More than 1m vapes in total seized after largest operation in Australian history
Natasha May
In Melbourne, 500,000 vapes have been seized in the largest single operation in Australian history, the health minister says.
The joint operation between the drugs regulator and Victoria police seized the vapes with an estimated street value of over $15m.
The health minister, Mark Butler, says more than 611,000 vape products have been seized at the border since new vaping laws came into effect in March banning importation unless the importer has a licence and permit.
The latest seizure brings that total to more than 1m, he said.
The next round of reforms currently before federal parliament would force vape stores to close by preventing the domestic manufacture, advertisement, supply and commercial possession of non-prescription vapes.
Butler said:
Our coordinated efforts are working to control a product that has hooked a whole new generation on nicotine.
Now we need parliament to pass our legislation to return vaping to its original purpose of helping hardened smokers to quit – as prescribed by their doctor and purchased at a pharmacy like any other prescription.
Hundreds honour Westfield victims with paddle-out at Bondi beach
Hundreds of people have participated in a paddle-out at Bondi beach at dawn to honour the victims of the Westfield stabbing tragedy.
Hundreds honour Westfield stabbing victims with paddle-out at Bondi beach - video
This comes as the first funeral for one of the victims, 47-year-old Jade Young, will take place today.
The community paddle-out, held at dawn this morning, was supported by local sporting organisations including Bronte Surf Club, where Young was a member.
Members of the paddle-out form a giant heart. Photograph: Steven Saphore/EPA
Hundreds gather in a circle in the water off Bondi Beach at dawn, commemorating the Westfield Bondi Junction victims. Photograph: Steven Saphore/AAP
People gather at dawn to pay their respects to those killed in the Bondi Junction stabbing tragedy. Photograph: Steven Saphore/AAP
The Bondi Girls Surfriders wrote on Instagram that paddle-outs are a time-honoured tradition originating from Hawaii for surfers to gather on the water and pay tribute to a life, or lives, lost. They wrote:
This involves surfers paddling out to sea to form a circle to take a moment to reflect on those lives taken too soon … After the paddle out, we’ll gather back on the beach to express our deepest gratitude to the selfless members of the public that helped, the first responders and the survivors.
Participants included Bondi Boardriders, Bondi Longboard Club, Bondi Girls Surfriders, Bronte Boardriders, Let’s Go Surfing, Bondi SBLSC, North Bondi SLSC, Bronte SLSC, Tamarama SLSC, Bondi Icebergs and Bondi United.
Thousands of Western Australian teachers set to stop work over wages
More than 80 public schools across WA are expected to close or partially close as thousands of teachers walk off the job over their pay and conditions for the first time in ten years, AAP reports.
The State School Teachers’ Union of WA (SSTUWA) advised its members to stop work for half the day in protest against the state government’s pay rise offer for primary and high school teachers.
SSTUWA president, Matt Jarman, said teachers and school leaders were overworked, underpaid and leaving the public education system in droves:
The SSTUWA has continued to bargain in good faith with the department of education to get an appropriate offer, and we do not take this stop-work action lightly.
The government has offered an increase of 5% in the first year, followed by 3% in each of the following two years. The union has asked for 7% in the first year followed by 5% and a range of improvements in conditions and workload issues.
Commuters in Perth. Photograph: Paul Kane/Getty Images
The state’s treasurer, Rita Saffioti, yesterday said the government’s offer was fair and there was no need for the strike. She said the government was willing to continue negotiating:
We understand that everyone always wants more, but from a government perspective, we’re going to balance the ability to fairly give wage rises but also manage the entire budget.
Cases of flu rising in New South Wales compared to last year
Cases of influenza appear to be on the rise in NSW when compared to last year’s figures.
The latest respiratory surveillance report shows more than 4,700 people across the state were diagnosed with the flu during the past four weeks, a 16% rise compared to the previous year.
Hospitalisations are also up, with 480 admissions between 6 January and 14 April – compared to 284 during the same period for 2023.
The NSW health minister, Ryan Park, has launched NSW Health’s winter flu vaccine campaign today. The chief health officer, Kerry Chant, said that last year there was an increase in ED presentations among young children due to flu complications:
We don’t want to see a repeat this year, so we are reminding families to book their children aged under 5 years in for their free flu vaccine now.
NSW health minister Ryan Park. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP
More than 3.4 million Australians tune in for new Bluey episodes
The latest trio of new Bluey episodes, which were anticipated by parents just as much (if not more!) as their children, achieved unprecedented ratings success for the ABC, with a combined 3.4 million viewers tuning in.
The three episodes – Ghostbasket, The Sign and Surprise – currently hold an average total audience of 4.8 million, when accounting for the ABC iView audience.
Ghostbasket was the first Blue release since June 2023 and reached a total audience of more than 6.2 million.
The Sign reached a national audience of 4.4 million, accounting for a metro TV share of 54% on broadcast. A statement from the ABC said this episode set an all-time TV broadcast record for the ABC Kids channel, and has become the highest ABC program of all time on ABC iView.
Word spread quickly for the Surprise episode, with a total audience of 1.5 million.
The listing of Bluey’s home on Domain was an instant success, too, with 735,000 viewings of the listing and 2.8m engagements with the listing photos.
Libbie Doherty, head of ABC Children and Family, said:
Just when you think Bluey can’t get any better, creator Joe Brumm and the team at Ludo have broken all records with this trio of episodes for the season finale. The Bluey team keep doing what they do best, surprising, innovating and putting fans front and center making sure each episode is a cracker. It’s been an incredible three weeks seeing reactions unfold, the ABC is ecstatic by these results and thank Australians for continuing to love and support Bluey.
Bluey has achieved unprecedented ratings success for the ABC. Photograph: AP
As we flagged earlier, Anthony Albanese is set to become the first sitting prime minister to walk the Kokoda Track.
He will walk the trail for two days, starting this morning, along with the Papua New Guinea prime minister, James Marape. The walk will culminate with a dawn service for Anzac Day on Thursday.
Albanese spoke to ABC News Breakfast earlier, ahead of the walk, and said:
We’ll be walking in the footsteps of giants. The Australians who fought here saved our continent, literally, and they stood side-by-side with their brothers and sisters in Papua New Guinea who also fought, but also provided such extraordinary support to the Australian soldiers, of whom some 625 Australians were killed along the Kokoda Track.
We’ll be, on Anzac Day, at Isurava,the memorial there. Ninety-nine Australians lost their life in that one battle, and a further 110 were injured. This was an extraordinary feat. The Japanese had a much larger force, landed at the north and headed south to Port Moresby and had they captured Port Moresby, they would have been very close to the Australian mainland. And the Australians showed sacrifice and courage and extraordinary valour during what was a battle that went over many weeks and it will be an honour to pay tribute to them, but also to show respect to all those men and women who served in the Australian Defence Force.
Anthony Albanese with the prime minister of Papua New Guinea, James Marape, in February. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian
‘Easier to buy your second house than your first’ in Australia, David Pocock says
The independent senator David Pocock pushed back against the idea that reforming negative gearing is unpopular with voters. Speaking to ABC News Breakfast, he said:
There’s quite a bit of polling and research showing the majority of Australians actually support changes to our property system, our tax system, where it’s arguably easier to buy your second house than your first one. A system that’s treating housing not as a human right, something everyone in our community should be able to afford, but an investment vehicle for wealth creation.
That is leading to the outcomes we’re seeing and as Jacqui said this is not the silver bullet, but it’s one very important lever to, one, start to change the way that people invest, but two, save $16bn to $60bn over the next decade that can be invested in social and affordable housing for key workers, or for people who are on the social wait list.
You can read all the details about the independent senator’s plan for tax reform below, in a separate piece from Paul Karp and Cait Kelly:
The pair commissioned the parliamentary budget office to look at five scenarios to tackle housing affordability, and landed on these tax reforms. Lambie said it wasn’t a “magic bullet” but formed part of the overall solution.
Speaking to ABC News Breakfast just a moment ago, Pocock said people should not be anxious when discussions around negative gearing occur:
We’re seeing homeowners are declining, we saw that report today – rental affordability has never been worse and we need to make sensible changes.
There’s a range of changes that are fully costed, they have taken into account behavioural changes, and I think it’s a really sensible conversation that we should be having. I urge the major parties – they don’t want to talk about tax reform in a housing crisis, but we have to. And there’s ways to sensible start to turn this ship around …
One suggestion Pocock made was, “going forward, you [would only get the] capital gains tax discount if you’re investing in new supply”.
Independent senators Jacqui Lambie and David Pocock. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian
Guardian Essential poll: Half of respondents want government to ‘use all channels to secure a ceasefire’
The poll asked voters about their views on Israel’s military action in Gaza. About a third (32%) said that “Israel should permanently withdraw its military action in Gaza”, down six points from March. About one in five said “Israel should agree to a temporary ceasefire” (19%) and the same proportion said “Israel is justified in continuing its military action in Gaza” (19%). A further 30% were unsure, up six points since March.
Asked if Australia should recognise Palestine as an independent state, 29% said yes, 25% said no, 27% neither support nor oppose, and 19% were unsure.
Half of respondents (50%) want the government to “use all diplomatic channels to secure a ceasefire”. Other interventions had less than majority support such as to: “ensure Australian technology is not being used to support Israel’s military activities” (42%); “prioritise maintaining a strong diplomatic relationship with Israel” (38%); “end all defence ties with the Israeli government” (29%); and “end all commercial ties with Israeli defence companies” (29%). However, large proportions of respondents were unsure on these options.
Greens reiterate call for cap or freeze on rent increases
Max Chandler-Mather, the Greens’ spokesperson for housing and homelessness, has responded to the rental snapshot. He said:
How can Labor see that 99.8% of rentals in Australia are not affordable for a single parent on the minimum wage and still refuse to put any cap or freeze on rent increases?
The rental crisis is breaking people and Labor needs to wake up and stop giving billions of dollars to property investors through negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount, and start investing that money in public and community housing instead.
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, responded with a direct “no” yesterday during a press conference, when asked whether the government was considering reform around negative gearing.
Greens housing spokesperson Max Chandler-Mather. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian
