A daily 5 minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability.
Welcome to SBS News in Easy English. I'm ... Catriona Stirrat.
The federal government is again denying the proposed Indigenous Voice To Parliament is a distraction from the cost of living crisis.
The Australian Electoral Commission has today released the official pamphlets for both the yes and no cases on the issue.
The yes case pamphlet for the referendum emphasises the opportunities the Indigenous Voice To Parliament would give the next generation of Indigenous Australians.
The no case pamphlet says the establishment of the Voice would be risky and divide Australians.
Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek says the government doesn't have to choose between economic imperatives and the Voice.
"Yeah, I think Australians can walk and chew gum at the same time. Of course, cost of living is top of mind for our government. But we can also thinking about the sort of nation we want Australia to be. We can also take the time to think about and talk to other Australians, about the fact that, in this country, we have 65,000 years of continuous culture and history that all of us can be proud of, and that should be reflected in our founding document."
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is warning outcomes for Indigenous Australians will not improve if the country votes no.
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Commonwealth Games CEO Craig Phillips has criticised the Victorian government's decision to axe hosting rights of the 2026 Commonwealth Games.
Premier Daniel Andrews says the Games will not go ahead after cost estimates increased to as much as $7 billion.
Mr Phillips says the figures are a "gross exaggeration" and not reflective of the operational costs presented to the organising committee board in June.
Two billion dollars will still be put into the state's regions, including one billion dollars for more social and affordable housing.
Mr Phillips has welcomed the continued infrastructure commitment but says international committees should think twice about doing business with the state.
"We also welcome the announced commitment to regional housing, a critical legacy component of the Games wholeheartedly supported and encouraged from the outset by CGA. The Victorian Government however has jeopardised Melbourne and Victoria's standing as a sporting capital of the world."
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The federal government has announced plans to improve the nation's recycling systems, including a multi-million dollar investment into infrastructure in New South Wales.
Nine projects will be funded with an $11 million investment, jointly with the NSW government, to improve private recycling infrastructure and its capacity to remanufacture materials by more than 20,000 tonnes per year.
Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek says the government will also look to create a national system to better track recycled products through their full life cycle.
Ms Plibersek says just 12 per cent of plastics were recycled in Australia in 2020 to 2021.
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A new drug is being described as a major breakthrough in the fight against Alzheimer's, after a global trial confirmed it slows cognitive decline.
A trial of 1,700 patients, including 16 Australians, has found that Eli Lilly's experimental drug, donanemab, can slow progression of memory and thinking problems by about one third.
The treatment works better in earlier stages, as the rate doubles to 60 per cent if the drug is started when patients are only mildly impaired.
The US authorities are expected to decide whether to approve it later this year, while Australia's medical authorities are also considering the drug for approval.
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A new report has found employees are spending more than quarter of their time at work on performative tasks that give them the appearance of being busy and productive.
A survey of more than 2,000 Australian workers by work messaging platform Slack has found automating routine tasks boosts employee productivity by 83 per cent.
It's also found the companies who use Artificial Intelligence are nearly 50 per cent more likely to report higher productivity.
90 per cent of workers surveyed said feeling happy and engaged is a key driver of their productivity.
Slack's Derek Laney says many companies are still focusing on the wrong things, to the annoyance of their staff.
"Well, many companies are stuck in old ways of thinking. Like, they're observing visible activity and they're looking at who's got their green light in Slack. You know, they are worried about the wrong things. Employees don't like this, as well. They're saying: we want to be focused on getting our jobs done, we want to be focused on the outcome."
I’m Catriona Stirrat, this is SBS News in Easy English.
