Bay of Plenty police are monitoring a large Black Power gathering in Ngongotahā. A police spokeswoman said there were a number of police staff present. ”They are monitoring and issuing infringements in relation to driving…

The mum of Shayla Phillips, the four-year-old girl who went missing for more than 48 hours in the dense Tasmanian bush, has thanked emergency services and "the whole of Tasmania" for finding her little girl alive.

Bianca Page, Shayla's mum, posted a heartfelt message on Facebook, saying she is "forever grateful" her daughter was found.

"I just want to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart with everything I have that I am currently sitting here with my precious baby girl with a few bruises, scratches, bites and an urine infection after spending over 48 hours alone in the bush," Ms Page wrote.

READ MORE: Ukraine says 300 died in theatre attack as hunger grips cities

"A huge big thank you to the SES, Tasmania Police Victorian officers ambulance and all the locals of the peninsula, my friends and family and … the whole of Tasmania."

"The messages I received from everybody your thoughts and prayers were all so overwhelming, I seriously honestly cannot thank you enough. #ForeverGreatful."

Shayla disappeared on Wednesday afternoon from her remote family property in Stormlea, in Tasmania's south-east, which sparked an extensive search.

Tasmania police announced the news yesterday afternoon that Shayla was found just one kilometre from her home by State Emergency Service (SES) volunteers.

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Inspector Gavin Hallett said yesterday emergency services were relieved the little girl was found alive and well.

"It was the right place at the right time, had the SES volunteer been looking to the left and not the right we could have still been doing the search," he said.

Shayla was taken to hospital for medical treatment yesterday but, as her mum's post confirmed, she only has minor injuries.

READ MORE: Pre-flight COVID-19 tests to be scrapped, Greg Hunt announces

Both Tasmanian and Victorian police resources had been poured into the search for the little girl.

Drones, heat-seeking technology and sniffer dogs, as well as the assistance of hundreds of volunteers, were used by emergency crews hoping to find the girl alive.

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The wait times in emergency departments and the waiting lists for elective surgeries have blown out after COVID-19 hit Australia's health system.

The Australian Medical Association's (AMA) annual public health system report card has revealed the longest wait times in each state and the toll the pandemic has taken on the public health system.

The report showed more than 754,000 people are waiting for surgery and the proportion of people waiting more than a year for surgery has tripled.

READ MORE: Pre-flight COVID-19 tests to be scrapped, Greg Hunt announces

AMA president Dr Omar Khorshid said the report detailed the enormous pressure the health system is under.

"Australia urgently needs a recovery plan for its public hospital system. We need appropriate funding to clear the backlog of elective surgeries, and to build enough capacity to meet the growing needs of the community," he said.

Elective surgery wait times reach record-breaking highs

One of the key concerns is the "hidden waiting list" which refers to the number of patients who are waiting to see a specialist as an outpatient in the public hospital system.

This is on top of the already skyrocketing waiting lists shown by the data of each state.

Victorians are facing some of the longest wait times for non-urgent elective surgery caused by restrictions placed on the sector during the Omicron outbreak.

https://twitter.com/ama_media/status/1507464444255031301

Only 62 per cent of category two patients (needing treatment within 90 days) were able to receive their elective surgery.

Tasmania also recorded extremely long wait times for non-urgent elective surgery also due to the shut down of the sector during the peak of last year's COVID-19 outbreak.

In Tasmania currently, there are more than 59,000 patients waiting to see a specialist in a public health system, including patients waiting close to 800 days to see a neurosurgeon with an urgent referral.

Only 36 per cent of category two patients received their surgery within 90 days.

READ MORE: Sixth severe coral bleaching event confirmed in the Great Barrier Reef

The top performer for elective surgery wait times was NSW where more than 87 per cent of patients underwent surgery within 90 days.

Dr Khorshid said non-urgent surgery is still essential, and the wait times for these procedures can have life-long impacts.

"Every delayed surgery has an impact, leading to loss of quality of life and further deterioration of health," he added.

"Delaying a minor surgical intervention to improve the hearing of a child may mean they miss crucial time for physical and mental development."

Emergency departments inundated with patients

Emergency departments also buckled under the pressure of the COVID-19 pandemic with patients waiting hours just to see a nurse or a doctor.

More than one in three people waited longer than the clinically-recommended 30 minutes to receive urgent care.

"One in three people who present to an ED will wait longer than four hours to be either discharged or admitted. This is why we see increased ramping of ambulances in front of our hospitals and why patients are suffering unnecessarily," Dr Khorshid said.

The ACT recorded the longest wait times at public hospital emergency departments, with just 35 per cent of patients seen within 30 minutes.

READ MORE: Ukraine says 300 died in theatre attack as hunger grips cities

Western Australia also recorded a significant rise in wait times at emergency departments with only 43 per cent of patients being seen within 30 minutes.

Tasmania and South Australia also saw wait times blow out with 50 per cent of patients seen at an emergency department within 30 minutes.

NSW performed relatively well in comparison to other states in the number of patients who were seen in the recommended time at emergency departments.

75 per cent of patients were seen in the recommended 30 minutes.

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A top Russian general gave some of the most detailed public remarks to date on Russia's military strategy in Ukraine, claiming the "first stage" of Russia's military plan is now complete, with their primary focus now centred on eastern Ukraine.

"In general, the main tasks of the first stage of the operation have been completed," Colonel General Sergei Rudskoy, first deputy chief of Russia's General Staff, said in a Friday briefing.

"The combat potential of the armed forces of Ukraine has been significantly reduced, allowing us, I emphasise again, to focus the main efforts on achieving the main goal – the liberation of Donbas."

READ MORE: Ukraine says 300 died in theatre attack as hunger grips cities

Rudskoy's remarks come as Russia's advances appear to have stalled around major Ukrainian cities such as Kyiv and Kharkiv. Russia has also failed to achieve air superiority in Ukraine and has suffered heavy losses of personnel since the start of the invasion.

"The public and individual experts are wondering what we are doing in the area of ​​the blockaded Ukrainian cities," Rudskoy said.

"These actions are carried out with the aim of causing such damage to military infrastructure, equipment, personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the results of which allow us not only to tie down their forces and prevent them from strengthening their grouping in the Donbas, but also will not allow them to do this until the Russian army completely liberates the territories of the DPR and LNR."

Rudskoy was referring to the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, separatist territories in eastern Ukraine that Russia recognised on the eve of its invasion.

READ MORE: US President visits Poland, a complex ally on Ukraine's doorstep

Russian President Vladimir Putin has stated that the goal of what Russian officials refer to euphemistically as the "special military operation" in Ukraine is the complete demilitarisation of the country.

Putin has said the war is going according to plan, but Russian forces have incurred serious losses: Rudskoy said in the same briefing that 1351 military personnel had been killed in Ukraine and 3825 had been wounded.

US, NATO and Ukrainian officials estimate the Russian casualty count is much higher.

READ MORE: Ukrainians claim to have destroyed Russian warship

"Initially, we did not plan to storm them in order to prevent destruction and minimise losses among personnel and civilians," Rudskoy said.

"And although we do not exclude such a possibility, however, as individual groupings complete the tasks set, and they are successfully solved, our forces and means will be concentrated on the main thing – the complete liberation of Donbas."

It is unclear if Rudskoy's statement implies a shifting of the goalposts for the Russian military, or just represents a change in public messaging.

The Russian military has claimed it is not targeting civilians or residential areas, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

Inadequate leadership and communication could be behind the fracturing of the relationship between the Dunedin City Council and mana whenua, a councillor says.Cr Sophie Barker said it was hard to imagine two runanga (tribal councils)…

Leeanne Undy didn't display any of symptoms of lung cancer you would describe as normal.

The Victorian grandmother had already been diagnosed with breast cancer and so she was given a lung check after suffering a blood clot.

It was then she was told she also had lung cancer, a disease which kills more Australians than any other form of cancer.

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It was unrelated to her breast cancer.

The 65-year old, who works as a teacher's aid, said the discovery of a tumour in her right lung was devastating, but it did mean she could start some treatment sooner rather than later.

"Without the screening I wouldn't have known," she said.

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"In one way I was lucky I was getting screened."

Now Ms Undy is backing a plea from campaigners to roll out lung cancer screening to all Australians at risk.

A government study has suggested screening could save 12,000 lives in the first ten years. That is because the key to treatment is picking it up early.

Ahead of Tuesday's Federal Budget campaigners are making a last-minute push to try and make Australia one of the first places in the world to launch a lung cancer screening program.

READ MORE: What we know so far about the 2022 Federal Budget

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Not everybody who gets lung cancer is a smoker. Bu those that do smoke are largely targeted by the screening.

GPs would assess risk factors, with Australians aged between 55 and 75, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders aged from 50m sent for a CT scan to check their lungs.

It could start within the next three years.

READ MORE: Lung screening program could save 12,000 lives, experts say

The government pledged $6m last year to push the idea forward, but campaigners say politicians needs to commit more cash in Tuesday's budget to actually make it happen.

Lung Foundation CEO Mark Brooke said the benefit of funding the scheme far outweighs the ongoing cost of treatment for people diagnosed.

"If the government doesn't fund it then they are putting at risk 12,000 Australians," he said.

READ MORE: 'Stark': Woman diagnosed with breast and lung cancer describes the contrast between how she was treated

"If we were talking about women's violence or suicide in rural and remote communities, with numbers of saving 12,000 lives people would find the money tomorrow, but because lung cancer is bogged by stigma and mistaken beliefs that people bring it upon themselves, it has been a battle to get this in the budget."

Ms Undy's cancer is now incurable, but she is making the most of time with her three grandchildren.

She believes if lung screening had started years ago, many lives could have been saved.

"Those people could be here today sharing memories with good times and friends," she said.

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An Australian Government spokesperson said the $6.9m 2020 Lung Cancer Screening Enquiry, commissioned by the Minister for Health and led by Cancer Australia, recommended the establishment of a national lung cancer screening program targeting high-risk individuals.

READ MORE: Tens of thousands of Aussies could have cancer and not yet know due to pandemic

"The potential program is also being examined by the independent Medical Services Advisory Committee (MSAC), who will provide advice to the Minister in the near future," a spokesman, said.

Lung cancer or lung disease symptoms

Persistent or unexplained cough which lasts more than three weeks, or changes to an existing cough, breathlessness, coughing up blood, fatigue, weight loss, chest pain, voice hoarseness

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