TRANSCRIPT
- Treasurer Jim Chalmers says more needs to be done on meeting Closing the Gap targets
- Goverment says it is ready to crack down on underperforming childcare centres
- And in Rugby Union, Veteran Wallabies player Nic White has announces his retirement from professional rugby
Treasurer Jim Chalmers says more needs to be done on meeting Closing the Gap targets, following the release of the latest data that shows that only four of 19 targets are on track.
The latest figures from the Productivity Commission shows adult imprisonment rates, children in out-of-home care, suicide and childhood development are worsening.
Mr Chalmers has told ABC News that the Labor government is working with all stakeholders trying to turn these numbers around.
Independent senator Lidia Thorpe has urged the government to set up an oversight body to ensure the 339 recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody are in place.
Ms Thorpe told the Senate that there had been 441 First Nations deaths in custody since 2020.
"This is not a partisan issue, or one for state and territory alone. It is a national responsibility, a moral one. The Royal Commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody in 1991 made clear what needs to be done. Yet decades later, those recommendations remain largely unimplemented and ignored. Meanwhile, families continue to bury their loved ones."
Ms Thorpe also put forward a motion on extending sympathies to the families of the 17 First Nations people who have died in custody this year, including 24-year-old Walpiri man Kumanjayi White, who died in custody in Alice Springs in May.
Labor and the Greens passed the motion.
Nationals leader David Littleproud has opposed calls for Australia to recognise a Palestinian state, after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese held overnight talks with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to discuss the situation in Gaza.
Canada, the UK and France have moved towards recognising Palestinian statehood at the United Nations General Assembly in September.
The Albanese government has stated its intention to recognise Palestinian statehood but has laid out several preconditions, including the demilitarisation of Hamas, before committing.
Mr Littleproud says he's concerned about Hamas' influence over Palestinian authorities, and the risks the group poses to Israel's security.
"And the best thing it can happen is remove and eliminate that terrorist organisation, so that there can be a Palestinian state one day, but until that's eliminated, until that's removed, I don't think any Australians would want to live next to that, in the knowledge that potentially could relive what happen on the 7th of October."
Education Minister Jason Clare says his department is ready to crack down on underperforming childcare centres, as the Senate debates the government's early childhood bill.
The Greens tried to move an amendment to the bill in order to make early childhood education universal, while calling on the government to launch an independent national Eartly Childhood Education and Care Commission.
Labor and several Liberal senators voted against it.
Mr Clare says the Attorney General department will hold meetings to review national and state checks on working with children.
"The truth is there is no end to the work that we need to do, the Commonwealth government and state government to help to make sure that our children are safe in early education and care. There isa mountain of work to do, to rebuild the trust and confidence in the system that parents need to have confidence in."
Residents in New South Wales may soon welcome a new Great Koala National Park in the northern part of the state.
New South Wales Environment Minister Penny Sharpe says the announcement could be made soon after the cabinet meets in Tweed Heads this week.
The proposed park is a signature policy by the New South Wales Labor before the election.
The state government has already announced a new koala national park in south-west Sydney, securing around 1,000 hectares of land to protect the species.
Now in sports....
Veteran Wallabies player Nic White has announced his retirement from his professional rugby career at the end of 2025.
The scrum-half will play his last Test rugby against British and Irish Lions this weekend, in the No. 9 jersery for his 73rd Wallabies cap.
In a statement, Mr White said he has made some lifelong friendships and had the opportunity to see the world through the sport.
He added it felt like a right time for him to make way for young rugby players in the wake of the Rugby World Cup in 2027 in Australia.
