Government officials have estimated 50,000 New Zealanders will leave the country over the next year to head off on an OE or for work as the borders reopen after two years of Covid-19 restricting travel. The estimate was included…

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese's unemployment rate gaffe shows he has "no idea what has happened with Australia's economic recovery".

Mr Albanese was yesterday unable to say what the the current unemployment rate, or the RBA cash rate was when asked at a press conference.

Mr Albanese later addressed the mistake by saying he would always 'own up' to errors, quoting a Taylor Swift lyric by insisting he would 'Shake It Off'.

However, Mr Morrison seized on the mistake.

"Leaders will not get every single figure right," Mr Morrison said today.

ANALYSIS: Albanese makes first gaffe of election campaign and can't afford another

"His fundamental understanding of the economy is wrong. He doesn't know what's happening in the economy," he said.

"The issue is no that there's something Anthony Albanese should be apologising for, it should be that he doesn't have an economic plan."

Mr Morrison later doubled down on his criticism of Mr Albanese after his unemployment numbers gaffe.

"He didn't know the number, but he didn't miss it by that much," he said, using his hands to gesture a small amount.

"He missed it by that much," he said, stretching his arms out.

FULL COVERAGE: Federal Election 2022

https://twitter.com/ElizaEdNews/status/1513679267020029952

He added the Labor leader's criticisms of him over his term were, "not a substitute for having an economic plan".

"He raised as one of his great credentials, as being the acting prime minister in this country," Morrison, said.

"I don't think he got through a total of 48 hours in that job.

"If he thinks filling in for 48 hours is preparation for this job, he's got no idea," the prime minister said.

Mr Albanese sparked immediate back-and-forth yesterday, with people from all sides of politics weighing in.

The moment was reminiscent of a time earlier this year where Prime Minister Scott Morrison was unable to name the price of a loaf of bread or a litre of petrol.

READ MORE: Teen dies after Sydney Royal Easter Show stabbing

But today Mr Albanese brushed off a question about whether forgetting the unemployment and interest rate has hurt his campaign.

Mr Albanese said he was concentrating on something else when he blanked on the numbers.

"There are no consequences for real people as a result for what I said," he said.

"From time to time, if ever I make a mistake, I will own it and I will accept responsibility.

"Here is a Taylor Swift comment for you, my theory is, 'Shake it off'."

He noted he is "usually very good with numbers".

READ MORE: How is Australia's unemployment rate measured and why does it matter?

Australia's unemployment rate is dominating headlines – and not because it is one of the lowest in the world for a major developed economy.

Yesterday, Labor leader Anthony Albanese failed to name the jobless rate on day one of the 2022 federal election campaign, spawning a thousand think-pieces about why it does or doesn't matter.

For a party campaigning on the basis that it is a good economic manager, it certainly wasn't – to use political speak – good "optics".

But what actually is the unemployment rate and why does it matter?

READ MORE: Austrian leader's 'unfriendly meeting' with Vladimir Putin

What is the unemployment rate?

Australia's current unemployment rate is 4.0 per cent.

It is the lowest rate since August 2008.

In basic terms, the unemployment rate is a single number that indicates the number of Australians who are ready and willing to work but do not have a job.

READ MORE: Teen dies after Sydney Royal Easter Show stabbing

Who measures the unemployment rate? Is it just a political football?

The unemployment rate is measured by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

It is a critical – but not perfect – way to measure one aspect of the nation's economic performance.

Presumably the more people who are employed, the better a nation's economy is performing.

Politicians have no influence on how the rate is measured or what it is.

A sitting government may be able to change the unemployment rate with policies that centre on job creation.

As recent headlines have proven, the unemployment rate is often used in political campaigns to prove or disprove a government's economic performance.

The ABS is part of the Australian Government and is accountable to the Parliament and the public, but acts independently and objectively.

READ MORE: People sleeping at airport, missing flights as travel chaos continues

What does the unemployment rate actually measure?

The unemployment rate has been measured in the same way since 1966.

In order to be classified as "unemployed", a person must meet three criteria:

• They must not work more than one hour in the reference week
• They must be actively looking for work
• They must be available to start work in the reference week

By looking at this criteria, you can see that the unemployment rate doesn't measure the total number of Aussies who don't have jobs – but rather only those who are ready and willing.

FULL COVERAGE: Federal Election 2022

So if I work just one hour a week I'm counted as being employed? That's not enough to live off!

Correct.

I'll let the ABS explain this one directly.

"The ABS counts everyone who works for at least one hour in the reference week as employed. While a one hour cut-off point could be argued to be insufficient to sustain a family or person financially, there are several reasons for including everyone who works at least one hour a week as employed," the organisation says on its website.

"From an economic perspective, any time in paid work, no matter how small, contributes to economic production and is therefore included in the national accounts.

"Labour force statistics are economic indicators and need to be coherent with other economic measures."

The one-hour criterion is consistent with numerous established economies around the globe – it's not a weird quirk of the Australian system.

Does that mean the unemployment rate is inaccurate in the 'real world'?

No, not at all.

The unemployment rate measures what it says it measures – the ABS is extremely transparent about its methodologies.

It's important we can measure Australia's economic performance to other countries on international consistent standards.

But, with the one-hour criterion in mind, the ABS also charts "underemployment".

Underemployment is defined as people who work fewer than 35 hours per work but would like to work more and are available to work more hours.

Australia's underemployment rate is 6.6 per cent.

How does the ABS find out if people are working or not?

The ABS conducts a monthly survey of about 26,000 households as well as a selection of hotels, hospitals, boarding schools, colleges, prisons and indigenous communities throughout Australia. 

This encapsulates over 50,000 people, which then forms a "representative sample" of the nation's population.

The survey is done via self-guided online questionnaires or trained interviewers.

How often does the unemployment rate change and when is the next release?

Whether the unemployment rate changes is dependent on the data, which is released monthly.

We are due for the March figures in just a few days' time on Thursday at 11.30am.

The most distant planet in our solar system has presented a new mystery.

Astronomers observing Neptune for the past 17 years with multiple ground-based telescopes tracked a surprising drop in the ice giant's global temperatures, which was then followed by a dramatic warming trend at the planet's south pole.

Neptune, which orbits the sun at a distance of 4.5 billion kilometres, experiences seasons like Earth does — they just last much longer.

READ MORE: Hubble photos show 'intense and violent' formation of planet

One year on Neptune lasts for about 165 Earth years, so a single season can last around 40 years. It's been summer time in Neptune's southern hemisphere since 2005.

Astronomers decided to track the planet's atmospheric temperatures once the southern summer solstice occurred that year.

Nearly 100 thermal images of Neptune taken since then showed that much of Neptune gradually cooled, dropping by eight degrees Celsius between 2003 and 2018.

A study on the phenomenon published Monday in the Planetary Science Journal.

"This change was unexpected," said lead study author Michael Roman, a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Leicester, in a statement.

"Since we have been observing Neptune during its early southern summer, we expected temperatures to be slowly growing warmer, not colder."

Then, a dramatic warming event occurred at Neptune's south pole between 2018 and 2020 and temperatures rose by 11C. This warm polar vortex completely reversed any cooling that occurred before.

READ MORE: Pluto has giant ice volcanoes that could hint at the possibility of life

This kind of polar warming has never been seen on Neptune until now.

"Our data cover less than half of a Neptune season, so no one was expecting to see large and rapid changes," said study co-author Glenn Orton, senior research scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in a statement.

Images were taken using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope and Gemini South telescope in Chile, along with Hawaii's Subaru Telescope, Keck Telescope and the Gemini North telescope, as well as data from NASA's now-retired Spitzer Space Telescope.

The infrared light emitted by Neptune's stratosphere, or the atmospheric band above the active weather layer, helped astronomers detect the temperature fluctuations.

Frosty Neptune has an average of -220C, and astronomers still don't know what caused these temperature shifts.

For now, they have considered that the unexpected changes could be due to a number of factors.

"Temperature variations may be related to seasonal changes in Neptune's atmospheric chemistry, which can alter how effectively the atmosphere cools," Roman said.

"But random variability in weather patterns or even a response to the 11-year solar activity cycle may also have an effect."

READ MORE: There are more than 5000 worlds beyond our solar system

More observations will be needed to truly explore these possibilities. The James Webb Space Telescope will observe Uranus and Neptune later this year.

The space observatory's mid-infrared instrument can map the chemistry and temperatures in Neptune's atmosphere and could identify what caused the shift.

Neptune is more than 30 times as far from the sun as Earth, and it's the only planet in our solar system that isn't visible to the naked eye from Earth. So far, only NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft has flown by Neptune up close, which occurred in 1989.

"I think Neptune is itself very intriguing to many of us because we still know so little about it," Roman said. "This all points towards a more complicated picture of Neptune's atmosphere and how it changes with time."

The Easter weekend is fast approaching and for many this presents the chance to unwind and spend time with friends and family.

This long weekend is also a time where business owners and their workers take their time off, meaning closed store doors during the four-day period.

If you're in need of some last-minute shopping, we have you covered with key opening hours across the country.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Easter holidays

What is open on Good Friday?

Good Friday is a national public holiday and recognised as a "restricted trading day".

This means that some major retailers and venues may be open, but expect the large majority of them to be closed.

Bottle shops are closed on Good Friday.

Find out the long weekend trading hours for your local your local Woolworths supermarket here.

Major supermarkets such as Coles, Woolworths, and Aldi will be closed on Easter Friday across NSW, ACT, Victoria, Tasmania, and Queensland.

The vast majority of Coles stores in South Australia will be shut with just the Mount Barker and Victor Harbour stores to open from 8am until 8pm.

Find out the long weekend trading hours for your local Coles supermarket here.

In Western Australia, the following Coles stores will be open from 8am till 8pm: Vasse, Busselton, Dunsborough, Margaret River, Eaton Fair and Busselton Central.

In Victoria, Doncaster Westfield and Airport West Westfield open from 9am till 9pm.

The Booragoon Westfield in Western Australia will also be open on Good Friday from 9:30AM till 5:30PM.

READ MORE: How to enrol to vote for the 2022 federal election

Although shopping centres may be open to shoppers, individual stores may operate on their own hours and not be in business during the long weekend.

What is open on Easter Saturday?

On Easter Saturday business is back on with the vast majority of stores opening their doors to their usual trading hours.

All major supermarkets and shops will be open with regular trading hours. This includes all Westfield shopping centres, Woolworths, and Aldi stores.

All Coles stores across the Northern Territory will be open from 8AM to 8PM instead of the usual 6AM to 10PM hours.

Stores in Alice Springs will be open from 9AM to 9PM. 

These hours will be in place for the whole duration of the long weekend.

What is open on Easter Sunday?

Easter Sunday will see each state enforce their own rules regarding trading hours and openings.

All Woolworths stores will open with standard trading hours in Victoria, Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Tasmania. The Moama store in Victoria and Esperance store in WA, however, will be closed until Tuesday (19/04).

In NSW and the ACT, most Woolworths supermarkets will be closed along with South Australian stores in Adelaide and Millicent.

The Woolworths in Rundle Mall and regional South Australian stores will be open.

READ MORE: How to vote in this year's election

All Queensland Woolworths stores are to be open except for the following: Ayr, Blackwater, Bowen, Charters Towers, Childers, Chinchilla, Kingaroy, Mission Beach, Mt Isa, Pittsworth, Proserpine, Roma, Weipa.

Similarly, Coles supermarkets in Victoria, ACT, NT, Tasmania, and WA will remain open with reduced trading hours.

In New South Wales and South Australia Coles stores will be closed.

The Croydon North and Little Knox Coles stores in Victoria will also be closed on Easter Sunday.

In South Australia, all Adelaide Coles metro stores will be closed. CBD stores will open 11am to 5pm and regional stores will be open from 8am till 8pm.

Westfield shopping centres in NSW will be closed on Easter Sunday, but the centres in Victoria, SA, WA, QLD, and ACT will be open to the public.

What is open on Easter Monday?

Easter Monday will see most businesses in full operation.

With most regular retailers such as Kmart and Target being back to their regular business hours, you can also expect individual retailers to be open as well.

Woolworths stores in every state will be open with regular trading hours, except for the Millicent store in SA, and Esperance and Katanning in WA.

In Queensland, all Woolworths stores are open for regular hours except for Ayr, Blackwater, Bowen, Charters Towers, Childers, Chinchilla, Kingaroy, Mission Beach, Mount Isa, Pittsworth, Proserpine, Roma, and Weipa.

In Perth, Coles supermarkets will be open with reduced trading from 8am until 5pm, while operating hours at regional stores vary.

Adelaide stores will close early at 5pm in the CBD and metro areas. The Melton West Coles store in Victoria will not be open for business on Easter Monday. 

The provided trading hours and information are subject to change according to individual stores. We highly encourage readers to check the operating hours of their local stores online before making the venture. 

The dreams of more would-be homeowners have been dashed following the collapse of another major building company in Western Australia.

Home Innovation Builders plunged into administration yesterday, just days after the WA-based New Sensation Homes was wound up.

Both companies have struggled in turbulent headwinds striking the construction sector, where the rising costs of materials, worker shortages and unviable fixed-cost contracts have sunk major building players across Australia.

READ MORE: Teen dies after Sydney Royal Easter Show stabbing

The fallout has left suppliers and clients in the lurch.

WA mum Tiarna Nouwland told 9News her family's life had spiralled into an "absolute nightmare" because of Home Innovation Builders going bust.

Ms Nouwland, her husband and four children have been forced to live in a shed since September as construction of her home ground to a complete halt.

The family of six was set to move into their new home this month, but there is no chance of that happening.

"We have never built and it was a dream of ours that we always wanted to do," she said.

"Unfortunately that dream has turned into an absolute nightmare."

The Nouwland family are now facing the uncomfortable prospect of living through winter in a shed on their plot of land in Gabbadah, 80 kilometres north of Perth.

Frustratingly, their half-finished home sits adjacent to the white tin shed.

READ MORE: More construction giants to fold as 'perfect storm' hits building sector

READ MORE: Women tradies working to smash bias out of construction industry

A wave of Australian building companies have gone bust in the past nine months.

Construction giants Probuild and Condev collapsed earlier this year, throwing a cloud of doubt over billions of dollars of major projects, and leaving sub-contractors and tradies out of pocket.

A building insolvency expert last month warned building companies will continue to fold throughout the year, with a domino effect rippling down the supply chain.

A Victorian police officer could face up to 10 years in prison after he allegedly travelled high speeds to reach an injured colleague while on the job.

Police charged Leading Senior Constable Brad Beecroft with reckless conduct endangering life after he travelled up to 230km/h to help an injured colleague who was struck by a car on the side of a freeway last year.

Leading Senior Constable Beecroft activated lights and sirens and his in-car camera before engaging in "urgent duty driving".

READ MORE: Man charged with rape following alleged sexual assault in regional Victoria

It's alleged he overtook dozens of vehicles across a nine-kilometre stretch, reaching a top speed of 230m/h.

He attended to his injured colleague, who spent a night in hospital.

The exemption that applies to police officers in relation to the road rules doesn't extend to offences such as recklessly endangering life, which the 47-year-old was charged with alongside speeding offences.

READ MORE: Police appeal for public information into 'execution-style' murder of Queensland dad

Today, the court heard Leading Senior Constable Beecroft's passenger was a highway patrol officer with 45 years' experience.

He told investigators he considered the driving "reasonable and justified", considering Leading Senior Constable Beecroft holds a gold class licence, exempting him from speed restrictions.

Victoria Police said drivers must still travel in a safe manner that does not endanger themselves or the public.

But Leading Senior Constable Beecroft noted emergency services were often criticised for taking too long to attend jobs.

"I'm being criticised for getting there too fast," he said.

Opposition leader Anthony Albanese has had his first stumble of the official 2022 election campaign, unable to name either the unemployment rate or the RBA cash rate.

He was asked if he knew both at a press conference today.

Mr Albanese didn't know the cash rate, and guessed unemployment was at 5.4 per cent, before apologising and admitting: "I'm not sure what it is".

FULL COVERAGE: Federal Election 2022

Labor's finance spokeswoman Katy Gallagher then correctly answered the question.

The RBA cash rate is at 0.1 per cent while unemployment sits at four per cent.

Mr Albanese later "fessed up", saying he was "only human" and that when he made a mistake he owned up to it.

https://twitter.com/Fi_Willan/status/1513346169073594373

EXPLAINER: How is the Australian government elected?

Prime Minister Scott Morrison later this morning was asked the same questions at his own press conference.

READ MORE: PM says his 'strength' got Australia through COVID-19 pandemic

"Well 0.1 per cent is the cash rate, has been for some time," Mr Morrison said.

"The unemployment rate, I'm happy to say is four per cent, falling to a 50-year low."

Hip-pocket questions have led to stumbles for both candidates, with Mr Morrison in February caught on the hop after being unable to name the price of a loaf of bread or a litre of petrol.

READ MORE: The key seats that will determine the outcome of the federal election

Victorian research has revealed 9 out of 10 child car seats are installed or used incorrectly, putting kids at potential risk.

To help combat this and improve safety, the state government has committed $4million to deliver a state-wide program of free child car restraint checks.

With a two-year-old daughter and a baby on the way, Melbourne mum, Kally Alexandrou took advantage of the free professional child restraint inspections on offer.

READ MORE: Man charged with rape following alleged sexual assault in regional Victoria

"We wanted the reassurance that someone was qualified (to install the car seat) and they knew what they were doing to do it," she said.

"We are local to area, we looked on the website and found the installation and booked it in.

"My little one is nearly two and I feel like I almost have forgotten what to do and I want to get that reassurance again."

READ MORE: Man fined for partying at Adelaide nightclub after positive COVID-19 test

A new Kidsafe survey of nine thousand child car seats found 90 per cent were installed or used incorrectly.

And 37 per cent of those needed a complete re-install by the professional fitter.

That means if you're in a serious crash, you are six times more likely to have your child injured ah as a result of that.

"It's your kid's safety," Ms Alexandrou said.

"It's (important to know that) you brought the right the car seat, you have put it in properly and securely and that your child will be transported around without any issues or anything jeopardizing their wellbeing."

The "Safe Seats Safe Kids" inspection program is designed to help protect little passengers, with Kidsafe rolling out various child restrain inspection programs in each state.

Experienced fitters can then check all sorts of seats, from capsules to boosters and share advice.

READ MORE: 'Long shopping list': How cruise ships are gearing up for Aussie return

"I'm walking away feeling reassured, I know what to do. I can tell my hubby now what we need to do," Ms Alexandrou said.

Among the key safety tips:

• make sure the seat is tethered to the correct anchor point.

• check the harness height is level with the child's shoulders.

Kidsafe Victoria general manager Jason Chambers said the program was really important to ensure car seats were correctly installed and used during each trip.

The free inspections do book out quickly so if you miss out just go to the Kidsafe website which lists a whole range of car seat professionals who can help you out.

"It's your kids wellbeing at the end of the day so you do whatever it takes," Ms Alexandrou said.

To find when the Kidsafe Free Free Child Car Restraint inspections are happening in your suburbs go to safeseatssafekids.com.au

Baby For Hire outlets and other infant equipment stores also offer various car seat checks.

Passengers waiting to fly out for an Easter holiday at Sydney Airport are again facing hefty wait times, while the chaos has also hit Melbourne Airport.

Staff shortages and the start of the school holidays has seen some passengers have to wait at least two hours to get through security. 

In Victoria, the end of the Grand Prix and a fault in a Qantas baggage belt this morning has not helped long check-in lines and extensive delays on day one of school holidays.

READ MORE: Commuters stranded with Sydney bus drivers on strike this morning

READ MORE: Airport delays continue across Australia's east coast

Those catching flights from Sydney and Melbourne are urged to get to the airport two hours before departure due to delays.

Brisbane Airport is also experiencing delays, with travellers waiting an hour in queues to pass security checks.

Qantas boss Alan Joyce told Today that COVID-19 was having a huge impact on staffing levels.

"At the moment the sick leave, the absenteeism is twice the level of the reserves," Mr Joyce said. 

"You have 15 per cent of cabin crew typically on reserve on backup, on standby, where you are getting up to 30 per cent of people not turning up because of COVID or close contacts.

"Managing that, we ask people to give us patience. We again apologise for it."

Mr Joyce said changes to rules for close contacts this week should help improve the situation.

READ MORE: NSW records a drop of more than 2000 new daily COVID-19 numbers

More people travelling than before

More than 87,000 passengers are expected to pass through Melbourne's Tullamarine airport today, marking the busiest day for departures at the airport in more than two years.

And the number of people travelling around Australia is expected to be higher than pre-COVID levels, Qantas has advised.

The number of Qantas and Jetstar domestic flights running will be 110 per cent of 2019 figures, flying around 500,000 passengers from this Thursday to Easter Monday.

A Sydney Airport spokesperson has warned delays could continue through Easter and Anzac Day.

"We're incredibly grateful to passengers for their ongoing patience and for treating each other and airport workers with kindness and respect," the spokesperson said.

"We have significant COVID-related staff shortages and we're also working to rebuild our workforce in a really tight jobs market.

"Unfortunately this is an industry-wide issue and airports and airlines around the world are experiencing similar challenges.

"The Easter and Anzac Day long weekends are going to be busy again, and we're advising travellers to arrive at least two hours before domestic flights and three hours before international."

https://twitter.com/kirstinferguson/status/1513285216655208448

Virgin Australia said in a statement travellers are likely to experience longer delays than usual.

"Virgin Australia is gearing up to fly tens of thousands of guests over Easter in what is shaping up to be the busiest travel period since before the pandemic," the statement read.

"We encourage all guests flying domestically with us to follow the advice of airports and arrive two hours ahead of scheduled departure, and use online check-in.

"We appreciate the patience of all travellers as our team continue to work around the clock to assist our airport partners and help our guests get to their destinations on-time."

Considering the delays, travellers are advised to arrive at airports at least two hours before domestic flights and at least three hours before international flights.

Meanwhile, Adelaide Airport is also advising travellers if they have a domestic flight this week arrive at least two hours early.

Long queues have also been seen there over the weekend, with a security staffing shortage.

On Friday, Mr Joyce drew fire from angry customers when he appeared to blame them for contributing to the delays.

"I went through the airport on Wednesday and people forget they need to take out their laptops and they need to take out their aerosols," Mr Joyce said yesterday.

"So that is taking longer to get through the queue."

Over the weekend, Qantas carried 350,000 people on 2800 flights, Mr Joyce said.

"Next weekend, we're going to carry half a million people on Qantas and Jetstar alone and we are going to be putting as many staff as we can at the airports to help people get through this process."

https://twitter.com/Melair/status/1512242328735719425