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
