TRANSCRIPT:
- The PM announces disaster relief during a visit to flood-hit western Queensland;
- The US government ordered to bring back a migrant deported to El Salvador;
- Jack Doohan keen to return to the F1 track after crashing on Friday.
The Prime Minister has touched down in the Queensland city of Longreach to meet with flood affected communities in the seat of Maranoa - held by National Party leader David Littleproud.
Labor has matched the Coalition's pledge of $10 million for a radar in outback Queensland to supplement other weather warning systems including satellites and flood gauges.
Anthony ALbanese also says disaster relief funding will be made available for residents of several local government areas in the coming days.
"This allowance gives up to 13 weeks of income support for eligible workers and sole traders. Applications will open on Tuesday, eighth of April, at 2pm, local time."
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Thousands of public servants have been told their employment agreements will not change regardless of who wins the federal election.
The employment of 185,000 Australian Public Service workers has been in the spotlight since Opposition Leader Peter Dutton pledged to cut 41,000 jobs and push workers to return to the office full-time if elected.
Employment Minister Senator Murray Watt says Labor does not intend to make any changes.
Mr Dutton says his prospective working from home edict would only apply to public servants in Canberra.
[I strongly support work from home. I've been very clear about that, and our policy doesn't have any impact in the private sector. doesn't have any impact on the public sector outside of canberra. what we've seen is that we want to make sure where taxpayers are working hard for their money that we have the most efficiency in the public service in Canberra."
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Meanwhile a cameraman has been injured by a wayward kick from the opposition leader during a campaign stop in Darwin earlier this morning.
Footage shows the cameraman with his head bloodied and bandaged, later shaking hands with Peter Dutton as the Liberal leader checked to see if he was okay.
"All right, better go and check on our patient."
The incident has been quickly compared to an infamous episode at the last election when then-prime minister Scott Morrison crash tackled a child on the campaign trail.
It also follows an apparent tumble by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who appeared to fall off a stage on Thursday after his speech to the Mining and Energy Union Conference.
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Officials in the U-S have been ordered to bring back a man they deported to El Salvador as part of Donald Trump's immigration crackdown.
District Judge Paula Xinis has given authorities until April 7 to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia, after the 29-year-old was deported with three planeloads of undocumented migrants, despite being protected from expulsion by a 2019 court order.
The Trump administration has maintained without giving evidence that the man is a gang member, an accusation he and his family have strongly denied.
Mr Garcia's lawyer Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg says the judge found there was no legal basis for the deportation.
“She found that the government’s arguments that she was powerless to order him brought back to the United States were without legal merit and she found that he was suffering irreparable harm with every day that goes by while he’s separated from his family and he's detained under such harsh conditions in the infamous Seacot prison.”
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A tsunami warning for Papua New Guinea has been cancelled after a strong earthquake struck off the Pacific nation's coastline.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre called off the alert after the quake that had warned of waves of up to three metres along some parts of the PNG coast.
Papua New Guinea sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," the arc of seismic faults around the Pacific Ocean where much of the world's earthquake and volcanic activity occurs.
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A hotel in Sydney has been added to the New South Wales Heritage Register, in recognition of its status as a significant venue for the LGBTIQ plus community.
Heritage Minister Penny Sharpe says the Imperial Hotel in the Sydney suburb of Erskineville has been a haven for the community since the ownership of Dawn O'Donnell began in 1983.
She says the listing is in recognition that heritage is not just about architecture.
"The State Heritage Register gives special recognition to buildings but also to places. And what it does is it tells the story of what has been important to various communities. It's not just about old buildings. And the listing today of the Imperial Hotel really recognises its very rich queer history."
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To sport,
Australian formula 1 driver Jack Doohan says he is keen to return to the track after crashing during preparations for the Japanese Grand Prix on Friday.
It's understood the crash happened on the fourth lap of Doohan's second practice, when his car lost grip on the way to turn one.
The 22 year old rookie says he has been given the all clear to race after precautionary medical checks - and is now just waiting for his Alpine car to be repaired.
