TRANSCRIPT
- A four-day truce between Israel and Hamas due to be underway
- Government recommendations for universal early childhood education
- Australian golf champion Cameron Smith prepares for a crucial career week
A long-anticipated four-day pause in the fighting between Israel and Hamas is due to be underway now.
Under the deal, Hamas will release 50 hostages from Gaza over four days and Israel will free 150 Palestinian prisoners.
The World Food Programme says it has more than 100 trucks with around 1,300 tonnes of food supplies ready to enter Gaza once the truce comes into effect.
Fighting has continued in the lead up to the pause, which will be the first since the conflict began nearly seven weeks ago.
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A new report from the Productivity Commission has found children who attend early childhood education and care perform better at school and later in life.
It suggests growing demand in a sector which is already chronically understaffed means universal childcare can't be achieved without first addressing workforce shortages.
The report also found higher attendance at childcare allows parents, specifically mothers, to return to the workforce.
But some Australian parents say that's not financially realistic.
Male: "I think it made things obviously a little bit easier to afford. It's still quite expensive at the moment, though, and the process is relatively complex."
Female: "You want to return back to the workforce, but it's not really motivating this way. Even like I'm working four days a week, and if I would ever want to go back five days a week, it's just not really, there's not enough subsidies."
The report also finds Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are under-represented in early education and childcare settings because services are unaffordable, unavailable or fail to offer culturally safe environments.
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Opposition Leader Peter Dutton says Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has given people smugglers a green light to resume operations.
Mr Dutton has criticised the government for not providing details about a group of 12 asylum seekers who arrived by boat on an isolated and rugged stretch of the Kimberley coastline.
The former immigration and home affairs minister who oversaw Operation Sovereign Borders, which has since been dismantled, has accused the Prime Minister of catastrophic failure after the vessel made landfall in Western Australia.
"This is the problem with a Labor Government. The people smugglers hear these messages. They hear that the government has gone soft the government's abandoned operation sovereign borders. And the tragedy of that is that you'll end up with women and children back in detention, you'll end up with people drowning at sea again and our detention centres full of people who want to call Australia their home, you have to have an orderly migration programme and the government if they reopen people smuggling trade then it will only be followed by tragedy."
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Incoming New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Luxon has announced the deputy prime minister role will be shared between two leaders.
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters will be Mr Luxon's deputy for the first half of the term, while A-C-T leader David Seymour will take over the job in June 2025.
Unveiling his new Coalition government, Mr Luxon has announced Mr Peters will reprise his position as foreign minister, while former National leader Judith Collins will become defence minister and attorney-general.
The incoming Prime Minister has pledged to improve the cost-of-living crisis.
"Our government will rebuild the economy to ease the cost of living and to deliver tax relief and to increase the prosperity of all New Zealanders. Our government will restore law and order and personal responsibility so that Kiwis are safer in their own communities. And our government will deliver better public services so they are more efficient, more effective and more responsive to the Kiwis who need them. And our government will strengthen democracy. We now have a very comprehensive and ambitious programme to deliver these goals.”
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And in golf,
Australian P-G-A Championship winner Cameron Smith will eye a bounce-back round to survive the cut in Brisbane.
The defending champion and warm pre-tournament favourite has shot a two-over 73 at Royal Queensland.
The cut line was one-under early, meaning Smith likely needs at least a three-under round when he returns to the riverside layout to feature over the weekend.
