What we learned: Monday 1 April
And that’s where we’ll leave you this Easter Monday. Here’s a wrap of the headlines from today:
The federal Labor government is “sceptical” about breaking up supermarket giants amid warnings proposed powers could push up food prices and harm job security for workers.
The energy minister, Chris Bowen, has defended the government’s decision to charter two jets from Canberra for a clean energy announcement in the Hunter region of New South Wales, blaming local airport limitations and a lack of commercial flights.
Defence forces confirmed an Australian was among three UN observers and one translator injured in an explosion near Lebanon’s border with Israel.
Assistant minister Matt Thistlethwaite has claimed the federal government needs the emergency deportation powers it failed to ram through the Senate last week, because some visitors to Australia have been “milking the system”.
Assistant competition minister Andrew Leigh has said Meta’s plan to start removing traditional media outlets’ news feeds from Facebook and Instagram as of this month is “simply unconscionable”.
Heavy rainfall and damaging winds have hit parts of Victoria today as a cold front moves across the state from the west.
The murder-accused suspended Gold Coast city councillor Ryan Bayldon-Lumsden has been unsuccessful in his bid for re-election.
The chief minister of the Northern Territory, Eva Lawler, has defended the youth curfew in Alice Springs saying “the town is so much quieter” and has been questioned over whether it would be extended.
A new taskforce has been set up to decide what to do with 1.8m hectares of forest in Victoria now that native timber harvesting has come to an end.
Queensland police are preparing a report for the coroner after a father and grandfather drowned after jumping into a hotel pool to save a child, who was successfully pulled from the water.
Passengers who were on board a flight from Sydney to Auckland that plunged suddenly last month, injuring dozens, have reportedly been offered thousands in ex gratia payments by airline LATAM.
People in western Sydney are being advised to look out for measles symptoms, after NSW Health were notified of a woman with the illness in the area.
Thanks so much for your company. We’ll be back tomorrow bringing you all the news of the day. Until then, look after yourselves.
Updated
More than 100mm of rain forecast for parts of south-east
As we noted earlier, Victoria had its driest March in nearly 40 years last month, while Melbourne faced its driest March on record, with only 2.8mm of rain.
Now parts of Australia’s south-east will be hit with more than 100mm of rain this week alone, after a relatively dry month which delivered rainfall levels at just a third of the region’s March average.
As noted, storms are expected to sweep through Tasmania and Victoria tonight and inundate the east coast over the week. The Bureau of Meteorology is predicting 30-to-70mm of rainfall for central Victoria overnight.
Sydney is forecast to receive up to 70mm of rain on Friday, after getting only 52.4mm over last month, less than half its March average.
But while March left the south-east parched, Australia’s north was hit with more than double its average rainfall over the month.
Tropical cyclones and the monsoon season drenched the region with 182mm instead of the typical 88mm.
Updated
Suspended Gold Coast councillor accused of murder unsuccessful in re-election bid
The murder-accused suspended Gold Coast city councillor Ryan Bayldon-Lumsden has been unsuccessful in his bid for re-election. Bayldon-Lumsden maintains his innocence in relation to those allegations.
Guardian Australia has been told by scrutineers that he was ruled out in the final vote count for division 7 which was between Bayldon-Lumsden, Jenna Schroeder and Joe Wilkinson.
As of 3.30pm on Monday, Bayldon-Lumsden had received 6,102 votes, trailing behind Schroeder (6,573) and Wilkinson (6,856). This means the final contest is now between Schroeder and Wilkinson.
Bayldon-Lumsden is likely the only Australian to run for office while charged with murder.
The former disability worker is accused of murdering his stepfather, 58-year-old Robert Malcolm Lumsden, at the family’s Arundel home on 23 August.
Bayldon-Lumsden has been suspended on a $160,000 salary since September.
There were fears that if he was re-elected he could be suspended again while a murder trial takes place, leaving his division without a vote on the council.
Updated
The energy minister, Chris Bowen, has defended the government’s decision to charter two jets from Canberra for a clean energy announcement in the Hunter region of New South Wales, blaming local airport limitations and a lack of commercial flights.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, Bowen and the industry minister, Ed Husic, travelled to Muswellbrook for the announcement of $1bn for the Sunshot program to support Australian-made solar panels last Thursday. Albanese called it “one of the most significant that will be made during our term”.
Bowen called scrutiny of the travel a “fair question”, after receiving criticism from two Liberal shadow ministers, but said the decision had been taken by the Royal Australian Air Force, which operates the planes.
He said the air force recommended that the most efficient way of getting the prime minister and the two cabinet ministers to the Liddell power station was to fly to Scone airport:
The runway at Scone wasn’t strong enough to take the large jet, so the air force recommended and took the decision for two small jets.
The prime minister always travels with the Royal Australian Air Force. All prime ministers have for living memory, certainly as long as I’ve been involved. That’s for security reasons and quite appropriate.
Read the full story here:
Updated
Victorian project aims to tackle ‘invisible’ problem of commercial food packaging
If you’re looking at the remnants of your Easter chocolate boxes and wondering what to do with all your cardboard, spare a thought for Victorian farmers and wholesalers hosting a pilot project to reduce single-use cardboard waste.
The Victoria Unboxed project aims to reduce the numbers of cardboard produce boxes in small farms, hospitality venues and wholesale warehouses, utilising about 1,000 reusable plastic crates to store and transport fresh fruit and vegetables.
Led by Sustainable Victoria and food charity Sustain, the scheme could help cut costs by reducing single-use cardboard waste in our food systems.
Sustain’s executive director, Nick Rose, said the “invisible” issue of commercial food packaging is a big problem he hopes the project can address:
Australians are throwing away close to 2 million tonnes of food packaging every year; that would fill up the Melbourne Cricket Ground over nine times. That’s really at the consumer end of food packaging.
Food packaging is really important, the challenge is how do we make it more sustainable? How do we redesign the systems and the supply chain relationships that use this packaging, directing it towards reuse and recyclable material? That’s our ‘why’.
Updated
Olympic finalist Peter Bol has finished a soggy second in the 1000m invitational handicap race as severe thunderstorms played havoc with the program on finals day at the Stawell Gift carnival, AAP reports.
Heavy rain started falling at Central Park, in the Victorian town of Stawell, minutes after Stawell Gift favourite Endale Mekonnen clocked the fastest semi-final time of 12.23 seconds in the feature 120m event on Monday.
Organisers chose to push ahead with the 1,000m invitational handicap, with Bol charging home from the scratch mark to finish a close second behind Riley Bryce.
Bol, who came fourth in the 800m at the Tokyo Olympics, said:
Crazy weather but what a great event. I haven’t raced in rain like that since I was a kid. Congrats to Riley. I just left a little too much to do off the last bend. I felt I had a chance to catch him, but he was just a bit strong.
Updated
Passengers on LATAM flight that injured dozens reportedly offered ex gratia payments
Passengers who were on board a flight from Sydney to Auckland that plunged suddenly last month, injuring dozens, have reportedly been offered thousands in ex gratia payments by airline LATAM.
Peter Carter, director of Carter Capner Law, said he was aware of Chilean carrier LATAM offering some passengers on board the flight – which left passengers bloodied, hospitalised and reportedly “felt like an earthquake” – ex gratia payments of between US$1,500 and $US5000.
However, Carter – who is representing some of the affected passengers in action against the airline – urged others not to sign anything without legal advice and not to agree to any conditions when accepting the payment, noting that an ex gratia payment now could prejudice other rights they may have to compensation down the track.
Investigations into the cause of the incident have centred on cockpit seats, amid reports a flight attendant serving a meal hit a switch on the pilot’s seat, pushing the pilot into the controls.
Several days after the 11 March flight, Boeing reportedly told airlines to check the cockpit seats of 787 Dreamliners for loose covers on switches. Boeing said that closing a spring-loaded seat back switch guard on to a loose rocker switch cap could “potentially jam the rocker switch, resulting in unintended seat movement”.
Updated
Here’s some footage of that rescue of five campers from a Queensland campsite cut off by flood water.
Updated
Thanks so much to Rafqa Touma for her work today. I’m Stephanie Convery and I’ll be taking you through the rest of this afternoon’s news.
Second-warmest March on record for Australia’s minimum temperatures
With March wrapping up, we’re starting to get a few temperature readings in for Australia from the Bureau of Meteorology to add to the rainfall charts (see earlier post).
With a lot of rain over the outback, it wasn’t surprising that daytime temperatures last month were somewhat moderated, as you can see here.
As for temperatures, Australia was relatively cool most of the western half but relatively warm in the southeast. pic.twitter.com/Y9lLxqJG4V
— @phannam@mastodon.green (@p_hannam) April 1, 2024
As a result of one end of the ledger being closer to average, mean temperatures were also not so unusual either.
As for mean temperatures it was relatively warm in March in the eastern half... pic.twitter.com/JbHcHwFybz
— @phannam@mastodon.green (@p_hannam) April 1, 2024
However, the same cannot be said for overnight temperatures, which were above average for most of Australia in March.
And for minumum temperatures, it was above average in March for most of the country. For parts of Queensland near where the Great Barrier Reef is bleaching there was record warmth. (Source: @bom_au) pic.twitter.com/QpR0Aoqf41
— @phannam@mastodon.green (@p_hannam) April 1, 2024
In fact, only one March – in 2016 – was warmer than this year’s March for minimums.
By minumum temperatures, it was actually Australia's second hottest March on record. Temps were 1.79C above the 1961-90 average, matching 2019's March, and shy only of the 2.09C anomaly recorded in March 2016. (Via @bom_au) pic.twitter.com/dSax5CzRE8
— @phannam@mastodon.green (@p_hannam) April 1, 2024
And since the climate doesn’t switch on or off, it’s not surprising the coming months are expected to be above average. This chart’s for maximums but a similar tale could be told for minimum temperature outlooks.
And maximum temperatures are also likely to be warmer than average for April-June. (With the background warming from climate change, that should surprise (almost) nobody.) pic.twitter.com/AoiKcyJBtR
— @phannam@mastodon.green (@p_hannam) April 1, 2024
With the background climate heating (about 1.5C so far over the last century for Australia), the surprise would be if temperature outlooks did not favour above average conditions for most months.
Updated
Victoria announces “Great Outdoors Taskforce” to manage 1.8m hectares of forest
A new taskforce has been set up to decide what to do with 1.8m hectares of forest in Victoria now that native timber harvesting has come to an end.
The Victorian government ended commercial harvesting of native timber on 1 January, with the state agency VicForest to wind down on 30 June.
It is now turning its mind to what to do with the land, with the environment minister, Steve Dimopoulos, on Monday announcing the establishment of the “Great Outdoors Taskforce”.
He said the taskforce would consult with communities and stakeholders to explore “all options for future uses and care of the forest are heard and explored”.
This will include investigating which areas of the land present opportunities for recreation and tourism such as camping, hunting, hiking, trail-bike riding and four-wheel driving and areas that need to be protected to safeguard threatened species. Others could also qualify for protection as national parks or be placed under Traditional Owner management.
Dimopoulos said the work would be undertaken over the next 12 months and consultation details released in the coming weeks:
The end of native timber harvesting presents a once in a lifetime opportunity to design new ways of caring for our forests while giving Victorians more opportunities to enjoy the great outdoors. This taskforce will play a critical role listening to Victorians about how best to manage our forests – each member brings specialised knowledge to the panel ensuring thorough consideration of all options during consultation.
Members include:
– Karen Cain, former chief executive of the Latrobe Valley Authority
– Mellissa Wood, chair of the Victorian Environmental Assessment Council
– Graham Dear, chair of the Victorian Fisheries Authority
– Terry Robinson, chief executive of Destination Gippsland.
The taskforce would also include Traditional Owner representation, Dimopoulos said.
Updated
Eva Lawler questioned over whether Alice Springs youth curfew will be extended
Asked whether the Alice Springs youth curfew would be extended, the chief minister of the Northern Territory, Eva Lawler, said:
We have … about nine … days until that decision needs to be made. It will be made in plenty of time to give people on the ground opportunities first of all to have a say, but also for any of the services to know what is happening.
We have had the Easter break, it is at this stage [we] are continuing to implement and consolidate, and then we will turn to look at what we need to do for the future.
Updated
NT chief minister defends Alice Springs youth curfew
The chief minister of the Northern Territory, Eva Lawler, is speaking to press about the Alice Springs youth curfew. Asked about whether there is any indication that the curfews work to minimise youth crime, Lawler said:
The evidence is that the town is so much quieter.
The police have said there has been a reduction of crime in the areas outside of the CBD. It has been the Easter long weekend, so I am sure that probably Tuesday, Michael Murphy, the commissioner, is back in Alice Springs, we will be able to get some clear data around that.
Updated
Andrew Leigh says Meta plan will result in ‘junk flooding the zone’
More on Meta, from AAP:
Media outlets have argued Facebook unfairly benefits in advertising revenue when links to news articles appear on their platforms.
Meta has been winding back its promotion of news content and says it is because fewer users are accessing news stories.
“The number of people using Facebook News in Australia ... dropped by over 80% last year,” Meta said in a statement in February about its plan to “deprecate” the tab for news content.
Asked what could be done to get Meta back to the bargaining table, the assistant competition minister, Andrew Leigh, said there were penalties under the news media bargaining code which gave tools to the government.
Leigh said he was concerned about the amount of “junk flooding the zone”.
We know that when you take high-quality news out of the space then it’s the sewer that floods in, so we’ve got to do more to make sure that we’re having a discussion which is based on facts.
Australia prospers by engaging with the world through strong institutions and through having careful intellectual debates when we’re confronted with big challenges.
But the rise of populist politics ... all of that is fuelled by a misinformation, disinformation, environment.
The former ACCC head Rod Sims described Meta’s move as thumbing its nose at the Australian parliament and said he was concerned about the impact on society.
Updated
Meta news removal an ‘abrogation’ of duty, Labor says
The plan to start removing traditional media outlets’ news feeds from Facebook and Instagram as of this month is “simply unconscionable”, a government minister has said.
The decision by Meta, which owns the platforms, to no longer enter deals to pay Australian news publishers for their content has sparked a huge backlash from the federal government and media outlets.
Yet it is not backing down with plans from this month to remove the Facebook News tab it created in 2019.
The assistant competition minister, Andrew Leigh, condemned the decision as an “abrogation of their responsibility”. He told ABC’s RN on Monday:
This is a place that people go to for trusted news. The idea that you would take off trusted news and just allow the ecosystem to be filled with misinformation disinformation ... it’s simply unconscionable.
It [Meta] should not be treating its consumers in this way.
It is not too much to ask one of the world’s biggest multinationals to make a modest contribution to the Australian news media in order to keep a highly functioning public debate and people making decisions based on good information.
Meta has been approached for comment on Leigh’s remarks.
– Australian Associated Press
Updated
Rains across the east to help ease spreading drought
As noted in the earlier post, there are some decent falls expected in Victoria today – although they won’t be so welcomed for those packing up Easter camps or traipsing home along roads that will be jammed and now a bit more slippery too.
Farmers, however, will be among those grateful for a bit of rain, particularly those in parts of South Australia and Victoria that have endured a few relatively dry months,
As the Bureau of Meteorology notes, March was quite dry in the south but also quite wet in the north:
March was relatively wet inland but dry in the southeast. (Via @BOM_au ) pic.twitter.com/tdowH1gC4z
— @phannam@mastodon.green (@p_hannam) March 31, 2024
Melbourne, in fact, had its driest March on record. (The city’s 2.8mm reading was a tiny drop – and well shy of the evaporation levels which would be closer to 200mm.)
Melbourne just had its driest March since records began in 1856 - just 2.8mm. Old record 3.7mm.https://t.co/b6sZ9KtLfL pic.twitter.com/SGZxDlaGUf
— Andrew B. Watkins (@windjunky) March 31, 2024
Of course, one month doesn’t itself signal a drought. With the stormy summer for large parts of the east – even during an El Niño year – there will be some areas reporting relatively wet conditions.
Still, over the past 12 months, rainfall has varied significantly over the nation compared with historical averages. The west coast and most of Tasmania have been especially – if not extremely – dry.
While for the past 12 months, the west coast and Tasmania have been notably dry. (Via @BOM_au ) pic.twitter.com/OQYOle65mo
— @phannam@mastodon.green (@p_hannam) March 31, 2024
There will be a few regions hoping the current rains will reach them – and be followed up by more soon.
Updated
Men who drowned saving toddler were child's father and grandfather
More on the two men who drowned after jumping into a pool to save a child, which we reported on earlier, from Australian Associated Press:
The toddler was reportedly playing beside a Gold Coast apartment block pool when they slipped and fell into the deep end at about 7pm.
The child’s father, 38, and grandfather, 65, leapt into the pool to try to save the toddler.
The Queensland Ambulance Service’s Mitchell Ware said bystanders were able to pull the people from the pool and performed CPR until paramedics arrived but the grandfather and father died at the scene.
A woman known to the two men was taken to Gold Coast University Hospital in a stable condition.
Ware said:
It’s an extremely emotional scene. Anyone could understand that not just to lose one family member but to lose two family members.
These incidents can have long-lasting effects for not just the family members involved but also the people that were at the scene as well, and also the first responders.
Authorities have advised people who are not strong swimmers to exercise caution around any body of water.
The family was understood to be holidaying at the apartment complex on Orchid Avenue.
Updated
Five rescued but dozens still stranded at Queensland campsite
Five people have been rescued while dozens remain stranded at a Queensland campsite after flood waters from a nearby dam began rising rapidly, AAP reports.
The call came in just after 1am on Sunday reporting 29 people were marooned at a campground at East Leichhardt Dam, east of Mount Isa in Queensland’s far north-west, with two of those people stuck in the water.
The rescue efforts began with police and swift-water rescue firefighters using an inflatable boat to cross the dam to get into the flooded campsite, while other first responders made their way in on foot.
All campers were accounted for and no injuries were reported.
Queensland Fire and Emergency Services transported five people, including young children, who did not have food out of the campsite using an inflatable boat.
The remaining campers decided to stay at the site until the water levels subsided.
A thunderstorm warning has been issued along the western border of Queensland, spanning across Mount Isa, with warnings of further rain over the next 24 hours for the region.
There has been 33mm of rain recorded at East Leichhardt dam in the past 24 hours.
Updated
Heavy rain and strong winds to hit Victoria
Parts of Victoria are expecting heavy rainfall and damaging winds today as a cold front moves across the state from the west.
Showers and thunderstorms have been developing in the western parts of the state this morning, before transitioning to a rain band with embedded thunderstorms this afternoon.
The rain band is associated with a cold front that is making its way across the state, extending from roughly Mildura down to the Otways during the afternoon and before crossing Melbourne later this afternoon and evening.
Heavy rainfall is expected, as well as damaging wind gusts over central Victoria, including the Ballarat area, this evening and the eastern ranges overnight before the cold front.
Some flash-flooding is expected with the heavy falls but no Riverine flooding.
Stephanie Miles, meteorologist at the BoM, said Easter travellers should be careful on the roads:
On the roads just be careful with reduced visibility in the heavy rainfall, and the roads will be mostly slippery as well, as we have haven’t had all that much rainfall over the last month or so.
Updated
Stargazing plumber from regional Victoria wins prestigious astronomy award
Rod Stubbings is the 2024 recipient of the Astronomical Society of Australia’s (ASA) Bernice and Page medal, which is awarded for scientific contributions by an amateur astronomer.
He is just one of three people in the world to have made 400,000 measurements of the brightness of variable stars and his observations have helped astronomers in more than a dozen countries better understand stars in the Milky Way.
Stubbings said:
I don’t know what I am going to see each night. Some nights, there will be 10 outbursts or more amongst my list of stars, some nights just one or two.
Living at the base of the Strzelecki Ranges in southern Victoria, Stubbings bought a telescope in 1986 but struggled at first to use it. However, when he learnt about variable stars he realised he could do something useful for science.
Now every clear night he is in the observatory in his garden, looking at up to 300 stars.
“Each night, it leads to an alert I send to astronomers around the world enabling them to study outbursts in the stars of interest in them,” Stubbings said.
He doesn’t take photographs – instead he works from memory as he assess each star for its brightness.
– Australian Associated Press
Updated
Original Yellow Wiggle backs fresh defibrillator push
The original Yellow Wiggle Greg Page and the Heart Foundation are behind a fresh push for more lifesaving devices in rural areas.
Page’s organisation, Heart of the Nation, has partnered with the foundation to advocate for greater access to automated external defibrillators (AED) and more education on how to give CPR.
They want government to roll out more of the devices in country areas.
The performer founded Heart of the Nation after suffering a cardiac arrest while the Wiggles were on stage for a bushfire fundraising concert in 2020.
Page credited his survival to the fact an off-duty nurse had access to a defibrillator at the concert.
Some 24,000 Australians die each year from the condition and only one in 20 people who have cardiac arrest outside of hospital survive.
However, Page is hopeful survival rates can improve.
Those crucial minutes before an ambulance arrives are when CPR and an AED need to be used to dramatically increase a person’s chance of survival.
– Australian Associated Press
Updated
Measles alert for western Sydney
People in western Sydney are being advised to look out for measles symptoms, after NSW Health were notified of a woman with the illness in the area.
Dr Conrad Moreira, the acting director of the public health unit at the Western Sydney Local Health District, said there was no ongoing risk to the public but that it was important those who attended the locations below look out for symptoms:
Baby Bunting, Blacktown Mega Centre, on 24 March between 3pm and 4pm
Kmart Blacktown on 24 March between 4pm and 5pm
Winston Hills mall on 28 March between 12pm and 2.30pm
Westmead hospital emergency department on 29 March 2024 between 2pm and 10.30pm.
“Symptoms include fever, sore eyes, runny nose and a cough followed three or four days later by a red, blotchy rash that spreads from the head to the rest of the body,” Moreira said.
Updated
Support for Labor drops in WA as Coalition gains ground among the young
Voters in Western Australia are shifting away from Labor towards the Coalition, as the opposition gains ground among young people.
A Newspoll published in the the Australian newspaper on Monday shows a rise in support for the Coalition in key areas but Labor still leading 52-48 on a two-party-preferred basis nationally.
This remains unchanged from the last quarter of 2023.
The Coalition increased its support by five points to a primary vote of 27% among young people in the voting group, aged between 18 to 34, as Labor fell five points to 33%.
According to the analysis, the Coalition’s primary vote is now higher than the Greens.
Young men are equally supportive of Labor and the Coalition, with a three-point swing on two-party-preferred terms against the government.
The parties are 50-50 split among the demographic, while there was a six point fall to 31% in Labor’s primary vote.
But for women, Labor was still ahead 53-47 on a two-party-preferred basis.
Among voters aged between 35 and 49 years of age, Labor has further cemented its position by pulling ahead, as the government has focused on cost of living relief and tax cuts for “middle Australia”.
The new analysis shows Labor trailing the Coalition on a two-party preferred basis in WA, while the parties were drawing with each other in NSW.
– Australian Associated Press
Updated
Matt Thistlethwaite defends emergency deportation powers
Assistant minister Matt Thistlethwaite has claimed the government needs the emergency deportation powers it failed to ram through the Senate last week, because some visitors to Australia have been “milking the system”.
In a Sky News interview this morning, Thistlethwaite – the assistant minister for defence – alleged “this has been an issue for some time”.
“You’ve got people who come to Australia on visas and we’re not talking about refugees here, we’re talking about people who may come on a tourist visa or some other visa and then they overstay, and they breach their visa conditions. And under the former government, they were milking the system,” he claimed.
“They couldn’t be deported and they’d end up costing taxpayers millions of dollars each year. And this government has said, well, enough is enough. We’re going to fix that loophole in the system and make sure that the migration minister has the power and the discretion to force those people to comply with their visa conditions and leave the country.”
These were the “urgent” powers the government tried to rush through the parliament on the same day they were introduced. The Coalition initially supported the push but referred it off to a Senate committee after the government declined to detail exactly what the time sensitivity was for the unorthodox and rushed approach.
Liberal senator Hollie Hughes, appearing on the panel with Thistlethwaite, strongly criticised the government’s approach.
“Wow, having accountability, what a crazy concept. The Senate doing its job. What a crazy concept,” she said.
“This is how outrageous this government is, that they wanted to ram through these changes within 36 hours. Massive changes to our immigration laws within 36 hours. No one can really say what the urgency is. Clare O’Neil did let slip that perhaps it’s got something to do with an upcoming court case where, again, the government has failed in its own defence.
“But every piece of legislation, every piece of legislation goes to a Senate legislation committee, and you tried to circumvent that last week. Why?”
Updated
Matthews’ strong Flanders form bodes well for Olympics
An Olympic medal might be rich consolation for Michael Matthews missing out on a precious podium finish at the Tour of Flanders.
The Australian’s storming ride on Sunday night at De Ronde, one of road cycling’s five monuments, ended in devastation.
The Jayco AlUla star finished third – only the fifth time an Australian has featured among the top three at the storied race.
Matthews was subsequently relegated to 11th over infractions during his sprint to the finish. But his form over the past few weeks points to the 33-year-old being a serious contender in the 3 August Olympic road race.
The Olympic event will suit the “puncheurs” – riders who excel on rolling terrain – with Flanders cited as a similar course profile to that of Paris.
Matthews has never ridden at the Olympics and was gutted at missing out on the Tokyo team three years ago. He finished third at the 2022 world championships in Wollongon , but injury marred his season last year, with a stage win at the Giro d’Italia his one highlight.
In January, Cadel Evans pointed to Matthews and time trial star Grace Brown as the main Australian riders for the Olympic road events. The Tour de France winner told the Nine Network:
At this point, looking at the course I’d say Michael Matthews in the men’s, Grace Brown for the women’s in the road race would be the first picks we’d be looking to.
But of course, them staying healthy, being in form, avoiding injuries and so on – there’s still a long way to go in that regard.
Updated
‘We’re sceptical’ on supermarket break-up push: Labor
Labor is “sceptical” about breaking up supermarket giants amid warnings proposed powers could push up food prices and harm job security for workers.
As households struggle to pay for groceries, Woolworths and Coles have been accused of price-gouging customers and stifling competitors while undermining suppliers.
The Albanese government has directed the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to review prices and competition in the sector.
It also appointed former Labor minister Craig Emerson to review the effectiveness of the grocery code of conduct, which governs how the supermarkets treat their suppliers.
The assistant competition minister, Andrew Leigh, said the government would wait for the ACCC to hand down its report but previous competition inquiries failed to recommend divestiture. He told ABC RN this morning:
The National Farmers’ Federation have argued against divestiture and the ACTU have made the point that it could potentially hurt workers, so we’re sceptical.
Leigh said the government would not make a decision until it had the ACCC’s report.
– Australian Associated Press
Updated
Queensland’s Ergon Energy Retail has become the second Australian energy company to wrongly receive money from the welfare payments of former customers, prompting fears the issue could be widespread.
(Last week, Guardian Australia revealed that $700,000 had been diverted via the government-run Centrepay debit system from the pockets of more than 500 welfare recipients to the energy giant AGL.)
Read the full story from Christopher Knaus and Lorena Allam here:
Hunt for alleged arsonists who targeted play centre three times
The hunt is on for a gang of alleged arsonists who repeatedly targeted a play centre in Melbourne’s west over the Easter break.
The first attempt happened at about 10pm on Good Friday when a man smashed a window at the Braybrook business, Victoria police said.
Four offenders then allegedly forced their way into the Ashley Street centre and lit a fire at about 2.30am on Saturday.
They took off in a car and were seen driving along on Ballarat Road.
The third alleged attack happened at 3am on Monday, when a group smashed a window and caused significant damage by setting fire to the kitchen.
– Australian Associated Press
Updated
Bruce Lehrmann defamation trial
Network Ten will ask the federal court to reopen its defence on Tuesday at an emergency hearing scheduled less than two days before the judgment in the Bruce Lehrmann defamation case is due to be handed down.
Justice Michael Lee was scheduled to deliver his judgment in the federal court in Sydney on Thursday 4 April in the defamation case Lehrmann brought against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson.
Now Lee will hear Ten’s argument for reopening its case in light of “fresh evidence”, according to the interlocutory application filed on Sunday afternoon.
Read Amanda Meade’s full story here:
Updated
More on the Australian UN observer hurt in blast on Israel and Lebanon border
A Defence spokesperson confirmed an Australian Defence Force member was wounded while deployed on Operation Paladin in Lebanon – “part of Australia’s contribution to the United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation”.
The member was undertaking a routine United Nations patrol to monitor activity near the Israeli-Lebanon border, accompanied by three United Nations military observers and an interpreter, the spokesperson said.
The blast injuries sustained were non-life threatening. They were transported to a health centre at a nearby military base for treatment and have now been released to recover.
Defence is taking the appropriate steps to ensure the safety and welfare of the member.
Labor touts EVs to households as charging sites rise
Fast-charging sites for electric vehicles have risen by about 100 this year, leading to a near doubling of the Australia-wide network since 2022.
According to Electric Vehicle Council data, some 900 fast-charging sites support about 2,100 fast and ultra-fast charging plugs.
Australia also has about 3,000 regular charging stations with 7,000 plugs and sockets.
Outer capital city suburbs are leading the charge on EV purchases, with Rouse Hill and Kellyville topping Sydney sales in 2023. The energy minister, Chris Bowen, said:
More and more families in the outer suburbs are now reaping the benefits of cheaper-to-run cars, taking pressure off the family budget by avoiding thousands of dollars in fuel bills.
The average family spends $5,000 a year on petrol and could save thousands of dollars because EVs are typically $2,000 a year cheaper to run, he added.
As well, EV tax discounts could save buyers up to $11,000 a year on a $50,000 purchase. When eligible, the discount can make base EV models such as the Tesla 3 cheaper to lease per month than petrol-run cars like the Mazda 3 Astina.
– Australian Associated Press
Updated
Good morning
And welcome to a new week on the blog.
An Australian was among three UN observers and one translator injured in an explosion near Lebanon’s border with Israel. UN interim force in Lebanon spokesperson Andrea Tenenti told AFP that two observers were from Australia and Chile, adding that all four wounded were in stable condition. Australia’s defence department said the Australian’s injuries were not life-threatening.
Queensland police are preparing a report for the coroner after two men died in Surfers Paradise last night. The men, aged in their 60s and 30s, drowned after jumping into a hotel pool to save a child, who was successfully pulled from the water, according to an ABC report. Emergency services were called to Orchid Avenue about 7pm. The men were declared dead at the scene. Both deaths are being treated as non-suspicious.
And in positive news, a pilot scheme to replace cardboard produce boxes with reusable plastic crates has been launched in Victoria, with the aim to cut “invisible” cardboard waste. The Victoria Unboxed project, led by food charity Sustain with Sustainable Victoria, has supplied 1,000 reusable plastic crates to transport produce from farms to venues, wholesalers and homes across Melbourne.
If you see anything you don’t want us to miss, shoot it my way on X @At_Raf_
Let’s get this blog rolling.
Updated
