Australia news live: arrival of H5N1 bird flu a ‘genuine wildlife emergency’, experts say; fuel excise rebate extended at reduced rate | Australia news
Rob Harcourt is heading back from a “beautiful surf” at Bondi on a warm and sunny winter’s morning in Sydney.
But for him and many of his surfing mates, the compelling pull of the city’s world famous surf breaks has been neutered by tragedy, fear and uncertainty.
“A lot of my surfer friends are not going in,” says Harcourt, who, at 65, mixes his retirement and daily swims and surfs with ongoing research as an emeritus professor and the leader of Macquarie University’s marine predator research group. “A lot of people are very nervous – they’re traumatised.”
Australia should not ‘hold a gun to the head’ of Pacific nations over aid funding, O’Brien says
Ted O’Brien distanced himself from Pauline Hanson’s suggestion that Australia shouldn’t give aid to Pacific countries that also take aid from China.
He said it was a legitimate concern, but her solution was “completely wrong” for the Pacific and not in Australia’s national interest.
The idea that you effectively hold a gun to the head of our Pacific neighbours – that’s that’s not what a friend does, that’s not a way of building trust, you don’t basically create an ultimatum.
You certainly don’t say it’s all about who you’re going to get money from. The relationship that we have with the Pacific islands is far deeper than then development money.
And if you were to narrow the debate to just that, well, you got to be careful who you’re wanting to go into a bidding war with. You go into a bidding war with someone with deeper pockets, well, you’re going to lose that.
Ted O’Brien. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP
Tolls on strait of Hormuz would ‘set a dangerous precedent’, Ted O’Brien says
The shadow foreign affairs spokesperson, Ted O’Brien, said Australia should be concerned about the risk of an ongoing toll for the strait of Hormuz, following a 60-day memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran.
Speaking on the ABC Insiders program, he said:
From Australia’s perspective, I think that’s the main thing that we should be concerned about, because that has a direct impact on the prices we pay here in Australia.
A permanent toll would be bad in practice, wrong in principle, and set a dangerous precedent for how otherwise waterways should be managed internationally.
Iran has said it would again close the strait after waves of Israeli strikes in Lebanon, a move that threatens to derail the fragile interim peace deal.
Read more here:
Tom McIlroy
Albanese backs Keir Starmer, says ‘stability is a good thing’
Anthony Albanese has urged support for his friend, the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, warning voters want stability and not political chaos.
Asked about the expected leadership challenge by newly elected Labour MP Andy Burnham, Albanese says he will work with whoever is elected to be prime minister. Burham is expected to oust Starmer from 10 Downing Street within days.
But I must say that the history of just changing leaders is not a positive one.
I’ve dealt with already four British prime ministers since I’ve been elected as prime minister, and so I think stability is a good thing, and I’m on my fourth Liberal party leader as well.
A lot of chaos has occurred in global politics, one of the things that my government has provided is stability and order and getting things done.
Keir Starmer (left) with Anthony Albanese in September. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA
Shadow minister for foreign affairs Ted O’Brien said the Albanese government’s decision to taper down the fuel tax excise cut was a “practical step”.
On the ABC Insiders program, he said:
I think it’s a practical step. It’s good insurance.
I’m glad it hasn’t been set for too much longer.
I think the real test for them is whether or not they find budget offsets to pay for it.
Prime minister hits back at Hanson, says One Nation ‘pretends that they stand for battlers’
Tom McIlroy
Anthony Albanese says the government’s changes to capital gains tax and negative gearing rules will help improve access to the housing market for first home buyers, dismissing criticism from Pauline Hanson.
Hanson’s One Nation has raised millions of dollars from its “Fire the Liar” campaign, labelling the prime minister as dishonest based on the broken promise over tax rules for property investments.
He told Sky:
The fact is that One Nation pretends that they stand for battlers whilst getting planes given to them by Australia’s richest person, while receiving donations from some of the very wealthiest people.
They want it to be easier to sack people. They oppose increases in the minimum wage, they oppose our support for childcare, they’ve opposed our support and expansion and strengthening of Medicare. They’ve opposed free Tafe to give Australians the skills that they need.
You can’t say we want to stop migration, but not want to upskill Australians to give Australians the skills to fill the jobs, so that industry can continue to thrive.
Albanese government extends fuel excise cut, at a reduced rate
Adeshola Ore
The Albanese government will taper its temporary fuel relief, with the 32 cents a litre fuel excise cut in place for the past three months reduced to a 16 cents discount next month.
It will come into effect on 1 July and run until 2 August. The government will also reduce the vehicle road user charge by 16 cents a litre for the same period to assist truck drivers.
This week, the prime minister signalled the government was open to extending the three-month cost-of-living relief which was due to end on 30 June.He warned it would take “many months” for the global oil market to return to normal despite the US-Iran peace deal. Overnight Iran said it would be closing the strait of Hormuz again over Israeli strikes in Lebanon.
In a statement on Saturday evening, Anthony Albanese said:
Today’s decision recognises that despite the welcome and substantial drop in the price of petrol recently, we know people are still under pressure.
The 16 cents a litre extension to the fuel tax cut that we’ve announced today will reduce the cost of a 65L tank of fuel by around $11.
The 32c/L fuel excise cut in place for the past three months will be reduced to 16c/L for the month of July. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP
Contactless payments roll out to Melbourne tram network from today
Tram passengers in Melbourne will be able to pay for their trip using a bank card, smartphone or smartwatch from today.
The long awaited expansion of tap-and-go payments follows a staged roll out to the city’s train network and main regional routes. Buses are expected to follow.
The step follows almost a decade after Sydney introduced tap-and-go payments.
Passengers who prefer to use a Myki card can continue to do so.
Gabrielle Williams, the Victorian minister for public and active transport, said:
From today, you can step off a train and straight on to a tram using the same phone, watch or bank card.
Four in five tap and go trips are already being made with a phone or smartwatch – showing more Victorians are leaving the wallet at home.
Commuters in Melbourne will be able to use a phone, smartwatch or credit card on public transport from today. Photograph: Nadir Kinani/The Guardian
Arrival of H5N1 on mainland a ‘genuine wildlife emergency’, wildlife experts say
Lisa Cox
Kate Millar, chief executive of BirdLife Australia, said the significance for Australian wildlife of the arrival of H5N1 bird flu could not be overstated and it could be “the beginning of a long fight to protect birds and wildlife in Australia”:
The potential for this virus to kill wildlife in significant numbers means it could be particularly catastrophic for threatened species.
We are talking about possible extinctions, alongside severe impacts to common birds like our beloved pelicans and black swans.
Millar said she was concerned “many jurisdictions at the local level simply don’t yet have plans in place to respond to H5 bird flu” and called for a rapid increase in investment in conservation programs to ensure people could respond.
The Invasive Species Council (ISC) and the Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) have called for an extra $200m in funding over the next two years.
AMCS campaigns director Alexia Wellbelove said H5 bird flu posed a real risk to the future of species such as the Australian sea lion, which was already endangered and existed nowhere else on earth.
ISC chief executive Jack Gough said “whether this particular outbreak is contained or not, the threat is no longer theoretical”:
This is a genuine wildlife emergency and it must be treated as such with emergency funding to increase efforts to protect wildlife populations.
Lisa Cox
Agriculture minister says investigations under way into mainland spread of H5N1 bird flu
The federal government confirmed on Saturday that mainland Australia had its first case of the deadly H5N1 bird flu strain that has devastated wildlife populations globally.
Australia had been the last continent free of the disease. If it becomes established in wild native bird populations it could have catastrophic effects.
In case you missed this development, let’s recap the key details:
The infected migratory seabird – a brown skua – was found on the coast at Cape Le Grand national park near Esperance in southern Western Australia last Sunday and has since died.
Tests by the CSIRO confirmed the bird died of the H5N1 strain. A second migratory bird – a giant petrel – was found unwell in the same area and WA tests have found that bird has H5 bird flu but the CSIRO will need to verify the result.
The agriculture minister, Julie Collins, said a nationally coordinated response would first focus on investigating whether the disease has spread to other wildlife in WA.
She said there was no evidence so far of mass mortalities or infection of poultry.
She said it will probably be known within a few days whether the disease had affected any local wildlife populations.
You can read more here:
Good morning
And welcome to another Sunday Guardian live blog.
We’ll continue to bring you the latest news and reactions following confirmation of Australia’s first mainland case of deadly H5 bird flu, as well as the government’s extension to fuel excise cuts for a further month. A “swim out” event is planned for Sydney’s Coogee beach marking one week since a woman was bitten, suffering critical injuries.
I’m Petra Stock and I’ll be taking the blog through the day.
