Parliamentary committee also recommends cut-off date for sale of diesel and petrol cars
A Victorian parliamentary committee has recommended the Andrews government consider a ban on gas connections in new homes to help accelerate the state’s transition to renewables.
It also urged Victoria to commit to a cut-off date for the sale of new petrol, diesel and gas-fuelled vehicles.
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Continue reading...Australian Medical Association backs delay of non-urgent tests but says supply issues highlight need for national stockpile of critical medical supplies
Public hospitals in Australia are postponing non-urgent screening tests and are recommending doctors consider alternative imaging options as the health system grapples with a global shortage of medical imaging dyes, widely used in diagnostic tests such as CT scans.
The shortage of medical imaging dyes is further proof Australia needs to develop a national stockpile of critical medical supplies and increase its domestic manufacturing of crucial medicines, the Australian Medical Association has said.
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Continue reading...Leaked copy of draft shows Beijing wants more involvement in policing, cybersecurity and marine mapping
China is pursuing a sweeping regional economic security deal with Pacific nations that would dramatically expand its influence and reach into those countries, in a pact that has western countries and some Pacific leaders deeply worried.
The wide-ranging deal lays out China’s vision for a much closer relationship with the Pacific, especially on security matters, with China proposing it would be involved in training police, cybersecurity, sensitive marine mapping and gaining greater access to natural resources.
Continue reading...Prime minister says ‘the Pacific is our home’ as Beijing plans a regional security pact with almost a dozen island nations
Jacinda Ardern says New Zealand is “ready to respond” to security needs in the Pacific, after it emerged China is planning a Pacific-wide security deal with almost a dozen island nations.
The prime minister, who is touring the US, said she believed the Pacific could meet its security needs internally, implying it should do so without intervention from China or elsewhere. “On anything related to security arrangements, we are very strongly of the view that we have within the Pacific the means and ability to respond to any security challenges that exist and New Zealand is willing to do that,” Ardern said.
Continue reading...Company tells consumer watchdog it is set to lose $10bn this year in wake of Apple iOS feature hampering ability to collect user data
Meta says Apple’s decision to allow users to stop apps tracking them on their phones has diminished Facebook’s advertising market power, and therefore the social media giant should not face further regulation in Australia.
In mid-2021 Apple rolled out a new feature in iOS 14.5 called “app tracking transparency” which asks for users’ consent before an app can track their activity across websites and apps, and allows users to opt out of the tracking at any time.
Continue reading...Incoming Indigenous affairs minster says predicament of families affected by collapse of predatory funeral fund is ‘totally unacceptable’
Linda Burney will make an investigation into the predatory funeral fund ACBF-Youpla one of her “highest priorities” on taking over as Indigenous affairs minister, after Guardian Australia revealed new details of its collapse, which left more than 13,000 people facing the probable loss of everything they had paid into the fund.
“I assure people that this is the top of my agenda, probably the first thing that needs to be resolved, and I will do that carefully,” Burney told Guardian Australia.
Continue reading...Citing huge workloads for MPs, premier will introduce bill to increase House of Assembly, reversing 1998 reduction
The number of MPs in Tasmania’s lower house of parliament is set to increase by 40% after the new Liberal premier, Jeremy Rockliff, responded to concerns about politician burnout and a shallow ministerial talent pool.
Rockliff made a surprise announcement on Wednesday that he would table legislation this year to increase the size of the House of Assembly from 25 to 35 members at the next state election, due in 2025.
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Continue reading...There were 1,842 drug-induced deaths in 2020, equivalent to five deaths a day, report finds
Five Australians died due to drug use per day in 2020, rates similar to a national peak in the late 1990s, according to the annual Drug Induced Death report.
Released by the Drug Trends program at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre on Thursday, the report found there were 1,842 drug-induced deaths in the first year of the pandemic.
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Continue reading...Cards branded with Australian government’s ‘Zero Chance’ logo and QR code to border force website distributed in Indonesia
Playing cards adorned with the Australian government’s “Zero Chance” campaign against “illegal migration” were distributed to refugee children in Indonesia by people trespassing on school grounds, the charity running the school alleges.
The playing cards were allegedly given to children during break time at the Cisarua Refugee Learning Centre in west Java.
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Continue reading...Five-year-old Hiyaan Kapil died early on Monday after being sent home from the Logan hospital
A patient has described chaotic scenes at an emergency department in the lead-up to the death of a five-year-old boy, who was discharged from a hospital south of Brisbane while still visibly sick.
Hiyaan Kapil died in the early hours of Monday morning, after being sent home from the Logan hospital at about 10pm on Sunday night.
Continue reading...Sharp critique from Duncan Lewis comes as Chinese foreign minister embarks on ‘extraordinary’ Pacific island nation tour
Australia’s former intelligence chief Duncan Lewis says Australia has been “rather louder than we should have been” in public criticism of China when a better approach, given escalating regional tensions, should have been “speak softly and carry a big stick”.
Lewis has told the Australian National University’s national security podcast Australia had been at the forefront of China criticism in recent years “when we might well have been better to have been one back and one wide”.
Continue reading...Eligibility for fourth dose of Covid vaccine extended; ‘don’t think we’ve got a better choice’ for Liberal leader, Dave Sharma says of Peter Dutton; at least 41 coronavirus deaths recorded. Follow all the day’s developments
The SMH has some interesting lines from the Liberal candidate in Gilmore, Andrew Constance, who says his party were punished for being “too focused on themselves”.
While Gilmore remains on a knife-edge, the former state government minister said he was not surprised by the outcome of the election, warning the Liberal party that it needed to refocus on community concerns:
The party has been too introverted and too focused on itself.
It has to recognise its broad-based appeal is not sectional interest. The party exists for the community … there’s no such thing as a “heartland” in Australian politics.
Continue reading...‘Make No Doubt’ videos aim to provide young people with tools to give and ask for consent, launched one week before NSW law change
Party pashes, drunken encounters and booty-call texts – these are some of the scenarios featured in a campaign being rolled out on social media before new affirmative sexual consent laws coming into effect in New South Wales next week.
It is hoped the short, simple videos – depicting scenes that young people could find themselves in – will equip the target group of 16- to 24-year-olds with the tools to give and ask for consent, and respect when someone says “no”.
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Continue reading...Residents tell of close encounters with the blood-sucking creatures which are spreading because of high rain and humidity
Relentless rainfall has sparked a leech invasion in New South Wales, with no reprieve in sight for already damp dwellings.
The blood-sucking creatures have been attracted into suburban areas, where higher than normal rainfall and humidity are providing suitable conditions to feed.
Continue reading...Isabela Carolina Camelo-Gomez strangled and stabbed her mother, but continues to deny any involvement
A woman found guilty of murder has wiped away tears as she continued to deny strangling and stabbing her mother to death two decades ago.
“I don’t understand, I didn’t do it,” Isabela Carolina Camelo-Gomez said to her legal counsel in the New South Wales supreme court on Wednesday.
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Continue reading...From Monday about 1.5 million aged 16-64 qualify for fourth dose after updated advice that excludes people without serious risk factors
People with medical conditions or disabilities that increase the risk of severe Covid-19 will be eligible for a fourth vaccine dose after updated advice by Australian health authorities.
From 30 May about 1.5 million more people aged 16 to 64 will be eligible for the fourth dose, the interim health minister, Katy Gallagher, announced on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Australia’s cricketers have raised ethical concerns about touring Sri Lanka but will support a decision from officials to precede with next month’s tour. Australia are due to fly out to Sri Lanka next week, with the island country in the midst of an economical crisis and political unrest.
Sri Lanka was placed under a curfew early this month after protests turned deadly, and while those have been lifted rising inflation and shortages of key resources remain problematic.
Continue reading...As China pursues Pacific-wide security pact, foreign minister says ‘after a lost decade we’ve got a lot of work to do to regain Australia’s position’
Australia has responded to reports that China is pursuing a Pacific-wide security pact with almost a dozen nations, stating that while Beijing’s intentions were clear “so too are the intentions of the new Australian government” to be the partner of choice in the region.
China will seek a regional deal with 10 Pacific island nations covering policing, security and data communications cooperation when the foreign minister, Wang Yi, hosts a meeting in Fiji next week, Reuters reported on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Prime minister in Tokyo says no ‘serious person’ had believed Coalition line that a Labor government would adopt a softer approach towards Beijing
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, says his government will not bend to demands from China to reset the strained relationship despite overtures from Beijing in the wake of Labor’s election win.
Speaking after a meeting of the quadrilateral security dialogue (Quad) in Tokyo on Tuesday, Albanese confirmed the Chinese premier, Li Keqiang, had sent a congratulatory letter to him following Saturday’s election win. The letter was first reported by Chinese state media Xinhua on Monday.
Continue reading...Dominic Perrottet insists government will respond shortly to the ‘complicated issues’ raised by 2018 inquiry into ice addiction
The New South Wales premier, Dominic Perrottet, has conceded there are “competing views” in his cabinet over a landmark inquiry that recommended the complete decriminalisation of drug possession.
Perrottet said his government would respond “very shortly” to the findings of the special commission into ice addiction – commissioned in 2018 – after the Guardian revealed there was still no response to the report.
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