TRANSCRIPT
- New figures show Australian wages growth outpacing inflation
- One dead in out-of-control fires in Athens
- Olympic flag arrives in Los Angeles - the host of the 2028 Summer Games.
Wages in Australia grew by 0.8 per cent in the three months leading to June 30, bringing the annual increase to 4.1 per cent.
It's the third quarter in a row that wages growth has slowed, and the first time is has outpaced quarterly inflation figures.
New data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows private sector wages grew by 0.7 per cent in the quarter, while public sector wages grew by 0.9 per cent.
The A-B-S says the strong public sector numbers could be the result of recently synchronised pay rises, with many agreements having come into effect earlier in March.
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The federal government has unveiled a new digital identification project, which it says will help Australians share important personal information securely.
The program is called the Truth Exchange and will be available through the MyGov digital wallet.
It will store information such as a person's birth date, address, citizenship, visa status and more, and issue digital tokens so that businesses can verify someone's identity without needing to store copies of their documents.
Government Services Minister Bill Shorten says the project is world-leading, and the government could launch a pilot by early next year.
He gave an example of how it could be used, by someone checking in to a hotel.
"When you check in, the hotel requests your personal information, your attributes. That could often be a driver's licence or a passport. With TEx, instead of handing over those documents to be copied in some form, stored goodness knows where, you would scan a QR code on the front desk or use technology similar to tap-to-pay machine that digitally shakes hands with your MyGov wallet. You choose only the information you wish to share with the hotel from your digital wallet, and you consent to its use. You will have a record in your MyGov wallet of what you share and with whom you've shared it."
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The peak body on online gambling says a total ban on advertising should not be introduced.
Responsible Wagering Australia, which represents major online gambling companies like Sportsbet, Pointsbet, and bet365, says it understands consumers want fewer ads.
But says it opposes the blanket ban advocated by the Greens.
The Greens have pledged to amend legislation this week to force a complete ban on gambling advertising.
The federal government, meanwhile is looking at implementing a partial ban.
Kai Cantwell from Responsible Wagering Australia says they want a balanced approach.
"We understand that Australians want to see less gambling advertising, and that's why we've been working with the federal government to provide workable alternatives that find the right balance and continue to ensure that consumers are protected."
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One person has died as out-of-control wildfires spread in the suburbs of Athens, in Greece.
The body, believed to be that of a woman, was found inside a shop in the town of Vrilissia.
Thousands of people have been evacuated as the fire threatens homes, schools and business.
Firefighters say flames had reached their deepest into the capital in 20 years.
In the suburb of Nea Penteli, residents like Nikos Adamopoulos say they feel helpless.
"The feeling was scary, to see everything up in smoke and to see the fire pass through and to not be able to do anything."
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The Olympic flag has touched down in Los Angeles - the host of the 2028 Summer Games.
The city will become only the third in the world to host the games three times.
Locals says they expect organisers to put on a show that rivals Paris.
"Oh, there's got to be Michael Bay explosions. I mean, there's got to be some, you know, like we should see people like sky diving into the dome. We need to see, like, celebrities show up. Like, it's, it's got to be, like, even better than the Super Bowl, if you ask me. You know, it's, it's got to be so theatrical."
There are questions over how the city, which is notoriously hard to traverse, will be able to host the world's largest sporting event.
Mayor Karen Bass says her team will begin work on infrastructure updates in the coming weeks.
"We want to make sure that we don't have the gridlock that we might have after a big event. We want to utilize remote work, but we also want to bring in thousands of busses so people can be transported to the events. So we are hard at work on that on the MTA board."
