.
Experts say levels of violence are also increasing with new forms of abuse enabled by technology.
Women and children can now be terrorised by perpetrators stalking, surveilling and harassing them from tracking devices in children’s toys to threatening messages embedded in bank transfers, without the abuser even being present.
The annual cost of violence against women and their children is estimated at $26bn, according to the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022-2032.
One in three women have experienced physical violence since the age of 15, and one in five have experienced sexual violence.
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Total fire bans declared as out-of-control blazes continue to burn in Victoria and Tasmania
Increased fire danger is building across Australia’s south-east as wild winds and warm conditions keep crews on alert, AAP reports.
Total fire bans have been declared across Tasmania and parts of Victoria as conditions challenge firefighters in two states.
More than 150 firefighters, 14 aircraft, eight bulldozers and scores of interstate and international teams have been battling fires in Tasmania sparked by dry lightning earlier in February.
The blazes have scorched at least 94,500 hectares of Tasmanian wilderness and world heritage forest.
In Victoria, total fire bans have been declared in the Central and North Central regions with hot, dry and windy conditions expected to elevate risks before a west-to-south-west change. Temperatures of up to 36C are expected in the state’s north, along with wind gusts up to 100km/h before a late change.
Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Angus Hines said elevated fire danger was expected to continue on Sunday morning across Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia.
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‘President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is the elected leader of a courageous country’
Jim Chalmers has also bluntly contradicted the US president’s comments about Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the ongoing war with Russia.
Donald Trump shocked many western partners by calling Ukraine’s president “a dictator” and warning that he “better move fast” or he “won’t have a country left”. The US president also claimed Ukraine started the war.
Chalmers told ABC Insiders the Australian government’s position was clear:
We say the same things privately as we say publicly when it comes to Ukraine. The Australian position is very clear. It’s been really consistent.
The war started because of Russian aggression. President Voldomyyr Zelenskyy is the elected leader of a courageous country.
Our support for Ukraine has been unwavering and that will continue.
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Decision on Qatar Airways’ Virgin Australia bid to come this week
Jim Chalmers says he will make a decision on Qatar Airways’ bid to buy 25% of Virgin Australia from its private equity owner as early as this week.
Here’s what he told the ABC:
I received advice from the Foreign Investment Review Board this weekend. I will weigh up that advice. I hope to make a decision pretty swiftly. Ideally, this week, if I can.
I will weigh up all of the considerations in the Foreign Investment Review Board’s advice. I will make a decision which is consistent with our national economic interest.
Earlier this month, the competition watchdog said it was proposing to grant authorisation for the airlines to enter into an alliance, which would see the two carriers operate an additional 28 weekly flights from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth to Doha.
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Coalition will 'not get in the way' of Labor’s Medicare changes
The shadow treasurer, Angus Taylor, says the Coalition will not “get in the way” of Labor’s $8.5bn plan to improve access to bulk-billed medical appointments.
Speaking on Sky News, Taylor accused the Albanese government of letting bulk-billing rates drop in some parts of the nation.
He flagged the Coalition would not actively campaign against Labor’s policy in coming weeks:
We’re not going to get in the way of Labor cleaning up the mess that it has made. And it’s important that that mess be cleaned up.
What should have happened is we should have kept the gains or the benefit that we had when we were in government; that higher level of bulk-billing, that lower level of out-of-pocket [costs].
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Greens want Labor’s new Medicare plan implemented before election
The federal Greens have welcomed the Albanese government’s plan to significantly boost bulk-billing rates, as part of an $8.5bn policy, but claimed its campaigning influenced the decision.
Greens leader, Adam Bandt, said the policy would make a huge difference to people struggling to pay for healthcare, but he’s called for parliament to be recalled next week to pass the bill.
Greens pressure works. In a wealthy country like ours everyone should be able to see a GP, psychologist, dentist or nurse with their Medicare card.
It’s good Labor has adopted part of our plan to help people see the GP for free. Now let’s make it law before the election.
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Chalmers meeting with US Treasury to discuss Trump’s steel tariffs
The federal treasurer, Jim Chalmers, will fly to the United States tonight to meet with the US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent.
Chalmers will continue to push for Australia to be exempt from the Trump administration’s tariffs on steel and aluminium. Anthony Albanese has already made his case for exemption to the US president, Donald Trump.
Chalmers is playing down expectations ahead of his meeting:
Trade and tariffs will be part of the conversation, but not the whole conversation. That is an ongoing discussion that we’re having with our American counterparts. I don’t expect he will conclude those discussions on steel and aluminium while I’m in DC.
I am not going to pre-empt the outcome of those conversations, nor do I expect those discussions will necessarily be concluded this week, to be upfront with you.
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Treasurer says government wants private buyer for Whyalla steelworks
Chalmers has made it clear the government’s preference is not to own the Whyalla steelworks.
The federal and South Australian governments have announced a $2.4bn support package to ensure the steelworks keeps operating and its staff and creditors are paid.
Chalmers says “our preference and objective for both is for a private sector buyer. We are prepared to play a role”:
We believe that Australia’s golden opportunity in this world of churn and change is at the intersection of our resources base, our industry base, our skills and the energy transformation and the investments we are making enthusiastically with the South Australian government in Whyalla are a reflection of that.
Treasurer spruiks Medicare funding boost on ABC
The federal treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has been asked where a Labor government would find $8.5bn for its plan to significantly boost bulk-billing rates if it wins government.
Here’s what he told ABC Insiders host David Speers:
Around $5.4bn of the $8.5bn we are announcing we already provisioned for in the mid-year budget update. This shows what is possible, when you help engineer a $2bn improvement in the budget, knock out two surpluses to pay down Liberal debt and this is possible.
You make room for what matters to communities and particularly household budgets. It’s hard to think of a more important investment.
Speers asked Chalmers whether this policy would require borrowed money, or budget cuts:
Well, we will have the best combination of budget improvements and investments like this. What we have demonstrated in our first three budgets and we will demonstrate in the fourth, is to strike the right balance.
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Firefighters at the ready as hot winds heighten risk
Total fire bans have been declared across Tasmania and parts of Victoria as conditions challenge firefighters in two states, AAP reports.
No fires can be lit in Tasmania on Sunday, including incinerators, burn-offs, campfires, fire pits and wood-fuelled barbecues.
More than 150 firefighters, 14 aircraft, eight bulldozers and scores of interstate and international teams have been battling fires sparked by dry lightning earlier in February.
The blazes have scorched at least 94,500 hectares of Tasmanian wilderness and world heritage forest.
Tasmania’s fire commander, Matt Lowe:
We have strike teams pre-positioned at strategic locations across the state ready for a rapid response if required.
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GPs welcome Labor’s Medicare plan but flag not everyone will be bulk-billed
The Royal Australian College of GPs has applauded the government’s workforce commitment to train 2,000 new GPs every year by 2028 and incentivise more junior doctors to become specialist GPs, as part of the package.
But RACGP president, Michael Wright, flagged the proposal for a universal bulk-billing scheme wouldn’t necessarily mean everyone can access free medical care:
Extending bulk-billing incentives to everyone won’t necessarily mean everyone gets bulk-billed, because patient rebates are still too low to cover the cost of care.
Australia’s bulk-billing rate plummeted to 20.7% at the start of 2025, down from 35.7% two years earlier, according to data released by health care directory Cleanbill in January.
The proposed cash injection would be the biggest investment in Medicare since its creation 40 years ago, the government said.
– AAP
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Real or fake? AI tech sparks election deception fears
The possibility Australians could fall prey to fake political videos and audio grabs in the lead-up to the federal election has sparked concerns around electoral interference.
To test the likelihood, MPs from across the political spectrum were approached by AAP and shown a series of deepfakes, or digitally altered videos, of their leaders announcing false policies.
While able to spot the ruse themselves, they expressed unanimous concern that members of the public would be taken in by the deception.
Labor MP Graham Perrett picked the anomaly in a clip of the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, but admitted it was because he knew him too well to be duped.
But a significant number of people would believe it’s real, especially if you didn’t have ongoing interaction with the Australian political process.
So it could be two, three, four out of 10 that would actually think that’s a fair dinkum message from a politician.”
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One man dead and another under police guard after Tamworth hospital standoff
A 47-year-old man has died and a 55-year-old man is under police guard in a Tamworth hospital, after a standoff with police last night.
NSW police say they were called to a unit about 4.30pm on Saturday, where they discovered the 47-year-old with critical head injuries.
He was taken to Tamworth Base hospital where he was declared dead.
Police say the other man, who was allegedly armed with a knife, locked himself inside a bedroom before climbing on to the roof of the unit.
Tactical officers and negotiators spoke with the man before he allegedly fell from the roof.
He was treated for stab wounds before being taken to hospital, where he remains under police guard.
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Good morning
Welcome to the Australia news live blog. We’ve got a busy day ahead.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, will hold a campaign rally in Tasmania. He’ll be outlining an 8.5bn investment to create an extra 18m bulk-billed GP visits a year.
Before that, the federal treasurer, Jim Chalmers, will be doing the media rounds selling the policy. We’ll also bring you the Coalition’s response through the day.
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