• No Oscar but Adelaide actor dazzles on red carpet
• Federal budget promises $200 million Marion Rd fix
• Labor to hold first cabinet meeting
• One Nation set for upper house seat
• SA police hit hard by COVID-19
• Queensland braces for more severe weather
• Ukraine ‘ready to discuss neutral status’
• Streaming, fan voting to shake up the Oscars

No Oscar but Adelaide actor dazzles on red carpet

Adelaide-born actor Kodi Smit-McPhee has missed out on winning the best supporting actor Oscar at Hollywood’s night of nights after dazzling audiences on the red carpet.

Smit-McPhee was nominated for his role in The Power of the Dog, a dark western directed by New Zealander Jane Campion.

The Oscar went to deaf actor Troy Kotsur for his role in CODA.

Dressed in a powder blue suit, Smit-McPhee told ABC’s On The Red Carpet earlier in the night that it was “chaotic in the best way”.

“I’m going to fanboy and I don’t want to do that, I just want to play it cool,” he said.

“I’m going to be pulling out all the cards tonight, signatures.”

Asked about looking for his next role following multiple award nominations, Smit-McPhee said “if it’s not broken don’t try and fix it”.

“I love the element of surprise. I love the dance of fate that I play when material arrives on my doorstep.

“To try and control something like that – then you’re failing to think out of the box.”

Kotsur dedicated his Oscar to the deaf and disabled community.

“This is amazing to be here on this journey. I cannot believe I am here,” he said in a heartfelt speech delivered in sign language.

Kotsur, 53, has worked for over three decades in theatre, television and film for deaf and hearing audiences.

In CODA, an acronym for ‘child of deaf adults’, Kotsur plays Frank Rossi, the father of teenager Ruby who struggles to help her family’s fishing business while pursuing her own aspirations in music.

The Power of the Dog also battled feel-good deaf family drama CODA for the prestigious best picture prize.

The Oscar again went to CODA, making it the first movie made for a streaming service to win the award.

Netflix released Power of the Dog while CODA streamed on Apple TV+.

Federal budget promises $200 million Marion Rd fix

The Federal Government is promising to spend $200 million to fix a notorious bottleneck in Adelaide’s south as part of its pre-election budget.

The funding will be announced Tuesday night as part of the federal budget and is part of the government’s $2.8 billion in infrastructure pledges for South Australia.

The Glenelg tram line would be removed as part of the Marion Rd fix, with the option for an overpass. Better pedestrian and cycling access will be added along with some slip lanes.

Finance Minister Simon Birmingham said the funding was about “keeping the economic momentum going in South Australia and further improving living standards”.

“South Australia has the fastest growing economy in Australia right now and our Government’s record infrastructure investment continues to help supercharge economic activity right across the state,” Birmingham said.

“The stretch of Marion Road that crosses the tramline and Cross Road is one of the worst bottlenecks in Adelaide. The Morrison Government has heard the concerns of commuters, the RAA and businesses and is committing $200 million to save people time, money and frustrations.

“We look forward to working closely with the state government to ensure the effective design and delivery of this project to separate drivers along Marion Road from the disruption of crossing both Cross Road and the tramline in such close proximity.” 

The budget will also include $2.2 billion in extra funding for the North-South Corridor project, $40 million in additional funding for the Horrocks Highway and $20 million in additional for the Marion Road and Sir Donald Bradman Drive Intersection Upgrade.

The government says this work is likely to support about 3000 jobs.

Labor to hold first cabinet meeting

Newly elected Premier Peter Malinauskas will hold his first cabinet meeting today and says his state government has “a lot to do ahead of us”.

In a live video posted to social media last night, Malinauskas said his cabinet would see “a lot more women in it and an extraordinary policy agenda.” 

“There are a lot of important actions, like giving an Aboriginal voice to Parliament, supporting children in a state with autism, the most dramatic investment in education in a generation by pursuing three-year-old child care, pursuing university amalgamation (and) new technical colleges,” Malinauskas said in the video.

“That’s just education and we have a lot to do to rebuild our economy, which we know that has some challenges with the cost of living rising.”

Labor won this month’s election, claiming 27 seats in the 47-seat lower house and defeating Steven Marshall’s Liberal government after just one-term.

The ALP picked up seats in a handful of Liberal strongholds, including Waite, Gibson and Davenport. It’s the first time the ALP won Davenport since it was formed in 1970.

One Nation set for upper house seat 

One Nation is on-track to pick up its first Legislative Council seat in SA.

In an update last night, ABC election analyst Antony Green predicted one of the party’s three Legislative Council hopefuls, Sarah Game, would make it over the line.

First preferences have been counted for the seats in the 22-seat Legislative Council, with the process continuing today.

“Victory for Sarah Game will be on party name alone,” Green said last night on his blog.

“One Nation did not even profile her on its website. Whether known or not, she will be elected to an eight-year term in the Legislative Council.”

Labor’s Kyam Maher, Tung Ngo, Ian Hunter and Russell Wortley are likely to be re-elected, alongside new ALP MLC Reggie Martin.

Re-elected Liberals Michelle Lensink, Dennis Hood, Nicola Centrofanti will be re-elected alongside new member Laura Curran.

Greens MLC Robert Simms will also be re-elected. 

“If the election finishes as set out in the previous paragraph, the new Legislative Council will be 9 Labor, 8 Liberal, 2 Greens, 2 SA Best and a One Nation member,” Green wrote.

“Assuming Labor appoints a President, then Labor would need the votes of three of the five cross bench members to pass legislation.”

SA police hit hard by COVID-19

The state’s police union has launched a campaign for better resourcing, saying understaffing due to COVID-19 has made officers stressed and fatigued.

The Police Association will launch its campaign today, highlighting the impact of COVID-19 on frontline officers and their response time.

The association has pointed to findings from an internal survey showing some officers are burned out by chronic understaffing and the additional tasks they’ve been needed to undertake.

The research, commissioned by the association, surveyed 1037 members and found 65 per cent of officers thought the job was having a negative effect on their home life.

The survey also found 71 per cent of officers have had their work impacted by COVID-19.

But while the lives of officers have been negatively impacted, the survey says there is a strong working culture within the force.

“Right now, we can’t match the demand,” the association’s president Mark Carroll says in one of the campaign’s ads.

“You might have to wait for an hour, even longer, as police officers pick up the slack for other government departments.

“When cops either retire or leave the job, just replacing them isn’t enough. You actually need to grow the force, so when you need us we’ll be there.”

The association will use the survey in talks with new Police Minister Joe Szakacs to push for more resources.

Queensland braces for more severe weather

The Sunshine Coast and Southeast Queensland are again bracing for severe wet weather as a slow-moving and potentially dangerous system moves across the state. 

The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a warning for more heavy rainfall and potentially life-threatening flash floods from Noosa down to the NSW border.

The coastal trough over southeast Queensland is expected to deepen today and into tomorrow.

Rainfall totals up to 250mm are possible, although conditions could be patchy over coastal areas with rainfall totals of 50mm-100mm in some areas.

“Intense rainfall leading to dangerous and life-threatening flash flooding is possible with thunderstorms with six-hourly rainfall totals up to 250mm,” the bureau warned.

A major flood warning is in place for Myall Creek along with a moderate warning for the Bokhara River and a minor warning for the Condamine River.

Ukraine ‘ready to discuss neutral status’

Ukraine is prepared to discuss adopting a neutral status as part of a peace deal with Russia but such a pact would have to be guaranteed by third parties and put to a referendum, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says.

Zelenskiy was speaking to Russian journalists in a 90-minute video call, an interview that Russian authorities had pre-emptively warned local media to refrain from reporting. 

The Ukrainian President spoke in Russian throughout, as he has done in previous speeches when targeting a Russian audience.

He said Russia’s invasion had caused the destruction of Russian-speaking cities in Ukraine and said the damage was worse than the Russian wars in Chechnya.

“Security guarantees and neutrality, non-nuclear status of our state. We are ready to go for it. This is the most important point,” Zelenskiy said.

Zelenskiy said Ukraine refused to discuss certain other Russian demands, such as the demilitarisation of the country.

Once a city of 400,000 people, Mariupol has undergone prolonged Russian bombardment.

“All entries and exits from the city of Mariupol are blocked,” Zelenskiy said.

“The port is mined. A humanitarian catastrophe inside the city is unequivocal, because it is impossible to go there with food, medicine and water,” he said.

“I don’t even know who the Russian army has ever treated like this,” he said, adding that, compared to Russian wars in Chechnya, the volume of destruction “cannot be compared”.

Streaming, fan voting to shake up Oscars

Dark western The Power of the Dog will battle feel-good deaf family drama CODA for the film industry’s top honour when, free of last year’s pandemic restrictions, a large Hollywood crowd gathers for the Academy Awards this morning.

The films are frontrunners for the best picture gong at a red carpet Oscars ceremony on Sunday (Monday, Australian time) promising a few plot twists.

Netflix released Power of the Dog while CODA streamed on Apple TV. A win by either movie would mark a milestone by handing the statuette to a streaming service.

After past complaints about a lack of diversity, two of this year’s four acting accolades may go to people of colour.

Will Smith is likely to earn his first Oscar for King Richard, awards watchers say, as is Ariana DeBose for West Side Story.

Comedians Amy Schumer, Regina Hall and Wanda Sykes will host – the first time three women have guided the ceremony in its 94-year history. Beyonce and Billie Eilish will perform.

In a bid to draw more viewers, especially younger ones, and after years of declining ratings, the three-hour show will add two awards, the result of fan votes on Twitter for favourite film and scene.

The ceremony will also feature a moment of support for Ukraine. Producers want the show to be celebratory but said they could not ignore the crisis there.

In the best picture race, success hinges on whether the 9900 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences back a gothic psychological thriller or an uplifting story.

“The pundits have always said you never know who’s going to win,” said People magazine movies editor Nigel Smith. “This year, it actually seems to be the case.”

 – With AAP and Reuters