Disaster relief funding from the Federal Government has been extended to six new Victorian council areas. A Disaster Recovery payment of $1,000 per adult and $400 per child will be made available to flood affected residents from the local government areas of Bullock, Hepburn, the Macedon Ranges and the Pyrenees. The payments are already available to people living in areas hardest hit by Victoria's floods. The Government says it's also widening the eligibility for a separate fortnightly payment, the Disaster Recovery Allowance. Both payments will now be made available across 46 Victorian council areas to employees and sole traders who have lost income because of the floods.
An independent review into Australia's pandemic response has found governments failed to achieve the right balance when deciding to shutdown schools at the height of COVID-19. Thursday marks 1000 days since health officials confirmed the first COVID-19 infection and since the beginning of the pandemic, more than 15 000 deaths have been recorded in Australia.
Russia's leader Vladimir Putin is introducing martial law in four Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine that Moscow claims are its own. The Russian-installed chief of Kherson says about 50 000 - 60 000 people will be moved out over the next few days. Ukraine is launching counter offensives in the east and south to attempt to regain territory before winter.
European Union leaders will hold a summit on Thursday to confront the growing energy crisis triggered by Russia's fighting in Ukraine. Natural gas prices have spiralled over summer and the EU is accusing Russia of attempting to using energy as a weapon of blackmail. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says there needs to be a discussion about price caps:
Russia has systematically tried to blackmail us through energy. For example, the fact that Gazprom last year did not fill the storages as it would have had to, or that long term contracts, pipeline gas are not being honoured.
Cyber Security Minister Clare O'Neil is urging Australian companies to take stronger action to protect customer information after another data breach. On Wednesday, Medibank said it had received messages from alleged hackers about consumer information about a week after a cyber attack. The health insurer is the latest company being targetted after a widescale data breach involving telecommunications giant Optus last month.
