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Key events
Snow returns to Tasmania
This may look a little like a frosty windscreen, but it’s actually snow from overnight. Snow settled at elevations of 400 to 500 metres, with snow flurries down to around 300 metres. pic.twitter.com/mEEwXbQhys
— Bureau of Meteorology, Tasmania (@BOM_Tas) July 28, 2022
Ukrainian president to address Australia
Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the president of the Ukraine, is set to address Australians next week via a video link.
The sold out in-person event will take place the evening of 3 August at the Australian National University (ANU).
President Zelenskiy will share his experiences as a world leader navigating the realities of war, nearly six months since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The event will be officially opened by Julie Bishop, the chancellor of ANU and former foreign minister, and will also feature a Q&A session between the President and students at the ANU.
Professor Brian Schmidt, the vice-chancellor of ANU said:
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine threatens the peace, liberty and democracy on which freedom of inquiry and academic collaboration is based..
President Zelenskiy continues to inspire the world through his leadership and service to his country.
We are incredibly grateful to have President Zelenskiy share his time and thoughts with our community.
NSW records 22 Covid deaths and 2,257 people in hospital
There were 14,927 new cases in the last reporting period, and 67 people are in intensive care.
COVID-19 update – Friday 29 July 2022
In the 24-hour reporting period to 4pm yesterday:
– 96.8% of people aged 16+ have had one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine*
– 95.3% of people aged 16+ have had two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine* pic.twitter.com/W7We68rBZs— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) July 28, 2022
Josh Butler
Conservative Christian groups lobby federal MPs against territories’ assisted dying rights legislation
Conservative action groups are mobilising supporters against a government push to allow territories to make their own laws on euthanasia, raising concerns around potential impacts on Indigenous Australians in the Northern Territory.
The Australian Christian Lobby is flooding federal MPs with emails in a campaign to block a private member’s bill to be introduced next week, but territories minister Kristy McBain says she’s confident it will pass parliament.
Paul Karp and Josh Butler bring you the full story:
Frost across Australia’s eastern states
Australians from Queensland right down to Victoria have been waking up to frosty conditions this morning.
Current temperatures across #NSW 🥶 a cold start for many areas along the ranges and inland with widespread #frost this morning as well as tomorrow. See your local forecast to see how cold your area will be overnight tonight and into tomorrow morning at: https://t.co/SPHgGeisGZ pic.twitter.com/W6kyHFvPdu
— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) July 28, 2022
Christopher Knaus
NSW issued 501 fines to children under 15 in past year for not wearing or carrying mask
About 500 children aged under 15 were fined a total of $20,000 for not wearing or carrying a mask in New South Wales in the past 12 months, including 34 who remain in an unpaid work and development scheme to reduce their debts.
The state government has faced sustained criticism for its pursuit of children over Covid rule breaches, particularly given the confusing and shifting nature of public health orders and the disproportionate impact Covid fines are having on the most disadvantaged.
Peter Hannam
What’s the go with Australia’s energy market?
There’s quite a bit to digest in the Australian Energy Market Operator’s report on how the National Electricity Market fared in the June quarter.
You can find the report here, or jump to our coverage here, where we outline the soaring cost of electricity and gas. Some of that tripling of wholesale gas and electricity prices will start showing up in your energy bills – if they are not already (which may dash hopes that inflation is about to peak).
Here’s a chart showing how the different sources of energy changed from a year earlier – with black coal’s contraction particularly notable.
How energy sources changed in the national electricity market (serving about 80% of Australia’s population) in the June quarter from a year earlier. pic.twitter.com/WiBh9kKZ8V
— Peter Hannam (@p_hannam) July 28, 2022
Black coal is used in NSW and Queensland, with the latter owned by the state government – and therefore a player in the market, but to whose benefit? Anyway, here’s how output changed in those two states.
How black coal fared in the national electricity market in the June quarter – sinking to its lowest level for any June quarter since the market began in 1998. Part of the reason was plant breakdowns or maintenance, but also exposure to more costly coal. (Source: AEMO) pic.twitter.com/sMEBiPTWHo
— Peter Hannam (@p_hannam) July 28, 2022
Among the interesting takeaways was the curbs on the ability of some hydro plants to operate as much as they might have given the amble inflows during another La Niña season.
It turns out that having flooded river valleys can curb just how much extra water hydro plants can add to flows. (Snowy Hydro, now fully commonwealth-government owned, also has potentially contradictory motives – maximum profits or add to blunt price spikes.)
Also of note is what happened to gas flows. Unlike last year, Victoria was a net exporter of the fossil fuel, while Queensland sucked in more than it sent south. The swing amounted to 7 petajoules of gas.
That’s worth keeping in mind, particularly as arguments about Victoria (and other locations) needed to open up to gas exploration and development are about to be revived when the ACCC releases its latest gas report – at least if today’s report in the AFR is any guide.
Business Council calls Albanese government the most engaged she’s seen
Westacott, the council’s chief executive, told ABC Radio:
I can’t remember a more engaged government than this. I have had call after call after call from ministers.
She said the reason the council has put together a document with practical recommendations comes in response to government interest.
She says the government is really willing to listen to the business community, and the last government she saw as engaged was Tony Abbott’s.
‘We need to rebrand Australia’ to workers, Business Council of Australia says
Jennifer Westacott, the chief executive of the Business Council of Australia, is speaking to ABC Radio.
Following the treasurer’s first address to parliament (that’s Jim Chalmers, for those of you who are still processing it) which revealed Australia was facing its greatest cost of living pressures in two decades, the business council released a report this morning with recommendations to release economic bottlenecks.
Westacott is asked about how much impact the government can have when much of the situation is caused by international factors. She says Australia has to “pull every lever in our control to get rid of friction and blockages in our economy.”
When you add up all those little things it makes a big difference.
She says addressing the labour shortage is paramount: getting rid of red tape, fast-tracking visas and extending hours students can work.
We need to rebrand Australia as a place we want people to come to work.
Commonwealth Games opens in Birmingham
The Commonwealth Games in Birmingham open this week, following an opening ceremony featuring a raging bull, Malala Yousafzai, a Brummie drag queen and Duran Duran.
How can sports lovers follow the action? Who makes up the Australian team?
Guardian Australia’s deputy sport editor Emma Kemp has your questions answered.
Indigenous MPs represent their electorates, not Indigenous people as a whole, co-chair of design group on the voice says
Marcia Langton is saying the fact that there are now Indigenous members of parliament is not enough because those members represent their electorates, not Indigenous people as a whole:
What we’ve set out is the preferred option of most Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people … they want to be able to have a formal relationship with government so their concerns are heard and so there’s a formal way for their views to be registered.
‘Read our report,’ Indigenous voice co-chair tells critics calling for more detail
Marcia Langton is asked about the opposition’s calls for more detail in what the voice will look like. She says this could stymie the process:
When people say they want more detail, all it tells me if they don’t want to read our report because all the detail is there.
“I see this demand for more detail as just mischief making and selling confusion.. we couldn’t be more clear than we have been”
– Marcia Langton
— RN Breakfast (@RNBreakfast) July 28, 2022
Marcia Langton is speaking about the problems Indigenous communities face, which she says need to be addressed through a voice to parliament:
Our constitution remains racist, there’s two racist provisions in it and the high court decision that the commonwealth can do harm to us stands.
What we’ve recommended is a very straightforward plan that I think resolves the problem … how do we ensure … our people survive into the future?
She says stakeholder consultation reveals Indigenous people want a “full relationship with government” so that when communities raise problems they want addressed (for example, the need for drinkable water) they have assurances they will be heard.
Marcia Langton, Indigenous academic and co-chair of the senior design group on the Indigenous voice to parliament, is speaking to ABC Radio about her expectations for the Garma festival, which starts today.
The gathering will allow Indigenous leaders to engage with the government on issues including the path to a referendum for recognition in the constitution and a voice to parliament, and prime minister Anthony Albanese is due to give a major address.
what do you and others want to hear from the PM at Garma this weekend?
“Most of all what we want to know is that this new government understands the issue and why this is so important .. and I’m sure he’ll learn some more here [at Garma]”
– Marcia Langton
— RN Breakfast (@RNBreakfast) July 28, 2022
Infrastructure minister says she is redesigning the regional grants programs
Infrastructure minister Catherine King appeared on ABC earlier this morning responding to the report handed down by the National Audit Office into the previous government’s management of the building better regions fund, finding that seats held by the Nationals appeared to be the biggest beneficiaries.
King says she is “surprised but not surprised”:
It is part of the pattern we saw in the last decade with the Liberal National Party Government … As a regional MP, I know community members here have been putting grants into the building better regions fund and to hear this is just really disheartening. Communities under Labor, many council areas under the last government, we thought why would you bother putting into this program.
The previous government has a lot to answer in relation to this …I have got a big mess to clean up now when it comes to this and we need to try and get more transparent processes in place so regional communities across the country can benefit, no matter who they vote for.
Australians have zero tolerance for this. I am in the process of trying to redesign the regional grants programs and I will make announcements about that. We have election commitments we need to account for and be transparent … I am determined to make sure we have clearer, fairer transparent processes right the way across the regional grants programs that I administer.
Rapid Covid-19 tests detect Omicron, TGA reassures public
No rapid antigen tests have been removed from the Australian market because they couldn’t detect the Omicron Cvariant, the health regulator says.
AAP reports that the Therapeutic Goods Administration issued the public notice last night after several incorrect media reports that the RATs were ineffective.
The TGA confirmed that only four RATs have so far been cancelled from the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods, with three being removed by their supplier.
The TGA cancelled just one product because the sponsor couldn’t provide sufficient data on the RAT’s sensitivity to Covid-19.
Good morning!
I hope you’ve been enjoying Amy Remeikis’s superb politics live blog – as parliament takes a breather so is she, but will be with you again Monday.
Australians are waking up to the news that wholesale energy prices have tripled from last year, according to a report released today by the market operator.
Australia’s energy market operator said failing coal-fired power plants and soaring global gas costs combined to create “unprecedented” market disruptions.
A review by the National Audit Office has revealed the previous government’s $1.15bn grants program for regional development found Liberal-held seats received twice as many grants as Labor electorates. My colleague Josh Butler brings you the full story.
Australia’s largest Indigenous gathering, the Garma festival, starts today in north-east Arnhem Land, where prime minister Anthony Albanese and minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney will be in attendance.
The gathering will allow Indigenous leaders to engage with the government on issues including the path to a referendum for recognition in the constitution and a voice to parliament.
My name is Natasha May and, if you want to get in touch, please do so either pinging me @natasha__may on Twitter or emailing natasha.may@theguardian.com.
Let’s jump in!
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