Health News at Your Fingertips

Gorgeous images coming through from Tasmania where snow has fallen this morning.

NSW premier says isolation payment should be linked to legal isolation requirements

NSW premier Dominic Perrottet is on ABC Radio following the national cabinet meeting which has seen emergency isolation payments reinstated.

Perrottet says if government is legally requiring people to stay home for seven days, financial assistance has to be provided.

He says it’s his “belief” that:

If the state is taking away people’s liberty, then the state has an obligation to provide financial support.

The Covid isolation payments have been extended to end of September. Perrottet is asked what happens after September and says financial support needs to continue as long as the requirement from government means people are unable to to go to work in circumstances the state is legally making them stay at home.

However, he has suggested the isolation requirements could be reviewed once the threat is not as severe following the winter surge.

He says at the national cabinet meeting, the chief officer, Paul Kelly “understood the report” that isolation requirements could be relaxed.

Snowfall in Tasmania

Tasmania is in for a white Christmas in July, with “plenty” of snow about the state.

Nine in 10 cars sold in the territory will be zero emissions by 2030 under a new plan being launched by the ACT government this week.

The Zero Emissions Vehicle Strategy will commit the territory government to phasing out light petrol cars from 2035 and is expected to include new incentives and other programs to encourage people to switch out their old petrol vehicles.

Transport emissions currently account for nearly two thirds – 60% – of the territory’s CO2 emissions.

The announcement builds on news from Queensland over the weekend with the northern state planning to expand its electric vehicle charging infrastructure into the outback.

When completed, Queensland’s charging network will be 5,400km long, opening up new travel destinations for more than 10,000 drivers in the state who have gone electric to date.

Peter Dutton ‘hasn’t got the memo’ about climate action, Bowen says

Bowen says the legislation is desirable to encourage private sector investment.

Bowen says that Dutton’s failure to support the government’s emission reduction target shows he “hasn’t got the memo from the Australian people they want climate action”.

Bowen says that with the Coalition’s decision to vote against Labor’s emissions target, the opposition made themselves “irrelevant to the process”.

Asked about Greens leader Adam Bandt’s comment about needing to “Dutton-proof” the legislation, Bowen says the best way to create good climate policy is for Labor to stay in power.

It “doesn’t matter what the legislation” says, the Coalition would be harmful to Australia’s climate targets.

Chris Bowen will take “sensible… good faith” suggestions from crossbench on emissions reduction bill

Chris Bowen, the minister for climate and energy, is on ABC Radio talking about the government’s bill to legislate a 43% emissions reduction by 2030 ahead of the first week of the new parliament’s sitting where it is expecting to be the main item on the agenda.

The first sitting week comes as the Greens leader Adam Bandt says his party is willing to negotiate but is concerned the legislation “would create a ceiling on emissions reduction”.

ABC has asked Bowen about whether he will introduce a ratchet mechanism, which could see the target increased.

Bowen says he will implement the mandate but will talk to the crossbench about “sensible… good faith” suggestions.

Bowen says there is already a ratcheting mechanism in Paris agreement that each target has to be higher than the next.

A win for Australian golfers and mullets

Cameron Smith has won the 150th British Open at St Andrews with a remarkable five successive birdies to produce a comeback.

The Brisbane native is the first Australian to win the Open since Greg Norman 1993, the year of Smith’s birth.

Josh Butler

Rising corporate profits major factor in Australia’s escalating inflation

Wages have had little or no effect on Australia’s inflation rate in the past three years, according to new economic analysis from a leading thinktank.

As the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, rubbished what he called “dire warnings” from commentators about the impact of rising wages, a report from progressive thinktank the Australia Institute found rising corporate profits had been a major factor in Australia’s inflation spike.

In the report, released today, the institute analysed national accounts data to show that rising corporate profits had been a major factor in inflation and that wages had “no contribution” to inflation in the 2019-20 and 2020-21 financial years, and contributed just 0.6% of Australia’s inflation in this current financial year.

As Covid-19 cases continue to rise across Australia, isolation payments for workers will resume from Wednesday this week after the national cabinet’s meeting this Saturday.

The treasurer Jim Chalmers has defended the government’s delay in reinstating the $750 payment, which had concluded on 30 June but will now be available until the end of September.

Another cruise ship hit by a Covid outbreak, the Pacific Explorer, is docking in Sydney this morning, with more than 100 confirmed cases on board. This latest cruise outbreak follows the Coral Princess last week.

I’m Natasha May and if there’s anything you think should be on the blog feel free to ping me on Twitter @natasha__may or email natasha.may@theguardian.com.

Let’s get going.