What we learned today, Tuesday 12 December
We will wrap up the blog here this Tuesday evening. Here’s what made the news today:
Queensland’s next premier will be Steven Miles after his opponent for the leadership, Shannon Fentiman, conceded she doesn’t have the numbers.
China has lifted suspensions off three Australian abattoirs in a further easing of punitive trade sanctions imposed on the nation’s exports
Federal Labor frontbencher Ed Husic has described Israel’s military action in Gaza as “very disproportionate”, declaring that children “are not Hamas” and should not bear such a heavy impact from the war.
The ABC’s primetime panel show The Drum has been axed after more than a decade on air due to dwindling ratings.
A Melbourne real estate agency has emailed tenants to say that “eviction season” has arrived, warning them that agents will have the “difficult” and “unfortunate job” of removing them if they miss payments due to Christmas spending.
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has criticising the government for its newly announced migration plan, arguing that migration numbers will actually go up under the plan.
Commuters from regional Victoria are set to face significant delays getting to Melbourne as V/Line workers press ahead with a strike.
Thanks very much for you company today. See you bright and early tomorrow.
Updated
The West Australian government will give politicians more power to direct the state’s independent environmental protection authority in a bid to “slash green tape”, AAP reports.
The EPA’s board will also be expanded to include more skills-based members in a major overhaul of WA’s environmental protection laws designed to unlock billions of dollars of investment for major job-creating projects.
Premier Roger Cook said the current approvals system is strained and failing amid a significant increase in the number of projects applying for environmental approval:
Our economy is growing, and our success in attracting major projects. Delays and uncertainty are putting a handbrake on investment and jobs.
