Health News at Your Fingertips

Adeshola Ore

Victorian opposition calls for ‘circuit breaker’ summit to address strained healthcare system

Victoria’s opposition has called for an urgent health summit in a bid to fix the state’s overburdened system.

It comes after a budget estimates hearing last week heard that 21 Victorians had died waiting for an ambulance over the past six months. The opposition leader, Matthew Guy, said a summit – made up of healthcare professionals – would act as a “circuit breaker” for the sector.

Guy said the meeting would help draw on the experience of health professionals like paramedics and doctors who understand the system:

We need to have a way that brings people, particularly from all walks of the health service, in the room … to find out what are those ways to fix the system now so Victorians know when they call an ambulance it will come.

Ben Smee

Annastacia Palaszcsuk announces $175 ‘cost of living rebate’ for state’s households

The Queensland government has announced a $175 “cost of living rebate” to all households, to be paid as a deduction on power bills.

The premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, made the announcement on the same morning the Australian Energy Regulator revealed it would lift its standard electricity price, meaning households in Queensland and NSW would face double-digit increases in their bills.

Palaszczuk said the rebate was only possible because the state maintains ownership of the majority of its power generators.

Julian Simmonds, Liberal candidate for the Brisbane seat of Ryan, has conceded to Greens challenger Elizabeth Watson-Brown after a very tight race.

Addressing his followers via his Facebook page, Simmonds said he was “disappointed” and did not mention his successor:

While I am disappointed that I will not be able to continue to serve as you as the member for Ryan, I am reminded of how lucky we are to live in a democracy and how important it is that we continue to defend our country, our values and our way of life.

The seat, which takes in parts of Brisbane’s inner west, has been won by the LNP at every election for decades. Watson-Brown has romped home with a 10.2% swing and Labor preferences.

Queensland government to introduce legislation to ban swastikas and other hate symbols

The Palaszczuk government will introduce legislation into Queensland parliament to ban swastikas in a bid to strengthen the state’s response to hate crime and vilification.

If passed, the legislation would make it a criminal offence to display symbols promoting hatred and causing fear. It’s expected there will be an exemption for Hindus, Buddhists and Jains who use swastikas as a religious symbol.

Queensland’s plan for a ban on hate symbols comes after the Victorian government introduced a bill to ban them earlier this month. The NSW government has also signalled its plans to criminalise hate symbols.

The Labor state government is expected to introduce further changes to strengthen the state’s response to hate crimes following a parliamentary report last year.

As part of the report, the Queensland parliament’s Legal Affairs and Safety Committee made 17 recommendations to improve Queensland’s response to vilification and hate crimes.

Some of these included banning the display of hate symbols relating to Nazi and IS ideology, working with the commonwealth to address online vilification and moving the section of the Anti-Discrimination Act that deals with serious hate crimes to be relocated into the criminal code.

The parliamentary report followed after the extensive #BetterLaws4SafeQld campaign which was launched by the Cohesive Communities Coalition, a collective of organisations representing more than 20 of Queensland’s diverse communities.

Anthony Albanese says Kristina Keneally had ‘a difficult election campaign’

Amid a media blitz this morning, the PM was on Sky News and addressed the future of failed Fowler candidate Kristina Keneally.

Albanese said people were “getting ahead of themselves” in speculating if Keneally will be given a diplomatic post:

Quite frankly, this discussion about diplomatic posts about various people … I’m not sure whether it’s sort of weird or just strange that people are trying to get ahead of themselves.

I didn’t get ahead of myself in any way before Saturday’s election. The only thing I put in place with the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet was the arrangements in accordance with their suggestions [about being sworn in early and travelling to Tokyo].

And so that’s my consideration. We haven’t sworn in the full government yet.

Kristina Keneally’s gone through a difficult election campaign. I wish her well. I’m sure [a diplomatic posting] is the last thing on her mind.

Christopher Knaus

Trial date set for Witness K lawyer Bernard Collaery

Almost four years since he was charged, lawyer Bernard Collaery has finally been given a trial date.

Collaery is charged with working with his client, intelligence officer Witness K, to unlawfully disclose information about a controversial bugging operation Australia conducted against its impoverished ally Timor-Leste to gain the upper hand during negotiations over access to oil and gas reserves in the Timor Sea.

The case against Collaery has languished before the ACT courts since he was charged in mid-2018, delayed time and again by protracted battles over secrecy, access to documents, and interventions by the commonwealth attorney general.

On Thursday, the ACT supreme court set the trial down for 24 October, estimating it will last between four to five weeks.

The setting of the trial date came despite opposition from Collaery’s lawyers, who are still fighting a decision by the court to deny him access to documents about the bugging operation’s legality.

The court has ruled the documents are not relevant to the case against Collaery, a decision which Collaery’s legal team have indicated they will appeal. Collaery’s barrister, Philip Bolton SC, told the court:

Setting down the trial is against the desires and wishes of the accused.

This week, Labor’s Mark Dreyfus indicated he will seek an urgent briefing on the case if appointed attorney general as expected. Dreyfus has repeatedly criticised the delay and secrecy involved in the case, saying he has seen no cogent explanation as to how it is in the public interest.

Households in Queensland, NSW and elsewhere will face double-digit increases in their power bills from July after the regulator lifted its standard electricity price as generation costs soared.

The Australian Energy Regulator, which was ordered to delay the release of its default market offer from 1 May until today by the outgoing Morrison government, said “residential customers in south-east Queensland will see increases above expected inflation of 5.5% to 6.8% (11.3% to 12.6% increases in nominal terms)”.

Similarly in NSW, residential customers will see increases of 2.9% to 12.1% above expected inflation, depending on whether they have controlled load. That will show up as a rise between 8.5% to 18.3% in nominal terms.

The default market offer was set up in 2019 to give consumers who don’t shop around a “price safety net”. The offer serves as a price cap for residential and small business customers for how much energy retailers can charge electricity consumers on default plans, known in the market as standing offer contracts.

Rising gas and coal prices globally have contributed to a spike in wholesale power prices to record levels. Repairs or outages to as much as a third of the coal-fired power fleet have also contributed to the recent jump.

South Australian prices would be 0.2% above expected inflation (5.7% in nominal terms), reflecting that state’s higher renewable energy share of generation than Queensland and NSW.

Victoria, which sets its own default offer, released its reset for 2022-23 on Tuesday, lifting the price by 5%.

Victoria has also recorded a spike in deaths, reporting 19 deaths and 12,421 new cases overnight:

A huge spike in Covid-related deaths in NSW overnight, with the state reporting 30 deaths and 10,926 new cases:

Sticking with Morrison on 2GB, he said he would support “whoever was elected” to the leadership of the Liberal party.

Morrison would not be drawn too extensively on the future of the party, but added that he would not live with any regrets:

It’s not the first time the Liberal party has lost an election.

… You accept the result and you move on.

You’re just very humbled by the opportunity you’ve had, you can dwell on defeat or you can dwell on the things that led you to go and do what you did.

You live every day and you take every opportunity you can to achieve what you’re looking to achieve for the country.

I leave not with regrets but with a great sense of gratitude.

Former prime minister Scott Morrison has appeared on 2GB this morning, saying he is enjoying his new life, whilst adding that the teal independents ran very vicious and brutal on-the-ground campaigns.

But in a relatively lightweight interview, Morrison says he is looking forward to “being a dad again,” adding that he had just dropped his daughters off at school.

He did not say if he would be quitting politics, instead promising to remain Cook’s representative.

They’ve been tremendously supportive of me in my electorate, of course. And so I continue on as the member for Cook and [am] able to support a lot of those things happening locally.

I’m going back to the Shire and re-establishing our life back there, getting the girls back into their routine. I’ve just dropped them off at school this morning. And … it’s been a while since I’ve been able to spend as much time as I would like with the family.

You take the good with the bad, and you know, you treat victory and defeat like the imposters they are.