What happened today, Friday 27 August
With that, we will close the blog for the day.
Here’s a quick run through of the day’s biggest events:
- New South Wales recorded 882 new locally acquired Covid cases today, and two deaths – a man in his 60s and a man in his 90s. They both had underlying health conditions and had both received just one vaccine dose.
- NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian announced face-to-face learning will recommence in NSW schools in a staggered manner from 25 October, with HSC exams pushed back to 9 November.
- Victoria recorded 79 new cases today, with 53 linked to known cases and 26 under investigation.
- Prime minister Scott Morrison announced vaccinations for 12- to 15-year-olds will open from 13 September, after Atagi released their advice on the Pfizer vaccine.
- Morrison also announced that Australia has evacuated 4,100 people from Afghanistan, and condemned the Kabul attack.
- The ACT recorded 21 new cases, 15 of which were linked to previous cases and six under investigation.
- Restrictions were eased across Queensland, as the state recorded another day of zero cases.
- Two NSW truck drivers in WA have tested positive, and are in quarantine. Both had one dose of Pfizer.
- New Zealand has reported 70 new cases, as the lockdown there was extended.
Updated
So the PM has released his post-national cabinet update as a statement, which you can read below:
National Cabinet Statement @ScottMorrisonMP #auspol pic.twitter.com/dIsM9mJ6PQ
— Political Alert (@political_alert) August 27, 2021
Some takeaways include the establishment of a “cross jurisdictional” working group led by the federal secretary of health. It will look at the health and hospital system capacity and workforce needs, to address “expected demands under the National Plan.”
This is obviously pointing to the ways the system will “live” with Covid in the future.
Updated
Retail turnover hits nine-month low in July amid lockdowns
As the lockdowns on the east coast take their toll, the economic fallout is beginning to bite.
Retail turnover has taken its biggest dive of the year, falling 2.7% in July. AAP has the story:
The figure released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Friday was down 3.1 per cent on a year ago, the weakest annual growth rate in 15 months.
Overall, retail turnover hit a nine-month low of $29.8 billion.
The ABS’ Ben James said lockdowns and stay-at-home orders across the country had continued to impact retail trade over the month.
“In particular, the first full month of lockdown in NSW, following the Delta outbreak in June, saw retail turnover in the state fall 8.9 per cent,” he said.
“This was the largest fall of any state and territory since August 2020.”
Across other states there were mixed results.
Retail trade was down 3.3 per cent in South Australia and 0.9 per cent in Queensland. All other states and territories experienced rises with the strongest in Victoria (1.3 per cent), as some restrictions eased.
By industry, the largest falls were in cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services (down 12.3 per cent), clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing (down 15.4 per cent), and department stores (falling 11.4 per cent).
Food retailing was up 2.3 per cent, while online sales boosted “other retailing” by 0.6 per cent.
Capital Economics’ Ben Udy said the data, which the ABS has moved to a new release schedule, did not show the full impact of NSW restrictions.
“We suspect sales may fall a further 7.5 per cent month-on-month in NSW in August,” he said. “What’s more, Victoria has also been forced back into a strict lockdown in August.”
But he expected a gradual rebound as Covid-19 vaccination rates rose and states began easing restrictions.
Updated
McGowan said the two truck drivers had very little contact with the public – just four people (three at truck stops and one at a freight depot).
Both are vaccinated, wore masks and had been sleeping in their truck cabin upon arrival into Perth. The men have been taken into hotel quarantine, exhibiting mild symptoms.
No lockdown restrictions have been triggered at this stage as a result of the positive cases.
Before these two cases there were only 24 active Covid-19 cases in WA: four in hotel quarantine and 20 crew members on the MV Ken Hou. The vessel is berthed at Fremantle Port with all positive crew members remaining on board.
Updated
NSW truck drivers in WA test positive for Covid
The WA premier Mark McGowan has given an update following national cabinet, saying that two truck drivers from NSW have returned positive Covid-19 tests.
The two men, aged 23 and 29, travelled in one truck to WA, via Victoria and South Australia.
McGowan said the men were tested in NSW before leaving the state, and that four contacts had been identified.
The men were tested in New South Wales on August 25. That was part of the routine freight drivers screening tests which is regular testing for truck drivers who drive to Western Australia and across state borders.
The men are in quarantine at the Westin hotel, exhibiting mild symptoms. Both have received a single dose of the Pfizer vaccine.
Updated
If there was something to read today, especially on the outbreak in Wilcannia, I’d recommend this searing column from Cherie von Hörchner, on the ways the community there has been failed:
Amnesty International has written to the prime minister, urging him to “redouble” resettlement efforts for Afghans, or risk “an unforgivable betrayal”.
National Director Sam Klintworth said in the letter that Amnesty remained “gravely disappointed” that Australia hasn’t expanded its refugee intake.
Amnesty International remains gravely disappointed that Australia has still failed to commit any additional places to its existing humanitarian intake of refugees, announcing only that 3,000 places in its current intake will be put aside for Afghans fleeing the Taliban.
This is wholly insufficient. Like-minded countries such as the US, Canada and the UK have offered so much more, and at a minimum, Australia should be offering 20,000 additional places.
I implore you to act with utmost urgency so Australia can be on the right side of history in this desperately tragic and escalating crisis.
Updated
So, when are students going back to school in NSW?
Simple enough question with a very elaborate and complex answer. Luckily, we have an explainer that breaks down the return to school plan for NSW:
Updated
SA and WA both record zero new cases
We are on standby to hear from the national cabinet, but in the meantime, South Australia and Western Australia have both recorded zero new cases.
You take whatever positivity you can these days.
Updated
Dancing has returned to Queensland, apparently:
Dancing is back 💃🏿🕺
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) August 27, 2021
Pubs, restaurants and cafes can have one person per 2m² and you can stand at the pub for a drink. pic.twitter.com/NAwq8Alqjo
The permit system for authorised workers from the 12 LGAs of concern in western Sydney was launched last night, with many workers scrambling to sign up.
But the form to apply for the permit necessitates applicants register specific addresses they will visit, making the application all but impossible for delivery drivers or taxis.
The Transport Workers’ Union national secretary, Michael Kaine, described the permit process as a “shambles” and lamented the rollout so far.
The NSW government’s policy by press conference must end. The permit mandate was announced last week but the application system only launched late yesterday.
This permit shambles only causes more anxiety for transport workers who have been subjected to inconsistent rules, strict testing regimes and vaccine deadlines without a plan to help them get the jab.
To make matters worse, taxi and rideshare drivers aren’t authorised workers, meaning they can’t even get a permit to leave their LGAs for work. The premier is picking winners and losers through these inconsistent rules, and it’s crushing drivers’ ability to earn a living.
Kaine urged the government to rethink its approach to authorised workers, to prioritise them for vaccines and mandate paid vaccination leave.
Service NSW was asked about the complications and the struggles of applicants, but gave no direct answer. It instead just urged authorised workers to “carry their permit and supporting documentation with them at all times” and said more information would be available “shortly”.
Updated
Weekly Beast is always a must read, and this week Amanda Meade takes a look at the fallout from the ABC’s Four Corners report into Fox News.
You can read the piece here:
The ABC is reporting that four Victorian jockeys have been suspended for alleged breaches of public health orders after gathering at a holiday rental property with friends.
Jamie Kah, Ben Melham, Ethan Brown and apprentice Celine Gaudray have all been charged by Racing Victoria for breaching Covid protocols.
The four were at a property in Mornington on Wednesday after 9pm, and pleaded guilty at an inquiry for failing to comply with protocols.
In a statement posted to social media, Kah apologised and said she deserved the penalty:
I am deeply embarrassed and disappointed with myself.
There is no excuse for what I have done and I have let myself down, my family and friends, the racing industry and all Victorians who are doing the right thing in this lockdown.
Updated
Have you received a text message from the United Australia Party? You aren’t alone, and although it might feel like spam, the Australian Communications and Media Authority has clarified that it is not, technically, spam.
ACMA is aware of text messages received by some Australians today from the United Australia Party. Messages from political parties, independent members of parliament (phone calls only), government bodies and registered charities are exempt from most spam and telemarketing rules. pic.twitter.com/pbWhKRksVd
— ACMA (@acmadotgov) August 27, 2021
In a series of tweets, it says messages that are not commercial are generally allowed, but messages about “elections or political matters” are not commercial.
The key here is that if the message isn’t commercial, the sender does not need your permission to send you a message.
Communications about elections or political matters are often not commercial. Political parties, independent members of parliament, government bodies and registered charities are however still required to comply with industry standards. More info: https://t.co/67LfFTKM36
— ACMA (@acmadotgov) August 27, 2021
I didn’t receive the message, but I wonder if any of the recipients also thought it was not spam, and that it was fair the United Australia Party sent them a message without their permission.
Updated
A one-person anti-lockdown protest in Auckland has been shut down by police, after they were alerted to the protest on social media.
Police turned up at the location to find one person had arrived. The police spoke to the man, “encouraged” him to comply with restrictions, and he chose to leave.
Overall a safer end to the protest compared with some of the anti-lockdown protests seen here in Australia:
Updated
The corporate regulator has been up before a parliamentary committee this morning, shedding a tiny ray of light on a story we reported last weekend about investors who are stuck in administrative limbo when it comes to getting their complaint heard.
As we reported, investors with a $200m claim against the Australian Securities and Investments Commission for what’s called “defective administration” can’t get a hearing because the regulator has had its authorisation to deal with this kind of thing revoked.
This would normally mean treasurer Josh Frydenberg or one of his junior ministers would decide the claim, but Treasury says this isn’t possible because doing so would interfere with Asic’s independence.
Under questioning from Labor’s Julian Hill this morning, Asic’s top lawyer, Chris Savundra, said the regulator was “ready, willing and able” to deal with defective administration claims if the minister authorised it to do so.
But he was less sure about why the agency had lost the ability to do so, back in 2015. He would have to check but thought it was because Frydenberg held the authorisation personally as assistant treasurer and it lapsed when this office passed to Kelly O’Dwyer in September 2015.
Savundra wasn’t sure if Asic had explicitly asked for the authorisation back since 2015 but had “certainly raised the question” with Treasury over the years.
“Really, someone’s got to be responsible,” Hill said. “If you don’t have the delegation, it makes no logical sense to say that the Treasury wouldn’t assess it because it would interfere with your independence.”
He said he would take the matter up with Treasury.
Updated
The Australian Human Rights Commission has released a statement on Australia’s response to the crisis in Afghanistan, saying it was “deeply concerned” for the safety of “Australians, Australian visa holders, and any family members of Australia’s Afghan diaspora who remained in Afghanistan”.
The commission is urging the government to expand its refugee resettlement program with a specific Afghan intake, after the PM said the allocation of 3,000 places to Afghan nationals was a “floor, not a ceiling”.
Commission president emeritus Prof Rosalind Croucher said the commission also had concerns about the change in circumstances for Afghan asylum seekers and refugees in Australia:
We have asked for an urgent reassessment of all Afghan asylum seekers who have not received a positive protection finding, in light of the changed conditions.
I commend the government’s recent announcement that no Afghans will be asked to return to Afghanistan while the security situation remains dire.
Given there are no real prospects of them returning to Afghanistan for the foreseeable future, the commission has also urged the commonwealth to consider their release into the community, where possible, and with appropriate conditions if necessary.
Updated
For the first time I can recall, an Australian government has released pictures from a meeting of Federal Cabinet's National Security Committee - a meeting this week discussing Afghanistan (Prime Minister's Office 📸) pic.twitter.com/dQpYtiReoc
— Andrew Greene (@AndrewBGreene) August 27, 2021
A quick infographic showing how fast Delta spreads compared to the original strain.
— Antoun Issa (@antissa) August 27, 2021
Helps explain why case numbers have accelerated so rapidly in Australia and New Zealand.
Animation by @adam_b_adada, data viz @NickEvershed pic.twitter.com/tbWAkZGXxW
New Zealand will remain in level 4 lockdown until midnight Tuesday, with regions south of Auckland downgrading a level after then. Auckland and Northland are likely to remain in level 4 for longer.
The prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, updated the nation on the lockdown settings on Friday afternoon.
The country has reported 70 new cases of coronavirus in the community, bringing the total number in the outbreak to 347. Of the cases, 333 are in Auckland and 14 are in Wellington. One Auckland case is based one hour north of the city, in Warkworth.
Ardern said cabinet would decide on Auckland and Northland’s lockdown setting on Monday, but Auckland would probably stay in level 4 for another two weeks.
“This is so we can get Delta under control and reopen fully and safely. We simply can’t do that if we still have a lot of Delta circulating in the community. To move safely down, we will need to be confident we have stamped it out and have cases contained and isolated,” she said.
Cabinet had decided to keep the country in level 4 – the highest setting – until next week for three main reasons.
“It will give us the confidence of an almost full 14-day cycle since our first case was discovered, especially given we had contacts across all parts of the country, and over 300 in the South Island,” Ardern said.
“The second reason is that we do have cases in Wellington, and while currently contained they did have contacts that are due further testing over the coming days.
“Thirdly, we did see a positive waste-water test in the South Island, namely Christchurch, yesterday. It’s likely that this is a result of positive cases in a managed isolation facility, but further tests and a few extra days will allow us to answer that question.”
Level 3 lockdown prevents regional travel, requires people to stay in their bubble, public venues remain closed, and gatherings are limited to 10 people but only for weddings and funerals. Restaurants and retail can open but only for click-and-collect or delivery.
Updated
In the meantime, New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern has been speaking about the outbreak there, saying the Auckland lockdown is “likely” to remain for another two weeks:
This is so we can get Delta under control and reopen fully and safely. We simply cannot do that if we have a lot of Delta circulating in the community.
To move safely down we will need to be confident we have stamped it out and have cases contained and isolated.
Ardern also said to expect more cases, and referred to Australia’s rate of household transmission:
Of the cases recorded yesterday, roughly half were household contacts.
Unfortunately, we know from Australia that household members are almost universally becoming infected with Covid-19.
That means we can expect our numbers to continue for some time as significant numbers of household contacts continue to test positive.
Updated
We’re now hearing from Prof Paul Kelly, who has welcomed the Atagi decision on children, calling it “wonderful”, while he made a point related to school clusters:
While the numbers are there, and we are finding cases in children, most are in family clusters. Some have been related to school clusters.
But almost entirely the disease in children is much less severe than it is in adults so that is an important component stopping hospitalisation in that age group – most have been in NSW and most have been for social reasons rather than because they are severely sick.
They will be and there has been some more serious cases of Covid – so vaccination is very important in those age groups.
Why this has not been announced earlier: I think it has been important that Atagi look at the risk and benefit. There are wider benefits for society.
Updated
Education minister Alan Tudge has welcomed the NSW government’s school reopening plan, saying that it provides “certainty” to students and parents:
I want to commend the NSW government for that plan. What I think it does is provide confidence and certainty for parents and students. That they can see that light in the horizon, they know when the schools are going to be open, they can forward to that time and they can plan accordingly.
Of course, I would love to see similar confidence and certainty being able to be provided to Victorian and ACT parents as well, in order to give them that peace of mind that schools can be opened and opened safely and the kids to be able to get back to school. Getting back to school is just so important for kids.
Updated
18.4 million vaccine doses delivered in Australia so far
Hunt has also announced that 18.4 million jabs have been delivered so far in Australia, which is great news.
56%, or 11.5 million people, have received their first dose, and Hunt has taken the opportunity to reflect on the rollout:
In order to achieve the 70% mark, we need to have 14.5 million Australians vaccinated. Another 3 million Australians to get to the first dose of 70% mark.
In order to achieve the 80% mark, we need to have approximately 16.5 million Australians, 16 plus, vaccinated so that is less than 5 million to go from where we are, in order to achieve the 80% first dose mark and of course the second doses follow that.
Updated
Vaccination bookings for children open from 13 September
And Hunt has opened by announcing that children between 12 and 15 will be able to book in vaccinations from 13 September.
We are following their [Atagi’s] advice and following the sequencing they are suggesting and, as a consequence of that, we will open up bookings for vaccinations as of 13 September for all children aged 12 to 15, this built on the fact that since 9 August we have opened up vaccinations for immunocompromised children, children with Indigenous heritage, and children in remote communities, as well as the addition of those on the NDIS subsequently.
Importantly, what that means is we are in a position to ensure that all children and all families who seek their children to be vaccinated between the ages of 12 and 15 will be able to do so this year.
Updated
And here we go, they have just stepped up for the press conference.
Good afternoon everyone, and a quick thanks to Josh Taylor for expertly guiding us through the morning news.
We are on standby for the federal health minister, Greg Hunt, who will be joined by education minister Alan Tudge and chief medical officer, Professor Paul Kelly, who should step up in a moment.
Updated
I will now leave you in the excellent hands of my colleague, Mostafa Rachwani, who will take you through the afternoon.
We are expecting a press conference from the federal health minister Greg Hunt shortly.
Updated
Something I didn’t catch earlier, NSW is no longer providing linked/unlinked information in the daily case number updates.
The reason being cases are so high so it is less useful for the status of investigations.
NSW no longer says wilds / linked cases in morning - it doesn't matter much imo
— Juliette O'Brien (@juliette_io) August 27, 2021
Best data source is datasets in arvos. We have to wait a few hours. Hope @datansw works on weekends!
I have a 'not yet announced' category for times like these (grey bar)#covid19nsw #covid19aus pic.twitter.com/yik48hCGVq
Indigenous traditional owners have begun a camp on the edge of the Adani Carmichael mine site in north Queensland. They are demanding a “stop work” order be issued to the mine over concerns about the ancient Doongmabulla springs.
Coedie McAvoy, a Wangan and Jagalingou man, says the camp won’t end until they receive guarantees the springs will not be harmed.
The situation is significant because it is anticipated police may now face legal difficulties removing the group.
Police disrupted a similar cultural camp that blocked access to the mine site last year. On that occasion, Adani called the police and the group was moved on.
But after a complaint to the Queensland Human Rights Commission, police have since issued a “statement of regret” to W&J man Adrian Burragubba, who was made to leave the site.
The First Nations protesters say they have rights to occupy the land under native title legislation.
“We’ve come to a crucial point in our fight against the mine. Adani is draining the water table,” McAvoy said.
“We’ve asked the Queensland government to issue a stop work order to protect the springs but they’re in too deep and are saying their hands are tied. So as traditional owners we need to stop this. We’re putting our own stop work order on Adani and saying we’re not leaving until you leave.”
The group represents a cohort of W&J people opposed to the mine. Other traditional owners support the project.
Groundwater experts say they have ongoing concerns about the impact of mining on the Doongmabulla springs.
Our previous reporting on that is here:
Updated
Victoria running low on Pfizer appointments
A very important note for Victorians looking to get their first dose of a vaccine who do not yet have an appointment — there are currently only 9,000 first dose Pfizer appointments, but there are at least 150,000 AstraZeneca doses available to the end of September.
So if you do not want to wait, you can book in for AstraZeneca if you are at least 18 years old.
Victoria’s covid response commander, Jeroen Weimar, said they have set aside enough supply to ensure both first and second doses for all those appointments that have been booked. So there’s no risk you won’t be able to get your second dose.
And a few notes on vaccine coverage. 86% of Victorians over the age of 70 have had their first dose, 80% of those over 60, and 75% of those over 50.
Weimar said:
The full dose numbers are lower so it’s really important for those older age groups, get your second dose done.
Weimar said that he is not currently trying to go into workplaces with potential exposure sites for targeted vaccine rollouts, because “we are now targeting the whole population”.
It is very hard with a limited supply out there to play whack-a-mole with vaccines and chase outbreaks around. We do it from time to time if we think there is value to it but the virus is moving far quicker than the vaccination program will move so we need to ensure the whole population is vaccinated, not just those in the immediate line of fire.
Let’s go back to that positive case among a staff member at the Echuca Community for the Aged facility at Wharparilla Lodge.
Again, it’s a fully vaccinated staff member who last worked at the facility on Friday 20 August, and has only just tested positive — so it is right on the edge of their infectious period.
Victorian health minister Martin Foley says the vaccination rate for residents in that centre is “fairly high”.
Given the person involved had been fully vaccinated, and had PPE equipment on, was doing all the right things, given that in the high levels of vaccination of residents in the facility we hope that the result will be that one case and one case only, but we are working cooperatively (with the commonwealth).
Foley was also asked about how to provide more vaccine supply to local GPs in Melbourne’s western suburbs, following reports that some community members in those suburbs would prefer to go to a local, trusted GP than the state hubs.
Foley says, again, that’s a matter for the commonwealth.
I can give them the prime minister’s phone number — well I can’t give them the prime minister’s phone number — but I would refer them to the prime minister….
Those GPs are supplied by the commonwealth. We work with them where we can. It’s the same issue. We all want to get out the vaccines we are supplied with. And the more we get, readily it is GPs or state run clinics or pharmacists, the more we can get into the arms of Victorians.
Changes to Canberra retail
Turning to Canberra now, there are changes to retail. From midnight tonight, small retail businesses will be able to have a maximum of two people in their premises to operate a click and collect or contactless delivery service.
To counterbalance that, some of the large essential businesses which had been open will move to click and collect, including hardware and pet supply and office supply stores.
These changes will be in effect until at least 2 September, when ACT’s lockdown is scheduled to end, chief minister Andrew Barr said.
The ACT government is targeting a gradual recommencement of construction from 3 September.
There are 11 people hospitalised with Covid-19, and one person in intensive care.
Updated
Victorian chief health officer Martin Foley said Victoria was “very keen to reopen our schools as soon as possible” – but unlike the NSW government, which announced a return to school date today, he will not put a date on it.
He said the opening up of vaccines to teenagers was one of the factors that would influence the return to school date.
And, as he has throughout the press conference, he put it back on the federal government not providing enough Pfizer doses to meet demand.
Foley said:
The one constraint holding us back at being able to nail that down is the issue of certainty of vaccination supply. As we indicated, from 450,000 (appointments) to 9,000 that we just allocated, it shows that Victorians want to get vaccinated, young Victorians want to get vaccinated.
The vaccination for 12-year-olds and above, we want to get them vaccinated. All of these factors go into making sure that our schools can reopen carefully and safely … because Delta finds the unvaccinated. This particular outbreak has been disproportionately in younger people and we have to make sure that when we do reopen schools it’s done safely.
He indicated the state government was working on a vaccination target for reopening schools – both in terms of vaccinating students, but also vaccinating the adults who are around the children.
Updated
Victorian press conference:
Victoria’s health minister, Martin Foley, would again not be drawn on whether the Victorian lockdown would be extended past 2 September.
It seems pretty unlikely that restrictions would be lifted given the continued discovery of mystery cases.
Foley said:
As a premier indicated yesterday and the chief health officer indicates every time he is asked, we will make all of those decisions based on the most up-to-date advice and, at the moment, with another six days to go, it is too early to make that call.
Foley was asked if he believed that Victoria continued to see cases because people were not following the rules. He says some cases are due to that, but not all.
A very, very small number of people clearly do not follow the rules and, as a result, all that does is prolong the public-health lockdown measures.
Asked if Victorian authorities would “get serious and start fining people for doing the wrong thing” if they had tested positive and admitted to contact tracers they had breached restrictions, Foley said that could make people less willing to be open in contact tracing interviews.
Asked if Victoria was now likely to remain in lockdown until it reached a vaccination rate of 70% to 80%, Foley said:
I don’t know about that but I know there have been public health measures as there have been for the last 18 months in place. We will make the call based on the public health advice at the most up-to-date set of data and information that we have.
We know that this is really in the hands of, not just our hard-working public health team and our local public health units, not just the frontline healthcare workers, but all the Victorian community, to follow the rules and make sure that we get out of the hard lockdown as quick as we can.
Updated
Victorian press conference:
Victoria’s Covid-19 commander, Jeroen Weimar, said the growing case numbers in Melbourne’s western suburbs are “a significant area of concern”.
There have been 150 cases reported in that area in recent days, including the 46 today.
Weimar said:
We believe there are multiple chains of transmission and we’re looking at quite significant community transmission ongoing.
We really encourage the wider community particularly in the western suburbs to please get tested and if you have any symptoms or concern about access to exposure sites – there are a large number of them – we are seeing a great response on the ground, very busy testing stations yesterday, please keep coming forward.
The health minister, Martin Foley, said it should not be assumed that high case numbers in the western suburbs was due to people not following the rules, but said there were some instances across the state of people not following the rules.
Foley said:
The western suburbs is disproportionately a community that is full of essential workers and permitted workers. They are out and about and there are other issues, about a very small number of some people, not just confined to the western suburbs, who do not follow the rules. And that puts everyone at risk.
So, it happens to be the western suburbs but that reflects the nature of demographics and work patterns as opposed to anything particularly described to the people of the west.
Updated
NZ reports 70 new cases
New Zealand has reported 70 new cases of coronavirus in the community, bringing the total number in the outbreak to 347, as parts of the country wait to hear if the lockdown will be extended or downgraded.
Of the cases, 333 are in Auckland and 14 are in Wellington. Many of the cases are among the Samoan community and linked to a sub-cluster who assembled at the Assembly of God church in Māngere.
Nineteen cases are in hospital, with one person in intensive care.
As of Friday morning, 29,851 individual close contacts have been identified and around 76% of these have had a test.
There are more than 500 locations listed for potential exposure, including schools, universities, hospitals, churches, bars, restaurants, airports, a casino and a rugby game.
On Thursday, 90,757 vaccine doses were administered – a daily record. More than 3.11 million doses in total have now been given out.
The decision to place the country into a level 4 lockdown – the highest setting – was made after one case of the Delta variant in the community emerged last week. Auckland is in lockdown until midnight Tuesday, while the rest of the country is in lockdown until midnight tonight Friday.
The prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, will update the nation on any changes to the lockdown settings on Friday afternoon.
Updated
NSW deputy premier John Barilaro has said regional NSW needs to “stick it out” in lockdown for the next two weeks, even in areas where there are no cases. He said no community is an island, and the state needs to have confidence before opening up again.
It’s easy to say let’s open up parts but no community is an island so we will look at a regional approach, if there is a chance in two weeks to look at a broader region, but we know we are confident with health advice and we can open and will give consideration to the businesses that are doing a tough. We get that.
There is the jobsaver payments and support for those businesses. ... If we can stick to the rules and take a precautionary approach, we won’t have some of the issues we have seen here in lockdown in Sydney. Now I say sorry but right now we need to stick it out at least for the next two weeks.
That’s the end of the NSW presser. I will mop up some news from the other press conferences now – there were four going on simultaneously for a moment there.
Updated
21 new cases in the ACT
The capital has reported 21 new cases of Covid-19 overnight. Of those, 15 are linked and six are under investigation. Fourteen were isolating during their infectious period.
The ACT chief minister, Andrew Barr, has said decisions on the end of lockdown on 2 September in the ACT will not be made until next week.
#BREAKING: The ACT has recorded 21 new cases of Covid in the 24 hours to 8pm, bringing the total outbreak to 211. 15 of the new cases are linked with 6 under investigation. 14 were in quarantine the whole time
— Andrew Brown (@AndrewBrownAU) August 27, 2021
Updated
Queensland press conference:
The Queensland deputy premier, Steven Miles, says his NSW counterpart, John Barilaro, has reached out to “collaborate on border arrangements”.
The hard border between the two states has created significant problems in border communities.
Queensland authorities had requested – and had rejected – a suggestion that border checkpoints could be moved further south, to allow people in NSW border communities to travel into Queensland.
Miles said Queensland had restrictions that “people in other cities and states can only dream of” but acknowledged that the border measures had a disproportionate impact on surrounding communities.
He said Barilaro had approached the state “to work with them to collaborate on border arrangements, to reduce the impacts on them and their community”.
It is unclear yet what such an arrangement would look like.
The NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian, was asked about this, and said she hoped the Queensland government could provide some relief:
I encourage them to look favourably on those people doing a tough and a look at the existence or otherwise of cases there.
Updated
Ten of 26 Victorian mystery cases already linked
Back to Victoria.
Let’s go through the case numbers. Victorian contact tracers have already linked 10 of the 26 mystery cases announced this morning, reducing the number of mystery cases to 16.
Of the 79 cases reported this morning:
- Ten are in the wider Shepparton area, where the cluster now stands at 79 cases with 6,000 primary close contacts.
- One is linked to the Royal Melbourne hospital, bringing that cluster to 19 people, eight staff, seven patients and two visitors. 370 staff remain furloughed and 94% of close contacts have tested negative.
- Nine are in the Broadmeadows cluster, bringing that cluster to 94.
- Six are in the inner north cluster around Carlton/Brunswick.
- Two are positive day 13 tests from Caroline Springs.
- 46 are in the western suburbs, including 12 in Wyndham and 11 in Newport.
- One is in Geelong.
- Two are in Monash.
- And two are still under investigation.
The new cases in Shepparton include a person whose partner works at a private aged care home in Echuca.
Victoria’s Covid response commander, Jeroen Weimar, said:
She has been vaccinated but tested positive. She last worked on 20 August so it’s a short period of infectious risk. And there is a full response going in with the aged care response team … we have about 40 staff who are currently on furlough and being backed in by other agency staff to ensure we can continue to function safely.
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Asked whether NSW teachers who refused to get vaccinated would lose their jobs, premier Gladys Berejiklian said those issues were being worked through, and noted 70% of teachers have had at least one dose.
Teachers are doing it tough with enormous responsibilities but everybody appreciates that, when you are in contact daily with children, what is more important than protecting our children? ... We encourage everybody to do that and we know teachers are a special class of people. They are inspiring in teaching the next generation and everybody appreciates the importance of protecting children first during this time.
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The NSW deputy chief health officer, Dr Marianne Gale, says the growth in cases in NSW “has been a challenge” for the health and contact tracing teams, but the workforce has been surged to meet demand, and says people who test positive from Covid-19 now automatically receive a text message advising them of the result, and reminding them to stay in isolation, and who to contact.
And in addition to that, we know that our colleagues at police visit people who have been diagnosed with Covid-19, as well as close contacts to check they are in isolation and also to support their welfare, so for people who might need food, who might need accommodation issues, who might need access to financial support, so across all agencies from different parts of health and as well as police, everybody is working extremely hard to make sure that we reach people, let them know that they are positive, let them know what services are available to them.
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Victorian press conference:
Turning back to Victoria for a moment.
Victorian health minister Martin Foley says nearly 5 million doses of Covid-19 vaccinations have been delivered in Victoria, of which 2 million were delivered in state hubs.
Foley says the state hubs have now hit their first target as part of the push to administer 1 million doses by the end of September – 300,000 doses so far.
We would urge people to continue to come forward and to continue to be patient and be generous to the hard-working state vaccination clinic teams. More appointments open up each week as we can be guaranteed supply, and we will get through the system as quickly as we possibly can to get to you.
There is huge demand out there at the moment, and huge uptake of the appointments as they become available. That is all clearly being driven by both Victorians want to get vaccinated and constrained in so far as it has to be by the supplies we get from the commonwealth.
Foley said of the hundreds of thousands of vaccine appointments announced on Wednesday, only 9,000 were still available.
This shows a couple of things. Firstly, hesitancy is not a problem with Victorians in those age groups who want to come forward and get vaccinated.
The other thing it shows is that we need more supply. If we are going to continue this rate of fill-in, the opportunities as they become available, while at the same time making sure we continue to work the priority groups that we committed to help the commonwealth on, to meet the aged care and disability requirements for the commonwealth… and just continuing the mop up of our frontline healthcare workers and other priority group, we need all the supply we could lay our hands on.
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No cases in Queensland, as restrictions eased
Queensland has recorded a second straight day with no community Covid-19 cases and is easing local restrictions from 4pm.
A hundred people can attend a home party or gathering. Dancing is back in nightclubs. More people can go into pubs.
Football stadiums and theatres can have 100% capacity, but people are still encouraged to wear masks.
“It’s now been 20 days since we’ve had a case active in the community,” the premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, says.
Palaszczuk is giving the daily Covid update from the front bar of a Brisbane pub.
Another day of no cases in Queensland is “fantastic news”, the chief health officer, Jeanette Young, says.
“Going forward, because of what we’re seeing going on in NSW, particularly close to our border, it is important that we maintain some restrictions, particularly masks.”
Berejiklian was asked about whether national cabinet could be united on the national plan. She says every state will have to “learn to live with Covid”:
Even if you start off with zero or very low case numbers, eventually those case numbers will rise, because that’s the way Delta works, but so long as you have high rates of vaccination, Covid safety plans in place, good information to the community on what they need to do to stay protected, we can show the rest of the world how we can have a managed way of life that to normality, without seeing those high rates of hospitalisation we have seen in other parts of the world.
She notes that although NSW has recorded high case numbers, the numbers of hospitalisations and deaths have been “relatively low”.
She says the two numbers that will matter will be vaccination rate and hospitalisation.
Berejikian says if NSW gets to 80% double-dose vaccinated in the population earlier than planned, there is the potential to bring face-to-face learning back quicker, but the announcement today is more about providing absolute certainty to parents:
I’m just hopeful that this brings joy to many children and parents who are really doing it tough and we know there is still a little bit more time to wait, but we’re also confident this will give people that that things will regain to some level of normality sooner rather than later and, especially, the year 12 students that they will attain the qualifications they need to pursue whatever dream they want to pursue, whether it is further education, getting into the workforce, getting their credentials, it is really important milestone in anybody’s life.
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Despite the PM earlier flagging vaccinations for 12- to 15-year-olds would not open until mid-September, parents have reportedly been booking through the NSW booking system for their children. Premier Gladys Berejiklian said those bookings would be honoured:
Any bookings made successfully are honoured. We are pleased there is a national strategy for 12- to 15-year-olds and encourage parents who are inclined to make those bookings to do so. What we’d also love, when it is available, is vaccine because children under 18 only get Pfizer.
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Quarantined people in Victoria to take extra test
Turning to Victoria for a moment.
People who complete 14 days of hotel quarantine in Victoria will now be required to get a Covid-19 test on day 14 and will be “strongly recommended” to get a test on day 21, the Victorian health minister, Martin Foley, said.
It is based on a recommendation from AHPPC, Foley says.
“We’ve seen very quickly how well the new Delta variant of concern can get around communities.”
As previously reported, Victoria recorded 79 new cases, of which 26 are still under investigation.
Of the 63 cases which have already been linked, 19 were in isolation for the entirety of their infectious period “and we expect that number to grow over the course of the day”, Foley said.
There are 37 people in hospital in Victoria, 14 in ICU and nine on a ventilator.
Updated
What health rules will be in place in NSW schools? Mitchell says it will be:
- Staggered break times
- Not mixing year group cohorts
- No assemblies, band, choir or other activities where students might gather
- No external visitors on school sites
- Mask-wearing for all staff at school sites, and mandatory masks for high school students. Masks will be strongly encouraged for primary school students.
Updated
Under the plan for opening schools, NSW will go back to remote learning at schools in local government areas where there are 50 cases per 100,000 infectious in the community.
NSW education minister Sarah Mitchell said it was too early to say whether this would apply to any specific LGAs today because it is still about two months until the plan comes into effect.
Asked whether teachers in regional areas could “skip the queue” to get the vaccine earlier if their school is opening up sooner than 25 October, Mitchell says it will be based on the health advice and there is “ample supply of vaccine” in regional NSW:
Teachers know across the state by 8 November that will be mandatory and they have 10 weeks to ensure they have their vaccine.
Just on the staggered return to face-to-face schooling in NSW, it won’t be until term four.
It’ll be:
- From 25 October – kindergarten and year 1
- From 1 November – year 2, 6 and 11
- From 8 November – year 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9 and 10
Year 12 students can already return in a limited way, and as mentioned, the HSC exams have been delayed til 9 November. A new timetable will be released in September. Results will come out in mid-January, and universities will be able to accomodate this.
The press release also states vaccinations for all school staff across all sectors will be mandatory from 8 November.
A recent survey of the public school workforce found a majority of staff had already had one dose of the vaccine.
Updated
In NSW, there are currently 767 Covid cases admitted to hospital, with 117 people in intensive care and 47 requiring ventilation.
Of the 117 people in intensive care, 103 are not vaccinated.
Updated
NSW students to return to face-to-face learning in late October
The NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian, has announced face-to-face learning will recommence in NSW schools in a staggered manner from 25 October.
The aim will be every school staff member will be vaccinated by 8 November, with a special day for staff to be vaccinated on 6 September.
HSC exams will be pushed back to 9 November.
Children in any area of NSW which comes out of lockdown before 25 October will be automatically allowed to return to school.
Just waiting on more detail from the NSW education minister.
In addition to a drop in the number of new cases, on the vaccination front, NSW administered 51,955 vaccines on Thursday, taking the state’s vaccinations to 6.4m.
NSW records 882 new cases
NSW has recorded 882 new cases of Covid-19, and two more deaths - a male in his 60s and a man in his 90s. Both with underlying health conditions and both with just one vaccine dose.
There were 118,000 test results processed.
NSW recorded 882 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night. pic.twitter.com/HPMmojjrc9
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) August 27, 2021
Morrison says there are no plans to return to Afghanistan:
There are no plans, of course, for Australia to engage in that type of operation. The situation you have described it, the situation as you have described it, in Afghanistan, is, of course, very, very serious. And that is what occurs when countries going into these situations. And we have been there for 20 years. Twenty years.
Seeking to turn from a failed state into a successful state and, sadly, that hasn’t proved possible. But what was done in those 20 years was extraordinary. And the opportunities afforded to Afghans over the course of those 20 years provide an opportunity to a generation of Afghans that others have never had.
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And we have a time for Victoria – 11.15am AEST.
So we will go right from the PM press conference, to NSW (11am), with Victoria (11.15am) and Queensland (11.30am) in the middle.
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Vaccinations for 12 to 15-year-olds open from September
Ahead of national cabinet meeting this afternoon, the prime minister, Scott Morrison, has flagged that after the advice from Atagi on vaccinating 12-15 year olds with Pfizer, parents will be able to book children in from 13 September:
We have made and flagged the commencement of the ability for those aged 16-39 to be able to make those bookings and that is the next pressure on the system and so we will allow that to commence and then on 13 September, then people will be able to make those bookings. Principally I would see that happening, especially through the GP network and that provides the opportunity for family vaccinations.
This is a couple of weeks after the program has been extended to people 16 and over.
Morrison also flags national cabinet will discuss the updated Doherty modelling on opening up at 70% and 80%:
The national plan was developed to ensure there were gates to move through to the different phases and we deliberately ensured that the calibration of what was done in each phase would be added. And that’s the discussion we are in now.
He notes the plan was always that opening up at 70% was a cautious opening.
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Defence minister Peter Dutton then gives thanks to the United States for helping get people out of Afghanistan:
There are many critics out there of the United States ... but we would not have recovered one person of the 4,100 without the efforts of the United States soldiers who secured that airport and still do so today. And we hope in the coming days that they and the Brits who have had a significant footprint there, and remained so, that they are able to remove their people and their assets safely and to do that in an orderly way in very difficult circumstances and, as Marise Payne pointed out, the terrorist threats are still there.
Home affairs minister Karen Andrews then says those who were evacuated will be processed in Dubai, and then brought to Australia, where they will be quarantined as per Covid rules – it is above the existing caps on returning travellers:
Once they have concluded that quarantine, we will be looking to resettle them as quickly as we possibly can here in Australia. It was important that we made it very clear, while our evacuation efforts were under way, that there would be 3,000 places that were allocated to people to come here from Afghanistan. Already under way to identify people we will continue to bring to this country and they do encourage those people who have not already lodged an application for a humanitarian visa to do so so we can start working with groups here in Australia to make sure that we are focusing on family members potentially coming to Australia, to minority groups, and to women and children.
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The foreign affairs minister, Marise Payne, says the travel advice for Afghanistan has been updated this morning to reflect Australian operations have ceased:
The new travel advice says Australian evacuation flights from Kabul have ceased ... There is an ongoing and high threat of terrorist attacks, explosions have occurred in the vicinity of Kabul Hamid Karzai international airport. Do not travel to the airport. If you are in the vicinity, moved to a safe location and provide contact details for consulate support as well. I cannot encourage strongly enough the following of that travel advice and I encourage those who are in Kabul, who have not registered with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, to register.
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Morrison says Australia’s plan for Afghanistan now moves into the post-evacuation stage, that is, accepting people fleeing Afghanistan as part of the humanitarian program.
He said although attacks were not unexpected, hearts still sank this morning:
Our hearts sank when we heard this news. Sadly, it was not unexpected, as we previously flagged but even events of that nature, when they are sadly expected, still make your heart sink.
Australia evacuated 4,100 people from Afghanistan
Morrison says over the past nine days, 4,100 people have been evacuated from Afghanistan to head to Australia, including 3,200 Australian citizens or Afghan visa holders:
Over these nine days, we have successfully evacuated some 4100 people from one of the most dangerous places on earth. Now, those 4100 people who have been evacuated a rather back at our base or indeed have been transferred to Australia. United States and United Kingdom made that possible. Were it not for the some 5000 troops that they had on the ground, it would not have been possible for Australia to engage in these operations, it would not have been possible to have the Coalition forces doing what they have been doing to ensure the evacuations of tens of thousands of people including thousands upon thousands if not tens of thousands of Afghans who have found a path to freedom at this most difficult time to achieve that and to our American and British friends, but deeply in your debt.
Morrison says 783 people who were evacuated are already in Australia.
PM condemns Kabul terrorist attacks
The prime minister, Scott Morrison, is holding a press conference and first condemns the terrorist attacks in Kabul overnight:
Australia condemns the evil, the calculated and inhuman attacks that were undertaken in Kabul overnight on the innocent and on the brave. We joined with our American and Afghan friends in mourning their terrible and awful loss.
We are mindful of the reported 13 US military personnel who were murdered at the Abbey Gate at Kabul, a gate at which Australian personnel stood just hours before ... These brave young Americans stood at that gate to protect life, to save life, but lost their own in providing a pathway to freedom for others.
I have conveyed Australia’s and my own personal deep sadness for the loss of those brave American souls to the president of the United States by letter this morning.
They have fallen in a very worthy cause and, to all of those in Afghanistan, suffering as they are now, suffering as they have for so long and particularly suffering as a result of this most recent attack, we extend our deepest sympathies.
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Atagi recommends Pfizer vaccine for 12 to 15-year-olds
Just ahead of the PM’s press conference, the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation has advised, as expected, that 12 to 15-year-olds be vaccinated against Covid-19 using Pfizer.
#BREAKING ATAGI has recommended all Australian children aged 12 to 15 receive the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine pic.twitter.com/uMovGLVwOU
— Clare Armstrong (@ByClare) August 27, 2021
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The PM is holding a pre-national cabinet press conference at 10.30am AEST to kick off the run of daily press conferences for Friday.
From next week, essential workers in Sydney’s hotpots travelling outside of their LGA of concern for work will have to comply with rapid antigen testing at their place of employment if they haven’t had a Covid vaccine dose yet.
Unions NSW are now calling for the cost of these rapid antigen tests to be covered by Medicare and made available at pharmacies, and the group wants national cabinet to approve such a measure when it meets today.
If workers and businesses have to pay for their own tests, Unions NSW is warning that “tens of thousands of workers who attend work today will be barred from turning up on Monday”.
Unions NSW secretary Mark Morey said the NSW government’s plan had been “ill-conceived” and that “little to no thought” had been given to its practical implementation.
Morey said:
The best way to proceed with this plan is to make rapid antigen testing available and affordable, through Medicare. Employers do not have this system set up and will not for some time. This should be properly constructed and run.
The current approach of just issuing edicts and hoping for the best belongs in fantasyland. These measures lock down our most essential and hardest workers, given the state government has no real plan on how to implement any of them. Workers will pay the price of the government’s incompetency.
Unions NSW’s call comes after the new permit system for essential workers moving in and out of LGAs of concern came online last night, almost a week after it was announced, and less than two days before the system comes into effect on Saturday.
So the federal government is building its own quarantine facility in Brisbane a day after the Queensland government announced plans to build one in a different location.
Federation is going great right now.
NEW: The federal government has awarded Multiplex the contract to develop an 800-bed COVID-19 quarantine facility in Brisbane.
— @MartySilk (@MartySilkHack) August 27, 2021
This comes one day after Queensland government started building its own 1000-bed project at Wellcamp near Toowoomba.
Retail spending is expected to have taken a further hit in July, due to coronavirus lockdowns in NSW and Victoria, AAP reports.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics will release retail trade figures for July on Friday, the first of several economic reports for the month due in the coming week.
It’s widely expected the economy contracted in the September quarter as a result of lockdowns in NSW and Victoria, the nation’s two largest economies.
The ACT is also in lockdown until 2 September.
Economists are concerned the negative economic impact could extend into the early part of the December quarter.
For July, economists’ forecasts centre on a 2% decline in retail sales, following a 1.8% drop in June.
Earlier this week, Mastercard SpendingPulse data – which measures in-store and online retail sales – showed a drop of 5.6% in July to be 6.3% lower than a year earlier.
Friday’s ABS report is part of a new schedule for the retail trade series.
The ABS has ceased publication of a monthly preliminary retail report, which was introduced during the initial stages of the coronavirus pandemic.
Instead, it will now release the key monthly retail trade statistics 20 days after the reference period and a full suite of additional information for business days later.
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My colleague Daniel Hurst has the latest on the Australian involvement in Afghanistan.
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The Queensland presser is a bit later than usual, jumping into what will be the peak press conference time between 11am and 12pm, assuming both Victoria and the ACT also hold their respective conferences around that time as usual.
Today’s COVID-19 update is scheduled for 11.30am. Make sure you watch live here on my Twitter.
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) August 26, 2021
Updated
No great surprise on the timing, but at the 11am NSW press conference we will hear from premier Gladys Berejiklian, deputy premier John Barilaro, minister for education Sarah Mitchell and NSW deputy chief health officer Dr Marianne Gale.
Updated
The chances of developing dangerous blood clots after being infected with the virus that causes Covid-19 far outweighs the risks of the AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines, according to the largest study of its kind.
The sweeping analysis used data from more than 29 million people in England to compare both vaccines with infection from Sars-Cov-2. It weighed up rates of hospital admission or death from blood clots, as well as other blood disorders, within 28 days of either a positive test or receiving the first jab.
Echuca aged care home in lockdown after Covid case
An aged care home in the Victorian border town of Echuca is in lockdown after a fully vaccinated staff member tested positive to Covid-19.
The Echuca Community for the Aged facility in Wharparilla Lodge was put into lockdown overnight.
Chief executive John Dean told the ABC that the staff member worked at the facility last Friday, 20 August.
He said the centre was in lockdown and residents were being monitored for symptoms.
The Aldi supermarket in Echuca was added to the exposure site list late last night.
Anyone who was at the store from 5.10pm to 5.55pm last Friday, 20 August, is advised to get a test and isolate until they get a negative result – it’s now a tier 2 site.
Echuca is about an hour’s drive away from Shepparton.
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Labor leader Anthony Albanese has condemned the Islamic State attacks on Kabul airport, and has said updates are being sought on what it means for the operation.
We will be seeking updates from the Morrison Government on what this means for the operation going forward.
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) August 26, 2021
Updated
Victorian workers with disability have been more affected by the pandemic than other workers, reporting higher levels of stress, more mental health concerns, feelings of isolation, more difficulty sleeping and increased financial stress, a survey by the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission has found.
The commission surveyed 1,504 Victorian workers who either have a disability or are a parent or carer of a person with disability.
The results of the survey were released on Friday morning.
It found that 52% reported increased financial stress, compared with 46% of other workers, and 45% said they needed to dip into their savings to get by.
About 40% of respondents said they found it quite difficult to manage their disability and work during the pandemic, rising to 49% for people with mental ill-health.
The survey also found that workers with disability were more likely to report a positive experience working from home, 56% compared to 45% of other workers. People with disability were twice as likely to ask for flexible work arrangements during the pandemic, but more likely to have those requests refused.
The survey also showed that women took on a greater share of the parenting and caring duties, with 38% of women reporting they did all the work and 77% reporting they did more than their partner. Men were more likely than women to report that their partner spent more time with the children since the pandemic than before.
Sixty-three percent of carers and 48% of parents said they found it difficult to balance work and caring responsibilities during the pandemic, and 67% said they’d had to make trade-offs between caring and keeping up with work.
Two-thirds of single parents (67%) reported feeling more stressed during the pandemic, compared to 62% of coupled parents and 65% of carers.
Single parents were also more likely to report difficulty sleeping (54%), having to dip into their savings to get by (49%), and having elevated concerns about their own mental health (50%).
Worryingly, the commission found that people who had both parenting and caring responsibilities were more likely to be refused a request for flexible work arrangements than people who have just parenting or just caring arrangements. Twenty-six per cent of requests from people with dual parenting and caring responsibilities were refused, compared to 13% from people who had just parenting or just caring responsibilities.
Twenty five per cent of workers who are both parents and carers reported they had experienced workplace discrimination.
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The NSW Council of Social Services has welcomed the state government’s $200m in funding for the NFP sector announced today.
NCOSS chief executive Joanna Quilty said:
This is a massive boost for frontline organisations dealing with rising demand due to the Covid situation throughout greater Sydney and in our regions.
These local organisations have been working tirelessly throughout the pandemic, putting the needs of others before their own.
Whether it’s emergency food relief, supporting women and children affected by family violence, checking in on young people struggling with their mental health, or providing disability or homelessness services, local providers are stretched.
They have experienced increased demand for services against the backdrop of the pandemic and due to there being less support compared to last year, with the removal of the jobseeker supplement by the federal government.
This has shifted the demand on to local organisations, who are having to buy their own PPE to protect employees and clients, bring in extra staff to meet increasing need, provide emergency relief for households in dire situations and pay for other Covid expenses, on top of existing running costs.
This funding will go a long way to support the heroes who are on the ground, supporting those who need it most.
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If you’ve been one of the ones to get a text from Clive this morning (and it seems to be a lot of you), this is a reminder that political parties are exempt from various laws that would otherwise stop them.
This mess again. A reminder that political parties are broadly exempt from the privacy act, can buy phone number databases from whoever, and do whatever they want with them. Also, the Do Not Call register generally doesn't apply to political matters 😘 https://t.co/paBYfMipN4
— Ariel Bogle (@arielbogle) August 26, 2021
Toll truck drivers strike
Logistics giant Toll has lashed out at the truck drivers’ union after talks over pay and conditions broke down, AAP reports.
Up to 7,000 truckies are set go on strike for 24 hours from Friday, which could affect the nation’s food and fuel supplies.
The Transport Workers’ Union earlier this week accused Toll of scrapping overtime entitlements and engaging outside drivers in a bid to compete with global firms such as Amazon Flex.
Toll says its enterprise agreement is the best in the industry and the president of its Toll Global Express businesses, Alan Beacham, has accused the TWU of refusing to compromise during negotiations.
“It is clear the union was always planning this industrial action, no matter how the negotiations were going,” he said on Friday. “Toll will not be bullied by the union.”
He said Toll had put in place contingency plans to deal with disruptions caused by the strike.
Earlier this week, TWU national secretary Michael Kaine accused Toll of trying to imitate companies such as Amazon Flex.
Much like Uber, Amazon Flex describes its model as “you use your own vehicle to deliver packages ... as a way of earning extra money”.
“It is an abomination that billionaire retailers like Amazon are smashing profit records while ripping off transport supply chains and crushing the jobs of the truck drivers who’ve risked the health of their families to deliver parcels and keep shelves stocked,” Kaine said.
While Toll said the industrial action risked disrupting medical supplies, the union said it “has never and will never disrupt medical supplies or vaccines”.
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I’m seeing multiple reports of people getting text messages from Clive Palmer again, just like he did at the last election. Now with added Craig Kelly.
#ClivePalmer money - brings you a personal text message from #CraigKelly.
— Hugh Riminton (@hughriminton) August 26, 2021
Anyone else getting these? pic.twitter.com/V9aBjoEvT0
79 new cases in Victoria
Victoria has reported 79 new cases of Covid-19. Which is one down on yesterday.
They haven’t broken down how many were isolating, which is the key figure, but 53 are linked to known outbreaks and 26 are under investigation.
Reported yesterday: 79 new local cases and no new cases acquired overseas.
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) August 26, 2021
- 33,611 vaccine doses were administered
- 50,535 test results were received
More later: https://t.co/lIUrl1hf3W#COVID19Vic #COVID19VicData [1/2] pic.twitter.com/U7MrLCjRVY
Shout out to parents managing Book Week in lockdown.
Have you made any last minute lockdown costumes for Book Week?
I would never say a bad word about Book Week, the very best week of the year. Unleeesssss….. pic.twitter.com/vL6JB7sP3T
— Sally Rugg (@sallyrugg) August 26, 2021
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The NSW government will provide $200m in support of the not-for-profit sector to cope with the financial loss during the current restrictions
NSW treasurer Dominic Perrottet said:
NFPs in the social support and animal welfare sectors are in more demand than ever as we battle this Delta outbreak and this package will support those doing so much of the heavy lifting to help vulnerable communities in this pandemic.
Some NFPs did not meet the 30 per cent turnover threshold required for JobSaver so we’ve reduced that to 15 per cent for social support and animal welfare sectors, to ensure they can continue delivering the same level of service to those most in need.
More details will be available in the coming weeks, with applications processed from next month.
All the latest on Afghanistan can be found in our live blog below.
Australian troops out of Kabul before attack, Dutton says
Defence minister Peter Dutton is speaking now about the Islamic State suicide bomb blasts near Kabul airport overnight.
He says intelligence had suggested terrorist attacks were likely to occur, and Australian troops were out before the attack:
We will provide that detail later on. There are other issues we’re focused on at the moment. Not too long before the attack, I can confirm that Australian troops and the rest of our personnel were wheels up and out of Kabul and I am so grateful that they are now safe. The efforts, the bravery of these men and women has been now demonstrated. They were working in that theatre where it was clear to all now, if it wasn’t at the time, that this was just a terrible circumstances and I am just very pleased and Australians, when they hear the acts of bravery, will be blown away by the success we have been able to achieve.
He said he does not yet have advice from Dfat on Australians still in Afghanistan.
When asked whether Australia will send troops to respond to the attack, he says the last troops have left, and points to US president Joe Biden’s comments that it will strike back:
It is important to understand that ISKP and this group are more radical than the Taliban. They are enemies of the Taliban because they don’t believe the Taliban is hardcore enough, just to put it into perspective as to how crazy they are. The American president has sent a clear message this morning that their strike on these American troops will not be tolerated and there will be retaliation by the Americans and we will see what the Americans have to say in coming days. The focus at the moment is on making sure that the Americans, the Brits and those that remain in Kabul can be uplifted safely. That is the only focus at the moment.
Updated
Four licensed jockeys are facing disciplinary action by Racing Victoria (RV) after it was discovered they were staying at a Mornington Peninsula Airbnb, breaking statewide lockdown restrictions, AAP reports.
Jamie Kah, Ethan Brown, Ben Melham and apprentice jockey Celine Gaudray were found to be staying at the property with two other people on Wednesday.
RV stewards found they had breached state government stay-at-home orders, and in so doing the requirements of the racing body.
An inquiry into the incident will continue on Friday morning.
In the meantime, all four jockeys have been advised they are not to attend any licensed premises or race meetings for at least 14 days and, even then, only after negative Covid-19 tests have been provided.
Updated
Good morning
Good morning, and welcome to the Australian Covid live blog for Friday 27 August.
Here’s where we are starting the day:
- National cabinet will meet today to discuss vaccinating 12 to 15-year-old children, and updated modelling from the Doherty Institute on opening up at 70% and 80% vaccination rates. It is understood the updated modelling assumes there will be pockets of Covid outbreaks across Australia on opening, increasingly among those who are not vaccinated.
- New South Wales reported 1,029 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday, as the premier, Gladys Berejiklian, announced plans in three weeks to allow people who are fully vaccinated to gather outdoors in groups of up to five.
- Victoria reported 80 new cases, with premier Daniel Andrews saying it was still too soon to say whether the state’s sixth lockdown will again be extended beyond 2 September.
- The focus in Victoria is largely on Shepparton in the north of the state, with 67 cases, and about a third of the town being forced to isolate as close contacts.
- The ACT recorded 14 new cases, and officials have yet to say whether the capital’s lockdown will end on 2 September.
I’m Josh Taylor and I will be taking you through the news for this morning.
