A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability.
Welcome to SBS News in Easy English. I'm Greg Dyett.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has condemned the Liberal Party for opposing an Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
Mr Albanese says Opposition Leader Peter Dutton was part of a Liberal government that was in power for nearly a decade that did not advance the issues the party is now calling for.
"Everyone knows that for day one Peter Dutton, the person who walked out on the apology to Stolen Generations, who threatened to resign from the frontbench because Brendan Nelson was showing leadership in supporting the apology to Stolen Generations, is now walking away from his responsibility."
Israeli police have stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City, firing stun grenades at Palestinians hurling stones and firecrackers.
Palestinian militants in Gaza have responded with rocket fire on southern Israel, prompting repeated Israeli airstrikes.
New research has found that the telecommunications industry has overtaken social media as the most distrusted industry in Australia.
Market research company Roy Morgan surveyed twenty-five thousand Australians to determine levels of trust and distrust of about a thousand brands across 26 industries.
Across all industries Facebook was the most distrusted company, followed by Optus, then Telstra.
The Albanese government is working with First Nation communities to construct a 5-million-dollar plan to guide the protection of the endangered Greater Bilby.
The rabbit-like native mammal once inhabited two-thirds of Australia.
A plan to aid its recovery has been drawn up in consultation with Indigenous organisations and communities, conservation groups, zoos and wildlife experts.
Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek says First Nations people have a big role to play in rebuilding bilby populations.
"We need to work with First Nations custodians, Indigenous rangers and Indigenous land holders because most of the surviving Bilby populations are in Indigenous protected areas and other land managed by First Nations Australians.”
COVID-19 was the third leading cause of death among Australians in 2022.
New figures show over 20,000 more people died last year than would have if there was no pandemic.
Australia recorded 10,300 deaths directly attributed to COVID-19 in 2022, compared to 1,400 the year before.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns says controversial phone app TikTok will be banned on government devices across the state over cybersecurity concerns.
This follows similar decisions by the Commonwealth and several other states.
And former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is in hospital with reports from the country saying he is in intensive care.
The 86-year-old is being treated at a hospital in Milan.
I'm Greg Dyett and that's SBS News in Easy English.
