The Canberra Times Today

Today is February 9, 2021 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, a surge in land sales has helped deliver a $300 million improvement to the ACT's coronavirus-ravaged budget bottom line, Chief Minister Andrew Barr has revealed, and hotel quarantine measures have been ramped up in the ACT as the city's fourth repatriation flight touched down at Canberra Airport on Monday afternoon.

Today is February 8, 2021 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, according to data released by both the Productivity Commission and the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the cost of childcare in the ACT is more expensive than anywhere else in the country, and rising at a faster rate, and ACT Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee has signalled a departure from the Liberals' rates freeze pledge, conceding the party's credibility as a sound economic manager was hurt in the lead-up to October's election.

Today is February 5, 2021 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, fears of the impact of JobKeeper's removal on the travel industry appear to have been realised after national travel agent Hello World asked staff to take five-figure pay cuts, and the Canberra Liberals will call on the ACT government to provide land to community housing providers to curb the territory's "spiralling rental costs".

Today is February 4, 2021 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has finally addressed the medical misinformation spread by backbencher Craig Kelly in the House of Representatives, saying the government's policies on vaccination and treatment for COVID-19 were backed by medical advice, and the first flight of Skywhalepapa has been pushed back a day to avoid the unsuitable weather forecast at the weekend.

Today is February 3, 2021 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, the federal government has signed off on the first stage of light rail to Woden, and the Canberra Liberals forked out more than double the cash Labor did on election advertising in the lead-up to the 2020 election.

Today is February 2, 2021 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, more than 50 general practices in the ACT have responded to the government's call to be part of the priority phase of COVID-19 vaccine delivery, and more than 600 serious incidents have been reported in ACT early childcare centres in the 2019-20 financial year, figures from the Productivity Commission have revealed.

Today is February 1, 2021 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, the federal government will spend $1.9 billion on its vaccine rollout strategy, mobilising general practices, community pharmacies, logistics and software consultants, and anyone in the ACT who has been in parts of Western Australia currently in lockdown has been advised to quarantine by ACT Health.

Today is January 29, 2021 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, Canberrans needing mental health treatment were being left with no option but to attend hospital because of a shortfall in community-based services, a mental health researcher says, and the federal government's decision on whether to approve the first stage of light rail to Woden has been delayed until at least next week.

Today is January 28, 2021 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, a busload of tourists from a western Sydney hotspot visited Parliament House in breach of ACT's travel restrictions, police believe, and former long-serving members of the ACT Bushfire Council have condemned emergency services chief Georgeina Whelan's extraordinary rebuke of the expert panel, concerned her attack is part of a trend of dismissing critical feedback.

Today is January 27, 2021 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, the ACT government will spend $24 million to roll out the COVID-19 vaccines across the territory, as preparations for the major logistical challenge ramp up, and the federal government will spend $137 million to upgrade the Commonwealth Avenue bridge, in a project that will extend the life of the bridge by at least 50 years.