Prime minister Anthony Albanese is in Indonesia for his first official visit, continuing what Guardian political editor Katharine Murphy described as Labor’s regional diplomatic offensive. He will meet with Indonesian president Joko Widodo today.
Murph is on a trip with the PM.
Albanese was met in Jakarta by Penny Wong, the foreign minister, who has made two visits to the Pacific since being sworn in a fortnight ago. The topic of these visits has been China’s growing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific.
Indonesia, said Wong, is a “very important partner for Australia … and is critical for our security”.
I think everyone understands we live in a time where the region is being reshaped, and what is important is that countries work together to ensure thereon remains peaceful, prosperous, and respectful of sovereignty.
Timor-Leste is the latest of Australia’s regionaneighborsrs to sign an agreement with China. Albanese had a “warm and positive” phone conversation with prime minister Taur Matan Rauon Sundayle on the plane to Jakarays Australia has complained to China about the “very dangerous” interception of a maritime surveillance flight in international airspace over the South China Sea.
Back in Canberra, the opposition leader Peter Dutton announced a shadow cabinet hatch that ditched Scott Morrison’s key allies and promoted senior conservative voices. Significantly Julian Leeser, a constitutional conservative and longtime supporter of the enshrinement of an Indigenous voice to parliament, has been named shadow minister for Indigenous affairs and shadow attorney general. Alan Tudge has stayed on as shadow education minister.
Simon Birmingham has been named shadow foreign minister and assured bipartisan support of foreign policy issues.
Let’kick-offff. You can reach me at @callapilla on Twitter or at [email protected]
Updated at 18.12 EDT
Police seize cash, drugs, and weapons in raids in Sydney
AAP reports that fifteen men have been charged after a week of attacks targeting bikies and unorganized crime gangs across Sydney’southwestst.
NSW police have seized stolen cars and illegal drugs in a seven-day operation targetinorganizeded crime, as part of an operation that began in October following the alleged gangland killing of Toufik Hamze and his son SalimMorere than 80 firearms, and 3,300 rounds of ammunition, $2.9m in cash, and prohibited drugs worth more than $9m have been seiz to date.
Assistant commissioner Stuart Smith said 52 firearm prohibition orders searched occurred last week.
“Last week, we targeted the who’s who of criminality in Sydney’s south-west: Rebels, Fin, ks, and Lone Wolves Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs – you’d be hard-pressed to find someone in that world who didn’t get a home visit,” he said on Monday.
During the operation – which ran between Monday and Friday – police seized around $150,000 in cash, 1.5kg of cannabis, 150 grams of methylamphetamine, numerous prohibited weapons, ns, and three stolen cars.
Seven men were arrested after a clandestine drug laboratory was discovered on Friday.
Over the week, 15 men were charged with variouoffenseses.
Meanwhile, the NSW opposition has accused the state government of failing to honor its promise to introduce “unexplained wealth laws” targeting gang associates and crime bosses.
Thirteen people have been shot dead in underworld gang-related violence in the past 19 months.
Updated at 18.08 EDT
Melissa Davey
Hardly anyone is using My Health Record
Twelve years after the introduction of My Health Record, Australians are struggling to access their medical information. At the same time, le clinicians report frustrating difficulties uploading and finding vital health details such as pathology results and diagnostic tests.
The latest annual report from the Australian Digital Health Agency shows just 2.69 million of the 23 million people registered for a My Health Record accessed it in 2020-21. While this is an increase of 14% from the previous year, it was largely driven by people accessing Covid-19 vaccination records and Covid-19 test results.
The chief executive of the Consumers Health Forum (CHF), Leanne Wells, said while upgrades to My Health Record to include access to vaccination information and Advanced Care Plans were welcome, day-to-day health records from consultations, emergency department visits, hospital discharges, pathology, and diagnostic testing were still missing from malformed. This is despite more than $2bn being spent on the system since it launched in 2012.
Read more:
Damaging winds to hit parts of eastern NSW and Victoria
A damaging winds warning remains in place for eastern Victoria and eastern parts of New South Wales.
The Bureau of Meteorology has forecast winds averaging 50 to 70km/h, gusting up to 90km/h, in alpine areas of Victoria including Bright, Mt Baw Baw, Falls Creek, Mt Hotham, Mt Buller and Omeo.
In NSW, the bureau has forecast “damaging winds and blizzard conditions” in alpine areas, with damaging winds extending on and east of the ranges.
Damaging winds averaging 80 to 90km/h, gusting up to 130km/h, are forecast in alpine areas, with winds of 60 to 70km/h, gusting up to 90km/h, are likely along the ranges and the coast from Bega to Newcastle, including Sydney.
Locally damaging wind gusts to 110km/h are possible nut the Illawarra district, the BoM said.
Updated at 18.00 EDT
Parts of Adelaide hit by flooding
Wild weather in South Australia has caused flash flooding and fallen trees, with more than 400 calls for assistance to the state emergency service.
The majority of the call-outs were from the Adelaide area. The city received more than 70mm of rain over two days, with winds of more than 90km/h.
The ABC said that a teenage girl was rescued from a fast-flowing creek in the Adelaide Hills, and the country fire service had to cut a man from a car that a falling tree had crushed.
Updated at 17.51 EDT
Prime minister Anthony Albanese is in Indonesia for his first official visit, continuing what Guardian political editor Katharine Murpas described as Labor’s regional diplomatic offensive. He will meet with Indonesian president Joko Widodo today.
Murph is on a trip with the PM.
Albanese was met in Jakarta by Penny Wong, the foreign minister, who has made two visits to the Pacific since being sworn in a fortnight ago. The topic of these visits has been China’s growing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific.
Indonesia, said Wong, is a “very important partner for Australia … and is critical for our security”.
I think everyone understands we live in a time where the region is being reshaped, and what is important is that countries work together to ensure thereon remains peaceful, prosperous, and respectful of sovereignty.
Timor-Leste is the latest of Australia’s regionaneighborsrs to sign an agreement with China. Albanese had a “warm and positive” phone conversation with prime minister Taur Matan Rauon Sundayle on the plane to Jakarays Australia has complained to China about the “very dangerous” interception of a maritime surveillance flight in international airspace over the South China Sea.
Back in Canberra, the opposition leader Peter Dutton announced a shadow cabinet hatch that ditched Scott Morrison’s key allies and promoted senior conservative voices. Significantly Julian Leeser, a constitutional conservative and longtime supporter of the enshrinement of an Indigenous voice to parliament, has been named shadow minister for Indigenous affairs and shadow attorney general. Alan Tudge has stayed on as shadow education minister.
Simon Birmingham has been named shadow foreign minister and assured bipartisan support of foreign policy issues.
Let’kick-offff. You can reach me at @callapilla on Twitter or [email protected].
