Australia information dwell: Albanese meets Zelenskyy and pope in Rome; eight rescued from NSW floods

Modifications to company tax preparations and insurance policies to make it cheaper to fulfill local weather targets can be examined as a part of the Productiveness Fee’s wide-ranging inquiries to spice up the nation’s stagnating development.

The fee has launched an inventory of 15 precedence areas to sharpen the main focus of the 5 separate stories it’s conducting into choices to elevate productiveness throughout the financial system.

Among the many precedence areas is company tax, with the fee asking for suggestions on attainable adjustments to “support business investment”.

Former business minister Ed Husic final yr floated the thought of chopping the company tax price to spice up productiveness, in feedback that had been sidestepped by the treasurer, Jim Chalmers.

As a part of its report into the clear power transformation, the productiveness fee will study choices to cut back the price of reaching emissions discount targets and methods to velocity up approvals of recent power infrastructure.

The fee’s chair, Danielle Wooden, mentioned:

Boosting productiveness is the one sustainable method to enhance Australians’ residing requirements, however productiveness development has stagnated previously decade. It’s now at its lowest ebb in 60 years.

Productiveness development isn’t about working more durable or about having extra ‘stuff’. It’s about taking advantage of what now we have – the talents and expertise of our workforce, new applied sciences, and our assets – so we are able to get extra out of our financial system.

In a press release, Chalmers mentioned flatling productiveness was “one of the biggest challenges facing our nation”, which was why he commissioned the 5 stories late final yr.

We’re decided to make Australia’s financial system extra affluent and productive and this work from the PC is a crucial a part of that course of.

Session of the priorities will open on Monday and run till 6 June.

Interim findings can be launched by means of July and August, with the ultimate stories attributable to be handed to the federal government in December.

The NSW SES has already needed to rescue eight individuals in that space of the Hunter and mid North Coast the place coastal catchments have already responded to rainfall over the weekend.

All eight rescues had been for individuals in floodwaters in automobiles in northern NSW; all individuals had been secure and one was taken to hospital.

The SES has responded to 346 incidents statewide, with the bulk (272) within the northern zone.

An SES spokesperson mentioned:

We expect sluggish shifting heavy rainfall to final a number of days throughout the mid north coast and Hunter areas, and we’re anticipating minor to reasonable flooding alongside coastal catchments.

We’re already seeing these coastal catchments reply fairly shortly to rainfall over the weekend and, with the forecast heavy rainfall over the following few days, we’re anticipating renewed rises and plenty of catchments to achieve minor to reasonable flooding.

The Bureau of Meteorology has forecast widespread 24-hour rainfall totals of fifty to 100mm. Nevertheless, there’s the chance for remoted rainfall to exceed 180mm in 24-hour intervals.

Flood watches in place for rivers in Hunter and mid-north coast

Because of the extended interval of moist climate for New South Wales – with rain anticipated to fall throughout the identical areas for a number of days in a row – flood watches are in place for a lot of rivers by means of the Hunter and the mid-north coast districts, the place minor to reasonable flooding is anticipated all through the week, Hines says.

… and we are able to’t rule out the prospect that one or two of them may see main flooding within the coming days.

A few of these rivers the place flooding is predicted embody the Goulburn River, the higher Hunter River, the decrease Hunter River, the Gloucester River, the Hastings River, the Nambuka River and the Bellinger River.

NSW is moist, with a extreme climate warning for mid-north coast to central coast

On to the climate in NSW, which has seen heavy falls over the weekend. Angus Hines, a senior meteorologist on the Bureau of Meteorology, says it has been a very moist evening for the northern suburbs of Sydney, the NSW Central Coast and up into southern elements of the Hunter space as properly.

Since 9am on Sunday to 6am Monday, the heaviest falls have been 121mm at Wyee and 117mm at Dora Creek on the Central Coast, in Sydney 70mm recorded at Wahroonga and 62mm at Pearl Seashore, and round Newcastle 87mm has fallen at Nobby’s Head.

A extreme climate warning for heavy rainfall and damaging winds extends by means of a lot of the mid north coast district, Hines says, from about Kempsey southwards, and it goes down into the Hunter and even the Central Coast district south of Newcastle. A number of the city areas included inside that warning are Port Macquarie, Taree, Forster, Newcastle and Maitland.

Watt says thought of a federal EPA has been ‘particularly contentious’

On whether or not he believes environmental approval ought to sit with the atmosphere minister or an impartial physique corresponding to a federal EPA, Watt apologises for sounding like a damaged report, saying he wants to debate the problem with completely different events:

That is an space that has been notably contentious, is what the powers of an impartial EPA needs to be, whether or not they need to be merely a compliance company and an enforcement company, or whether or not they need to have approval powers for tasks.

Watt says he’ll strategy environmental reform ‘in the spirit’ of Graeme Samuel assessment

Is labor dedicated to introducing nationwide environmental requirements to evaluate growth functions towards – as was beneficial within the Graeme Samuel suggestions?

Watt says:

That was a key suggestion in Graeme Samuel’s assessment below Sussan Ley. And the best way I do need to strategy these reforms is within the spirit of Graeme’s suggestions.

He and his staff on the time put in a large quantity of labor. It did appear to get broad settlement throughout completely different curiosity teams concerning the kind of package deal of reforms that was wanted. It appears to me to make sense to attempt to keep on with the spirit of these reforms, nevertheless it’s a bit early for me to decide to any specific suggestions at this level.

Watt undecided on type atmosphere invoice will take

Watt is being requested extra about specifics – whether or not he’ll proceed Plibersek’s strategy of attempting to reform the Setting Safety and Biodiversity Conservation Act in levels or look to legislate the reforms all collectively.

Watt says he hasn’t reached a concluded view however will check the problems with completely different stakeholders:

There can be some benefits in going together with a reasonably comparable invoice to what we had final time, however clearly it might require some changes to get by means of – however equally I can see some benefits in attempting to broaden out that reform and attempt to have an even bigger reform package deal in a single go.

Murray Watt says his job is to construct on atmosphere work completed by Tanya Plibersek

Murray Watt, the brand new atmosphere minister, is speaking on ABC Radio Nationwide about how his first job is to get environmental legal guidelines handed:

I’ve made calls to atmosphere teams, mining teams, enterprise teams, all of them agree that we’d like change. So my job is to construct on the work that Tanya [Plibersek] did because the minister and get these legal guidelines handed.

… I feel that the election consequence did see a powerful endorsement of Labor’s strategy to atmosphere environmental safety, which is that we are able to shield the atmosphere and shield jobs. That’s what we need to do.

Albanese meets leaders in Rome

Albanese’s flurry of conferences with world leaders whereas attending the pope’s inaugural mass had been immortalised with formal photos and Vatican-backdropped selfies:

Elias Visontay

Hearings start to find out Qantas penalty for outsourcing of floor handlers

Qantas could possibly be pressured to pay greater than $120m in penalties, as the ultimate hearings start of what has been a years-long, pricey authorized course of after the airline was discovered to have illegally outsourced 1,820 floor handlers.

From Monday, a five-day listening to within the federal courtroom will decide the monetary penalty Qantas should pay over the 2020 outsourcing choice, through which the Transport Staff Union (TWU) – which introduced the preliminary authorized motion that discovered the outsourcing had been unlawful – will name for the utmost penalty of $121m to be ordered.

The outsourcing saga has already seen the airline conform to pay $120m in compensation to the affected staff as a part of a deal reached in December, on high of the hefty authorized charges overlaying its defence towards the preliminary authorized motion introduced by the Transport Staff Union in addition to subsequent unsuccessful appeals to the total bench of the federal courtroom and the excessive courtroom.

If justice Michael Lee does resolve on the utmost penalty, it might carry the price of penalties and compensation to greater than $240m, properly above the $135m Qantas budgeted for in its half-year monetary outcomes launched in February. It will cap off a pricey 12 months for Qantas – in a completely separate matter in Could final yr, the airline additionally agreed to a civil penalty of $100m and $20m in buyer compensation for allegedly promoting tens of 1000’s of tickets to flights that had already been cancelled.

Michael Kaine, the TWU nationwide secretary, mentioned the union is asking for the utmost penalty towards Qantas to “reflect the scale of its decision” and make sure the monetary burden of the authorized course of meant there was no remaining “business case” for the outsourcing.

Kaine mentioned:

Not solely was it an appalling act to eliminate a loyal workforce, it was the most important case of unlawful sackings in Australian company historical past. The penalty to Qantas should mirror this and ship a message to each different firm in Australia that you simply can’t sack your staff to stop them from utilizing their industrial rights.

You may learn extra concerning the outsourcing authorized course of right here:

Albanese spoke to pope of his mom ‘looking down from heaven’

What did Anthony Albanese select to inform the Catholic chief when he met him?

After being taken into the basilica to greet the pope after the mass, AAP stories Albanese spoke to him about his mom:

I spoke to him about my mom who can be, I’m certain, wanting down from heaven with the most important smile she’s ever had.

Albanese, who was raised Catholic in a housing fee flat in Sydney, typically references his late single-parent mom and her affect on his life.

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, says he has been honoured to attend the inaugural mass and meet His Holiness Pope Leo XIV.

Whereas in Rome, Albanese additionally met with different world leaders on the sidelines, together with the Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, European Union president, Ursula von der Leyen, and Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Again house heavy rainfall, robust winds, hazardous surf and minor to reasonable flooding is predicted on the northern New South Wales coast all through the primary half of this week, the SES warns.

The slow-moving heavy rainfall is predicted to final a number of days throughout the mid north coast and Hunter areas, with the SES having already needed to rescue eight individuals.

Extra to come back quickly, let’s get going!