Scott Morrison announces he will resign from politics, Cyber Security experts support sanctions imposed on a man involved in the 2022 Medibank Private network breach, Test cricket captain Pat Cummins says Australia Day should be changed to another date.
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TRANSCRIPT
- Scott Morrison announces he will resign from politics.
- Cyber Security experts support sanctions imposed on a man involved in the 2022 Medibank Private network breach.
- Test cricket captain Pat Cummins says Australia Day should be changed to another date.
Former prime minister Scott Morrison has announced he will leave federal parliament at the end of February.
Mr Morrison confirmed the departure on social media on Tuesday, saying he is leaving politics to take up a job in the corporate sector and spend more time with his family.
In a post on Facebook, Mr Morrison thanked his family, friends, local community and local party members for their support.
Mr Morrison received pressure from colleagues including Nationals Leader David Littleproud and Liberal MP Bridget Archer to step down from his position mid-last year, after the release of the robodebt royal commission report.
"The royal commissioner found Mr Morrison had “allowed cabinet to be misled” about whether legislation was required to raise debts through a method known as “income averaging” during his time working as social services minister from December 2014 to September 2015."
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Cyber Security experts say the government's decision to impose cyber sanctions on a man involved in breaching the Medibank Private network in October 2022 sends a clear message.
At least 9.7 million Medibank customers had their data compromised and published on the dark web in the attack.
The government have named Russian citizen Aleksandr Emrakov for his role, and made it a criminal offence to provide assets, overhaul or deal with his assets.
Rachael Falk is the Chief Executive Officer of the Cyber Security Cooperative Research Centre.
She says the sanctions make clear Australia's tough stance on cyber security breaches.
"Look I think it's an important first step that they've named an individual Russian individual and they've come out and talked about the investigation and five eyes or all the five eyes countries agencies have been involved in this so it's an important first step in saying we're not just going to be a soft victim we're actually going to come out and show you we've been investigating and tracking this down."
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Queensland Premier Seven Miles says the fatigue of emergency service workers is his biggest concern, as residents brace for tropical cyclone Kirilli.
The tropical low in the coral sea is expected to intensify into a tropical cyclone later today and is forecast to cross the coast between Innisfale and Airly Beach on Thursday,
The Bureau of Meteorology has warned severe impact is likely.
The cyclone is then expected to lose intensity and weaken as it travels south, where it could trigger heavy rainfall around central and southeast Queensland.
Mr Miles says preparations are well under way to ensure emergency service workers have adequate support at a time when burnout is likely.
"Preparations by our disaster management team are well underway. I'll chair a Queensland Disaster Management Committee meeting tomorrow morning to ensure those preparations. Our biggest concern, really is the fatigue that our volunteers and our emergency services have been experiencing after those two, two big events. They continue to work on recovery from those two prior events. And so we'll be carefully making sure that they have the support and resources that they need."
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The federal government has announced further sanctions on prescribed terrorist organisations with links to Hamas and other groups, saying they conform with those imposed by allies like the U-S and European Union.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the sanctions were imposed on three entities and 12 people with links to Hamas, Hezbollah and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Under the sanctions, people providing money to the listed individuals or groups, as well as dealing with them or their assets, can face 10 years in prison and significant fines.
Senator Wong also says her recent trip to the Middle East has affirmed government's support for a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine.
The minister was asked by reporters about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's rejection of a proposed Palestinian state.
"Any pathway to peace requires progress towards an independent Palestinian state and that is the best way to ensure peace and security and dignity for the Palestinian peoples and also for the Israelis."
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Cameroon has launched the world's first routine vaccine program against Malaria.
The national rollout is intended to reach about 6.6 million children across the continent over the next two years and the first bactc of more than 300,000 doses has been distributed to more 42 vaccine centres across the country.
The campaign comes after a successful pilot phase in Kenya, Ghana and Malawi that saw a 13% drop in malaria deaths.
Vaccines Director at the World Health Organisation says the national rollout will have a substantial impact.
"The scale up of the malaria vaccine through strong and established platforms for immunisation, is projected to save tens of thousands of lives each year."
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Australian Test cricket captain Pat Cummins has called for a change to the date of Australia Day.
The 26th of January this year falls on the second day of the second Test against the West Indies, and Cricket Australia (CA) have chosen not to brand the Test as 'the Australia Day match.'
Mr Cummins says he supports this decision, and he thinks Australia Day should be changed to a more appropriate date.
His statements make him the highest-profile sporting star in the nation to push for a change of date marking Australia's national day.
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