Australia: The Loop: Hunt and Porter to quit politics, man dies in Queensland floodwaters, and the world's most expensive city is...

Hello. It's Wednesday, DECEMBER 1...

... and you're reading The Loop, a quick wrap-up of the news you need to know about.

One thing you should know

Two of the nation's most high-profile federal politicians will call it quits at the next election:

• The federal Health Minister is set to announce his intention to quit tomorrow, the ABC has confirmed
• He's held one of the government's most important roles as the nation contends with the COVID-19 pandemic
• Speculation had been mounting in recent months about Mr Hunt's political future but he's repeatedly said he would recontest the next election
• Mr Hunt was elected as the Federal Member for Flinders in 2001

• The former attorney-general announced his resignation on Facebook, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family
• He became embroiled in controversy earlier this year after the ABC reported an unnamed cabinet minister had been accused of raping a woman in 1988
• Mr Porter identified himself as the unnamed cabinet minister, denied the allegations and pursued defamation action against the ABC, which he ultimately discontinued
• He was put under more pressure to quit in September after he declared he had accepted funds from anonymous donors to cover some of the legal fees for the defamation case

What else is going on?

• ICYMI, a report detailing the experiences of hundreds of people who work in federal parliament was released yesterday, and it painted a pretty sobering picture of the kind of behaviour many employees have faced. Here's a quick breakdown of what some of the report's key recommendations are, and how Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins decided they're the best course of action.
• A backpacker who was with Theo Hayez at a Byron Bay nightclub on the night he disappeared has told a coronial inquest he didn’t think the young Belgian traveller was affected by alcohol. The inquest has previously heard security guards kicked Theo out around 11:00pm because he was “approaching intoxication”, however the court has heard he only bought two beers at Cheeky Monkeys and it's unlikely he drank excessively prior to leaving the hostel.

News alerts you might have missed

• A 73-year-old man has died in floodwaters on the Darling Downs after his car was swept off the road this morning at Yalangur, near Toowoomba
• NSW Health has confirmed a sixth case of the Omicron COVID variant. The fully vaccinated traveller flew into Sydney from Doha last week

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Now Palaszczuk won't let Queenslanders go to SYDNEY

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said going to Sydney for a day or two would be 'out of the question' until the state reached 90 per cent of its population fully vaccinated against Covid-19. The claim was in response to a question about whether people who travel from Queensland to Sydney for a day or two 'for work' will still require a PCR test in order to return home.'We're looking at that, you do need to have a PCR test,' she responded. 'At the moment, going to Sydney for a day or two would be out of the question until we get to that 90 per cent double dose.

What Australia has been searching for online

Rihanna. Everyone's favourite bad gal has been named a national hero by the newly-republic country of Barbados, where she was raised... there are also unconfirmed (and fairly unreliable) rumours floating around that she's pregnant, which could be why she's so high up in the search rankings today.

Splendour in the Grass. The 2022 lineup is officially out, featuring the likes of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Gorillaz, Glass Animals, Tyler, The Creator and Kacey Musgraves, and music lovers everywhere are trembling with excitement at the prospect of being able to attend a festival like back in the good old days.

One more thing

Quick, give us your best guess — which city in the world do you think is the most expensive?

Model Mom! Martha Hunt Welcomes 1st Baby With Fiance Jason McDonald

Model Mom! Martha Hunt Welcomes 1st Baby With Fiance Jason McDonald The mom-to-be continued showing her bare bump via social media, from relaxing on a pool float in July to showing her 25-week silhouette later that same month. “Pregnancy brain is real,” the expectant star captioned the latter. Gallery: Kathryn Dennis, Thomas Ravenel Reunite for Son Saint's 6th Birthday: Photos (US Weekly) 1/8 SLIDES © Shutterstock (2) Crushing coparenting! Exes Kathryn Dennis and Thomas Ravenel sweetly celebrated son Saint’s 6th birthday together.

Last year the Israeli city was the fifth-most expensive city in the world to live in, but the Economist Intelligence Unit's latest Cost of Living survey says it's now the costliest on the planet.

The EIU says there are a few reasons for this — one is that the Israeli currency, the shekel, has been very strong, which makes local prices more expensive when they're converted into US dollars.

Paris and Singapore tied for second place for the world's most expensive cities, followed by Zurich, Hong Kong and New York.

Of the Aussie capitals, Sydney was unsurprisingly the most expensive, followed by Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and then Perth.

You're up to date

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