Category Archives: Australia news

Atagi’s strict Covid restrictions preventing ‘desperate’ parents from vaccinating their children, expert says

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Exclusive: Vaccine recommendations should also consider effects of long Covid on the health system and workforce, Dr Michelle Ananda-Rajah says

Labor MP and infectious disease specialist Dr Michelle Ananda-Rajah has criticised Australia’s immunisation experts for keeping “overly restrictive” rules on access to coronavirus vaccines, urging the government to expand eligibility for children and young people in a bid to address long Covid.

The Melbourne doctor called on the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (Atagi) to provide more transparency on its decision to not recommend fourth shots for people under 30 and to not allow under-fives to receive Covid vaccines. She said many parents were “desperate” to have their children vaccinated.

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Summer sweetness: oversupply of mangos sees prices plummet across Australia

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Overlapping harvest seasons have increased availability of the tropical fruit at markets, putting prices as low as $1.90 apiece

Mango growers are urging customers to celebrate the summer season by buying more of the fruit, as a glut in supply has sent prices plummeting.

Across the country, the oversupply of mangoes has seen prices drop dramatically – with the fruit going for as little as $1.90 each in some stores.

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Labor MPs believe Daniel Andrews has been given a mandate for bold change. What will he do with it?

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The Victorian Labor and Liberal parties face challenges over the next four years after a decisive election result

Despite predictions of a late swing to the Coalition and the possibility of minority government, Labor not only emphatically won the Victorian state election – it has outdone its 2018 “Danslide” result by one lower house seat.

The size of the victory, as well as the likelihood of a largely progressive crossbench in the upper house, provides Daniel Andrews with a mandate to tackle important reform. This includes scrapping group voting tickets and overhauling the criminal justice and child protection systems, which are being examined at public hearings by the nation’s first truth-telling inquiry, the Yoorrook Justice Commission.

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Nathan Lyon’s landmark wicket helps Australia tighten grip on second Test

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  • West Indies reduced to 109-4 after career-best 175 by Travis Head
  • Spinner surpasses Shane Warne’s wicket tally for Adelaide Oval

Travis Head registered a career-best 175 at Adelaide Oval on Friday, run out just as his home crowd began to anticipate a Test double century. Nonetheless, he was the major contributor to a score of 511 for seven, the declaration coming shortly before the end of the second session in order to give Australia’s bowlers the evening portion of play with a new ball. They made good use of it, having West Indies four wickets down with 102 on the board by stumps, adrift by 409 runs.

The bowling performance with the pink ball was the big point of interest for the home side, with Patrick Cummins and Josh Hazlewood missing with minor injuries. That brought in two different fan favourites. Michael Neser’s first and only Test appearance to date had come in Adelaide a year ago, after he had long been the subject of the online #NeserMustPlay campaign. After that breakthrough he was unlucky to slip from his perch as Australia’s first reserve when Scott Boland did even better, 18 Ashes wickets at 9.55 after being picked in Melbourne.

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Cricket Australia boss criticises David Warner for outburst on captaincy ban

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  • Nick Hockley unhappy Warner made comments on social media
  • Boss rejects claim review would have hurt batter’s reputation

Cricket Australia boss Nick Hockley advised David Warner against his social media bombshell on Test match eve, adamant a review of ball-tampering sanctions could go ahead without reopening old wounds.

Warner’s lengthy Instagram post on Wednesday evening set the scene for a dramatic week in Adelaide, with the opener lashing out at the process an independent panel appointed by CA’s integrity commission wanted to take.

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Victorian Labor surpasses its 2018 ‘Danslide’ result after claiming seat of Bass

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Jordan Crugnale claims Bass, seeing the party’s presence in the lower house increased by one seat

Victorian Labor has surpassed its emphatic 2018 “Danslide” election result, claiming victory in the seat of Bass, in Melbourne’s south-east.

Labor MP Jordan Crugnale claimed the seat on Friday night, after a redistribution before the poll made the seat notionally Liberal with a margin of 0.7%.

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$1.5bn energy price relief package for Australians including caps on coal and gas

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Treasury advised the PM and premiers not to deliver the rebates as cash handouts due to risk of fuelling inflationary pressure

Canberra and the states have agreed to cap coal and gas prices, and provide additional rebates for Australians on low and middle incomes, as part of a $1.5bn intervention that will shave hundreds of dollars off power bills.

After a national cabinet meeting on Friday, governments have agreed to cap gas prices temporarily at $12 per gigajoule and cap coal prices at $125 per tonne. Parliament will be recalled next week to implement the change.

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Australia news live: national cabinet to discuss energy fix; Victorian Labor poised to surpass 2018 ‘Danslide’

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Reducing bills will be main focus of virtual gathering of the prime minister, premiers and chief ministers. Follow all the day’s news

Ears to the ground as national cabinet meeting approaches

The rumour mill is running hot ahead of national cabinet. Here’s some of what people have been saying.

During an interview with Patricia Karvelas this morning, the climate change and energy minister, Chris Bowen, said:

Well, I’ve confirmed that certainly people will see a reduction in their bills … The reduction will happen not in a handout, but when they get their bill. It’ll be baked into the bill.

The NSW government is leading the push for a rebate, which is believed to have in-principle backing of the Albanese government. The rebate in NSW could be worth as much as $280 for households.

The temporary rebate would be in addition to existing energy rebates already offered in NSW and Queensland for low-income households and are designed to cover the six to 12-month gap until price rises are projected to flatten under coal and gas price caps.

The future is renewable. Let’s be very blunt. Coal-fired power stations are going to close. That’s a statement of fact. We need to replace them. The transition to renewables has been too slow, and too disorderly.

The task here is to ensure that new energy comes on not after coal-fired power leaves, because that’s too late, but before.

What this is, is the safety net under this transition to ensure we have reliable energy.

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Archie Roach mourners fined for running red lights will not have penalties dismissed

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Victoria police confirm at least seven infringements totalling $462 each were issued for ‘serious traffic offences’

Mourners who were fined for running red lights during late music icon Uncle Archie Roach’s funeral procession will not have them overturned.

Victoria police confirmed at least seven infringements totalling about $462 each were issued to mourners travelling as part of the motorcade, including the driver of a hearse carrying Roach’s body back to Country in August.

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Two-thirds of 15,400 extra Australian deaths in 2022 caused by Covid, study finds

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Total ‘excess’ mortality to August covers coronavirus deaths plus those linked to pandemic factors such as health systems being overwhelmed

Comprehensive analysis of the impact of Covid-19 on mortality rates has found there were 15,400 “excess deaths” across Australia in the first eight months of 2022, or 13% more than predicted.

The excess deaths measure captures not only confirmed Covid deaths but also those incorrectly diagnosed and reported, and those from other causes attributable to the crisis such as health systems being overwhelmed, resources being diverted or fewer people seeking treatment.

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Barnaby Joyce says future Taiwan visits should include officials or even ministers

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Former deputy prime minister thinks it ‘could be smart’ for future delegations to be widened, despite risk of angering China

Future Australian parliamentary visits to Taiwan should include government officials or even ministers, Barnaby Joyce has said after meeting with Taiwan’s president.

Joyce, the former deputy prime minister and former deputy chair of the national security committee, is among a cross-party group of federal politicians visiting Taiwan this week.

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Big energy users not holding their breath on national cabinet help amid ‘outrageous’ prices

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Companies hoping, but not expecting, Albanese government can implement price caps on gas and coal

Australia’s big energy users aren’t confident national cabinet can pull a rabbit out of its hat when it meets on Friday to discuss a crucial deal to reduce gas and electricity prices.

They’ve been disappointed before – for about a decade, some say.

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Australia’s diesel price spike causes rethink in reliant regional areas

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‘We have had to rethink the ways we do things’, says farmer who dusted off his 1973 petrol-powered truck

Nick Holliday’s 1973 International Acco truck sat dormant out the front of his farm for years, as a decoration collecting dust. But diesel price rises have given the old truck a new lease of life.

“We have had to rethink the ways we do things,” Holliday said.

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Senior public servant under scrutiny at robodebt inquiry appointed head of Aukus project office

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Former head of Department of Human Services Kathryn Campbell has come under extensive questioning at the royal commission into robodebt

Kathryn Campbell, one of the senior public servants being questioned at the robodebt royal commission, has been appointed head of the Aukus joint project office at the Department of Defence.

Labor put its stamp on the public service when it won the election, moving Campbell out of the role of head of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

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Victorian Labor could surpass 2018 ‘Danslide’ after claiming victory in Pakenham

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Emma Vulin wins newly created seat in Melbourne’s south-east to equal party’s previous election result

The Victorian Labor government holds as many lower house seats as it won in the 2018 “Danslide” election after claiming victory in Pakenham, ahead of a final declaration in Bass.

Labor candidate Emma Vulin claimed victory for the newly created seat in Melbourne’s south-east on Thursday, after a tight race with Liberal David Farrelly.

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Perth teen charged with murder over death of pregnant woman in shopping centre car park

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The 17-year-old boy allegedly threw a concrete block through the open window of a car killing Diane Miller and her unborn child

A teenager accused of throwing a concrete block at a Perth woman, killing her and her unborn child, has had his charge upgraded to murder.

Diane Miller suffered a heart attack last week when the object was thrown through the open window of her car at a Karawara shopping centre.

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Andrews government on track to surpass ‘Danslide’ – as it happened

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This blog is now closed

Government yet to cap wholesale coal price, but still aiming to land ‘before Christmas’, treasurer says

The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, is speaking to ABC Radio. RN Breakfast host Patricia Karvelas asks him:

Has the government resolved to cap the wholesale coal price at $125 a tonne and the gas price at $13 a gigajoule?

There hasn’t been a concluded view reached yet, and that’s because this is a challenge of such complexity and such consequence for industry and for Australians around the country, that it needs to be a genuine partnership between governments and that requires all sides to come to the table in a reasonable and a constructive way, which recognises that one level of government can’t fix this all on its own.

The need for Aukus is even clearer today. More than ever, our three countries share of similar outlook on the key challenges and opportunities confronting our world. Aukus will enhance our shared ability to sustain peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific, and since creating this trilateral security partnership our defense forces, industries, and scientific communities have been hard at work. Over the past 15 months we’ve made great progress toward identifying a pathway for Australia to acquire conventionally armed and nuclear-powered submarines. Today on behalf of President Biden, I want to reaffirm the US commitment to ensuring that Australia acquires this capability at the earliest possible date, and in adherence with the highest nonproliferation standards.

And central to that is Australia being able to acquire a nuclear-powered, highly capable submarine and we are deeply grateful for the work that we’ve been able to do with both the UK and the US to enable Australia to acquire that capability. And it’s not lost on us the significance of the US and the UK, working together and transferring this technology to Australia. And there has been an enormous amount of work being done by our officials to bring this about, and obviously to bring today about. I think as we talk today, we’re all going to speak to the fact that we’re on track to be able to make this announcement in respect of what will be the optimal pathway for Australia to take in the first part of next year, which is what we have always intended to do.

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David Pocock and the Greens welcome Labor’s environmental reforms but push for more urgent action

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Crossbench says government’s response ‘moving in the right direction’ but lacks aspects such as a climate trigger and a pause on logging

The Greens and independent senator David Pocock have signalled they will expect the Albanese government to move more urgently to improve environmental protection if it is to win their support for conservation law changes next year.

On Thursday, the government released its response to the 2020 review of national environmental laws by the former competition watchdog Graeme Samuel. The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, announced a suite of proposed reforms, including a new environment protection authority and national environmental standards.

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Melbourne council moves to abandon Australia Day citizenship ceremonies

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Federal government tight-lipped on whether it will allow ceremonies on other dates as Merri-bek council votes on change

The future of citizenship ceremonies at three Melbourne councils hangs in the balance, as the federal government refuses to reveal whether it will revoke a Coalition-era policy that forces the ceremonies to be held on 26 January.

The Greens-led Merri-bek council, in Melbourne’s north, on Wednesday voted to abandon Australia Day citizenship ceremonies and instead honour the date with a mourning event to recognise the dispossession of Indigenous Australians.

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NSW ‘almost ready to sign up’ to coal price cap to provide energy price relief

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State’s energy minister, Matt Kean, says ‘It’s not about royalties, it’s all about consumers’, putting pressure on Queensland counterpart

New South Wales is prepared to agree to a price cap on coal without compensation to provide energy price relief to consumers and business, adding pressure on Queensland to follow suit.

Meanwhile, a meeting of energy ministers in Brisbane on Thursday has agreed, as expected, to move ahead with a so-called capacity investment scheme to help accelerate the take up of new storage in the electricity grid.

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