Latest news with #MichaelRegan
The Guardian
19 hours ago
- Business
- The Guardian
News live: NSW to make legal move on privatised hospital; Israel boasts ‘close collaboration' with Australia
Update: Date: 2025-06-19T20:27:55.000Z Title: NSW government moves to end partnership deal over Northern Beaches hospital Content: The Minns Labor government is arming itself with new powers to terminate the public-private partnership (PPP) with bankrupt Northern Beaches hospital operator Healthscope in the event that it cannot reach an agreement. The government announced today it would introduce amendments to a private member's bill brought forward by the member for Wakehurst, Michael Regan, next week so it could – if required – terminate the Northern Beaches PPP contract. This follows the appointment of receivers to the parent entities of Healthscope, which the NSW government considers a default under the contract. Healthscope has argued that the termination would be ' voluntary' and would attract compensation as set out on the contract. The government said this would run to hundreds of millions of dollars. 'This is not a decision we take lightly,' the NSW treasurer, Daniel Mookhey, said. But we are now in a position where the Liberals' privatisation mess means Healthscope's receivers are negotiating the future of the Northern Beaches hospital. While an agreed exit from this failed PPP contract remains my preference, I must ensure the government has the right to step in and protect the Northern Beaches community from this dragging on. Update: Date: 2025-06-19T20:27:02.000Z Title: Welcome Content: Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I'm Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then Nick Visser will be in the hot seat. Israel's deputy foreign minister told the ABC's 7.30 last night that her country had 'a very close collaboration' with Australian security agencies. However, when pressed on the question she did not elaborate on whether that included sharing intelligence about Iran's nuclear program. More coming up. The Minns Labor government is arming itself with new powers to terminate the public-private partnership (PPP) with bankrupt Northern Beaches hospital operator Healthscope in the event that it cannot reach an agreement. More coming up on that too.
Perth Now
20 hours ago
- Health
- Perth Now
Bold plan for crisis-ridden hospital
The NSW government will have power to terminate the operating contract of the embattled Northern Beaches Hospital as if a default had occurred under proposed legislative amendments, following the tragic deaths of two children. Two-year-old Joe Massa and newborn Harper Atkinson both died at the Sydney hospital in unrelated incidents since September, leading the government to ban any future public-private partnerships (PPPs) for acute care hospitals. The state government will next week introduce amendments to a bill by Wakehurst MP Michael Regan, which would allow the government, if required, to terminate the contract of operator Healthscope as if a default had occurred. It comes after receivers were appointed to Healthscope's parent entities – which the NSW government considers a default – with the bill giving Health Minister Ryan Park power to issue a termination notice if an agreement is not reached. Receivers were appointed to Northern Beaches Hospital operator Healthscope's parent entities in May. NewsWire / Max Mason-Hubers Credit: News Corp Australia Treasurer Daniel Moohkey would also be empowered to ensure that compensation negotiations occur in a 'reasonable time frame' and that an independent person would be appointed to determine compensation if an agreement is not reached. Mr Moohkey said the decision was not taken lightly. 'We are now in a position where the Liberal's privatisation mess means Healthscope's receivers are negotiating the future of the Northern Beaches Hospital,' he said. 'While an agreed exit from this failed PPP contract remains my preference – I must ensure the government has the right to step in and protect the Northern Beaches community from this dragging on.' Mr Park said the state government had 'made it clear from the very beginning that we don't support this sort of arrangement. NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey said the decision was not taken lightly. NewsWire / Nikki Short Credit: News Corp Australia 'This is a complex contract but the community deserves certainty. 'The other mob may have created this mess, but we are going to be the ones to clean it up.' Healthscope is the country's second-largest hospital operator, with a network of 37 hospitals across Australia. Thousands of staff and patients were left in limbo last month after Canada-based Brookfield Asset Management offered to hand control of the company to lenders. Despite an $100m funding lifeline by Commonwealth Bank and Westpac last month amid the search for a new owner, Healthscope's future remains in doubt. Earlier that month, Wakehurst MP Michael Regan introduced a private members bill to ensure no compensation would be payable on behalf of the state if the contract for the Northern Beaches Hospital was voluntarily terminated. Health Minister Ryan Park would have power to issue a termination notice if an agreement is not reached. NewsWire / Nikki Short Credit: News Corp Australia With trilateral talks ongoing between Healthscope, its receivers, and the Northern Beaches Hospital Taskforce, the state government remained hopeful of a productive outcome, but reserved the right to commit to a voluntary termination. At the time of the receivership, Healthscope CEO Tino La Spina said the hospital network would 'continue to operate as normal' and that the appointment of receivers 'ensures a stable path to a sale, with no impacts on any hospitals, staff or patients' 'There is no interruption to the outstanding care we provide,' she said. 'The receivers and management share the same goal of maintaining our market leading standards of patient care and protecting the business, the hospitals and our amazing people.' McGrathNicol Restructuring had been appointed to work with Healthscope management to complete the sale.
WIRED
2 days ago
- Automotive
- WIRED
The EPA Plans to ‘Reconsider' Ban on Cancer-Causing Asbestos
Jun 18, 2025 5:07 PM President Donald Trump has supported use of asbestos in the past and blamed the mob for its bad reputation. Photograph:Despite touting ambitious goals of making America healthier, the Trump administration on Monday revealed in court documents that it is backpedaling on a ban on cancer-causing asbestos. Last year, under the Biden administration, the Environmental Protection Agency took a long-awaited step to ban the last type of asbestos still used in the US—chrysotile asbestos, aka 'white asbestos.' While use of chrysotile asbestos was on the decline, the dangerous mineral has lingered in various gaskets, brake blocks, aftermarket automotive brakes and linings, other vehicle friction products, and some diaphragms used to make sodium hydroxide and chlorine. With the ban, the US joined over 50 other countries around the world that had banned its use due to health risks. Generally, asbestos is known to cause lung cancer, mesothelioma, ovarian cancer, and laryngeal cancer. Asbestos exposure is linked to more than 40,000 deaths in the US each year, the EPA noted at the time. 'The science is clear—asbestos is a known carcinogen that has severe impacts on public health. President Biden understands that this [is a] concern that has spanned generations and impacted the lives of countless people. That's why EPA is so proud to finalize this long-needed ban on ongoing uses of asbestos,' Michael Regan, EPA administrator at the time, said in a statement. '100 Percent Safe' While the move was decades in the making and hailed by health proponents, it still allowed companies a generous period to phase out use of asbestos—in some cases up to 12 years. That didn't stop industry from taking legal action against the regulation shortly after the EPA's announcement. The litigation, brought by a number of companies and trade groups, including the American Chemistry Council, has been ongoing since then. On Monday, the EPA, now under the Trump administration, filed court documents saying that it 'now intends to reconsider' the ban, and it 'expects that this process, including any regulatory changes, will take approximately 30 months.' The EPA asked the court to suspend the court case in the meantime. The filing included a declaration in support of the reconsiderations from new EPA Deputy Assistant Administrator of the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention Lynn Ann Dekleva, who until last year worked as a lobbyist and director for the American Chemistry Council. As Ars reported last year, there was always concern that another Trump administration would work to overturn the ban; Trump supports the use of asbestos. In his 1997 book The Art of the Comeback , Trump wrote that asbestos is '100 percent safe, once applied' and blamed the mob for its reputation as a carcinogen, writing: 'I believe that the movement against asbestos was led by the mob, because it was often mob-related companies that would do the asbestos removal.' Trump's support for asbestos has been welcomed in Russia, a primary asbestos supplier to the US. In 2018, a Russian asbestos company began marketing asbestos with Trump's face and a seal reading 'Approved by Donald Trump, 45th President of the United States.' This story originally appeared on Ars Technica.
Bloomberg
7 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Visa, Mastercard Tumble as Merchants Eye Stablecoins
Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. fell, with Visa slipping as much as 7.1% and Mastercard dropping as much as 6.2%. Both declines were the biggest for the shares of companies since April. Meanwhile, Inc. and Walmart Inc. are among large multinational companies which have recently discussed issuing their own stablecoins in the US, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unidentified people. Bloomberg's Michael Regan has more on the story. (Source: Bloomberg)
Bloomberg
10-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Strategy Buys Another $110 Million of Bitcoin
"Bloomberg Crypto" covers the people, transactions, and technology shaping the world of decentralized finance. Today's guests: Strategy Executive Chairman Michael Saylor and Bloomberg's Michael Regan. (Source: Bloomberg)
