What we learned, Thursday 4 August
And with that, we are going to put this blog to bed. Before we go, let’s recap the big stories:
- Labor’s climate bill passed the lower house of parliament with a vote of 89 to 55.
- The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, has proposed to refuse approval for the billionaire Clive Palmer’s proposal to build a coalmine 10km from the Great Barrier Reef.
- The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has warned about the risk of “miscalculation” as the tension between China and Taiwan continues.
- The Greens have established an inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and children.
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The Senate agreed to close a tax loophole that exempts Australia’s richest companies.
- Australia has secured 450,000 doses of the third generation of monkeypox vaccine, the first 22,000 of which will be arriving within the next fortnight.
- The chief medical officer, Paul Kelly, has said he is ‘increasingly confident’ the current Covid wave has peaked as the nation recorded 85 deaths from the virus.
Thank you for spending part of your day with us, we will be back tomorrow.
Updated
Crossbench supports ending cashless debit card
Nearly all of the crossbench has indicated support for the government’s election commitment, even while flagging concerns about the time available for participants to transition off the card and support for affected communities.
Updated
Flood inquiry recommends Resilience NSW be scrapped – report
The New South Wales agency created to lead the response to, and prepare the state for, natural disasters should be dismantled and its chief commissioner made redundant, an independent inquiry has reportedly recommended, AAP reports.
A key recommendation from the inquiry into devastating flooding in NSW is that Shane Fitzsimmons be stood down and Resilience NSW be scrapped, media have reported.
The premier, Dominic Perrottet, has promised to make the report by former police commissioner Mick Fuller and the chief scientist, Mary O’Kane, public, but is yet to do so.
Resilience NSW was established in 2020 following the Black Summer bushfires to lead the state’s preparedness and response to natural disasters.
Fitzsimmons, who was the 2021 NSW Australian of the Year and former NSW Rural Fire Service commissioner, was appointed head of the agency after rising to prominence during the bushfire disaster.
Resilience NSW was criticised during the inquiry’s community hearings for its failure to provide timely support to flood victims.
Updated
