Australia's skilled migration cap is getting an immediate boost as various industries continue to battle worker shortages.

Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil announced today that the 2022-23 cap would lift from 160,000 places to 195,000.

"Based on projections, this could mean thousands more nurses settling in the country this year, thousands more engineers," O'Neil said on Twitter.

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"This will mean 34,000 places in the regions for this year, 9000 more than had been previously be announced."

O'Neil said it was a "turning point" in Australia's history, comparing it to the "populate or perish" immigration boom following WWII.

The government also committed to providing an additional $36.1 million for visa processing, to support a surge capacity of 500 staff over the next nine months.

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https://twitter.com/ClareONeilMP/status/1565481527592423424?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

"COVID has given us an opportunity for immigration reform that we will never get back," O'Neil said.

"We switched off the tap, and one of the most important things we learned was how much we depend on migrants."

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O'Neil signalled her priorities for immigration reform, which she said would draw the best and brightest back to Australia.

"We need a migration program that caters to small business and big business alike and that serves the specific needs of our regions; a system that respects people and prevents exploitation," she said.

A husband allegedly run over by his wife when she discovered him cheating has been accused of being full of excuses at his jilted spouse's trial.

Christie Lee Kennedy, 37, had been married to David Larkin for almost a decade when she found out he was having an affair with Zowie Noring in March 2021.

The mother-of-two is accused of intentionally running over Larkin and Noring in her BMW SUV after discovering them together at Wavell Heights in Brisbane's north.

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Kennedy also got out of her car, grabbed Noring by the hair and repeatedly punched her while screaming obscenities, the District Court has heard.

The jury at her trial before Judge Tony Moynihan began deliberations on Friday afternoon.

In her closing argument, defence barrister Penny White accused Larkin of not being a reliable witness when he gave evidence this week.

"From the very first question I asked him… he was trying to find a way to get out of things," she told the jury.

"He denied having the affair but after multiple questions he admitted that yes he had sex with Zowie and later accepted yes they were having an affair.

"You might think it was a pretty simple and straightforward question and yet it took us a long time for him to finally accept even that."

White also took the husband to task for telling Noring he was separated or separating from his wife at the time of the incident.

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"She (Noring) said in her evidence that she believed based on what David Larkin told her that he was separated from his wife… on the day of this incident," White said.

"We know that is clearly not the case.

"This is another example of David Larkin… saying what he can to try and make himself look better… doing whatever he can to get out of a situation".

Kennedy told the court this week that her initial plan was to find out what her husband was doing when she discovered he was visiting a park she didn't recognise for the third time that week.

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Kennedy said she changed her plan and accelerated down the street to "catch him out" when Larkin and Noring spotted her approaching in her BMW, hitting them accidentally.

"This all happens in a matter of seconds. At that specific time… do you believe Christie Kennedy really had the intention to disable them?" White said.

However, crown prosecutor Jennifer O'Brien described Kennedy's account as totally illogical and her behaviour after the accident as disgraceful.

"If this was a true accident would you get out of the car and start punching a person you had just hit with some force and sent them flying on to the road?" O'Brien said in her closing argument.

She said CCTV footage of the incident shown to the jury indicated Kennedy was an "angry woman" caught in a compromising position.

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"My submission is it (braking) is very late and after she formed the intent to strike them given how she goes straight at them… like she lined them up," she said.

O'Brien said it was fortunate that Larkin and Noring were not more badly hurt after being hit by the BMW SUV, which she described as a "large and powerful weapon".

Kennedy has pleaded not guilty to two counts of malicious acts with intent to disable.

She has pleaded guilty to unlawful assault.

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Millions of  dollars raised by comedian Celeste Barber following the deadly Black Summer bushfires is yet to reach those who need it.

Barber raised $51 million for victims of the catastrophe and after a court dispute it was decided the money could only be spent by the Rural Fire Service on equipment and training.

However, the RFS set aside $10 million for volunteer firefighters who were injured, and for the families of those who died.

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Today the NSW government's budget estimates heard that despite four volunteers dying, 860 being injured and 46 ending up in hospital, none of the money has been used.

NSW Labor MP Mark Buttigeig asked Steph Cooke, who was the Minister for Resilience at the time, why it's taken three years.

"We will continue to work on its establishment and the distribution of funds," she responded.

"At what point in time do you think you'll get the money out of the fund into the hands of victims and people who need it?" Labor MLC Adam Searle asked.

"It's important that we set this fund up correctly right from the get go ," Cooke said.

RFS Commissioner Rob Rogers said he wants the fund to be looking after volunteers for decades to come. 

"The aim is to set this up like police legacy," he said.

The state government expects the fund to be established by the end of the year.

Former police commissioner Ken Moroney is being sounded out to be appointed to the board.

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When an 11-month-old baby left in his care began crying, Diquan Lloyd Erwin Fisher shook her before she became limp and blue.

Fisher was 18 when the 17-year-old mother asked him to look after her sleeping baby girl in Brisbane's south in February 2020.

When she woke up and started crying after the mother had left, Fisher picked her up, shook her vigorously and told her to be quiet, the Supreme Court heard.

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Fisher – now 21 – began "freaking out" when the child became unresponsive and the mother returned to the Corinda house.

He initially told the mother that the baby had been coughing, had vomited and been choking.

The baby girl was revived by paramedics at the scene but died at the Queensland Children's Hospital four days later, police said.

Fisher later conceded that he shook her from "side to side" when up to 40 "scattered bruises" were found on the baby that were consistent with where he had gripped the child, crown prosecutor David Nardone said.

The mother wept at Fisher's sentencing on Friday before leaving the courtroom in tears when details of the baby's death were revealed.

"Let me out. I need to get out," the mother said as she was led out by supporters.

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She could be heard sobbing outside court, and was not able to return and read her heartbreaking victim impact statement.

"Finding out I was pregnant completely changed my life," she said in the statement that was read in court in her absence.

"Her love gave me hope for the future. I adored her with all my heart.

"She was always happy and giggling. She was loving, caring and would give me the cutest smiles and kisses."

The mother did not think she would ever recover from the loss of her "beautiful young woman", saying she struggled with anxiety and depression.

"It destroyed my life. How can anyone understand unless their first born was selfishly taken for no reason," she said.

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"You took my beautiful young woman… my world, my reason for living.

"The… pain and heartache hasn't got any easier. I don't think it ever will.

"I would never have left her with him if I knew he could hurt her – I hope you get what you deserve."

Fisher was exposed to domestic violence at a young age, leading to his "desensitisation", his defence barrister said.

He began dabbling in drugs and alcohol to deal with anxiety and depression and "succumbed to ice", having a severe impact on his mental state.

Fisher also had "impulsivity issues" and struggled to maintain his composure, his defence barrister said.

Fisher had shown a great deal of remorse and guilt for the "catastrophic consequences" of his behaviour and for what he had done to the family, his defence said.

Fisher pleaded guilty to manslaughter on Friday and is expected to be sentenced by Justice Martin Burns next week.

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Older Australians will be able to work more hours without having a cut taken out of their pension, under new rules announced by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Currently old age and veterans pensioners can only earn $7800 a year at a job before their pension is reduced.

But an income credit added from December this year will allow them to earn another $4000 before their pension is impacted.

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The measure is only temporary, lasting until the end of June next year.

The change is hoped to take the edge off the current labour shortage in Australia.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the government hopes the change "spurs some additional workforce participation among older Australian workers".

"We've been working on this policy, frankly, since before the election," Chalmers said.

"We wanted to make sure it's the right way to go about it."

The policy change is expected to cost the government around $55 million.

It comes after the Jobs and Skills Summit touted by the prime minister.

"It has been truly an exercise in collaboration that has reinforced my government's approach towards the way that good government should function," Albanese said.

"An approach that says we should look for unity, not division."

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The prime minister has also flagged changes to Australia's immigration quotas.

An overreliance on temporary labour has made Australia more vulnerable, Albanese said.

He pointed to the beginning of the pandemic.

"When people were asked to leave and when the borders were shut, that has exacerbated the skills shortages," he said.

"My starting point is in favour of giving people the security that comes with a path to permanent migration, a path to being an Australian citizen."

He said the best way to find the best skilled migrants was to provide a path to permanency.

"It makes no sense for example to bring in a nurse for two years, three years, and then see them leave," he said.

"We need to be more attractive in the global labour market for the skills that we need."

The Jobs and Skills Summit involved more than 100 forums, mini-summits and roundtables held across the country.

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