Australia news live: Anthony Albanese reveals wording of referendum question on Indigenous voice; July Covid deaths surpass January total | Australia news

The Australian Medical Association’s president, Dr Omar Khorshid, has been presented with a “Citation for Exceptional Leadership of the Medical Profession.”

In a statement released this morning, AMA Board Chair, Rosanna Capolingua, who said Khorshid was being presented with the citation in recognition of his leadership over the past two years.

Dr Khorshid was elected AMA president during the first peak of the pandemic and quickly became the voice of reason, of calm and of urgency when needed — lobbying government, and fronting the media, along with hard-working vice president Dr Chris Moy, to send clear messages about the pandemic.

His leadership was particularly critical during the early stages when there was no vaccine, and the focus was on implementing effective public health measures to ensure the safety of the community and healthcare workers.

Dr Khorshid has earned the respect of the nation and his peers for his ethical, intelligent and tireless leadership, calling for public health not politics to drive the nation’s response.

Kate Bush fans celebrate

Happy Wuthering Heights day to those who celebrate! If you don’t know what I’m talking about, today is the day that Kate Bush fans will gather to dance in a field to her song Wuthering Heights. It’s happening at Sydney Park in St Peters in Sydney’s inner west from midday, with participants in the flash mob dance event dressed in red from head to toe.

Bush is back in music charts around the world thanks to the appearance of her No 1 hit Running Up That Hill in the latest season of Stranger Things. Some 1,600 people recently gathered to sing it together at a communal amateur pub choir in Brisbane. You can watch a video of that performance here:

And those in Sydney who want to join in the Wuthering Heights day fun can find the event page on Facebook here.

Spender: Indigenous voice is an ‘opportunity’

So earlier this morning, independent MP and member of the election-changing teal wave, Allegra Spender, was on ABC News Breakfast, and was asked for her thoughts on the PM’s choice of words for a referendum on an Indigenous voice to parliament.

Spender was asked the question in light of Liberal senator Jacinta Price saying the voice may “divide” Australia, but Spender said the voice was an “opportunity”:

I think there is an opportunity for the whole of the country to get behind a voice to parliament and do this in a really constructive way, and so I think there is that opportunity.

I take her words, I understand what she said, and I acknowledge that a voice to parliament does not solve all problems at all. There is much more of the work that needs to be done, to be supported, but I think that if the parliament, if both parties can get behind this, I think there is a great opportunity for the whole country to get behind this and I think we need to make sure that there is real clarity that this is not a veto.

Victoria records 61 deaths and 8,937 new cases

NSW records 46 deaths and 13,425 new cases

Space junk found on a sheep farm

In different news this morning, the ABC is reporting that a large chunk of space debris has been found by a sheep farmer in Numbla Vale, south of Jindabyne, NSW.

A large bang was heard on 9 July, reported across the Snowy Mountains and southern NSW, with many taking to social media to question where it came from. Rumours swirled it was caused by the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft re-entering earth’s atmosphere after it launched in November 2020.

The sheep farmer, Mick Miners, came across a large object, almost three metres tall, wedged into a remote part of his paddock. He told the ABC he didn’t know what to think, and that he was told by authorities to “contact Nasa”.

I’m a farmer from Dalgety, what am I going to say to Nasa? I didn’t hear the bang, but my daughters said it was very loud. I think it’s a concern [that] it’s just fallen out of the sky. If it landed on your house, it would make a hell of a mess.

‘A momentous occasion’

The official Twitter page for the Uluru Statement from the Heart has tweeted a statement regarding today’s speech from the PM, calling it a “a momentous occasion in our nation’s history”.

We welcome today’s announcement as an important step toward finally giving Australians their opportunity to vote “Yes” at a referendum, and to robustly test the Government’s proposed question & amendment. It’s time! History is Calling!

Good morning, and welcome to today’s blog. Mostafa Rachwani with you on this chilly Saturday morning.

We begin with last night’s announcement of the wording to be used on the referendum question regarding whether an Indigenous voice to parliament should be enshrined in the constitution.

To be officially announced during a speech at the Garma festival on Saturday, prime minister Anthony Albanese said the Australian people should be asked a “simple and clear” yes or no question.

This year’s Garma festival follows a two-year break due to the Covid pandemic. Albanese is the first prime minister to visit the festival since 2017.

In other news, Covid cases continue to surge across the country, but there are signs the current peak is easing. But July was still one of the deadliest months during the pandemic, with Victoria alone reporting 650 deaths. The number of deaths nationally in July has surpassed the total in January, when the first Omicron wave hit.

We will keep you updated on case number as they come in, as well as everything else happening around the country.