TRANSCRIPT
- Government announces the biggest overhaul of aged care in a generation...
- United Nations urges safe passage for Darfur civilians as fighting intensifies...
- Jamie-Lee Price crowned Australian netball's top player.
The Albanese Government has unveiled the biggest overhaul of aged care in a generation, with the Aged Care Act 2024 and a new Support at Home program now in place.
The reforms, responding to the Royal Commission into Aged Care, aim to give older Australians more control, stronger rights and higher standards of care.
The $4.3 billion home-care scheme will help people stay at home longer, adding 83,000 new support places this year.
Residential care spots will now be assigned directly to individuals, giving greater choice and flexibility.
Providers face tougher standards, with stronger oversight from the Aged Care Commission.
Aged Care Minister Sam Rae says the changes mark the start of a new era, one built on dignity, respect and genuine choice for older Australians.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers says Australia will make it easier for trusted foreign investors to put money into the country, while tightening scrutiny on riskier deals.
Under the new plan, low-risk investors from friendly nations could soon receive automatic approval for certain projects, speeding up the process and encouraging more overseas capital.
Mr Chalmers says the goal is to strike a balance attracting reliable partners like Canadian pension funds, while keeping a closer watch on those posing potential national-security or economic risks.
"Our vision is for Australia to be the destination where global investment flows first and grows fastest. When you reconsider and redeploy the capital that you manage, our objective is for Australia to be the most obvious and the most compelling place to put it to work. When you run the numbers, when you test risk, return and reliability, our goal is for Australia to be at the very top of your models."
Queenslanders are being warned to brace for a volatile weekend, with forecasters predicting severe thunderstorms, destructive winds, and giant hail across much of the state’s south-east.
The Bureau of Meteorology says conditions are likely to worsen today [[Saturday]], which is shaping up to be the most dangerous day of the current weather system.
Areas stretching from Charters Towers down to the New South Wales border and as far west as Charleville are expected to be hit, with widespread rainfall of 40 to 100 millimetres and the risk of flash flooding.
Meteorologist Jonathan How.
"So Saturday, we see the area of severity very much expands all the way from the mid north-coast of New South Wales and up into the central highlands of Queensland and inland to many communities through there. Importantly, we have a very large area where severe thunderstorms are likely. This includes Brisbane, parts of the Gold Coast, Sunshine coast and inland communities like Toowoomba, Dalby and Kingaoy and down towards Glen Innes and Moree in northern parts of New South Wales."
The warning comes as the family of 21-year-old Finlay Bones, struck by lightning on the Sunshine Coast earlier this week, remembered her as a beautiful, kind and caring young woman taken in the prime of her life.
The United Nations has urged safe passage for civilians fleeing Sudan’s paramilitary forces in Darfur and protection for those still trapped in El-Fasher.
Refugees arriving at a nearby camp after days on foot told aid workers that roads were strewn with bodies, amid reports of hundreds killed.
The Rapid Support Forces had besieged El-Fasher, the army’s last stronghold in Darfur, for 500 days before seizing control.
The UN migration agency says more than 36,000 people have fled since Sunday many at night on foot.
Satellite images suggest an earthen wall built by the R-S-F now traps residents inside what observers call a kill box.
Sawsan Mukhtar, a Sudanese-Australian journalist based in Adelaide and originally from Al-Fashir, spoke to SBS Arabic and describes the dire conditions there.
"The Rapid Support Forces control the entrances to the city, so it’s difficult to bring in food. People are living in famine conditions and have been forced to eat animal feed. Al-Fashir was once a wealthy city, and today people can’t find anything to eat."
Midcourt star Jamie-Lee Price has been crowned the nation's best netballer, taking out the 2025 Liz Ellis Diamond award.
Price's individual honour comes after a successful year with the Giants in the Super Netball competition and the Diamonds and winning the Constellation Cup back from New Zealand this week.
While she has signed with the Melbourne Mavericks for 2026, the 29-year-old is the first Giants player to claim the award, named after goal-keeping great Liz Ellis, who is now the chair of Netball Australia.
Price finished the Super season with 444 feeds, 217 goal assists, 19 deflections and eight intercepts.
The Wing Defence carried her form into the international season with her trademark suffocating defensive pressure stifling both South Africa and the Silver Ferns.
