Key Points
- Secret portfolio saga continues, flood inquiry report and Voice to Parliament.
- These are the major stories of the day.
Good morning. It's Jessica Bahr here with SBS News' Morning Briefing.
Governor-general had 'no reason' to believe ministerial appointments wouldn't be made public
Governor-general David Hurley has addressed former prime minister , saying questions over secrecy "are a matter for the previous government" to address. In a statement, a spokesperson said Mr Hurley had acted consistently on the advice of the government of the day and in line with protocols. Earlier on Wednesday, Mr Morrison defended the moves and resisted calls to resign, while current prime minister Anthony Albanese referred to the appointments as a "power grab". If you want to know more about the legalities and how this situation could be avoided in the future,
How a Voice to Parliament could shape the future of Australia
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Indigenous Affairs Minister Linda Burney will visit the Torres Strait on Thursday to "engage with Australians" on the Voice to Parliament. After being elected in May, Mr Albanese promised a referendum on the Voice would be held - but what does this actually mean, and how will the Voice change Australia? Essentially, the Uluru Statement from the Heart calls for a , so it can't be removed by the government of the day (this has happened to similar bodies in the past). For that to happen, the constitution must be amended, and that can only be done through a referendum. We don't have a date for the referendum yet, but Mr Albanese has promised it will be in Labor's first term, so watch this space.
COVID-19 vaccine rollout 'missed key targets', report says
An auditor-general's report has for missing key targets. According to the report, none of the five timeline targets set by the government was met, including the rollouts to aged care resdients, the vulnerable, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The report says planning was "not timely" and had "underestimated the complexity" of administering services to aged care and disability sectors. Earlier on Wednesday - during a press conference about his secret ministry appointments - Mr Morrison said Australia's response to the pandemic was an example to the rest of the developed world, and said he was "proud of what Australia was able to achieve over that period".
How will the NSW government respond to a flood inquiry report?
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has accepted into the state's response to devastating floods earlier this year, which killed 13 people. The report was completed by former chief scientist Mary O'Kane and former NSW Police commissioner Mick Fuller, and included recommendations such as establishing rescue training for residents in flood-prone areas and a back office merger of emergency services. Mr Perrottet says while progress had been made in the six months since the floods, there is still a "long journey" ahead and it's important to "rebuild in a resilient way".
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet and Deputy Premier Paul Toole ( Right ) with Local MP Janelle Saffin during the release of the NSW floods report at Southern Cross University in Lismore, NSW, Wednesday, August 17, 2022. (AAP Image/Jason O’Brien) NO ARCHIVING Source: AAP / Jason O'Brien
In other news
- Israel and Germany have in Berlin, where he compared Israel's killings of Palestinians to the Holocaust.
- As a national movement grows to recognise the efforts of Indigenous veterans, the Australian War Memorial has
- Brace yourself - the Bureau of Meteorology is predicting a cold and wet spring, with It's not certain yet, but the alert means there's a 70 per cent chance of the event occurring during the spring - as has happened each time the alert has been raised in the past.
