Health News at Your Fingertips

The leader of the Nationals, David Littleproud, has been invited to the Albanese government’s jobs and skills summit. AAP is reporting he will accept the treasurer’s invitation to attend.

Liberal and Labor MPs react to Chinese ambassador’s press club address

Labor’s Peter Khalil and Liberal MP Russell Broadbent just appeared on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing, talking Taiwan.

Khalil said there were a lot of “diplomatic niceties” at the start of the ambassadors’ National Press Club address regarding the mutual benefits of China and Australia’s relationship which the government agreed with.

It is in both Australia and China’s interest to stabilise the relationship and that is what our government has been setting out to do instantly since we formed government … the reason we want to stabilise the relationship is because it is mutually beneficial.

He reiterated Australia would speak out in its national interest respectfully as it had done in the past to caution against escalating tension, while still maintaining the one China policy.

We will stand up and speak out on behalf of our country and our interests and that is right for the foreign minister and the acting prime minister to point out that the response, the military activity in the Taiwan Straits has been disproportionate and has been destabilising and is important to calm tensions …

Our one China policy has been a longstanding bipartisan policy. Our government hasn’t changed position on that. We have continued to call for peaceful dialogue with respect to Taiwan at the Taiwan Straits. That is something that hasn’t changed.

Broadbent said the ambassador seeking a reset of the relationship was a “good place to start” and any negotiation was “a good negotiation”.

I think we should be very nuanced in the way we approach any country you are dealing with in regard that sometimes their view of the world and their understanding of the world is different to ours.

Video: Chinese ambassador Xiao Qian’s speech to the National Press Club

Did you miss today’s National Press Club address by China’s ambassador Xiao Qian?

Xiao said China would ‘not renounce’ the use of force in Taiwan and would take ‘all necessary measures’ to retain the ‘one China’ principle.

He said Taiwan was ‘not an independent state’ but a province of the People’s Republic of China. He said that while they were waiting for a ‘peaceful reunification’, China is willing to use any means necessary.

When asked what that would look like, he said: ‘You can use your imagination’.

Catch up here.

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) has cautioned against allowing over-the-counter dispensing of Covid-19 antiviral treatments, following a push from the Pharmacy Guild for chemists to provide the treatments without a prescription.

The RACGP’s president, prof Karen Price, said more needed to be done to make the treatments accessible but over-the-counter dispensing was “not the answer”.

While oral antivirals are critical for the management of Covid-19, they are not without risks to patients … GPs are the key to safely prescribing these treatments. We have a strong and, in many cases, long-standing connection with our patients and we know their health history including existing health conditions or other factors which may impact their eligibility for these medicines.

Keep in mind too that comparisons to other countries, such as New Zealand, do not take into account the significant differences in models of primary care, variations in required pharmacy training, and differing safety classifications of medicines – it’s like comparing apples with oranges.

These treatments can make the difference between someone suffering relatively minor effects or ending up in hospital. However, we must proceed with caution because the last thing we want to do is potentially endanger patients.

Analysis: Chinese ambassador’s speech ‘really brutal’, but ‘realistically, what are their options?’

The ANU’s professor of international security and intelligence studies, John Blaxland, just appeared on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing to discuss the National Press Club address by China’s ambassador, Xiao Qian.

Blaxland said the first half of the speech pointed to an attempt to “pitch things in a more positive light”, while the second part was “really brutal”.

Your heart sunk a little. What we saw was there are so many issues that the ambassador was dancing around, and talking about in kind of veiled speech that when you take away the veil reveals a fairly brutish approach to international relations that has kind of left us in the predicament we are in today.

On Taiwan, he said some “pretty dark scenarios” came to mind when the ambassador encouraged viewers to use their imagination on the resolve to protect the “one China” policy at all costs.

As a former intelligence petitioner, we look at most likely and most dangerous courses of action, and the most dangerous one is a very, very bleak one. But to be fair, we need to keep this in context … they want to huff and puff and blow the house down if you like, to stretch the metaphor, but beyond that, realistically, what are their options? They know that they are in this situation where they have got as much to lose as the rest of us by going there.

Tamsin Rose

Opera House to be lit up in pink to honour Olivia Newton-John’s contributions to fighting cancer

The Sydney Opera House will glow pink tonight in honour of Olivia Newton-John and her contribution to cancer research.

New South Wales premier, Dominic Perrottet, announced the decision after Victorian landmarks were last night also lit up pink to mark the performer’s death.

He said:

Olivia Newton-John touched the hearts of so many people around the world with her music as well as her compassion and kindness – particularly toward people living with cancer.

She radiated with positivity in her lifetime and now our most famous performance space will shine in her honour.

The building will be lit from sunset.

Flinders Street Station in Melbourne was lit up last night.

So was the National Gallery of Victoria.

And the Bolte Bridge.

Senior Liberal installed as director of thinkthank says he ‘wasn’t part of the recruitment process’

Justin Bassi, a former senior Coalition adviser, says he wasn’t part of the process that installed him as executive director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

The ASPI council had a different “preferred candidate” but was overruled by then defence minister Peter Dutton.

On Sky News this afternoon, Bassi said:

I wasn’t part of the recruitment process, other than I put myself up as a candidate. I was found suitable and I do feel very, very proud to be the executive director of … Australia’s best think tank with some great researchers, great analysts and I’m looking forward to continuing to be the director of a great, great think tank.”

Read more about the “captain’s call” here.

The new independent senator David Pocock will use his balance of power position in the Senate to push for the ACT government’s $100m public housing debt to be waived as part of negotiations over Labor’s new housing policy.

Legislation for the government’s new $10bn Housing Australia Future Fund also faces resistance from the Greens, with the party’s housing spokesman, Max Chandler-Mather, saying the proposal is not “good enough” to secure support in the Senate.

Pocock’s move would mirror a similar deal struck by the Tasmanian independent senator Jacqui Lambie in negotiations over the Coalition’s three-stage tax cut plan in 2019, which resulted in Tasmania’s $150m social housing debt being wiped.

Read Sarah Martin’s full story here:

Developers, experts and health professionals call for national building code amendments on energy efficiency

Energy and climate experts, property developers, architects and health professionals have joined forces to call for a building code that will stop Australians living in “glorified tents”, AAP reports.

Ken Morrison, the chief executive of the Property Council of Australia, says the country has let itself fall behind international standards over the past 10 years and now is the time to catch up.

Advocates say strengthening energy provisions in the national code and mandating a 7-star minimum energy standard would reduce the cost of living, cut emissions and improve the quality of Australia’s housing stock.

The call for long-sought amendments to the National Construction Code comes two weeks ahead of a meeting of federal, state and territory ministers.

The CEO of the Climate Council, Amanda McKenzie:

This is Australia’s opportunity to improve its energy efficiency standards which will make our homes safer, more efficient, more affordable and help to address climate change. Many Australians are currently living in glorified tents.

The statement signed by more than 100 organisations says the stricter code would cut emissions by up to 78m tonnes by 2050 and reduce deaths during extremely cold or hot weather.

The move could also lower the cost of electricity grid upgrades by up to $12.6bn by 2050 and reduce poverty by ensuring higher standards and lower power bills in new social housing and private rentals.

Mandating the 7-star energy rating could slash the average household energy bill by up to $576 a year, according to official data.

Michael McGowan

NSW building commissioner’s resignation letter referred to Icac after mentions of revoked stop-work order

New South Wales premier, Dominic Perrottet, has told parliament the resignation letter of the state’s former building commissioner has been referred to the Independent Commission Against Corruption.

The former commissioner, David Chandler, abruptly announced his resignation from the post last month, saying it was “time for a reset”.

But media reports have subsequently claimed he raised a stop-work order made against property developer Coronation Property, which hired former deputy John Barilaro after he left parliament, in the letter. The stop-work order was later lifted.

On Tuesday it was revealed that sacked minister Eleni Petinos had met with Coronation Property twice in June. The second meeting, which Barilaro attended, took place about a fortnight prior to the order being lifted.

Despite the second meeting being listed in Petinos’s ministerial diary, Barilaro has said it took place after he had left Coronation and both have said it was a social meeting.

Petinos said yesterday the meeting was “social in nature” and was only disclosed as part of her ministerial diary “out of an abundance of caution”.

She said:

The issuing and revocation of stop-work orders is a matter for the building commissioner, not the minister.

After previously insisting he had yet to see the letter, Perrottet told parliament he had now read it and been told by the department that “appropriate action” had been taken.

Perrottet said:

I’ve been advised by the secretary that appropriate action was taken by her in relation to the contents of the letter. Out of an abundance of caution the letter was provided to the Icac for information. I understand the letter is to be provided to the upper house tomorrow.

South Australia Health has released today’s Covid update.

There have been 1,881 new Covid cases recorded and nine further deaths.

There are 351 people being treated in hospital with the virus including six people in ICU.

Here are the latest coronavirus numbers from around Australia today, as the country records at least 133 deaths from Covid-19:

ACT

NSW

Northern Territory

Queensland

South Australia

Tasmania

Victoria

Western Australia

The Chinese ambassador has been gifted a sanctioned Australian wine by the Press Club, in a not-so-subtle nod to trade relations.

In Victoria, state opposition leader Matthew Guy is continuing to face scrutiny following the snap resignation of his (former) media director Lee Anderson earlier today.

CovidSafe contact-tracing app that found just two unique cases to be retired

Remember the $21m CovidSafe contact tracing app that was rolled out in the early days of the pandemic (several hundred years ago)?

Minister for health and aged care, Mark Butler, has announced it’s getting the scrap, after finding just two unique Covid cases.

Read the full story here:

Matchstick grasshoppers to be released into Melbourne’s Royal park as part of biodiversity project

Now to some breaking grasshopper news.

Hundreds of tiny, flightless grasshoppers are being released into Melbourne’s Royal park as part of a pilot project to address the biodiversity emergency.

In a partnership with the University of Melbourne, the City of Melbourne are attempting to restore the local population of matchstick grasshoppers – a declining native Australian species that is extinct to the area.

The population will be monitored and assessed over the coming months, with grasshopper numbers hoped to “hop” into the thousands by 2023.

University of Melbourne’s Prof Ary Hoffmann said the “uniquely Australian species” had been part of Melbourne’s natural environment for hundreds of thousands of years, prominent in grassy areas of Melbourne that the Wurundjeri Willam managed with fire.

We look forward to these introductions being the start of a process to restore many other invertebrates that formerly called the city home.

The Press Club address has wrapped up.

It’s worth rewatching SBS journalist Helen Chen’s question, delivered in Mandarin Chinese to Xiao Qian.

Xiao finished on his hopes for the Australian government to “respect China’s territorial integrity and national unity” on Taiwan, making a bizarre analogy to Tasmania.

It’s an issue not to be compromised … it’s an issue so sensitive to China. If we can make compromise on many, many other issues, economic issues, trade issues, any other issues, there’s absolutely no room for us to compromise on the question of Taiwan. Because it’s a question of sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Just like no Australian government would ever compromise on Australia’s territorial integrity. And just like maybe it’s not a good example, but Tasmania will be part of Australia, was, is. This involves territorial integrity.