Australia news live: Greens want to negotiate with Labor on emissions targets; white whale not Migaloo, authorities confirm

Victorian Coalition would legislate a 50% emissions target

The Victorian opposition is promising to legislate an emissions reduction target of 50% by 2030 if it wins the November state election.

Opposition leader Matthew Guy on Sunday unveiled the policy, which matches Victorian Labor’s target and is higher than the 43% goal set by the federal government.

The Victorian government has already committed to slashing emissions 50% by the end of the decade, but has not legislated the interim target.

Under the Coalition’s plan to reach the 2030 target, it has pledged to establish a $1bn hydrogen strategy, upgrade transmission infrastructure in western Victoria to unlock renewable energy and set up a “Fixing Victoria’s Grid” taskforce.

It will also legislate a local gas guarantee for new supply, a policy first announced in 2017, within the first six months of taking office.

Guy said it showed the Victorian Liberals’ and Nationals’ commitment to climate change action says it will “send the strongest possible signal that action on climate change is a priority”.

– with AAP

Updated at 23.14 EDT

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ACT records 956 new Covid cases

There are 167 people in hospital, with six in ICU and three requiring ventilation.

No new Covid-19 deaths in Northern Territory

No people with Covid-19 have died in Northern Territory overnight, with the state recording 463 new cases on Sunday morning, 42 people in hospital and one person in ICU.

RBA chief and treasurer meet for digital currency panel in Bali

Reserve Bank Australia governor, Philip Lowe, will take part in a panel discussion at a G20 finance ministers and central bankers meeting side event in Bali on Sunday afternoon

Lowe will be joined by treasurer, Jim Chalmers, to discuss the issue of digital currencies and crypto assets. The meeting comes ahead of a raft of economic data that is expected to be released next week.

On Tuesday the RBA will issue the minutes of its July 5 board meeting at which it hiked the cash rate by 50 basis points to 1.35% and ANZ-Roy Morgan will also release the weekly consumer confidence survey.

RBA deputy governor Michele Bullock will deliver a speech on Tuesday at the Economic Society in Brisbane, which will be closely scrutinised for indications of the size of the next rate hike widely expected to be announced on August 2.

On Wednesday, Lowe and Chalmers will deliver speeches at the Australian newspaper’s Strategic Business Forum in Melbourne and the National Skills Commission will release figures from the Internet Vacancy Index and Vacancy Report.

Westpac will also on Wednesday issue its leading index for June.

On Thursday, OECD secretary-general Mathias Cormann will address an Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce event in Perth.

S&P Global will shed light on Friday on business activity with the release of its July advance results of surveys of purchasing managers.

Updated at 23.18 EDT

One new Covid death in South Australia

One person with Covid-19 has died in South Australia overnight, with the state recording 3,358 new cases on Sunday morning, 288 people in hospital, and 10 in ICU.

Updated at 22.54 EDT

The cold reality for victims of Queensland’s social housing crisis

During her 14 months on Queensland’s bulging social-housing waiting list, Sarah Paasi has learned that warm places to pass a winter’s night include car park staircases, storm drains and tunnels.

But the most pressing problem for the 26-year-old Brisbane woman on the nights she sleeps rough is what to do with her baby boy, Marcus.

“He’s a fucking genius,” Paasi says. “I gotta tell you man, he’s the smartest one-and-a-bit-year-old I’ve ever met. And he’s a really well-behaved baby.”

On the nights she has to sleep rough, Paasi tries to leave Marcus with his paternal grandparents. However, it is often too uncomfortable for her to stay because Marcus’s father, Paasi’s partner of almost a decade, spends much of his time there.

“Our relationship fell apart because we were so stressed and broke and homeless,” Paasi says. “Homelessness has literally fucked my whole life.”

Sarah Paasi and her 14-month-old son Marcus. Photograph: Dan Peled/Dan Peled for The Guardian Australia

Paasi is one of thousands of Queenslanders approved for social housing who have no house to go to.

A report released this week by Queensland’s auditor general, Brendan Worrall, found 30,922 households – more than 50,000 people – on the state’s housing register, a figure which has grown by 78% since 2018.

That figure might be inaccurate – which is only compounding the problem. Worrall found the state government was failing to keep an accurate waiting list and manage its existing stock.

The biggest problem, though, is that they are not building enough homes.

For more about how Queenslanders are struggling to house its most vulnerable, get the full story from Guardian Australia reporter Joe Hinchliffe.

Updated at 22.52 EDT

Ukraine conflict painful reminder of downing of flight MH17 eight years ago, Marles says

Russia’s ongoing conflict with Ukraine is a painful reminder of the tragic downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17, says deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, on the eighth anniversary of the disaster.

On its way from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, the Boeing 777 airliner was shot down over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014, killing all 283 passengers and 15 crew including 38 Australians and 193 Dutch travellers.

Australia’s legal proceedings against Russia over the affair are being made alongside the Netherlands to the International Civil Aviation Organisation in a bid to force the payment of reparations.

As part of the action, the two countries are seeking a declaration Russia broke the international civil aviation convention, known as the Chicago Convention.

Marles says Australia is steadfast in its commitment to seek truth, justice and accountability for the victims of the downed flight.

Our thoughts remain with those who lost their lives, their families and loved ones.

Since 2018, Australia has maintained that the Russian Federation is responsible under international law for the downing of Flight MH17.

This is based on the strong body of evidence presented by the Joint Investigation Team.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the EU’s top diplomat has also issued a statement expressing sympathy over the tragedy.

The European Union reiterates its full support for all efforts to establish the truth, achieving justice for the 298 victims of the downing of Flight MH17 and their next of kin and holding those responsible to account.

Prosecutors in the Netherlands have requested life sentences for four Russian and Ukrainian men on charges connected to the downing of the jet with a Russian-made Buk missile.

Updated at 23.27 EDT

No new Covid deaths in Western Australia

No one with Covid-19 has died in Western Australia overnight, with the state recording 5,933 new cases on Sunday morning, and 377 people in hospital and 17 in ICU.

Updated at 22.12 EDT

Important research to be undertaken on Mallacoota whale

Although we now know the whale that washed up in East Gippsland this week is not Migaloo, there’s still important research that should be carried out, a marine scientist says.

Dr Vanessa Pirotta told the ABC that research could determine whether the whale was in fact an albino, like Migaloo, or whether its skin pigmentation had been whitened after exposure to weather.

She said it was unclear how many albino whales there were in the wild.

That’s why I think Migaloo is so famous because … it’s not every day you hear of or see a white whale. So the mystery continues though because now the question is, well, where is Migaloo, who is this? What has happened to this whale?

Samples will be taken, measurements more for metrics of how long the arms are, the flukes, and then the initial assessment.

The carcass would then have to be moved from the beach for further testing, which could prove a logistical challenge, Pirotta said.

Updated at 22.11 EDT

A lot of families ‘in for a tough time’, treasurer warns

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has warned families will be in for a tough economic time in coming months, ahead of an expected rise in inflation.

Inflation levels are set to rise when the latest consumer price index figures are released later this month.

In an appearance on Sky News on Sunday, Chalmers said that while inflation was set to flatten some time next year, there would be hip-pocket pain for Australians in the near future.

Unfortunately, we expect this inflation challenge to get worse before it gets better, but it will get better.

We expect inflation to moderate next year, but we’re in for a tough time for a lot of families.

Inflation is currently sitting at 5.1%, the highest level for two decades.

Chalmers said the increase in inflation would also likely have a flow-on effect to the official interest rate.

The Reserve Bank of Australia will next meet on 2 August, with a further rates rise expected.

– From AAP

Updated at 21.52 EDT

Victoria redeploys hospital staff in response to Covid surge

An extra 400 staff will be deployed across Victorian hospitals to ease pressure on the state’s ailing health system amid rising Covid-19 cases and hospitalisations, AAP reports.

A $162m package to respond to the emergence of the Omicron BA.4 and 5 variants causing a rise in hospitalisations and sick healthcare workers has been unveiled by the Victorian government.

It will fund 400 additional specialist staff at 12 major hospitals across Melbourne and Geelong.

Among the staff will be offload nurses for ambulances, triage doctors responsible for assessing patients and discharge coordinators to focus on the timely transition of care from the ward to home or another healthcare facility.

New paediatric GP respiratory clinics are to be set up at the Royal Children’s and Monash Children’s hospitals. Photograph: James Ross/AAP

Victorian premier Daniel Andrews said some of the health workers will be recruited and others redeployed from their current roles as their jobs are backfilled.

They’re all funded … money’s not the issue. It’s a matter of moving people around the system so that patients can move through the system better.

Stage 3 of Victoria’s winter response plan has also been triggered, unlocking private hospital capacity for public patients and converting more hospitals to tier 1 streaming services.

Other newly announced measures include setting up new paediatric GP respiratory clinics at the Royal Children’s and Monash Children’s hospitals, and a trial to use some private hospital EDs and acute beds to treat public patients.

Since 22 June, Victoria has experienced a 99% rise in people in hospital with Covid, a 60% increase in Covid-related ICU admissions and a 47% spike in workforce furloughs.

More than 10,000 Victorian health staff were off work sick over the first week of July alone, the state government says.

Updated at 22.20 EDT

What one jobseeker is forced to do to keep her benefits

A 63-year-old woman from regional South Australia needs to make a 250km round trip to meet her mutual obligations and keep her benefits under the new $1.5bn-a-year Workforce Australia program.

Michelle (name changed), who lives in Yorketown, on the Yorke Peninsula, has been referred to a job agency in Kadina, about one and a half hour’s drive or 125km from her home.

Under the mutual obligations system, jobseekers who are connected with a job agency must attend appointments with case workers at an employment services provider to keep their payments. However, these appointments do not count towards the new points-based activation system that requires jobseekers to complete various tasks to get enough points to keep their welfare payments.

It comes after another jobseeker told Guardian Australia this week he would need to travel 60km by bus to his appointment after the job agency in his town closed.

For all the details on how people are grappling with the latest overhaul of the social security system, read the full report by Guardian Australia’s social affairs and inequality editor Luke Henriques-Gomez.

Updated at 21.22 EDT

No new Covid deaths in Queensland

No people with Covid-19 have died in Queensland overnight, with the state recording 5,989 new cases on Sunday morning, 876 people in hospital, and 20 in ICU.

Queensland to roll out EV charging stations into outback

Electric vehicle drivers will soon be able to travel through the Queensland outback, with dozens of new charging stations set to be rolled out, AAP reports.

The state’s energy and renewables minister Mick de Brenni said on Sunday that Queensland’s “Electric Super Highway” will expand inland to mining town Mount Isa in the north and Cunnamulla near the NSW border, with 24 new stations planned.

The first charging station to open as part of the phase 3 will be at Kingaroy in August. Other stations including Longreach, Cloncurry and Stanthorpe will open in the coming months.

De Brenni said the rising cost of fuel and supply chain challenges had increased the urgency for more affordable and clean energy options.

Queenslanders are acutely aware of the current global challenges driving up the costs of transport, so developing Australia’s sovereign energy independence through more locally made energy is making more economic sense than ever.

Charging stations already stretch along the state’s coast, allowing electric vehicle drivers to travel from Coolangatta near the NSW border to Cairns in the tropical north.

Photograph: Simon McGill/Getty Images

The phase 3 rollout will make the charging network almost 5,400km long.

It comes as Queensland’s electric vehicle fleet grows to 10,161 cars and buses, up from 525 in 2017.

Updated at 22.16 EDT

Authorities confirm white whale is not Migaloo

A white whale that washed up on a Victorian beach is not the well-known albino humpback Migaloo, according to the state’s environment department.

The carcass of an albino whale was found at a beach in Mallacoota in the state’s far east this week, sparking concern it could be Migaloo, who was first spotted off Byron Bay in 1991.

But Peter Brick, of Victoria’s Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DEWLP), said images of the carcass that had been viewed by officials proved it was not Migaloo. He told AAP:

DELWP officers have examined images of the dead humpback whale at Mallacoota and have confirmed it is a sub-adult female. Migaloo is a male.

Updated at 20.56 EDT

Victorian Coalition would legislate a 50% emissions target

The Victorian opposition is promising to legislate an emissions reduction target of 50% by 2030 if it wins the November state election.

Opposition leader Matthew Guy on Sunday unveiled the policy, which matches Victorian Labor’s target and is higher than the 43% goal set by the federal government.

The Victorian government has already committed to slashing emissions 50% by the end of the decade, but has not legislated the interim target.

Under the Coalition’s plan to reach the 2030 target, it has pledged to establish a $1bn hydrogen strategy, upgrade transmission infrastructure in western Victoria to unlock renewable energy and set up a “Fixing Victoria’s Grid” taskforce.

It will also legislate a local gas guarantee for new supply, a policy first announced in 2017, within the first six months of taking office.

Guy said it showed the Victorian Liberals’ and Nationals’ commitment to climate change action says it will “send the strongest possible signal that action on climate change is a priority”.

– with AAP

Updated at 23.14 EDT