NewsBite

Think of the drop bears and that woman "700 drinks deep"

All the news that's fit to mint.

Jenna ClarkeEditorial Director
5 min read
1:02PMJuly 11, 2022.
Updated 2:09PMJuly 12, 2022
The Oz
Print

All the news that's fit to mint.

What's happening in (The) Oz today:

👷🏻‍♀️ The government will start "talking" about jobs

🐨 Koalas demand new protection laws

👩🏻‍⚖️ Victoria considers cracking down on NDAs

😩 There's a hummus shortage

🦠 Another cruise ship riddled with Covid is incoming

🇱🇰 Sri Lanka's President flees, resigns 

📺 Scott and Charlene are back together

👑 Just make 8-year-old Prince George king

🗻 Disassociate like this guy watching an avalanche

Good morning!

While Nick Kyrgios continues to nurse a gnarly hangover from his Wimbledon loss to the bloke he calls "a bit of a God", we're still processing the fact an actual king was sitting in the crowd watching that eventful final.

Prince George of Cambridge made his Wimbledon debut and while making an 8-year-old wear a suit on a Sunday to sit in the sun is pretty poor parental behaviour, G-man appeared to love it like it was no big thing.

It's good to know the future of the Commonwealth is in steady hands.

In these crazy times, be a George.
In these crazy times, be a George.

That was until he was asked to hold the trophy.

And once again Kate rescues the Windsors.

Meanwhile thoughts and prayers to the overly refreshed woman in the crowd who we are now obsessed with.

Even though Kyrgios himself said he felt "two beers deep" post match, he reckons he called it better than the umpire at the state of her.

In her defence maybe the Pimms was just extra strong.

Jobs and growth

The PM announces his first "summit" for September and it's all about jobs and, without a hint of irony, growth.

“We intend to bring together business, unions, civil society groups, other levels of government, to discuss how, as we move forward, we can maximise benefits for the economy and industry,” the Prime Minister said.

With a focus on addressing a shortage of skilled workers, Albanese said trying to lure workers from overseas down under will be a key focus, despite the unemployment status sitting at a historically low 3.9%.

"The government inherited, along with a long list of problems, a massive backlog in the visas. It is absurd that at a time of skills shortages, there have been people waiting for such a long period of time. We have a global labour market. We need to acknowledge that, and we need to make sure we have better pathways to a permanent presence in Australia for people to give us the skills we need."

Former PM Kevin Rudd hosted a "summit" shortly after his landslide election win back in 2007, called the "2020 Summit" where he called in "1000 of Australia's best and brightest". All anyone can remember from it was that Cate Blanchett was there. 

Won't someone think of the drop bears

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek will if The Koala Foundation gets its way.

Koalas will be given the highest level of protection of any animal species in Australian history under an "unassailable" new law its proposing. It estimates there are fewer than 100,000 of them in the wild and about 6400 koalas were killed during the 2019 summer fires.

The Foundation is pushing for a federal "Koala Protection Act" that would place caveats on land clearing and developments across all habitat areas.

Up to 1.5m square km of bush, or 20% of the continent, would be protected under the plan cooked up by the lobby group.

"The Foundation has sent its draft Bill to new Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek, who has been contacted for comment," The Australian - the Blinky Bill to our Caramello - reported.

Victoria could say 'GTFO' to NDAs

Non-disclosure agreements will be restricted in Victoria under proposed reforms following a wide-ranging workplace sexual harassment review.

The Victorian government will start work on drafting new laws to restrict NDAs for cases of workplace sexual harassment.

Yesterday, Workplace Safety Minister Ingrid Stitt released the recommendations from the Ministerial Taskforce on Workplace Sexual Harassment, along with the Victorian government’s response.

Victorian MP Ingrid Stitt is driving the new legislation that will restrict the use of NDA in workplace situations.
Victorian MP Ingrid Stitt is driving the new legislation that will restrict the use of NDA in workplace situations.

In an Australian-first, it will begin work to restrict the use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) for workplace sexual harassment cases in Victoria, which are often misused to silence victim-survivors, protect employer reputations, avoid full liability and hide serial offending.

Well there goes my social life

And diet.

As a hummus shortage could be incoming.

The breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack of champions.
The breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack of champions.

Chickpea farmers are warning us the pulses of their crops are running low. This will endanger supply to not only us but, more seriously, countries that rely on chickpeas as an essential source of protein.

According to the Global Pulse Confederation - like the official hummus appreciation society - supplies of chickpeas could drop off as much as 20% in the latter months of this year thanks to "difficult weather conditions" and the war in Ukraine.

Like oil and seemingly everything else, Russia, is one of the biggest exporters of chickpeas - accounting for about a quarter of the global supply.

Oh hell no

Reports last night suggest we may have another Ruby Princess on our hands.

This one is called the Coral Princess which is sailing from Brisbane and Sydney and has more than 100 Covid positive passengers. 

Queensland Health said there are 2300 on board.

Queensland Health Minister Yvette D’Ath confirmed that health authorities were aware of the outbreak and that some of the Covid-positive guests have since left the ship to isolate at home or in accommodation on land.

“This was always going to happen. Just like the rest of the community, the virus is everywhere and there’s no escaping that.” Ms D’Ath said.

Meanwhile good thing antivirals are set to become more accessible, as we reported yesterday, because health nerds suggest Covid immunity.

Australia's top public health officers have recommended to slash the considered "immunity period" after a COVID infection from 12-weeks to 28-days.

People who test positive for COVID are currently considered 'immune' from reinfection for 12 weeks, however, the new BA.4 and BA.5 strains have seen reinfections occur much earlier.

Sri Lanka is a mess

Over the weekend there were unconfirmed reports the Sri Lankan President fled the country.

Last night it was confirmed Gotabaya Rajapaksa will actually be resigning. Probably on Wednesday. 

The prime minister's office made the announcement two days after crowds stormed the President’s official residence, used the gym and set fire to the PM's home on Saturday.

Protesters have vowed to occupy the residences of both blokes until they "keep their word" and leave office.

Rajapaksa's resignation was first announced by the parliament Speaker on Saturday, but many Sri Lankans responded with scepticism to the idea that he would relinquish power.

Sri Lanka is facing a deepening economic crisis, which has resulted in a shortage of essentials like fuel, cooking gas and medicines. With local authorities telling citizens to start growing their own food and doctors taking to Facebook begging for supplies in order to help save premature babies. 

Australia's king and queen are back

Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan have reunited on Ramsay St.

The artists formerly known as Scott and Charlene have returned to the set of Neighbours - the TV show that kicked start both of their careers.

They're back filming the final scenes of the show that'll wrap production after close to 40-years on air.

Scott and Charlene's wedding was THE TV moment of 1987 and 1988. It aired in Australia in July of 1987 where 2m of us tuned in and were mesmerised by her dress and 738 springs of baby's breath. Then in 1988 more than 20m Britons tuned in and thus the UK's love affair with all things Neighbours, and later Kylie Minogue, took off.

This probably wasn't the appropriate response

A British tourist captured this insane avalanche caused by a glacier collapsing in Kyrgyzstan. 

Sound on to hear the commentary that could be mistaken for Paddington Bear.

More related stories

Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/the-oz/news/think-of-the-drop-bears-and-that-woman-700-drinks-deep/news-story/424304f16932ce582868ee9052357171