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TRANSCRIPT
- The countdown to the New Year’s Eve fireworks
- New laws criminalising wage theft in Australia to come into effect
- Iga Swiatek makes a strong start in her season debut at the United Cup
The countdown has begun for the Sydney fireworks, with a million people expected to flock to the Sydney Harbour foreshore to see the display.
Spots at various vantage points around the harbour this year are not ticketed – and revellers are urged to plan ahead and get to sites before they reach capacity.
More than 100 creatives have been involved over 18 months to bring the fireworks show to life.
More than nine tonnes of fireworks will be set off from 264 firing points at a cost of $6.3 million.
City of Sydney lord mayor Clover Moore says the economic return from the event is sizeable.
“Tonight is the night. The stage is set for more fireworks to be launched from more locations than ever before. Tonight is about celebrating our incredible city, our creativity and our community. We will have about a million people on the foreshore and half a billion people around the world watching. The event contributes $280 million to the Australian economy – and puts Sydney on the map as a global city for tourism, for business, for cultural events. And for technological creativity.”
New laws making wage theft a criminal offence come into effect from tomorrow.
The intentional underpayment of workers will be a crime under the legislation.
The maximum penalty for an individual is either 10 years’ in jail, a fine, or both.
The maximum fine for a company could be in the millions.
Federal opposition leader Peter Dutton has sought to reach a younger audience of voters by giving an interview with Australian Olympic diver-turned podcaster, 22-year-old Sam Fricker.
The Liberal party leader rarely gives interviews, reducing the opportunity for questions on his policies.
Appearing on Sam Fricker’s Diving Deep podcast, he was interviewed for an hour about his life story, how he became a politician, relationship break-ups, and losing 5 kilos in the week of his failed 2018 leadership tilt.
He says he realised early on that politics could be an arena where he could make a change.
“High interest rates and government policy was something that was discussed around our kitchen table. Whilst I always wanted to be a policeman as a very young child, I became more interested in politics towards the end of I guess year 12 – and then beyond that. And I went into – I always had a small business interest and worked in a butcher’s shop and mowed lawns and all sort of stuff. I tried to save money early on. So I had that sort of entrepreneurial interest. And the opportunity came up to run in politics.”
As many as four in five households could be paying less for electricity by shopping around or calling providers to ask for a better deal.
Numbers from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission suggest the so-called “loyalty penalty” intensifies the longer households wait to switch.
Their latest report shows customers on flat rate market offers that are two or more years old experience average annual prices 16.9 per cent, or $317, higher than those on newer offers.
The regulator’s commissioner Anna Brakey told SBS, there are steps consumers can take to save money on their energy bill.
“There is a message that the Australian energy regulator requires the retailer to put on your bill. That will tell you that your retailer has a better deal for you. So if you see that message, at least ring up your current retailer. You are paying too much. And if there is any way you can shift some of your electricity consumption to those off-peak times. It will really help your bill, if you can do that.”
The United States Treasury Department says it was targeted by a China state-sponsored actor, which resulted in hackers gaining remote access to certain employee workstations with access to unclassified documents.
In a letter to Congress, the department says the hackers were able to compromise a third-party cloud-based service provider to gain access.
The department says it is working with the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the FBI to assess the impact of the hack.
In tennis, Iga Swiatek has cast aside her doping saga to launch her summer campaign in explosive fashion at the United Cup in Sydney.
The world No.2 crushed lowly-ranked Malene Helgo 6-1 6-0 in barely an hour, then teamed with Jan Zielinski to win a thrilling deciding mixed doubles rubber to pilot Poland to a 2-1 victory over Norway on Monday night.
The five-time grand slam champion competed in her first official matches since a one-month suspension late last year – over a positive test result for a banned heart medication.
Swiatek says it has been confidence building to get those winning results.
“I know that on the bass line I can do a lot. I am happy that in those important moments, I could hold it a little bit longer than before, I think. I am happy that I didn’t panic. Because at first since I haven’t played mixed doubles in a while, I felt like I need to do more than usual. But I just tried to play my game. And that was the right choice.”
