ACT

CANBERRA, Jan 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, suffered a blow to his approval rating, amid the ongoing bushfire crisis.

According to the latest news poll, which was published on Sunday night, The Australian revealed that, Morrison’s popularity plunged, since he became prime minister in 2018.

It was found that Morrison’s net approval rating, which is calculated by subtracting his dissatisfaction rating from his satisfaction rating, has fallen from negative three in Dec, to negative 22.

CANBERRA, Jan 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) – The Australian Government, announced 76 million Australian dollars (52.4 million U.S. dollars) in funding, for mental health services in bushfire-affected communities.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that, the funding would cover free counselling sessions, health consultations and rebates for 10 psychological therapy sessions, via Medicare, Australia’s universal public healthcare system.

“These bushfires have been unprecedented in their scale, coverage and duration,” he said.

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Australian government on Monday announced the establishment of a national bushfire recovery fund with an initial funding of A$2 billion.

Announcing this, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the recovery fund will help those affected by the deadly Australian bushfires, which have recorded more than 20 deaths, wiped out thousands of houses and businesses, and continue to bring devastation to many communities as the burning continue in more than six-million hectares of land across the country.

Melbourne, Jan 5 (PTI) Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Sunday established a National Bushfire Recovery Agency to co-ordinate recovery efforts ranging from rebuilding infrastructure to providing mental health support even as authorities struggled to tackle the raging bushfire crisis which has so far claimed the lives of 24 people.

The agency, headed by former federal police chief Andrew Colvin, will help bushfire affected communities recover, media reports said.

Christopher Pyne. Australian Defence Industry Minister, has announced purchase of six Triton military surveillance drones from US at a cost of about $7 billion – more than $1 billion each.

In an interview with Fairfax Media, Christopher Pyne said that the “unmanned vehicle travels about 11,000km in its range…” and “can go up for a day or more at 60,000 feet”. He said that the fleet “will cover South China sea”.

“we cover about 10% of world’s surface in Australia in reconnaissance and surveillance for our allies, particularly for United States”, said Pyne.