What we learned, 22 September 2024
With that we’re wrapping up the blog. Before we go, here are the major stories from today:
Anthony Albanese has declared that the Quad grouping will endure in his opening address at the international summit in Delaware.
Health minister Mark Butler has flagged the prosecution of illegal vape sellers who seek to defy a government ban.
Federal treasurer Jim Chalmers says inflation has “roughly” halved since Labor took office.
Albanese met Indian prime minister Narendra Modi on the Quad summit sidelines.
Joe Biden has been caught on hot mic telling Albanese and other Quad leaders that China is “testing us”.
Thank you for staying with us, we’ll pick things up again tomorrow.
Updated
Homes go on the block
Auction activity has increased this weekend, with 2,697 auctions.
This is growth on the 2,457 held last week and a modest gain on the 2,648 auctions that occurred at the same time last year.
Based on results collected so far, CoreLogic’s summary found that the preliminary clearance rate was 68.2% across the country, which is a small jump on the 66.1% preliminary rate recorded last week but well above the 62.5% actual rate on final numbers.
Across the capital cities:
Sydney: 713 of 995 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 70.3%
Melbourne: 925 of 1,274 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 68.3%
Brisbane: 95 0f 134 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 56.8%
Adelaide: 114 of 206 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 74.6%
Canberra: 37 of 71 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 48.6%
Tasmania: One auction
Perth: Seven of 16 auctions
Updated
RBA weighs interest rates
Mortgage-holders should not expect the Reserve Bank of Australia to follow the US central bank in slashing interest rates just yet.
Australia’s central bank has kept interest rates at 4.35% since late 2023, a level intended to squeeze borrowers to slow inflation.
Board members will meet over two days starting tomorrow, with the decision and press conference with governor Michele Bullock delivered on Tuesday afternoon.
Posturing since the last meeting suggests the RBA won’t be following the Federal Reserve’s lead, which delivered a 50 basis point rate cut last week.
The RBA maintains Australia is in a different position than many of its peers, with progress on inflation slow. It has also pushed back on the prospect of near-term interest rate cuts and maintains that another hike remains on the table.
The day after the cash rate meeting, the RBA will have fresh inflation data to chew on.
Wednesday’s monthly update from the Australian Bureau of Statistics may show the consumer price index falling 0.2% in August, Westpac predicts.
Helped lower by government energy rebates, the bank’s economists expect an annual rate of 2.7%, down from 3.5% in July.
That would have headline inflation back within the RBA’s 2% to 3% target range.
Yet the central bank has already indicated it plans to look through the temporary cost-of-living help and focus on underlying price pressures.
Other major datasets scheduled from the bureau include job vacancies and household wealth numbers, both due on Thursday.
A deep look into global and domestic financial stability is due from the RBA on Friday.
– AAP
Updated
NSW bus driver shortage sparks recruitment drive
Nathalie Gache spent more than three decades working in fashion and textiles but when her company moved offshore she decided to have a go behind the wheel at her local bus depot:
I was put in a bus and did a trial around the suburb. And when I got back into the office, I was so pumped, I said, ‘Where do I sign?’
Gache is now five months into a career she’ll stay in “as long as the universe grants”, relishing the chance to show hundreds of people the best views in Sydney every day – all while controlling a vehicle that weighs as much as a small whale:
I felt really empowered that I had moved up to … driving something as big as a bus. To take other people’s lives in your own hands as well, and to make sure that they all go home safe … It’s a very enjoyable job.
Gache has joined hundreds of new recruits to the NSW bus workforce, as the government and service operators struggle to overcome a shortage of drivers after a wave of pandemic-era retirements.
Sydney alone had almost 300 vacant driver jobs in April, forcing thousands of services to be cancelled each week. The workforce has stretched to cover replacement buses for impending metro-related train shutdowns but hundreds of positions remain open.
For more on this story, read the full report by Guardian Australia’s Luca Ittimani:
Updated
Weather early warning system aims to prevent deaths
An early warning system for lethal heatwaves will be able to predict excess deaths months ahead of time, allowing authorities to properly plan for devastating events.
That’s according to climate scientists developing the technology, which uses machine learning to develop predictions using high-level climate and mortality data.
University of NSW Prof Katrin Meissner, Oxford University Prof Louise Slater and Australian National University Prof Nerilie Abram are building the warning system. Meissner said:
This project seeks to produce the first global forecasts of excess mortality associated with lethal humidity weeks – and even months – ahead of time.
The aim is to create a public portal anyone, anywhere in the world will be able to use:
The advantages are clear, we can plan accordingly for these increasingly devastating events but we can no longer say we had no idea they were coming.
It’s among 10 new projects sharing in $6m of funding from the Minderoo Foundation, founded by Andrew Forrest of mining company Fortescue Metals Group and Nicola Forrest.
– AAP
Updated
Cards Against Humanity takes on Space X
The maker of the popular party game Cards Against Humanity is accusing Elon Musk’s SpaceX of trespassing on and damaging a plot of vacant land the company owns in Texas.
In a lawsuit filed this week at a Texas court, Cards Against Humanity alleges that SpaceX has essentially treated the game company’s Cameron county property as its own for at least the past six months.
The lawsuit said SpaceX, which had previously acquired other plots of land near the property, has placed construction materials such as gravel and other debris on the land without permission.
SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Cards Against Humanity, which is headquartered in Chicago, had bought the plot in 2017 as part of what it said was a stunt to oppose former president Donald Trump’s efforts to build a border wall.
The company said 150,000 people had each contributed US$15 towards the effort.
Over the years, Cards Against Humanity says the land has been maintained in its natural state. It also says a “no trespassing” sign warns visitors they are about to step on private property.
The company is asking for US$15m (A$22m) in damages, which it says includes a loss of vegetation on the land.
– AAP
Updated
Universities’ casual staff ‘constantly sold out’
Lucy Nicolls is used to disappointment. She has been casually employed by the University of Sydney for eight years, despite repeatedly trying to get a contract.
So when the federal government’s casual employment changes came into effect last month she wasn’t holding out hope for immediate change.
Nor did she expect that some universities would respond to the legislation by halting casual hiring, firing employees or briefing managers on how to get around the industrial relations reforms and reducing courses:
We’ve been made a lot of promises and none of them have come to fruition. At this point casuals are demoralised – we’re consistently sold out.
We want permanency, we want to be able to plan our lives, but instead we’re in a situation of constant precarity. It’s exhausting.
The closing loopholes bill made a number of changes to casual employment, designed to make it easier for Australia’s 2.5 million casual workers to convert to a permanent role.
But experts are warning that the casual employment changes, which came into effect on 26 August, are having the opposite effect at universities, where up to 75% of academic staff are on insecure employment contracts.
For more on this story, read the full feature story by Guardian Australia’s education reporter Caitlin Cassidy:
Updated
Refugees and supporters rally outside Tony Burke’s office
A protest has been held outside the office of the home affairs minister, Tony Burke, office over the Australian government’s handling of refugee and asylum seeker cases.
The protest has been staged by Refugees in Limbo, a refugee-led group campaigning for a pathway to permanency from the Australian government. The protests began in August, with a camp outside Burke’s office for 15 days.
Organisers of the rally have been livestreaming speeches addressed to a sizeable crowd of hundreds of people calling for the cases of the approximately 8,500 people on temporary protection visas after a decade to be resolved.
Updated
Instagram’s new teen accounts don’t negate need for social media ban, Rowland says
Plans by Meta to impose restrictions on teenage Instagram users do not negate the need for a social media ban for young people, the communications minister says.
The federal government has outlined plans to introduce laws by the end of the year to ban young people from social media, citing mental health and safety concerns.
While an exact age has not been determined, age verification trials are under way to determine how moves to bar young people from social media platforms could be enforced.
Meta has announced teenage Instagram users will face enhanced restrictions, giving parents more control and limiting sensitive content.
Michelle Rowland said despite the moves, a broader crackdown was needed:
Despite the fact that Meta has made this announcement, that doesn’t obviate the need for us to take action in this space.
While social media has many benefits, enables a lot of young people to connect where they otherwise might have been isolated, it comes with those harms.
Rowland said work was ongoing to determine what age would be the limit given:
There is a marked difference between age assurance as it applies to younger ages as opposed to higher ages.
It can also vary depending on ethnicity and also gender … there’s no off-the-shelf solution for this, which is why we’ve been very deliberate in making sure that we are looking at a range of ages and reaching one that is appropriate for the circumstances.
– AAP
Updated
LNP promises to build controversial ‘special schools’ to curb youth crime
Queensland’s opposition leader, David Crisafulli, has promised to spend $40m to build four “special assistance schools” targeting kids at risk of crime.
He visited the existing privately run Men of Business school on the Gold Coast to make the announcement. It will be the first beneficiary of the scheme, he said.
Shadow minister Laura Gerber said the school was “turning the lives of young men around, keeping them on the right track and preventing them from going down a life of crime”.
The disability royal commission last year recommended completely phasing out so-called “special schools” to reduce segregation in education.
Crisafulli said the Men of Business school “works”:
I believe in these goals. I really do. I remember the first time I came here and hearing that many of those young men had never sat at the table and had a meal served to them or served a meal to others.
That to me, that’s a big deal, like that’s, that’s the centre of, that’s the centre of the nucleus of a family, right? And they get they’re getting that, and the results show that the percentage of kids who are turned around and go on to become dads and tradesmen. It works.
If elected, the LNP would also build two “youth justice” schools for children on court orders, Crisafulli has previously said.
Updated
Biden caught on hot mic telling Albanese and other Quad leaders China is 'testing us'
Joe Biden has been caught in a hot-mic moment, saying that he believes China is seeking to “test” the US across the Asia-Pacific.
The US president was meeting Anthony Albanese and their Japanese and Indian counterparts at the Quad summit in Delaware when he made the comments after opening remarks had just been delivered:
China continues to behave aggressively, testing us all across the region, and it’s true in the South China Sea, the East China Sea, South China, South Asia and the Taiwan straits.
At least from our perspective, we believe Xi Jinping is looking to focus on domestic economic challenges and minimise the turbulence in China’s diplomatic relationships, and he’s also looking to buy himself some diplomatic space, in my view, to aggressively pursue China’s interest.
Biden said he sees Beijing’s actions as a “change in tactic, not a change in strategy”.
China is facing domestic economic challenges as it grapples with the fallout from the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. It is facing a slowdown in industrial activity and real estate prices even as Beijing is seeking to encourage spending to stimulate demand.
The leaders issued a joint declaration after their talks expressing “serious concern about the militarisation … and coercive and intimidating maneuvers in the South China Sea”.
– Associated Press
Updated
Chalmers says Beijing trip aimed at stabilising ‘really important economic relationship’
The first visit by a federal treasurer to China in seven years will help to stabilise ties with Australia’s largest trading partner, Jim Chalmers says.
Chalmers is set to meet with top Chinese economic officials during his visit to Beijing on Thursday and Friday.
The meeting comes as diplomatic relations between the two countries have thawed and economic sanctions on several Australian goods such as wine and barley have eased.
The upcoming visit will be the first time an Australian treasurer has visited China since Scott Morrison in 2017.
Chalmers said the trip would aim for a firmer relationship between the two countries.
This is part of our effort to stabilise a really important economic relationship.
This is a relationship full of complexity but full of opportunity as well, and we believe that you get more out of this relationship when you engage as we have been.
The treasurer will hold talks during the two-day visit with officials from China’s National Development and Reform Commission.
Australia’s strategic economic dialogue with China is expected to be the main focus of the discussions.
I’ll be meeting with a number of my counterparts in order to compare notes on the economy, to work through any issues that we might have between our two economies.
A more stable relationship, and particularly a more stable economic relationship between Australia and China is a good thing for our workers and our businesses and our investors and for our country more broadly.
– AAP
Updated
The Indian PM, Narendra Modi, has responded in kind, posting photos from his meeting with Anthony Albanese.
Held extensive discussions with PM Albanese. We seek to add even more momentum in areas like trade, security, space and culture. India greatly cherishes the time tested friendship with Australia. @AlboMP pic.twitter.com/Bo4kzd8QwY
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 22, 2024
Separate footage of the meeting posted to social media offer a glimpse of Kevin Rudd, Australia’s ambassador to the US.
Global Leader PM Narendra Modi JI pic.twitter.com/lCFqEg4kOR
— Kuldeep Nehra (@iKuldeepNehra) September 22, 2024
Updated
Albanese meets with Modi on Quad summit sidelines
Anthony Albanese has published a photo to social media showing him with the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, on the sidelines of the Quad summit in Delaware.
Great to talk with Prime Minister @narendramodi today at the Quad Leaders Summit about ways to strengthen our partnership. pic.twitter.com/ttdtSDliUf
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) September 22, 2024
Earlier on Sunday the PM said he was still working to meet with his Indian counterpart, though it was unclear whether the pair had managed to arrange the time.
Albanese has previously said he planned to question Modi about the operation of Indian intelligence agencies on Australian soil.
Updated
Nuclear policy costings will come before election, Coalition says
The shadow environment minister, Jonathon Duniam, has sought to water down expectations that Peter Dutton will lay out the costs of his nuclear plan in a speech planned for Monday.
Speaking to Sky News on Sunday, Duniam accused the government of running a scare campaign:
We’ll release the costings well and truly before the election, and Australians deserve to know, and we will have that data out there.
We’ll continue to mount the case for having this as a choice in the energy mix at the right time … we won’t be goaded into [releasing costings] on the government’s timing.
The speech comes as a report released on Friday showed a typical household electricity bill could rise by $665 a year on average if nuclear power were added to the energy grid.
– AAP
Updated
Coalition nuclear plans labelled ‘economic insanity’
Peter Dutton’s plans to build seven nuclear power plants are “economic insanity”, Jim Chalmers has said on the eve of a speech by the opposition leader unveiling details behind the policy.
The Coalition has floated a plan to build seven nuclear reactors across five states, should it win the next election, with the first to be built by 2035 to 2037 at the earliest.
The proposed reactors would be built in areas with existing coal-fired power stations, including the Hunter Valley and Lithgow in NSW, Victoria’s Latrobe Valley, Collie in Western Australia and Port Augusta in South Australia.
Dutton is expected to provide more information about the proposal in a major speech to the Committee for Economic Development of Australia tomorrow. The treasurer said the Coalition’s plan would not solve energy issues:
Peter Dutton’s nuclear fantasy is economic insanity. It costs more, it will push power prices up, it will take longer.
He needs to come clean tomorrow in this speech: what will it cost, what will it mean for power bills, how will he pay for it, and what will Australia do for the decades it will take to build these reactors.
– AAP
Updated
Free shingles vaccine expanded for all immunocompromised adults
Immunocompromised Australians will have free access to the shingles vaccine in an expansion of the immunisation program.
The free vaccine program will now be made available to anyone over 18 who is immunocompromised due to health conditions or a side-effect of treatment.
The program was previously available only to immunocompromised people at high risk, along with people over 65 and Indigenous Australians over 50.
It’s estimated that more than 200,000 people will now have access to the free vaccine.
The health minister, Mark Butler, told ABC Insiders the federal government would spend more than $57m expanding the vaccine program.
ANNOUNCED: Immunocompromised Australians with underlying health conditions will now have free access to the shingles vaccination, helping hundreds of thousands of Australians.
— Mark Butler MP (@Mark_Butler_MP) September 22, 2024
Griffith University’s Prof Paul van Buynder said the expanded access scheme would make a difference, particularly as people with compromised immune systems are two times more at risk of developing shingles than those without:
The shingles vaccine can help minimise the impact of this potentially debilitating disease and its complications, like post-herpetic neuralgia. Those with immunocompromised conditions should speak with their doctor or specialist for further information about their eligibility for the [national immunisation program] funded shingles vaccine, and whether it is appropriate for them.
Dr Alan Paul, executive country medical director at GSK Australia, the company that manufactures the vaccine, said the decision “is evidence that the government is committed to providing more protection for those Australian adults considered at increased risk”:
Vaccination is recognised as one of the most cost-effective public health interventions that delivers benefits in the immediate term and into the future.
– with AAP
Updated
Crossbenchers urge PM to ditch Howard-era native forest logging exemptions
Independent MPs and a crossbench senator are trying to increase the pressure on Anthony Albanese to remove Howard-era exemptions that allow native forest logging to operate outside national environment laws.
The government has been negotiating changes to the laws in the Senate, where Greens and crossbenchers David Pocock and Lidia Thorpe have been pushing for an end to the exemptions for logging covered by regional forest agreements.
The independent MP for Mackellar in NSW, Dr Sophie Scamps, wrote to Albanese on Thursday urging him to remove the exemptions, saying without that step it would be “difficult to credibly say that your government has kept your promise” to fix broken environment laws.
Co-signatories to the letter, seen by Guardian Australia, were Allegra Spender, Zali Steggall, Zoe Daniel, Monique Ryan, Kylea Tink, Kate Chaney and Thorpe.
Two years ago the environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, said it was “time to change” laws that did not protect the environment and said legislation could be introduced in 2023.
For more on this story, read the exclusive report from Guardian Australia’s Graham Readfearn:
Updated
Still no decision on gambling ad ban, Rowland says
The communications minister, Michelle Rowland, also spoke to Sky about the government’s proposed partial gambling ad ban:
We want to protect children. We want to break the nexus between wagering and sport and we want to deal with the saturation of ads, particularly as that impacts on young men, aged around 18 to 35. So we’re looking at a range of issues with no decisions having been made yet, but I should be very clear … We want people to be excited about the game, not about the odds and for some people, this is a matter that should have been dealt with a decade ago.
And in that time we’ve seen an over-reliance on wagering advertising develop. And whilst around three-quarters of overall gambling losses in Australia actually come from land-based gaming, so that’s poker machines, lotteries and casinos, we know that that online sports wagering section is growing and we need to deal with it.
Asked if she had concerns about the future of free-to-air television, she said:
Well, as communications minister part of my remit is to ensure the sustainability of broadcasting, that includes free-to-air but also subscription broadcasting … and I think it is incumbent on governments to understand the impact of government decisions.
Until someone invents a stable free ubiquitous platform that can either compete with or replace free-to-air broadcasting, I think we need to appreciate that this has a special place, it has a special place particularly in regional areas and especially for people who may be in lower socioeconomic circumstances. So broadcasting remains important. I can tell you, Andrew, I have had people say to me, why is the government concerned about a sector that, in their words, is dying?
I refuse to accept that. Broadcasting is important. The ecosystem in which this subscription broadcast operates is important. And as a government, we need to be methodical and we need to be evidence-based when it comes to responding to this challenge that we have. But we also need to be effective, and that is exactly the balance we’re aiming to achieve.
Updated
Inflation has 'roughly' halved since Labor took office, Chalmers says
The treasurer has spoken to Sky News in the lead-up to this week’s release of monthly inflation figures.
Jim Chalmers said although the monthly figures were “pretty volatile and unpredictable”, the data was expected to show inflation “has come off quite substantially”. With inflation either in the high 2% to low 3% range, it is “roughly half” the rate of inflation Labor inherited when it was elected in May 2022.
Chalmers said the fight against inflation was “broadly on the right track”. He refused to criticise the Reserve Bank for statements about the economy running too hot. The challenge for both monetary and fiscal policy was to “get on top of inflation without ignoring the risks to growth”:
We’ve got slightly different responsibilities. And from time to time we will have slightly different perspectives but overall we’re on the same page.
He revealed that the final budget outcome for 2023-24, which was projected in May to be $9.3bn, would come in as a surplus in the “mid teens”. But net overseas migration will come in higher than expected because arrivals are reducing but departures are lower than expected.
Updated
Albanese confident in Quad’s future amid US leadership cloud and tensions with India
Speaking to reporters after the Quad summit, Anthony Albanese stressed the importance of the grouping and reinforced that it will endure despite leadership changes that may occur after Joe Biden leaves the US presidency.
I’m absolutely confident. And the fact that we have gathered here in Delaware – President Biden’s home state – is an indication of that. All four nations are committed to the Quad playing an important role.
The grouping’s future was an open question going into the summit, in addition to the effects of diplomatic manoeuvring on the sidelines.
One question concerned the status of Australia’s relationship with India. Albanese had yet to meet privately with India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi. When asked, Albanese brushed off concerns there may be an issue, saying he had secured a “quick discussion” and the length of the meeting was “a matter of logistics”.
It was flagged before the Quad meeting that Albanese would raise concerns about the presence of an Indian spy cell in Australia. The existence of the “nest of spies” was revealed in 2020 after members were caught trying to steal secrets about sensitive defence projects.
Asked whether Australian personnel may find themselves serving on coastguard vessels in the South China Sea as part of the proposed observer program – a situation that could put them in harm’s way – the prime minister said “those details will be worked out”.
Updated
Maritime and health partnerships announced at Quad summit
The Quad meeting has wrapped with the grouping expanding its focus of operations.
Anthony Albanese met the US president, Joe Biden, and the prime ministers of India and Japan, Narendra Modi and Fumio Kishida, to explore ways of deepening their cooperation.
Among the initiatives announced were:
A plan to reduce the number of cancer deaths in the Indo-Pacific, with public health measures including increased HPV vaccinations to fight cervical cancer.
The expansion of the Quad Indo-Pacific Partnership for maritime domain awareness to build existing capabilities and increase training to counter illicit maritime activities.
An effort to build the ability for humanitarian assistance to be airlifted where needed to better respond to natural disasters in the Indo-Pacific.
A coastguard cooperation agreement to create an observer program that would allow coastguard personnel to serve on vessels from Quad member companies.
Updated
One in 20 Australian adults have experienced reproductive coercion and abuse
For the first time, researchers in Australia have estimated the national prevalence of behaviour used to control a person’s reproductive autonomy.
Reproductive coercion and abuse can include interference with contraception by a partner, forced contraception or sterilisation, and control of pregnancy outcomes by forced abortion or forced pregnancy.
Questions about these experiences were added to the country’s largest and most comprehensive study of sexual and reproductive health, conducted once a decade.
For more on this story, read the full report by Guardian Australia’s Natasha May:
Updated
Health minister wants prosecutions for illegal vape sellers ‘pretty soon’
Just circling back to the conversation with the federal health minister, Mark Butler, who was asked whether stores that will continue to sell vapes despite a ban will face prosecution:
It’s quite clear that some convenience and tobacconist stores are breaking the law … we are going to have to switch to a far more assertive approach. There are very serious penalties in the federal laws now, up to seven years in prison and fines of $2m. And pretty soon I want to see prosecutions starting to be prepared by authorities.
Updated
Mark Butler says the demand for mental health care has been growing over the last two decades and the government “wants to go upstream and look at some of the impacts that social media and other things like that are having” on young people which are considered to be the source of this demand.
And that’s a wrap.
Updated
National GP shortage showing possible ‘green shoots of recovery’, Butler says
Butler says he is “desperately worried” about a shortage of GPs working within the Australian health system:
One in two medical graduates would choose general practice, and it is now one in seven.
The minister says 20% more medical students chose general practice in 2024 than last year:
So there may be some green shoots of recovery.
He says the government has been plugging the gaps by bringing health professionals from overseas but cabinet has also directed all health ministers to come up with a “GP attraction strategy” to sure up the “backbone of our healthcare system”.
Updated
Health minister flags prosecution of illegal vape sellers under ‘far more assertive’ enforcement
Mark Butler is asked whether a ban on vapes is having the effect he intended. The minister says the government has already “seized 5m vapes at the border”, on top of the 1 July retail ban:
We’ve taken the approach in the first few months to try to get businesses to surrender their vapes, and many have done that to the TGA. We’ve been conducting inspections in conjunction with state authorities to hundreds of premises to inform them of the new laws and warn them of the consequences in the longer term, but we have to switch to a far more assertive approach.
Butler cites the federal penalties of “up to seven years in prison and fines of more than $2m”, and says he wants “to see prosecutions start being prepared by authorities”.
Updated
Labor open to expanding access to IVF, minister says
Mark Butler says the government is open to recommendations in a new report that would expand access to procedures that would help families, including LGBTQ+ couples who may be discriminated against under existing rules, to conceive children, but would not be drawn about what action the government may take:
As I said, my starting position is that … if we can give more families the joy of having children, that’s a great place to start, but we will work through these recommendations carefully, as I imagine your viewers would expect me to.
Updated
‘No plans’ to require hospitals to provide abortion services
Mark Butler says the government wants women “right across Australia, particularly in regional communities to have equitable and safe access to all health services, including termination services”.
He was asked whether the federal government will make it a requirement for public hospitals to provide access to abortion as part their funding arrangements. Asked again, specifically, whether the government would seek to do this, he responded:
We have no plans to do that.
The minister said state and territory ministers “are accountable to their electorates for the way they run hospital systems”.
Updated
Senate report on women’s healthcare tells ‘shameful story’, Butler says
Mark Butler is now asked about a Senate inquiry report that found women going through menopause have been let down by a system where doctors are not properly trained to advise them.
In particular, it found that trainee doctors only receive one hour training on menopause – a finding which the federal health minister calls “shocking”:
This is one of two really important inquiry Senate reports the Senate has delivered to us around women’s health, and together they tell a pretty shameful story about women not being taken seriously in the health system about their symptoms.
Butler says the government has made “some modest investment” in the last budget to “lift the capability of GPs to women in perimenopause and menopause” but adds that “there is much more to do in this area”:
I’m working with the minister for women, Katy Gallagher – Ged Kearney is leading work with the women’s health sector to examine these reports and look at what we can do frankly to better support women.
Updated
Wider access for shingles jab
Asked what he would say to doctors who are being asked to “gate keep” access to saline, Mark Butler says the government is “working to remedy this situation” and that health professionals need to be “judicious” as the situation stabilises.
Separately, Butler has announced wider access for the shingles vaccine.
Updated
Shoring up saline bag supply part of ‘broader question about sovereign capability’
Mark Butler says the government has only been able to secure “a few million more bags than normal” over the next six months but says “we will have more than we need”:
We are looking at longer term security of supply as well. For example, our major manufacturer here in Australia will opening an additional production line in coming weeks.
I’ve been down to have a look at that over the last few weeks as well but we need to think in the more medium to long term about how we can avoid getting into this position again, and it is part of a broader question about our sovereign capability in the area of medicines and medical technology.
Updated
Health system will have ‘more than enough’ saline bags amid supply shortage, Mark Butler says
The federal health minister, Mark Butler, has sought to reassure Australians that the health system will have “more than enough” saline bags, even as hospitals are still being advised to be cautious while the problems are worked out:
It snuck under the radar of state healthcare systems, whether it was state governments or hospitals, because there would always be a surplus of saline bags.
When there became a supply interruption, there was no obligation to notify of that shortage which there is for medicines, for example, so we are now treating IV fluid as a medicine, but also not much coordination between different parts of the system.
Butler added that some state governments were doing better than others, who were coming up short:
That’s why we’ve pooled all the jurisdictions together, private hospital operators, primary care part of the system through the [Australian Medical Association] to make sure that very regularly we have a much better line of sight, frankly, than the system did have before.
Updated
'A stronger Quad means a stronger Australia,' Albanese says in summit address
Anthony Albanese has used his opening address at the Quad summit in Delaware in the US to reaffirm Australia’s commitment to the regional grouping, describing it as a “key instrument to promote stability in our region” and saying that “a stronger Quad means a stronger Australia”:
Together, our four nations are committed to an open, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific, and we have a shared vision for a region that is governed by accepted rules and norms where all countries can cooperate, trade, and thrive.
The prime minister – who was introduced by US president Joe Biden as “Anthony” – said cooperation would “ensure that in our region, all nations – big and small – have their sovereignty respected and can secure their own future”:
That means delivering a transparent, positive and practical agenda that addresses regional economic and development challenges.
It means driving opportunity for our people and shared prosperity for our region.
The summit, which has now concluded, covered topics ranging from climate change and public health to regional security cooperation.
The PM also sounded a cautious note, stressing that “dialogue” was essential to regional security:
Partnerships like Quad are crucial, providing us with an avenue to discuss shared responsibilities and goals, and strengthening the enduring relationships necessary for lasting stability.
Updated
The federal health minister, Mark Butler, will speak to ABC Insiders host David Speers this morning.
Coming up on #ABCInsiders with David Speers:
— ABC News (@abcnews) September 21, 2024
• Minister for Health Mark Butler interviewed🔎
• 📸Dan Ilic
• 🛋️ Sam Maiden, David Crowe and Shalailah Medhora
See you at 9am #auspol pic.twitter.com/J1kJpkdpBr
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has also done the rounds, speaking to Sky News before this week’s release of monthly inflation figures. Other Sky appearances included the communications minister, Michelle Rowland, and the shadow environment minister, Jonathon Duniam.
We will bring you all the latest as it happens.
Updated
Good morning
And welcome to another Sunday morning Guardian live blog.
Anthony Albanese is in Delaware this morning for the Quad summit, meeting leaders from the US, Japan and India. The meeting was the fourth time the body has met, with leaders discussing international cooperation on regional security, public health and climate.
The prime minister spoke to reporters this morning to announce a series of initiatives among members of the Quad to improve monitoring of maritime waters and a program to allow Australian personnel to serve onboard coastguard ships of other nations.
I’m Royce Kurmelovs and I’ll be taking the blog through the day.
With that, let’s get started …
Updated
