TRANSCRIPT
- Woman pulled alive from Mandalay apartment rubble more than a day after quake
- Labor vows to ban supermarket price gouging if re-elected
- Australia's men's and women's teams reach Hong Kong Sevens semifinals
In Myanmar, rescuers have pulled a woman alive from the wreckage of a collapsed apartment building in Mandalay, more than a day after a devastating earthquake hit the country.
There was applause as 30-year-old Phyu Lay Khaing was pulled out from the rubble of the Sky Villa Condominium.
Her husband, Ye Aung, embraced her as she put on a stretcher and transported to the hospital.
The shallow 7.7-magnitude quake struck northwest of Mandalay early Friday afternoon, killing at least 1,600 people.
The Red Cross says more than 90 people may still be trapped under the debris of the collapsed 12-storey apartment block.
Dr Kyi Minn is the national director of World Vision Myanmar.
He tells SBS it will take some time to get a full understanding of the extent of the damage.
"Relief activities might be hampered firstly, by the transportation. Because the road from Yangon to Mandalay is severely damaged. And also there is no air transportation. So we have to find out alternative way to get into the affected area. The immediate need is the portable water and the food items. And then later we need the shelter for those who lost their accommodation."
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Supermarkets face heavy fines under a proposal from Labor to make price gouging by supermarkets illegal, if the party is re-elected at the election on the 3rd of May.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has released the first inquiry into the country's supermarkets in 18 years, finding that the sector operated as an oligopoly where the control of pricing lies in the hands of a few sellers.
It did not conclude there had been instances of price-gouging - or in other words, the charging of excessively high prices.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says if re-elected he would legislate to make price-gouging by the supermarkets illegal.
He says laws exist to protect consumers from the practice overseas [[in UK, European Union, and dozens of states in the US]] and it is time that Australia also introduced similar laws.
"Australians deserve a fair go at the checkout and my government will hold the big supermarket chains to account. By the end of this year, we will introduce legislation to make supermarket price gouging illegal in Australia. We will inform it on the basis of overseas laws where that is in place as well. We want Australians to have this protection."
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The latest YouGov poll on the federal election shows voter sentiment at this stage favouring a hung parliament.
The statistical analysis based on 38,629 interviews finds the most likely result sees Labor best positioned to form government - however, with one seat short of majority.
Parties need to get 76 seats to govern in majority.
The Coalition is projected to win 60 seats, with Labor on 75, Independents on 11, Greens on 2, the Katter's Australian Party on 1; and the Centre Alliance party on 1.
Voters were asked: If a federal election for the House of Representatives was held tomorrow, and these parties were on the ballot in your electorate, how would you vote?
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Communities in Queensland have been hit with heavy rainfall and flash flooding just weeks after the devastation of Cyclone Alfred.
Personal hardship assistance has been activated, with concessional loans and freight subsidies to help primary producers in a number of western Queensland communities.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced more than $2 million in disaster funding for the region, while Opposition Leader Peter Dutton says he supports deploying the Australian Defence Force to assist, if required.
Meteorologist Jonathan How at the Bureau of Meteorology says conditions are easing.
"In Queensland, rain has now cleared the southeast and the south of the state. We are still seeing a couple of showers and storms anywhere north of Bundaberg up towards Rockhampton. But these are mainly along the coast and we could see some afternoon showers and thunderstorms all the way up into the tropics as well. But generally, for Queensland, easing conditions. Remaining quite cool across inland parts. But it will be quite a warm day across southeastern Queensland, getting up to 32 degrees in Brisbane - with sunny conditions there."
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The annual Aboriginal light festival 'Parrtjima', in its 10th year is celebrating the theme of Timelessness.
The 10-night festival begins on Friday in Alice Springs.
It features light installations, artworks, workshops that highlight the enduring connection between generations of First Nations Australians through music, song, and oral storytelling.
Parrtjima's director of cultural engagement Paul Ah Chee tells NITV Radio it is a milestone anniversary - and important artworks have been commissioned to acknowledge that.
"Showing a more contemporary sense of how Aboriginal women were a big part of working in the cattle industry. There is a whole lot of stuff around the different art forms that will be projected onto the range, the soil and the ground. We've got all of those elements which represent that sense of timelessness and how things are passed through generations."
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In sports, Australia's women's and men's teams have advanced to the Hong Kong Sevens semifinals.
A hat-trick of tries from the in-form Henry Paterson enabled the men's outfit to crush Great Britain 34-5 in their quarterfinal, while the youthful women's team, led by an inspired performance from Faith Nathan, enjoyed an equally emphatic 35-5 victory over the US.
Co-captain of the men's team, Henry Hutchison says he is super happy with the team's performance and their improvement throughout the tournament.
