TRANSCRIPT
The Coalition is promising to make it easier for young people to break into the property market by requiring the financial regulator to relax rules for approving home loans.
Opposition Housing spokesperson Michael Sukkar says this is designed to fix the problem of nearly 40 per cent of first home buyers are not being able to get a loan due to a restrictive requirement for a serviceability buffer.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been moved to defend his government's actions on housing affordability, saying the tax cuts announced in the federal budget will help.
"We'll give every young person a tax cut. If you look at the changes our Stage 3 [[tax cuts]] made, 90 per cent of young people were better off because we intervened to change the tax cuts to make sure they got looked after."
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Australia's property market has returned to record highs with a 0.4 per cent increase in home prices nationally in March.
The latest Home Value Index from CoreLogic shows rises in every capital city except Hobart.
Regional areas in all states also increased.
It follows a small rise in national house prices in February off the back of a fall in January.
The median home value in Sydney was the highest of all capitals in March, sitting at $1,104,000.
The Reserve Bank is expected to keep interest rates steady when delivers it's March cash rate decision later today.
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The federal government is intensifying its focus on healthcare in the opening week of the election campaign, with Prime Minster Anthony Albanese announcing a new 150 million dollar commitment for a health care centre at Flinders University in Adelaide.
Funding for the new health centre will be matched by the university, to build a clinic capable of seeing 10,000 patients a year, and training 1,300 health professionals.
Health Minister Mark Butler says the clinic is one of several investments by the government in training healthcare professionals.
"Yesterday we announced a new medical school in Queensland to be delivered by QUT. We're delivering first medical school in the Northern Territory at Charles Darwin University, complimenting some terrific work that Flinders University has done for years training medical graduates in the territory. We've allocated funding for 150 additional Commonwealth supported places in medical schools to be rolled out over the next couple of years."
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The Bureau of Meteorology is warning of more heavy rainfall in western Queensland that could exacerbate already-devastating flooding in the region.
Floodwaters twice the size of Victoria have inundated the region after record rainfall, forcing many residents, including an entire town, to evacuate.
The flooding is considered the worst in more than 50 years and could last weeks - the Bureau of Meteorology is warning water levels could rise further, sparking fears of mass livestock losses.
The Bureau's senior meteorologist Angus Hines says the flooding could last for weeks and spread over state borders.
"Flooding continues to be extremely significant for central and western Queensland and it will be for days and weeks to come. Major flooding continues to occur along rivers throughout the central west and southwest forecast districts as well as parts of the north west and parts of Maranoa and Warrego in southern Queensland. Some of the flooding is even moving across state borders now into the eastern Northern Territory and northern parts of New South Wales."
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French far-right leader Marine Le Pen says she will appeal a court decision that found her guilty of embezzling European Union funds, and banned her from running for office for five years.
The court gave Ms Le Pen a four-year prison sentence – including two years as a suspended sentence – and a 100,000 euro fine.
The ruling means the National Front party leader cannot take part in 2027 presidential elections.
She and 24 other officials from her National Rally were found guilty of having used money intended for European Union parliamentary aides to pay staff who worked for the party.
Ms Le Pen says the court's ruling was a political decision.
French then English VO: “From the first hours of this trial I understood that we were going to be judged in an extremely biased manner. I did not think that the judges would go so far against our democratic processes and would interfere in this way in the choice of the French people because let’s be clear - I am eliminated, but in reality, it’s millions of French people whose votes have been eliminated this evening.”
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United States President Donald Trump says he expects Russian President Vladimir Putin to fulfill his part of a deal to end the war in Ukraine
Yesterday, Mr Trump threatened to place further sanctions on Russian oil if Mr Putin didn't co-operate.
It comes after Mr Putin rejected a U-S proposal for an unconditional ceasefire that was backed by Ukraine, and intensified rhetoric about installing a new leadership in Ukraine.
But Mr Trump says he is still confident he won't have to follow through with measures against Russian oil sales to punish Mr Putin.
"I think he's going to live up to what he told me, and I think he's going to fulfill his part of the deal. I want to make sure he follows through and I think he will. I don't want to go secondary tariffs on his oil, but it's something I would do if I thought he wasn't doing the job."
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China, Japan, and South Korea have reportedly agreed to jointly respond to U-S President Donald Trump's tariffs.
A social media account affiliated with the Chinese state broadcaster, Yuyuan Tantian, has reported the news, in the wake of the three East Asian countries holding their first economic dialogue in five years last weekend.
All export powers and major U-S trading partners, they're seeking to facilitate regional trade as a buffer against Mr Trump's tariffs.
Yuyuan Tantian is reporting Japan and South Korea are seeking to import semi-conductor raw materials from China, and China is interested in purchasing chip products from Japan and South Korea.
It says all three countries have agreed to strengthen supply chain co-operation, and engage in more dialogue on export controls.
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In football, Katrina Gorry will miss the Matildas' upcoming matches against South Korea with an injury.
Her English club side, West Ham, has withdrawn her.
She's been replaced in the squad by Melbourne City midfielder Leah Davidson, who's played for the Matildas twice, scoring one goal.
The Matildas play South Korea in Sydney on Friday and in Newcastle on Monday.
