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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Mostafa Rachwani and Emily Wind (earlier)

Dutton won’t rule out a Coalition government quitting ICC – as it happened

Coalition Labor Singapore Australia Black Hole (Topic) Angus Taylor Peter Dutton Singapore Airlines the National Press Club
Peter Dutton and Sarah Henderson in Melbourne on Tuesday.
Peter Dutton and Sarah Henderson in Melbourne on Tuesday. Photograph: James Ross/AAP

What we learned today, Wednesday 22 May

We are wrapping up the blog for tonight. Here’s what made the news:

Updated

Mobile black spot funding gets tick from audit office

The Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) has released its probe of the latest rounds of the mobile black spot program.

The audit came after calls from the shadow communications minister, David Coleman, who accused the Labor government and communications minister, Michelle Rowland, of “pork-barrelling” the $37.2m in grants.

Ultimately, the audit office gave the department a green tick for giving “clear and accurate advice” to the minister. The minister got the thumbs up as well for complying with the rules and recording her decisions. Funding outcomes for target locations was also deemed “proportionate”.

In a media release on Wednesday afternoon, Rowland said the report cleared her of the accusations and said the Albanese government was providing the “vital investments needed to narrow the digital divide right across the country”.

While the ANAO’s report did not find any wrongdoing or maladministration, it did note a breakdown that the electorates receiving funding weighed heavily toward Labor marginal seats.

The ANAO’s analysis showed 74% of the 54 “target locations” chosen to receive the funding were in Labor electorates. Of those, 44 were deemed marginal.

Coleman said the funding allocation “cannot be described as equitable – unless Minister Rowland’s view is that 74% of electorates in Australia are held by the Labor Party”.

He added:

The minister owes it to Australians to apologise for her conduct in her selection of ‘target locations’ under Round 6 of the Mobile Black Spot program.

Updated

H5N1 bird flu would be ‘catastrophic’ to Australia, government assessment says

If the highly pathogenic H5N1 variety of bird flu arrives in Australia and establishes itself in wild bird populations, the impacts would be catastrophic, according to a government assessment.

The Invasive Species Council says detection of a non-H5N1 strain of bird flu at a Victorian egg farm this week should serve as a “wake-up call” for Australian governments. The council has been raising concerns since last year that not enough has been done to prepare a response plan for the deadly bird flu in Australian wildlife.

A risk assessment by Wildlife Health Australia for the federal government found “if establishment of the disease occurs within Australian wild birds there are likely to be substantial welfare, conservation, social and economic impacts across multiple sectors including the poultry sector”.

The assessment found, with a moderate degree of uncertainty, that establishment of H5N1 in Australian bird populations would have “catastrophic” impacts, which could include long-term population losses affecting several species, local extinctions of species, serious ecosystem effects or consequences for animal welfare. It found, with moderate uncertainty, that consequences would be high for poultry and minor for mammals.

The council’s advocacy director, Jack Gough, said with Australia the only continent yet to experience the deadly variety of bird flu, it was only “a matter of time” before the disease arrived:

If highly pathogenic bird flu turns up in Australia it will have catastrophic impacts on our native birds, and may lead to local extinctions of species like black swans.

The potential for environmental damage in Australia is catastrophic but, while our poultry industry has a detailed response plan, Australia does not yet have an equivalent plan for wild birds and at-risk mammals like sea lions.

It is critical that the Australian government immediately ramps up surveillance in wild bird populations.

Updated

Federal government says it has ‘swung into action’ on bird flu in Victoria

The federal government has enacted its emergency animal disease response plans to support the Victorian government’s response to the avian influenza (HPAI).

A statement from the minister for agriculture, fisheries and forestry, Murray Watt, says the government has been “preparing for a possible avian flu outbreak for some time” and that a meeting this morning brought together the Consultative Committee on Emergency Animal Diseases to discuss “immediate response plans”.

Watt says while it is a relief this is not the new strain that is affecting the US and Antarctica, Australia takes any incident of high pathogenicity avian influenza in Australia “extremely seriously”.

Australia has effective, nationally-agreed response and cost-sharing arrangements in place to address animal disease incursions and outbreaks, and this has swung into action to support Victoria.

Australia is well practiced in responding to disease incidents in poultry and has successfully responded to eight outbreaks of HPAI in poultry since 1976.

Our hearts go out to the affected farmer and the community at this time.

Updated

Victorian opposition claims win after government backs down on GP tax

The Victorian opposition is claiming a win after the government backed down on a plan to make independent GPs working in medical centres pay payroll tax, or, as they liked to call it, a “health tax”.

The opposition leader, John Pesutto, says:

For months Labor ignored healthcare professionals about the dire impact on patients their insidious Health Tax was having. The Victorian Liberals and Nationals always stood against Labor’s Health Tax and today’s long-overdue backflip is a win for Victorians and for common sense.

Updated

Dutton won’t rule out a Coalition government walking away from ICC after Israel arrest warrant request

Peter Dutton has signalled that a Coalition government may consider walking away from the international criminal court if it issues arrest warrants for Israeli leaders over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The ICC has not yet made a decision on an application by the chief prosecutor, Karim Khan KC, for the arrest of five people in connection with events in Gaza and Israel since Hamas’s 7 October attacks.

Khan said he had “reasonable grounds to believe” three Hamas leaders – Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh – bore criminal responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including extermination, murder, taking hostages, rape and sexual violence, torture and cruel treatment.

In addition, Khan said he had “reasonable grounds to believe” the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Israeli defence minister, Yoav Gallant, bore criminal responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity during the ensuing conflict, including “starvation of civilians as a method of warfare”, intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population, and “extermination and/or murder … including in the context of deaths caused by starvation”. They have denied the allegations.

Dutton said the Albanese government should, in the first instance, pressure the ICC “to make sure that they reverse this terrible decision”.

The Australian Associated Press reports that Dutton said a Coalition government could cut ties with the court if it failed to change course:

I don’t rule it out … but I think the pressure at the moment needs to be for like-minded countries that share our values, to stand shoulder-to-shoulder … to make sure that this antisemitic stance that they’ve taken does not advance.

Australia is among 124 states that are party to the Rome Statute setting up the ICC, having joined when the Howard government was in power. The Albanese government has not commented on the specific application for arrest warrants but says Australia “respects the ICC and the important role it has in upholding international law” while adding that “there is no equivalence between Israel and Hamas”.

Updated

‘Cross their legs?’: LNP MP demands Labor apologise for ‘mischaracterising my words’

The LNP MP Ros Bates has accused Queensland Labor of “baseless misrepresentation” and demanded the health minister apologise.

Shannon Fentiman took offence after Bates yelled “cross their legs?” across the floor of parliament in question time.

The premier, Steven Miles, said it was “disgraceful behaviour”.

But Bates said the comment was “clearly not about the health minister”.

“It was about the alarming Queensland maternity crisis, which continues to worsen on her watch,” she said.

Shannon Fentiman is aware I am a victim of domestic violence. She is also aware I am a mother. For her to mischaracterise my words for her own political gain and attempt to portray me as a misogynist is deeply offensive.

Bates said her comment related to a question about the closure of maternity clinics in regional Queensland.

“With Labor suggesting women could just bypass their local hospital to go to another hospital to give birth, I could not believe Labor was telling mothers to “cross your legs” while in labour.

That is the comment I made.

Bates was first elected to state parliament in 2009.

Updated

More than 30% of people who took their lives in 2019 were on welfare, AIHW says

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare has just released some data that shows more than 30% of suicides in 2019 were people on the disability support pension (DSP) and newstart – despite being just 5.7% of the population.

During 2019, the most recent pre-Covid pandemic year, the age-standardised suicide rate among males who received unemployment payments was 2.8 times that of the male Australian population comparison. For females, it was 3.3.

During the same year, unemployment recipients accounted for approximately 20% of all suicide deaths among Australian males and females (across the same age range 15-66 years). Those on DSP were 14.5%.

The DSP recipient and Antipoverty Centre spokesperson, Kristin O’Connell, said:

The new figures on welfare recipient deaths by suicide are chilling, but reflect my all-too-frequent experiences supporting people who are planning to or have made an attempt as a result of dealing with “mutual” obligations or poverty.

Every government decision to leave us in poverty and subject people to abuse through “mutual” obligations is a decision that kills.

In 2020, Australia’s Mental Health Think Tank said the fastest and most effective thing the government could do to ease the mental health crisis was to keep the jobseeker payment at the poverty line.

The Morrison government plunged people back into deep poverty, and despite their claims to offer “cost of living relief” the Albanese government has continued the brutal welfare policies that led to these alarming suicide rates and widespread harm in our communities.

Updated

It’s not very often the government issues a media release with so many stakeholder comments, but it seems they’re keen to get across that all are supportive of this agreement. Here’s the others.

President of Australian Medical Association Victoria, Dr Jill Tomlinson:

General practice is vital for keeping Victorians out of hospital. After listening to advocacy from the sector, the state government has implemented changes that deliver certainty and clarity to Victorian general practices. While AMA Victoria acknowledges that there will be costs associated with this transition, it is extremely positive news for general practices, general practitioners and Victorians.

Australian GP Alliance deputy chair, Dr Mukesh Haikerwal:

On behalf of General Practice owners and patients who we care for, AGPA has sought clarity, consistency, stability and a fair and understandable system to work with. We thank the Victorian Government for their decision and commitment to the primary care sector as this outcome will support practices to remain viable into the future.

Dr Rodney Aziz from Primary Care Business Council:

We welcome this decision by the Victorian government which will relieve the immediate pressure on general practice and ensure primary care remains affordable for all Victorians as the cost-of-living crisis continues. As the representative body for more than 40% of general practice consultations across Australia, the Primary Care Business Council has advocated for a sensible approach to payroll tax and we commend the Victorian Government for making the right decision.

Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM) president Dr Dan Halliday:

ACRRM appreciates the Victorian Government’s decision to exempt bulk-billed consultations from payroll tax. However, national Medicare reform is still required to improve healthcare affordability.

Dr Louise Manning, president-elect of the Rural Doctors’ Association of Victoria:

The Rural Doctors’ Association of Victoria (RDAV) is supportive of the announcement by the Victorian Government of the exemption of retrospective payments of payroll tax for general practice covering the period up to July 1 2025. The accessibility of affordable primary care is of major concern to RDAV, and broader health system reform is needed to ensure the viability of private rural general practice into the future so that all communities can access safe and appropriate care close to home.

Updated

Victoria scraps plan to make independent GPs working in medical centres pay payroll tax

The Victorian government has backed down on a plan to make independent GPs working in medical centres pay payroll tax after a campaign by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and the opposition.

In August last year, the Victorian revenue office published a ruling that confirmed for the first time that many independent GPs working in medical centres would be subject to payroll tax. Up until that point, it had been accepted across the industry that independent GPs, who lease rooms from a practice owner, had not been subject to the tax.

The RACGP and other bodies had argued as many as 90% of GPs were independent and the change would have forced doctors to hike their consultation fees. The opposition earlier this month had vowed to scrap the change if elected in 2026.

But in a statement on Wednesday afternoon, the treasurer, Tim Pallas, announced the change would not go ahead as planned at the end of next month.

He said after “extensive consultation with the primary care sector and work to align settings across the country”, all Victorian general practice businesses will receive an exemption from any outstanding or future assessment issued for payroll tax on payments to contractor GPs for the period up to 30 June 2024.

A further 12-month exemption from payroll tax for payments to contractor GPs, through to 30 June 2025, will be available for any general practice business that has not already received advice and begun paying payroll tax on payments to their contractor GPs on this basis.

Pallas said this exemption will be provided through his ‘ex gratia’ powers.

Then, from 1 July 2025, the government will provide an exemption from payroll tax for any GPs providing bulk-billed consultations.

Pallas said in a statement:

We’ve worked closely with the primary care sector on how we can best support them – and we’re making these long-term changes to provide certainty to general practice businesses and support more bulk-billing for Victorians.

RACGP chair Dr Anita Munoz said:

The prospect of retrospective tax bills on GPs was a source of enormous stress for many general practice teams and their communities. We are grateful the Victorian government has taken retrospective taxation off the table. This move will help keep local GPs’ doors open.

We appreciate the Victorian government coming to the table and working with us to find a middle-ground solution. GP practices now have the certainty we’ve been asking for and can plan for the future.

Updated

France to run evacuation flights from New Caledonia to Brisbane

France will run evacuation flights to Brisbane to get tourists out of New Caledonia, as the Pacific territory remains under a state of emergency and strict curfew.

More than 100 Australians and other tourists were evacuated on two Royal Australian air force planes on Tuesday. France, whose president, Emmanuel Macron, is set to visit New Caledonia, will run subsequent flights out of the country.

Australian’s consul-general in New Caledonia, Annelise Young, said online:

“My team and I are continuing to work on assisted departures of Australians from New Caledonia, in close collaboration with local authorities.”

French security forces have secured the main road to New Caledonia’s international airport.

“Road operations on the way to La Tontouta continue. More than 90 roadblocks have been neutralised and are being cleared,” Young said.

The French president is expected to land Thursday in New Caledonia, a French territory of 270,000 where the indigenous Kanak people have waged a decades-long campaign for independence.

This month’s unrest has raised new questions about Macron’s handling of France’s colonial legacy.

The latest unrest erupted over French plans to unfreeze electoral rolls for provincial elections – changes that would give tens of thousands of non-Indigenous residents voting rights.

Under the terms of the Nouméa accord, voting in provincial elections was restricted to people who had resided in New Caledonia before 1998 and their children. The measure was aimed at giving greater representation to the Kanak population.

The Kanak people make up about 40% of New Caledonia’s population and suffer significant economic and social disadvantage. Kanak groups argue the new voting rules would dilute their vote.

More than a week of rioting, looting and arson has left six people dead, including two gendarmes, and hundreds injured.

Updated

Child in Victoria records nation’s first human case of H5N1 bird flu strain

The Victorian health department has confirmed a case of the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of avian influenza in a child who recently returned to Australia from overseas.

It is the first human case of H5N1 in Australia, and the first case of this subtype of the virus being detected on the continent, amid a global outbreak. It means H5N1 has now been detected on every continent in the world.

It comes just a few hours after authorities confirmed that an outbreak of bird flu on a Victorian egg farm was not H5N1 but was another highly pathogenic strain, H7N7.

In a statement, the department of health said the child returned to Victoria from India in March. They suffered a “serious infection” but have since recovered.

The department said:

The avian influenza virus was detected through further testing of positive influenza samples that takes place to detect novel or concerning flu virus strains, as part of Victoria’s enhanced surveillance system. Contact tracing has not identified any further cases of avian influenza connected to this case.

Updated

Chalmers attacks Taylor’s ‘shambolic’ press club speech after confusion over migration figures

The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has taken aim at Angus Taylor for a “shambolic” address to the National Press Club further confusing the Coalition’s target for net migration.

Taylor said the Coalition wants a 25% cut over its term of government, despite Peter Dutton and others saying it wants to cut net migration from 260,000 to 160,000 (a 38% cut).

Chalmers told reporters in Tasmania:

Angus Taylor’s speech at the National Press Club was an absolute shambles. The centrepiece of Peter Dutton’s budget reply is now a smoking ruin because of Angus Taylor’s speech. The only thing that Peter Dutton wanted you to know in his budget reply was about migration, and Angus Taylor has completely and utterly stuffed up today in Canberra. Peter Dutton lowered the bar and Angus Taylor has tripped over it …

He couldn’t answer the most basic questions about the centrepiece of Peter Dutton’s budget reply. He couldn’t tell us where he would find hundreds of billions of dollars of savings. He couldn’t tell us how he would fund bigger tax cuts for the wealthiest Australians. He couldn’t tell us where the nuclear reactors are going to go or how much they are going to cost. But I think most fundamentally, he couldn’t explain the migration numbers which were at the very core of Peter Dutton’s budget reply.

. … Peter Dutton and Angus Taylor’s credibility was already not substantial, and now it is nonexistent as a consequence of this absolute shambles that we’ve seen at the press club.

Updated

Summaries from Covid-19 inquiry’s industry roundtables published

The federal inquiry into the Covid pandemic is progressing, with the process now moving into roundtable discussions with various industry stakeholders and experts.

The Covid-19 response inquiry, set up late last year, has published summaries of the first of its roundtables, with the health research and the freight & logistics sectors.

“The roundtables are being held to further explore the impact of the pandemic on key sectors and communities, and to open up further discussion in areas where we have heard differing views on the best ways we can move ahead in pandemic preparedness and response,” the inquiry’s panel members said in a statement last week.

“They also allow the panel to test early directions and stakeholder suggestions and refine the thinking on various themes and lessons learned.”

The summaries of roundtables held last week have been published today. The health research industry told the panel of “the importance of confidence and trust in the evidence by decision-makers and the public”, and that there “needs to be transparency in the evidence relied upon, including the details of modelling”.

“Established research and surveillance infrastructure is vital in crises, including understanding the wider health, social and economic impacts of public health measures, and how these are distributed within and across communities,” the panel wrote of the sentiments it heard from the industry.

Public trust is vital during a pandemic, and misinformation can quickly fill the void where there is limited sharing of evidence. Australia saw real research innovations during the pandemic, and these capabilities must be maintained so we are ready to go for the next pandemic.

The freight and logistics industry told the panel that it would welcome future crisis planning with government, including scenario testing exercises.

“Industry would find communication with governments more efficient if there was a single point of contact. A national approach to essential workers and cross-border travel would help freight and logistics businesses ensure they could keep functioning and minimise the risk of supply chain disruptions,” the panel said.

“Workers in the sector faced significant hardship due to operation of public health orders.

“Freight and logistics businesses would find it easier to keep track of requirements and provide practical advice to workers if public health orders were written in plain English, with any changes clearly communicated.”

Updated

Queensland shadow health minister causes outrage after yelling ‘cross your legs’ in question time

Opposition MP Ros Bates has caused outrage in Queensland parliament after yelling “cross your legs” in question time this morning.

The Labor health minister, Shannon Fentiman, wrongly accused her of yelling “close your legs” during question time this morning. But parliamentary Hansard quotes her as saying “cross your legs”.

Bates, a 15-year LNP veteran and former nurse, is the shadow minister for health.

Her interjection occurred after another MP asked Fentiman to confirm the Beaudesert hospital maternity unit had been put on bypass in December, January and February, with patients sent to Logan hospital.

“Why didn’t the minister tell the mums of Beaudesert about the bypass happening on her watch?” Jon Krause asked.

Fentiman had started to answer, explaining that the closures had occurred during “very small amounts of time” due to staff absences, particularly at Christmas.

Bates interjected by asking what the minister told pregnant women during those periods. “Cross your legs?” she asked.

Speaker Curtis Pitt warned Bates under standing orders and asked her to withdraw her interjection, which she did.

The opposition has been contacted for comment.

Premier Steven Miles described Bates’ comment as “disgraceful”.

“This is disgraceful behaviour by the LNP’s Ros Bates. No woman should be treated like this in a workplace, or anywhere for that matter.”

“This is the kind of behaviour David Crisafulli accepts from his spokesperson for Women and Health. If the LNP were to be elected she would be their most senior woman.

“Ros Bates has form. The LNP’s spokesperson for Health called regional health workers ‘duds’.

“And she was a minister in Campbell Newman’s government before being sacked for nepotism.”

Updated

Teenager charged after fatal boat crash in southern Sydney

A 16-year-old boy has been charged after a teenage girl was ejected from the boat he was driving and died.

In a statement, NSW police said emergency services were called to Grays Point on 26 January following reports that two small aluminium vessels – an Anglapro runabout and a Quintrex Dart runabout – had collided.

A 16-year-old girl was ejected from the Quintrex Dart runabout and pulled from the water, police said. She was treated by paramedics before being taken to St George hospital, where she died.

The operators of the two runabouts – two teenage boys, both aged 16 – were also taken to St George hospital for mandatory testing.

After extensive inquiries, the 16-year-old boy operating the Anglapro runabout was issued a court attendance notice for operating a recreational vessel negligently, causing death.

He is due to appear before a children’s court on 20 June.

Updated

Good afternoon, Mostafa Rachwani with you to take you through the rest of the day’s news.

Updated

Many thanks for joining me on the blog. Mostafa Rachwani will now take the reins and bring you our rolling coverage for the rest of the day. Take care!

Another 100 Aussies to be evacuated from New Caledonia

About 100 more Australians stranded in New Caledonia after deadly riots are set to be repatriated, AAP reports, meaning more than half the people who want to leave the French territory will have gotten home.

A French plane will arrive in Brisbane today after 84 Australians and 24 other nationals were repatriated to the Queensland capital yesterday.

There are about 500 Australians in New Caledonia and about 300 had registered their interest in coming home with the department of foreign affairs, pacific minister Pat Conroy said. He told ABC TV earlier:

That number may move slightly but we think approximately 100 Australians will be on that flight.

Australia would continue to work with the French government on further flights, Conroy said.

The primary plan is more French flights but as I’ve indicated publicly, we do have contingency plans and we do have planes on standby should there be an issue with that.

Updated

The Bureau of Meteorology has shared its midweek weather update, forecasting more frosty mornings for the east and cold fronts in the south:

Bowen criticises shadow minister’s response to CSIRO report

The energy and climate change minister, Chris Bowen, has criticised the shadow minister Ted O’Brien’s response to the latest CSIRO report. In a post to X, Bowen wrote:

Seriously. Ted O’Brien has the gall to demand more detail from the CSIRO and Aemo on the gencost report which shows nuclear is expensive and slow to build.

Gencost is 130 pages of detail. Which is 130 pages more detail than the LNPs nuclear policy, which they are still hiding from the Australian people.

O’Brien has told the ABC he didn’t object to the CSIRO’s $8.6bn costing for large-scale nuclear reactors but disagreed with its finding that it would produce power at twice the cost of renewables. He told the ABC:

At first glance, there’s nothing that stung me in the capital costs of the large reactors that was out of the ordinary. But I don’t accept the price of electricity that I see in this report.

Updated

Parliamentary inquiry into proposed NDIS changes continuing today

A parliamentary inquiry into proposed changes to the NDIS continues today, and so far it’s heard from more advocacy groups and participants this morning.

To recap, the inquiry is looking at a bill introduced by the scheme’s minister, Bill Shorten, in March. If passed, it will change the way plans are budgeted and prevent participants from “topping up” budgets that are spent too quickly.

It will also determine what supports and items can be funded by the scheme. For example, the bill’s explanatory memorandum says the NDIS cannot be used to fund holidays, groceries, online gambling, cosmetics, perfume, bills or the purchase of whitegood appliances.

The president of People with Disability Australia, Marayke Jonkers, pointed out these changes could end up costing the federal government more while simultaneously taking choice away from people on the scheme.

Jonkers offered an example where a food or meal delivery service provider is suddenly unable to deliver food to a participant. She said it might be practical and cheaper for that to be temporarily replaced by frozen meals from a supermarket.

We aren’t the same. We don’t live in the same locations. There’s rural, there is remote. This is a vast country. And surprisingly enough like every other Australian, we are not identical. We want to live different lives. We have different family situations.

Updated

Bird flu outbreak in Victoria not highly pathogenic H5N1 strain

The bird flu outbreak detected on a Victorian egg farm this week is not H5N1, the state’s chief veterinary officer has confirmed.

(We flagged this earlier in the blog here).

Speaking on the Victorian Country Hour on ABC radio, Dr Graeme Cooke said testing showed the strain of the virus was H7N7, the same subtype that was detected in the state in Australia’s biggest ever outbreak of bird flu in 2020. Both H4N1 and H7N7 are highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) strains.

Cooke said:

There is a type of virus which is causing great concern in the USA and other parts of the world and has behaved unusually in that it has infected dairy cattle and some other marine mammals and so on. This is not the strain that we’re dealing with. This is a strain that’s occurred in Australia before. It’s likely not new.

Cooke said any “diseased and at-risk birds” at the affected farm would be killed and disposed of to prevent further spread of the virus.

Updated

Nuclear debate ultimate ‘dead cat strategy’ amid fossil fuel expansions, Greens leader says

The Greens leader, Adam Bandt, has labelled the ongoing nuclear energy debate as a “dangerous distraction from Labor and the Liberals’ continued expansion of coal and gas”.

Responding to the latest CSIRO report, Bandt said in a statement:

In politics there’s a thing called the ‘dead cat’ strategy – you throw a dead cat on the table so that people stop talking about the other thing you’re trying to hide.

Nuclear is the ultimate dead cat strategy because it stops Labor and the Liberals talking about their shared desire to keep opening up more coal and gas mines. Which will push us over the edge, make the climate crisis out of control, and render large parts of the country uninhabitable for our kids and our grandkids.

If you missed it, here is all you need to know on the latest CSIRO report:

Updated

Earlier, the CEO of Singapore Airlines, Goh Choon Phong, provided an update on SQ321, which hit severe turbulence on the way from London to Singapore.

You can watch this below:

Updated

Domestic property investing ‘a good model’ and ‘very different’ to foreign investors, Taylor says

Laura Tingle asks the final question, around housing. She notes the Coalition policy to stop foreign investors from buying established housing and asks why they wouldn’t also ban domestic investors, who bought more dwellings during the same time period.

She also asked:

Why not scrap negative gearing and reducing capital gains tax for investors in established dwellings?

Angus Taylor responded that the Coalition does not want to stop “Australian businesses [owners], plumbers and electricians” from buying homes, adding value to it and potentially renting it out, if they don’t live in it themselves:

We think that is a good model. We do not think that is the right thing to change. Foreign investment is a very different thing. Those chippies and electricians and plumbers already live in this country and [there] is a very big difference between those two things. But we do not share Labor’s vision of big union-owned housing, renting that housing out to Australians who want to rent … That is not the pathway forward but that’s the pathway we know Labor wants to pursue with those policies.

And what is this union-owned housing Taylor speaks of? I have no idea, either.

Updated

Angus Taylor grilled on migration policy as figures appear to differ from Dutton's

Andrew Probyn has asked Angus Taylor to spell out the Coalition’s policy on net overseas migration, noting there is confusion because his numbers don’t appear to stack up with those of Peter Dutton.

Taylor denies that the numbers don’t stack up, saying:

I do not agree with that … I have already answered that question and I’m not going to answer it again and I have been clear about it. I will leave it to you to make the commentary but our position is clear: at the end of the day, we think we can free up 100,000 homes for Australians and it is not hard to work out the calculations on the [net overseas migration] that have got to support that.

Updated

Continuing to be quizzed on the Coalition’s nuclear policy, Angus Taylor could not give a date for when any specifics would be announced:

I will not give the date of all the announcements between now and the next election, but I can assure you of one thing: we will announce our policy before the election, not afterwards …

Updated

Our own Paul Karp has asked Angus Taylor about the Coalition’s nuclear policy, referencing the CSIRO report and asking:

What exactly are you doing differently to the CSIRO to bridge the gap and will the Coalition possibly be reviving the National Energy Guarantee so that the reliability of nuclear is priced in?

Taylor says the reliability piece of the NEG was implemented while he was the minister, but says he realised “we had to go further and we had to establish a capacity mechanism, which this government has pursued but said it should be renewables only”.

We are the only country in the world that I’m aware of that has done that. A renewables only strategy I think doesn’t work for dispatchable firm power, you are not going to get there, that’s why we have been very clear you have to have enough dispatchability in your system, that’s why you to have, alongside renewables – which will continue to see investment, particularly household solar – you’ve gotta have investment in gas, you could have a longer-term baseload answers.

Speaking on the report, Taylor said he is “firmly convinced that nuclear can generate a return because this system needs baseload power and you can get a reasonable return from having good, clean, zero-emissions baseload power”.

I think the economics, as you will see in the coming months, the economics can work.

Karp asked if he accepts that the GenCost report includes firming and transmission for renewables as well, and it is still cheaper. Taylor replies:

There are a lot of other assumptions in GenCost as well, so we can sit and get technical about this now but I’m not going to do that.

Updated

Shadow treasurer acknowledges superannuation for housing ‘not going to be the answer for everyone’

Angus Taylor is asked about criticism of the Coalition’s super for housing policy, that those most in need of help won’t have enough in their super accounts to utilise the initiative and it will probably benefit wealthier people.

Taylor skirts around the question but acknowledges the policy is “not going to be the answer for everyone”:

We think Australians deserve the opportunity to use their super for every possible investment that’s available and right now you have a situation where Australians can invest in anyone’s home except their own. That’s the truth of what we’ve got at the moment in front of us in the current situation …

So we do think it’s important, it’s not going to be the answer for everyone, to your point, but it will be the answer for many and that’s why we continue to support it. We consider owning your own home as absolutely central to the Australian aspiration and the Australian dream and we think this is part of the answer.

Updated

Taylor: if nuclear power is viable it won’t require government subsidies

David Crowe asks Angus Taylor how big the subsidies are that the Coalition is willing to offer to a nuclear industry in Australia.

The key for me as someone who really believes that we should make sure that we have affordable, reliable power, and I don’t want to commit subsidies that aren’t necessary, to make sure that it is commercially viable and we think it can be … If it is commercially viable it’s not going to be subsidies. It’s as simple as that. That is how the commercial world works.

Crowe asked about the preface of that statement with “if” – “if” nuclear can be commercially viable. Taylor continued:

No, I think it can be commercially viable. This is the point … If you use existing sites you avoid much of the cost that would otherwise be necessary.

Updated

Taylor says regional Australians ‘understand the impact’ of transmission lines while touting nuclear energy

Moving to energy policy, Angus Taylor is asked if there will be a nuclear power plant in New South Wales.

He tells the reporter: “You are always looking for an opportunity for us to announce another policy beyond what we have.” Taylor adds:

We have been very clear on this. We see nuclear as part of the future of our energy system in Australia, it’s because we’re going to lose 90% of our baseload. Gas obviously has to play an important role in the meantime. We’re delighted to see the government has shown, in a rhetorical sense, some interest in gas again, but we have seen no substance behind that.

Touting nuclear energy, Taylor argued Labor’s plan was to “wrap this country in transmission lines” but “those of us who live in regional Australia understand the impact of that”.

But there’s also broader impacts … taking people out of construction trades who we need to be building houses and doing other things and putting them into transmission lines that we already have …

There is a lot in this policy, but it is a big shift. I would say it’s the most profound shift in energy policy in my lifetime and so it’s why we are working through it meticulously, [and] Ted [O’Brien] and Peter [Dutton] and others will have more to say in the coming months.

Updated

Angus Taylor quizzed on specifics of Coalition migration policy

Back at the National Press Club, Angus Taylor has been asked the following question by David Speers:

You said a 25% reduction in the net overseas migration intake is the Coalition’s policy. Peter Dutton has said it would reduce it from 260 to 160,000 next year. That’s more than 25%.

Taylor said “I am talking over the four years” and added:

The position here is this: Peter [Dutton] has already given you the permanent migration numbers and the overall numbers over the next couple of years. Over the coming years there will be a term of government, there will be a 25% reduction. That is the plan.

Taylor is again asked to clarify if it is a 25% reduction in net overseas migration next year, or not?

Taylor said: “No, I said over the full term of government.”

He confirmed this meant over three years, at 25% reduction. Was that a settled Coalition position?

Taylor: “I’ve already said that.”

Updated

Greens announce candidate for South Australian seat of Sturt

Moving away from the National Press Club for a moment, and the Greens have announced Katie McCusker as the candidate for the seat of Sturt in South Australia.

Never heard of McCusker? She made quite the name for herself in the recent Dunstan byelection, picking up more than 19% of the vote in former premier Steven Marshall‘s seat.

Don’t know much about the very marginal seat of Sturt? It was held by former defence minister Christopher (I once had to get my own lemon for a gin and tonic) Pyne, and now is in the hands of James Stevens, who worked for both Marshall and Pyne before his election to parliament.

Greens leader, Adam Bandt, said Sturt was “an important opportunity for people to turn a Liberal seat Green”. SA Greens senator, Sarah Hanson-Young, said:

At the next election, the people of Sturt are going to have a clear choice: another bloke for Peter Dutton’s toxic Liberal party who wants to sow division and put nuclear reactors in our backyard, or Katie McCusker who will be a strong, local voice for the issues that really matter to people.

And McCusker said she’s lived in Sturt all her life, and people tell her every day that “they want to see a change”.

Updated

Now is not the time to add 36,000 public servants, Taylor says

Angus Taylor is asked about his comments that the government is wasting money on the public service with 36,000 new roles – where would the Coalition look to cut this back? And would it look to decentralise the public service by moving agencies out of Canberra?

He said: “All good questions and be patient, more detail on those numbers will be forthcoming.”

The important point here is this: we do not think that now is the time to add 36,000 commonwealth public servants. There are not many Australian businesses who are able … to expand in that kind of way and we think just as Australian households and businesses have to show frugality and have to make ends meet, so too should the commonwealth government.

Updated

Taylor begins taking questions following NPC speech

Angus Taylor has begun taking questions from reporters, the first from NPC president Laura Tingle, who asks:

You talked about the net overseas migration numbers being about 1.6 million. The last figure for a five year period before the pandemic interrupted things was actually 1.35 million, so it’s not that different over a five year period now considering the surge we had post-Covid.

On that basis, could you confirm that the Coalition’s position is that you would be looking to get the net overseas migration number down to 160,000 and if that’s the case doesn’t that imply, from your own analysis, that we wouldn’t just be looking at a per capita recession, we’d be looking at an actual recession?

Taylor argues there is a GDP per capita recession because “the country is going backwards and productivity has collapsed in an unprecedented way”.

He confirms the Coalition is looking at a 25% cut to net overseas migration, saying:

There has been a massive escalation in [migration] numbers in the last few years and we think that we can achieve a net migration in Australia which is consistent with the level of housing supply that is realistic.

Updated

Angus Taylor on Coalition’s gas and nuclear energy plan

Given the GenCost report says nuclear is extremely expensive, Angus Taylor is going to have his work cut out for him but of course he backs in nuclear power without saying how the Coalition will make it economically viable.

He says Australia should be “securing long-term, cheap, clean power by opening the door to nuclear energy”.

Robert Menzies recognised the need for the Snowy Hydro scheme if Australia was to be competitive in the postwar industrial environment. Today we need more energy, not less, if we are to secure the future capability of our manufacturing industry. Data, AI and robotics all require reliable, baseload energy. Yet under Labor’s plan, 90% of our baseload energy will leave the grid by 2035 without equivalent capacity to replace it. With one third of the world’s uranium, Australia has comparative advantages in nuclear that should be seen as an opportunity, not a threat.

Taylor also says the Coalition will increase production of gas by:

  • Streamlining regulatory approvals and restoring the National Gas Infrastructure Plan, which Labor dropped and has refused to reinstate. That plan will fill the gap in gas supply caused by collapsing Bass Strait production.

  • Focusing on cutting unnecessary red and green tape, particularly around approvals. That includes reducing overlap between state and federal environmental laws.

  • Unwinding the worst of Labor’s inflexible workplace laws.

Updated

Taylor outlines Coalition plan to reduce housing demand

Speaking on housing, Angus Taylor says the “mathematical reality” is “we simply do not have enough new homes”.

The Coalition’s plan is to reduce demand, he says, by:

First temporarily banning foreign investors and temporary residents from buying existing homes. Cutting permanent migration by 25% for two years followed by a gradual balancing with a greater emphasis on skilled visas to support construction. And thirdly, reducing foreign student numbers in metropolitan universities to lessen rental market pressure and introduce a tiered student visa fee system.

Taylor argues this would free up more than 100,000 additional dwellings over the next five years.

Updated

Angus Taylor says Coalition would cut government spending

Angus Taylor is also arguing that Labor’s budgets have “no fiscal guardrails”.

It has abandoned the rules that have supported every good budget since Peter Costello established the Charter of Budget Honesty, including: putting a speed limit on taxing and spending through a tax to GDP cap, and containing spending growth to less than GDP growth; [and] committing to reducing debt and delivering structural surpluses over the medium term. The Coalition will restore these rules.

And how will these savings be achieved? It’s unclear, although Taylor is listing a series of Labor’s “unavoidable” spending measures the Coalition believes are a waste:

  • $450m on the failed referendum – despite holding a referendum on the voice being bipartisan at the last election

  • Billions in corporate welfare – a reference to the Future Made in Australia

  • Millions in grants to the union movement

  • Funding of anti-resource project activists

  • More than $85m for spin units in the treasurer’s department – a reference to ad campaigns for the income tax cuts and Future Made in Australia

  • 36,000 additional commonwealth public servants

  • $45bn in off-budget spending that we have opposed

There’s also a reference to the fact the “Productivity Commission estimates use of digital technology can deliver savings of more than $5.7bn a year to the health system, while providing better outcomes for consumers”.

Updated

NPC president says she ‘looks forward’ to Coalition leader Peter Dutton accepting invitation to speak

Before his speech began, National Press Club president Laura Tingle noted it was Angus Taylor’s third appearance since the 2022 election.

She said:

That’s the most of anyone in the Coalition. Julian Leeser, Dan Tehan and Jacinta Nampijinpa Price are the only other opposition shadow ministers to appear at the club since the election and we are now less than a year from the next one.

What a shame for a regular audience of several hundred thousand viewers that they are missing a chance to hear an outline firsthand of the Coalition’s detailed policy positions.

The club does have a standing invitation to the leader of the opposition and we look forward to him accepting that in the near future.

Updated

Angus Taylor offers bipartisanship on foreign investment rules

Angus Taylor says the Coalition will “support initiatives that we judge will make our country more prosperous and more productive”. These include:

  • The establishment of a financial services regulatory grid

  • The proposed one-stop-shop for investors

  • Streamlined foreign investment board approvals

  • The development of a regulatory regime for digital assets.

In April the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, unveiled changes to foreign investment approval process.

Despite the bit of bipartisanship, Taylor criticises Labor’s budget strategy:

When it comes to the broader measures – economists are clear that this budget is unambiguously expansionary. Labor has committed to an extra $315 billion of spending since the last election – or $30,000 per household. On policy decisions Labor is spending $4 for every $1 raised. Government spending as a percentage of GDP is forecast to be at its highest level since 1986-87, outside the pandemic.

Updated

Shadow treasurer begins budget reply at National Press Club

Shadow treasurer Angus Taylor is delivering his reply to Labor’s third budget at the National Press Club.

Beginning his speech, Taylor outlines the cost-of-living pressures facing families and says “a whole generation of Australians haven’t experienced this, until now”.

Aspirations like home ownership, higher education or a comfortable retirement slip away. The cycle is self-fulfilling. Each piece of economic news and false promises from politicians erode hope, leaving people feeling trapped in a cycle of despair …

Despite being promised cheaper mortgages, cheaper power bills and a lower cost of living before the election, Australians have seen nothing of the sort. Instead they face a reality where both hope and certainty are in short supply.

Updated

Researchers unveil solar-powered ‘hydro harvester’

Researchers from the University of Newcastle have unveiled new technology that can harvest up to 1,000 litres of potable water from the air, every day.

The solar-powered “Hydro Harvester” has the capacity to sustain a small rural community of up to 400 people and could prove vital in future droughts and natural disasters, according to the project lead Laureate Prof Behdad Moghtaderi.

It can provide emergency water supply for livestock to avoid complete destocking during droughts and allow faster economic recovery. Or it could be used to temporarily supply communities when water is disconnected during repairs of leaking infrastructure.

The technology is set to be trialled later this year in several remote communities, which could include places like Laramba, a Indigenous community in the Northern Territory. In 2018, it was revealed the town had uranium concentrations in its drinking water three times the recommended limit.

Regional communities that rely on carting water from nearby towns when the taps run dry during drought could also benefit.

The project received funding from the government’s Future Drought Fund.

Updated

Threatened species get $24m funding boost

More than 70 native species at risk of extinction will benefit from a $24m funding boost, AAP reports.

Environment minister Tanya Plibersek has promised to prevent further extinctions – a mammoth task given Australia has more than 2,000 threatened plants and animals.

She has repeatedly described Australia’s existing nature laws as “broken” but recently alarmed conservation groups by delaying her promised overhaul of the legislation.

Today, the minister went to Sydney’s Taronga Zoo to announce 61 projects will each get grants of up to $500,000 to help a range of threatened plants and animals.

The money, which will help 73 species, is part of the government’s $550m spend to protect native species, and deal with invasive pests.

Funded projects include efforts to increase the production of corroboree frog eggs and juveniles at captive breeding facilities for the critically endangered species.

The money will also fund the expansion of a release program for captive-bred Bellinger River snapping turtles, and efforts to better protect quokkas from foxes and cats in Western Australia’s Wellington national park.

Updated

Home affairs minister on response to ICC seeking arrest warrant for Israeli PM: our focus is on ‘things we can influence here’

Earlier today the home affairs minister Clare O’Neil commented on the PM’s refusal to answer questions on the ICC seeking arrest warrants for Israel’s prime minister.

Speaking to Channel Seven’s Sunrise show, O’Neil said the focus of the government was on “the things we can influence here”.

Our big focus here is trying to influence the things that we can influence here. You’ve seen foreign minister Penny Wong and the prime minister play an active role in calling for a humanitarian ceasefire in the region.

I’m the home affairs minister and my big focus is actually what’s going on here in our country, making sure that those communities who are particularly affected by this conflict are supported and perhaps most importantly … making sure that we don’t bring that conflict here to Australia.

Updated

Woman describes being ‘flung to the roof and then to the floor’ on Singapore Airlines flight

An Australian woman injured during severe turbulence onboard a Singapore Airlines flight has described being “thrown to the roof and then to the floor” of the cabin.

Teandra Tukhunen, speaking from Bangkok’s Samitivej Srinakarin hospital with her left arm in a sling, explained how she had been asleep onboard SQ321 from Heathrow to Singapore when the plane struck severe turbulence which left one tourist dead, seven critically injured and dozens more taken to hospital.

“I was asleep, and then I was woken up because I was thrown to the roof and then to the floor,” Tukhunen, a 30 year-old from Melbourne, told Sky News UK.

She had not been wearing her seatbelt when the turbulence woke her up.

I woke up because of the turbulence, and then when they put on the seatbelt sign, pretty much immediately, straight after that I was flung to the roof, before I even had time to put my seatbelt on unfortunately.

Because it was just so quick they had no warning whatsoever.

It was just so quick, over in just a couple of seconds and then you’re just shocked.

Tukhunen was among 56 Australians onboard the flight, and the eight taken to hospital after the flight made an emergency landing in Bangkok following its dramatic drop of 6,000ft in about three minutes.

Tukhunen thanked the pilot, who she felt had “saved our lives”, and said “we’re alive, so that’s all that matters in the end.

Updated

Jim Chalmers says CSIRO report ‘has completely torpedoed this uncosted nuclear fantasy of Peter Dutton’s’

Earlier today the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, blasted Peter Dutton’s “fantasy” of a nuclear future, after a CSIRO and AEMO report found renewables are cheaper than nuclear.

Speaking in Bundoora, Chalmers said the report had “torpedoed” Dutton’s belief in nuclear energy, and added that Australia has an “immense opportunity in the renewable sector”.

I think the CSIRO has completely torpedoed this uncosted nuclear fantasy of Peter Dutton’s.

Peter Dutton won’t tell us where the reactors are going to go, which suburbs, which regions, which towns, which cities are going to house Peter Dutton’s reactors and the madness of this, I think, is laid bare in the CSIRO report.

For Australia, we have immense opportunity in the renewable sector, as the world transitions to net zero.

Updated

French authorities to conduct flight to Australia for stranded tourists on New Caledonia

French authorities will conduct a flight to Australia today enabling more tourists to depart New Caledonia, foreign minister Penny Wong says.

In a post to X, Wong said:

We will continue to work with partners to support the departure of all Australians who want to leave.

Australian officials remain in contact with registered Australians. [Dfat] staff are also contacting hotels in New Caledonia to provide information and to assess food and security arrangements.

Updated

Mary-Anne Thomas: ‘a couple of things have happened’ on Arden project

Bev McArthur changes her tack – she asks why the government didn’t consider redeveloping Parkville in the first place, instead of announcing a new Arden precinct.

Mary-Anne Thomas responds:

A couple of things have happened as we have progressed delivery of this project – the first of those is that when the Arden project was first announced in 2022, we were restricted in the number of storeys that we were able to build on the Parkville site to 15. But as work continued on the delivery of this project, there were changes that were made to the flight path from the Royal Children’s hospital ... That flight path has been changed and, as a consequence of that, we’re now able to build up to 22 storeys.

Thomas says the Arden site will now be used for 1,000 new homes.

Updated

Victorian health minister defends scrapping plans at Arden

Victorian budget estimates have now turned to health infrastructure, which minister Mary-Anne Thomas is also responsible for.

She’s being asked by Liberal MP Bev McArthur why plans for a medical precinct in North Melbourne were scrapped due to “electromagnetic interference” from the new Arden train station, given the government “already knew years ago that the EMI from the tunnel project posed significant issues at the Peter Mac[Callum] Cancer Centre”.

Thomas doesn’t answer the question – instead she says the government is going to expand the Royal Melbourne and Royal Women’s hospitals at their existing sites at Parkville instead, and has allocated $2.3bn to this work. She says:

I need to reject the premise of your question. There has been no scrapping of projects. Indeed our government remains committed to the first stage of the Royal Women’s hospital which will now happen on the Parkville site ... This will be the largest build ever in Australia’s history and we’ll deliver an additional 400 beds and enable 2,500 more babies to be born at the Royal Women’s hospital.

Updated

Amnesty International Australia calls on government to support ICC application for arrest warrants

Amnesty International Australia has called on the Australian government to support the ICC’s application for arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders, labelling the move a “landmark moment for international justice.”

In a statement, Amnesty said the decision to seek arrest warrants “is an historic step toward accountability following decades of impunity” and that Australia has a general obligation to “fully cooperate” with the ICC’s investigations and prosecutions as a party to the Rome Statute (the international treaty that established the ICC).

Mohamed Duar, Amnesty International Australia’s spokesperson for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, said:

In the pursuit of justice for victims of war crimes and crimes against humanity, and to uphold the court’s independence and impartiality, the Albanese government should affirm its support of the court’s investigation into the Occupied Palestinian Territories and the application of arrest warrants…

International law has been established over decades to ensure the safety, dignity and protection of all human lives. While international law has been flouted with impunity by the Israeli government and Hamas, Australia and the international community must support efforts to ensure the adherence to international law is urgently restored.

All states must respect the legitimacy, impartiality and independence of the ICC. The Australian government must do everything in its power to see an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and to ensure that desperately needed humanitarian aid is delivered to the people of Gaza in order to prevent further mass death of civilians.

Earlier today, health minister Mark Butler said the ICC “is independent and will go through its usual procedures … we don’t seek to interfere in that”. You can read more here.

Gold Coast university hospital had to downgrade maternity services due to lack of anaesthetic staff, parliament hears

The Gold Coast university hospital was forced to downgrade maternity services for complex births due to lack of anaesthetic staff, Queensland parliament has heard.

Shadow health minister Ros Bates said in question time it had been downgraded four times in January and February.

Health minister Shannon Fentiman said no patients had been affected by the downgrade of the hospital from level 6 to level 5 “for periods shorter than 24 hours”.

Fentiman said clinicians had decided to “slightly reduce the service” due to a lack of staff.

There was a shortage of medical practitioners and credentials with anaesthetics and scope of practice for very complicated neonatal complex births.

The downgrades happened on January 11 and 12 and 18 and 19, and then again from January 20 to 24, she said.

A number of birthing clinics have closed or been put on bypass in regional Queensland in recent years. The maternity clinic in Weipa is set to reopen this week.

Updated

Home affairs minister on Singapore Airlines flight SQ 321: ‘we will do everything we can to help’

The home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil, says her thoughts were with those affected by the in-air incident on Singapore Airlines flight SQ 321, AAP reports.

She told Sunrise earlier this morning:

This is a terrible experience that these people have gone through.

The Australian government will provide consular assistance wherever we can, wherever it’s needed to those people.

I know the embassy in Bangkok and the high commission in Singapore are actively trying to contact those Australians at the moment ... we will do everything we can to help.

Updated

Victorian health minister takes question on abortion access

Circling back to Victorian health minister Mary-Anne Thomas’ appearance at budget estimates:

Thomas is now being asked by Greens MP Aiv Puglielli about a report by the ABC today which raises concerns women are being blocked from accessing abortion services by conscientious objectors, who are then failing to refer them to alternative providers.

The health minister says this is a “key concern” of hers and it’s why the government is planning to open 20 new women’s health clinics, which will offer both surgical and medical abortions.

She said Sexual Health Victoria had also recently established a telehealth medical abortion service. Of the telehealth program, Thomas said:

That is improving access particularly for regional and rural women. So I want the committee to be in no doubt about our government’s commitment to expanding access to abortion care right across Victoria, no matter where girls and women live. And as a regional Victorian myself, I’m well aware of some of the challenges that can be experienced in rural and regional Victoria.

You will also be interested to know that my department has – at my direction, I might say – worked with Peninsula and Eastern and Western health services in order to increase access to surgical termination and create additional capacity for the Royal Women’s hospital.

Updated

Victorian EPA responding to reports of fuel leak in Melboune

The Environment Protection Authority of Victoria says it is responding to reports of fuel leaking into the bay from a drain under a pier near Head Street in Elwood.

Please avoid contact with the water while we investigate.

Robbie Katter calls for new state in north Queensland

Queensland state parliament is set to debate “taking the necessary steps” to form a separate state.

Robbie Katter sponsored the motion this morning. It’s expected to be debated this afternoon.

I move a motion that this house supports taking the necessary steps to form a separate state of north Queensland, in accordance with section 124 of the commonwealth constitution.

Independence has long been a pet policy of the Katters.

Victorian health minister grilled on amalgamation plans at budget estimates

Victoria’s health minister, Mary-Anne Thomas, is appearing before the public accounts and estimates committee’s budget estimates hearings this morning for a mammoth 4.5 hour session.

While there’s been plenty of dixers from the Labor MPs on the committee, Coalition members have been grilling the minister on plans to amalgamate some of the state’s 76 health services.

Thomas tells the committee that while she’s received a report from an expert advisory committee, led by former Labor MP and health executive Bob Cameron, her department is still considering its recommendations.

During questioning by Nationals MP, Danny O’Brien, she accused the opposition of “running a pre-emptive scare campaign” on a process “designed to inquire into four of the key challenges that our health service system is facing”.

The four challenges, she said, were the aging population, the workforce challenge, cost of healthcare rising post-pandemic and new models of care.

She said Victoria has far more individual health services than other states and they aren’t communicating effectively with each other. Thomas said there were “resources across our smallest country hospitals” that were particularly “underutilised”:

I have been to rural and remote hospitals, where I know where there are very few patients [than] down the road in a bigger regional hospital, [where] there are patients that should be closer to home. The object of this work is to ensure that people are receiving care as close to home as possible ... No decisions have been made. The department is assessing that report and will deliver advice to me and at that time, government will make decisions about the next steps, which will undoubtedly include consultation.

Updated

Greenwich and Latham arrive at federal court in Sydney

New South Wales politicians Alex Greenwich and Mark Latham have arrived at the federal court for the start of a defamation trial.

As we flagged just earlier, Independent MP Greenwich brought the action against the former One Nation NSW leader following an explicit tweet sent more than a year ago.

The trial is expected to run for a week.

More from AAP on the Greenwich v Latham defamation trial

High-profile barrister Matthew Collins KC, who is representing Alex Greenwich, said his client was seeking aggravated damages over the abuse allegedly resulting from the tweet.

[Mark] Latham, our ultimate case is, responded in a wholly disproportionate and irrelevant and disgraceful manner.

Several of Greenwich’s political allies, as well as his husband, will be among witnesses called to give evidence about his character and state of mind following the tweet.

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young and speaker of the NSW legislative assembly, Greg Piper, are expected to be among them.

The trial is expected to run until Tuesday.

Updated

Court showdown begins in Latham ‘homophobic abuse’ defamation case

A bitter feud between Mark Latham and fellow NSW MP Alex Greenwich that initially played out on social media will head to court for a defamation showdown, AAP reports.

Five days of hearings, set to begin in the federal court today, will test claims by Greenwich that the former federal Labor leader’s tweet describing explicit sexual acts between men fuelled a “torrent” of homophobic and other abuse against him.

Latham’s tweet came in response to an earlier post by Greenwich calling him a “disgusting human being”.

The lawsuit targets both Latham’s tweet and statements made during an interview with the Daily Telegraph in which the then One Nation state leader discussed Greenwich giving speeches about sexuality to students in schools.

Latham has denied that he defamed the independent MP for the state seat of Sydney and is defending the lawsuit.

His barrister Barry Dean previously argued Latham’s tweet was a reasonable response to the initial attack and the comments were the conservative MP’s honest opinion at the time.

He also said there had been no serious harm done to Greenwich and “when you look at the reputation of Mr Greenwich, that has not been affected in a material way.”

Latham is also running various qualified privilege defences and a defence that his comments were made in the public interest.

Updated

Bird flu detected at central Victorian egg farm

Bird flu has been detected at an egg farm near Meredith in central Victoria, authorities say. However they are yet to determine if it the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain.

That type of bird flu has been detected on every continent on earth except Australia, including Antarctica.

In a statement, Agriculture Victoria says it is investigating a number of poultry deaths at the Meredith farm and that “preliminary tests have confirmed the presence of the avian influenza virus”.

Samples have been delivered to the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness at Geelong for further tests which will determine the type and nature of the disease. The property has been placed into quarantine and Agriculture Victoria staff are on-the-ground to support the business and investigate further.

Victoria’s chief veterinary officer, Dr Graeme Cooke, says Agriculture Victoria is “responding with staff on the ground [and] supporting the business with further laboratory investigations as necessary”.

Cooke urged poultry farmers, backyard flock owners and other bird owners to report “any cases of unexplained bird deaths” to the 24-hour Emergency animal disease hotline on 1800 675 888, or to their local vet.

Updated

Government welcomes ‘positive engagement’ with Israel over aid worker death

The Australian government has welcomed “positive engagements” with Israel over an investigation into the killing of an aid worker, AAP reports.

Retired air chief marshal Mark Binskin travelled to Israel in early May after being appointed as Australia’s special advisor on Tel Aviv’s investigation into the death of Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom and six World Central Kitchen colleagues.

An Israeli airstrike killed the aid workers in early April in what the Israel Defence Force called a misidentification in the fog of war.

A foreign affairs department spokesperson told AAP in a statement:

The Australian government welcomes Israel’s positive engagement with ACM Binskin to date. The government has made clear to Israel its expectation of a full, thorough and transparent investigation, and demanded full accountability.

Binskin will provide his report to the foreign minister “in due course”.

Updated

Butler comments on ICC seeking arrest warrants

Mark Butler was also asked about comments from the shadow foreign minister, Simon Birmingham, earlier this morning, accusing the PM of “wilful inconsistency” at a press conference yesterday. You can read more about this earlier in the blog here.

Butler denied there had been any inconsistency and said:

The Australian government has essentially voiced a longstanding position that that court (the ICC) is independent and will go through its usual procedures

I think one of the concerning things out of this report has been the sense that there is some equivalence between Hamas and Israel and I think we all – certainly I reject that, the government rejects that… [Hamas has] been recognised as a terrorist organisation in Australia for some time.

But the point that the PM has made, and I know the foreign minister has made, is that the ICC is part of the global architecture that Australia, as a middle power, has always supported. And so decisions by the ICC to do one thing or another are a decision for them, we don’t seek to interfere in that.

Butler was also asked if Australia should boycott any arrest warrants, as requested by Israel, but did not answer the question directly.

I’m the health minister … the foreign minister and the prime minister talk on these issues.

Updated

Health minister speaks about ban of replica Ozempic

The health minister, Mark Butler, spoke to ABC RN earlier about the government’s crackdown on replicas of Ozempic and other weight loss drugs. You can read more on this below:

Speaking about the decision, Butler said a “carve-out” called compounding allows doctors and pharmacists to decide a patient needed something that wasn’t commercially available, and as a one-off this was made.

But what we’ve seen over the last several months is a whole lot of business models develop that are using this carve-out, effectively abusing this exception, to put in place large scale-manufacturing operations.

And we have no oversight about what these medicines contain … there’s no ability to gather adverse event reporting, so there’s no sort of line of sight regulators have about what’s happening.

This is something that the American authority, [the] FDA [Food and Drug Administration], has also expressed concern about so over the last several months, we’ve been working with authorities to gauge their views about what we should do and the clearest advice to me, from the TGA [Therapeutic Goods Administration], was that we should remove this exemption.

Asked why the ban is taking effect from October, rather than immediately, Butler said he views it as a transition period not for industry but for patients.

Updated

Singapore Airlines releases new statement after flight SQ 321 incident

Singapore Airlines said 131 passengers and 12 crew members who were on board have arrived in Singapore via a relief flight. Another 79 passengers and six crew members remain in Bangkok, it said.

This includes those receiving medical care, as well as their family members and loved ones who were on the flight.

As we reported earlier, eight Australians who were on board the flight have been hospitalised in Bangkok.

Goh Choon Phong, CEO of Singapore Airlines, said:

On behalf of Singapore Airlines, I would like to express my deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of the deceased passenger. We also deeply apologise for the trauma experienced by all passengers and crew members on this flight. We are providing all possible assistance and support to them, along with their families and loved ones, during this difficult time. The well-being of our passengers and staff is our utmost priority.

Singapore Airlines is “fully cooperating with the relevant authorities in the investigation into this incident”, it said.

Birmingham says transmission infrastructure costs could be avoided by looking at different generation, including nuclear

Circling back to Simon Birmingham’s earlier interview on ABC RN: he was asked about a CSIRO report released today showing electricity from nuclear power in Australia would be at least 50% more expensive than solar and wind.

Birmingham said it will “take a little time to go through the findings” and the Coalition would look at this while developing its policy, but also at international evidence “from the International Energy Agency, the OECD and others”.

We want to make sure that we present a comprehensive policy [that] doesn’t just look at one part of the energy sector, namely generation, but also includes all of the things that go into the prices households and businesses pay, namely transmission. [You’ve] got to look at how that impacts when you’ve got tens of billions of dollars being lined up to be spent on new transmission infrastructure across the country, some of which – much of which potentially could be avoided by looking at a different generation.

Updated

Bank branch closure inquiry report due to be handed down by Friday

A senate inquiry into the effects of rural bank closures has heard from the Big Four, farmers, councils and communities over the last year, with 610 public submissions.

As AAP reports, the committee is due to hand down its final report by Friday after 13 public hearings that largely focused on one question: do banks have a social responsibility to serve Australia’s country communities?

Regional Australia lost 798 branches in the five years to June 2023 with closures accelerated during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Australian Prudential Regulation Authority figures.

The banks say shutdowns are due to rapid uptake of digital banking and decline in face-to-face transactions at their branches. But in areas where the last bank has closed, such as the remote mining town of Tom Price in WA, residents are left to travel 700km to the nearest branch.

One hearing was told of remote business owners having to stuff weeks of cash takings into a suitcase and fly to a city branch. You can read more about this issue from Emily Middleton below:

More flights out of New Caledonia as first Australians arrive home

More than 80 Australians have touched down at home and been reunited with their families after being evacuated from New Caledonia following more than a week of deadly rioting, AAP reports.

Two Royal Australian Air Force planes repatriated 84 Australians and 24 other nationals to Brisbane yesterday. The Pacific minister, Pat Conroy, told the Today Show just earlier:

We’ve prioritised the elderly, the pregnant and the most vulnerable. We’ll continue to work with the French government to make sure we get every Australian out of New Caledonia who does want to leave.

Other nationalities were included due to reciprocal agreements with countries like Canada and Japan that help evacuate Australian citizens during times of crisis, Conroy said.

More than 200 Australians remain trapped in New Caledonia and want to leave. The French government is planning flights from Noumea to Brisbane today. Conroy added:

We obviously have plans developed and planes available should that not eventuate.

Updated

Birmingham accuses PM of ‘wilful inconsistency’ in how he responded to questions at press conference

Q: The Australian government has said it respects international law. Do you respect international law?

Simon Birmingham responded:

Well on the way these proceedings are being launched, the impression that I’ve said that they create and the lack of action elsewhere, you can see many people who weren’t going to struggle to respect the way the ICC is conducting itself in in these matters.

Birmingham argued that prime minister Anthony Albanese has had “wilful inconsistency” in his response to the issue, telling ABC RN:

Our prime minister yesterday stood at a press conference and said he wouldn’t comment on a matter before the courts or a matter before international courts, in the very same press conference where he commented on Julian Assange his case before British courts.

Host Patricia Karvelas noted the government had taken a position, to support international law. Chris Bowen yesterday said, “International law must always be observed and nobody gets a free pass for that.” Birmingham replied:

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade belatedly released a statement… The prime minister of this country was asked a question, and he completely dodged [it]… Now you’ve asked me some difficult questions this morning, will the prime minister answer those difficult questions, or will he keep handling them to unelected officials instead?

Updated

Birmingham insists ICC arrest warrants create ‘false equivalence between Israel and Hamas’

Simon Birmingham was asked whether Australia should boycott any arrest warrant issued by the ICC, as Israel has called on “civilised nations” to do. He responded:

I would be deeply troubled If Australia were in a position of arresting the democratically elected prime minister of Israel. I think that would send a terrible signal given the way in which the court has issued these proceedings, and the actions of the prosecutor in creating this impression of a false equivalence between Israel and Hamas.

Host Patricia Karvelas jumped in and said the ICC had denied any equivalence between the two parties. Birmingham said:

They may deny it but they have created it by issuing all of these proceedings simultaneously, by doing nothing about Hamas in the days, weeks, or couple of months immediately after October 7, and waiting until they could launch these actions simultaneously. What is the justification for that? … So you look at the inconsistencies here, and they are tragically mounting.

Updated

Birmingham says Israel is ‘targeting military operations’ and ‘trying to provide humanitarian support’ despite major Palestinian civilian losses

Host Patricia Karvelas noted that opposition leader Peter Dutton said Australia should stand “shoulder to shoulder” with US president Joe Biden, who condemned the ICC action. She asked if Australia should also stand shoulder to shoulder with Biden on his comments last year that Israel was loosing support internationally because of its “indiscriminate bombing”?

Shadow foreign minister Simon Birmingham said:

We stand shoulder to shoulder with the United States in the expectation that Israel exercises care in how it conducts its operations to remove Hamas from this position of being a terrorist threat against it, and so how Israel conducts those operations does matter … So we do see that Israel conducts itself in terms of targeting its military operations, trying to provide humanitarian support…

Karvelas pushed back, asking: “Are you saying that Israel has targeted just military targets in this campaign? I mean, there are so many civilians dead.”

There are civilians dead and each innocent life lost to the tragedy – be they Israeli life or Palestinian life or anybody in this conflict, just as in any conflict – innocent lives being lost is a tragedy. But we do have to recognise that the objectives are profoundly different between the two parties.

Updated

Birmingham on ICC prosecutor seeking arrests

Shadow foreign affairs minister Simon Birmingham is speaking to ABC RN about the international criminal court prosecutor’s (ICC) decision to seek arrest warrants for senior Hamas and Israeli officials, including for prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defence minister, Yoav Gallant.

Birmingham was asked if he believes the action is antisemitic? He responded:

We have governments expressing real concern because there is a sense, as the German foreign ministry said, that the simultaneous application for arrest warrants creates the false impression of equivalence. And we utterly, utterly reject there being any sense of equivalence between Hamas and the state of Israel.

Eight Australians in hospital following Singapore flight

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has confirmed eight Australians were injured on the Singapore Airlines flight SQ 321 incident.

In a statement, Dfat said consular officials from the Australian embassy in Bangkok are providing consular assistance to the eight Australians who have been taken to hospital.

The Australian embassy in Bangkok and the Australian high commission in Singapore continue to make inquiries to confirm if any further Australians are affected.

Australians in need of emergency consular assistance should contact the government’s 24-hour consular emergency centre on +61 2 6261 3305 (from overseas) or 1300 555 135 (from within Australia).

Updated

Snowy 2.0 tunnel boring machine Florence has ‘hit some hard rock’

Chris Bowen is also asked about reports that Snowy 2.0 tunnel boring machine Florence is again stuck. He says a device to manage the project is “still on track for the previously announced completion date”:

[There] should have been another boring machine audit right at the beginning when the project was started. But the new management of Snowy 2.0, under the new chief executive Dennis Barnes, has done a remarkable job in turning the project around and improving it. It is now 57% complete.

Yes, the Florence boring machine has hit some hard rock, but a device to manage the project is still on track for the previously announced completion date. And on your point, Sabra [Lane], even with these cost increases, Snowy is still pound for pound much cheaper than nuclear even though the cost has increased substantially.

Updated

Chris Bowen says nuclear energy is ‘slow, expensive and risky’

Chris Bowen is also asked about the latest CSIRO report released today, showing electricity from nuclear power in Australia would be at least 50% more expensive than solar and wind.

Bowen said the main takeaway from the report was that “it’s yet another confirmation that renewables are the cheapest form of energy, and nuclear is by far the most expensive form of energy”:

CSIRO and Aemo have looked at large-scale nuclear for the first time. It finds that that would be far more expensive than renewables, despite claims from the opposition – quite inappropriate attacks on CSIRO and Aemo from the opposition, that they hadn’t counted the cost of transmission. The cost of transmission and storage is counted, and still renewables comes out as the cheapest.

And of course, CSIRO points out that nuclear will be … very slow to build. So nuclear is slow and expensive and is risky when it comes to the reliability of Australia’s energy system.

Updated

Climate change minister discusses latest Aemo report

Energy and climate change minister Chris Bowen is speaking to ABC RN after the release of Aemo’s latest report yesterday.

As Peter Hannam reported, Aemo forecast so-called reliability gaps in NSW, Queensland, South Australia and Victoria unless authorities “orchestrated” faster deployment of solar and wind energy as well as batteries.

Host Sabra Lane asks how worried he is that public support for renewables would vanish if there are blackouts, or prices remain high? Bowen responds:

People said there’ll be blackouts last summer, Peter Dutton and Ted O’Brien ran around quite inappropriately saying the lights were going [out]. The lights did not go out. We had no blackouts due to lack of energy generation. We had some power lines down and some transmission towers down – that can happen at any time – but what we didn’t have is a lack of power in any power grid in the country over the last summer despite claims to the contrary …

And to your question about public support, I mean every poll I see continues to show renewables being the most popular form of energy, the most supported form of energy, with nuclear right at the bottom of that category.

Updated

Queensland Greens seek $61bn coal royalties revenue boost

The Queensland Greens have unveiled a coal royalties plan for a $61bn revenue boost over the next four years.

The party says the government’s coal royalty changes would result in a drop of 76% in revenue in the upcoming state budget.

The Greens’ plan would increase the base royalty rate to 35% across all resources and assumes no new coal or gas approvals from October 2024, as well as thermal coal being phased out by 2030 and gas, LNG and metallurgical coal exports being phased out by 2040.

The plan comes after Queensland treasurer Cameron Dick told parliament yesterday the June budget would forecast a deficit of about $3bn for 2024-25 financial year. Dick said the budget blowout was a result of state government spending on cost-of-living measures, housing and health.

The Greens MP for Maiwar, Michael Berkman, said mining corporations were making “giant profits” while “regular people are struggling to afford the basics”.

State revenue is about to fall off a cliff as Labor’s short-term coal royalty changes stop collecting any real revenue from July. We want more for Queenslanders, and less for mining corporations.

Updated

Accord tertiary education target will generate $240bn, Labor says

The Albanese government has released an economic analysis by the education department claiming that if it reaches the accord’s attainment target of 80% of workers getting a tertiary qualification by 2050 then $240bn in additional income will be added to the economy over the period to 2050.

The basis for the claim is that people with year 11 or below as their highest level of education earn a median of $50,000 in 2021, which rises to $60,000 for those witha cert III or cert IV, or $80,000 for those with a bachelor degree. The benefit to the budget includes lowering lifetime social security costs, for example, increasing a person’s attainment from year 12 to a university qualification lowers the cost by an average of $12,000.

The education minister, Jason Clare, said:

Under Bob Hawke and Paul Keating, the number of Australians finishing high school jumped from around 40% to almost 80%. That was nation changing. Now we have to take the next step. The Budget sets a goal of 80% of the workforce with a TAFE or uni qualification by 2050, and funds key reforms to get us there. A big part of this is helping more kids from the suburbs and regions get a crack at uni and succeed when they get there.

Updated

Good morning

And happy Wednesday – I’m Emily Wind, reporting for blogging duty. I’ll take you through our live coverage today.

To share any thoughts, feedback or questions, you can get in touch via X, @emilywindwrites, or send me an email: emily.wind@theguardian.com.

Let’s get started.

Australians losing less to scammers, ACCC report shows

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission report today reveals that scam losses reported between January and March this year are down compared with the previous quarter.

In total Australians reported $73.2m in losses to Scamwatch, $173.2m to ReportCyber and $99.2m to the AFCX. The combined total this quarter was $345.6m, although this might contain duplication if scam victims reported to multiple entities.

This amounts to a reduction in:

  • Losses reported to Scamwatch down 11% compared with the previous quarter.

  • Losses reported to the Australian Financial Crimes Exchange are down by over 40% over the same period.

  • Losses reported to ReportCyber down 3%.

The assistant treasurer, Stephen Jones, will be in Sydney campaigning on this and the $69.2m in the budget to crack down on scams, including $37.3m to regulators to enforce mandatory industry codes requiring banks, telcos, social media, digital messaging and search advertising services to prevent and disrupt scams. Jones said:

There’s clear evidence that our scam crackdown is working, but losses remain far too high. We are implementing an ambitious anti-scam agenda and will continue to introduce strategies that protect people’s money and make it harder for scammers to operate. The codes will set a high bar for banks, telcos, and social media giants to prevent, detect and disrupt scam activity operating on their services. We want to be a world leader when it comes to scam prevention.

The minister for communications, Michelle Rowland, said:

Cracking down on these criminals is a key focus for the Albanese government. Our funding measures will ensure our regulators have all the tools they need to disrupt scammers and keep Australians safe. Reviewing the telephone and SMS codes will ensure they are fit-for-purpose and ensuring industry is doing all it can prevent telco scams reaching Australians. These actions complement the Albanese government’s work to establish an SMS sender ID registry – a first for Australia.

Updated

On the subject of the Coalition’s budget reply, today’s Full Story podcast features our chief political correspondent, Paul Karp, talking to Nour Haydar about why Peter Dutton has zeroed in on migration and what it could mean in a pre-election year.

Listen to the podcast here:

Updated

Coalition budget costings have $45bn 'black hole', Labor says

The shadow treasurer, Angus Taylor, will address the National Press Club today delivering his response to Labor’s third budget.

Before of the speech the government has accused the Coalition of a $45bn budget black hole consisting of:

Some of this is contentious, for example the opposition has said it wants “simpler, fairer” taxes, but has not committed to restore stage-three tax cuts dollar for dollar for those high income earners who missed out when Labor rejigged them in favour of low and middle income earners.

The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, said:

The Liberal-Nationals have a $45bn black hole in their budget. Spending tens of billions of dollars more while calling for a slash-and-burn budget shows why the Coalition have no credibility and can’t be trusted to run the economy.

After two years in opposition, it’s time for Angus Taylor to finally explain what vital services the Coalition wants to cut and whether they will go after pensioners and Medicare again like they did the last time they were in office.

The Coalition left behind rising interest rates, a trillion dollars of debt, falling real wages and rising inflation. Now real wages are growing, inflation is moderating, and we’re forecasting the first back-to-back surpluses in almost two decades. Peter Dutton’s nasty negativity is no substitute for economic credibility.”

Updated

Fifty-six Australians on 'traumatic' Singapore Airlines flight

Singapore Airlines issued a statement this morning saying it was providing “all possible assistance” to the passengers and crew on board SQ321, which hit severe turbulence on the way from London to Singapore.

It said there were a total of 211 passengers and 18 crew onboard SQ321 – and more of them were Australian than any other nationality.

The nationalities of the passengers were: 56 from Australia, two from Canada, one from Germany, three from India, two from Indonesia, one from Iceland, four from Ireland, one from Israel, 16 from Malaysia, two from Myanmar, 23 from New Zealand, five from the Philippines, 41 from Singapore, one from South Korea, two from Spain, 47 from the UK, and four from the US.

The airline said:

We can confirm that there were multiple injuries and one fatality on board the Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. Singapore Airlines offers its deepest condolences to the family of the deceased. We deeply apologise for the traumatic experience that our passengers and crew members suffered on this flight.

Updated

Welcome

Good morning and welcome to our rolling news coverage. I’m Martin Farrer and I’m going to take you through some of the main overnight stories before Emily Wind arrives to pilot the main action of the day.

A big story from overseas this morning is the horrific turbulence that hit a Singapore Airlines flight from London to Singapore, during which one British passenger died, probably from a heart attack, and many others were injured. We have full coverage – and more coming up as it turns out there were 56 Australians on board, more than any other nationality.

Shadow treasurer Angus Taylor will give his budget reply address to the National Press Club today in which he is expected to map out some of the key policies on which the Coalition will contest the next election. These include reinstating stage-three tax cuts for the wealthiest and of course slashing migration. Labor have already gone on the attack about the costing of the policies, accusing the Coalition of having a $45bn “black hole” in their figures. Another contentious area is the Coalition plan to build nuclear power stations, with Csiro issuing a report today saying it would cost $8.6bn to build one, and it wouldn’t be up and running until 2040 at the earliest. More coming up.

More than 100 Australians and other tourists have landed in Brisbane from New Caledonia after the government arranged two repatriation flights due to the worsening security situation there. Foreign affairs minister Penny Wong said 108 Australians and others had arrived back in Australia last night on the government assisted-departure flights after riots left six people dead and a trail of looted shops, torched cars and road barricades. One Australian tourist, Mary Hatten, said she had been largely confined to her hotel. She told the ABC:

The place was just in a mess.

In a big announcement today, the government will crack down on replicas of Ozempic and other weight loss drugs, closing a loophole that allowed compounding pharmacies to make and sell them to about 20,000 Australians. Shortages of the drug have prompted people to ask compounding pharmacies to make up a replica version of the drugs but federal health minister Mark Butler said this increased the risk of safety problems and, from October, compounding these similar weight-loss products – or compounded glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RA) – will be banned.

Updated

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