The top Palestinian representative in Australia criticises the move to pause aid to a UN agency in Gaza; the federal Health Minister urges patients to "vote with their feet" and find doctors who offer bulk billing; and the Socceroos to play either Saudi Arabia or South Korea in the Asian Cup quarterfinals.
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TRANSCRIPT
- The top Palestinian representative in Australia criticises the move to pause aid to a UN agency in Gaza
- The federal Health Minister urges patients to "vote with their feet" and find doctors who offer bulk billing
- Socceroos to play either Saudi Arabia or South Korea in the Asian Cup quarterfinals.
The top Palestinian representative in Australia has called a move to pause aid for Gaza as collective punishment after allegations some workers at a United Nations agency were part of Hamas' attack against Israel.
Australia is among 10 donor nations, including the US and Canada, that have halted funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA).
Diplomat Izzat Abdulhadi has called on Foreign Minister Penny Wong to reinstate the funding.
He says the allegations relate to 12 people in an agency of 30,000 workers - and that shouldn't mean vital aid is paused to millions of people in Gaza
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NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley says she personally "wouldn't mind" seeing neo-Nazis named and shamed, after the group boasted about refusing to pay the fines imposed by police.
Police broke up a series of neo-Nazi demonstrations on Sydney's north shore over the Australia Day weekend and thwarted plans for about 60 men to rally in the city centre.
Ms Catley says the decision on naming the offenders is ultimately a matter for operational police.
Meanwhile, Premier Chris Minns he will be looking to tighten the state's laws banning Nazi symbols to make it clear it should cover Nazi salutes.
"But I want to make it clear that if that legal barrier isn't cleared, we will move legislation to outlaw racist, Nazi ideology, and white power symbols in NSW. People have every right to feel safe in their community."
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Federal health minister Mark Butler says Australians should "ring around" to find GPs who offer bulk billing.
A report released earlier this month by online healthcare directory Cleanbill found fewer than one in four Australian general practices provide bulk billing to all patients, with more than 500 clinics switching to private billing in the past year.
Mr Butler says the federal government announced a tripling of bulk billing incentives in last year’s budget - and he wants that to flow through to patients.
He says patients should "vote with their feet" to find a doctor who bulk bills.
"It's only less than three months since we implemented our budget commitment from the 1st of November. We're hoping to have some real data to support the anecdotal data that we've got that there has been a significant return to bulk billing. A significant renewed commitment to stay with bulk billing from general practices that might have been considering a shift to imposing gap fees even on pensions and kids. And I hope to have more to say about those data over coming days."
Meanwhile, Mr Butler says the federal government is releasing a commemorative edition of Medicare cards to mark the 40-year anniversary of the health service.
People who get a new or replacement card between February 1 and December 31 will automatically be sent the commemorative version.
He says the 40-year anniversary is an important milestone.
"There was such a strong commitment from (former Liberal prime minister) John Howard to abolish it in its entirety that frankly even those reformers of the 1980s did not hope even that it would survive for 40 years. So 40 years of Medicare and all that it has delivered in healthcare outcomes and social equity for our country."
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The consumer watchdog is calling on all levels of government to consider intervening in the childcare market so that all families can access services.
After a year-long review, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has found that for many households childcare is neither affordable nor accessible.
Childcare fees rose by 22.8 per cent between 2018 and 2022 - compared to an average of 6.2 per cent for other developed nations.
That increase is despite the government's Cheaper Child Care reforms taking effect in July 2023, which did reduce costs for families but not enough to outstrip the fee increases.
The commission's chair, Gina Cass-Gottlieb, says affordability remains a big issue.
"Childcare is undoubtedly an essential service for Australian families to participate in the workforce, to educate their children, and to be able to put their children on the path that they wish for their children. We have found that market forces alone are not delivering for all Australians and all Australian households, affordable and accessible childcare."
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The Socceroos will play either Saudi Arabia or South Korea in the quarterfinals of the Asian Cup.
Australia stormed through to the last eight in Doha after a four-nil win over Indonesia.
An own goal opened the scoring, with Martin Boyle, Craig Goodwin and Harry Souttar adding to Australia's result.
