By The Guardian (World News) | Created at 2024-09-22 21:45:13 | Updated at 2024-09-30 07:20:14
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Prepare to leave warning for Queensland town amid fire
A “prepare to leave” warning remans in place for the rural Queensland town of Lakeland, amid a fast-moving fire.
According to the Queensland Fire Department, the fire is burning along Mulligan Highway towards Peninsula Developmental Road. Conditions may get worse quickly, it said, with firefighters working to contain the blaze.
The department said some properties are at risk and the fire is likely to impact the community in the coming hours.
Meanwhile, a fire ban for southwest Queensland is in place from today to Wednesday, due to heightened fire conditions. This will cover Toowoomba, the Southern Downs, Western Downs, Goondiwindi, Maranoa, Balonne, Murweh, Paroo, Quilpie and Bulloo LGAs.
Australia overtakes Russia in Asia influence rankings
Daniel Hurst
Australia has jumped one place in the Lowy Institute’s annual Asia Power Index, largely due to Russia going backwards as a result of its war in Ukraine.
The think tank ranks 27 countries and territories to rank their relative power in Asia. It is based on 131 indicators across eight broad themes: military capability, defence networks, economic capability, economic relationships, diplomatic influence, cultural influence, resilience and future resources.
In its 2024 report, released last night, the Lowy Institute continued to rank the United States in first place and China in second place, although Beijing was steadily eroding Washington’s comparative military capability advantage:
For the first time, experts surveyed for the Asia Power Index judged that China is better able to deploy rapidly and for a sustained period in the event of an interstate conflict in Asia.
The report said India’s power in Asia was growing and it had overtaken Japan to take third place for its comprehensive power for the first time. After Japan in fourth place, Australia was ranked fifth in the 2024 index, an improvement from the sixth place it held last year.
Australia has traded places with Russia, the report said, because the latter’s “relevance to Asia is declining as its war on Ukraine saps resources and focus”.
This increase in ranking, Australia’s second since the inception of the Asia Power Index (it surpassed South Korea in 2020), is more a function of Russia’s decline since 2018 than Australia’s rise.
The report also noted that south-east Asia’s most populous countries, Indonesia and the Philippines, were becoming more influential.
Chalmers reveals $149bn cut to national debt under Labor
Paul Karp
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has revealed that the final budget outcome will show that gross debt in 2023-24 is $149.1bn lower than what Labor inherited at the time of the election.
It will show gross debt at the end of 2023-24 was $906.9bn compared with the pre-election fiscal outlook which projected gross debt would exceed a trillion dollars last year.
Yesterday, Chalmers also revealed the final budget outcome will be a surplus in the “mid teens” rather than the $9.3bn projected in May.
In a statement, he said:
Through responsible economic management and spending restraint we’ve been able to get rid of a big chunk of the debt left to us by the Liberals and Nationals. Lower debt saves taxpayers on interest costs, helps in the fight against inflation and makes more room in the budget for what matters most like Medicare, aged care and defence.
Our economic plan is all about easing pressure on people at the same time as we fight inflation and get the budget in much better nick and this shows we’re making meaningful progress.
Back-to-back surpluses are helping in the fight against inflation and reducing the interest costs on a trillion dollars of Liberal party debt we inherited. We’re the first government to post back-to-back surpluses in nearly two decades.
Welcome
Emily Wind
Good morning, and welcome back to a new week on the Australia news live blog. I’m Emily Wind, and I’ll be with you most of this Monday as we bring you our rolling coverage.
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has revealed a $149bn cut to national debt under Labor. The final budget outcome will show gross debt at the end of 2023-24 was $906.9bn, compared with the pre-election fiscal outlook which projected gross debt would exceed a trillion dollars last year, he said.
Back-to-back surpluses are helping in the fight against inflation and reducing the interest costs on a trillion dollars of Liberal Party debt we inherited. We’re the first government to post back-to-back surpluses in nearly two decades.
Paul Karp will bring us the full details in a moment.
Meanwhile, Australia has jumped one place in the Lowy Institute’s annual Asia Power Index, largely due to Russia going backwards as a result of its war in Ukraine. The thinktank ranks 27 countries and territories to rank their relative power in Asia, based on 131 indicators across eight broad themes. Daniel Hurst will have more on Australia’s position soon.
As always, you can reach out via X, @emilywindwrites, or email, emily.wind@theguardian.com, with any story tips, questions or feedback.
Let’s get started.
