Australia news live: poll puts One Nation ahead of Labor; free public transport ends in Victoria

Aged care waiting times coming down, Labor says

Amid persistent delays and funding challenges, some aged care wait times have started coming down, according to the federal government.

The aged care minister, Sam Rae, said every person classified as urgent priority for the Support at Home program is getting funding within one month.

High-priority case wait times have dropped by a fortnight to between one and two months while medium-priority wait times have dropped from between eight and nine months to between six and seven months. Standard priority cases currently wait seven to eight months, down from 10 to 11 months in November last year.

Rae said the median wait for an assessment is consistently under one month, and the time for in-hospital assessments remains under one day.

“While we know there’s much more to do, these numbers are encouraging signs our methodical work to secure more care for more older Australians than ever is shifting the dial,” he said.

Older people told us they want care they can trust, close to home and at a fair price. We have listened, and Labor’s getting things moving in the right direction to ensure every older Australian can get the care they deserve, sooner.

Happy Monday: Nick Visser here to take you through the news as we start off the week. Here’s what’s on deck:

One Nation is the most popular political party in the country, a new survey suggests. The poll, published Monday by the Australian Financial Review, shows support for Pauline Hanson’s party has risen four points, to 31%. Labor’s primary vote is at 28% and the Coalition sits at 20%.

Victorians are now eligible for two cost of living measures meant to help during the ongoing fuel crisis: 20% off vehicle registration and half-price public transportation until the end of the year. The state had instituted free public transport for the past two months, which ended on Sunday.

Stick with us, there’s more to come.