Women's Minister Katy Gallagher has been criticised for saying children are better off the earlier they enter early education or childcare, with one advocacy group saying the "mothers of Australia are furious".

Speaking to The Australian, the senior Labor figure ruled out calls from the Nationals to pursue income-splitting for families to encourage parents to spend more time with their newborns.

She said while she was not telling parents what to do, there was evidence the sooner a child enters early education or care, the better prepared they are for formal schooling.

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"For me, it worked. It was the choice I took for my kids and I think they did benefit, overall, from learning how to get on with others and being exposed to that environment," she told the newspaper.

"But I accept parents have different views on this. That's why family daycare has been there, that's why occasional care has been there, long daycare."

The remarks have drawn the ire of some women's and children's advocacy groups. 

Childcare Choice, a national campaign that advocates for parents as the primary carers, said "the mothers of Australia are furious". 

The group's spokesperson, Madeleine Simmons, said the remarks were tone deaf.

"What the minister isn't talking about in anything she has said is the people who it doesn't work for," she said.

"If you've got a child that has type 1 diabetes, putting them into daycare as early as possible doesn't work. If you've got a child who is neurodiverse, putting them into daycare as early as possible doesn't work."

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Early Childhood Australia chief executive Samantha Page said the conversation was more complicated than Gallgaher made it out to be.

"Children can absolutely thrive in early childhood education and care and do well if they've got good, stable educators around them and it's a quality service," she said.

"What we really don't want is very young children in poor-quality services because that is not good for children.

"In Australia, we do have a world-leading quality framework, so we have the foundations of good quality, but what we need to make sure is that every single service is meeting those standards and has stability in the education team."

The federal government has recently proposed an early education and care commission to lead sector-wide reform. 

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When Sarah's cat went missing and she received a message from somebody claiming to have seen her, she was hopeful.

But the Sydney student, 18, who had posted on Facebook and put up posters about her missing pet, was shocked to discover the person was trying to scam her.

They had created photos of a cat similar to hers using AI and were demanding money.

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"If this happened to me it's going to happen to someone else," she told 9News.

Black cat Cinda, who is 16, escaped at Middle Street in Kingsford in Sydney at 9pm on May 5.

The person who contacted Sarah, by email, claimed to have "found her".

They posted photos that looked like the cat in a car and on a sofa.

But when Sarah questioned them further, they said they wanted $200, with some to be paid by Apple gift card.

"They were like 'I spent my last buck on her'. They were like, 'Are you going to compensate me?'" she said.

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And while like any cat owner Sarah said she'd hand over any amount of money to get her cat back, she started to get suspicious.

She said the photos didn't seem to be her cat.

"I just knew it wasn't her," she said.

She showed them to her boyfriend who also realised something wasn't right.

The messages were also written with strange grammar.

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When Sarah questioned them, they threatened they would "go and sell her".

Sarah said she was onto them but went ahead with their demands to meet at a local supermarket.

She went with her mother but nobody turned up.

"I'd give everything I have for her but we knew it was a scam, " she said.

While the police told her there's nothing they can do, she also reported what happened to Scamwatch.

She's warning other pet owners to beware.

"What they're doing is extortion and it's a crime," she said.

"I would say question it – don't just rely on your own judgement."

Cinda has green eyes, and one of her eyes has brown discolouration. Underneath the black fur on her neck is sparse white fur.

9News has contacted Scamwatch.

If you can have seen the cat, contact reporter Sarah Swain on ss****@******om.au

Brosnan paid $400 for Logan White’s tūī painting at Fresh & Tasty Mangōnui.

The 71-year-old says the theft has stripped her of her freedom and independence.

The National Party leader has emphatically rejected a grand coalition with Labour.

Health experts warn measles is now likely circulating in the Wellington community.

Support has shifted from National to New Zealand First, not to Labour.

An American has tested positive and a French traveller developed symptoms aboard their separate aircraft journey after passengers evacuated from the hantavirus-hit cruise ship began flying home aboard military and government planes.

One of the 17 American passengers evacuated from the MV Hondius tested positive for the hantavirus but is not showing any symptoms, US health officials said today.

Earlier, one of the five French passengers developed symptoms on their flight home, French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said in a statement, and all were put into strict isolation with plans to be tested.

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Passengers were evacuated from the MV Hondius following its arrival in Tenerife, the largest island in the Spanish archipelago off the West African coast.

Earlier, officials from the Spanish Health Ministry, the World Health Organisation, and the cruise company Oceanwide Expeditions had said none of the more than 140 people who were then on the Hondius had shown symptoms of the virus.

The aircraft carrying the Americans was due to arrive in Omaha, Nebraska today.

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They would first be taken to the University of Nebraska, which has a federally funded quarantine facility, to assess whether they have been in close contact with any symptomatic people and their risk levels for spreading the virus.

"One passenger will be transported to the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit upon arrival, while other passengers will go to the National Quarantine Unit for assessment and monitoring. The passenger who is going to the Biocontainment Unit tested positive for the virus but does not have symptoms," said Kayla Thomas, a spokesperson for The Nebraska Medical Centre.

From the ship, all of the passengers were escorted to shore by personnel in full-body protective gear and breathing masks.

Spanish passengers were the first to leave, flown to Madrid and taken to a military hospital.

Hours later, a plane that evacuated French passengers landed in Paris, where it was met by emergency vehicles.

Meanwhile, plans for the Australians from the ship have been revealed.

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Australians will be taken to a Sydney hospital once they arrive home.

NSW Health said it's working with the federal government on the plan for the four Australian passengers from the ship, where three people have died.

They'll be taken to the NSW Biocontainment Centre at Westmead Hospital once they get home from the Canaries, where it is now docked.

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Unveiled in 2023, it is a special unit to isolate patients with rare, highly infectious diseases.

The cruise ship patients will be assessed and have quarantine arrangements planned.

They're due to land in a charter flight in Perth tomorrow.

"These passengers will be closely monitored, and should any develop symptoms, they will be assessed by an infectious diseases physician and be provided appropriate care," NSW Health said.

"The risk to the public is low."

– with Associated Press

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A Victorian carpenter is being taken to court for allegedly threatening to sack a teenage apprentice if he took sick leave.

Caleb Geoffrey Stubbs – a sole trader who operates CS Carpentry in Geelong – is also accused of underpaying the apprentice and another young casual worker and failing to cooperate with Fair Work's attempts to investigate the claims.

The Fair Work Ombudsman launched the investigation after receiving requests for help from the two 18-year-olds who were employed by Stubbs in 2022 and 2023.

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One was employed as an apprentice carpenter between November 2022 and January 2023. and the other as a casual construction worker for a week in November 2022.

According to Fair Work, on the morning of January 19, 2023, the apprentice messaged his employer on Snapchat stating he was unwell and wouldn't be able to work that day.

It's then that Fair Work alleges Stubbs threatened to not pay the apprentice for a week if he didn't come to work and to terminate his employment if he took personal leave in the future.

The carpenter also stands accused of failing to comply with a Compliance Notice from Fair Work in April of the same year, after a Fair Work investigator pursued him for allegedly underpaying the casual worker and failing to pay the apprentice's public holiday and leave entitlements.

Stubbs also allegedly breached pay slip laws.

"Sick leave is a fundamental lawful entitlement," Acting Fair Work Ombudsman Rachel Volzke said.

"Workers have a right to access their leave entitlements without negative consequences.

"Taking action to protect employees who may be vulnerable, such as young workers, and improving compliance in the building and construction industry are priorities for the Fair Work Ombudsman."

Stubbs faces a fine of up to $8250 over the Compliance Notice issue as well as $16,500 for each of the alleged pay slip and adverse action contraventions.

The regulator is also seeking a court order directing Stubbs to comply with the Compliance Notice, including rectifying outstanding payments to the young employees.

The case against Stubbs will be heard in the Federal Circuit and Family Court in Melbourne on May 21.

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