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Australia are confident they have seen enough to show the decision to play two specialist spinners on a deteriorating SCG wicket against South Africa will allow them to cash in late.

After a weather-affected opening day on Wednesday, Australia went to stumps at 2-147 after losing Marnus Labuschagne late to Proteas paceman Anrich Nortje (2-26).

Both sides brought two spinners into the clash at the SCG, where the dry wicket traditionally favours turn.

Australia's gamble is made more notable because they lack a legitimate part-time medium pacer, with Labuschagne the closest the hosts have to a back-up seamer for Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood.

South Africa brought five bowlers into the match - three quicks and two tweakers, with offspinner Simon Harmer partnering Keshav Maharaj.

While neither found success on Wednesday as Labuschagne (79) and Usman Khawaja (54no) took charge, Harmer had a ball rip past the latter's bat in the opening session.

"I don't think I've played on a wicket that's turned from the middle as much as it did today at the SCG," Labuschagne said at stumps.

Even with 43 overs lost to rain and bad weather on Wednesday, early signs suggest the pitch will break up more later in the match.

Man-of-the-hour Nortje noted footmarks had already been laid on the opening day, predicting spinners would play a "massive role".

That should theoretically suit Australia, given they will bowl last and spin-twins Ashton Agar and Nathan Lyon have Travis Head, Steve Smith, Matt Renshaw and Labuschagne for part-time assistance.

"It was very good that we won the toss and we're 2-147, because for the little cricket that's been played there's already quite a decent set of footmarks," Labuschagne said.

"We certainly thought that these conditions were going to spin and not that pace is going to take a back seat, but the real damage is going to be done by the spinners as the game progresses."

© AAP 2023

Sales of new cars and trucks in Australia topped one million in 2022 with the latest figures also set to confirm the exploding demand for electric vehicles.

The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries will release the full-year figures on Thursday as the market continues to bounce back from issues associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and supply concerns.

To the end of November last year, demand had pushed to 993,509 vehicles, a 2.3 per cent improvement over the same period in 2021.

Though still a small percentage of the total market, sales of electric vehicles had climbed by more than 500 per cent, reaching 28,326 over the 11 months.

The appetite for hybrids also continued last year with 74,704 retailed to the end of November, a 15.6 per cent increase.

Releasing those November figures, FCAI chief executive Tony Weber said it was clear the one-millionth vehicle for 2022 would be sold in early December.

"The automotive sector is continuing to recover from (COVID-19) pandemic-related shutdowns, a global shortage of microprocessors and the general supply chain uncertainty we experienced over the last two years," Mr Weber said.

"While this is positive news, many customers are still facing extended wait times for their vehicle, with expected delivery dates for some models beyond 12 months."

Toyota will lead the market in 2022, with its recent dominance largely unchallenged.

The company will have sold about 235,000 vehicles across its range, well ahead of Mazda which will finish second with something under 100,000 units.

Third place will be a close finish between Kia and Mitsubishi.

To the end of November, Kia had told 72,700 vehicles, just 636 more than Mitsubishi.

Toyota will also have the top-selling car with demand for its HiLux two-wheel and four-wheel-drive models likely to finish around 65,000 ahead of the Ford Ranger on about 48,000.

© AAP 2023

The government is being chastised for not following expert health advice when enacting a new COVID-19 testing measure for travellers from China.

The health minister and treasurer maintain the move was done out of "an abundance of caution" and to gather more data about COVID given Beijing's lack of transparency despite the chief medical officer advising against it.

Opposition health spokeswoman Anne Ruston said the government's inference the chief medical officer didn't provide cautious advice undermines the trust Australians have in lifesaving health advice throughout the pandemic.

"Right the way through the pandemic, Australians have been provided the confidence that the Australian government was responding to the best available advice of Australia's chief medical experts," she told AAP.

"Until now."

Senator Ruston also questioned how Australia would receive more data from tests being undertaken in China.

"The current arrangements for pre-flight testing will not result in any additional data on new or emerging COVID variants, because the tests will not provide Australia with any genomic sequencing," she said.

She called on the prime minister to be more transparent about why the health advice was ignored and whether future recommendations from experts would be followed.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the health advice had been taken seriously, with statements from the World Health Organisation raising concerns about China's transparency also considered.

"Our job in government is to make a decision which balances all the various factors and considerations. That's what we've done here," he told ABC radio.

"It's consistent with what a lot of countries are doing and it's erring on the side of caution."

Travellers from China will need to return a negative COVID test within 48 hours of departure from Thursday.

China criticised the measures, threatening to retaliate with reciprocal measures.

But details of the measures remain unclear, with China already requiring a negative test within 48 hours of departure and travellers only able to board a flight with a negative result.

China is fighting a nationwide outbreak of the coronavirus after abruptly easing restrictions that were in place for much of the pandemic.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said the entry restrictions targeting China lacked scientific bases.

"We are firmly opposed to attempts to manipulate the COVID measures for political purposes and will take countermeasures based on the principle of reciprocity," she said.

Dr Chalmers says he's not particularly concerned about the threat.

"Not especially," he said when asked if the threat of retaliation worried him.

"We do need to make sure that we've got the best possible surveillance of strains as they emerge but also waves as they emerge and become more difficult to manage.

"That's really one of the key considerations here as we put these responsible restrictions in place."

Dr Chalmers added that the requirement to have a medical practitioner supervise a rapid antigen test wasn't an onerous one for travellers despite China's hospital system facing immense strain.

Meanwhile, a new COVID-19 variant has made its way from the United States to Australian shores.

The XBB.1.5 variant, the latest descendant of Omicron, now accounts for about 40 per cent of new coronavirus cases in the US.

But with only eight XBB.1.5 infections recorded so far in Australia, Kirby Institute virologist Stuart Turville said it was not yet cause for concern.

"There is a lot of hysteria on social media saying this is the next big one," the associate professor told AAP.

"It's way too early to really know.

"We don't know whether it's going to supplant our somewhat eclectic mix of variants. We don't know the degree of clinical severity this particular variant will have.

"Until the data is in hand, it's just crystal ball gazing."

© AAP 2023