What we learned: Monday 24 February
Thanks for reading our blog today. Have a great evening, wherever you are.
Here were today’s major developments:
NSW police have said the “very experienced” fisher who went overboard on Sunday is believed to have become entangled in fishing gear while retrieving a shark, before he fell off the boat and failed to resurface.
Brisbane’s bus drivers have delayed industrial action to the end of the week due to what their union described as “more productive negotiations” with Brisbane city council.
The Climate Change Authority has analysed the opposition leader, Peter Dutton’s, nuclear energy policy and said it would add huge amounts of extra climate pollution to the atmosphere and make it “virtually impossible” for Australia to reach net zero by 2050.
Senate estimates heard that Australia will meet a request by the UN’s top climate official to have countries submit by September this year their climate targets for 2035.
Dutton and the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, both held press conferences today. Dutton claimed to be the election “underdog” despite a boost in the polls.
Albanese was out talking up a Labor election promise of investing $8.5bn to fund an extra 18m bulk-billed GP visits a year. Albanese said the government was “very confident” about reaching a 90% bulk-billing rate under the new Medicare plan
And the Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, has said her government will strip planning powers from local governments that don’t get serious about approving more homes. Allan said she intended to “shake things up” to address the housing crisis as she released the final local government housing targets drafted last year.
Updated
Buses carrying schoolchildren crash in Queensland, no injuries reported
Two buses believed to be carrying schoolchildren have crashed in Caboolture, north of Brisbane.
The Queensland ambulance service said paramedics responded to the collision at the corner of Morayfield Road and Stringfellow Road just before 3pm.
The ambulance service said no one was injured.
Updated
Continuing from our last post …
Paterson has also asked officials whether it is appropriate that a Labor campaign poster was at a citizenship ceremony that Tony Burke attended.
During the hearing, Paterson handed out a printed screenshot from a video showing the poster.
He asked the department secretary, Stephanie Foster, whether the poster was consistent with the code home affairs has for ceremonies.
Foster said she was “unaware” of the posters and it “wasn’t apparent” Burke knew the poster was even there.
Later on, Watt informed the committee that “in full Inspector Clouseau mode” it had been found photo was actually taken of Burke’s campaign launch that was held the same day as the citizenship ceremony.
Updated
Debate over MPs attending citizenship ceremonies flares up in estimates hearing
There has been some drama around citizenship ceremonies in the federal Senate estimates this afternoon.
Senator James Paterson is asking home affairs officials about how guests are invited to citizenship ceremonies, and why multiple Labor MPs and candidates have been attending recent ceremonies.
There has been plenty of back and forth between Paterson, secretary Stephanie Foster, and Murray Watt who is representing the home affairs minister.
Foster said that according to the department code, the official invite goes to the “member of the locality in which the ceremony is being held, mayors who have conferees in the ceremony, and a senator of the opposition”.
She said the home affairs minister, Tony Burke, would have invited any other Labor MPs, and clarifies if a candidate attends, they do so “in a private capacity”.
There are also questions on why the independent MP Dai Le was not invited to one of the ceremonies.
Watt says Burke has said publicly he personally invited Le to the ceremony, though she has rejected that claim.
Le told Sky News this afternoon:
I was so furious that he [Burke] made that claim and a blatant lie to say that the invitation was sent to me.
You can read more context on the citizenship ceremony debate from Josh Butler here:
Updated
McNulty has said the missing fisher was not wearing a lifejacket when he fell overboard.
He said:
It’s just a message to everyone fishing, either locally in our waterways, offshore, it was a long way offshore – 55km offshore without a lifejacket.
Tragically, that might have assisted in his recovery – if he had a lifejacket on.
It’s a safety message for all mariners out there, the complacency sets in, it doesn’t matter how experienced you are or how long you’ve been fishing, wear a lifejacket.
Updated
Missing fisher believed to have become entangled while retrieving shark
NSW police say the “very experienced” fisher who went overboard on Sunday is believed to have become entangled in fishing gear before he fell off the boat.
Supt Joe McNulty, from the New South Wales police marine area command, gave an update on the situation a short time ago.
Experienced game fisher Paul Barning fell overboard while competing in a fishing competition about 1pm on Sunday, 55km off the coast of Newcastle.
He was reported to have been taken by a shark after falling off the boat, but another fisher denied a shark was involved and said the man was dragged overboard in a freak accident while fishing.
McNulty said the missing man was believed to have been forced overboard after he became entangled in his fishing gear while retrieving a shark, but there was no evidence the shark had attacked him.
He said:
What we can confirm is the vessel had hooked up a shark in its fishing gear and they were trying to retrieve the shark, usually for a tag and release program.
We believe the shark was quite large, the vessel was only 6.8 metres in length itself so during that process of bringing the shark alongside, he has become entangled in the fishing line and the shark has taken off.
That fishing line has pulled taut and maybe contributed to him going over the side of the vessel.
There is no evidence to say the shark has attacked a person in the water.
Updated
Woman charged with attempted murder after alleged stabbing in Coffs Harbour
New South Wales police say they have charged a 42-year-old woman with attempted domestic violence related murder after she allegedly stabbed a man near Coffs Harbour last night.
Police said they were called to Strouds Road in Bonville about 7.30pm, when they said they were told a man had allegedly been stabbed in the neck by a woman believed to be known to him.
Paramedics treated the man, also 42, at the scene before he was taken to a local hospital in a serious but stable condition, police said.
Police said the woman was arrested and taken to Coffs Harbour police station where she was charged with causing wounding/grievous bodily harm to a person with intent to murder (DV), and reckless wounding (DV).
She was refused bail to appear before Coffs Harbour local court earlier today, police said, where she was formally refused bail to appear before the same court on 15 April.
Updated
Hello, thanks for joining me on the blog. I’m here to take you through the rest of the day’s news.
Many thanks for joining me on the blog today, Catie McLeod will take you through the rest of our rolling coverage. Take care.
Brisbane bus drivers to strike on Friday
Brisbane’s bus drivers have delayed industrial action to the end of the week due to “more productive negotiations”.
The Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) said it had suspended strike action planned for Wednesday due to negotiations with Brisbane city council being “more progressive after its last stoppage”.
Drivers stopped work on Thursday last week from 4am to 6am over a pay dispute with the council. The union had planned to strike during peak hour on Wednesday, from 4pm to 6pm. There will be more negotiations on Wednesday.
The RTBU secretary Tom Brown said the union “will always bargain in good faith”.
We are not going to pass up the opportunity to reach an agreement, we will postpone our action.
The industrial action only affects drivers in the Brisbane city council, not other routes in south-east Queensland.
Updated
IVF provider says cyber-attack gained access to sensitive patient information
IVF provider Genea has said a cyber-attacker has gained access to a system containing sensitive patient information including medical history, diagnoses, treatments, doctors’ notes and medication information.
Guardian Australia reported last week that patients of IVF services provider Genea had been informed that the company had detected suspicious activity on its network and was working to figure out what had been compromised.
In an email to patients today, the Genea CEO, Tim Yeoh, revealed patient management systems had been accessed by an unauthorised third party, but it was unknown what personal information within those systems had been compromised.
Yeoh said the information in that system includes: full names, emails, addresses, phone numbers, Medicare card numbers, private health insurance details, Defence DA number, medical record numbers, patient numbers, date of birth, medical history, diagnoses and treatments, medications and prescriptions, patient health questionnaire, pathology and diagnostic test results, notes from doctors and specialists, appointment details, emergency contacts and next of kin.
Yeoh said at this stage there was no evidence that financial information such as credit card details or bank account numbers had been compromised, but the investigation is ongoing.
Updated
NZ defence minister weighs in on Chinese warships in Tasman sea
New Zealand’s defence minister, Judith Collins, has given an interview about the Chinese warships in in the Tasman Sea.
The ships undertook an apparent live-fire drill in international waters between Australia and New Zealand last week, diverting commercial flights in the skies above.
Speaking to Radio New Zealand today, Collins said China’s claim it gave sufficient warning to New Zealand and Australia was “wrong”.
There was a warning to civil aviation flights that was basically a very short amount of notice – a couple of hours – as opposed to what we would consider best practice, which is 12 to 24 hours’ notice so that aircraft are not having to be quickly diverted when they’re on the wing. So actually it is unusual and … we are seeking assurance from the Chinese embassy around that.
Collins told the outlet China was staying quiet on what else its ships might do this week:
They’re not telling us what they’re planning, but I can tell you that the ships are currently around 280 nautical miles east of Tasmania. So the ships have slightly changed their formation …
We don’t know what their intention is, but we’re taking them at face value that they are undertaking normal transits when it comes to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, that they’re not breaking the law. But as we’ve said, it is always better to give a lot more notice when it comes to live firing.
Updated
Australian shares flat as WiseTech Global plunges
The local share market has been struggling to keep its head above water, AAP reports, with losses by the market’s biggest tech company and major miners balanced by a bounce-back by the big banks.
At lunchtime the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index down 7.4 points, or 0.09%, to 8,288.8, while the broader All Ordinaries was down 29.1 points, or 0.034%, to 8,541.8.
The ASX200 had been down by as much as 79.9 points, or 0.9%, in early trading but by midday it was hovering in and out of positive territory. A finish in the red would extend its losing streak to six days – its longest streak since a seven-session stretch in June 2022.
In the technology sector, WiseTech Global plunged 22.7% to a six-month low of $94.14 after more turmoil at the cloud logistics platform:
Overall the tech sector had dropped 7.5%, also weighed down by Iress and Nuix. The former had sunk 16.2% after posting its full-year results, while the latter was down 9.2% on its half-year financials.
In the financial sector, all of the big four banks were in the green after last week’s sharp sell-off. In materials, all of the big miners were lower. BHP had dropped 1.4%, Rio Tinto had fallen 2.3% and Fortescue was down 0.2%.
The Australian dollar was buying 63.88 US cents, down from 63.95 US cents at 5pm on Friday.
Updated
Heated exchanges over when PM was briefed on Dural caravan
There’s been a long back and forth in Senate estimates over when the prime minister was briefed on the Dural caravan plot.
The shadow home affairs minister, James Paterson, has been trying to dig out more details on when the PM was briefed on the plot, before it became public last month.
Department secretary Stephanie Foster said she wouldn’t answer as it was an “ongoing investigation”, and that questions should be directed to the agency in charge, which is the federal police (who will be in front of Senate estimates tomorrow).
The questioning from Paterson got quite heated, with the shadow minister saying the government was “embarrassed”, with Murray Watt – who’s representing the home affairs minister in the Senate – retorting that Paterson was more interested in “political point scoring” than finding those responsible.
Greens senator David Shoebridge also asked the department when it was made aware of the caravan filled with explosives. Foster said she’d take all those questions on notice.
Earlier, Paterson asked what the protocols were around informing the government and relevant minister on security incidents. The department said there were “guidelines”, but they could change on a case-by-case basis.
Updated
BoM updates on Tropical Cyclone Alfred
The Bureau of Meteorology has provided an update on Tropical Cyclone Alfred (see earlier post), which is currently tracking through the Coral Sea – with a slight chance it could move towards the Queensland coast from next weekend.
Severe Weather Update 24 Feb 2025: Tropical Cyclone Alfred update.
— Bureau of Meteorology, Australia (@BOM_au) February 24, 2025
Video current: 11:00am AEST Monday 24 February 2025
For the latest forecasts and warnings go to our website https://t.co/4W35o8i7wJ or the BOM Weather app. pic.twitter.com/ujjJYujpH8
Updated
Call for national approach to efficiency standards while protecting renters
Continuing from our last post: Joel Dignam, executive director of Better Renting, said “too many” renters were in “substandard housing that is too hot in summer, too cold in winter and too expensive to keep at a healthy and comfortable temperature”.
Renters across Australia should be sharing in the benefits of a transition to efficient electric homes that are healthier to live in and cheaper to run. While owner-occupiers can make choices to cut their energy bills and improve their home’s comfort, renters are entirely in the hands of their landlord.
A national approach is needed to help states and territories implement strong energy efficiency standards while ensuring protections for renters. We’re calling for federal leadership to do their part so that all Australians can have a healthy home and affordable energy bills.
Updated
Funding sought to make rental properties more energy efficient
Renting advocates have paired up with industry organisations to call for targeted funding for landlords to make their investment properties more energy efficient.
A total of 120 organisations – including Better Renting, NSW Tenants Union, Acoss and the Real Estate Institute of Australia – have called on the federal government to step in to ensure renters can access the benefits of home energy upgrades and meet climate emissions reduction targets.
The four big ticket items are support for:
Landlords to access energy assessments or energy audits that are shared with renters.
Establishing a “one-stop-shop” to assist landlords to access appropriate finance, subsidies, tradespeople and compliance information
States and territories to implement mandatory energy performance disclosure at the point of lease, to support the implementation of mandatory energy performance rental standards, so that renters know the energy performance of the property before they sign.
Real-estate industry and strata management training, education and support.
Updated
Young Australian voters: what issues do you care about at the election?
Almost 50% of voters at this year’s federal election will be Generation Z and millennials, for the first time significantly outnumbering the baby boomers, who will make up about 33% of the electorate.
Are younger voters driven by different motives from their older counterparts? What economic and social stressors are being felt by the rising generations? What are people hoping for? And what will determine how they vote?
Are you a Gen Z or millennial voter (between the ages of 18 and 39 according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics)? We want to hear from you below:
Updated
Police warn of scam targeting Mandarin speakers
Victoria police are warning of a scam targeting Mandarin-speaking communities on networks such as WeChat and WhatsApp.
The scam, which operates worldwide, has seen victims across the country lose significant sums of money after speaking to callers who pretend to be officials from courier services, government officials and police.
Victoria police said it first received reports of the scam in 2017, which predominantly targeted Chinese nationals studying in the state, but recent reports indicated at least 20% of victims were non-students.
In 2024, police received almost 200 reports of this scam in Victoria, with victims suffering an estimated financial loss of over $7m.
Scammers have allegedly provided directions to some victims to gag and bind themselves and create fake crime scenes. They then instruct students to contact their parents and tell them they’re being held hostage and demand money.
Many of these scams involve offenders stealing hundreds of thousands, and sometimes millions, of dollars from their victims and their families, with this money never recovered, police said.
Updated
Staff stop work at immigration detention centres over redundancies
Workers at nine onshore Australian immigration detention centres have conducted a national stoppage, as talks with outgoing contractor Serco broke down. Strike action is occurring at:
Melbourne immigration detention centre
Villawood immigration detention centre
Brisbane immigration detention centre
Adelaide immigration detention centre
Perth immigration detention centre
Yongah Hill immigration detention centre, WA
Northern alternative place of detention, Darwin
Alternative place of detention, Adelaide
Alternative place of detention, Brisbane
The United Workers Union claims Serco has failed to address workers’ claims for redundancies as they leave Serco’s employment and start a new agreement with incoming immigration detention centre contractor Secure Journeys-MTC.
The union said today’s stoppages were an escalation from earlier two-hour national stoppages on Friday. There would be a hearing at the Fair Work Commission this afternoon assessing the Australian government solicitor’s request for workers to end their strike.
Allied Industries director Godfrey Moase said:
It’s a stinging indictment of Serco that a multibillion-dollar corporation is unable to deal fairly with workers who are seeking legitimate redundancies in a contract changeover. We need Serco and the federal government to understand these issues need to be resolved with a great deal of urgency.
Detention centre controller the Australian Border Force has been contacted for comment.
Updated
Emergency doctors raise alarm on escalating crisis
Physical violence against emergency doctors is pushing them to “breaking point”, AAP reports, with experts saying the abuse is happening so often, it needs to be dealt with as a matter of urgency before highly skilled doctors move away from the workforce.
The Australasian College for Emergency Medicine sent a snapshot survey to the directors of emergency medicine at all 131 college-accredited emergency departments. The findings of that report show that Australian emergency departments are facing an escalating crisis, and as a result the college has demanded immediate and systemic intervention.
College president Stephen Gourley said that since the Covid-19 pandemic, members had reported the public was becoming less tolerant and more aggressive, both verbally and physically.
It is time for a national conversation about violence in EDs, with urgent and co-ordinated action from all levels of government. We must act now before the damage being caused by this daily crisis in our emergency departments ends up beyond repair.
The report found that while there was no justification of violent behaviour, understanding the underlying causes was essential, particularly as those in emergency departments are often struggling with pain, grief, psychosis, dementia, delirium, intoxication and anaesthesia.
It suggested that excessively long waiting times, poorly understood triage systems and emergency department overcrowding could also be identified as contributing factors to the violence against medical staff.
Updated
Debate over Coalition proposal to slash federal public service pops up in Senate estimates
The debate over the size of the federal public service has surfaced in Senate estimates today, with Tasmanian Labor senator Helen Polley asking the home affairs department what it would do if it faced a 20% decrease in its staff under the Coalition.
There was a bit of back and forth over whether the department should be answering questions about hypothetical opposition policy. But department secretary Stephanie Foster told the hearing:
Typically governments will be clear with us about what outcomes they want us to produce … If there were to be a cut – and as Senator Scarr has pointed out, I’m being careful to avoid speculating – it is likely that cut would come with clear government priorities.
The department said that, of its 15,244 staff, about 36% were based in the ACT. It also told the hearing the Australian border force had 6,178 staff within the department.
Polley tried to make the point that any cuts by the Coalition to the public service would have an impact on home affairs and border force operations, but Foster replied:
It depends very much on whether those cuts are applied to home affairs and in which areas.
Updated
Coalition nuclear plan hides 2bn tonne ‘carbon bomb’ that puts net zero by 2050 out of reach – new analysis
Peter Dutton’s nuclear energy policy would add huge amounts of extra climate pollution to the atmosphere and make it “virtually impossible” for Australia to reach net zero by 2050, according to new analysis by a government agency.
The Climate Change Authority found the Coalition’s proposal to slow the rollout of renewable energy, keep ageing coal-fired power plants running until after 2040 and build taxpayer-funded nuclear reactors on seven sites would increase total carbon dioxide emissions by more than 2bn tonnes.
The authority’s chair, Matt Kean, said this would be equivalent to adding “two Beetaloo basins” worth of emissions to the atmosphere – a reference to the vast Northern Territory gas basin earmarked for development, which has been described as a potential “carbon bomb”.
You can read the full story from Adam Morton and Graham Readfearn below:
Senate estimates shed more light on top public servant’s early exit
The former boss of the Department of Parliamentary Services, Rob Stefanic, lost the “trust and confidence” of the presiding officers, a Senate estimates hearing has heard.
The parliamentary department has appeared before senators this morning and its top officials have shed more light on why the former long-serving secretary’s appointment was suddenly “concluded”.
The Senate president, Sue Lines, read out a short statement confirming Stefanic’s role as the department’s head on 17 December was terminated after “procedural fairness had been afforded”.
“It was a decision that was not taken lightly,” Lines said. You can read more of our coverage here:
Stefanic was re-appointed as the secretary in December 2020 for another five-year term due to end in December 2025. His tenure covered rocky periods in Parliament House, including the alleged rape of Brittany Higgins in a minister’s office by another staffer, leading to criticism of the department’s role in managing the situation in the hours, days and weeks after.
The acting secretary, Jaala Hinchcliffe, said Stefanic was provided with a sum of $153,660.64 for compensation for early loss of office.
An independent inquiry conducted by a Sydney barrister into a conflict of interest between Stefanic and his former deputy secretary, Cate Saunders, is still ongoing.
Hinchcliffe said she hoped parts of the finalised report would be made public.
Updated
Dutton claims to be election ‘underdog’ despite poll boost
The opposition leader was asked about polling showing 55% of surveyed Australians would preference the Coalition on a two-party basis, while 45% back Labor (see earlier post).
Peter Dutton said the Coalition “remain[s] the underdog in this election because a first-term opposition hasn’t won since 1931”. He went on the attack, and said:
This is the worst government since 1931, and Anthony Albanese’s the worst prime minister since 1931, and completely out of his depth …
Dutton said polling would “come and go” and the only poll that mattered was election day.
Asked if he would be ready if an election is called this Sunday, Dutton instead turned to the parliamentary schedule:
I think what’s important is that the prime minister should go back to parliament, as it’s scheduled to, in a couple of weeks so we can pass legislation to guarantee this funding in relation to Medicare, and also to make sure that the salmon industry in Tasmania can be taken care of.
With that, Dutton’s presser has wrapped up.
Updated
Dutton again flags public sector cuts
Asked if the Coalition has modelled how many thousands of public servant jobs would go to fund this, Peter Dutton responded:
The government’s put on an additional 36,000 public servants. We will reduce that number and the savings there will be about $6bn a year. That’s the advice that we have. So $24bn of savings over the four-year forward estimates period.
This policy is $9bn over that forward estimate period, so there’s obviously a much bigger save that we have identified and the $9bn not only is it counted for, but we have got a productivity gain, because I just don’t think more and more layers of approval and bureaucratic process out of Canberra is helping anyone.
Dutton says doctors ‘right to be sceptical’ on 90% bulk-billing target
Peter Dutton said doctors “are right to be sceptical” on whether 90% bulk-billing rates could be achieved.
The opposition leader said general practice needed to be made “attractive” to young doctors, “particularly … in outer metro regional and remote areas”.
So there are a lot of issues we need to get right. But I think what we have signalled is our desire to work with the sector, work with the doctors and make sure there’s a better outcome for patients and for doctors.
Asked if the move to back Labor’s plan is at odds with the Coalition’s commitment to be financially responsible, Dutton said that “we’re not supporting spending which is inflationary in the environment”.
It’s a big amount of money but we have identified the offset, the savings. Labor hasn’t done that. I think it’s a fair question for the prime minister as to where the money is going to come from.
Updated
Dutton addressing reporters in Brisbane
Let’s go to Brisbane now, where the opposition leader Peter Dutton has also been fronting the media.
Taking questions on the Medicare announcement, Dutton took aim at Labor and claimed bulk-billing rates are down by 11% and “people aren’t going to the doctors because they can’t afford the situation that Labor has created.”
He continued the Coalition’s line that Australian’s “can’t afford” three more years of Labor, and that “if you’re voting for Labor at the next election, you’re voting for Anthony Albanese and Adam Bandt, a Labor government-Greens government.”
Australians at the moment under Mr Albanese are cutting back every dollar of discretionary spending in their budget. Cutting out every, you know, ounce of fat in their household budget …
They would be thinking, ‘I want a prime minister, I want a treasurer and I want a government that is spending my tax dollars efficiently and that’s not what’s happening under this government at the moment.’ We’ll have more to say about costings and the detail of all of that in the run-up to the election.
Government says it will confirm 2035 climate target by September
Australia will meet a request by the UN’s top climate official to have countries submit by September this year their climate targets for 2035.
In Senate estimates, climate change department deputy secretary, Kushla Munro, said the government was waiting for advice from the Climate Change Authority on the target.
But she said the executive secretary of the UN’s climate convention, Simon Stiell, had asked for targets to be submitted by September and well in advance of the next major climate talks in Brazil in November.
Munro said the government intended to meet Stiell’s request.
Australia’s current target is to cut emissions by 43% by 2030, and estimates heard the latest projections suggested emissions would be at about 42.6% lower than 2005 by 2030 and this assumed Australia’s electricity grid would have 82% renewables by 2030.
Updated
PM says claims Fowler MP not invited to citizenship ceremony in Reid electorate ‘non-story’
Anthony Albanese was asked about claims from the independent Fowler MP, Dai Le, that she was not invited to an Olympic Park citizenship ceremony, which was attended by home affairs minister Tony Burke and the Labor candidate for Fowler, Tu Le.
The prime minister labelled this “complete nonsense” and “a complete non-story.”
This was a big citizenship ceremony in Homebush, which is in the electorate of Reid. Nowhere else. The electorate of Reid. Not even next to Fowler …
All of the mayors for anywhere that was within [where] people were getting their citizenship, they were all invited.
The PM went on to say it was “unusual” that Le is the MP for Fowler and the deputy mayor of Fairfield as well.
The mayor of Fairfield was certainly invited as was appropriate. It was an arm’s length by the department, and it’s a good thing that people are committing to become Australian citizens.
Updated
Butler confident in modelling about bulk-billing rates
Continuing from our last post: Mark Butler said he was so confident in the Medicare plan it would be closer to 100% of appointments bulk billed than 90%.
We have delivered the three biggest annual increases to the Medicare rebate in our three years in government in three decades – since Paul Keating was the prime minister. Leaving aside bulk-billing incentives, we have increased Medicare income for doctors by more in three years than the former government did in nine …
So we’re very confident about the modelling we have put in place. If anything, it’s quite conservative. It suggests it will take some years to get to 90%.
The important thing is this funding takes effect this year. It takes effect very quickly. It’s not scaled up over time. It’s put in place very quickly for practices to make the business decision to return to what most doctors want to do, and that is to let patients come in without them having to think about their credit card.
Updated
Anthony Albanese said the government was “very confident” about reaching a 90% bulk-billing rate under the new Medicare plan, after the AMA said this would not be reached.
We’re very confident that we will reach it … This was been welcomed across the board … That’s an indication that we have got this policy right and that’s why we then took that experience and translated it into ensuring that every Australian can have that access.
Albanese criticises Dutton ‘thought bubbles’
Continuing to take aim at Peter Dutton, the prime minister said that all he is offering is “thought bubbles.”
Anthony Albanese questioned whether zonal taxation rates was still Coalition policy, after a previous announcement from Dutton, as well as a second referendum on Indigenous recognition.
These are all just thoughts, spontaneously thrown out there, and I think during an election campaign … this is what he will be held to account on …
Albanese labels Dutton's Medicare price-match pledge 'pure politics'
A reporter has asked Anthony Albanese how he can label Medicare “one of the great divides in Australian politics” (see earlier post) after Peter Dutton agreed to match the pledge, therefore making it bipartisan?
The prime minister said it was “pure politics” from Dutton yesterday and, like Mark Butler a moment ago, said it echoed back to when Dutton was health minister:
What we saw from the opposition yesterday was just pure politics. It’s what they did prior to 2013. The 2014 budget papers are very clear about $50bn of cuts to hospitals, very clear as well about what they wanted to do in a GP tax, a co-payment every time people visited a GP, meaning the abolition, effectively, of bulk billing …
All of that wasn’t done while Peter Dutton was somewhere else, Peter Dutton was front and centre and was the health minister, and it was so bad that doctors voted him the worst health minister in their history …
Updated
Butler says ‘we’ve seen this film before’ on Dutton’s promise to match Labor Medicare plan
The health minister, Mark Butler, has also been speaking to reporters about the Medicare promise.
The Coalition yesterday said it would match Labor’s plan “dollar for dollar”. But Butler has labelled this a “performance” from opposition leader Peter Dutton:
Yesterday we saw the most extraordinary performance from a man with such a legacy of destroying Medicare pretend[ing] that suddenly he loves Medicare, he wanted to protect it and he’d match the announcement that we made.
Well, we have seen this film before. They said exactly the same thing before 2013. They said they’d back in our health policies then. They said there would be no cuts to health. And what we saw a few months later in a horror budget in 2014 … was a health minister in Peter Dutton trying to abolish bulk billing, cut $50bn from hospitals, and make every single Australian somehow pay as they walked in the front door of a hospital emergency department.
Butler argued Dutton “simply cannot be trusted on Medicare” and asked:
Why on earth would any Australian trust the man who created this mess in the first place to fix it up?
Updated
Albanese addressing reporters in Melbourne
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is speaking to reporters in Melbourne on Labor’s centrepiece election promise around Medicare.
Labor has promised 18m extra bulk-billed GP visits a year as part of an $8.5bn investment. The PM echoed earlier comments that Medicare is “the heart and, indeed, the soul of our health system.”
We believe that people should be able to see a doctor for free, and that stands in stark contrast to our opponents, Peter Dutton, who has said there were too many free Medicare services – which is why we are changing and reversing the cuts that Peter Dutton put in place.
He said the tripling of the bulk-billing incentive and applying this to “everyone across the board” will mean more Australians get to see a doctor for free.
It will lift bulk-billing rates to 90% by 2030, providing an incentive as well for more medical professionals to become GPs.
Key event
Billionaires amassed more wealth in January than poorest third of humanity owns in January, new analysis shows
Oxfam says that in January, billionaires across the world amassed more wealth than the poorest third of humanity owns.
In a statement, Oxfam said billionaire wealth surged US$314bn (A$493bn) – around A$16bn a day.
It would take 15 million workers an entire year to make as much money … this is more than the combined wealth of the 2.8 billion people who make up the poorest third of humanity.
The analysis was released today ahead of the first meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors in Cape Town, South Africa. Economist Jayati Ghosh said:
Extreme wealth isn’t just growing – it’s accelerating at breakneck speed, putting more and more power into the hands of a tiny few. Failure to act enables more unchecked greed and deepening disparities, allowing oligarchs to expand their vast fortunes and further extend their power over the rest of the world.
More than 50 international organisations, including Amnesty International, Oxfam and Greenpeace, are calling on G20 governments to ensure the super-rich are effectively taxed.
Updated
Labor on track for election defeat in new polling
About 55% of surveyed Australians say they would preference the Coalition on a two-party basis while 45% back Labor, according to the Resolve Political Monitor published in Nine newspapers.
AAP reports that the results reflect a continued slide in support for the federal government, despite the Reserve Bank’s rates decision, as six in 10 respondents said a cut would not change their vote.
The health minister, Mark Butler, admitted it would be a tough election but said the choice between opposition leader Peter Dutton and prime minister Anthony Albanese “couldn’t be clearer”. He told the Today Show earlier:
There will be a tsunami of polls between now and the real polling date … they’ll go up, they’ll go down. At the end of the day, we’re focused on putting a vision before the Australian people.
Labor is hoping its centrepiece election promise around Medicare could help turn the tides in its favour.
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Kilkenny denies government has shrunk housing targets
Sonya Kilkenny denied the Victorian government had significantly scaled back the plans since announcing the draft targets drafted last year.
Targets for the outer Melbourne council areas of Hobsons Bay, Hume, Manningham, Mornington Peninsula and Nillumbik have all dropped significantly. In Nillumbik, the target went from a proposed 12,000 homes by 2051 to 6,500 – a drop of about 45%.
The state planning minister said it was “always our intention that we work very closely with every single local government to discuss those draft targets”.
[To] work with them, have a look at their existing plans, but also have a look at the capacity within those local government areas. The final targets that have been released today take into account all of that – all of the modelling around capacity for those local government areas.
We also want to make sure that we’re taking the burden off some of those outer growth areas as well, those council areas that really carried a significant part of the housing burden over the last 30 years.
It is worth noting that in the inner city, where the state government wants to see the most new homes built, the targets have remained quite consistent with those drafted last year.
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Targets ensure ‘fairness and equity’ across Victoria – minister
Continuing from our last post: Sonya Kilkenny said the Victorian government had never set targets for local government before.
We have never set a target like this before, nor have we ever set a local government target for every local government across the state.
This is about certainty. Now we just need to get on and do it.
The planning minister said the targets also ensured “fairness and equity” across the state.
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Councils told to amend planning rules to meet targets
The Victorian planning minister, Sonya Kilkenny, said it would now be up to councils to amend their planning schemes, change zones, standards and building heights to enable the targets set.
It is our expectation that councils will now do that work as they’re required to do, but as the premier has said, where it becomes clear that councils are not doing the necessary work to meet these targets, then the state government will step in.
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Allan addressing media in Hawthorn on council housing targets
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, is holding a press conference in Hawthorn, announcing the government’s final targets for local councils to build 2.24m new homes by 2051.
We know that in a housing crisis, the status quo just won’t cut it. It won’t get the homes built that more young people are looking for, that working families are looking for, to give them the opportunity to buy their first home, to start their family and to build their long-term wealth. And that’s why today we are releasing the final local government housing targets that are about how we are going to see more homes being built right across Victoria.
Allan said the government needed to intervene to set council targets to ensure “fairer, more even growth” around the state. The targets followed “significant consultation” with councils after the government released draft figures in June.
As we bought to you earlier, Allan said there are going to be sanctions for councils that don’t abide by the targets:
If you won’t do the work, if you won’t unlock the space, we’ll do it for you. We’ll step in and do this work.
The location of the press conference – Hawthorn – sits within the local government of Boorondara, where the council is being ordered to increase its housing stock by 88% by the middle of the century, with 65,500 new homes in an area that currently has 74,600.
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New appointments to Fair Work Commission
Five new appointments have been made to the Fair Work Commission. A statement from employment minister Murray Watt outlines the appointments as follows:
Kamal Farouque appointed deputy president, commencing on 7 April. He has been a principal lawyer at Maurice Blackburn since 2010.
Trevor Clarke appointed as a commissioner, commencing on 24 March. He has held various roles at the ACTU since 2009.
Adam Walkaden appointed as a commissioner, commencing on 24 March. He has been national legal director of the Mining and Energy Union since 2022.
Jessica Rogers appointed as a commissioner, commencing on 1 April. She has served as a commissioner on the South Australian Employment Tribunal since 2023.
Adele Labine-Romain reappointed as an expert panel member, commencing on 12 March. She has been head of travel and tourism at Roy Morgan since 2024, and has served as an expert panel member of the commission since 2020.
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Albanese says Medicare ‘one of the great divides in Australian politics’
Speaking ahead of a cabinet meeting, Anthony Albanese also spoke of Labor’s pledge for 18m extra bulk-billed GP visits a year as part of an $8.5bn investment in Medicare.
He said this was the “largest commitment to Medicare in 40 years” and that Labor would “always defend healthcare”.
Healthcare, in my personal experience with my mum, is what politicised me and why I am here today as the prime minister.
We know that Medicare is not an add-on or something that is a plaything, it is not something that you can make an announcement of in 30 seconds – which is what we saw from the pretence from the opposition …
Albanese described Medicare as “one of the great divides in Australian politics”.
Between Labor, that understands that Medicare is the heart, the beating heart, of our health system, and the Coalition, who don’t believe that things should be free – whether it is Medicare, a visit to the doctor or free Tafe … on the basis of need is how we go about things.
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PM addressing cabinet in Melbourne
Anthony Albanese has touted government investment in the Whyalla steelworks and legislation to protect salmon farming in Tasmania ahead of a cabinet meeting today.
In the remarks, broadcast by ABC TV, the prime minister said the steelworks investment was “very much our Future Made in Australia agenda”. You can read more about the federal investment below:
Albanese also spoke about his decision to allow “sustainable salmon farming” to continue in Tasmania’s Macquarie Harbour.
This announcement sparked anger from conservationists and researchers, who urged for the local industry to be scaled back, after years of lobbying for action to save the threatened Maugean skate from extinction. The PM said:
Aquaculture has a critical role to play and we want those jobs to be maintained.
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Four quit WiseTech board
Four people have resigned from the board of Australian software giant WiseTech.
The company advised today that four independent non-executive directors – Lisa Brock, Richard Dammery, Michael Malone and Fiona Pak-Poy – have stood aside.
The statement said this followed “intractable differences” in the board and “differing views” on the ongoing role of founder Richard White.
Their resignation will take effect from Wednesday, when Mike Gregg will also commence as a director. Additional directors may also be appointed to the board “in due course”, the statement said.
The company says it now expects revenue to be “at the bottom end of the guidance range” due to further delays of the rollout of three products.
For some background on the issues at WiseTech, you can read our reporting from last year:
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Missing fisher identified as Paul Barning
A multi-agency search has resumed after a person fell overboard while competing in a fishing competition near Newcastle yesterday.
AAP reports that the experienced game fisherman has been identified as Paul Barning. He is the secretary and point score for the Port Hacking Fishing Club.
NSW Game Fishing Association president Steve Lamond, who said he had known Barning for 20 years, described the Sunday afternoon incident as a freak accident. He told AAP:
He was basically dragged overboard, underwater and disappeared. He was tragically lost at sea in the most unlikely of circumstances whilst fishing on his boat.
It was earlier reported that Barning was caught in a fishing line and was attacked by a shark, but Lamond flatly dismissed that suggestion.
I urge all members, their families and friends to refrain from speculation.
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Family violence arrest occurs every 17 minutes in Victoria
Victorian police are making a record number of family violence arrests, AAP reports, with new data showing one arrest every 17 minutes.
Crime Statistics Agency figures show 30,853 family violence offenders were either arrested by Victoria police or summonsed to court in the year to September 2024.
That equates to an average of 84 arrests or summons to court each day. And it means one person is arrested or brought before the courts for family violence offending every 17 minutes.
It is the highest number of arrests police have made for family violence since recording began in 2005.
Family violence command assistant commissioner Lauren Callaway said:
The family violence we’re seeing perpetrated against partners or former partners and children is completely unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Whether it’s through proactive patrols, carrying out checks and door knocks or through planned operations, we will never stop letting family violence offenders know they won’t get away with their behaviour and will be caught by police.
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Albanese and Dutton both vowed to visit Ukraine if they win election – envoy
Vasyl Myroshnychenko said Ukraine would “welcome more assistance” from Australia moving forward, and that this would be in Australia’s strategic national interests.
He pointed to the rising cost of living and growing inflation, and how this was linked to the war:
We are fighting for the rules-based system which Australia has benefited from for the past 18 years. But we also have to look into what impact this war had on Australia.
Myroshnychenko also thanked Australians for standing with Ukraine, and said that “we’ve never had such a good level of relations with other countries”.
Last year, deputy prime minister Richard Marles and foreign minister Penny Wong visited Ukraine. Also shadow foreign minister Simon Birmingham came to Ukraine. And we’ve never had so much support.
And earlier this year, just several weeks ago, I met both the prime minister Anthony Albanese and I met the leader of the opposition, Peter Dutton. Both have assured me of assistance, both committed to coming to Ukraine if they win the elections.
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Ukrainian envoy to Australia says Russia ‘wants to rewrite history’
Vasyl Myroshnychenko, Ukraine’s ambassador to Australia, spoke with ABC News Breakfast earlier this morning on the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Labor and the Coalition both released statement on this earlier, which you can read here and here.
Myroshnychenko said that three years on, the war was “still ongoing” and “we have to understand what the root causes of the war are”.
Russia wants to destroy Ukraine’s sovereignty. Russia wants to rewrite history. There is a fantasy out there in Vladimir Putin’s mind about revival of his empire, and we cannot reward the aggression. We cannot reward Russia for what they’ve done, and [they] need to be responsible.
They need to be held responsible for killing 38 Australians onboard of MH17, including other innocent people who were on that flight; killing many Ukrainians, destroying cities, committing those war crimes, committing crimes against humanity. Because if aggression is not punished, it will inspire other authoritarian leaders to do the same.
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Victoria threatens to strip planning powers from councils not approving more homes
The Victorian government will strip planning powers from local governments that don’t get serious about approving more homes, premier Jacinta Allan says.
Allan warned councils that failed to pull their weight towards the overall goal of building 2.24m new homes by 2051 that she intended to “shake things up” to address the housing crisis as she released the final local government housing targets drafted last year. Allan told councils in a statement this morning:
It’s simple – work with us to unlock space for more homes or we’ll do it for you.
If met, the targets would flip the focus of 30 years of housing growth from the outer fringes of Melbourne to its inner suburbs, areas that have benefited from investment in everything from hospitals and public transport to level-crossing removals, but whose housing stock has grown comparatively little. Some would dramatically increase in density.
Boroondara is being ordered to increase its housing stock by 88% by the middle of the century, with 65,500 new homes in an area that currently has 74,600. That area, which includes affluent eastern suburbs of Kew and Hawthorn, was identified by Yimby Melbourne as the most in-demand local government area with capacity for growth.
Nearby Glen Eira’s target is a 93% increase, with 63,500 homes to be built in an area that currently has 68,000, while Darebin is set to add 69,000 – a 98% increase on its existing stock.
These are areas that have recorded some of lowest rates of housing growth in all of metro Melbourne over the past 30 years, a period in which the state grew by 65% but Boroondara by just 24%.
In contrast, outer suburban Melbourne councils like Melton grew 433% and Wyndham by 346%. With targets of 109,000 and 99,000 new homes respectively, those areas would see approval rates for new builds ease, though remain high, while the city of Melbourne itself would have the greatest number of new builds by 2051 with a target of 119,500.
Regional Victoria is slated with a target of 25% of new homes by 2051 under the statewide targets.
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What to expect from Senate estimates today
At Senate estimates today, we’ve expecting questions on the government’s response to antisemitism – including when the prime minister found out about the van in Sydney that contained explosives. The Coalition used this as a long line of questioning during the last parliamentary sitting fortnight.
The home affairs department will front estimates today, and is expected to face questions on citizenship ceremonies. It follows reports the government has been fast-tracking ceremonies ahead of the election. My colleague Josh Butler has more on that story here:
Despite the government shelving its nature positive reforms that environment minister Tanya Plibersek had negotiated with the crossbench last year, the opposition is likely to continue asking questions on its future.
We got a glimpse of this last sitting when the Coalition asked Plibersek whether the legislation would be revived. Climate is still a huge issue out there, and though not as prominent as it was during the 2022 election, it will still be a focus for many voters when polling day comes this year.
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Cyclone in Coral Sea could move towards Queensland, BoM warns
Tropical Cyclone Alfred is tracking through the Coral Sea this week, with a slight chance it could move towards the Queensland coast from next weekend.
The Bureau of Meteorology says Alfred would move southwards as a severe tropical cyclone from tomorrow.
It is currently a category 1 tropical cyclone, located 910km east-northeast of Cairns.
From Thursday … the most likely scenario [takes] Alfred further south through the Coral Sea and remaining well offshore from the Queensland coast. There is a risk it will move closer to the central Queensland coast next weekend.
The Bureau of Meteorology names tropical cyclones according to an alphabetical list that alternates by gender. The next one was due to be named Anthony, but with the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, occupying the Lodge, the decision was made to jump to the next A-initial name on the list: Alfred.
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Good morning, and thanks Krishani! Emily Wind here, I’ll be with you on the blog into the afternoon.
Thanks for joining me this morning, Emily Wind is taking the reins, and we’ll keep you updated on all the drama from Parliament House today.
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Burke says government had been prepared for legal challenges on Nauru arrangement
Continuing from our last post: Sarah Dale, principal solicitor at the Refugee Advice and Casework Service (Racs), which is representing the man before the federal court, said the government was attempting to exile people to Nauru without any consideration of the harm they could face there, or the impact of deportation on their physical and mental health.
It is deeply alarming that Australia would engage in such a process as to remove a person, seemingly permanently and without hope, to a place that is not their home.
This will be a dark precedent if Australia is able to proceed with its intent on expelling people from our country in such a troubling way.
The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, said the government had been prepared for legal challenges.
The government said on day one that this arrangement with Nauru was likely to be challenged in the courts. This is no surprise.
Burke said the government was confident in the validity of the new laws, and its power to remove people to third countries.
These are violent criminals who broke Australia’s laws. Because of the government’s new laws they are still in detention, rather than being out in the community … We will proceed with removal to Nauru as soon as possible.
“NZYQ” is a stateless Rohingya man who faced the prospect of detention for life because no country would resettle him because of a conviction for raping a child.
Members of the NZYQ cohort have lost their Australian visas on character grounds, typically for criminal conviction.
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Court blocks asylum seeker’s deportation to Nauru amid legal challenge
The federal court has halted the removal of a second asylum seeker facing deportation to Nauru while his case is before the court.
The man, a member of the NZYQ cohort of non-citizens, had been told he would be deported on Monday. But at a hastily convened hearing on Sunday, the federal court ordered he remain in Australia while it considered whether the original cancellation of his visa was lawful.
The NZYQ cohort numbers about 280 non-citizens who previously faced indefinite immigration detention because their visas had been cancelled on “character grounds” but who could not be removed to their home countries because they faced persecution, or because those countries refused to accept them.
In November 2023, the high court ruled in the NZYQ case it was unlawful for the government to indefinitely detain a person if there was “no real prospect” of them being removed from Australia “in the reasonably foreseeable future”.
Earlier this month, three of the NZYQ cohort were re-detained, after the Nauru government gave them 30-year visas under a secretive deal it signed with Australia. The Australian government has refused to say how much it has paid Nauru – or what other inducements it has granted – for the tiny Pacific state to accept non-citizens for long-term resettlement.
One of the three men took his case to the high court, and the government agreed not to remove him from the country while his case was before the court. Sunday’s federal court ruling related to the second man. A legal challenge is also expected for the third man.
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How will the bulk-billing increase be paid for?
There’s been criticism of the opposition that its support of the $8.5bn package hasn’t come with a plan to pay for it.
Anne Ruston has told RN the money will come from other areas of the budget:
We’ve been very clear about the things that we don’t think that the federal government should be investing in. I mean, we’ve done things like, you know, we don’t believe [in] the federal government’s rewiring the nation, as an example, the national reconstruction fund, all of these things we’ve voted against, you know, we believe that public servants in Canberra are not what we need. We actually need frontline services, service workers, like doctors, like nurses, which this policy addresses.
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Ruston says Labor planning health ‘scare campaign’ in lead-up to poll
Shadow health minister Anne Ruston is speaking to RN Breakfast and says Labor will use “lies” and “distractions” on health during the election campaign.
The opposition is also accusing the government of having a poor record on maintaining bulk billing, saying rates have been dropping over the past three years.
We are going to have to expect, unfortunately, a scare campaign. I mean, yesterday, at the launch, the prime minister and [Mark] Butler spent more time talking about Peter Dutton and the Liberal party than they did about themselves. So I think we can expect a scare campaign. But the facts don’t lie. The truth of all of this is quite clear in the statistics – under their watch, the health system in Australia has been significantly diminished.
When asked about the Coalition’s attempt to introduce a $7 co-payment for the GP, Ruston says “we need to focus on the here and now”, and backs in support for primary care.
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Labor MP says Coalition’s public service cuts could ‘make us less safe’
The public service is “on the ballot” at the coming election, assistant minister Patrick Gorman says, welcoming a fight with the Coalition on public services and the size of Australia’s bureaucracy.
In a speech to be delivered to the Sydney Institute on Monday night, Gorman – the assistant minister to the prime minister and for the public service – will say all Australians should “cherish” the Australian public service, and criticised Peter Dutton’s plans to slash the APS.
Australia now faces the most challenging set of strategic circumstances since world war II. Is it really the time to be launching an attack on the public service?
At best, deep cuts to the public service will take our nation backwards. At worst, deep cuts will make us less secure, less safe and unable to shape the world around us.
The Coalition has given mixed signals on how many public servants it would cut, but indicated it would seek to reduce many jobs.
Gorman claimed the APS today was proportionally smaller than it was under former Coalition prime minister John Howard, even as the responsibilities of the public service have grown with Aukus, the NDIS and the national anti-corruption commission.
The public service also has a fundamental role in the functioning of a democracy.
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Medicare campaign a ‘Loch Ness monster’ – Joyce
Going back to Sunrise earlier, cabinet minister Tanya Plibersek was joined by Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce, with the two sparring over the bulk-billing announcement.
While Plibersek took a jab on the Coalition’s record freezing bulk-billing rates, Joyce had a more creative description of how the debate over medicare is shaping up.
We are framing up the Loch Ness monster campaign. When they have run out of things to say, they say there’s a monster in the lake. Medicare, they want to sell Medicare. Who would want to sell it? It’s a government service. And who would want to buy it? We have no intentions of doing that. Where does this come from?
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Health will no doubt be a key focus of the election, and you can see Labor’s attacks on the Coalition’s medicare history are having an impact.
For a little more context on why it took Peter Dutton less than a day to match Labor’s $8.5bn bulk-billing commitment, have a read of my colleague Josh Butler’s analysis here.
Labor swipes at opposition’s past health policies
The Labor frontbench is also out in full force backing in the GP bulk-billing announcement this morning. Despite Peter Dutton promising to match the announcement dollar for dollar, the government is continuing its attacks on the Coalition’s health policies of the past.
Tanya Plibersek was on Sunrise earlier:
He [Dutton] tried to introduce the $7 GP co-payment. He said too many visits to the doctor were bulk-billed, tried to put up the cost of medicines and cut $50 billion from hospital funding … Now, five minutes before an election, he says something else. I remember when Tony Abbott promised no cuts to healthcare and then he came in and he slashed and he burned.
Finance minister Katy Gallagher is on RN Breakfast now, and has also pointed to Dutton’s past as healthcare minister. Gallagher says she was health minister for the ACT when Dutton was her federal counterpart.
We judge Peter Dutton on his record, and his record as health minister is about cuts and reducing services and cutting back Medicare. And you know, some of the problems we have with Medicare right now, some of the pressures that people have been seeing when they’ve been going to see a doctor that don’t happen overnight, they happen as a result of those six years of freezing of income for GPs.
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Butler says bulk-billing package’s November start is ‘pretty quick’
Health minister Mark Butler is doing the media rounds this morning, promoting the bulk-billing package that the government says will lead to nine in 10 Australians not paying out of pocket to see a GP by 2030.
The announcement has been well received by advocates and doctors groups including the Australian Medical Association (AMA). It’s the largest investment in medicare in its history and the announcement is being billed as a key cost-of-living measure.
Butler is on AM, asked why the changes will only begin in November rather than coming into effect now.
The first of November is when the changes to these rebates typically occur, that gives practices time to update their software. And you know, we think that that’s a pretty quick start to a very, very substantial change in how Medicare operates. And as I said, for the first time, we’ll be giving bulk-billing support to all Australians, including those who don’t have a concession card.
Butler’s also asked about calls to restructure Medicare around people who have more chronic illnesses in Australia’s ageing population.
Butler says he agrees with those calls from the AMA:
The current structure of Medicare really suits the patient profile of the 1980s and 90s, more than it does the patient profile of today, someone who is more likely to have complex chronic disease. So I agree very strongly with the AMA on that, and we’re starting to roll out some programs to structure funding to deliver multi-disciplinary care that wraps around the patient, rather than single episodes of care.
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Coalition denounces Moscow over ‘horrors and heartache’ of Ukraine war
Peter Dutton has again condemned “Russia’s illegal, unprovoked and abominable invasion of Ukraine” on the third anniversary of the war.
In a joint statement with shadow defence minister Andrew Hastie and shadow foreign minister David Coleman, the opposition leader spoke of the “horrors and heartache of war” and described Ukraine as a “country of heroes”.
Three years ago, Putin expected a quick victory. He thought the people of Ukraine would swiftly surrender. But Putin miscalculated. He underestimated. He was wrong.
Despite US president Donald Trump’s recent criticisms of Ukraine and its president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as a “dictator”, Dutton’s Coalition has stood firm in backing Ukraine. Dutton’s statement didn’t mention Trump but set out its position on questions of dictatorship.
President Zelenskyy has been a brave and inspirational leader in staring down a murderous dictator.
The Coalition statement went on to call for a resolution of the war that “does not reward the murderous despot Putin, as any reward would embolden other revanchist autocrats to follow in his tyrannical footsteps”.
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Labor condemns Russia’s ‘immoral’ war in Ukraine on anniversary
The Albanese government has condemned Russia on the third anniversary of its invasion of Ukraine, again calling for Vladimir Putin to immediately end the conflict.
Prime minister Anthony Albanese, deputy prime minister Richard Marles and foreign minister Penny Wong, in a statement to be delivered on Monday, demanded Russia abide by international law. They’ve released an advance excerpt from the government statement.
Today marks three years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. For three years, Ukraine has bravely resisted Russia’s illegal and immoral war of aggression.
Australia mourns the loss of life of Ukraine’s citizens and defenders, and the generational toll of Russia’s brutality. Australia continues to stand with Ukraine.
The government said it had committed over $1.5bn to help Ukraine defend itself, including more than $1.3bn in military support.
Albanese, Marles and Wong said:
Once again, Australia calls on Russia to immediately end its war and adhere fully to its obligations under international law, including in relation to the protection of civilians and treatment of prisoners of war.
Working with Ukraine and our partners, Australia supports a just and lasting peace for Ukraine.
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Welcome
Good morning, Krishani Dhanji here with you for this Senate estimates week.
You can certainly feel the election getting closer with that huge $8.5bn bulk billing announcement the government made yesterday, which the opposition hurriedly matched. There’s already plenty of reaction to that package this morning.
There’ll also be plenty coming up from Senate estimates today, it’ll be the last opportunity before the election for the opposition and crossbench to test a lot of Labor’s announcements and programs, and we’ll bring you that as it comes.
So put your seatbelts on, it’s going to be a big one!
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