TRANSCRIPT
- Peter Dutton plans a tour of 28 seats in the final week of the election campaign
- The public to be allowed to visit Pope Francis' tomb, following the burial
- In Tennis, Matteo Arnaldi defeats Novak Djokovic at the Madrid Open
Opposition leader Peter Dutton has promised to visit 28 seats in the next week before election day on May 3rd.
Starting in Melbourne, he told the party faithful, he is giving his all in this final week of the campaign.
He says he is confident he can win.
"And what we have done in presenting our vision to our country is to listen to those cases; and to listen to those people who have discovered hardship for the first time in their lives over the course of the last three years. We have listened - and we have put into place policies which we think enact our vision for our country; and provide support in a pathway back for those Australians to better days."
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Labor is promising Australians could soon access free, expert health advice at all hours of the day - as part of a $204.5 million election pledge.
At a campaign rally in western Sydney today, Mr Albanese will announce $204.5 million pledge to launch 1800MEDICARE, a 24/7 nation-wide health advice and after-hours GP telehealth service backed by Medicare.
He says the plan could prevent an estimated 250,000 Australians from making an unnecessary trip to an emergency department per year.
The announcement comes ahead of the fourth and final election debate tonight hosted on Channel Seven at 8pm AEST.
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Pope Francis has been buried in his final resting place as part of a private ceremony at Rome's Santa Maria Maggiore church.
He is the first pontiff be buried outside the Vatican in more than a century.
The Vatican says people will be able to visit his tomb from Sunday morning, local time.
Carla Sandrea from Madrid was among hundreds of thousands who earlier attended the Pope's funeral.
"Well, I'm here for the Pope's funeral. For me he represents a great Pope. A Pope of inclusion, the Pope of the poor, the Pope of the marginalised of the Church. The Pope of the young. And he has made a great impact, especially here in Europe and America. His departure has hurt us a lot."
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Australia's highest-ranking Catholic official will be among the 135 cardinals who will elect the next pope.
The group will be sworn to an oath of secrecy as they meet in the Sistine Chapel in a gathering called the conclave.
A two-thirds majority is needed for a new pope to be elected.
Of the cardinals eligible to vote, 80 percent have been appointed by Francis.
Melbourne-based Mykola Bychok was appointed a cardinal by Francis in October last year - and at the age of 45 is the youngest.
He says it is a great responsibility to choose the new pope.
"On the one hand, I am nervous, but on the other hand, I am completely in peace and hope. To be young (the youngest) cardinal is a huge responsibility. God called me through Pope Francis. During the next few weeks, we will be showing that actually it is not the cardinals who are electing the new pope, but the Holy Spirit through cardinals. We are just instruments."
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Iran and the United States say they have agreed to continue nuclear talks next week.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff held a third round of the talks in Muscat through Omani mediators for about six hours, a week after a second round in Rome that both sides described as constructive.
Mr Araqchi says both sides have showed "seriousness and determination" in the talks so far, but there are still disagreements over broad issues and details.
"Let me be clear, we are only discussing issues related to nuclear power. We are not negotiating any other issues. Although when we say ‘nuclear related’ we mean building trust in Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanction removals. Discussions about the nuclear program and sanction go together but it’s only known as the nuclear issue. We only discuss this issue and will not accept negotiating any other issues. And in the past three rounds this has been respected by both sides."
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In Tennis, three-time champion Novak Djokovic may have played at the Madrid Open for the last time, after crashing out in the second round to Italian Matteo Arnaldi.
The World No. 44 beat fourth seed Djokovic 6-3 6-4 to reach the third round.
The result condemned the 37-year-old, who received a bye in the opening round, to his third consecutive defeat.
All three defeats came in straight sets.
Djokovic admits he does not know if he will be competing at a future Madrid Open.
"(It's) kind of a new reality for me, I have to say, you know. Trying to win a match or two, you know, not really thinking about getting far in the tournament and it's a completely different feeling from what I had 20-plus years of professional tennis. So, it's kind of a challenge for me mentally to really face these kinds of sensations on the court, you know, going out early now regularly in the tournaments."
