Australia live news: surge in Covid cases and deaths; Penny Wong calls for MH17 offenders to face justice | Australia news

And has just been pointed out to me, the UK parliament haven’t passed the free trade agreement yet either

The UK government has been busy with other things. Like finding a leader.

Nationals disappointed UK free trade deal not starting until 2023

The Nationals’ Kevin Hogan is very annoyed the Australia-UK free trade deal won’t be starting this year.

This year, which has 44 days left in it.

The shadow minister for trade and tourism said:

The prime minister’s announcement that the critical trade deal with the UK won’t start this year is a blow to Australian exporters.

Where has the trade minister been? Where has the prime minister been? Securing a 2022 start was worth burning plenty of frequent flyer miles to shepherd the UK side through.

(I think we know where the prime minister has been.)

The joint committee looking at the UK-AU free trade deal only just reported back yesterday. You can read that here.

Given the parliamentary schedule for the last two weeks though, anything other than what is already on the agenda is likely to get a look in, until next year.

‘Change of government’ needed to reset China relations – Bishop

On Anthony Albanese’s meeting with China president Xi Jingping, Julie Bishop says:

I think it was always going to be a matter of a change of government. I think China was waiting for there to be different personalities, different faces and it would not have mattered who it was to an extent, they had to be a change of government for China to reset the relationship.

It was significant that prime minister Albanese was able to secure a meeting. It has been over six years since a minister or Australian officials have been granted an audience in Beijing.

So it was important and I certainly pay tribute to prime minister Albanese and his team for securing the meeting.

The fact that the meeting was held at all is a breakthrough, but now of course we will see whether anything changes.

We have been in the diplomatic deep freeze with China for some six years and so the thawing of the relationship is good news, particularly for Australian exporters because they has been this unofficial ban on certain Australian produce and products for some time.

Julie Bishop says she hopes verdict gives some answers to MH17 victims’ families

Julie Bishop, who was the Liberal foreign minister when MH17 was shot down, is speaking to ABC News about the guilty verdict of three Russian separatists.

She says she has remained in touch with many of the Australian families:

In fact this morning I’d made contact with the Maslin family – three beautiful little Western Australians and their father [killed] while the parents stayed in Amsterdam.

One of the most heartbreaking phone calls I can ever imagine making when I spoke to that family after this tragedy.

I have continued to be in contact with them. In fact, I meet family members from places all around Australia from time to time. People come up to me and say my cousin, my aunt, one of my friends there was aboard MH17. So I am sure it will be an incident with stays with many people for the rest of their life.

I hope this verdict overnight give some answers to those who have been suffering so much for such a long time.

Bishop is also asked about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and says:

I hope there could be a ceasefire but at present I see no backing down on the part of Russia. President Putin seems determined to take Ukrainian territory as a buffer, he claims, against Nato. It is absolutely not necessary. It is part of his plan to restore the former Soviet Union, not all of it but some of the Soviet Union, to its former glory.

Peter Dutton says resources tax would risk investment in mining sector

Looks like opposition have found their line when it comes to the government’s attempts to lower energy prices. A temporary price cap is being considered, as well as a super profits tax. We should have an answer soon.

But Peter Dutton, speaking to the Nine network this morning, thinks the solution is to open up more gas fields. Australia has plenty of gas – it is just not being made available to the domestic market (on the east coast).

I think the government is on the cusp of introducing a new tax, which ultimately is just going to be passed on to consumers. It’ll risk investment into the mining sector. At the moment we need more gas into the system – that’s the solution.

That has the greatest ability, like any market, if you’re introducing more supply to bring prices down, but the government is against that and in the budget, they say on their own numbers, after two years of Labor being in power, that prices will go up by 56% and your gas bills will go up by 44%, and that’s in contrast to what they heard the prime minister say before the election, where he promised on 97 occasions that your power bill would come down by $275.

He’s never mentioned it since the election, so I think there are always sort of thought bubbles out there at the moment.

But that’s cold comfort for families and for small businesses who just can’t afford to pay for their ever increasing electricity bills.

Parliamentary budget office projects personal income tax to make up 54% of total tax receipts in 10 years

The parliamentary budget office (PBO) has released a report looking at trends in Australian personal income tax.

And I know this won’t come as a surprise to most – but Australian governments have an over-reliance on income tax, compared to other taxes, and we have one of the highest personal tax to GDP ratios in the OECD – fourth highest, according to the PBO, at 11.6%

From the report:

The Australian government relied on personal tax for more than 50% of its revenue between the early 1970s up until the introduction of the GST in 2000-01 (Figure 2), when the share fell below 50%, not only because of the new tax but because personal taxes were cut.

Since then, the share of tax receipts from individuals has been trending back towards pre-GST levels.

This is mostly due to bracket creep, which occurs when rising incomes cause individuals to pay an increasing proportion of their income in tax, even though tax settings may not have changed.

The PBO projects personal income tax to make up to nearly 54% of total tax receipts by 2032-33, higher than at any time since the introduction of the GST, and close to the average between 1973 and 1974 to 1999-2000.

If only there was something else to tax, other than people’s labour. Like I don’t know – profits?

Major flooding in NSW not expected to ease until next week

Covid cases and deaths grow in eastern states

Authorities are watching as the Lachlan River as water moves downstream.

Average household spends 15% of income on transport

The Australian Automotive Association (AAA) has released its latest transport affordability index and spoiler – transport is expensive.

The AAA has found a typical Australian household spends 14.9% of its income on transport costs (as of the last quarter). That is taking in fuel, inflation and higher loan repayments for cars.

The AAA data shows the typical weekly household transport cost in capital city households is now $413.53 and $343.93 in regional households.

Compared to the previous quarter (Q2 2022), weekly car loan repayments rose in every city tracked in the index whether regional or a capital.

While fuel prices declined by the end of the last quarter (before the return of the full fuel excise rate), the typical Australian household ($96.93 per week) is still paying $18.57 per week more than this time last year ($78.36 per week Q3 2021) in fuel expenditure.

Extreme pollen warning across Victoria

Anyone with asthma or other breathing difficulties should take care while out in Melbourne today:

Antimicrobial resistance in food focus of new survey

Further to the statement from the RACGP, the federal government has started a nationwide survey of antimicrobial resistance in Australia’s food supply to protect Australians against the threat of antimicrobial resistance.

The assistant health minister, Ged Kearney, said:

This is about reducing the risk of people being sicker for longer, the pressure that creates on our health system and the increased risk of dying from an infection that has tragically turned untreatable.

We know this is becoming an increasing global problem, with antibiotics losing their effectiveness and new solutions not being developed fast enough. This is a part of the puzzle to ensure we’re prepared to protect the health of Australian’s now and into the future.”

It is also the start of world antimicrobial awareness week.

Antimicrobial resistance is the resistance of bacteria, viruses and fungi to antimicrobial or antibiotic medicines.

Described as a “silent pandemic”, antimicrobial resistance is one of the World Health Organizations Top 10 global public health threats. Common infections can become untreatable, leading to longer hospital stays and higher death rates.

This survey will look at our food and is the first survey of antimicrobial resistant bacteria in retail food since 2007. The survey will run until mid next year.

NSW and Victoria weekly Covid reports

GP’s warn against allowing pharmacists to prescribe some medicines

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners is not too happy with the proposal to allow pharmacists to prescribe some drugs, without needing a doctor’s appointment:

The RACGP is warning that allowing more non-medical prescribers in Australia will increase antimicrobial resistance – making infections harder to treat and raising the risk of disease spreading, severe illness and deaths.

This is what happened when retail pharmacists were allowed to prescribe antibiotics overseas. The United Kingdom and New Zealand both reported increased trimethoprim resistance due to inappropriate use of antibiotics. Trimethoprim used to be the first line treatment pharmacists prescribed for UTIs in the UK, but it was over prescribed and now doesn’t work for one-in-three women due to resistant bacteria.

We’re urging state and territory governments to put people’s health first, and find genuine long-term solutions to primary care workforce shortages that do not create bigger problems like increased antimicrobial resistance.

Spare a thought for people in flood zones dealing with this absolute horror show:

Some advice for schoolies … from politicians

Jason Clare and the deputy Liberal leader, Sussan Ley, finished their weekly chat with the Seven network with some advice for schoolies:

Clare:

Gosh this shows how old I am. I don’t think schoolies existed when I was finishing high school back in 1989. I went straight from my last exam to my first shift at Sizzler waiting tables making cheese toast. So, I can’t tell you how schoolies went but if you want the recipe for cheese toast send me an email and I’ll click it to you.

Ley:

Yes, I consider myself too cool for schoolies, I was on the punk rock scene at the end of Year 12 at Dickson college in Canberra. But I want to channel the mums and dads today, to their children, their young adults. Stay safe, have fun and call if you’ve run out of money!

Clare also warns schoolies to stay away from “toolies”.

Jason Clare says MH17 offenders will be ‘protected by Putin for the rest of their life’

The education minister, Jason Clare, also had something to say about the MH17 verdict, while speaking to the Seven Network this morning:

Well, real justice is hard to get. That’s the fact of the matter. I think these characters are going to be protected by Putin for the rest of their life. But I do remember what Julie Bishop said back when this happened. She did a fantastic job at the time as foreign minister and she said that the families of the people who were murdered when that plane was shut down deserve answers. I think we got some of that last night.

I’m thinking this morning of Serge and Vera Oreshkin who live in my electorate. Their son Victor was one of the 298 people who were murdered when that plane was shot down. I remember Serge telling me that they destroyed his body but his soul never touched the ground. You know that plane had his suitcase on it, was packed full of toys for his little nephews and nieces. You know they’ve been living that nightmare for the last eight years something they can’t wake up from, but hopefully last night’s verdict provides some of those answers for them. And for all of the families who lost loved ones when that plane was murderously shot down.