TRANSCRIPT:
- Israeli begins the first stages of its assault on Gaza City..
- The final day of the productivity roundtable set to begin, with a focus on budget sustainability and tax reform.
- Dylan Shiel is set to play one last game for Essendon tonight against Carlton at the MCG.
An Israeli military spokesman says Israel has begun the first stages of its planned assault on Gaza City.
Israel's military said on Wednesday that it will call up tens of thousands of reservists and extend the service of others ahead of an expanded military operation it will carry out in Gaza City.
Defence Minister Israel Katz approved plans to begin a new phase of operations in some of Gaza’s most densely populated areas.
The plan, which is expected to receive the chief of staff's final approval in the coming days, includes calling up 60,000 reservists and extending the service of 20,000 others who are currently serving.
IDF spokesperson Brigadier General Effie Defrin said Israeli forces were already holding the outskirts of Gaza City.
"We will deepen the damage to Hamas and Gaza city. A stronghold of governmental and military terror and the terrorist organisation. We will deepen the damage to the terror infrastructure above and below the ground and sever the population's dependence on Hamas."
The conflict escalated when Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing roughly 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251.
More than 62,122 Palestinians have been killed during Israel's offensive, Gaza’s Health Ministry said Monday.
Russia says it must be part of any discussion on security guarantees for Ukraine, and has downplayed the likelihood of an imminent summit with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, tempering hopes for a quick peace deal.
NATO military chiefs held a virtual summit on security guarantees for Ukraine overnight its chair Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone saying it was a great, candid discussion.
But Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov earlier warned that seriously discussing security guarantees without its involvement was, in his words, a utopia and a road to nowhere.
He also cast doubt on an imminent meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart, saying that any summit between them must be prepared in the most meticulous way so it doesn't deteriorate the situation surrounding the conflict.
Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers says participants at the economic roundtable hope to come up with better regulation around home construction, in the final day of the forum in Canberra.
The productivity roundtable will today focus on the issues of budget sustainability and tax reform.
According to the Productivity Commission, one key issue affecting Australia's productivity is the regulatory burden in the National Construction Code.
Dr Chalmers says regulation around building has to become more efficient without compromising standards.
"Better regulation, making sure regulation is serving a useful purpose. Making sure approvals can be quicker without ignoring our responsibility to our communities or to the environment, how can we quicken the pace of the approval so that we can build more of the stuff that we want to see in the economy."
Independent M-P Allegra Spender says Australia has around 60 per cent of migrants who are not working to their full capacity, and those are in critical areas, such as construction.
The Victorian government has announced a child safety overhaul following an independent review that revealed systemic failings, underfunding and outdated practices within the early education sector.
Jacinta Allan's government had commissioned the Rapid Child Safety Review after serious allegations of child sexual abuse by former childcare worker Joshua Dale Brown.
"This review will reform childcare safety practices, it goes to the hiring of staff, the safety of children reform of the sector. It also builds on the work that we have already taken, to ban personal devices in childcare centres and also to establish a Victorian register (of childcare work)."
The report was delivered to the government last week - with 22 recommendations, including strengthening Work with Children Checks, which the report found were not fit for purpose.
Victorian Greens spokesperson for Early Childhood Anasina Gray-Barberio says the real test is whether Labor gives a new regulator the independence and funding to hold responsible corporations to account - as that’s what Victorian families deserve.
And in AFL,
Dylan Shiel is set to play one last game for Essendon tonight with the veteran named to face Carlton at the M-C-G.
The AFL's Gettable reported that Shiel will not be at the Bombers next season, in what has been a mutual decision between the player and the club to part ways.
The 32-year-old may play on next season if he can find another suitor.
Shiel, who missed last week's loss to St Kilda due to suspension, has been recalled to face the Blues alongside skipper Zach Merrett, who will celebrate his 250th AFL game.
