Australia news live updates: decision due on lifting minimum wage; Albanese takes cabinet to Queensland

Mask mandates to ease at airports

Daniel Hurst

Mask mandates are set to be eased in airport terminals across Australia after health officials found the rule was “no longer proportionate”, just days before Anthony Albanese meets with state and territory leaders.

The Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) said in a statement issued late on Tuesday that it was proposing mask wearing in airport terminals “no longer be mandated” from as early as this Friday night:

The AHPPC notes that all states and territories have relaxed mask mandates in most settings within the community and considers that it is no longer proportionate to mandate mask use in airport terminals. The AHPPC proposes that mask wearing in airport terminals no longer be mandated from as early as midnight 17 June 2022.

Despite the proposal to no longer make them compulsory, the AHPPC said it “continues to strongly recommend continued mask wearing in airport terminals and other indoor settings, especially where physical distancing is not possible”.

The body said masks minimised Covid-19 and influenza transmission and protected “those who are unable to get vaccinated and people who have a higher risk of developing severe illness”.

The federal government responded to the new advice, saying it anticipated the travelling public would “notice this change in the days following Friday as individual state and territory jurisdictions make the necessary changes to their public health orders”.

The health minister, Mark Butler, and the transport minister, Catherine King, thanked “the thousands of people who work in our airport terminals around Australia who have followed the rules to keep us safe” and “the travelling public for continuing to comply with the ongoing regulations”.

The AHPPC brings together state, territory and federal chief medical and health officers. The prime minister is due to meet with state premiers and territory chief ministers at a national cabinet meeting on Friday.

Good morning from bitterly cold Sydney, this is Mostafa Rachwani and I’ll be taking you through the news today.

We begin with the Fair Work Commission, which will deliver its verdict on an increase to the minimum wage. The commission’s expert panel, headed by president Iain Ross, will announce its decision at 10am, after the new government backed a 5.1% increase, in line with inflation.

Prime minister Anthony Albanese will be holding his first cabinet meeting in Queensland, in the manufacturing city of Gladstone, in a bid to reconnect with locals. The meeting will be paired with a lunchtime civic reception for local residents to ask questions of the MPs.

Last night Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe said in a rare interview that the RBA expects inflation to hit 7% by the end of the year, warning he’d “do what’s necessary” to keep inflation down.

Meanwhile, all eyes will be on the energy crisis after each of the five states in the national electricity market (Nem) – from Queensland to Tasmania – had a forecast shortfall of electricity, according to the Australian Energy Market Operator (Aemo). Aemo has warned Victoria could next face blackouts this evening.

We’ll keep you updated on that as well as everything else happening today.