TRANSCRIPT
Welcome to SBS News in Easy English. I'm Greg Dyett.
China has recommended dropping tariffs on Australian wine exports worth $1 billion dollars in an interim decision.
Beijing has been reviewing the sanctions through a five-month process after the Albanese government agreed to suspend Australia's dispute lodged with the World Trade Organisation until March 31.
The Chinese government has now released its interim recommendation that the duties on wine are no longer necessary.
Beijing will announce its final decision later this month, but the move has sparked hope the tariffs will be fully removed.
New research has found Australia must do more to recognise the international qualifications of migrants to help address skills shortages.
The report by the Committee for Economic Development of Australia shows the nation needs to make more use of skilled migrants.
It recommends increasing their access to English-language training and better recognising their qualifications and work experience obtained overseas.
Catherine Scarth, the Chief Executive Officer of English language provider AMES says many skilled migrants may have high proficiency in one area of English and not so much in another.
"Some of our experience has been with engineers, particularly that it's the type of written English that sometimes is the issue. So not necessarily oral skills, but some of the very technical language skills. So it's probably thinking about how do we boost some of the more advanced English training for skilled migrants."
The federal government has unveiled a funding agreement with the Northern Territory that it says will see its schools fully funded within five years.
Education Minister Jason Clare says one in five children in the territory are currently not receiving any funding.
He says the funding needed for a public school student in the Top End is almost double the national average because of the territory's remote locations and large Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population.
"We know that here in the Northern Territory there are some of the most disadvantaged communities in the country, and some of the most underfunded public schools in the country. Under the Gonski model, public schools here in the Northern Territory at the moment are funded at less than 80 percent of the original model. What we're announcing here today is about fixing that."
A permanent memorial will be built in Darwin to honour the victims of Cyclone Tracy fifty years ago.
The Australian Government will give $600,000 to the Northern Territory Government for the memorials.
71 people died, more than 600 were injured, and 80 per cent of the city was destroyed in the cyclone that hit the city in the early hours of Christmas morning in December 1974.
More than 36,000 people left Darwin after the cyclone while for those who stayed, the damage bill topped $800 million.
There's been a sharp increase in the amount of illicit drugs used in Australia over the past 12 months.
Wastewater testing has showed a 19 per cent surge in cocaine consumption and a 17 per cent increase in the use of methylamphetamine in August 2023 when compared to the previous year.
I'm Greg Dyett and that's SBS News in Easy English.
