TRANSCRIPT
- A new endometriosis treatment will be listed on the PBS
- The Prime Minister says he will pass nature positive laws despite a deal scrapped last week
- Sophie Garbin takes home the top honour at the Australian netball awards
The first subsidised treatment for endometriosis in more than three decades will be available from today, the federal government has announced.
The common chronic condition can cause crippling pain and infertility affecting around one million Australian women.
It contributes to around 40,000 hospital admissions each year and leaves hundreds of thousands of women regularly suffering with pain.
Health Minister Mark Butler says it's well overdue that Australian women have access to affordable medicine for endometriosis.
"It's extraordinary to me that the last listing on the PBS of a new treatment for endometriosis was 30 years ago, 30 years ago, and the most common PBS drug that is prescribed for endometriosis was listed in the 1980s. At the same year, the Berlin Wall was torn down, so I'm so delighted today to announce that a cutting edge treatment VISANNE is finally being listed on the PBS as of today."
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The Prime Minister says he still intends to implement his party's nature positive laws after a deal with the Greens was scrapped during the last sitting week of parliament.
The legislation would have established two new agencies, including an environmental monitor to manage compliance with national environmental laws, and an agency to manage environmental data.
Mr Albanese tells the ABC the laws haven't been shelved.
"I'm saying what we want to do is to ensure that there is proper protection of the environment of sustainability, but also speedier approvals for things that should be approved. We want jobs to be created. We want industry to be supported, and that's why we need to get the balance right."
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A man has been charged with murder after the bodies of a couple were found inside a takeaway shop in Sydney's west.
Officers were called to the shop on Oxford Street, near Penrith, after reports of an assault around 9:40am on Saturday.
The couple, aged in their 60s, were found with significant injuries after a member of the public alerted police.
A 31-year old man was arrested at his home in Canley Heights at about 12:30am on Sunday.
Police allege all three people involved were known to each other.
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The Salvation Army are hoping to raise $27 million for their annual Christmas appeal.
It comes amid a cost of living crisis which is forcing more people to rely on charity services to make ends meet.
Brendan Major Nottell tells Channel Nine he's seeing people come forward for help who were previously donors to the organisation.
"I tell you what, when you provide a meal to someone or you provide some toys to mum or dad, and they've actually had the conversation with their kids and said, there's not going to be a Christmas this year because we can't afford it. When you hand over those gifts or provide a meal, there's this really powerful, quiet message that's being communicated, that there's someone somewhere out there that is actually thinking of them this Christmas. They're heard. They're seen, and that has a profound impact on people."
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Overseas,
Ireland's Prime Minister Simon Harris says he is "cautiously optimistic" about the country's election result.
Mr Harris' centre-right Fine Gael, and coalition partners Fianna Fail, are on course to return to power, but will likely need one small partner to secure a majority.
Sinn Fein's Mary Lou McDonald has already rejected any proposal that her left-leaning party will make up the majority.
Mr Harris says the Opposition party lost votes in this election.
"Very close, a very competitive election. But certainly we haven't seen a Sinn Fein surge or anything like it. I mean, it looks likely on the figures that we've seen now, fewer people, many fewer people will have voted Sinn Fein in this election than the last one. And, actually, the parties particularly the two parties, and the two larger parties in government, are likely to receive significant support from the electorate. So definitely politics in Ireland has gotten much more fragmented."
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And in sport,
Sophie Garbin has become the first goaler in five years to win the best player recognition at the Australian netball awards.
Garbin was crowned the Liz Ellis Diamond in Melbourne following dominant domestic and international seasons with the Melbourne Vixens and the Diamonds.
A newcomer to the Vixens this year, Garbin scored 517 goals in the home-and-away season and broke two club Super Netball-era records.
Garbin was also named International Player of the Year, making her the seventh Diamond in the last decade to take home both awards.
She tells Channel Nine playing for Australia is a huge honour.
"Just getting to pull on the green and gold. It's such a pinchy moment. I still think that's something that, I probably don't really know the depth of it now, but I think after my career it's something that I'm going to look back on and really reflect, and even just the amazing plays around."
