The federal government fails to rush immigration powers through parliament; Inflation remains unchanged at 3.4 per cent in February; And in sport, the AFL unapologetic about its drugs policy amid allegations of serious misconduct.
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- In this bulletin,
- The federal government fails to rush immigration powers through parliament;
- Inflation remains unchanged at 3.4 per cent in February;
- And in sport, The AFL unapologetic about its drugs policy amid allegations of serious misconduct.
TRANSCRIPT
Changes to the migration act which would make it a crime for people to not cooperate with attempts to deport them have been sent to a senate inquiry.
The legislation, which passed the lower house on Tuesday, included introduced a penalty of up to five years behind bars for people who refused to cooperate with attempts to report them.
The coalition, Greens and crossbench have teamed up in the Senate to delay the bill passing, sending it to a parliamentary inquiry for further scrutiny.
Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil says they're disappointed the bill has been blocked.
"We're very disappointed that the Liberals have decided to stymie our government's efforts to make sure that we have a better run, better managed migration system, and to improve community safety. We bought before the Parliament this week a bill which was absolutely in the national interest, a common sense bill that would have given the Immigration Minister powers that, in my view, he absolutely should already have. Those powers would have allowed us to make sure that we've had a better managed, better run migration system."
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The annual inflation rate has remained unchanged at 3.4 per cent in February.
Forecasts had suggested a 3.5 per cent annual increase for the consumer price index, which would have amounted to a slight uptick from the month prior.
But data from the Bureau of Statistics has found annual inflation has held at 3.4 per cent for three consecutive months.
Opposition Treasurer Angus Taylor says the new figures are not to be celebrated.
"You will hear the Prime Minister and the Treasurer patting themselves on the back and telling Australians what a good job they're doing. Let me tell you, the Prime Minister and Treasurer are completely out of touch because Australians are feeling enormous pain. What we see with these figures as the Economist magazine warned us some time back is that Australia has, amongst the stickiest levels of inflation, the highest levels of inflation that won't go away, the most persistent inflation of any advanced country in the world."
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After a two-year inquiry into the Black Summer bushfires, a coroner has handed down 28 recommendations for better bushfire management.
The bushfires in New South Wales took 25 lives and burned more than 5.5 million hectares of land.
State Coroner Magistrate Teresa O’Sullivan has warned government agencies and communities must urgently adapt to escalating climate change risks to guard against future fire-fuelled catastrophes.
Ms O’Sullivan found six systemic issues in the state’s bushfire response including its communication and warning systems, fire prediction modelling and bushfire risk classification.
Lionel Buckett lives in Berambing, Mount Tomah and attended all six days of the inquiry.
"It's a bit of a zero as far as doing anything about seeing that it doesn't happen again. It's 28 pages that aren't really affecting us in our situation. Nothing about hazard reduction, nothing about why the national parks aren't managed properly and why the RFS are managing the national parks. Nothing about killing all the animals, nothing about compensation for all the people who lost so much."
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One in five social work undergraduate students are withdrawing from study due to financial stress, according to the sector's education council.
The research commissioned by the Australian Council of Heads of Social Work Education found social work students are often skipping meals and facing housing insecurity, because of onerous unpaid student placements.
The Per Capita Report reveals students face one thousand hours of placements, or the equivalent of six months' full-time work, without pay, to complete their degree.
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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has rejected claims Labor prevented a federal MP from tabling documents related to AFL drug testing.
Independent MP Andrew Wilkie last night used parliamentary privilege to make accusations of serious misconduct against the AFL and the Melbourne Demons.
He claims the Melbourne Football Club conducted off-the-books drug testing of players to help them avoid failing tests on match days.
But Mr Albanese says all federal members have access to him when needed, and he never prevented the tabling of documents.
"I am aware that the member for Clark has made allegations. Those allegations, I’m not aware of whether they are correct or not. You know, I have a big job. My job is not to, on the job description, isn’t the control of the Australian football league. But if issues are raised, the Sport Integrity Australia is aware of the issue, and they have begun their assessment."
AFL Chief Executive Andrew Dillon has not refuted Mr Wilkie's claims, but says testing for illicit drugs by club doctors has been part of the illicit drugs policy since 2005.
