We’ve rounded up all the latest stories from Australia and around the world – so you don’t have to go searching.
1. Grandparents want to be paid for caring for grandkids.
A study has turned up a surprising result – that 40 per cent of grandparents believe they deserve to be paid for looking after their grandchildren.
With on average grandparents stepping in and caring for their grandchildren 16 hours a week a study by the Australian Seniors Insurance Agency shows more than two in five Australian grandparents believe they should be paid for taking care of their grandchildren.
ASIA spokesman Simon Hovell told The Age it’s likely that number is even higher,
“There is a stigma around asking money,” Mr Hovell said. “It’s reasonable to assume that there is a percentage of grandparents who would like to be paid, but feel uncomfortable asking for it.”
More than 937,000 children in Australia are currently receiving care from their grandparents – that is calculated to be saving the country $127.4 million each week in childcare costs.
The Age points out that that figure is vastly under valued as it calculates childcare at $8.50 an hour, an unheard of amount.
Last year the issue was raised when the Australian government’s National Commission of Audit recommended grandparents be eligible for a childcare payment.
Treasurer Scott Morrison said however it was not an option “For those who are doing the normal thing like my parents do and a lot of peoples’ parents do then, no, the government isn’t considering that “ he said.
Sorry Granny and Gramps see you at 6pm? Ok?
2. Zika virus mosquitoes found in Sydney Airport.
There are reports that mosquitoes capable of spreading the Zika virus have been detected at Sydney’s international airport.
Yesterday the World Health Organisation declared the Zika virus a public health emergency.
As experts questioned whether the virus would reach Australian shores News Limited reports that Sydney’s international airport has had to increase insecticide spraying of passengers arriving from infected regions.
A federal Department of Agriculture spokesperson told News Limited that mosquitoes had only been found “within the confines of the airport and that the risk of a transmitted virus was extremely low”.
Public health experts say that the disease is likely to only reach Far North Queensland.
However two people in NSW have been confirmed to have the virus after travelling from the Caribbean back to Sydney.
3. Whooping cough cases soar across Australia.
Figures released yesterday have shown the alarming rates of whooping cough across the country with the number of whooping cough cases almost doubling across Australia last year.
The Commonwealth’s Report on Government Services shows that in 2014-15 there were 6670 cases of whooping cough reported, a massive peak after 3988 presentations the previous year.
4. Australian Federal Police investigating a series of hoax school bomb threats.
As yet another series of bomb threats saw many schools evacuated yesterday the Federal Police have said that they are working on uncovering who is behind the threats that have disrupted schools right across Australia since last Friday.
Yesterday several Victorian schools and ten Queensland schools also got threatening calls seeing hundreds of students – including primary students evacuated in a terrifying scenario.
Victorian Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton said the calls played automated messages that were “consistent” with those on Friday.
The Herald Sun reports that in one call a man warned a receptionist at a Melbourne primary school: “You don’t have much time.”
At least one Victorian school hoax bomb threat has been linked to the select-entry state school, Nossal High School.
The principal of Berwick Lodge Primary School, Henry Grossek, whose school was evacuated on Friday after receiving a threatening call, said the call had been traced to Nossal High School reports The Age.
Mr Grossek police has said that the that the hoaxer could have hacked into the school’s telecommunication service to make it appear as though the calls had come from the school.
5. Body of woman found in Sydney home.
A man has been charged with murder after the body of a 48-year-old woman was found in a Sydney home.
Sharon Michelutti, 48, was by one of her five children after being allegedly stabbed to death in her Riverwood home.
A 50-year-old man, believed to be her partner, Gavin Debeyer was charged with murder and is due to appear in Burwood Local Court.
For domestic violence support 24/7, call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732).
6. Doctors waits causing angst.
A Productivity Commission report has shown that one in five Australians waited longer than they thought was acceptable to get into a GP last year and one in 20 said they delayed or did not go to a GP in the previous year because of cost.
It found that while 85 per cent of GP visits were bulk billed last year more Australians will face private GP fees this year because of a federal government freeze on Medicare payments for GP services.
Fairfax Media reports that rural residents in particular struggled to get into a GP instead using the emergency department at their local hospital.
64 per cent of people needing “urgent care” waited less than 4 hours, 11 per cent waited 4 to 24 hours and 25 per cent waited a day or more.
7. Hillary Clinton secures narrow victory.
In a close race Democrat Hillary Clinton has won the Iowa caucus` over rival Bernie Sanders.
With 99.94 per cent of precincts reporting, Clinton has had the narrowest of victories – 49.9 per cent to 49.6 per cent victory over Sanders.
The race was so close Democrats flipped coins in some precincts to determine how to award an extra county delegate, a longstanding procedure used to break ties.
Senator Ted Cruz has also had a victory beating Donald Trump with 28 per cent of the vote compared to 24 per cent for businessman Trump.
Trump told supporters he was honoured to have come second and that he will go on to win the Republican nomination and beat Hillary or Bernie “whoever the hell they throw up there”.
8. Whether you are a morning or a night person is linked to your DNA.
A study has shown that 15 genes are linked to whether you are a morning person or a night person – and if you like to wake early you might be benefitting from it.
The study found that people who like to rise early tend to be thinner than those who go to bed later and are also less prone to depression reports The Daily Mail.
The researchers, from the California-based genetic testing company 23andMe who asked 90,000 people if they were naturally a morning or a night person and had their DNA analysed found that a preference for mornings rose with age. More than twice as many of over-60s were morning types than under-30s.
Researcher David Hinds said, “We like to think of our preferences and behaviour as core to who we are and it’s interesting to see how our biology influences these things, like whether you are a morning person or a night owl.
“With large genetic databases available for study, we can uncover the genetics behind a variety of conditions and diseases and hopefully reach a better understanding of how we differ from one another.”
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Top Comments
#1 - seems only reasonable.
No it doesn't.......if you want to have a child cared for by a family member privately then the responsibility for that arrangement is on you. As soon as the government starts paying then grandparents would need police clearances, working with children accreditation, risk assessment of place of care ect ect. If you choose to go outside of approved and funded child care and make your own arrangements then you fund it yourself....that's reasonable.
Your DNA predicts if your a morning or nite person? That explains it then, some of my cells are confussed cos Im niether