The Informer: Australia staying clear and calm over China

China launched ballistic missiles during live-fire exercises near Taiwan following US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's controversial visit to the island earlier last week.

A joint statement from Australia, the United States and Japan on Friday condemned the Chinese government's actions and urged them to immediately cease military exercises.

"China's reaction to [Ms Pelosi's visit] is over the top ... obviously it is a time for clear and calm heads," cabinet minister Chris Bowen told the Nine Network on Sunday.

A Ballarat mother is meanwhile urging women not to put off their pap smear tests, after her traumatic experience with cervical cancer.

For this reason Emma Davis decided for the first time to take part in the Shitbox Rally 2023 Summer, an event where people across the country travel from Rockhampton in Queensland, to Hobart, Tasmania, in cars worth less than $1500 to help raise funds for the Cancer Council.

"I just want to raise awareness that women in particular, I think we just keep soldiering on and put ourselves last," Ms Davis said.

"And I just really want to highlight that you need to do your checks and make sure that your own health is in order because you never know when things like this can happen."

And in Tasmania, a pilot program will see a local high school ditch the ATAR.

Scotch Oakburn is the only Tasmanian school involved in the national pilot research program undertaken by Melbourne University that is examining the role of the ATAR as an indicator of academic success.

The program, which began in 2020, has allowed Scotch Oakburn to develop a set of 11 "learner attributes" that are measured by teachers against a rubric of soft skills.

THE NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW