Queensland health minister still has major concerns about Thriving Kids

Tim Nicholls, the Queensland health minister, said the state still has major concerns about the federal government’s Thriving Kids program, which will move children under nine years old with mild development delays and autism off the NDIS. Queensland is the only state yet to sign on to the plan, which is expected to be fully set up by 2028.

Nicholls told RN Breakfast this morning:

We want to make sure that any system that does replace what the Commonwealth is trying to do – and let’s face it, the Commonwealth is cost shifting to the states in regard to this – is able to provide the adequate supports that people need in those circumstances in those early years. …

We’re not going to sign up to that until we’re convinced that there is a program that can be done.

He said Queensland and New South Wales had major obligations when it came to the number of people affected when compared to other states and territories:

We want to make sure we get it right and don’t leave kids who need support and their families out of the considerations we’re taking.

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Australian journalism ‘critical to our democracy’, assistant treasurer says

Daniel Mulino, the assistant treasurer, said journalism is “critical to our democracy”, adding the effort to get tech companies to pay for Australian reporting was meant to combat the internet “undermining” the way news companies traditionally made money.

Mulino spoke to RN Breakfast, saying the new plan was about getting tech giants to enter into commercial arrangements with media companies so they pay a “fair amount” for the content they use.

Mulino said:

We know that journalists tell Australian stories. They inform us about what’s going on in our community and the broader world, but also public interest journalism in particular. Independent, high-quality public interest journalism is critical to our democracy.

He said some sites, like LinkedIn, were excluded as they didn’t have the same market power as others and were of a “different nature” than platforms like Facebook. AI platforms are also excluded, Mulino said, as they are being “dealt with through other processes”.

Nationals leader welcomes effort to get Google, Meta and TikTok to pay for local news

Nationals leader Matt Canavan said he welcomes the plan to get tech giants to pay for Australian news after Anthony Albanese urged Google, Meta and TikTok to make deals with local media outlets to avoid a dedicated levy on their local revenues.

Canavan spoke to RN Breakfast this morning, saying he was disappointed to see the previous Morrison government’s news media bargaining code “wither on the vine”.

I absolutely do think that the large overseas big tech companies should be contributing to the new services of all Australians. Especially here in rural and regional Australia.

We have seen a lot of our media collapse, especially since Covid. That has had a very big effect on the town I live in, lots of other country towns, where you can’t get your issues elevated as much as you used to without a daily newspaper.

Printed newspapers are really important. Old technology is really important. It just doesn’t work online.

Good morning, Nick Visser here to pick up the blog. Let’s see what the day has in store.

The projects would need to comply with proposed new national environmental standards, which government sources insist will be in place before the bilateral agreements are negotiated.

Albanese has previously explained that instead of a costly two-stage, two-track process, the government wants a one-step process, “with one, clearer, faster, yes or no” that can act as a “circuit breaker”.

The prime minister will address the miners following reports last week that he had ruled out introducing a new tax on gas exports in the 12 May federal budget – a policy the industry vehemently opposes.

In the speech to the Chamber of Minerals and Energy WA, Albanese will frame the budget as the most ambitious and important since Labor returned to power in 2022 as the government grapples with the impact of the Iran war and global fuel crisis.

Albanese will say:

None of us here can determine when this war will end. But all of us can choose how we respond to the economic challenges it is creating. We can choose what we learn from this global crisis, even before it ends. And we can choose what we are going to do differently, as a country. What we will build and change and reform, so that Australia does more than weather this storm, we emerge from it as a stronger, fairer and more resilient country.

Albanese to announce ‘circuit-breaker’ to fast-track mining, energy and housing applications

The federal government has pledged new funding to help the states and territories strike agreements that would allow them to assess and approve projects themselves under new federal nature laws.

Anthony Albanese will make the four-year, $45m announcement in a speech to a mining industry event in Western Australia, describing the deals as a “circuit-breaker” that will fast-track mining, energy and housing applications.

The new “single-touch” regime was a feature of Labor’s rewrite of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC Act), which passed the parliament last year under a deal with the Greens.

Labor had previously opposed handing federal environmental approval powers to state and territory governments, including iterations of the policy that were put forward by the Abbott and Morrison governments.

If deals are struck, the states and territories would be able to greenlight projects without requiring a separate commonwealth assessment.