Treasurer labels Coalition nuclear plans ‘economic insanity’ ahead of expected detail announcement

Coalition plans to build seven nuclear power plants are “economic insanity”, Jim Chalmers says, ahead of a speech by the opposition leader unveiling details behind the policy.

The federal opposition has floated a plan to build seven nuclear reactors across five states, should they win the next election, with the first to be built by 2035 to 2037 at the earliest.

The proposed reactors would be built in areas with existing coal-fired power stations, including the Hunter Valley and Lithgow in NSW, Victoria’s Latrobe Valley, Collie in Western Australia and Port Augusta in South Australia.

Peter Dutton is expected to provide more information about the proposal in a major speech to the Committee for Economic Development of Australia on Monday. The treasurer said the Coalition’s plan would not solve energy issues.

Peter Dutton’s nuclear fantasy is economic insanity. It costs more, it will push power prices up, it will take longer.

He needs to come clean tomorrow in this speech: what will it cost, what will it mean for power bills, how will he pay for it, and what will Australia do for the decades it will take to build these reactors.

– AAP

Commonwealth expands free shingles vaccine to all immunocompromised adults

Immunocompromised Australians will have free access to the shingles vaccine in an expansion of the immunisation program.

The free vaccine program will now be made available to anyone over 18 who is immunocompromised due to health conditions or a side effect of treatment.

The program was previously available only to immunocompromised people at high-risk, along with people over 65 and Indigenous Australians over 50.

It’s estimated more than 200,000 people will now have access to the free vaccine following the expansion.

The health minister, Mark Butler, told ABC Insiders the federal government would spend more than $57m in expanding the vaccine program.

Griffith University’s Prof Paul van Buynder said the expanded access scheme will make a difference, particularly as people with compromised immune systems are two times more at risk of developing shingles than those without.

The shingles vaccine can help minimise the impact of this potentially debilitating disease and its complications, like post-herpetic neuralgia. Those with immunocompromised conditions should speak with their doctor or specialist for further information about their eligibility for the [National Immunisation Program] funded shingles vaccine, and whether it is appropriate for them.

Dr Alan Paul, executive country medical director at GSK Australia, the company that manufactures the vaccine, said the decision “is evidence that the government is committed to providing more protection for those Australian adults considered at increased risk”.

Vaccination is recognised as one of the most cost-effective public health interventions that delivers benefits in the immediate term and into the future.

– with AAP

Crossbenchers urge Albanese to ditch Howard-era native forest logging exemptions

Independent MPs and a crossbench senator are trying to increase the pressure on the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, to remove Howard-era exemptions that allow native forest logging to operate outside national environment laws.

The government has been negotiating over reforms to the laws in the Senate, where Greens and crossbenchers David Pocock and Lidia Thorpe have been pushing for an end to the exemptions for logging covered by regional forest agreements.

The independent MP for Mackellar in New South Wales, Dr Sophie Scamps, wrote to Albanese on Thursday urging him to remove the exemptions, saying without that step it would be “difficult to credibly say that your government has kept your promise” to fix broken environment laws.

Co-signatories to the letter, seen by Guardian Australia, were Allegra Spender, Zali Steggall, Zoe Daniel, Monique Ryan, Kylea Tink, Kate Chaney and Thorpe.

Two years ago the environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, said it was “time to change” laws that did not protect the environment and said new legislation could be introduced in 2023.

For more on this story, read the exclusive report from Guardian Australia’s Graham Readfern:

Rowland says still no decision on gambling ad ban

Paul Karp

Chalmers says inflation has ‘roughly’ halved since Labor took office

Paul Karp

Albanese confident in Quad’s future amid American leadership cloud and tensions with India

Speaking to reporters after the Quad summit, Anthony Albanese stressed the importance of the grouping and the reinforced that it will endure despite leadership changes that may occur after Joe Biden leaves the US presidency.

I’m absolutely confident. And the fact that we have gathered here in Delaware – President Biden’s home state – is an indication of that. All four nations are committed to the Quad playing an important role.

The question of the future of the grouping was an open question going into the summit, in addition to how it may facilitate diplomatic manoeuvring on the sidelines.

One question concerned the status of Australia’s relationship with India. Albanese had yet to meet privately with India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi. When asked, Albanese brushed off concerns there may be an issue, saying he had secured a “quick discussion” adding the length of the meeting was “a matter of logistics”.

It was previously flagged before the Quad meeting that Albanese would raise concerns about the presence of an Indian spy cell in Australia. The existence of the spy cell – the “nest of spies” – was revealed in 2020 after members would caught trying to steal secrets about sensitive defence projects.

Asked whether Australian personnel may find themselves serving on coastguard vessels in the South China Sea as part of the proposed observer program – a situation that may put them in harm’s way if there was an incident – the prime minister said “those details will be worked out”.

Maritime and health partnerships announced at Quad summit

The Quad meeting has wrapped with the grouping expanding its focus of operations.

Anthony Albanese met with the US president, Joe Biden, and the prime ministers of India and Japan, Narendra Modi and Fumio Kishida, the leaders seeking to deepen their cooperation.

Among the initiatives announced at the summit were:

• An initiative to reduce the number of cancer deaths in the Indo-Pacific and other public health measures such as increased HPV vaccinations to fight cervical cancer;

• The expansion of the Quad Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA) to build existing capabilities and increase training to counter illicit maritime activities.

• An effort to build the ability for humanitarian assistance to be airlifted where needed to better respond to natural disasters in the Indo-Pacific region;

• A Coast Guard Cooperation agreement to create an observer program that would allow coastguard personnel to serve on vessels from Quad member companies.

One in 20 Australian adults have experienced reproductive coercion and abuse

For the first time, researchers in Australia have estimated the national prevalence of behaviour used to control a person’s reproductive autonomy.

Reproductive coercion and abuse (RCA) can include interference with contraception by a partner, forced contraception or sterilisation, and control of pregnancy outcomes by forced abortion or forced pregnancy.

Questions about these experiences were added to the country’s largest and most comprehensive study of sexual and reproductive health, conducted once a decade.

For more on this story, read the full report by Guardian Australia’s Natasha May:

Health minister wants prosecutions for illegal vape sellers ‘pretty soon’

Just circling back to the conversation with the federal health minister, Mark Butler, he was asked whether stores that will continue to sell vapes despite a ban will face prosecution.

Butler:

It’s quite clear that some convenience and tobacconist stores are breaking the law … we are going to have to switch to a far more assertive approach. There are very serious penalties in the federal laws now, up to seven years in prison and fines of $2m. And pretty soon I want to see prosecutions starting to be prepared by authorities.

Mark Butler says the demand for mental health care has been growing over the last two decades and the government “wants to go upstream and look at some of the impacts that social media and other things like that are having” on young people which are considered to be the source of this demand.

And that’s a wrap.

National GP shortage showing possible ‘green shoots of recovery’, Butler says

Butler says he is “desperately worried” about a shortage of GPs working within the Australian health system.

One in two medical graduates would choose general practice, and it is now one in seven.

The minister says 20% more medical students chose general practice in 2024 than last year.

So there may be some green shoots of recovery.

He says the government has been plugging the gaps by bringing health professionals from overseas, but cabinet has also directed all health ministers to come up with a “GP attraction strategy” to sure up the “backbone of our healthcare system”.