Opposition leader Peter Dutton begins targetting the regions for the 'no' campaign of the Indigenous Voice to Parliament. Consumer watchdog launches legal action against Qantas for selling tickets to cancelled flights. And in basketball, Boomers to face Luca Doncic' Slovenia in second round of FIBA World Cup.
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- Opposition leader Peter Dutton begins targetting the regions for the 'no' campaign of the Indigenous Voice to Parliament...
- Consumer watchdog launches legal action against Qantas for selling tickets to cancelled flights...
- Boomers to face Luca Doncic' Slovenia in second round of FIBA World Cup.
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On the first official day of campaigning for, or against an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton is targetting the regions.
Mr Dutton is in the central Queensland city of Rockhampton encouraging voters to vote 'No' in the upcoming referendum, which will be held on October 14.
The Opposition leader says those who don't know which way to go, should just vote no.
"It's quite remarkable that the PM is spending $450 million on this voice referendum when we know that, in the end, it will split Australians, right down the middle. The Prime Minister is embarking on a path which will divide our country not unite it. And that is deeply concerning. I want to make sure that we have a respectful debate in this country."
And you can find comprehensive information about the referendum visiting the SBS Voice Referendum portal at www.sbs.com.au/voicereferendum
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Qantas is scrapping the expiration date on hundreds of millions of dollars worth of travel credits following a public backlash.
The national carrier has almost $500 million in outstanding flight credits, with an extra $100 million yet to be redeemed by Jetstar customers.
The credits were due to expire at the end of the year and be added straight to the Qantas bottom line.
To encourage more people to reconnect with their credits, the airline is also offering double the number of frequent flyer points from flights booked between September 4 and December 31.
Meanwhile, the consumer watchdog has taken legal action against the national carrier, claiming it sold tickets to already cancelled flights.
A spokeswoman for the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission says they want to change the way companies do business.
"A very important principle is, high penalties are necessary so that breaches of the law are not seen as a cost of doing business. We want to change conduct."
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Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Thursday said Japan has lodged a protest against North Korea after it had fired two ballistic missiles on Wednesday night.
State media from Japan reported on Thursday, North Korea conducted a simulated scorched-earth nuclear strike on targets across South Korea, in reaction to allied exercises that it said amounted to plans for a preemptive nuclear attack by the United States.
North Korea fired the short-range ballistic missiles into the sea hours after the U-S deployed B-1B bombers for allied air drills.
The latest launch came a day before South Korea and the U-S wrap up 11 days of combined military drills, which Pyongyang has long denounced as a war rehearsal.
Mr Kishida has described North Korea's actions as unacceptable.
"Since the start of this year, North Korea has been frequently and repeatedly launching missiles. These actions are a threat to peace and stability not only for our country, but to the region and the international community, it's absolutely unacceptable."
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Florida residents have begun clean-up efforts after Hurricane Idalia tore into the state before sweeping into Georgia.
The overall damage is still being assessed, but more than 225,000 people are without power in Florida, and another 230,000 in Georgia.
There are reports that at least three people have died in storm related accidents.
5,500 National Guardsman have been deployed to assist rescue crews with search-and-recovery efforts.
This resident of Perry in Florida describes the support community members have provided one another.
"I think this city really came together. I see it in a lot of people helping people, a lot of people reaching out to each other, strangers, people I'd never seen before in my life. They everybody's trying to make sure everybody else. Okay. So I think it brought us together in a way, too."
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In basketball, Australia have learned their opponents in round two of the FIBA World Cup.
The Boomers will face Luca Doncic' Slovenia, who took first place in Group F and Georgia, who were runners up after Cape Verde failed to qualify.
Australia's next opponent will be Slovenia, with Brian Goorjian's team needing nothing short than a win to remain in the contest for a place in the quarter-finals.
The Slovenians have been impressive in their performances so far, averaging 93.3 points per game.
