TRANSCRIPT
- Mediators are set to meet in Cairo for ceasefire talks
- The Liberal party retains a positive attitude despite loss in Dunkley
- Australia's Jessica Hull breaks her record for the 3000 metre race in Glasgow
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The Liberal Party says they are proud of yesterdays by-election results in the seat of Dunkley, despite a loss to Labor.
Shadow finance minister Jane Hume spoke to Sky News this morning about the results of the Dunkley by-election, which saw Labor candidate Jodie Belyea triumph over Liberal candidate and Frankston Mayor Nathan Conroy.
Ms Hume told Sky News the Liberals should be very optimistic about the next election.
"I think the Liberals have their tails up this morning. You know, Dunkley was not a marginal seat. 6.3% isn't marginal in anyone's language, but this morning it definitely is a marginal seat. In fact, it's one of the most marginal seats in Victoria. It was a really good campaign. We had a fantastic candidate. We left nothing on the field. We had all of our volunteers out there and it was a really good feeling in the room last night. So I think the Liberals should be proud and they should be really optimistic about our chances at the next election."
Shadow Immigration minister Dan Tehan told ABC Insiders this morning that the outcome was very positive for the Liberal Party.
" We've seen a swing of about 3.75 per cent Which for in a first term of a government the average is about 1.5 per cent for by elections. Normally, it's about three and a half percent. So this was a very good win. We had a great local candidate. we campaigned well, and I must say the feeling last night, especially for the Victorian Liberal Party was that we're back."
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Tasmania's Liberal Party is promising to upgrade the state's exhausted hospitals as the party formally launches its election campaign.
According to health data from January, 46 per cent of Tasmania's hospital emergency department presentations were not seen within the clinically recommended time.
Premier Jeremy Rockliff says that if a Liberal majority government is re-elected it will hire 44 doctors and 25 nurses at the Royal Hospital emergency department and undertake $187 million in capital upgrades.
Mr Rockliff also promises a doubling in size of the emergency department in Launceston General Hospital.
Recent polls indicate neither major party would be able to secure a majority government with over a third of voters set to support minor parties.
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Mediators are set to meet in Cairo as soon as possible as the search continues for an acceptable ceasefire agreement ahead of Ramadan.
US sources this morning announced that Israel has essentially agreed to the framework of an agreement which would result in a six week ceasefire and the release of the remaining hostages.
Hamas' position on the deal remains set on the assurances that a ceasefire must be the start of a process towards ending the war.
Egyptian sources say assurances have been given to Hamas about the terms of a permanent ceasefire being worked out in future phases of the deal.
Anti-government protests in Israel are continuing to pressure the government to change its approach to operations in Gaza, Amram Zahavi was among demonstrators protesting in Tel Aviv.
" I am against the government which behaves like the worst fascist that ever be. They studied everything that Germany did to us. We are doing now to the Palestinians, and that the only thing that I can do is demonstrate. I am also working about, bringing Bibi and Gallant and Gantz to (The) Hague."
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The Israeli military says it will conduct an exhaustive investigation into the killing of a large number of Palestinian people who were in line for critical aid in Gaza.
Gaza's health ministry is calling the attack a massacre and says 118 people were killed in Israels attack.
Israel disputes these figures, claiming Israel was involved in a humanitarian operation and that a majority of the deaths were caused by swarming crowds.
Despite evidence of Israel blocking critical aid into Rafah, as well as the continued presence of Israeli protesters blocking aid at Rafah's borders, Israel says there is no limit to the aid entering via Israel.
The United States is now resorting to airdropping limited amounts of food into Gaza following failed attempts at the border.
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A commercial shipping vessel attacked by the Houthi rebel group last month has sunk in the Red Sea and Yemen's government is warning of an environmental catastrophe caused by the ships cargo.
Carrying 42,000 tonnes of fertiliser, The Rubymar, a Belize flagged UK owned ship, will be the first vessel lost since the Houthi group began targeting commercial vessels in November.
Director of the Marine Science Station at the University of Jordan, Ali Al-Sawalmih, says the release of such a large quantity of fertilizer will pose serious threats to marine life.
The eco-system in the Red Sea features pristine coral reefs, coastal mangroves and diverse marine life.
Members of the Yemeni Houthi group say they are acting in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.
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To sport now, Australian Jessica Hull has broken her Australian and Oceanian 3000 metre record for the second time in a month but fell just short of winning her first global track medal.
The New South Wales runner ran an indoor landmark of eight minutes and 24.39 seconds in the fifteen lap final in Glasgow.
In a post-race interview with online running publication LetsRun.com, Hull said this of her race.
"It just probably exposes my last three tofour hundred a little bit, which I'm happy to learn on the second of March and hopefully by the time we get to Paris we can correct that. I raced it exactly as I wanted to and I just didn't have the legs in the last two laps and that's okay, I'd rather know that than to wonder that."
