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Key posts
- The $1 billion pothole in spending on the nation’s roads
- Voters cut support for Labor as cost-of-living concerns mount
- Heavy fighting rages near main Gaza hospital, people trapped inside
- This morning’s headlines at a glance
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The $1 billion pothole in spending on the nation’s roads
The nation’s potholes need a $1 billion-a-year funding injection, and the federal government has been urged to use its infrastructure review to redirect cash from big-ticket projects to repairing crumbling country roads.
Research by the independent Grattan Institute think tank shows federal and state governments have for years starved local councils of funding, to such a point that the road network in many areas is dangerous and holding back businesses and communities.
The Grattan Institute says the state of many roads is a “dangerous disgrace”.Credit: Peter Rae
Infrastructure Minister Catherine King will soon release a review of the $120 billion, 10-year pipeline of federally funded road, rail and port projects. Some are likely to be either pushed back or axed.
The review follows concerns that federal projects, on top of those being developed by the states, are adding to inflation pressures by pushing up the cost of construction.
Here’s the full report.
Voters cut support for Labor as cost-of-living concerns mount
Australians are bracing for rampant price hikes and falling real wages despite a federal government pledge to ease the cost of living, with voters cutting their support for Labor as they shelve their hopes for higher living standards.
Only 8 per cent of voters expect the economy to improve over the next three months and 50 per cent believe it will get worse, deepening the gloom about the national outlook when mortgage payments are soaring from higher interest rates.
More than half the electorate sees the cost of living as the crucial policy test for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Labor government: 52 per cent of people named this issue as the single highest priority for their vote, up from 32 per cent at the end of last year.
An exclusive survey also finds that 60 per cent of voters do not think their incomes have kept up with inflation over the past year, while 64 per cent think inflation will worsen in the near future.
Here’s the full story.
Heavy fighting rages near main Gaza hospital, people trapped inside
In the latest news from Gaza, health officials and people trapped inside Gaza’s largest hospital rejected Israel’s claims that it was helping babies and others evacuate, saying fighting continued just outside the facility where incubators lay idle with no electricity and critical supplies were running out.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has spurned urgent international calls for a cease-fire unless it includes the release of all the nearly 240 hostages captured by Hamas in the October 7 rampage that triggered the war.
Palestinians wounded in Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip are brought to a hospital in Khan Younis.Credit: AP
A day after Netanyahu said Israel was bringing its “full force” with the aim of ending Hamas’ 16-year rule in Gaza, residents reported heavy airstrikes and shelling, including around Shifa Hospital. Israel, without providing evidence, has accused Hamas of concealing a command post inside and under the compound, allegations denied by Hamas and hospital staff.
“They are outside, not far from the gates,” said Ahmed al-Boursh, a resident sheltering at the facility.
The hospital’s last generator ran out of fuel on Saturday, leading to the deaths of three premature babies and four other patients, according to the Health Ministry. It said another 36 babies are at risk of dying without electricity.
Here’s the full story from AP.
This morning’s headlines at a glance
Good morning, and thanks for your company.
It’s Monday, November 13. I’m Caroline Schelle, and I’ll be anchoring our live coverage for the first half of the day.
Here’s what you need to know before we get started:
- More than half the electorate sees the cost of living as the crucial policy test for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Labor government.
- Treasurer Jim Chalmers is in the US for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Finance Ministers’ meeting, and will meet with his American, Chinese and Vietnamese counterparts.
- Independent MP Monique Ryan will seek support for the draft law to tighten the lobbying rules and force much greater disclosure on federal ministers.
- Autism rates in Australian children are among the highest in the world, leading a senior researcher to suggest the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) could be driving more diagnoses.
- Australia’s potholes need a $1 billion-a-year funding injection, and the government has been urged to redirect cash to repair crumbling country roads.
- A clear exemption for religious expression will be among the substantial changes to Labor’s proposed misinformation laws.
- Foreign Minister Penny Wong has called on Israel to halt attacks on hospitals in Gaza to avoid casualties among Palestinian civilians.
- And overseas, more than 100,000 people marched in Paris on Sunday to protest against rising antisemitism in the wake of Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza.
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