Received

Wineries, distilleries and breweries will share in a $20 million top-up as part of a coalition tourism pledge as the federal election campaign enters its final two weeks.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Saturday outlined further support to bring more tourists to cellars hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The plan would see $15 million for wineries, distilleries and breweries with $100,000 grants to build or upgrade on-site facilities such as restaurants and tour areas.

A further $5 million would go to tourism and local governments.

Mr Morrison, campaigning on Saturday in Perth, said tourism operators would be supported to bring more people in.

"Tourism is key to our plan, and this funding will help bring in more tourists to local businesses, meaning more people touring our breweries and wineries," he said.

"There are huge opportunities for our wineries and distilleries to take advantage of the plane loads of tourists looking for a new experience as we emerge from COVID lockdowns."

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese on Saturday touched sown in northern Tasmania, where he is due to continue showcasing Labor's policies to drive down the cost of living through childcare and energy initiatives.

The opposition has sought to turn the campaign spotlight back towards the cost of living amid rising inflation, low wage growth and the first official interest rate rise for more than a decade.

It comes as Mr Albanese tried to downplay a fumble where he couldn't remember his party's NDIS plan when pressed by reporters.

He said the coalition was divided and led by a leader who many MPs did not want to campaign alongside with.

The coalition on Saturday added a $26.9 million promise for expanded research into allergic diseases and anaphylaxis.

"The National Health Survey estimates that hay fever and allergic rhinitis alone affects 4.6 million Australians, with chronic sinusitis affecting a further two million people," outgoing Health Minister Greg Hunt said in a statement.

The funds will go to the the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy Allergy and Anaphylaxis Australia to establish a National Allergy Council.

Money will also go to the Murdoch Children's Research Institute.

Labor wants to expand free-to-air TV access for major sporting events.

Mr Albanese said too many events of national and cultural significance were guarded by paywalls.

"For a whole lot of Australians, free-to-air TV is essential to seeing those moments which lift us up as a nation, that inspire us, that help define who we are," he said.

A Labor government would consult stakeholders, including media and sport, to back media "so it can compete and thrive in the era of big tech, global streaming services".

In Sydney, mining magnate and United Australia Party founder Clive Palmer is in town to launch several of his local candidates.

Speaking at the launch of his Warringah candidate, Andrew Roberts, Mr Palmer said he would be open to forming government with either of the major parties in a hung parliament.

"We'll do a deal with anybody to get these (UAP) policies enacted," he said.

UAP is preferencing One Nation and controversial Liberal candidate Katherine Deves in Warringah ahead of the other candidates, including high profile independent MP Zali Steggall.

Across Australia, Mr Palmer said the party was preferencing Labor candidates in 40 per cent of the seats his party were running in and the Liberals or other candidates in about 60 per cent of the rest.

© AAP 2022

A fortnight from polling day Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese have again addressed their economic management credentials.

As Labor continues to champion its promised cost-of-living assistance should it win the May 21 election, Mr Albanese is yet to reveal his party's balance sheet.

"We will release all of our costings ... in the usual way that oppositions have done for a very long time," the ALP leader said on Saturday when visiting Launceston.

He was quizzed on a report published in The Australian, which pointed to a budget deficit $10 billion deeper over the forward estimates than the coalition's projections.

"I don't know what (the article is) based on, it's certainly not based upon comments from the shadow finance minister, or the shadow treasurer," Mr Albanese said.

Mr Morrison seized the opportunity.

"What we do know about Labor is they can't manage money," he said in Perth.

"They always spend more and when they start spending they never know when to stop and that puts further pressure on interest rates, it puts further pressure on the essential services Australians rely on."

The coalition on Saturday confirmed that wineries, distilleries and breweries will share in a $20 million as part of a move to attract tourists and support cellars impacted by COVID-19.

The plan would see $15 million for wineries, distilleries and breweries with $100,000 grants to build or upgrade on-site facilities such as restaurants and tour areas. A further $5 million would go to tourism and local governments.

"Tourism is key to our plan, and this funding will help bring in more tourists to local businesses, meaning more people touring our breweries and wineries," Mr Morrison said.

"There are huge opportunities for our wineries and distilleries to take advantage of the plane loads of tourists looking for a new experience as we emerge from COVID lockdowns."

Mr Albanese continued to shine the spotlight on cost-of-living amid rising inflation, low wage growth and the first official interest rate rise for more than a decade.

The coalition made a $26.9 million promise for expanded research into allergic diseases and anaphylaxis.

Labor wants to expand free-to-air TV access for major sporting events, with Mr Albanese saying too many events of national and cultural significance were guarded by paywalls.

"For a whole lot of Australians, free-to-air TV is essential to seeing those moments which lift us up as a nation, that inspire us, that help define who we are," he said.

A Labor government would consult stakeholders, including media and sport, to back media "so it can compete and thrive in the era of big tech, global streaming services".

United Australia Party founder Clive Palmer joined his Warringah candidate Andrew Roberts in Sydney, with the billionaire mining magnate confirming he is open to forming government with either of the major parties in a hung parliament.

"We'll do a deal with anybody to get these (UAP) policies enacted," xMr Palmer said.

UAP is preferencing One Nation and controversial Liberal candidate Katherine Deves in Warringah ahead of the other candidates, including high-profile independent MP Zali Steggall.

Across Australia, Mr Palmer said the party was preferencing Labor candidates in 40 per cent of the seats in which his party is running and the Liberals or other candidates in about 60 per cent of the rest.

© AAP 2022

A deadly explosion at a well-known hotel in Cuba's capital Havana tore a gash several floors high in the side of the building, killing at least 22 people and injuring upwards of 70.

Speaking from the scene on Cuban television, President Miguel Diaz-Canel said the blast at the historic, high-end Hotel Saratoga appeared to have been caused by a gas leak.

"In no case was it a bomb or an attack," he said as he left the capital's Calixto Garcia hospital, where many of the injured were treated. 'It's just a very unfortunate accident."

The blast sent a wave of panic through the historic old Havana neighbourhood, which has gradually begun reopening to tourists after the pandemic battered Cuba's crucial travel sector.

Hundreds of Cubans and tourists alike gathered near the property as police cordoned off the area around the hotel and ambulances and rescue workers carried victims from the wreckage.

The explosion rattled a nearby school with more than 300 students in attendance, health authorities said. At least 15 children were reported injured as of late Friday evening, the health ministry said, and one child had died.

Cuba's tourism minister, Juan Carlos Garcia, said no foreigners were killed or injured in the blast, according to initial reports.

The hotel, housed in a more than century-old building, had been closed for renovation and only workers were inside at time of the explosion, state-run TV said, citing Roberto Enrique Calzadilla, a representative of the military-run company that operates many of the country's hotels.

In a broadcast interview, Calzadilla said the 96-room hotel had been set to re-open in the next few days and that the workers on site were making final preparations.

He also said a gas leak appeared to be the cause.

"The workers were ... making repairs and doing all the work to open the property and in the morning they were resupplying the gas and it seems some accident caused an explosion," he said.

The blast shrouded the building and surrounding streets in plumes of black smoke and dust rising from the rubble.

Police and rescue workers moved quickly to cordon off some nearby government buildings, including the historic Capitolio, or capital building.

A photo from the scene showed what appeared to be at least one body with a white cloth over it. A block from the blast, a man carried a woman screaming in pain to a clinic, as onlookers begged for information about loved ones.

The neoclassical style Saratoga Hotel was remodelled by a British company after the fall of the Soviet Union and for many years was considered the place to stay by visiting government officials and celebrities.

© RAW 2022