Health News at Your Fingertips

Liberal MP Dave Sharma says Taiwan is in a “different category” to Ukraine, adding that the response to a potential invasion of Taiwan would result in a different reaction from the US and its allies.

Sharma told Sky News that operations to defend the island would be more substantial than the the response to the war in Ukraine:

The United States sent a very high-level delegation to Taiwan just last week, I think it should show people that Taiwan is in a different category here to Ukraine.

That doesn’t mean that the people are any more or less deserving of protection, but in terms of US strategic interests, and what a conflict would look like, Taiwan would not be a repeat of Ukraine in any sense.

I think the involvement of outside powers would be significantly larger, and the military operation would be significantly more difficult as well.

The Australian Electoral Commission has announced it is launching a disinformation register ahead of the coming federal election.

The register will record all the different pieces of disinformation the AEC addresses, including information about the platform it was spread on, the timing, the factual information regarding the matter and AEC actions taken to correct the record.

Australian electoral commissioner, Tom Rogers, said in a statement that the register was the newest tool the AEC will be using to combat misleading and deceptive information about how elections are run.

We’re not messing around.

False information about the free, fair and secure election process that has operated in Australia for many years can do significant damage to public trust.

The register is a searchable database of mistruths the AEC has identified about Australian election processes – ranging from the sophisticated to the ridiculous.

The message here is simple: the AEC will not tolerate the spread of misinformation or disinformation about our electoral system, no matter the source.

The NSW premier has been making the media rounds this morning, appearing on Channel 10, Channel 7 and Channel 9, in addition to his appearance on ABC earlier this morning, responding to the disappointment that flood-affected communities feel towards the government response.

Dominic Perrottet told Channel 9 he was “very sorry” that residents were disappointed in the lack of support they received, and said the government was doing “everything it can”:

[We‘re] very sorry, but we’re doing everything that we can.

We‘re getting supplies in, we’re getting food in … some of those areas will look back at this and say it could have been done better but we are where we are right now, and we’re doing absolutely everything we can to provide care and support for those who need it, to get those essential supplies in.

The premier again alluded to “logistical difficulties” in getting some communities the support they need:

Earlier on in the week, well, last week, we had issues getting aircraft into the sky, just because of the dangerous conditions that were there.

There are logistical difficulties with all of this, but it is all hands on deck to get the clean-up done, to get supplies in, and that’s happening right now.

He told Channel 7 there were more than 2,000 homes that were uninhabitable, and that mental health support, compensation and other services would soon come.

There will need to be a review in relation to ensuring that this doesn’t happen again. I don’t want anyone, regardless of how unprecedented a flood or fire is, to ever feel like that.

Finally, he told Channel 10 that “labour shortages” had also affected the delayed government support:

Before the flood, we had issues with labour shortages. We are going to need substantial labour coming into these local communities to help build the roads, to help build the bridges, to get businesses back on their feet as quickly as possible.

I just want to return to the prime minister’s comments earlier this morning on 2GB, where he was pushed by host Ben Fordham on where the support for flood-hit communities is.

The PM alluded to something the NSW premier, Dominic Perrottet, said, that some areas are “inaccessible”:

There are difficulties getting into a lot of these places currently. I mean, the ADF just can’t [magically] get through things that you can’t get through to get to a particular location. That’s why they’re using the helicopters and other supports. That’s why they’re doing road clearing.

I mean, we are in the worst of this disaster up around Lismore at present, the worst of it. And that means there’s always difficulties, whether you’re a fully advanced developed economy or not.

The PM said 2,000 ADF personnel were on the ground in both NSW and Queensland, adding that they are “increasing every day”.

These are terrible, terrible floods. These are floods that we have not seen in living memory. So I can understand the great frustration you’re seeing expressed.

At the same time, there is an enormous effort that is being put in to get everywhere that people can get to. But the rescues continue, the food drops continue, the road clearing continues.

So David Littleproud was on RN Breakfast earlier this morning, discussing fears around Japanese encephalitis, adding that its spread is due to climate change.

He said there were 42 different piggeries that have been affected, with the disease contracted by pigs from mosquitoes and passed onto humans.

The Nationals deputy said the government is rolling out a vaccine against the disease, and that it needed to be taken seriously:

It’s still a little too early, but we are monitoring closely. The fact it has spread across the eastern seaboard … says that this is a real threat we need to take seriously.

Symptoms are very much like flu … it’s important you present to health officials as early as you can.

It’s because of the changing climate … the waterways in which migratory birds have been able to come south is one of the reasons.

The shadow minister for communications, Michelle Rowland, has told Sky News the government should “put to work” the $4.8bn Emergency Response Fund in supporting flood affected communities.

The government has so far only put aside $150m for disaster mitigation projects, with the fund accumulating $800m dollars in interest.

It’s sitting there earning interest. Who knows what could have been done in terms of some sort of either flood mitigation or some important expenditure that could have made a difference in this case?

And I think the fact that not a cent of it seems to have gone for these purposes, you can understand why people are asking the question: why? Are you even trying?

Peter Hannam’s weather update is up now, with SES spokesperson Shellie Smyth telling him the next three days will be challenging:

We’re asking everyone to be extra vigilant over the next three days.

Probably Tuesday would be the major impact if an east coast low actually develops over New South Wales.

In the past 24 hours, the SES has conducted 38 flood rescues, including 14 in Sydney.

There are still eight evacuation warnings in place across NSW, with the BoM saying “six-hourly rainfall totals between 70 and 120 mm are possible”.

NSW has reported 9,017 new Covid cases and five deaths overnight.

There are 43 people in ICU, among 1,066 hospitalisations.