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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Michael McGowan (now) and Caitlin Cassidy (earlier)

Daniel Andrews reveals roadmap out of lockdown – as it happened

What happened today, Sunday 19 September

We’re wrapping up for the evening, but before we do, here’s a summary of today’s major developments.

  • Victoria’s roadmap out of lockdown has been released on a day the state recorded 507 new local cases and one further death. At 80% single doses, estimated to be reached next week, tennis and golf will be permitted outdoors. Schools will reopen in stages from 5 October. Lockdown restrictions will be eased at 70% double doses, estimated to occur about 26 October. A further easing including home visitors, the reopening of retail and the expansion of venue caps will happen at 80% double doses.
  • Cross-border residents will be able to travel without a permit, excluding locked-down Albury. Many Victorians stuck in NSW will also be able to apply for a permit after LGAs were downgraded to “red zones”.
  • From tomorrow, the Covid rules will be the same across greater Sydney, except for restrictions around authorised workers in the 12 hotspot areas in western Sydney. Public pools will reopen from Monday 27 September. NSW recorded 1,083 new local cases and 13 additional deaths.
  • The ACT recorded 17 new local cases, six of which were linked. From tomorrow, the ACT will change its daily reporting to show the percentage of residents over 12 who have been vaccinated, rather than 16 and over, to reflect the expansion of the Pfizer vaccine to 12 to 15-year-olds.
  • And Christian Porter has resigned from the ministry with his portfolios going to Angus Taylor. It comes amid revelations Porter used a blind trust to partially pay for his now discontinued legal case against the ABC. Prime minister Scott Morrison said it was the “appropriate course of action”.

Updated

With that, I will hand you back to Caitlin Cassidy for the rest of the afternoon. Thanks as always for reading.

The full Porter statement runs to about 1,600 words.

The now-former minister has launched an extensive attack on the ABC – against whom he launched and then ended a defamation action.

He’s also criticised the “Twitter mob” who he has accused of “fierce and vengeful” attacks on him and his supporters.

He insists that while he does not know who the donors to the trust are, he has been assured that “none of the contributors were lobbyists or prohibited foreign entities”. Their desire to be anonymous, he speculates, “was driven by a natural desire to avoid the inevitable fact that for supporting me, the trial by mob would inevitably turn on them if they were identified”.

Thousands of ordinary people contacted me, expressing disgust at what the ABC had done. Even though I suspected action against the taxpayer-funded broadcaster was probably going to be financially unsustainable, as it ultimately was, I decided I had to commence action against the ABC.

Some people wanted to help in that course by supporting my defamation case. They contributed to a trust on the basis of confidentiality and a belief that their contribution would remain confidential within the rules of disclosure.

Whilst I have no right of access to the funding or conduct of the trust, on my request the trustee provided me an assurance that none of the contributors were lobbyists or prohibited foreign entities. This additional information was provided as part of my ministerial disclosure. No doubt the desire of some, possibly many, of those contributors to remain anonymous was driven by a natural desire to avoid the inevitable fact that for supporting me, the trial by mob would inevitably turn on them if they were identified.”

Updated

Porter 'not willing' to pressure blind trust to reveal legal donors

Christian Porter has just released a very, very long statement. I’ll give it to you in pieces but here’s the most important bits: Porter resigned because, he says, he was “not willing to put pressure on the Trust” to disclose the names of the donors to his legal fund.

He says:

I am not prepared to seek to break the confidentiality of those people who contributed to my legal fees under what are well-known and regular legal structures, including the confidentiality attached to the Trust contribution.”

Porter says he has “great personal and professional respect” for the prime minister but: “fully understanding the consequences, where I am not willing to put pressure on the Trust to provide me with any further information, I respectfully informed the Prime Minister that I would not place pressure on the Trust to provide me with information to which I am not entitled”.

Ultimately, I decided that if I have to make a choice between seeking to pressure the Trust to break individuals’ confidentiality in order to remain in Cabinet, or alternatively forego my Cabinet position, there is only one choice I could, in all conscience, make. Consequently, I provided the Prime Minister with my resignation earlier today. It is effective immediately.”

But Porter says he has already nominated for preselection for the next election, and will not resign from parliament:

I have previously stated my determination to contest the next election in Pearce and have nominated for preselection, and I have no intention of standing aside from my responsibilities to the people of Pearce.”

Updated

We’ll have more on this very soon, but just to reiterate, the prime minister Scott Morrison has announced that Christian Porter has resigned from the ministry and will move to the backbench.

The resignation, Morrison said, came after he was unable to confirm that the donors to a blind trust that partially funded his discontinued defamation action against the ABC did not amount to a “conflict of interest or perceived conflict of interest”.

“He cannot disclose to me who those donors are,” Morrison said.

But the prime minister insisted it was Porter’s decision to resign, and that it was about “upholding the standards” of the ministry.

“If he were able to do that, that would allow the minister to conclusively rule out a perceived conflict, and as a result of him acknowledging that, he has this afternoon taken the appropriate course of action to uphold those standards by tendering his resignation as a minister this afternoon, and I have accepted his resignation,” the prime minister said.

Moving on to submarines, Morrison is being asked when he informed the French government that he was abandoning the deal with them to build diesel submarines.

He says it was at about 8.30pm on the night before. But, he insists, the French had “every reason to know” that Australia had “deep and grave concerns” that the capacity of the submarines was “not going to meet our strategic interests”.

He’s asked whether he regrets the way he has dealt with the announcement to abandon the deal with the French which, you may have heard, has caused some consternation among the Europeans.

“I don’t regret the decision to put the Australian national interest first, never will,” he says, and then walks away. So that’s all from the prime minister.

Scott Morrison speaks to media during a press conference at Kirribilli House in Sydney.
Scott Morrison speaks to media during a press conference at Kirribilli House in Sydney. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP

Updated

Morrison is asked whether Porter will run again. He says he’s “not specifically aware” of where Porter’s preselection is up to, but that if he “wants to stand again” that will be up to the local party.

It doesn’t sound like Morrison is going to intervene to force Porter to resign from parliament, at this point.

Updated

Morrison is being asked whether it’s enough for Porter to resign from the ministry. That is, whether or not it’s appropriate for any MP to disclose a benefit from a blind, anonymous trust.

Morrison says, effectively, that that is nothing to do with him.

Well, you are now talking about a different set of issues which relates to the parliament and I am not the custodian of the parliament, the parliament is the custodian of the parliament. I am the custodian of ministerial standards and I have acted in accordance with those ministerial standards, I take them very seriously.

Updated

Onto questions, and Morrison is doing a nothing to see here show.

The review into Porter’s disclosure is not concluded, but Porter has “taken his own decision in relations to our discussions of the ministerial standards and that matter is now concluded”.

Morrison says the trust means Porter is “the beneficiary of an arrangement that prevents him from him being able to disclose to me in a way that would allow him to satisfy that he does not have a conflict of interest or a perceived conflict of interest, that’s how I’d describe it”.

“He cannot disclose to me who those donors are.”

Angus Taylor to take Porter's spot in ministry

Morrison announces Angus Taylor has been appointed as the acting minister science and technology. Porter will move to the back bench.

Updated

Morrison says Porter offered his resignation to “uphold” ministerial standards.

He says that “over the course of the last few days” they’ve had conversations in which Porter has been unable to “practically provide further information because of the nature of those arrangements”.

That is, Morrison says Porter couldn’t tell him who funded the blind trust that he used to partially pay for his legal case against the ABC.

If he were able to do that, that would allow the minister to conclusively rule out a perceived conflict, and as a result of him acknowledging that, he has this afternoon taken the appropriate course of action to uphold those standards by tendering his resignation as a minister this afternoon, and I have accepted his resignation.

His actions have been about upholding the standards. Our discussions today about upholding the standards.

Updated

Christian Porter resigns from ministry

Christian Porter has “taken the appropriate course of action” and resigned as a minister, Morrison announces.

Updated

Scott Morrison is speaking now.

With that, I will hand the blog back over to Michael McGowan who will guide you through this afternoon’s news.

In non-locked down Adelaide, a culture war has broken out over a plan to direct the walking habits of pedestrians.

Guardian senior reporter Tory Shepherd spoke to the councillor who’s ambitious plan has divided a city:

Prime minister to hold afternoon press conference

Scott Morrison will hold a press conference outside Kirribilli House this afternoon.

Updated

In other news, a large fleet of drones will be deployed along the NSW coast to protect swimmers and surfers from sharks this summer, AAP’s Gina Rushton reports.

The NSW government has almost tripled its shark management budget – with the $21.4m program to expand the use of drumlines, listening stations and the world’s largest fleet of domestic drones.

In the coming weeks, the government will work with coastal councils to make sure 50 beaches have a “shark-spotting eye-in-the-sky”.

Minister for agriculture Adam Marshall:

This summer season, we will be deploying over 100 SMART drumlines in nearly every coastal council area starting with Kingscliff, Tuncurry and Coffs Harbour next month. We will also continue the deployment of shark nets as part of the shark meshing program in the Greater Sydney Region while we measure the success of the expanded technology-led solutions.

The Humane Society welcomed the investment in non-lethal technologies but said the government needed to also end shark nets as called for by six local councils: Newcastle, Central Coast, Northern Beaches, Waverley, Randwick and Wollongong.

Marine biologist with the animal protection not-for-profit Lawrence Chlebeck said the nets entangle and kill harmless dolphins, turtles, rays and sharks.

Updated

Victoria’s case numbers could surpass NSW even if the state maintains its current restrictions:

The marathon Victorian press conference has just finished.

A big takeaway is how key vaccination statuses will be to accessing public venues when the state takes its first steps out of lockdown next month.

Read the roadmap in full here.

Daniel Andrews is still at the podium. “You do have to go file at some point,” he laughs to the journalists.

Meanwhile, the Burnet Institute’s modelling is live. You can access it here.

Meanwhile, in NSW:

Updated

Daniel Andrews is asked about the anti-lockdown protests that took place across Hawthorn and Richmond yesterday after the location was changed from Melbourne city centre at the last minute in an attempt to evade authorities.

Between 500 and 700 demonstrators gathered at the rally, which saw officers knocked to the ground and protesters doused with capsicum spray. Ten police were injured, with six taken to hospital.

Andrews:

Police did us proud yesterday, no one has a right to selfishly put someone else in hospital ... this is not a popularity contest, it’s a pandemic. Protests don’t work against this virus. They just don’t. It’s science. Getting angry about it doesn’t work.

Earlier, AAP reported the police union will ask Victoria police why a riot squad wasn’t deployed to help uniformed officers in Richmond, despite being in the city on standby.

Police Association of Victoria secretary Wayne Gatt described the rally as “horrific”:

Significant violence confronted those individuals, we had bottles thrown at their faces; projectiles and rocks. This group came to assault the police. There’s a range of injuries from dislocated shoulders, torn pectorals, broken bones (and) noses.

Read the full report here:

Updated

Daniel Andrews will do “everything he can” to avoid lockdowns when the state reaches 80%.

But a “very difficult time” for the hospital system is coming:

There’s always a chance you can do things faster. There’s always a risk you have to pause. I can’t stand here with certainty and say we may not have to take a backwards step. Going and getting vaccinated, reaching our targets and exceeding them, this is what is most important. I don’t – you may have a different view – I bang on about a few things a lot, ‘cause they’re really important. And getting vaccinated is just – it is everything.

Updated

Victoria may have to “fundamentally change” the way it delivers health services depending on how the reopening goes:

Reporter:

What’s the earliest point of hospital admissions for Covid patients, whether it be 1,000 or 500 when you get to a 2,500 mark, in a post-80% world, you will impose further restrictions? Post-80%?

Daniel Andrews:

We have three or four weeks of Sydney being open. We want them to do more. They learned from us last year, we’ll be able to look at what actually happens in New South Wales hospitals when they take the steps they foreshadowed. I know it’s frustrating. It’s a perfectly good question, it’s very difficult to answer now. We need to be closer to that as a reality, not as a forecast or model, to be certain. Our aim would be perhaps at different points we have to pause. Our aim would be to avoid, by doing everything we can, having to go backwards. That is our aim ...

It is absolutely possible that two, three-plus thousand patients are in hospital, and we have to fundamentally change the way we deliver health services, that’s a big number. They don’t have to be in the ICU to create enormous amounts of stress. We only have so many nurses and doctors. We only have so many skilled people to do this important work. And they’re pretty busy regardless of Covid. So that stress will be there. We’ve got to do everything we can so they’re not overwhelmed. But it’s going to be tough.

Updated

The full roadmap can be perused here:

Reporter:

Will you commit to opening Victoria to New South Wales at that point?

Daniel Andrews:

I will commit to following the advice on when it is safe to do.

Reporter:

You said in a previous press conference that you think there is a possibility we could be closed to New South Wales until next year. Has your thinking changed?

Daniel Andrews:

No, all I am saying is we need to double check, be cautious, make sure we’re not doing anything that will make the job of Victorian nurses and doctors harder. I know this deeply inconveniences people, we need to get people home and we will have more to say about that this week. Beyond that, we need to move around, of course we do, and I don’t know exactly, I remember saying it but I don’t remember which day I said it, I don’t know what the case numbers were, but we are in very similar circumstances now as what New South Wales is, and that gives us options.

Daniel Andrews is asked if there are any plans to expand the Pfizer vaccine to over 60s in line with decisions made by other states. In short, no:

We’re not going to be making those changes. I wish other states well, they are in a different position, they don’t have an outbreak, so all the stuff I have been talking about, the urgency and traffic driven by cases, I’m not critical if Annastacia or whoever has done that, we won’t be doing that, and I think people who are in their 60s and older, they understand they have a job to do to protect themselves and protect everyone, they have a perfectly good vaccine, there will be exceptions to that for history and medical reasons, don’t be guided, don’t get medical advice from anyone other than your doctor or pharmacist, or a nurse vaccinated state clinic. Make an informed choice, but for heaven‘s sake, take the vaccine available today. Don’t wait a month, don’t wait a week because it may not be there, it simply may not arrive.

Updated

First and second dose targets may be reached ahead of schedule, Daniel Andrews says.

But don’t hold out waiting for Pfizer:

My only concern, and again it’s not a criticism, it’s just a fact, I think there’s been lots of coverage over the weekend, it was noted at national cabinet on Friday, there may be some issues with the Pfizer order for October, I hope it will resolved very quickly. If in doubt, I know I have a first dose AstraZeneca and second dose of AstraZeneca for you. And there’s a lot of Moderna going to community pharmacies and they’ll be first and second doses.

So don’t wait for something that may not arrive. Get the vaccine that’s there today. And that – at the moment, that’s the AstraZeneca – is the only other alternative, but come, you know, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday this week, there’s going to be a Moderna alternative as well. And the efficacy of that, it’s approved, it works, it’s a fantastic expansion of the commonwealth’s program.

Updated

Daniel Andrews says once all Victorians have had the opportunity to get vaccinated, lockdowns will no longer be the response to emerging clusters:

As the prime minister has noted, we’re fast approaching, I don’t quite agree with him when he says we’re there now, but I think we’ve got a little way to go, but we’re fast approaching a situation where those who want to get vaccinated have had an opportunity to do so.

I’ve been very clear, very clear, that we’re not locking the place down when we get to 80%. Indeed, 70%. Because, we’re not going to lock down the whole state or the whole of metro Melbourne to protect people who have chosen not to protect themselves. Right now, I think there’s people who want to get vaccinated who haven’t been, is the point I’m making. That changes soon. And that’s when you start saying, OK, well now we’ve got to the 80 mark, or 70, let’s start having the economy open for vaccinated people because it’s safer.

Unvaccinated people, they’re the ones who are going to get really sick. They’re the ones who will be in hospital. They’re the ones who will be at greater risk of getting and spreading this. That’s why it’s there. There’s nothing more than that. It’s my hope that 100% of people get vaccinated without us having to do these things. But just like aged care, sometimes you need to give people a series of reasons to do certain things. I think these are powerful motivations, be safe, be well, be open, and be able to to do the stuff you love. Get vaccinated.

Updated

A decision on mandatory vaccinations across workplace sectors will be made in the coming weeks.

Andrews says authorised workers in sectors like childcare and teaching are likely to be on the list.

Daniel Andrews is up again, backtracking to the changes that come into effect when the state reaches 80% first doses.

The distance to travel from home will be extended from 10 to 15 kilometres.

Brett Sutton says from 11.59 tonight, 66 LGAs plus Jervis Bay which aren’t in lockdown will be downgraded to red zones, meaning Victorian residents will be able to apply for a permit and return home.

Anyone in the cross border area excluding Albury, which is in lockdown, can enter Victoria without a permit from tomorrow.

Updated

The chief health officer Brett Sutton is up. He says this will be “no easy pathway to take,” but we are on the “home stretch” and should feel hopeful:

There is the issue of our wellbeing, we all need to reflect on that, there are challenges every step of the way during lockdown and we need to be able to support people on that slow and steady pathway to opening up.

That does mean for those lowest risk activities, we should make them available to people to support their wellbeing and ensure they are focusing their attention and behaviours in those areas that are the lowest risk – interactions with other people, happening outdoors, with the lowest risk of transmission to others.

We are in a once in a century public health crisis so there is no easy pathway out of this, there are no easy choices to make ... but we should feel hopeful about the things that are coming in months ahead.

Updated

Martin Foley is providing a breakdown of today’s case numbers. There is continued transmission in Melbourne’s northern and western suburbs, with ongoing concern over growth in Melbourne’s south east:

  • 158 cases in Hume
  • 68 in Whittlesea
  • 40 in Moreland
  • 47 in Wyndham
  • 16 in Casey
  • 14 in greater Dandenong
  • Nine in Cardinia
  • One new case in Ballarat, a workplace contact of a known case
  • One new case in Bass Coast, a household contact of a worker linked to a construction site
  • Four new cases in Surf Coast and Geelong
  • Seven cases in the Mitchell Shire including four linked to trade and construction

There have been repeat wastewater detections in Aireys Inlet.

Updated

Three regional LGAs in Victoria to go into lockdown

The Victorian health minister Martin Foley says from 11.59 tonight, greater Geelong, the Surf Coast Shire and the Mitchell Shire will enter a seven day lockdown due to ongoing transmission in the regions.

The restrictions will be the same as Melbourne, excluding the curfew.

Updated

Once Victoria reaches 80% double doses:

  • 10 people, including dependents, will be able to visit the home.
  • Up to 150 fully vaccinated people can dine indoors, and up to 30 can gather outside.
  • Indoor community sport will reopen with caps in place.
  • Masks will only be mandatory inside.
  • Pubs, restaurants and cafes can open for seated service of up to 150 fully vaccinated residents, and up to 500 outdoors.
  • Still work from home if you can, but workers will be able to go to work if fully vaccinated.
  • Hairdressing, beauty and personal care will be open for fully vaccinated people.
  • All retail will reopen.
  • Early childhood education and childcare will reopen, and all students can return to school with safety measures in place.

Updated

Regional Victoria and Melbourne to move to same restrictions in November

Once regional Victoria reaches 70% double doses:

  • Community sport returns indoors, with caps in place.
  • Pubs, clubs and entertainment venues will remain open indoors for fully vaccinated patrons.
  • All students will return to on-site learning for at least part of the week.
  • Funerals and weddings will be allowed 30 people indoors and 100 people outdoors.

Once the state reaches 80% double doses, estimated to be around 5 November, regional Victoria and Melbourne will move to the same set of restrictions.

Updated

Once Melbourne reaches 70% double doses:

  • The curfew will no longer be in place.
  • 10 fully vaccinated people will be able to gather outdoors
  • Physical recreation and community sports training will return with limits in place.
  • Pubs, clubs and entertainment venues can host 250 fully vaccinated people outdoors and 50 people inside.
  • Weddings and funerals will be open for 50 fully vaccinated people, again, outdoors.
  • All school students will return to on-site learning for at least part of the learning week.
  • Hairdressing and personal care will open with up to five vaccinated people inside.

Updated

Lockdown to lift at the end of October

At 70% double doses, estimated to be around 26 October, lockdown will lift.

Updated

Daniel Andrew outlines the return to school

Daniel Andrews on the reopening of schools:

On or about 5 October, students in Melbourne can return to sit the GAT if that is required on the 5 October and from the 6 October, on-site learning for VCE units and final year students, they will be back in the classroom. From the 18 October, Prep students return three days a week, grade one and grade two students return two days each week so it is staggered, it is balanced, and it is about limiting the spread of this virus.

Victorian premier Daniel Andrews addresses the media
Victorian premier Daniel Andrews is outlining the state’s roadmap out of lockdown. Photograph: James Ross/AAP

Updated

Melbourne residents will be able to 'socialise' outdoors at 80% single dose

Daniel Andrews is laying out the roadmap.

At 80% single doses, “on or about” 26 September, Melburnians will be able to go outside for outdoor activities like sport and to socialise with friends, but there will be limits on household numbers.

Personal training will resume for up to five fully vaccinated people outside. At the same time, in regional Victoria, masks can be removed at hairdressers or for personal services.

Final year students will be able to return to on-site learning.

Updated

Daniel Andrews says it will be a difficult few months ahead:

There will be some very difficult days and weeks, perhaps longer in our health system. I have nothing but respect and absolute admiration for those who work in the health system, we will stand with you and support you and monitor very closely the impact of this inevitable opening up. This is absolutely essential, opening up, we will monitor that impact on you, your patients, on our health system. That will be a very difficult balance to strike.

The notion of opening this place up very quickly at 70% or 60% simply cannot be done.

It will be in a staggered and measured ... way. But we are opening up, no doubt about that, and there will be no turning back. We have got to normalise this, we have got to pass through and beyond this pandemic. Vaccination is critically important, 80% is critically important, but we won’t stop at 80%, we will continue to urge people and indeed to require some people to get vaccinated, to drive that number as high as we possibly can drive it.

Updated

Burnett modelling forecasts peak of cases in Victoria in mid-December

The Burnett Institute’s full modelling has been made publicly available today. It forecasts a peak of cases in mid-December, with a peak in hospital admissions towards the end of December.

Daniel Andrews:

It indicates and again I stress, it is assumed, these are assumptions, it assumes, and it models out and projects that on or about the 15 December, cases will peak at about 4,500. Towards the end of December, admissions to hospital will peak at about 3,150, and in January, deaths due to Covid-19 in the Delta variant will peak at around 2,200. These are sobering numbers. The notion of opening this place up very quickly at 70% or 60% simply cannot be done.

Updated

Daniel Andrews says state's reopening is a 'very difficult balancing act'

Now to the roadmap. Daniel Andrews concedes we “cannot permanently suppress” the virus:

In terms of a roadmap that is not a national plan, the last 20 months have all been about buying us time to get the community vaccinated. We know there will be a pandemic of the unvaccinated. If we open everything up now with just 45% of people double dosed, we would have a catastrophic number of people who would be very very ill, many many thousands of people would be in intensive care, and that is not what success looks like.

If however, we open steadily, gradually, but open, as we get to 70 and 80% double dose, then our nurses, doctors, ambulance workers will come under intense pressure, it will be incredibly difficult to our health system but we will be able to pass through a gateway, an important gateway, we will be able to normalise this. We cannot permanently suppress this virus.

Lockdowns have been about buying time to get to 70 and 80% vaccination. We are fast approaching those milestones are. At that point we have got to open the place up, because remaining closed for ever has its own cost in every sense of that word. This is a very difficult balancing act.

Updated

Andrews says it's 'uncertain' how much Pfizer is on way due to order 'issue'

Before turning to the roadmap, Daniel Andrews is providing a note on vaccination supply.

He says there are 9,076 first dose of Pfizer appointments available this week:

There is no sense or criticism in this but I have to say, [on] Friday, national cabinet was told that there are some issues with just exactly how much Pfizer is coming in October, an issue with the order, and I’m sure the commonwealth government is working very hard to resolve that, but it is a bit uncertain exactly how much Pfizer will come to our country, and of course our state next month.

Updated

Daniel Andrews says there are 5,262 active Covid cases in Victoria

The Victorian premier Daniel Andrews is up now, confirming 507 cases overnight, with 282 in households “with an existing case”.

There are now 5,262 active cases across the state.

Sadly, there has been one further death, a man from Moreland in his 90s.

He confirms 84% of today’s new cases are in people under the age of 50.

There are now 204 people in hospital with Covid-19, including 55 in ICU and 38 requiring ventilation. Of those, 87% aren’t vaccinated, and just 1% are fully vaccinated.

Updated

While we wait for the Victorian press conference, conservative Queensland MP’s have posted messages on social media that appear to be in favour of the anti-lockdown protests that took place yesterday.

We are standing by to hear from the Victorian premier Daniel Andrews any minute now.

In non-Covid news, the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria is calling for the AFL and Cricket Australia to meet with First Nations groups in the wake of reports this weekend that Australia’s first cricket star and co-inventor of AFL Tom Wills participated in a massacre of Aboriginal people.

Assembly co-chair Marcus Stewart said the league needs to reckon with the past and ensure historical figures memorialised unite rather than divide:

When I take my son to enjoy a game at the ‘G, I don’t want to show him statues of blokes who killed our people. I want him to see art and culture that reflect the kind of diverse and equal society we want Victoria to be. Where’s the statue of Johnny Mullagh the test captain of the first 11 for example?

If this bloke not only pinched our game of Marngrook, but massacred our people, then really we need the AFL and Cricket Australia to have a good hard look at what kind of messages they will be passing on to our kids if they continue to contribute to the whitewashing of our history.

The assembly recently negotiated the establishment of the Yoo-rrook Justice Commission – the first formal truth-telling process in Australia with the statutory powers of a royal commission. The assembly is the elected body to negotiate treaty in the state.

Stewart:

Whether your family has lived in Victoria for five years or 50,000 years, truth-telling and treaty have the potential to bring us closer together. But we can’t do that if our politicians and institutions, including the AFL and Cricket Australia, aren’t willing to have the hard conversations.

Updated

The ACT chief health officer Kerryn Coleman is providing more detail on today’s new cases.

The total number of cases linked to the outbreak is now at 618, 242 of which are still active:

Of the 17, 11 can be linked to known cases [of] ongoing clusters and six remain under early investigation. And of the 11, we know that 10 of these are household contacts. Of the 17, five were in quarantine for their entire infectious period. Of the remaining 12, all 12 spent some time in the community for at least part of their infectious period.

So to 8pm ... we had eight people in our hospitals, ranging from under 12 to in their 70s. Two in our NICU with one requiring ventilation. One is partially vaccinated with one dose. One is fully vaccinated. We now have over 800 self identified close contacts and over 300 active exposure locations.

We have no new additional active public sites of transmission to add to the list today and none of our new cases are linked to these current public sites. I have noticed a bit of a trend in this information, which is good news. So that ... gives us an indication that we are not seeing transmission at many public sites.

Residents wait outside the Covid vaccination clinic at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra
Residents wait outside a Covid vaccination hub in Canberra. At the end of Saturday, 78.2% of the ACT’s over 12 year olds had received a first dose. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Updated

Tomorrow, the ACT will open vaccination booking for 12 to 15 year olds at government clinics. The ACT will change its daily reporting to show the percentage of residents over 12 who have been vaccinated, rather than 16 and over, to reflect the change.

The ACT health minister, Rachel Stephen-Smith, says there are about 25,000 people in that age group:

While this is a relatively small cohort, we know it is particularly important that we continue our vaccination program to ensure that young people in our community can be vaccinated. The next available appointments at our vaccination clinics are not until around mid October. While we hope to release new appointments if vaccine supply allows, the fastest path to getting your children vaccinated may be by booking a vaccination through your general practitioner or at a pharmacy. And we know pharmacists will soon be getting a supply of the Moderna vaccine.

At the end of yesterday, 78.2% of over 12 year olds had received a first dose, and 54% were fully vaccinated.

Updated

Good morning (just) and thank you to Michael for taking us through this morning’s news. The ACT update is continuing now, with the Victorian update to come at 12.15.

With that, I will hand you over to my colleague Caitlin Cassidy who will take you through the afternoon. Thanks for reading.

ACT records 17 new cases

The ACT has recorded 17 new cases. Of those, 11 are linked to an existing case. Six are not.

Updated

NSW press conference summary

And that’s all from NSW. Here’s a quick summary of what we learned:

  • From tomorrow, there will be no difference in the restrictions across greater Sydney, bringing an end to the harsher lockdown in the so-called areas of concern in western and south-western Sydney. The only differences that will remain are rules around authorised workers.
  • From next Monday, public pools will be able to reopen in NSW.
  • The state recorded 1,083 new cases and 13 deaths.
  • The premier Gladys Berejiklian made some stark comments about what’s to come after NSW reopens, saying the state’s health system would effectively be overwhelmed but ensuring residents the system was prepared for that. “We will be seeing things unfold before our eyes that we have not seen before in Australia because of the pandemic,” she said.

Updated

Berejiklian is asked whether she stands by the decision to use the much harsher lockdown measures in areas of western and south-western Sydney, amid concerns those differences have divided Sydney.

She says she stands by it, but also concedes the state has imposed some “horrific” situations on people.

I absolutely stand by the approach taken, as difficult as it was because the other option is, we always said that we didn’t want to burden our citizens unless we absolutely had to, so it was the least worst option. The other option was to have those measures across the whole city or state, when in hindsight we may not have needed to, so I can appreciate how people feel like that, but we have just followed the statistics, done what we have needed to do.

Of course it’s been difficult and I wish we didn’t have to do any of it. Some of my hardest days in the job are days when you take away people’s freedoms, subject them to horrific situations. But you have to do that based on the advice on what is best for the community.

Updated

McAnulty is asked about stories of Covid-19 positive people not being contacted by NSW health, and close contacts not receiving their release information after isolation. He concedes there have been “delays”.

We recognise there have been some issues with getting to all patients and contacts, so we are working with police and clinicians to make sure that patients have some contact and some advice including to their households. So, for example, police will visit cases, provide information and information for the other people in the household about their needs to isolate, similarly for clinical teams we have a program of following up on cases in the community.

Updated

New Zealand records 24 new cases

In New Zealand, the Covid-19 outbreak continues, with 24 new cases reported.

On Sunday, health officials announced the new cases – all in Auckland – while warning of increased numbers in future days due to spread within households.

AAP reports the new cases continue despite a month of lockdown in Auckland, raising questions as to whether NZ will be successful in its aim of eliminating the virus.

Prime minister Jacinda Ardern said “the tail of Delta is long and it is tough”.

It doesn’t change what we need to do, and that continues to be stay at home, and get vaccinated.

Updated

Berejiklian 'hopeful' NSW-Victoria border to open before Christmas

Berejiklian is asked about the prospect of state borders reopening before Christmas. She says she’s “hopeful” of an arrangement between New South Wales and Victoria.

NSW has had to confront the issues we have had before other states. And I’m confident Victoria and us will be pretty much in the same place. When Victoria has 70% double dose, I am hoping there will be arrangements where there will be movement between NSW and Victoria when Victoria gets to that stage.

So again, I remember when NSW first spoke about living with Covid-19 and not be able to have zero cases, it was quite confronting and shocking for people. But I think now that weeks have progressed and people appreciate what that means, that other leaders are starting to also think about what life with Covid-19 looks like, even if you don’t have any Covid cases, eventually it will come.

She’s less confident about Queensland, and, at the same time, is being quite blunt about what re-opening is going to look like in NSW, and how confronting that might be for state leaders in places that currently do not have Covid-19 cases.

Once you start opening up, you will get Covid-19 in your community. So please accept that and get ready for that.

The Doherty report predicts that the case numbers that we will see are likely to be the highest [that] we have seen in Australia. But the benefit will be that people be protected with the vaccine.

It is important that we look at ICU capacity and that is why, as scary as it was, we wanted everybody to know what we think, what the health experts believe, the intensive care numbers will be like, what the hospitalisation rates will be like. It is really important for us to be prepared for what we will see because ... the health system will be working in a way that we have never seen it before. Things will be – we will be seeing things unfold before our eyes that we have not seen before in Australia because of the pandemic.

Updated

Victorians stand by.

Berejiklian is asked about the AMA’s statements today calling on governments to ease the reopening and not rely on vaccinations as the only measure of when it is possible to reopen.

She says:

There will always be people that think you are not strict enough, there will always be people that think you are too strict. And that is why the biggest challenge for us during this has been getting, striking, the right balance at all times ... we’re not displeased with where we are. But we know it is precarious.

I don’t want to gild the lily. At 70%vaccination there is still a threat. We cannot have a hospitals system overrun. The best advice I have is that the rate of hospitalisation is slightly lower than we assumed, but the ICU numbers [are] about what we assumed, so we are anticipating our worst weeks in ICU and hospitals to be in October as we showed in that graph. We are bracing for that and know that our health system is bracing for that and staff are ready for that.

Updated

Restrictions to ease in western Sydney

NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian speaks to the media in Sydney on Sunday
NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian says some LGAs of concern have seen a huge jump in vaccination rates. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP

Berejiklian says the decision to ease restrictions in the areas of concern – or at least bring them into line with the rest of Sydney – was in large part due to the very high vaccination rates in those areas.

We have seen some of those communities go from rates of around 19% or 20% up to nearly 90% and it is extremely encouraging. The health experts also advised that in some of those areas of concern, we have seen a decline, the curve is starting to change, but what is always concerning us is that any super spreader event, anyone being too complacent actually can change things very quickly.

Updated

McAnulty is asked whether NSW cases have peaked – today’s numbers are down and the cases appear to have stabilised over the past week.

It is very encouraging, the numbers today are fewer than the case numbers we had yesterday. We do like to see, we don’t want to jump the gun, but we do like to see several days before we can call it a trend but certainly cases overall have been going up, they have stabilised and appear to be dropping in some areas, an area where we have had rapidly increasing vaccination uptake as well as good compliance, but in other areas of the state, particularly Illawarra and the Central Coast we have seen [cases rising].

Updated

Some good news regarding an outbreak in social housing towers in Redfern in inner Sydney.

McAnulty says the outbreak there remains at 20 cases – where it was on Saturday.

That’s positive to hear – those towers are home to about 630 residents and there have been concerns the outbreak could spread quickly. McAnulty says there has been a fantastic response from residents.

We really want to thank the community in that part of Redfern for coming forward for testing and vaccination. We have had a fantastic response in recent days and that is continuing.

Updated

NSW records 13 Covid deaths overnight

The NSW deputy chief medical officer Jeremy McAnulty says 13 people died from Covid overnight – nine men and four women.

One person was in their 40s, two people in their 50s, two people in their 60s, five people in their 70s, and three people in their 80s.

Five people were from western Sydney, two people were from south-western Sydney, two people were from northern Sydney, two people were from Sydney’s inner city, one person was from southern Sydney and one person was from Dubbo.

Of the 13 people who died with Covid-19, nine people were not vaccinated, two people had received one dose of a Covid-19 and two people – a man in his 80s and a woman in her 70s, both with underlying health conditions – had received two doses.

Updated

Berejiklian says case numbers mean they are “comfortable enough” with the Covid numbers to ease those extra restrictions but says it’s too early to say whether the numbers have peaked.

We don’t know if we have passed that peak or not, however the signs are positive.”

Restrictions eased for Sydney LGAs 'of concern'

Berejiklian announces that from tomorrow across greater Sydney, the rules will now be the same across all LGAs except for restrictions around authorised workers.

It means the western Sydney LGAs “of concern” will have those heavier restrictions lifted to bring them in line with the rest of the city. In practice, that means picnics will be allowed in those LGAs and the outdoor time limits will be lifted.

Berejiklian says the decision “equalises” the rules across the city. She thanked the residents of western and south-western Sydney.

They have led the way in our vaccination rates, they have shown us the way, and what it means to be resilient and strong, I can only imagine what it meant for families, and what it has meant for households to have to endure those restrictions for such a long period of time.

Updated

NSW records 1,083 new Covid cases

The New South Wales premier, Gladys Berejiklian, is speaking now.

NSW recorded 1,083 cases of Covid-19 to 8pm last night.

Berejiklian says NSW has reached 81.9% first vaccination doses.

For Victorians hoping to hear about that roadmap...

No new cases of Covid-19 in Queensland

The Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, is holding a press conference in Brisbane. The state has recorded no new cases of Covid-19 in the community or in hotel quarantine.

Palaszczuk is urging people to get vaccinated after the state controversially made the Pfizer vaccine available to over 60s. She’s urging people to attend walk-in Pfizer clinics.

She says 59% of Queenslanders have now received one dose of the vaccine.

Updated

This is an interesting piece on the people for whom the end of Covid restrictions sparks fear rather than joy.

Racquel Sherry, 49 and based in Sydney, is immunocompromised and afraid.

In the roadmap to freedom, I hear nothing about people like me, other than as a qualifying postscript to the Covid deaths: ‘But they had an underlying health condition’.

Freedom day doesn’t include me.

Updated

The federal government is prepared to lease nuclear submarines from the US while its own fleet is being built, defence minister Peter Dutton has said.

Asked on Sky News’ Sunday Agenda program whether the government would consider leasing nuclear submarines in the interim, Dutton said: “The short answer is yes”.

There is all of that discussion to take place in the next 12 to 18 months.

The talk that you can just buy a nuclear-powered submarine off the shelf, of course, is just not accurate or correct.

AAP reports Dutton said the Chinese are pumping out submarines, frigates and aircraft carriers at a record rate and so the rest of the world has stepped up its own production.

That unfortunately is the dynamic we are operating in at the moment.

However, Australia’s decision has caused a stir in the region, and backlash from the French.

The scrapping of the $90bn diesel submarine deal between Australia and France has prompted the European nation to recall its Australian ambassador. Dutton said he understands why the French are upset, but said the government had to act in Australia’s national interest.

Given the changing circumstances in the Indo-Pacific, not just now but over the coming years, we had to make a decision that was in our national interest, and that’s exactly what we have done.

But he said suggestions that concerns over the French model had not been flagged by the Australian government, “just defy frankly what is on the public record and certainly what was said publicly over a long period of time”.

Updated

The Australian Workers Union wants the NSW government to consider scrapping the five client per premises rule for hair and beauty services ahead of next month’s reopening.

Along with the Australian Hair Council, the AWU says the rule will result in thousands of workers left unemployed. Daniel Walton, the AWU National Secretary, says:

Our members were among the first forced to close and have been without work for almost 12 weeks. This cap will make it even harder for them to recover from the financial devastation they have already experienced.

We are deeply concerned that as an unintended consequence of this rule, many small and medium sized businesses will fail, resulting in thousands of workers left unemployed and ineligible for government financial assistance.

Updated

If you’re still catching up on the latest twist in Christian Porter’s ongoing travails, my colleague Paul Karp has written this helpful explainer on the blind trust and why it matters.

Birmingham is asked about Christian Porter’s disclosure that a blind trust paid part of his personal legal fees.

Birmingham says he won’t offer a personal opinions, but concedes the disclosure is “unusual” and “raises some serious questions”.

The prime minister has done the right thing by acknowledging that this instance raises some serious questions. That’s why he has asked for precise and proper advice from his department, and I look forward to that being received and the prime minister will, no doubt, then act on that advice accordingly.

Updated

Birmingham also concedes the government doesn’t know how much the nuclear submarines they have now committed to buy actually cost.

Speers asks whether that means the government has signed a blank cheque, to which the minister replies that the government will be looking to buy the submarines “within the most efficient cost, and also the most efficient time frame”.

There’s an obvious question here, and Speers asks it. By committing to buying the submarines without knowing the cost, hasn’t the government rather weakened its bargaining position? Birmingham says no:

No, David. As I said, they [the US and UK] have strategic interests themselves in ensuring that Australia has this capability. And capability not only to operate them, but to be able to build and sustain them. That’s an important part of the nuclear stewardship arrangement but it is also a crucial part as allies and partners, increasing our overall shared capabilities [to] have increased presence in the region to provide the balance, to provide regional peace and security and support for international norms and laws into the future.

Updated

On Insiders, the finance minister, Simon Birmingham, is being asked about the new submarine deal.

Host David Speers is asking him about the $2.4bn the government has already spent on the submarines deal with the French that has now been scrapped.

Birmingham says that money has “enhanced Australia’s skills and capabilities in a number of ways”, but Speers points out quite a bit of it has been spent building things we no longer need in France.

“Some of it ensures that we start the new program with better skills, better capabilities. But indeed, some of it is a sunk cost,” Birmingham concedes.

Updated

The NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian has obviously decided she needs to be accountable today, and will hold a press conference at 11am.

We understand it’s to announce the opening of outdoor pools from Monday week, as well as potentially some other loosening in those hotspot LGAs.

Locals gather at Centennial Park after picnic Covid restrictions were lifted in Sydney
Locals gather at Centennial Park after picnic Covid restrictions were lifted in Sydney. Photograph: Brendon Thorne/Getty Images

Updated

As we know, today’s the day Victoria will find out what life will look like beyond the 70% double vaccination mark.

The premier, Daniel Andrews, has tried to manage expectations in the lead up, but we expect some changes around travel restrictions and rules about hospitality venues.

The talk out of Victoria is that the state will not announce the same level of easing as NSW has for its 70% mark, and I’m sure we’ll hear more about that from Andrews.

We don’t have a time for the announcement yet, but I’ll let you know when I know.

Updated

AMA urges national cabinet to approach easing restrictions 'with caution'

The Australian Medical Association (AMA) wants governments to stop using vaccination as the only marker for easing public health restrictions.

The organisation’s federal body put out a statement this morning calling on national cabinet to approach the easing of measures “progressively and with caution” and to include “pause and assess periods” in its recovery plans “to ensure strong control of new infection numbers are maintained”.

Dr Omar Khorshid, the AMA president, said the updated Doherty modelling released late Friday underlines the need to be cautious when easing restrictions.

When implementing the national plan we must be realistic, careful and test each change and the impact of measures before moving to the next phase, given that there are thousands of Covid-19 cases in the community.

It must also take account of vulnerable communities, such as Indigenous and those in regional and rural areas, because the plan is only as good as the vaccination rates in those vulnerable communities.

Among its recommendations, the AMA says it wants communities dealing with large Covid outbreaks “to bring these under control by either keeping high impact public health measures in place for longer, and/or easing these measures at a slower pace than other parts of the country”.

Updated

Victoria records 507 new cases

Victoria has recorded 507 new Covid-19 cases and one additional death.

Good morning.

My name is Michael McGowan, I’ll be guiding you through today’s events.

We can start today off with some good news. The Daily Telegraph is reporting the New South Wales government will announce this morning that outdoor pools across the state will open to the public from next Monday, including in heavily locked-down council areas. We expect to hear more about that later this morning. It comes after the government faced a backlash for not allowing people in hotspot LGAs in the western suburbs to swim in public pools despite packed beaches in the eastern suburbs.

The Victorian government will release a roadmap out of lockdown. It comes after the state recorded another 535 new Covid cases on Saturday and large anti-lockdown protests across Melbourne resulted in 235 arrests and 10 police officers being injured, including three who remained in hospital.

In non-Covid news, France recalled its ambassadors to Australia and the United States after the Morrison government ditched its submarine deal with the French and unveiled a new Aukus military pact, which also includes the UK.

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