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Health minister flags prosecution of illegal vape sellers under ‘far more assertive’ enforcement
Mark Butler is asked whether a ban on vapes is having the effect he intended, with prices rising and a potential black market having been created.
The minister says the government has already “seized 5m vapes at the border” on top of the 1 July retail ban.
We’ve taken the approach in the first few months to try to get businesses to surrender their vapes, and many have done that to the TGA. We’ve been conducting inspections in conjunction with state authorities to hundreds of premises to inform them of the new laws and warn them of the consequences in the longer term, but we have to switch to a far more assertive approach.
Butler cites the federal penalties of “up to seven years in prison and fines of more than $2m”, and says in the near future he wants “to see prosecutions start being prepared by authorities”.
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Rowland says still no decision on gambling ad ban
Paul Karp
The communications minister, Michelle Rowland, also spoke to Sky about the government’s proposed partial gambling ad ban.
She said:
We want to protect children. We want to break the nexus between wagering and sport and we want to deal with the saturation of ads, particularly as that impacts on young men, aged around 18 to 35. So we’re looking at a range of issues with no decisions having been made yet, but I should be very clear ... We want people to be excited about the game, not about the odds and for some people, this is a matter that should have been dealt with a decade ago.
And in that time we’ve seen an over-reliance on wagering advertising develop. And whilst around three-quarters of overall gambling losses in Australia actually come from land-based gaming, so that’s poker machines, lotteries and casinos, we know that that online sports wagering section is growing and we need to deal with it.
Asked if she had concerns about the future of free-to-air television, she said:
Well, as communications minister part of my remit is to ensure the sustainability of broadcasting, that includes free-to-air but also subscription broadcasting … and I think it is incumbent on governments to understand the impact of government decisions.
Until someone invents a stable free ubiquitous platform that can either compete with or replace free-to-air broadcasting, I think we need to appreciate that this has a special place, it has a special place particularly in regional areas and especially for people who may be in lower socioeconomic circumstances. So broadcasting remains important. I can tell you, Andrew, I have had people say to me, why is the government concerned about a sector that, in their words, is dying?
I refuse to accept that. Broadcasting is important. The ecosystem in which this subscription broadcast operates is important. And as a government, we need to be methodical and we need to be evidence-based when it comes to responding to this challenge that we have. But we also need to be effective, and that is exactly the balance we’re aiming to achieve.
Chalmers says Labor has 'roughly' halved inflation since taking office
Paul Karp
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has spoken to Sky News ahead of this week’s release of monthly inflation figures.
Chalmers said that although the monthly figures are “pretty volatile and unpredictable” but the data is expected to show inflation “has come off quite substantially”. With inflation either in the high 2% to low 3% range, it is “roughly half” the rate of inflation Labor inherited when it was elected in May 2022.
Chalmers said the fight against inflation is “broadly on the right track”. He refused to criticise the Reserve Bank for recent statements about the economy running too hot. Chalmers said the challenge for both monetary and fiscal policy is to “get on top of inflation without ignoring the risks to growth”.
He said:
We’ve got slightly different responsibilities. And from time to time we will have slightly different perspectives, but overall we’re on the same page.
Chalmers revealed that the final budget outcome for 2023-24, which was projected in May to be $9.3bn, will come in as a surplus in the “mid teens”. However, net overseas migration will come in higher than expected because arrivals are reducing but departures are lower than expected.
Albanese confident in Quad’s future amid American leadership cloud and tensions with India
Speaking to reporters after the Quad summit, Anthony Albanese stressed the importance of the grouping and the reinforced that it will endure despite leadership changes that may occur after Joe Biden leaves the US presidency.
I’m absolutely confident. And the fact that we have gathered here in Delaware – President Biden’s home state – is an indication of that. All four nations are committed to the Quad playing an important role.
The question of the future of the grouping was an open question going into the summit, in addition to how it may facilitate diplomatic manoeuvring on the sidelines.
One question concerned the status of Australia’s relationship with India. Albanese had yet to meet privately with India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi. When asked, Albanese brushed off concerns there may be an issue, saying he had secured a “quick discussion” adding the length of the meeting was “a matter of logistics”.
It was previously flagged before the Quad meeting that Albanese would raise concerns about the presence of an Indian spy cell in Australia. The existence of the spy cell – the “nest of spies” – was revealed in 2020 after members would caught trying to steal secrets about sensitive defence projects.
Asked whether Australian personnel may find themselves serving on coastguard vessels in the South China Sea as part of the proposed observer program – a situation that may put them in harm’s way if there was an incident – the prime minister said “those details will be worked out”.
Maritime and health partnerships announced at Quad summit
The Quad meeting has wrapped with the grouping expanding its focus of operations.
Anthony Albanese met with the US president, Joe Biden, and the prime ministers of India and Japan, Narendra Modi and Fumio Kishida, the leaders seeking to deepen their cooperation.
Among the initiatives announced at the summit were:
An initiative to reduce the number of cancer deaths in the Indo-Pacific and other public health measures such as increased HPV vaccinations to fight cervical cancer;
The expansion of the Quad Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA) to build existing capabilities and increase training to counter illicit maritime activities.
An effort to build the ability for humanitarian assistance to be airlifted where needed to better respond to natural disasters in the Indo-Pacific region;
A Coast Guard Cooperation agreement to create an observer program that would allow coastguard personnel to serve on vessels from Quad member companies.
One in 20 Australian adults have experienced reproductive coercion and abuse
For the first time, researchers in Australia have estimated the national prevalence of behaviour used to control a person’s reproductive autonomy.
Reproductive coercion and abuse (RCA) can include interference with contraception by a partner, forced contraception or sterilisation, and control of pregnancy outcomes by forced abortion or forced pregnancy.
Questions about these experiences were added to the country’s largest and most comprehensive study of sexual and reproductive health, conducted once a decade.
For more on this story, read the full report by Guardian Australia’s Natasha May:
Health minister wants prosecutions for illegal vape sellers ‘pretty soon’
Just circling back to the conversation with the federal health minister, Mark Butler, he was asked whether stores that will continue to sell vapes despite a ban will face prosecution.
Butler:
It’s quite clear that some convenience and tobacconist stores are breaking the law ... we are going to have to switch to a far more assertive approach. There are very serious penalties in the federal laws now, up to seven years in prison and fines of $2m. And pretty soon I want to see prosecutions starting to be prepared by authorities.
Mark Butler says the demand for mental health care has been growing over the last two decades and the government “wants to go upstream and look at some of the impacts that social media and other things like that are having” on young people which are considered to be the source of this demand.
And that’s a wrap.
GP shortage showing possible ‘green shoots of recovery’, Butler says
Butler says he is “desperately worried” about a shortage of GPs working within the Australian health system.
One in two medical graduates would choose general practice, and it is now one in seven.
The minister says 20% more medical students chose general practice in 2024 than last year.
So there may be some green shoots of recovery.
He says the government has been plugging the gaps by bringing health professionals from overseas, but cabinet has also directed all health ministers to come up with a “GP attraction strategy” to sure up the “backbone of our healthcare system”.
Health minister flags prosecution of illegal vape sellers under ‘far more assertive’ enforcement
Mark Butler is asked whether a ban on vapes is having the effect he intended, with prices rising and a potential black market having been created.
The minister says the government has already “seized 5m vapes at the border” on top of the 1 July retail ban.
We’ve taken the approach in the first few months to try to get businesses to surrender their vapes, and many have done that to the TGA. We’ve been conducting inspections in conjunction with state authorities to hundreds of premises to inform them of the new laws and warn them of the consequences in the longer term, but we have to switch to a far more assertive approach.
Butler cites the federal penalties of “up to seven years in prison and fines of more than $2m”, and says in the near future he wants “to see prosecutions start being prepared by authorities”.
Government open to expanding access to IVF, Butler says
Butler says the government is open to recommendations in a new report that would expand access to procedures that would help families, including LGBTQ+ couples who may be discriminated against under existing rules, to conceive children, but would not be drawn about what action the government may take.
As I said, my starting position is that … if we can give more families the joy of having children, that’s a great place to start, but we will work through these recommendations carefully, as I imagine your viewers would expect me to.
Butler rules out requiring hospitals to provide abortion services
Butler says the government wants women “right across Australia, particularly in regional communities to have equitable and safe access to all health services, including termination services”.
Butler was asked whether the federal government will make it a requirement for public hospitals to provide access to abortion in their funding arrangements. Asked again, specifically, whether the government would seek to do this, he responded:
We have no plans to do that.
The minister said that state and territory ministers “are accountable to their electorates for the way they run hospital systems”.
Butler says Senate report on women’s healthcare tells “pretty shameful story”
Butler is now asked about a Senate inquiry report that found women going through menopause have been let down by a system where doctors are not properly trained to advise them.
In particular, it found that trainee doctors only receive one hour training on menopause – a finding which Butler says is “shocking”.
This is one of two really important inquiry Senate reports the Senate has delivered to us around women’s health, and together they tell a pretty shameful story about women not being taken seriously in the health system about their symptoms.
Butler says the government has made “some modest investment” in the last budget to “lift the capability of GPs to women in peri-menopause and menopause” but adds that “there is much more to do in this area”.
I’m working with the minister for women, Katy Gallagher, Ged Kearney is leading work with the women’s health sector to examine these reports and look at what we can do frankly to better support women.
Asked what he would say to doctors who are being asked to “gate keep” access to saline, Mark Butler says the government is “working to remedy this situation” and that health professionals need to be “judicious” as the situation stabilises.
Separately, Butler has announced wider access for the shingles vaccine.
Shoring up saline bag supply part of ‘broader question about sovereign capability’, Butler says
Butler says the government has only been able to secure “a few million more bags than normal” over the next six months, but says “we will have more than we need.”
We are looking at longer term security of supply as well. For example, our major manufacturer here in Australia will opening an additional production line in coming weeks. I’ve been down to have a look at that over the last few weeks as well, but we need to think in the more medium to long term about how we can avoid getting into this position again, and it is part of a broader question about our sovereign capability in the area of medicines and medical technology.
Mark Butler says health system will have ‘more than enough’ saline bags amid supply shortage
The federal health minister, Mark Butler, has sought to reassure Australians that the health system will have “more than enough” saline bags, even as hospitals are still being advised to be cautious while the problems are worked out.
It snuck under the radar of state health care systems, whether it was state governments or hospitals, because there would always be a surplus of saline bags.
When there became a supply interruption, there was no obligation to notify of that shortage which there is for medicines, for example, so we are now treating IV fluid as a medicine, but also not much coordination between different parts of the system.
Butler added that some state governments were doing better than others, who were coming up short.
That’s why we’ve pooled all the jurisdictions together, private hospital operators, primary care part of the system through the [Australian Medical Association] to make sure that very regularly we have a much better line of sight, frankly, than the system did have before.
Albanese says 'a stronger Quad means a stronger Australia' in summit address
Anthony Albanese has used his opening address at the Quad summit in Delaware in the US to reaffirm Australia’s commitment to the regional grouping, describing it as a “key instrument to promote stability in our region” and saying that “a stronger Quad means a stronger Australia”.
Together, our four nations are committed to an open, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific, and we have a shared vision for a region that is governed by accepted rules and norms where all countries can cooperate, trade, and thrive.
The prime minister – who was introduced by US President Joe Biden as “Anthony” – said cooperation will “ensure that in our region, all nations – big and small – have their sovereignty respected and can secure their own future”.
That means delivering a transparent, positive, and practical agenda that addresses regional economic and development challenges.
It means driving opportunity for our people and shared prosperity for our region.
The summit, which has now concluded, covered topics ranging from climate change and public health to regional security cooperation.
The PM also sounded a cautious note, stressing that “dialogue” was essential to regional security.
Partnerships like Quad are crucial, providing us with an avenue to discuss shared responsibilities and goals, and strengthening the enduring relationships necessary for lasting stability.
The federal health minister, Mark Butler, will speak to ABC Insiders host David Speers on Sunday morning.
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has also done the rounds, speaking to Sky News ahead of this week’s release of monthly inflation figures. Other Sky appearances included the communications minister, Michelle Rowland, and the shadow environment minister, Jonathon Duniam.
We will bring you all the latest as it happens.
Good Morning
And welcome to another Sunday morning Guardian live blog.
Anthony Albanese is in Delaware this morning for the Quad summit, which hosted Australia, the US, Japan and India. The meeting was the fourth time the body has met, with leaders discussing international cooperation on regional security, public health and climate.
The prime minister spoke to reporters on Sunday morning to announce a series of initiatives among members of the Quad to improve monitoring of maritime waters and a program to allow Australian personnel to serve aboard coastguard ships of other nations.
I’m Royce Kurmelovs and I’ll be taking the blog through the day.
With that, let’s get started ...
