The fallout from revelations that Scott Morrison appointed himself to five secret portfolios during the pandemic continue. Nationals leader David Littleproud has backed claims the move breached the Coalition agreement.
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Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie says this decision showed "complete disrespect" for her party.
"Our Coalition arrangements are a negotiated outcome and they include a ratio of cabinet portfolios in a coalition government," she told ABC Radio National.
"By essentially removing the authority of one of those ministers and giving it to a Liberal minister ... [he] breached the Coalition agreement.
"It showed complete disrespect for the second party of government ... the National Party would not have agreed with having one of its ministers removed."
In addition, Greens leader Adam Bandt has called on the House of Representatives to urgently assess whether Mr Morrison was in contempt of parliament by deliberately misleading the house.
Meanwhile, Australia's older population is expected to grow rapidly over the next two decades, with those aged over 65 predicted to account for a fifth of the population by 2041.
The latest projections from the ARC Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing Research found Australia's overall population is likely to reach 32 million by that time.
About 6.6 million of that figure will be people aged 65 and over, an increase of 54 per cent.
In good news, two Freshwater-class ferries will make a daily return to Sydney Harbour in a NSW government backflip, following widespread backlash that they were all but pulled from service.
The ferries run the Circular Quay to Manly route, and are a favourite among tourists and locals, but the daily services were scrapped in favour of smaller, Chinese-built Emerald-class vessels.
From early September, two Freshwaters - the MV Freshwater and MV Queenscliff, the later of which was retired amid great fanfare in October 2021 - will begin operating every two hours, seven-days-a-week.
Until now, they had been operating on weekends and public holidays only.
In what seems like a never ending blow, bees are under attack like never before.
In June research identified a dangerous variant of the deformed wing virus is on the rise worldwide. The virus infects honeybees, causing their wings to atrophy and the bees to die.
Also that month the varroa mite, a major honeybee parasite, was discovered in biosecurity surveillance hives at the Port of Newcastle.
Now new research has identified what happens to bees when they are subject to insecticides.
Have you ever struggled to walk in a straight line after having one too many? Well, it seems that honeybees are having similar issues, but after getting a dose of insecticides.
The research found that common pesticides can profoundly impair the behaviour of honeybees.
THE NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW:
- Unemployment dips to historic low
- Australia's older population on the rise
- Morrison disrespected Nationals: McKenzie
- Indigenous voice a hand of friendship: PM
- Health dept failed to track COVID vaccination of frontline workers: audit
- Bees 'drunk' from pesticide exposure: Insects struggle to walk in a straight line
- House of the Dragon breaks two of three golden rules
- The biggest barriers facing first-home buyers revealed