Sydney has had a shocker of a day, rail union strikes brought 70 per cent of the city's trains to a halt. Commuter chaos reigned as workers crammed into the few running locomotives in an effort to get to the office on time.
Meanwhile, emergency services geared up for a whopping 500mm of rainfall in the Sydney and Illawarra regions over the coming days.
The rail union is calling for a signed legal document confirming that its safety demands will be met over a new Korean-made Intercity fleet.
The union is locked in a long-running stoush with the NSW government over the controversial fleet, arguing the Perrottet administration has refused to sign a deal with the union that locks in fixes to safety issues raised by drivers.
As the new financial year hits, COVID-19 pandemic leave payments have officially ended.
However, infected people must still follow directions to isolate at home for a week.
With health authorities expecting a third wave of Omicron cases over winter and a new variant boosting re-infections, concerns have been raised about the move.
Health Minister Mark Butler said the federal government did not have the financial capacity to continue funding what were intended as emergency payments, and which came to an end yesterday.
"We're going to have to start to moving towards more normal programs that support the Australian community and people have been on notice about that for some time," he told ABC radio on Friday.
The government has also launched an independent assessment of Australia's carbon credits scheme following concerns raised about its integrity.
Energy and Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen announced the review would be led by former chief scientist Professor Ian Chubb.
In a long overdue overhaul, more women will now be able to privately administer their own less invasive cervical cancer testing procedure.
From today women aged 25 to 74 will be able to take a self-administered test in private at a GP clinic, using a swab similar to those used in COVID-19 PCR tests.
Doctors will then send the swabs to a lab for analysis.
Meanwhile, the days are numbered for plastic takeaway containers and coffee cups in Queensland.
Polystyrene packing "peanuts", plastic-stemmed cotton buds and microbeads will all be banished from September 2023 under a new five-year plan.
Foodies and red-meat lovers are fuelling demand for high-end steak, which can cost as much as $350 per kilogram.
The growing group of consumers are turning their trust from trained chefs to themselves and purchasing expensive cuts of meat to cook at home. Let's hope they know what they are doing.
The Butcher Shoppe in Brisbane sells everything from chuck steak to Japanese A5 Kagoshima Wagyu, which would set you back as much as $350 a kilogram.
One of the shop's managers, Mike Smith, said the high-end product's popularity exploded during the COVID-19 pandemic when restaurants were closed.
He said the high quality cuts were easier to source when restaurants were closed, however most of the customer base the shop grew during that time has remained, although numbers have dropped.
*This edition of The Informer was written by ACM journalist Hannah Neale. If you'd like to show your support for the team behind The Informer, why not forward us to a friend?
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