Ley’s allies confident she will remain party leader; Melbourne to swelter in worst heatwave since Black Saturday

Sticking with the education minister, Clare voiced his support for a push from medical experts to enforce stricter sun safety measures in schools as students across the country return to school today.

Responding to an open letter penned by over 600 medical experts calling for mandatory sunscreen application breaks for all Australian students, he said this was not only a critical public health and safety issue, but a deeply personal one.

“I got melanoma a couple of years ago, probably the result of too much time without sunscreen or a hat on the playground… If it wasn’t for the fact that I spotted the mole on my leg that was changing colour and I went to the doctor, I might not be here now, the fact that it got cut out saved my life,” Clare told the Today show.

“If there’s something more that I can do as minister for education to help get that message through, working with state and territory ministers, then I’ll do it, because I know that the sun kills, and if you’ve got sunscreen on, then it can save a life.”

The call from medical experts comes amid extreme heat battering multiple states today, with Victoria set to reach record temperatures in its worst heatwave since Black Saturday in 2009.