What we learned today, Friday 14 February
And with that, we are going to put the blog to bed. Before we go, let’s recap the big ones:
The New South Wales government urged commuters to delay non-urgent travel today, amid industrial action.
Out-of-control bushfire beared down on Tasmania’s west coast, with more than 20 blazes raging as weather conditions rapidly change. The blazes put people and homes at high risk but were later downgraded.
Peter Dutton was asked about accusations from the Trump administration that Australian exporters had exploited the tariff exemptions it was granted in 2018 – did Australia break its promise to Trump? The opposition leader said the “short answer is no” and that he doesn’t support the tariffs “at all”.
Education minister, Jason Clare, has also weighed in on those reports of an interaction between Australia and China in the South China Sea. On Sunrise, he was asked about China’s response to the fighter jet incident – that Australia had violated Chinese sovereignty – and said this was wrong.
A nurse at the centre of a video chat showing two NSW hospital workers making anti-Israeli comments was hospitalised on Friday night over welfare concerns, after the recording published on Instagram by an Israeli content creator attracted widespread political condemnation.
A reporter asked Bob Katter and Helen Haines if they had been confused as being teal independents – which Katter laughed off. Haines described the “teal” label as an “invention of the media to try to describe what happened in 2022”.
Former NDIS minister Bill Shorten was conferred as the seventh vice-chancellor of the University of Canberra (UC) in a ceremony at its Bruce campus.
GFG Alliance has been under intense pressure from the South Australian government to pay tens of millions of dollars owed to creditors of the Whyalla steelworks and the government, including $15m to SA Water.
Cyclone Zelia started making its way along the WA coast, to the east of Port Hedland. Authorities were asking those near the cyclone to stay safe and heed warnings.
Thank you for spending part of your day with us. We will be back next week with the blog.
Updated
Australia accused of ‘provoking’ China in South China Sea
China accused Australia of deliberately “provoking” China in the South China Sea this week, and of “invading” and “breaking into” the homes of others, its defence ministry said on Friday, Reuters reports.
The ministry spokesperson said Australia was spreading “false narratives”.
Australia on Thursday raised concerns with China over what it said were “unsafe and unprofessional” actions by a Chinese fighter jet towards an Australian maritime patrol in the South China Sea earlier in the week, an account disputed by Beijing.
Updated
