Good morning! Tory Shepherd here, only just emerging from a budget week-induced haze.
Speaking of which – the budget fallout continues, as does the fallout from Labor’s budget reply. And the fallout from the floods. And more. There’s a lot of falling out, I’ll bring you whatever lands today as it happens.
An interim free trade deal will be signed today between Australia and India after years of negotiations between the two nations. Tidying up loose ends before an election is called, perhaps? (There was speculation it would be called this weekend, but next week is now the more likely bet).
The deal will see tariffs eliminated on more than 85% of Australian goods exported to India, currently worth more than $12bn a year. Meanwhile, 96% of Indian goods entering Australia will be duty-free.
The deal will be signed by the trade minister, Dan Tehan, and his Indian counterpart, Piyush Goyal, in a virtual ceremony today. India is Australia’s seventh-largest trade partner, but attempts to diversify trade have taken on extra urgency given the increasingly rocky relationship with top-trading partner China.
The interim trade deal is three months later than the original deadline, suggesting there were several sticking points in the negotiations, and the full text has yet to be released.
In other news, two of the Bureau of Meteorology’s highest-resolution forecasting models showed the dangerous storm that flooded Lismore this week returning to the area, at the same time as relieved residents were heading home after an evacuation order was lifted.
The Bom has issued weather warnings for damaging winds affecting southern and central parts of New South Wales today, along with hazardous surf and abnormally high tides, as residents in the north rebuild again as flood levels recede.
The Liberal senator and assistant minister Amanda Stoker charged taxpayers $2,600 for “personal travel” with her family through the Whitsunday region in the weeks before Christmas 2020, documents seen by Guardian Australia show.
And another 20 refugees have been released from Australian immigration detention facilities, advocates say. The refugees were reportedly released on Friday night from centres in Victoria, NSW, and Queensland.
Advocates say 10 people staying at Melbourne’s Park Hotel were among those released. The home affairs department has declined to confirm the reports.
We will also have all the latest Covid news. There were at least 16 Covid-related deaths across Australia reported yesterday, including a child younger than five in South Australia.
And it’s the end of daylight saving tonight in NSW, Victoria, Tasmania, the ACT and SA – have your curtains faded? How do you feel about daylight saving?
OK, let’s crack on.