Health News at Your Fingertips

A leg has been found beside an NT highway, but the police do not know who it belongs to, or how it got there.

Singer-songwriter Billy Bragg has taken to Twitter to congratulate Australia’s incoming prime minister, Anthony Albanese, as Labor’s new arts minister, Tony Burke, promises the art and entertainment sector will be prioritised by his government. Full story:

Joe Hinchliffe

A big stink is brewing over a public toilet billed as Australia’s best, with legal threats exchanged between the committee that commissioned it and the painter who lavishly adorned its walls.

The “Cistern Chapel of Maryborough” was unveiled in mid-May to much fanfare, with its extravagant murals and golden “throne” splashed across TV screens countrywide.

But hidden from the glowing coverage of a project which took two years and cost tens of thousands of dollars to complete was the increasingly toxic relationship between the small-town organisers and the passionate Hungarian artist who helped bring their dream to life.

The full story is here:

Liberal party to focus on heartland voters, Stuart Robert says

And yes, the forgotten Australians too, AAP reports:

The Liberal party will not “navel gaze” on the federal election loss but instead focus on providing a credible alternative to the Labor government, a former minister says.

While in opposition, former employment minister Stuart Robert said the party will focus its attention on people in its heartland.

“We need to appeal to all Australians. Our natural constituency … is aspirational Australia, the suburban Australians, the forgotten Australians,” he told Sky News on Wednesday.

“The key thing is to learn and to understand why (we lost) and we’ve started that quickly. We’re not going to navel gaze about these things endlessly.”

But new Labor ministers will be provided with as much of a handover as possible to ensure they are brought up to speed, Robert said.

Prime minister Anthony Albanese appointed a record number of women to his frontbench. The cabinet now consists of 23 members, 10 of whom are women.

But a joint task for all sides of politics will be to ensure representation and each new parliament must continue to build on the gender and cultural diversity of the one before it, Robert said.

“The previous record (of) seven women in cabinet was in the Morrison government, so each successive government builds and builds and that’s a good thing,” he said.

“Our parliament should be reflective and representative of the Australian people.”

Opposition leader Peter Dutton is working on his shadow ministry line up to be unveiled in coming days.

Former foreign minister Marise Payne, who has been a NSW senator since 1997, is not expected to put her hand up for a position.

First Dog is up!

A little more from Penny Wong’s statement on her itinerary over the next couple of days:

In Samoa I will meet Head of State, His Highness Tuimalealiifano Vaaletoa Sualauvi II and Prime Minister the Hon. Fiame Naomi Mata’afa. My visit coincides with the 60th anniversary of Samoa’s independence being celebrated this week.

In Tonga, I will meet leaders including Prime Minister the Hon. Hu’akavameiliku and Foreign Minister the Hon. Fekitamoeloa ‘Utoikamanu. Australia played a leading role in the international response to January’s volcanic eruption and tsunami in Tonga, and I look forward to discussing what more we can do to help.

Penny Wong to return to Pacific tonight

Daniel Hurst

Penny Wong is embarking on her third international trip since being sworn in as Australia’s foreign affairs minister last week, travelling to two more Pacific countries – Samoa and Tonga – amid intensifying competition for influence with China.

Wong has placed a heavy emphasis on building stronger connections with Pacific countries, whose leaders have repeatedly said action on the climate crisis is a bigger priority for them than geopolitical rivalries.

On a two-day visit to Fiji late last week, Wong said Australia wanted to show it was a reliable and trustworthy partner and was “determined to make up for” what she described as “a lost decade on climate action”.

After the Albanese government’s first meeting of the full ministry on Wednesday, Wong announced she was about to fly to the Pacific again. Wong said in a statement issued a short time ago:

Tonight I will travel to Samoa and Tonga, to renew and strengthen Australia’s deep ties of friendship and family.

This is my second visit to the Pacific since being sworn in as Foreign Minister nine days ago.

I look forward to listening to leaders in Samoa and Tonga about how the Australian Government can best apply the new energy and resources we are bringing to the Pacific.

We understand that we need to work together like never before, for our peoples and for generations to come.

We want to make a uniquely Australian contribution to help build a stronger Pacific family – through social and economic opportunities including pandemic recovery, health, development and infrastructure support, as well as through our Pacific labour programs and permanent migration.

We will increase our contribution to regional security: we understand that the security of the Pacific is the responsibility of the Pacific family, of which Australia is a part.

We will stand shoulder to shoulder with our Pacific family in addressing the existential threat of climate change. And we will deepen cultural and sporting ties.

This will be her third international trip since being one of the first five ministers to be sworn in on Monday last week. Wong joined the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, at the Quad summit in Tokyo on Tuesday last week, where she also met with her counterparts from the US, Japan and India.

After her forthcoming visit to Samoa and Tonga she will return to Australia before flying with Albanese to Indonesia on Sunday.

China has ‘no intention to compete with others’ in Pacific, embassy says

A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Canberra has just released a statement regarding the ongoing tour of the South Pacific by officials from Beijing. Part of it states:

China’s friendship with Pacific Island countries has been open, above board and has stood the test of history and the times. China never interferes in the internal affairs of other countries, never attaches political strings, and never seeks geopolitical interests. China’s cooperation with Pacific Island Countries does not target the third parties and does not seek exclusive rights.

We have no intention to compete with others and always oppose zero-sum game. China is willing to enhance communication with all countries that care about Pacific Island Countries, especially Australia and New Zealand, and give full play to respective strengths to carry out more trilateral cooperation on the basis of respecting Pacific Island Countries’ wishes.

Mike Hytner

Commonwealth Games swimsuits revealed

Commonwealth Games Australia has revealed what the nation’s best swimmers and divers will wear in Birmingham later this year, with the latest aquatic apparel retaining a “unity” symbol designed by the Indigenous artist Jenna Lee which was last seen on swimsuits at the Gold Coast Games in 2018.

For those interested in the technology, the new range – designed by Speedo and bemusingly named “Fastskin Pure Intent and Fastskin Pure Valor” – features “Eco Endurance+” fabric made from recycled plastics and is 100% chlorine resistant, apparently. One assumes it will also make the swimmers go faster.

Emma Mckeon, who the press release referred to as a “superfish”, joined fellow star swimmers Zac Stubblety-Cook, Ariarne Titmus and Mack Horton to model the new range at the Miami Aquatic Centre on the Gold Coast earlier today. The Games in the UK begin on 28 July.

The treasurer Jim Chalmers might call it a “perfect storm” in energy markets, but others are talking about a “world of pain” as gas and electricity prices skyrocket.

This evening, for instance, we are seeing wholesale prices on the spot market mostly above $600 per megawatt-hour, according to the Australian Energy Market Operator.

We know there’s also the first big cold burst for winter (on the first day of the season, how timely) that’s sending the mercury tumbling.

The wind chill is making it worse, too, so Sydney for instance might be 13C right now but the “feels like” temperature is just 3C, the Bureau of Meteorology says (Melbourne is at 10.7C, but the chill factor is only trimming it down to feeling like 8.6C).

Anyway, to add to the energy angst on Wednesday evening are a couple of alerts for possible shortages, including one for gas in Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania tomorrow.

Note that it is only a potential shortage of gas, and what usually happens is that suppliers chip in or some big users opt to scale back use. Still, it’s not exactly reassuring given what else is going on.

These include a so-called lack of reserve, level one, for electricity supplies in Victoria. Between 5.30pm and 7pm there is about a 300 megawatt shortfall in capacity reserves.

Again, that does not mean there will be blackouts. Rather it’s a signal to suppliers to ramp up where they can. If it goes to a higher level, then things might get a bit more concerning.

Meanwhile, Origin Energy shares have ended trading almost 14% down, shedding about $2bn in value for the day after that profit alert earlier on.

AGL Energy ended down about 0.5% (apologies for the bad steer earlier about the size of the drop. New glasses will be ordered).

Ah, this is interesting (via the ABC): the Australian Federal Police will no longer fall under the home affairs portfolio, moving to the attorney general. But home affairs is now responsible for natural disasters management.

Payne’s top advisor was not preferred candidate to lead thinktank, defence department confirms

Daniel Hurst

Marise Payne’s former chief of staff was not the preferred candidate to head the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, a letter released by the Department of Defence confirms.

The former defence minister, Peter Dutton, announced before the election the appointment of Justin Bassi to be the executive director of Aspi, a Canberra-based thinktank that is substantially funded by Australian government agencies.

Guardian Australia revealed in mid-March that Bassi was not the preferred candidate of all of the members of the Aspi council, and that there had been ongoing discussions between the chair, former army chief Kenneth Gillespie, and Dutton’s office on the matter.

The story reported that in a field of potential candidates to lead the organisation, Bassi had been assessed as suitable for the position, but the preferred candidate was said to be Michael Shoebridge, director of the thinktank’s defence, strategy and national security program.

A few days ago, the Department of Defence tabled a letter Gillespie sent to Dutton on 29 November 2021.

The letter confirms that Bassi was assessed as “suitable” – but it does not explicitly say he was the preferred candidate. Instead, another of the six candidates was rated as “suitable and the preferred candidate”.

The names of the five candidates other than Bassi were redacted “to protect the privacy of candidates whose names and interest in the role have not been released publicly”, the Department of Defence said in its response to a question on notice from Penny Wong, who asked the question in the pre-election round of Senate estimates.

The letter is consistent with Guardian Australia’s original reporting, although the name of the preferred candidate is redacted.

In the letter to Dutton, Gillespie noted that Aspi had engaged an executive search firm, Watermark Search International, to “facilitate a strong field of candidates and to provide a transparent recruitment process”.

The letter said that company worked “closely” with a selection committee from Aspi’s council: Gillespie, Brendan Nelson, Lavina Lee, and Gai Brodtmann.

The letter continues:

In summary, after a robust selection process, the ASPI Council recommendation for the successor to Mr Jennings is [redacted]. I remain available to discuss the process and the candidates with you as you consider your appointment to the position.

In response to a second question on notice from Tim Ayres, the Department of Defence confirmed:

The appointed candidate was not the candidate preferred by the ASPI Council.

See the original story here:

Firefighters are battling a major industrial blaze in Brisbane’s south, the ABC reports.

The fire broke out about 3:30pm on Ashover Road near the Archerfield Airport in Rocklea.

Queensland Fire and Emergency Services said two large sheds were on fire.

Coalition looks set to be the biggest party in Senate

The Coalition is set to pick up three Senate seats in Victoria and South Australia, as counting for the upper house continues following the election, AAP reports.

Of the 76 seats in the Senate, 40 were up for grabs at the May 21 poll.

Based on current projections, the Liberal-Nationals Coalition is set to have the most senators in the new parliament, with 33 upper house members.

Labor is set to hold 26 seats when the Senate sits in July, with three new faces in Jana Stewart and Linda White from Victoria and Fatima Payman from Western Australia.

There will be 12 Greens members in the Senate, should the current projections hold, with the party in line to pick up three extra seats.

Based on the current numbers, Labor and the Greens combining for a vote would be able to block proposals from the Coalition, but would not be enough to secure a majority on the Senate floor without the help of a crossbench member.

Pauline Hanson is expected to be returned to the Senate for Queensland, giving One Nation two seats.

The Jacqui Lambie Network is also expected to get a second seat, with former Lambie staffer Tammy Tyrrell expected to be elected.

Former Wallabies star turned independent candidate David Pocock is on track to defeat Liberal Zed Seselja in the ACT Senate race, making it the first time the territory has not had a Liberal in the upper house.

Election analyst William Bowe said there were still three seats still in doubt as counting continued.

He said despite early enthusiasm for the prospects of Legalise Cannabis Australia taking the last Senate spot in Queensland at the expense of One Nation, hopes for the party had faded.