PM

Environmentalists are calling for a thorough scientific assessment before the Federal Government's proposed expansion of the Snowy Hydro Scheme is given the green light. And an ANU scientist is calling for the reinstatement of an independent scientific committee to oversee the scheme.

An estimated 24 million Americans could be left without health insurance under the new Republican healthcare plan, according for the Congressional Budget Office. President Trump's administration is replacing the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare. The flipside of thousands losing health cover, the White House says, is reducing the federal deficit by hundreds of billions of dollars over the next decade. But what changes does the new healthcare draft bill, already labelled Trumpcare, make to Obamacare?

It's the biggest intervention in South Australia's electricity network since privatisation almost 20 years ago. Premier Jay Weatherill has unveiled a raft of changes to retake control and secure, the state's energy supply. The half a billion dollar plan includes a state government owned gas fired power station and incentives for private companies to build battery storage. Business, industry and welfare groups have shown everything from caution to overwhelming support for the plan, as they digest the detail of the reforms.

Kane Thornton is the chief executive of the Clean Energy Council. When speaking to PM a short while ago he was asked about the new energy plan and if this plan was so good, why no government had put such a thing into place before.

Federal energy minister Josh Frydenberg says South Australian and Victorian consumers will pay more for their power under the electricity plan released by Premier Jay Weatherill today because of uncertainties it introduced into the national electricity market. But federal Labor says the national energy market isn't working and needs reform.

Today the Reserve Bank gave its clearest indication yet that it could be about to clamp down further on lending to property investors. The Reserve Bank assistant governor, Michele Bullock, told a gathering in Sydney today it was prepared to do more to rein in loans to investors. Lending to property investors now also makes up around half of all new loans, it's a big reason why the housing markets of Sydney and Melbourne continue to boom.

Australia's health practitioner regulator is investigating another unregistered person claiming to be a doctor. The woman, Phoebe Pacheco, was working at a Melbourne cosmetic clinic for more than three years before she came to the attention of authorities. It was revealed last week that a Sydney man had been practicing as an unregistered doctor for a decade But authorities are trying to reassure the public that Australia's doctor registration process is stringent, and unregistered doctors are unusual.

An international expert on black lung it's extraordinary that Australian authorities assumed the coal miners' lung disease had been eradicated. Doctor Bob Cohen is in Brisbane to give evidence to parliamentary committee investigating the re-emergence of black lung in Queensland. His visit comes amid more confirmed cases both in Queensland and other parts of Australia. Dr Cohen and the mining union say effective clinical diagnosis of black lung is still lacking.

Bali's court system has always been difficult to read. After the bashing to death of a Bali police officer on Kuta beach, it seemed certain the suspects, an Australian woman, and a British man, would be charged with murder. But then yesterday, Sara Connor and David Taylor were found guilty of a lesser charge - group assault leading to death. She was sentenced to just four years, he to six. Now the Byron Bay woman is considering the risky option of an appeal.

The UN special rapporteur on the right to housing is urging the Melbourne City Council to vote against a proposed change to a local law which would ban all forms of camping in the city. Leilani Farha says such a law breaches human rights and amounts to making homelessness a criminal offence. But the Melbourne City Council denies that is its aim and says it is working hard to reduce homelessness in Melbourne.