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In this bulletin;
- Airline executives argue against a flight compensation scheme in Australia;
- The Coalition won't say whether it will go to the federal election offering income tax cuts;
- And in Tennis, Jack Draper wins his first ATP Masters 1000 title.
The Coalition is refusing to say whether it will go to the election offering income tax cuts.
Ahead of next week's federal budget, Peter Dutton’s Treasury spokesman, Angus Taylor, has been arguing that Jim Chalmers' revamp of the stage three tax cuts has failed to reduce bracket creep and left workers on track to pay an extra $8,900 in tax by the end of the decade.
Mr Taylor has released research showing the average Australian worker paid $3,500 more tax last financial year than before the Albanese government was elected.
Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie told Channel Seven, the Coalition will have more to say on the issue soon.
"Well, we're going to have much more to say about our lower tax guarantee as we head into the election. That is the reality. And the data from economists says that Australians are paying more tax as a proportion of the federal government."
Energy Minister Chris Bowen says the Coalition should be transparent about any policy proposals on income tax cuts.
"We're going to keep focused on delivering tax relief for Australians. And to your question about tax, we have just delivered tax cut for every single taxpaying Australian. Peter Dutton was so angry about it that he called for election 12 months ago to try and stop it . So we're the party trying to deliver tax cuts. The Liberal and National party are completely all over the shop when it comes to tax relief for Australians."
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Airline executives have appeared before a Senate hearing on a proposal for Australia to adopt a passenger compensation scheme for cancelled flights in line with Europe and Canada.
The Labor government has excluded a cancelled flight compensation scheme from its draft aviation customer rights charter.
The Coalition’s so-called Pay on Delay Bill would introduce such a compensation scheme, as is legislated in Europe and Canada.
Virgin Australia's general manager of government relations & industry affairs, Stephen Beckett, says there is room to improve the remedies available, without introducing a mandatory flight compensation scheme.
"Virgin Australia thinks we need to make remedies more accessible to the travelling public. And that is why in our green paper submission we made the recommendations that we did. That we needed to see a strengthening of the complaint handling body. And it also having the authority to make final and binding decisions on airlines to resolve consumer complaints."
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The Houthis in Yemen say they have attacked a US aircraft carrier group in the Red Sea in response to air strikes ordered by President Donald Trump.
The Houthis say at least 31 people were killed and 101 others wounded in the air strikes over the weekend.
President Donald Trump says more strikes are forthcoming unless the Houthis cease their attacks, and he says Iran would be held "fully accountable" for the Houthis' actions.
The attacks stopped when a Israel-Hamas ceasefire took hold in January — a day before Mr Trump took office — but last week the Houthis said they would renew attacks against Israeli vessels after Israel cut off the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza this month.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea says the escalation will continue, if the US air strikes persist.
"The Yemeni Armed Forces will not hesitate to target all American warships in the Red Sea and in the Arabian Sea in retaliation to the aggression against our country. The Yemeni Armed Forces will continue to impose a naval blockade on the Israeli enemy and ban its ships in the declared zone of operations until aid and basic needs are delivered to the Gaza Strip."
The United Nations has called on all parties to cease "all military activity".
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In Tennis, Britain's Jack Draper has defeated Denmark's Holger Rune 6-2, 6-2 in the Indian Wells final.
It is the 23-year-old's first trophy at an ATP Masters event - the tier below the four Grand Slam tournaments.
His tournament performance will rewarded with his Top 10 debut, after defeated two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz and Americans Ben Shelton and Taylor Fritz.
Draper told the Tennis Channel, he felt focused and "in the zone" in the final.
"And it has taken me a lot to really knuckle down to put in the hard work I needed to do be a top player. And to win on this stage, a tournament I have watched since I was young watching all the greats here, just means the absolute world to me... Breathing techniques. Just zoning in on one little thing, instead of being distracted by everything around you. So that on that first ball, you are ready to be locked in - and to go for it."
