The Latest Breaking News from Mark Butler

100,000 patients eligible for heart drug under PBS

More patients can soon access a chronic heart failure medicine under the PBS which is set to save them hundreds of dollars per year.

AAP · Oct 27, 2023

Australia’s life-saving bone marrow registry needs $13m. Why is red tape holding it up?

The money is there to increase the number of donors to help patients with leukaemia and blood cancers but governments won’t agree to release it, MPs say

The Guardian - AU · Oct 21, 2023

Bridget Archer says Dutton appears to be ‘weaponising’ child abuse for ‘political advantage’

The Liberal backbencher says Peter Dutton’s call for a royal commission into child sexual abuse in Indigenous communities is divisive and inconsistent

The Guardian - AU · Oct 19, 2023

View from The Hill: We can't prepare for a future pandemic without fully looking at state governments' decisions in the last one

Nearly a year ago, a privately financed inquiry, led by Peter Shergold, a former head of the prime minister’s department, finished a review of Australia’s handling of the COVID pandemic.

The Conversation · Sep 22, 2023

Lockdowns, border closures exempt in pandemic inquiry

Experts will look into Australia's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but decisions taken by the states on lockdowns or border closures will be exempt.

AAP · Sep 21, 2023

Commissioner demands release of UN report – as it happened

This blog is now closed

The Guardian - AU · Sep 20, 2023

Vape stores opening near Australian schools to ‘recruit new generation to nicotine’, Mark Butler says

Companies skirting regulations by labelling e-cigarettes as ‘nicotine-free’ despite them containing the drug

The Guardian - AU · Sep 19, 2023

Number of vapes seized in NSW increases by 500% in three years as state clamps down on ‘alarming trend’

Exclusive: More than 182,000 vapes were seized by NSW Health last year and the number of inspections more than doubled

The Guardian - AU · Sep 13, 2023

Jim Chalmers accuses Peter Dutton of being ‘chief propagandist’ of no campaign amid heated voice referendum debate – as it happened

This blog is now closed.

The Guardian - AU · Sep 12, 2023

Facility accused of exorcisms and gay conversion practices applied for funding a month after Morrison announced it

Freedom of information documents show officials scrambling for information after then PM announced $4m for Esther Foundation

The Guardian - AU · Sep 5, 2023