Tuesday's news in under 5 minutes.

1. PM pre-budget warning.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has made a speech in Sydney outlining some of the hard-hitting measures to be announced in next week’s budget.

He called on all Australians to put the country first on budget night, instead of focusing on individual gains or losses.

His key points:

• Middle-income families will be denied rises in tax concessions.

• The age pension will not be lowered now but the Government will seek a mandate for a reduction in the pension’s indexation and tougher means testing at the 2016 election.

• He said “other social security benefits” where the indexation – or rate by which the benefit increases – as well as eligibility needs tightening.

• He fuelled further expectations of a $6 GP payment.

• He singled out “high-income earners” as having to shoulder the burden in repaying “Labor’s spending binge”.

2. Doubts over PM’s paid parental leave scheme.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports growing dissent within the ranks of the Government over the viability of Tony Abbott’s paid parental leave scheme.

One Liberal MP told the SMH that “the government was setting up an unwinnable argument with voters if it proceeded with a temporary deficit levy to help balance the budget, while also sticking to a paid parental leave scheme that would give mothers full pay for six months, capped at $150,000 per year.”

3. Pap Smear changes.

Women will soon be able to have pap smears every five years rather than every two after the Medical Services Advisory Committee recommended a shift to five-yearly cervical screening using the HPV test.

The proposed regime, which is likely to start in 2016, is based on the latest scientific evidence that found the new test will work better by detecting HPV, which is known to be the first step in developing cervical cancer.

4. Tornados rip through US.

At least 17 people have been left killed and dozens injured after tornados swept across the central and southern United States.

Sixteen of the victims were in several suburbs of Little Rock in Arkansas, officials said.

One town in Faulkner County was completely destroyed.

5. Ice pandemic.

The Australian Crime Commission will today release a report showing that use of the drug ice in Australia is reaching pandemic proportions.

The Herald Sun reports that almost 20 tonnes of illegal drugs worth $2.7 billion were seized in Australia last year.

The ACC report will show that organised gangs are specifically targeting Australia as our drug prices are among the world’s best.

6. Baby monitor hacked.

A couple has spoken of their horror of waking up at midnight to hear a man screaming at their 10-month-old daughter through their baby monitor.

Their monitor had been hacked and the man was watching their child sleeping.

For more, read this post here: “They woke up at midnight to hear a man screaming at their baby through the monitor.” 

7. Ryan Tandy dead.

Former NRL player Ryan Tandy has been found dead of a suspected drug overdose on the NSW Central Coast.

Tandy was a controversial figure being banned for life from the NRL after being found guilty of match fixing a game involving his team Canterbury and North Queensland in August, 2010.

8. WA Senate recount results.

The results of the re-run Western Australia Senate election are to be officially declared today.

The ABC reports that Australian electoral officer for WA, Kathy Mitchell, said the distribution of preferences would take place at 2pm (AWST) and the results could be known in as little as half-an-hour.

9. Arrests over FNQ Murder.

A man has been arrested for the murder of Jo La Spina, a tourism worker who was killed in her townhouse at Bingle Bay on Easter Saturday.

Musa Ngwira, a crocodile tour guide of South Mission Beach, was arrested by the police in Sydney’s Cronulla on Sunday and charged with one count of murder.

10. Germaine Greer.

Germaine Greer has told a documentary that the growth of the internet and twitter has meant that women now face more discrimination than ever before.

In the BBC documentary, Blurred Lines: The New Battle of the Sexes, she says that social media has given intolerant men a forum to voice their “loathing of women”.

11. Social media debate over child wee-ing on street.

A mother letting her daughter urinate on a busy Hong Kong Street has sparked a massive debate on social media over the standards of Chinese society.

The mother was filmed holding a nappy under her two-year-old daughter as she let her wee on the busy Hong Kong street of Mong Kok, one of the world’s busiest shopping districts.

The incident was filmed and has been watched by more than 1 million people on Weibo.

The debate centres around the differing standards in mainland China, where it is not unusual to see a child urinating in public, and in Hong Kong, where there is a HK$2,000 fine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a46WwsN02Bk

12. The number plate deemed ‘too offensive’.

A SA man has had his application for the number plate “OMGITSU” knocked back as it was deemed too offensive.

Chris Owens told The Advertiser that he was stunned to receive the letter which stated: “Please be advised that your application for OMGITSU has been declined on the basis that it may offend some members of the community and is not considered to be an appropriate message to be displayed on a vehicle.”

(And yes, it is meant to spell “oh my God, it’s you”.)

What news are you talking about today?