TRANSCRIPT
- Tasmanians will head to the polls in March in an early state election.
- A dairy farmer has been killed in wild storms in Victoria.
- In sport, Australia’s top tennis player Alex de Minaur begins his Rotterdam Open campaign with a win.
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Tasmanians will head to the polls on the 23rd of March, after Premier Jeremy Rockliff called an election more than a year ahead of schedule.
Australia's only Liberal government has been in minority since two M-Ps stepped down to become independents.
But Mr Rockliff has accused the Labor opposition of in-fighting and instability.
He says only the Liberals - who have been in government for a decade - are committed to majority rule.
"We know majority government is the best thing for our state and past experience proves just that. Minority government is destabilising, it destroys confidence and it is bad for our state and it is bad for Tasmanians."
The election was originally expected to be held in mid-2025.
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A dairy farmer has been killed in wild storms that tore through Victoria and have left thousands of homes and businesses without power.
Authorities confirmed the 50-year-old man was killed by debris at Mirboo North in South Gippsland while operating a tractor.
Emergency Management Commissioner Rick Nugent says the township became isolated in the storms due to closed roads, and the Country Fire Authority had to help supply water.
Mirboo North has since been reconnected, but Premier Jacinta Allan explains why thousands of properties are still without power.
"There is significant damage state-wide caused by those storms, and much of it is localised damage, which is why your power might be out. And I think if you can look out the window or walk out the front door and see that trees are down across roads, trees are down and impacting on power lines, that's probably why the power is out and why the teams are out there undertaking the rapid assessments to get the power reconnected."
Hundreds of power poles and lines were downed and six transmission towers near Anakie collapsed on Tuesday, sending all four units at the Loy Yang A power station offline.
It may takes weeks to full fix the damage from the destructive wind, rain and lightning, which caused one of the largest power outages in Victorian history.
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Israel's assault on Gaza's southern city of Rafah is underway with residents assessing the damage after an initial bombardment on Monday which killed at least 74 people.
This comes as ceasefire talks between the US, Egypt, Israel and Qatar have broken down today with no progress made toward peace.
Already, more than 28,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war with women and children making up more than 70 per cent of those killed according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
However, Israel has vowed to continue its efforts to eradicate Hamas from Gaza and return the over 100 hostages still held by the group since its October 7 attack on Israel where militants killed almost 1,200 people.
Ibrahim Hasouna's entire family was killed by an Israeli warplane on Monday when his home in Rafah was destroyed in the bombing which flattened residential buildings and tent communities holding refugees.
"We’re a beautiful family that consists of eight members; my brother and his wife and their three children, my father, me, my brother Mohammed, and my mother. As you can see, we used to sleep next to each other, as it’s a small place with no space but to sleep in one place. The targeting was direct, we found them torn apart. They were directly targeted—killed in cold blood, with no mercy."
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One of the nation's leading economists says Australia could emerge as the world's first zero-carbon superpower by focusing on green export industries.
Economic advisor to the Hawke government Ross Garnaut has told the national press club in Canberra Australia could also cut anywhere between six and nine per cent of global emissions.
Professor Garnaut and former ACCC chair Rod Sims have outlined a 15-step policy plan, under which they say decarbonising exports like green iron and green aluminium could lead to prosperity rivalling the mining boom.
Professor Garnaut has also responded to a protest against domestic renewable energy last week led by Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce.
He says widespread renewable energy will not require the use of Australia's best farmland.
"We need not cover the land of any people who don’t want wind turbines and solar panels on their country. I’ve spent a lot of time in the west of Queensland since seven mayors asked me to help them think through how they could use their sun and wind. They want renewable power generation if they get sustainable income and jobs."
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In sport,
Australia's top-ranked male tennis player Alex de Minaur has score a 6-4 6-3 win over Sebastian Korda to get his Rotterdam Open campaign underway in style.
Fifth seed de Minaur needed just 83 minutes to seal victory at the ATP500 indoor hardcourt event.
Despite being out-aced 11 to 5 by the American, the world number 11 won 87 per cent of his first serve and survived four break points.
