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State Parliamentary Budget Office estimates Labor’s pledges would improve bottom line by $1.4bn compared to the Coalition’s $97.2m

Liberal MP says she has ‘done nothing wrong’ after Victorian opposition leader John Pesutto calls her position ‘untenable’

New highs reached in NSW, Victoria and South Australia while above-average temperatures predicted from April to June

Ma Ying-jeou’s tour is the first since the end of the civil war in 1949 and comes amid intensifying efforts by Beijing to subsume Taiwan as a provinceMa Ying-jeou, Taiwan’s former president, will visit China this month in the first visit by a current or former leader since the defeated Nationalist Chinese government fled to the island at the end of the civil war in 1949.The high profile visit has been presented by Ma and his party, the opposition Kuomintang (KMT), as a chance to boost friendly cross-strait exchanges at a time of extreme disconnection, which has been driven by Beijing’s plans to annex Taiwan and exacerbated by the pandemic. However it is also likely to fuel domestic political division between the KMT and ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) over relations with China. Continue reading...

Focus group of people living in Tory constituency suggests party’s electoral recovery has not emergedVoters in a bellwether south-west England constituency are willing to back Labour at the next election as the “dead-walking Conservative government” has failed to ease the pressure on working people and struggling public services.In Sir Robert Buckland MP’s South Swindon seat, Jeremy Hunt’s spring budget felt like a “kick in the teeth” as the highest earners were rewarded with a huge pensions giveaway, while the working class received no gains. Continue reading...

Party calls for urgent extra funding as it finds there are hundreds of old X-ray machines, CT scanners and radiotherapy machines in useFour in 10 NHS hospitals in England are using outdated medical equipment including 37-year-old X-ray machines, according to research from the Lib Dems, who are calling for extra funding to replace outdated devices.NHS hospitals are using hundreds of old X-ray machines, CT scanners and radiotherapy machines, with some dating back to the 1980s, according to research based on freedom of information requests to 69 hospital trusts. Of these, 41 said they had at least one X-ray machine that was more than 20 years old. Continue reading...

Martin Hewitt, outgoing NPCC chair, says new leader deserves time to turn things around after series of scandalsThe Metropolitan police has no “God-given right” to exist in its current size and form if it cannot regain the trust and confidence it has haemorrhaged after a series of scandals, the leader of Britain’s police chiefs has said.Martin Hewitt, chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, said that the new Met commissioner, Mark Rowley, had been unflinching in taking on the challenges facing Britain’s biggest force and deserved time to turn it around. Continue reading...

Tribunal makes misconduct findings against Dr Lee Gruner, saying she failed to ensure clinical services were delivered safely at Bacchus Marsh hospital

Nanaia Mahuta says she will raise concerns over Ukraine and human rights issues as well as ways the two countries can cooperateNew Zealand’s foreign minister, Nanaia Mahuta, will leave for China on Tuesday in the first visit to Beijing by a New Zealand minister since 2019.Mahuta, who will meet her counterpart Qin Gang, said she would raise New Zealand’s concerns about key security challenges at the meeting, such as the “illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine”, and advocate for outcomes reflecting New Zealand’s values on human rights issues. Continue reading...

Former marine pilot fighting extradition to US on charges of arms trafficking and money laundering says case is a ‘test of Australian sovereignty’

NSW Labor opposition has committed to beginning a treaty process with state’s Indigenous people if it wins 2023 election

Former senator, who is mounting federal court challenge, says delays in the review process are crippling the system

Investigators believe a faulty lithium-ion battery exploded, badly damaging Eastgardens house

Russian president lauds Xi ahead of meeting, while Beijing calls for a ‘rational way’ out of the crisisVladimir Putin has praised “good old friend” Xi Jinping in a newspaper article published in China on the eve of a state visit by the Chinese president that will reaffirm the leaders’ strong ties and provide Moscow with an opportunity to emphasise that it has not been isolated by the global community.The two leaders, who are believed to share a strong personal relationship, will meet one-on-one on Monday, followed by an informal lunch, Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said. Continue reading...

The 66-year-old actor, who also appeared in Chopper and Neighbours, died while snorkelling at Fremantle’s South beach

Ally says he would ‘never rule out’ former PM’s return as he prepares to face the privileges committeeBoris Johnson may emerge from a televised grilling next week over claims he misled parliament about Partygate unscathed and go on to lead the Conservative party again, a former cabinet minister has said.Kwasi Kwarteng, who was made business secretary by Johnson before a short-lived stint as chancellor under Liz Truss – which ended after his notorious mini-budget – said he would “never rule out” a return by Johnson to frontline politics. Continue reading...

Historian Dan Snow pleads for person to come forward who removed head from animal washed up on Lepe beachAn appeal has been launched to recover the head of a rare smalltooth sand tiger shark after the fish was washed up on a Hampshire beach.The 2 metre (6ft) long shark was initially found on Lepe beach on Friday. Continue reading...

New figures reveal only 100 hospital doctors left NHS in 2022 due to voluntary early retirement, despite claims by Jeremy HuntThe number of hospital doctors that could be helped by Jeremy Hunt’s pensions giveaway has been cast into doubt, after new figures revealed that only 100 of them left the NHS last year due to voluntary early retirement.Criticism has mounted about the measure announced in the budget, which would scrap the up to 55% tax levied on lifetime pension pots worth just over £1m and raise the annual allowance threshold from £40,000 to £60,000. Continue reading...

Anger among European Research Group over vote on key part of Windsor framework for Northern IrelandRishi Sunak faces a reckoning from hardline Brexiters on his backbenches who are prepared to follow the Democratic Unionist party in voting against a key element of his “Windsor framework” that overhauls the Northern Ireland protocol.Anger is rising among those in the European Research Group at ministers using a vote on a statutory instrument to implement the “Stormont brake” on Wednesday, as a proxy for MPs to have their say on the whole deal. Continue reading...

Discovery of wall paintings of national significance in Micklegate flat is ‘bonkers’, says Luke BudworthA man renovating his kitchen has found a 400-year-old wall painting of “national significance” in his York flat.Parts of the friezes, dating back to about 1660, were found by kitchen fitters in Luke Budworth’s flat on Micklegate in York city centre last year and have since been fully uncovered. Continue reading...

In wake of chief executive’s resignation, Scottish finance secretary says decisions being taken by ‘too few people’Scottish National party members feel disempowered and in doubt about whether their party is genuinely democratic, Kate Forbes, one of the frontrunners to replace Nicola Sturgeon, has said.The Scottish finance secretary told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg the dramatic resignation of the SNP’s chief executive, Peter Murrell, who is also Sturgeon’s husband, on Saturday amid a transparency row was a direct result of decisions being taken by “too few people”. Continue reading...

Macron’s decision to push through changes without vote led to widespread protests over weekendThe French government will face a no-confidence vote on Monday, as MPs said they feared for their safety, strike action intensified and police banned demonstrators from parts of central Paris after Emmanuel Macron’s decision to push through an unpopular rise in the pension age without a parliament vote.Opposition politicians have filed two no-confidence motions in protest at the government using controversial executive powers to raise the state pension age from 62 to 64. Continue reading...

Exclusive: In letter to Rishi Sunak, Unite says it is disappointed at lack of plans to tackle ‘serious threats’ facing sectorThe government’s failure to support the ailing UK steel industry in last week’s budget has put thousands of jobs at risk, the prime minister has been told.In a letter to Rishi Sunak, shared with the Guardian, the trade union Unite said it was “disappointed” that the government had not announced plans to tackle the “serious threats facing the sector”. Continue reading...

Oliver Dowden says it ‘won’t be easy’ to fund estimated £1.5bn offer for nurses and ambulance staffA breakthrough pay rise offer for nurses and ambulance workers may have to be funded within the existing NHS budget, a senior cabinet minister has admitted.Footing the bill – estimated to be about £1.5bn – “won’t be easy”, according to Oliver Dowden, the chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster. Continue reading...

Party leader sets out no new policies in York but focuses on ‘community politics’ and proportional representationThe Conservatives are “a bunch of mutinous pirates” more interested in squabbling over self-advancement than helping the British people, Ed Davey has told the first in-person Liberal Democrat conference since he became leader more than three years ago.In a speech setting out the party’s main arguments before May’s crucial local elections, and looking ahead to a general election expected next year, Davey focused almost all his fire on a Tory government he said had “reached the end of the road”. Continue reading...

Jim Chalmers says figures based on Treasury projections reveals opposition’s ‘deception’

Move comes after UK government bans app on government devices over fears of data being accessed by Chinese stateThe BBC has urged its staff to delete the Chinese-own social media app TikTok from corporate mobile phones.Guidance to BBC staff circulated on Sunday said: “We don’t recommend installing TikTok on a BBC corporate device unless there is a justified business reason. If you do not need TikTok for business reasons, TikTok should be deleted.” Continue reading...

Streetlights and more than 100 other outdoor lights will be changed in Hawnby in the North York MoorsAn entire village in North Yorkshire is turning down its lights to provide a better view of the Milky Way.Hawnby is the first village in England to swap its streetlights and more than 100 other outdoor lights for dark skies-friendly lighting in a bid to cut light pollution and allow residents and visitors to see the stars. Continue reading...

Alerts with siren-like beeps can be sent during events such as severe flooding, fires or extreme weatherA new government public warning system, in which alerts are sent to mobile phone users about events that may put their life in danger, has been launched in the UK with a nationwide trial planned next month.The Cabinet Office said the emergency alert system could be deployed in events such as severe flooding, fires or extreme weather, noting that similar systems had been credited with saving lives in countries including the Netherlands and Japan. Continue reading...

Jeremy Hunt has been told his budget giveaway will have a ‘catastrophic’ effect without more fundingA key plan to expand free childcare will “absolutely guarantee” the closure of more nurseries, the departure of staff and a fall in places if there is not a substantial increase in the funding behind it, Jeremy Hunt has been warned.An eye-catching pledge for a huge expansion of free childcare provision was a main giveaway in the chancellor’s budget last week. However, while childcare providers have welcomed extra help for parents, nurseries across England, speaking to the Observer, said that the plan risked having a “catastrophic” impact on the sector without an overhauling of central funding. Continue reading...

Refugee Council’s claims on impact of her bill come as the home secretary, on a visit to Rwanda, faces pressure from her own partySuella Braverman’s plan to stop the Channel crossings would see as many as 45,000 children effectively barred from refugee status in the UK, the Observer has been told.The claims are made in a forthcoming Refugee Council report analysing the overall impact of the illegal migration bill, which reveals the possible extent of children who could have their asylum claims deemed inadmissible under the new laws. The news comes as the home secretary is facing a mounting rebellion from both wings of the Tory party over her controversial plans to tackle the Channel crossings, amid growing concerns over their impact on children and trafficking victims. Continue reading...

Defence minister says Aukus deal does not include arrangement to join US in a potential future conflict with China

Poll finds ITV news is more trusted source of information and trust in BBC has slippedThe BBC has slipped behind ITV as Britain’s most trusted news source in the wake of the row over Gary Lineker’s suspension, according to a new poll for the Observer.The corporation remains one of the most trusted providers, according to the latest Opinium poll. Two in five trust BBC News and 26% distrust it, giving it a “net trust” of +14%. ITV recorded a net trust score of +23%. Continue reading...

US president joined by German chancellor in support of action taken after Russia’s abduction of Ukrainian childrenThe US president, Joe Biden, has backed the International Criminal Court’s decision to issue an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin over his role in the abduction of Ukrainian children, saying it was “justified”.Germany’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, was among other international leaders who welcomed the decision, saying on Saturdayyesterday that it showed “nobody is above the law”. Continue reading...

Ex-prime minister due at televised Commons committee hearing, with legal team about to publish new evidence backing his claimsA defiant Boris Johnson is preparing an extraordinary televised defence of his actions during the Partygate scandal, as his allies this weekend accused the parliamentary inquiry into the affair of relying on weak evidence compiled by a former civil servant recruited by the Labour party.With a potentially explosive appearance at the Commons privileges committee due on Wednesday, the Observer can reveal that the former PM’s legal team intends to publish written evidence, including new witness statements, supporting Johnson’s claim that he did not knowingly mislead MPs over lockdown parties – as well as examples of the advice he was given at the time. Continue reading...

Labor to start final week of NSW election campaign by continuing pursuit of Perrottet government over its privatisation record

No matter who wins the election, the task of tackling clogged roads and Sydney’s tolling mess will be immense

After raising $350K, a group of Bega electorate residents provided temporary units for locals, but long-term investment is needed to provide more permanent accommodation

British singer was billed to perform on Saturday alongside Cyndi Lauper and New Zealand singer John StevensSir Rod Stewart has cancelled a performance in Australia after being told he has a “viral infection”.The 78-year-old singer-songwriter, who has had six No 1 hits in the UK charts including Baby Jane and Maggie May, was due to sing at the festival A Day on the Green in Mt Duneed Estate, Geelong. Continue reading...

Presenter will host live FA Cup match on Saturday evening in first appearance since suspensionGary Lineker is to return to TV screens for the first time since his BBC suspension, joking about having had a “quiet” week.The broadcaster, 62, was taken off air last weekend for a tweet criticising the language used by ministers when discussing the government’s asylum policy. Continue reading...

Concerns grow after 67 cases of botulism poisoning in past three weeks linked to clinics in Istanbul and İzmirDesperate patients are seeking risky weight-loss treatments in Turkey because of unacceptable NHS waiting times, a surgeon has said.Ahmed Ahmed, a consultant bariatric surgeon at Imperial College healthcare trust and the treasurer of the British Obesity and Metabolic Surgery Society, said there had been a notable increase in patients presenting with complications after undergoing surgery abroad. Continue reading...

Privileges committee rebuffs lawyer’s request to give evidence alongside former prime ministerBoris Johnson may be the only witness called by the privileges committee for its investigation into whether he misled parliament over Partygate, as the inquiry has rebuffed his lawyer’s request to give evidence alongside him.The former prime minister is preparing to appear at a televised hearing on Wednesday. The length of the grilling will depend on how much he says. Continue reading...

Melbourne forecast to reach 37C while northern regions of the state could exceed 40C. This blog is now closed

David Shoebridge says legalising the drug would bring in $28bn in tax revenue in first decade

The 2023 civilian gallantry list includes four people who tackled the terrorist behind 2019 terror attackMore than a dozen people who risked their lives trying to save others are to be recognised for their bravery, it has been announced.The 15 named on the 2023 civilian gallantry list include a man who died intervening in an armed attack, a woman who saved an elderly neighbour from a burning building, and several people who tackled the terrorist behind the 2019 London Bridge attack. Each will be awarded either the Queen’s gallantry medal or the Queen’s commendation for bravery – the final such awards to be named after the monarch who died this year. Continue reading...

Murray Foote had described the reports, later revealed to be fact, as ‘drivel’ but opposition parties say he is ‘fall guy’ for hierarchyThe head of communications for the Scottish National party has resigned amid an escalating row over membership figures, as opposition parties described him as “a fall guy for the SNP hierarchy”.Murray Foote announced on Friday evening that he had resigned after he denied reports about falling party membership figures that were in fact accurate. Continue reading...

President introduces former Ireland full-back Rob Kearney, a relative, at White House St Patrick’s Day eventJoe Biden has wished the Ireland rugby union team luck in their Grand Slam game against England in Dublin on Saturday.On Friday, St Patrick’s Day, Biden welcomed the taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, to the White House for a traditional visit and talks. Continue reading...

Negotiations with teachers begin and junior doctors also agree to formal talks following action this weekRishi Sunak is preparing to make fresh concessions to end months of debilitating public sector strikes, as negotiations with teachers began and junior doctors agreed to formal talks.With No 10 now keen to see all the disputes resolved in the coming weeks, talks between teaching unions and the Department for Education started on Friday and are expected to continue through the weekend. On Friday night the Department of Health and Social Care said the British Medical Association representing junior doctors has accepted an offer of pay talks. Continue reading...

The actor whose credits also include sci-fi series Fringe and action thriller White House Down has died of natural causesLance Reddick, actor known for roles in The Wire and the John Wick franchise, has died at the age of 60.According to multiple outlets, his representative confirmed that he died of natural causes at his home in Los Angeles. The actor had been recently doing interviews for his role in John Wick: Chapter 4, released next week. Earlier this week, he chose not to attend the film’s New York premiere. Continue reading...

Contamination may have killed one person and injured others, some of whom had eyes removedUS authorities have recalled a brand of eyedrops contaminated with a drug-resistant bacterial contamination that may have killed one person and injured 68 others, a small number of whom have to have the affected eye surgically removed.Both the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued an advisory against the use of EzriCare Artificial Tears, warning that they may be linked to an outbreak of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Continue reading...