Hi there. It's Monday, April 11, and you're reading The Loop, a quick wrap-up of today's news.
Let's start here
Well, the first full day of the 2022 federal election campaign is drawing to a close.
It's not been a great start for Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese, who copped heat for not being able to answer a press conference question about what Australia's current unemployment rate and cash rate are (however Shadow Finance Minister Katy Gallagher could).
He later said it was a "mistake", but "when I make a mistake, I'll 'fess up to it and I'll set about correcting that mistake".
Prime Minister Scott Morrison, meanwhile, has endorsed a newly announced Liberal candidate's campaign to stop transgender women from competing in women's sport.
Katherine Deves is running in the seat of Warringah — currently held by independent MP Zali Steggall — and is the co-founder and spokeswoman for a group that wants to limit participation in women's sport to those who were born female. She was also one of 12 candidates hand-picked by the PM to run in the election.
What else is going on
- Indigenous leaders are calling on the next Australian government to hold a referendum on a First Nations Voice to Parliament within two years, saying "the timing is right and it's now". The Voice to Parliament would have a say on laws and policies affecting all Indigenous communities
- Advice from the Commonwealth's peak chief public health panel has suggested COVID-19 close contact isolation should come to an end soon. The AHPPC says quarantine could be replaced with other risk-mitigation measures for close contacts once the peak of the BA.2 Omicron sub-variant has passed
News alerts you might have missed
- "This is for the best": Twitter's chief executive Parag Agrawal says Elon Musk "will no longer be joining the board" of the social media company
- Ousted Pakistani PM Imran Khan has urged supporters to "come out of your homes and protest peacefully" as voters prepare to elect a new leader
Don't forget to turn on notifications on the ABC News app for the news topics you're most interested in.
What Australia has been searching for online
- Sydney's bus strike. Commuters across Sydney were forced to find alternate modes of transport today after hundreds of bus drivers walked off the job as part of industrial action and their calls for capped shifts, better pay and mandated breaks
- Chris Bailey. The lead singer of rock band The Saints has died, sparking an outpouring of tributes from the likes of Jimmy Barnes, Guns N' Roses bassist Duff McKagan, actor Magda Szubanski and more
One more thing
Remember when going somewhere with even the slightest chance of having COVID was enough to shut down entire cities? One young partygoer has been issued an expensive reminder of those times today.
Ralph James Mackenzie MacIntosh, who was 19 at the time but is now aged 20, said he didn't check his phone and therefore didn't see his positive COVID test result before going clubbing in Adelaide, forcing many people into isolation for Christmas.
When the incident came to light in mid-December last year, patrons of the nightclub were ordered to quarantine for seven days if they were fully vaccinated and 14 days if they were unvaccinated.
The court heard Mr MacIntosh had been subjected to abuse from "keyboard warriors" and had not been able to find work "for being ostracised because of what he did".
He was fined $600 without a conviction and will have to pay victims-of-crime levies and court costs.
You're up to date
Hope you enjoyed this edition of The Loop.
ABC/wires
