TRANSCRIPT
- The Prime Minister endorses protections for workers to switch-off after hours.
- The Israeli army confirms the death of 31 hostages in Gaza.
- And in sport, two climbers named in Australia's squad for the Olympic Games in Paris.
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The Prime Minister says workers who are not paid to monitor their phones and emails 24 hours a day should not be penalised if they choose to disconnect.
A range of workplace changes are before parliament as part of the Albanese government's 'Closing loopholes' bill, designed to improve pay and conditions and stamp out exploitation.
Anthony Albanese has endorsed the proposal put forward by several MPs, who want worker protections to go further and allow people to switch off outside their rostered hours.
"What we're simply saying is that someone who's not being paid 24 hours a day, shouldn't be penalised if they're not online and available, 24 hours a day."
The practice has already been legislated in several European nations.
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The Israeli Defence Forces have announced that 31 of the remaining hostages held in Gaza are dead.
Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari has told a regular media briefing the IDF has been in touch with the families of those confirmed dead.
He also says the families of the remaining hostages have been provided with information about their circumstances.
"The Israeli army is supporting the families of the hostages in these complex and difficult days, and our representatives deliver to the families all the authenticated information about their loved ones. We are continuing the fight to reach the terms and have all the hostages return home, this is a moral obligation, national obligation and international obligation and this is our compass and this is how we will continue operating."
Israel says 136 hostages are still being held in Gaza.
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The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees says it expects countries who suspended its funding will reconsider, once a preliminary report into Israeli allegations is released.
Israel has accused 12 of UNWRA's 13,000 employees in Gaza of participating in Hamas's October 7 attacks on Israel.
The UN's oversight committee is urgently investigating the allegations, and UNWRA's representative in Lebanon Dorothee Klaus says an interim report will be ready in several weeks.
She says if funding isn't restored Palestinians not just in Gaza, but all across the Middle East, will suffer.
"In case funding does not resume, 250,000 Palestinians here in Lebanon will be affected. Affected will be 40,000 children that go to UNRWA's schools, 200,000 patients that come to our primary healthcare clinics, 50 thousand patients that require critical hospital support every year. All of this would be in peril."
UNWRA has fired the workers Israel claims were involved, and 16 countries including Australia have suspended their funding to the agency.
An investigation by Channel 4 has found that Israel is yet to provide any significant evidence for the claims.
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Greens senator Dorinda Cox says it's the responsibility of every person in power to close the gap, after a damning report showed governments are failing Indigenous people.
The Productivity Commission's Closing the Gap Report calls for a radical shift by governments at all levels, saying they've failed to grasp the nature and scale of change required to meet their obligations.
Senator Cox, a Yamatji-Noongar woman, says the report is an "excruciating read" but is an important part of truth-telling which exposes institutional racism.
"These types of attitudes of not closing the gap - (of) not every minister, not every head of department in this building, and in this country, taking responsibility to close the gap - is why we see these attitudes perpetuate that for us. This is a good opportunity to do truth and treaty, it is an opportunity for this nation to move forward, and we have that opportunity, and we should start that now."
The report makes four recommendations to government - to share power, recognise and support Indigenous data sovereignty, fundamentally rethink government systems and culture, and implement stronger accountability.
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In sport, Australian sport climbers Oceania Mackenzie and Campbell Harrison have been announced as competitors for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
There are five confirmations so far for the Australian team, out of an expected 460 athletes.
It will be Mackenzie's second Olympics and Campbell's first, after he opted out of the Tokyo Games in 2021 because of Covid-19 concerns.
Harrison says his response to qualifying was hugely emotional.
"Historically a lot of queer people feel very excluded from sport and I'm in a fortunate position where I can kind of advocate for sport as a space where queer people can not only be welcome and accepted but also thrive. Something that a little, young climber didn't really imagine being possible within this sport and so to be able to have this opportunity is just incredible, and something I'm really looking forward to."
