Health News at Your Fingertips

Treasurer meeting with state and territory counterparts

The treasurer Jim Chalmers is today meeting with state and territory treasurers ahead of the new parliament’s sitting for the first time next week.

The minister for women, Katy Gallagher, is also meeting with her state and territory counterparts today to discuss gender equality and policy priorities.

Adeshola Ore

Victoria’s power-saving scheme gets a top-up

The Victorian government will inject an extra $205m to its $250m power saving bonus program.

The scheme allows Victorian households to receive a $250 payment if they seek out a better energy deal via a comparison website, in a bid to reduce the burden of rising costs of living.

The state’s energy minister Lily D’Ambrosio said 1 million Victorians had already participated in the program.

We are proud to have supported 1 million Victorian households with their energy bills while helping them find the cheapest deal available.

D’Ambrosio said the extra $250m would be sufficient to cover the additional demand but that extra funding could be provided for the uncapped program. The program runs until 30 June.

Health and safety concerns at Splendour in the Grass

Attendees at Splendour in the Grass are expressing health and safety concerns as they are being asked to pitch tents amid deep puddles of water and mud, as well as over the lengthy wait times to enter the campground last night.

Flash flooding in Queensland

Flash flooding has occurred in areas of South East Queensland this morning, according to the state’s Fire and Rescue service.

The wild weather comes as part of the developing east coast low, most prominently causing havoc at major music festival Splendour in the Grass.

There were 18,669 new cases in the last reporting period, and 55 people are in intensive care.

Splendour in the Grass is banning any more campers or vehicles from entering the site near Byron Bay in northern NSW because of heavy rain and muddy conditions.

Those arriving to camp at the festival are being moved to the Byron Events Farm at Tyagarah.

A statement just posted to the festival’s Facebook page says:

Due to ongoing weather conditions we can no longer accept any campers or vehicles including day parking at North Byron Parklands (NBP).

All incoming camping patrons and day parkers should proceed to Byron Events Farm (BEF) at 35 Yarun Rd, Tyagarah NSW 2481.

This does not include Accessible, Flashcamp and Tent City patrons who will still be accepted at NBP.

Free bus shuttles between BEF to NBP will be available.

We thank you for your patience here and big shout out to our staff who are working around Mother Nature to get you in here safely.

There were 12,278 new cases in the last reporting period, and 33 people are in intensive care.

As popular music festival Splendour in the Grass is hit by the east coast low, festival-goers wade through mud after many spent hours waiting to gain access to the camp ground.

The campsite was left soaked by heavy rain last night.

The ABC is reporting that many attendees, despite arriving at the site in the afternoon didn’t get to their tents until the early hours of the morning after being made to wait in their cars to gain entry to the grounds.

The festival’s Facebook page made a post very late last night (approximately 10 hours ago) saying:

We are extending our campgrounds entry hours at NBP tonight so if you’re in the queue, we will get you in. Please be patient – we hear you.

The weather and staff shortages were all worse than expected.

We are doing the best we can – the show will go on rain, hail or shine.

In Kennedy’s media conference following her arrival in Australia, she has stood up for a female journalist whose question was interrupted by a male colleague.

US ambassador arrives in Australia

The new US ambassador to Australia, Caroline Kennedy, has arrived this morning and told the media she feels “lucky … to serve here and to live here.”

Kennedy has been in Washington DC for the past month and says “everybody is so excited about working together and the Quad and in the Pacific” especially following US president Joe Biden’s “great” meeting with prime minister Anthony Albanese in Tokyo.

There’s a big agenda and I can’t wait to get started. Personally this means a great deal to me. My my husband is here with me. We first came to Australia on our honeymoon 36 years ago, almost exactly, because three days ago was our anniversary. Then we are were fortunate to come back with our children when we were in Japan. So we met so many wonderful people and I can’t believe that I’m lucky enough to get a chance to serve here and to live here and get to know even more people.

Beaches are closed and there have been multiple reports of cars in floodwater as a powerful offshore weather system moves south along Australia’s east coast, AAP reports.

Emergency crews responded to two separate incidents when drivers found themselves in trouble on roads about three hours north west of Brisbane.

A woman was assessed at the scene and didn’t need to be taken to hospital after an incident on the Bunya Highway near Kingaroy early this morning.

Two people in their 50s also avoided injury when a car entered floodwater on Kumbia Road in Brooklands.

Rainfall totals of more than 100mm have been reported in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, with the town of Maleny among the hardest hit.

Damaging winds averaging around 50 kilometres per hour are possible in exposed parts of the coast, and peak gusts may reach 110km/h on Fraser Island, also known as K’gari.

There is also a minor flood warning in place for the Stanley River at Woodford, about an hour north of Brisbane.

The low-pressure weather system is expected to move south on Friday and Saturday, and beaches have been closed on the Gold Coast because of the dangerous conditions.

Wild surf is forecast for the NSW north coast from Friday, with wave heights of more than five metres possible.

Dangerous beach conditions could affect the popular seaside towns of Tweed Heads, Byron Bay, Ballina and Yamba.

The warning comes as thousands of music fans make their way to Byron Bay for the Splendour in the Grass music festival, where campers faced long queues to enter.

A message on the festival’s Facebook page said late on Thursday:

The weather and staff shortages were all worse than expected.

We are doing the best we can – the show will go on rain, hail or shine.

Russia sanctions 39 Australians with security links

The Russian government says it has added 39 representatives of Australian officials, security services and defence firms to a blacklist of people barred from entering the country, AAP reports.

The Russian list issued on Friday morning includes Northern Territory Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker, NSW Minister for Corrections Geoff Lee and members of the Department of Home Affairs.

Russia’s foreign ministry released the list in what it said was a response to Australia’s adoption of a sanctions law similar to the US Magnitsky Act that provides for targeted financial sanctions and travel bans against individuals.

The original act, adopted by the United States in 2012, is named after Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer who was arrested and later died in prison in Russia in 2009 after accusing Russian officials of a massive tax fraud.

The Magnitsky-style reforms were adopted in Australia in December 2021 and allow the government to target individuals who perpetrate human rights abuses and conduct egregious acts of international concern.

The Russian government last month barred 121 Australian citizens including business people, army officials, academics and journalists from the country in retaliatory sanctions.

with Reuters

Unions pushing for ‘work from home’ to become a long-term right

McManus is discussing the long term future of working from home arrangements, as unions push for ‘work from home’ to become a long-term right enshrined in workplace agreements.

She says there is the need to work out what arrangements should be in place, with the need to ensure that it doesn’t end up being only women working from home and being penalised by not being as visible in the workplace.

She highlights there are many benefits for workers doing their job from home. They are often less stressed, save time and money on resources like fuel.

McManus says while international reactions from employers have been mixed, with some companies forcing all workers back into the office and others deciding to carry on the flexibility the pandemic showed was possible.

McManus says driving increased flexibility is employers’ recognition that “happier workers means more productive workforce”.

Trade union secretary urges employers to allow employees to work from home

Sally McManus, the secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, is speaking to ABC Radio about how workers are faring amid the surging Covid cases.

She says the nurses’ union has reported dire conditions as staff struggle under the workload caused by the increase in cases. She has encouraged the rest of the working population to work from home because “we should all be backing our healthcare workers”.

However, she says the uptake of the government’s recommendation has been “patchy”.

It’s been a bit of a scramble because we don’t have health orders requiring it … it comes down to whether the employer is going to listen to the recommendation.

McManus says “unionised workplaces will be moving first,” because they will be able to put pressure on employers. However she says:

Every good employer until this wave recedes should be allowing employees to work from home.

One of Australia’s most popular music festivals, Splendour in the Grass, held near Byron Bay in northern NSW, starts today. But ticket holders are crossing their fingers that organisers will cancel and refund tickets.

Heavy rain has soaked the festival’s campgrounds and attendees have been left stranded. The campsite entry was closed last night and huge numbers of festival-goers were told they would have to wait 11 hours in their cars, some of which were out of fuel.

Aim to address gender pay gap within the year

Gallagher says the national plan for gender equality, which addresses the gender pay gap, is a key part of her work and “something we’d like to deliver in the first 12 months”.

I don’t want to have a long process of putting this together. States and territories have moved alone in a sense or move individually in this area, but we think there is the opportunity to pull it together and have a national plan.

We’ll be looking at …those issues arise like gender, the gender pay gap but also leadership representation rights, some of those issues around care and caring responsibilities, and health and wellbeing as well.

Gallagher says she is also aiming within the next month to finalise the women’s economic security task force, who will help her develop the national plan for gender equality.

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has said he won’t revisit a Labor policy requiring public hospitals to offer abortion services as part of the commonwealth funding arrangements.

When asked about the issue, Katy Gallagher, the minister for women is saying it’s an issue for the states to decide but that she was happy to put it on the agenda for today’s meeting where state and territory ministers responsible for women are gathering in Adelaide.

The state determines what they provide through the hospitals and surgical terminations are provided through public hospitals as required, but there are obviously private termination-of-pregnancy services that are offered across Australia.

The commonwealth doesn’t dictate what [public hospitals] provide. But I would also say that Minister [Ged] Kearney is actually responsible for putting together … a national women’s health plan. Working with Minister [Mark] Butler, reproductive health, access to reproductive health services will form part of that plan.

But we are happy to have the discussion with state and territory ministers today, noting that the issue they raised was about nationally consistent laws for the provision of termination of pregnancy services. And that is a matter that constitutionally rested with the states and territories.

But I think when it was raised with me about whether or not it could be discussed at this meeting, I was happy to facilitate that if this is the way we want to engage with states and territories. If they have issues they’d like to raise, then we should facilitate that through the agenda, have the discussion and work our way through but, you know, and that’s what we’ll do today on that matter.

Measurable targets and October timeline for new national domestic violence plan

Senator Katy Gallagher, the federal minister for women, is speaking to ABC Radio ahead of the meeting she will host today bringing together all the state and territory ministers responsible for women.

She says her colleague Amanda Rishworth, the social services minister, is leading the national plan to end violence against women and children.

She says she’s in favour of targets and measurable elements in the plan.

The issue of violence against women is so significant in terms of numbers and prevalence and impact. We have to be able to measure the implementation of this plan in some way

Currently there isn’t a national plan as the last one ended on 30 June, and Gallagher says the aim is to be able to have the new one ready by the third quarter of the year – around September/October.

Ministers responsible for women meet today for the first time under the new government to finalise the national plan to end violence against women and children.

Housing for women escaping violence is set to be a priority, as the ministers aim to add greater detail to the plan drafted under the Morrison government, which was criticised for lacking detail. Health experts are also calling for Medicare item numbers for abortions and pregnancy counselling.

Australia continues to battle its third Omicron wave, with the 89 deaths reported yesterday the highest single-day total since January during the height of the first Omicron wave.

The government is urging greater take up of antiviral medications amid concern about the shelf life of remaining treatments, after the health minister Mark Butler has criticised the Morrison government for allowing the drugs to “gather dust.”

It comes as Australia’s fourth-dose vaccination rate is likely to pass 30% of the eligible population within the next day, with data showing greater uptake for those 65.

The climate change minister, Chris Bowen, will release a new set of regulations today scrapping changes to the Australian Renewable Energy Agency introduced in the last days of the Morrison government that would have allowed it to fund some fossil fuel developments.

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