It's been a big day for Australia's territories. A bill to allow the ACT and Northern Territory to legislate on voluntary assisted dying has taken a large step forward.
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The Federal Parliament's lower house passed the bill on what was hailed as a "momentous" and historic day.
Of course, there's still the Senate vote to come before it becomes law. It's expected to be a tighter vote there.
The territories have been blocked from voting on the contentious issue since the Andrews bill came into force in 1997.
But times have changed and now all states have passed legislation on voluntary assisted dying, leaving the territories without the right to have the debate.
Staying with federal politics, Greens leader Adam Bandt has revealed his party will back the government's bill to legislate a 43 per cent emissions reduction target by 2030 - but he's not exactly enthusiastic about it.
He likened the target to throwing a bucket of water on a house fire and vowed to pull "every lever" available to block new oil and gas projects.
Meanwhile, Australia's live cattle export trade has come to a grinding halt as Indonesian feedlots cancel orders en masse to avoid paying big dollars for animals likely to contract foot and mouth disease.
Industry leaders and the federal government insist the hiatus will be short-term, with the fundamentals of Indonesian demand solid as the nation of 270 million relies heavily on Australian cattle to meet its animal protein needs.
But some experienced northern cattlemen have genuine fears for the future of the trade.
They say it is facing big threats on a number of battlefronts, the likes of which have never before been seen.
And wild weather is on the way for five states and the ACT in coming days as a series of cold fronts move over southern Australia.
Keep an eye out for weather warnings for damaging winds and heavy rains if you are in southern Western Australia, South Australia, NSW, Victoria or Tasmania.
Stay safe!
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