Doctors and pharmacists are at loggerheads over calls for COVID-19 antiviral treatments to be sold over the counter.
The Australian Pharmacy Guild this week publicly petitioned the federal government for the right to dispense the medications without a prescription, citing a national shortage of GPs.
Doctors have accused pharmacists of creating a false narrative for commercial reasons.
While two oral antivirals are available in Australia, and early treatment is considered critical to lessen the effects of the virus, access to them is restricted.
Anthony Albanese's speech to the Garma Indigenous festival outlined Australia's "momentous" but "simple" path to a Voice to Parliament.
"I believe the tide is running our way. I believe the momentum is with us as never before," he said.
His first utterance as prime minister-elect was a commitment to the Uluru Statement From the Heart in full.
Australians had just delivered more First Nations representatives to Parliament than ever before. The new government, intent on delivering a referendum in its first term, would also be accountable to a newly-progressive crossbench.
Polling showed the majority of voters in favour.
Meanwhile, off the coast of NSW, behemoth sharks are hauled up alongside boats for a teeth "clean" and researchers say the dental check could help save bite victims.
The sharks are captured along 21 NSW government-installed drum lines, running from the state's far north to the south coast for research and beach protection.
When a shark is caught in a line, a signal alerts contractors.
They hastily come out to free the shark after measuring it and using a swab on the end of a stick to collect samples, including a mouth sample while the animal's head is out of the water.
Marine microbe expert Dr Meagan Dewar has pored over hundreds, trying to figure out what shark bacteria could be resistant to certain antibiotics.
In lighter news, there's one newborn hogging all the attention off the NSW coast; a southern right whale calf born whiter than usual.
The calf and its mother are resting up before they head south to Antarctica.
Government conservationists are urging people to keep their distance from the mum and new bub spotted off the state's south coast.
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