TRANSCRIPT
- Opposition leader Peter Dutton criticised for not releasing details of the Coalition's nuclear policy.
- Palestinian crews exhume 210 bodies from a mass grave in Gaza.
- And in sport, Australian cycling star Grace Brown claims the biggest win of her career.
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Opposition leader Peter Dutton has been criticised for not releasing details for the Coalition's nuclear policy.
Details for the energy policy were due to be released before the May budget, but Mr Dutton says he will hold off on announcing the details, partly due to the two recent stabbing incidents in Sydney.
The details would include the location and costs of proposed nuclear power stations.
Labor MP Matt Thistlethwaite told Sky News that Australians want to see the details.
"This is their signature policy. And the Australian people have the right to know what this policy is all about, particularly where the Coalition are planning to situate these nuclear power plants."
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Two new polls suggest there is nearly equal support for the two major parties ahead of the May budget.
A Newspoll published in The Australian shows most voters think Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is the better leader at 48 per cent against Mr Dutton at 35 per cent.
Labor narrowly leads the Opposition, on a two-party preferred basis, at 51 per cent to 49 per cent.
But Labor's primary vote sits at 33 per cent, below the Coalition at 38 per cent.
The results similarly reflect another poll published by Nine newspapers, which shows Mr Albanese leading Mr Dutton on the preferred prime minister stakes at 41 per cent to 32 per cent.
Asked about these results, Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek told Channel 7 her party is doing everything possible to address the cost-of-living crisis confronting Australians.
"We want to see wages go up, and they have gone up under Labor. We want to see people keep more of what they're earning with lower taxes, and that will happen in the budget. We've also helped with electricity bill relief, lower childcare fees, cheaper medicines, making it cheaper and easier to see a doctor, extra paid parental leave, free TAFE, more support for housing, for affordable housing, that is why we're focused on these cost-of-living measures."
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Palestinian civil defence crews say they've exhumed 210 bodies so far from a mass grave in Gaza's southern city of Khan Younis.
The bodies, found in the courtyard of the Nasser Medical Complex, were reportedly buried by the Israeli military after their raid on the hospital in February following days of intense bombardment.
Palestinian man Walid Radwan Ftima told Al Jazeera he found his mother among the bodies.
"Since Eid, I have been monitoring the process of exhuming bodies from this mass grave. I came to inspect the bodies and found my mother's body which I identified by distinctive marks on her feet."
A spokesman for the civil defence agency told AFP that there were no clothes on some bodies which indicated in their minds signs of torture and abuse.
Israel's military says it is checking the reports.
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The Treasury has downgraded its growth forecasts for major economies ahead of the federal budget.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers is warning of a "fraught and fragile" outlook internationally amid geopolitical tensions in the Middle East as well as a slowdown in China's economy.
China's growth has been downgraded by 0.25 percentage points in 2025 to 4.25 per cent, according to Treasury forecasts.
The downgrade would mean China's growth would be the weakest period since the Asian nation opened its economy up in the 1970s.
Ahead of May's federal budget, Dr Chalmers has been meeting with G20 counterparts in Washington, and says global uncertainty has led to revised budget expectations.
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And in sport,
Australian cycling star Grace Brown has claimed the biggest win of her career, winning the Liege-Bastogne-Liege classic ahead of the Paris Olympics.
The 31-year-old Melbourne rider was already a medal favourite for the individual time trial at Paris and her win at Liege underscores Brown as a threat in the Olympic road race as well.
She is the first Australian woman to win the Belgian race nicknamed La Doyenne, which has had a women's race since 2017.
