What we learned, Monday 1 May
That’s where we’ll leave the blog for today – thanks so much for joining us. Here is a wrap of the day’s biggest stories:
Jock Zonfrillo, judge on MasterChef Australia, has died aged 46. His family said: “So many words can describe him, so many stories can be told, but at this time we’re too overwhelmed to put them into words”.
The former prime minister Tony Abbott argued that no matter the result, the voice referendum would leave Australians “embittered and divided”. The no campaign leader, Warren Mundine, said he would support the voice if it passes at referendum, but says critics are “silenced” due to public support.
Meanwhile, the Indigenous leader Noel Pearson said he hasn’t heard any “compelling reason” to change the words’ of the voice proposal, as suggested by Abbott, and that it will be a “tragedy” for the country if the voice doesn’t pass.
Hundreds of projects in Australia’s $120bn infrastructure investment program will be reviewed for value and significance, with the minister Catherine King claiming the former Coalition government saddled the fund with “press release projects” that would never be finished or were not properly funded.
The independent Sydney MP Alex Greenwich has threatened One Nation’s NSW leader Mark Latham with a defamation lawsuit if he doesn’t apologise for a now-deleted homophobic tweet.
Victoria’s shadow cabinet unanimously agreed to give MPs the freedom to campaign for either the yes or no vote rather than be bound by a party policy.
Updated
Two new Medicare urgent care clinics to be established in NT
The commonwealth and Northern Territory governments will establish two new Medicare urgent care clinics (UCCs) in Palmerston and Alice Springs, it has been announced this afternoon.
These UCCs will provide bulk billed treatment for urgent but non-life-threatening emergencies and will be open extended hours, seven days a week.
These clinics will be up and running providing urgent care to the local communities by the middle of the year, a statement said.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said the clinics will provide Territorians with more healthcare options, and provide reprieve for health staff.
The health minister, Mark Butler, said:
The government’s Medicare [UCCs] will allow families in the Northern Territory to get top-quality care from a nurse or a doctor without having to wait in a hospital emergency department.
Just over 40% of all presentations to emergency departments in the NT are for non-life-threatening conditions, and that’s where Medicare UCCs will be so valuable.
Updated
