Australia news LIVE: Labor backs Snowy 2.0 project despite ballooning costs; PM begins Voice referendum campaign

That’s all for tonight folks.

In case you missed anything, here is a wrap-up of the top’s today headlines:

• Australia’s 2023 winter has been announced as the warmest on record; 1.53 degrees warmer than the long-term average.
• NSW bus drivers are set to receive free public transport as part of a state government bid to get more workers behind the wheel.
• Former Reserve Bank deputy governor Guy Debelle has become the third high-profile departure from mining giant Fortescue this week.
• Beekeepers will seek millions of dollars in compensation in a potential class action after their hives were destroyed in a bid to stop the varroa mite.
• The head of the consumer watchdog says Qantas should be hit with a fine big enough to act as a deterrent to other companies.
• Defence Minister Richard Marles says all his private flights on government jets can be justified, and he would like the details made public, but there were “genuine security concerns”.
• Former judge Walter Sofronoff has hit back at claims by ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr that he breached the Inquiries Act by releasing his report into Bruce Lehrmann’s aborted trial to two journalists before it was published.
• PwC’s partners have copped a hefty pay hit, despite the embattled firm’s full-year revenue rising 11 per cent to $3.35 billion.
• Snowy Hydro 2.0 chief executive Dennis Barnes has apologised to the Australian public, after costs for the project blew out to $12 billion.
• Business groups are warning of higher prices for consumers and job losses under federal workplace laws to be put to parliament next week.

All the best for the weekend. Sarah Keoghan, signing off.

It’s official – Australia’s 2023 winter was the warmest on record.

The record was released by the Bureau of Meteorology today, revealing this winter was 1.53 degrees warmer than the long-term average. It marks Australia’s hottest warmest winter since official records began in 1910.

It beats the previous record of 1.46 degrees warmer than the long-term average, which was set in 1996.

The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation has recommended another COVID-19 vaccine for high-risk groups.

The new advice announced this afternoon advises all adults older than 75 should receive an additional 2023 COVID-19 vaccine if six months have passed since their last dose.

For those up-to-date on their vaccines, this would make the sixth dose being recommended by the ATAGI for older adults.

The latest advice also states adults aged 65 to 74 years and/or adults who are severely immunocompromised should also consider getting another vaccine, if six months have passed since their last dose.

Former Reserve Bank deputy governor Guy Debelle has become the third senior executive this week to free themselves from the orbit of Andrew Forrest, leaving Fortescue Futures Industries (FFI) for vanadium minnow Tivan.

Debelle left his post at the Reserve Bank less than 18 months ago to become chief financial officer of the miner’s green energy arm, FFI, but stepped down after a serious cycling accident to become a part-time director.

Today he joined the board of ASX-listed Tivan, which is developing critical minerals deposits in northern Australia, and has a market capitalisation 600 times smaller than that of Fortescue.

Debelle’s departure follows the shock exit of Fortescue Metals Group’s chief executive Fiona Hick on Monday, which was swiftly followed by the departure of the iron ore miner’s chief financial officer Christine Morris. Both Hick and Morris had short stints at the miner, with the CEO leaving just shy of six months in the role and the CFO staying for only three months.

Fortescue shares were down 4.9 per cent today, wiping more than $3 billion from the value of the iron ore miner.

You can read more on the issue here.

NSW bus drivers are set to receive free public transport as part of a state government bid to get more workers behind the wheel.

The move comes following a number of recommendations made by the Bus Industry Taskforce Interim Report, which called for free Opal cards for workers.

Transport for NSW is now working on the rollout of the cards, which is set to occur over the coming months.

Transport Minister Jo Haylen called the decision a “no-brainer”.

“Staff will be able to use these cards to travel across the Opal-enabled public transport network, including to and from work, and to access other facilities like train station bathrooms while they’re out on the road,” she said.

“We want drivers to be able to comfortably take breaks between shifts, before getting back on the road and fulfilling their vital roles connecting the community.”