Thousands of houses lose power in far-north Queensland as Cyclone Jasper approaches the coast; Federal and state governments are meeting to discuss a ban on engineered stone products; And in rugby league, Shane Richardson optimistic as he takes over interim leadership of the troubled West Tigers.
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TRANSCRIPT
- Thousands of houses lose power in far-north Queensland as Cyclone Jasper approaches the coast;
- Federal and state governments are meeting to discuss a ban on engineered stone products;
- And in rugby league, Shane Richardson optimistic as he takes over interim leadership of the troubled West Tigers.
At least 8,000 homes have already lost power and more than 90 people are already in evacuation centres, as Tropical Cyclone Jasper surges towards far-north Queensland.
A representative from the Bureau of Meteorology has said the cyclone is now less than 100 kilometres off the coast, and is predicted to make landfall later today.
The category 1 storm system is expected to strengthen to a category 2 cyclone by the time it lands.
Deputy Premier Steven Miles says he is heading to Cairns while federal Emergency Management Minister Murray Watt confirms the Australian government is standing by to assist.
"We stand ready to support far-north Queensland, the Queensland government, and local governments, in any way needed in the days ahead. There have already been discussions under way at the federal level with the defence force to ensure that they are posturing (in position) with the Queensland government ahead."
Authorities have warned affected residents to stay indoors or move to an evacuation centre if they don't feel safe at home.
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Federal, state and territory workplace ministers are meeting today to discuss a possible ban on engineered stone products, commonly found in kitchen benchtops.
Safe Work Australia has said while a complete ban of the product would be expensive, it is necessary to protect people involved in construction from deadly lung diseases.
The federal government has pledged to work with states and territories to implement a nationwide ban.
The union for construction workers, the CFMEU says it will enact its own workplace ban from the 1st of July if federal and state governments do not take action.
Construction worker Kyle Goodwin was diagnosed with silicosis in 2018 and has been given between 5 and 8 years to live.
"As you can imagine it's devastating to not only to myself but to those around me, my family, my friends. It's such a sad thing to see myself and young men and women, and young workers in this country going through this. We're a country that's only in recent history that's gone through asbestosis. And this is just another example of a preventable industrial disease, from a product that's not necessary to our construction industry."
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Opposition Treasurer Angus Taylor says there is nothing in the government's latest economic forecast to address inflation or ease pressure on families.
The government's mid-year economic update revealed a shrinking deficit of $1.1 billion dollars, down from $13.9 billion predicted in May.
But real wage growth has slowed more than expected, and the government forecast no new rent or income relief beyond existing measures.
Angus Taylor says the government's measures do not tackle inflation, which is feeding cost of living pressures.
"The Treasurer and Finance Minister talked about the Government budget, the one budget they avoided talking about was the household budget. It is in tatters, we have seen interest cost triple since Labor came to power, we have seen, as I've said, a 27% increase but in households and household disposable income come down in the last 18 months."
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In rugby league,
Experienced administrator Shane Richardson has been charged with one of NRL's toughest jobs, as he sets about resurrecting the besieged Wests Tigers after a list of long-running failures on and off the field.
Richardson was unveiled as interim chief executive after Justin Pascoe resigned his role following a review into the club's culture and governance.
Tigers chair Lee Hagipantelis, along with the rest of the seven-person board, has also been dismissed and will be replaced in the interim by former New South Wales premier Barry O'Farrell.
Mr Richardson says he is focused on his six-month role and is not thinking beyond that.
"We sat down and talked about long-term but I said look, 'you're putting an interim board in for six months, and I've got to work closely with Barry, on that board. I want to have a look closer, I don't want to come in with any preconceived ideas, I'd never met any of the previous regime. So I want to come and have a look at it, see how it's structured and how it needs to be set up and that's something I'll assess at the end. Six months is a nice start and we can all sort of work towards that. They mightn't like me by the way, so at least they don't have to sack me then, do they."
