By: Jonathon Davidson
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Qantas to Require Passengers Download 'Health Pass' Vaccine Check App 
9News

The IATA Travel Pass, which is in the final development stages, can securely store customers COVID-19 test results and vaccine information, uploaded directly by testing labs to be shown to health officials and airline staff before a flight.

According to a statement by the airline, the information could be matched against the customer's specific flight and the entry requirements of the destination country.

Several countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States, have announced they will require proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test result to enter without quarantine.

US Democrats Bill Proposes to Hire 200 New Judges Nationwide to Fix Backlogged Legal System
Reuters 

(Author's note): The bill will add 203 federal trial court positions into the US legal system if passed, including 70 judges and 130 other staff, to handle the growing caseload problem in courts across the US — a situation that will be familiar to legal practitioners within Australia. 

A bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday would add 203 federal trial court positions in districts around the country, a measure to alleviate what sponsors of the legislation called a "crisis" of growing caseloads.

California, New Jersey, Texas and Florida would see the largest number of new judges if the legislation is signed into law. The proposed expansion goes even farther than a bipartisan bill introduced in the U.S. Senate on Thursday that would establish 77 new judgeships.

Tesla to Pay Only US$1.5M in EV Charge Reduction Tampering Lawsuit
Reuters

Owners of the vehicles will get $625 each, which is "many times the prorated value of the temporarily reduced maximum voltage," according to the proposed settlement documents filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Lawyers for the owners who sued said the "voltage limitation was temporary, with a 10% reduction lasting about 3 months, and a smaller 7% reduction lasting another 7 months before the corrective update was released in March 2020."

New Median Price for a Melbourne Home hits $1M: Domain
Domain

Melbourne's median house price has soared past $1 million, defying the pandemic to set a record and raise fresh fears over housing affordability.

Ultra-low interest rates have prompted a rush of home buyers, sending house prices up 16.2 per cent to a median of $1,022,927 over the past year, the latest [report] shows.

Prices rose by about $445 per day in the three months to June, or 4.1 per cent, despite a snap lockdown in the quarter.

Even units are at a record high median price of $572,793, which is 5.2 per cent higher than a year ago, although the apartment market is patchy with weakness in the CBD.

Oz Government's Farm Economics Unit says Climate Change costs AUD$3B Yearly
ABC

(Author's note): Industry data from 2011 in Australia suggests there were 135,000 farms in Australia at the time. Assuming 20,000 are gone due to covid, and not accounting for a change in numbers since 2011, I have arrived at the $3B figure by assuming there were 110,000 active farms across Australia in the 2021FY. This approximation is not entirely precise. 

Australian farms have lost on average almost $30,000 each a year in profits over the past 20 years due to climate change, relative to earnings in the latter part of last century, says the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES).

In its latest report, ABARES finds that the decline in rainfall from 2001 to 2021, compared to 1950-2000, saw farm profits reduced, on average, by 23 per cent, or $29,200, as the risk doubled of farmers receiving very low returns due to climate variability.

USA's Nationwide Covid Tenancy Eviction Ban Expired Overnight this Weekend
Reuters 

On Friday, the U.S. House of Representatives adjourned without reviewing the tenant protections after a Republican congressman blocked a bid to extend it by unanimous consent until Oct. 18. Democratic leaders said they lacked sufficient support to put the proposal to a formal vote.

The U.S. Senate held a rare Saturday session but did not address the eviction ban. The White House had made clear it would not unilaterally extend the protections, arguing it does not have legal authority to do so following a Supreme Court ruling in June.

17 Months On, East Coast of Australia Under C19 Lockdown as August 2021 Starts
Reuters

Australia's east coast states of New South Wales and Queensland faced an escalating battle against the COVID-19 Delta variant on Sunday, with millions under strict lockdown and authorities urging more testing and vaccinations to rein in the outbreaks.

Sydney and its surroundings, under a stay-at-home order for five weeks already, reported 239 new locally acquired cases of the highly infectious Delta strain, matching the record daily number in the current outbreak that was reported on Thursday.

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