Today is May 18, 2021 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, Rex Airlines has opened a new, more aggressive front in its price war with Qantas by adding the Canberra-Melbourne route at $69 one way, and the ACT government has sought to fix issues with its ChooseCBR discount voucher scheme ahead of its $2 million rollout next month.

Today is May 17, 2021 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, federal agencies are spending tens of millions of dollars and employing hundreds of labour hire workers as staffing caps imposed by the government stop them from hiring more public servants, new figures show, and all four federal Labor MPs from the ACT have together condemned the prosecution of Bernard Collaery and Witness K ahead of an appeal on Monday in which Mr Collaery will challenge court orders that have shrouded his upcoming criminal trial in secrecy.

Today is May 14, 2021 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, students are too scared to go to the toilet at some ACT public schools as campuses struggle to keep up with maintenance, a Legislative Assembly inquiry has been told, and Australian voters are sending the Morrison government a very pointed, electorally chilling message about its handling of both the COVID-19 pandemic and women so far this year.

Today is May 13, 2021 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, four Gungahlin town blocks sold for a combined $22 million on Wednesday with two bidders going halves in the available land, and Federal Labor is moving to stem the flow of Australian ideas and jobs offshore by championing innovation in a budget reply that is also expected to spend big on social housing and focus on women and clean energy jobs.

Today is May 12, 2021 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, the Federal Treasurer has unveiled a multi-billion dollar pandemic stimulus plan with targeted spending and low to middle income tax cuts for more than 10 million Australians in a budget which aims to secure long term economic recovery and put the Morrison government on an election war footing, and public service jobs will grow as the federal government pours money into services and leans on its agencies to deliver the health and economic recovery from COVID-19.

Today is May 11, 2021 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, Australia risks falling behind the rest of the world if the international border remains closed beyond next year, one of the country's leading academics has warned, and Australia's largest residential developer has gone public with its bid to transform Michelago, despite concerns the village 60-kilometres south of Canberra could become a satellite suburb.

Today is May 10, 2021 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, the federal government is committing more than $167 million for major capital works for critical Canberra roads and has lodged funds for the southern light rail expansion as part of a multi-billion dollar national infrastructure spend in Tuesday's federal budget, and four of Australia's biggest faith-based charities have broken their silence on a government plan that would give the charities commissioner the power to deregister organisations he deems "likely" to break the law.

Today is May 7, 2021 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, the ACT government appointed the former head of Corrections into a new executive public service position paying $327,000 a year just as a damning report into Canberra's prison riot had been submitted to the government for internal assessment earlier this year, and the National Capital Authority will embark on a wide-ranging annual planting program to increase, diversify and rejuvenate trees on national land over the coming decade.

Today is May 6, 2021 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, a fund to help cover medical expenses for victims of Mr Fluffy asbestos will be established, with the federal government agreeing to contribute up to $8 million toward the ACT-run program, and plans for the long-awaited Canberra Hospital expansion project have been revealed, and they include more emergency department treatment spaces than originally promised.

Today is May 5, 2021 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, more than 80 per cent of Australians are concerned about the prospect of side effects associated with vaccines against COVID-19, although more than half of Australians say they would definitely get a safe and effective vaccine if offered to them, and the Therapeutic Goods Administration has registered a new medication to treat a particularly aggressive and advanced type of prostate cancer.