What we learned, Saturday 3 July
That’s where I’ll leave you for today. We’ll be back tomorrow. Here’s what we learned today:
- The New South Wales premier, Gladys Berejiklian, declared “the green shoots are there” in Sydney’s Covid-19 outbreak despite the state recording another 35 cases of the virus, the highest daily count in more than a year.
- The reason for Berejiklian’s optimism was the number of cases in isolation. Only nine of the 35 new cases had been in the community during their entire infectious period, a drop from previous days. The chief medical officer, Dr Kerry Chant, called it “a glimmer of hope”, but the government wasn’t committing to ending the lockdown this Friday as scheduled.
- Brisbane’s lockdown was due to end at 6pm as Queensland recorded five new cases in the community. The premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, told reporters on Saturday the state was “not out of the woods yet” and some restrictions, including mask mandates, would remain in place.
- The former Liberal party MP Julia Banks alleged she was inappropriately touched by a male Coalition MP in an extract from her book published by Nine newspapers. The former Liberal MP said the unnamed MP put his hand “just above my knee and edged slowly and deliberately to my inner thigh and then further up my leg” in an “astoundingly brazen” act.
- The families of Australians stranded overseas have criticised a national cabinet decision to halve the incoming arrivals cap, likely for the rest of the year, saying it is cruel and wouldn’t have been necessary if the vaccine rollout had been better handled.
- The health minister, Greg Hunt, defended the new cap, but criticised airlines for bumping up the cost of flights into Australia, saying he hoped companies would not seek to gain “a commercial advantage from difficult circumstances”.
- Hunt also noted a record week in vaccinations, with a five-day mark of 746,983 pushing Australia’s vaccination total above 8 million people with at least one dose of the vaccine.
- The Northern Territory recorded no new cases of the virus after exiting its snap lockdown. Victoria and Western Australia also recorded no new cases.
Updated
South Australia records one new Covid case
South Australia has recorded one new case of Covid-19.
SA health authorities say the new case, a man in his 20s, had finished hotel quarantine after returning from overseas, but returned a “weak positive” case after his isolation ended.
While investigation into the source of the case is ongoing, SA Health says it is “highly likely” to be historical.
SA introduced new Covid-19 restrictions during the week as a result of cases in other states.
South Australian COVID-19 update 3/7/21. For more information, go to https://t.co/mYnZsGpayo or contact the South Australian COVID-19 Information Line on 1800 253. pic.twitter.com/rzPj8l4UTo
— SA Health (@SAHealth) July 3, 2021
Updated
“As well as all the utterly reasonable calls for integrity commissions to police the federal arena, there is now a serious case to get rid of discretionary grants programs entirely given the behaviour the ANAO keeps documenting – or at least reform these programs so fundamentally that they can’t be used like a taxpayer-funded ATM.”
Here’s Katharine Murphy’s column:
The Northern Territory chief minister, Michael Gunner, has taken to Facebook to boldly predict the virus is “trapped”.
The NT reported no new cases today, after its lockdown ended on Friday.
It’s been brilliant to see Territorians back out and supporting our bars, restaurants, cafes and shops over last 23 hours. And, as I expected, you’ve done an outstanding job of quickly adapting to the restrictions we outlined yesterday.
I spoke to the police commissioner this morning and he reported excellent overall behaviour last night.
Territorians are doing what we do best – supporting our small businesses, and looking after each other. I knew this would be the case.
For the second day in a row, there have been zero new positive Covid-19 cases in the Territory, and we remain confident we have this virus trapped.
Updated
Man charged after allegedly kitesurfing too close to whales
In non-Covid news, A South Australian has been arrested for allegedly kitesurfing too close to whales.
At 10.15am this morning SA police were called to the Esplanade at Christies Beach following several reports of a man kitesurfing close to a whale and her calf.
Police spoke to witnesses, who they said provided photographs “and a good description of the kitesurfer”.
“It was also reported that a similar incident had occurred on Friday 2 July,” police said.
Following an investigation, a 32-year-old man from Old Reynella was arrested and charged with two counts of molestation of protected animal and fail to keep prescribed distance from protected animal.
The man has been bailed to appear in the Christies Beach magistrates court on 2 August.
Updated
And that’s all from Greg Hunt.
Greg Hunt is asked what he would say to Australians stranded overseas about the cuts to hotel quarantine places. He notes “many of the states” wanted the stricter cap on arrivals.
We know well over 500,000 have returned home to Australia since the changes were made in March 2020. We will continue to bring Australians home, there will be a decrease in commercial arrivals but an increase in what are called facilitated arrivals to Howard Springs in the Northern Territory. Some of those flights have been undersubscribed in recent weeks so there is that capacity to bring additional Australians home via Howard Springs. We will just keep working because this is a really important task. Many of the states did want to make these changes.
Hunt is also asked about reports that commercial airlines have significantly increased the cost of flights to Australia since the cut was announced. He says he hopes “nobody takes any advantage of this situation”.
These are difficult and challenging times, we do have support programs for Australians overseas in extremis. I hope there is nobody who seeks commercial advantage from difficult circumstances.
Updated
Greg Hunt says the outbreak in the Northern Territory had been in “biggest worry” despite the low number of cases, because of the risk of the virus making it into remote Indigenous communities or Darwin’s homeless population.
He says the lack of new cases in the top end is “the most important development of the week”. Although, he adds, he’s “very pleased” that most of the new cases in New South Wales today were already in isolation.
Updated
Greg Hunt press conference
Greg Hunt opens his press conference by noting a record week in the rate of vaccinations.
On Friday there were 151,496 vaccines administered, marking a five-day total of 746,983. Both, he says, are milestones. The week total is 49,000 more than the previous highest week.
Updated
The federal health minister, Greg Hunt, is due to hold a press conference very shortly.
Updated
Police in Victoria will fine five people $5,000 each for breaking quarantine rules after arriving in the state.
On Saturday Victoria’s virus testing chief, Jeroen Weimar, said Australian Defence Force officers checking home isolation compliance caught the returned travellers breaking the rules on Friday.
“Those are the two things that give me sleepless nights. Our main concern is when I’ve got 13,000 people here in Victoria who have come from interstate on red zone permits, each one of them represents a risk that they are incubating the coronavirus,” AAP reports Weimar said after weeks of work to contain the latest outbreaks, his biggest fears are returned travellers failing to comply with restrictions, and more leaks out of the hotel quarantine system.
On Friday 50 defence force members visited just under 200 households to check people are following isolation rules.
Authorities also checked 800 people who arrived in Victoria by plane, of which 600 people came from red zones.
Five were forced to turn around as soon as they arrived, while another three were immediately taken to hotel quarantine.
The state has notched up its third day in a row with no new local cases.
That leaves 30 active cases, with 210 primary close contacts from the recent local outbreaks in Sandringham and Oakleigh still waiting to clear quarantine.
Weimar said any further easing of restrictions in Victoria depends on local efforts as well as the situation interstate, with 35 new local cases recorded in NSW.
That’s a pretty high fuel load that’s firing off north of the border and we’re rightly concerned about that.
But as the situation in the NT improves, Alice Springs, Darwin, Palmerston and Litchfield have been downgraded to orange zones.
On Saturday morning authorities sent messages to about 1,300 red permit holders who have returned from the NT, to tell them they can leave self-quarantine early if they have received a negative Covid test.
“When we can release you early, we of course will, that again is part of the whole border permit system,” Weimar said.
Updated
Good afternoon.
Queensland Health has just published some new exposure sites after recording five new Covid-19 cases on Saturday.
They are:
- Thursday 1 July, 7-Eleven Carina, 2.50am to 3.05am
- Thursday 1 July, Subway, Shop 1/1304 Old Cleveland Road, Carindale, 12.30pm to 1pm
- Thursday 1 July, Woolworths Carindale, 6pm to 6.45pm
- Friday 2 July, 7-Eleven Tingalpa, 1280 Wynnum Road, 11am to 11.15am
Updated
And with that, my time on the blog today will come to and end, but fear not, I leave you in the very capable hands of Michael McGowan. Thanks for reading!
So, now for something a little lighter. With greater Sydney still in lockdown, there is still lots of time to binge some new TV shows.
Luckily, we have the perfect list for your bingeing needs:
I would personally highly recommend Russian Doll, Insecure and Rick and Morty. Great stuff.
Updated
The federal opposition leader, Anthony Albanese, spoke to reporters earlier today, and said the PM should be working harder on the vaccine rollout:
Scott Morrison’s failure to plan has been a plan to fail. This new deal is just the old deal that has never been delivered.
Albanese also commented on the cuts to travel caps, saying it would not have been necessary if the vaccine rollout was up to speed:
This is a decision that is a direct result of the failure of the Morison government to put in place appropriate national quarantine facilities and to get Australians vaccinated.
Updated
Latest information on the COVID-19 restrictions in place to keep Queenslanders safe 👇 pic.twitter.com/0z6lm8nNdH
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) July 3, 2021
I’m pretty sure that draws to a close the day’s whirlwind press conferences, bar anything surprising emerging in the afternoon.
In the meantime, Paul Karp has an interesting yarn about travel exemptions (and rejections) rising as people look to travel overseas again.
According to a Guardian Australia analysis of Australian Border Force statistics, 34,616 exemptions were sought in June, up from 23,836 in May.
The surge in Australian citizens and permanent residents seeking to travel resulted in 14,522 exemptions being granted in June, up from 11,879 in May.
You can read more on the story here:
In that time, Victoria’s testing commander, Jeroen Weimar, has also been giving a Covid update (because 18 months into a pandemic, and we still get press conference crossover).
Weimar says five people have been fined for not adhering to isolation requirements, which are in place for people returning from orange and red “zones”.
This is red zone permit holders who we visited yesterday to check that they were isolating appropriately.
In those five cases they weren’t. We are now taking them forward for appropriate enforcement action, which includes those fines of up to just under $5,000.
Weimar says another five people were turned away at the border for not having the correct border pass on Friday.
Updated
OK and with that, McGowan wraps up what is an unexpectedly terse presser. Maybe because it’s on a Saturday? Who knows.
Updated
Again with the barbs directed toward NSW, McGowan is asked about Gladys Berejiklian’s comments on the reduction of the international arrivals, shooting back immediately:
Well, she agreed to it.
If she didn’t agree to it she could have a different approach if she wanted to, but she agreed to it. You cannot go into the meeting and agree to something and come out and say you do not agree with it. It is not really the Australian way.
Updated
WA premier expects Sydney lockdown to go on for a 'long time'
Well then. McGowan is asked about why a lockdown was chosen when countries in Europe are taking the opposite approach, and the premier then pivots to talk about the lockdown in greater Sydney:
We adopt a precautionary approach. I do not know if Europe is in the hundreds of thousands but a great many people have died there and they have had rolling lockdowns that have gone on for months on end.
The difference is they are getting vaccinated in large numbers. We have to get vaccinated. The key way out of this is for people to get vaccinated as soon as they possibly can. That is why I want us to release as much Pfizer as we can, make sure that people under 60 get access to Pfizer.
It is very important to make sure that we can find our way through and out of this. In terms of the steps we have taken over the course of the past week, I remind you all to look at Sydney. I expect their lockdown will go on for a long time. That is an area of probably 5 or 6 million people in lockdown for weeks and weeks on end. We have avoided that, and I want us to keep on avoiding that.
Updated
Zero new cases in the ACT:
ACT COVID-19 update (3 July 2021)
— ACT Health (@ACTHealth) July 3, 2021
•Cases today: 0
•Active cases: 0
•Total cases: 124
•Recovered: 121
•Lives lost: 3
•Test results (past 24 hours): 1,453
•Negative tests: 241,982
•Total COVID-19 vaccinations: 88,346
ℹ️ https://t.co/2rCcWDk4wl pic.twitter.com/Z92EQC4jSY
McGowan is also asked to clarify some of the confusion around gyms and indoor fitness classes, after the advice was changed last night:
The whole thing is very fast-moving. So, in the course of any given day, we have to make lots of decisions, and you have to sort of try and think of every situation that you might confront. So our view was that inside venues, fitness classes were permitted.
Turned out the chief health officer had a different view, so we corrected the advice last evening. Now, I know that that is difficult for people running those businesses, and for lots of people who want to go and do those classes, whether it’s aerobics or whatever else it is, but that’s the advice at this point in time. Obviously, on Tuesday, we’ll be able to, we expect, get back to a more normal situation.
Updated
The premier is rattling off the interim restrictions that he introduced yesterday, but took a moment to urge people to get vaccinated:
I urge everyone, when you are eligible, book your vaccination. Ultimately, vaccination is the only solution for getting out of the pandemic.
Western Australia records zero new locally acquired cases
Mark McGowan confirms WA has recorded no new locally acquired cases overnight.
Updated
And, straight to Western Australia, where the premier, Mark McGowan, is giving his update, this time outdoors.
Updated
And with that, the Queensland presser comes to an end, but not before Young is asked one final question, about whether or not some kind of restrictions will remain in place for some time:
It actually depends on what percentage of people get vaccinated. The vaccine is a great vaccine for the individual. It’s very unlikely that you’ll get particularly unwell and very, very unlikely you’ll die. But we are seeing it can still transmit.
So it just depends. If everyone got vaccinated, then I’m sure we would be going back to where we were. But if people don’t, then we’ll have to look at what the options are.
It’s an awful way to have to live, but that’s what we’ve got to do so we can defeat it, until everyone’s had the chance to be vaccinated.
Updated
Back to Queensland, and the premier confirms the NRL and rugby union matches will be going ahead this weekend:
Yeah, look, the advice that Dr Young has given us – and we discussed that at our meeting as well, because we thought that might be a logical question that comes up – is that people can attend that game. And, of course, they have to take their mask, wear their mask, and they have to check in using the QR code.
They’re sitting outside. You know, you’ve got less exposure. And as we know, the virus is out there. So, it’s more prevalent indoors, when you’re indoors. So that’s why we have to have that limited seating capacity in cafes and restaurants etc.
Updated
Zero new cases in the Northern Territory
In the meantime, no new cases have been recorded in the Northern Territory.
Updated
Queensland’s chief health officer, Jeannette Young, has just been asked how the lockdown can be lifted if there are more cases in the community:
Because we’ve had the last four days to really get hold of people and work it through. And because I think Queenslanders know what to do. They have been doing this now for 18 months, and we’ve got more things at our disposal.
So I’m comfortable that if people wear their masks, if they maintain their social distancing. Remember, we’re not going back to where we were, we’re going back to one per four square metres, everyone has to be seated, you can’t dance – all of those things, we’re going back to where we were after we had done all those lockdowns earlier in the pandemic.
So it’s really about people being sensible, which I know people are, and being cautious, which I know people are. We just need to get more people vaccinated as we go forward. It’s really good to see that 70% of our most vulnerable people over age 70 have had their first dose of vaccine. Only 15% [have had] their second dose. But that’s because most of them, of course, have had AstraZeneca. You need to have that minimum 12-week gap.
So, if we do all of those different things, I’m comfortable that we just continue then doing our contact tracing and working with people.
Updated
The premier has asked vulnerable residents to limit going out:
Asking people in this area for another key response, and that is our vulnerable group, our people aged over 70. Look, over the next 13 days, please, if you are unvaccinated, please limit your going out.
You know, close family is fine, but please limit and think about, you know, whether or not you need to go to a shopping centre, whether friends or family can drop some food over to you.
So, look, it is just really important over these next days to really think about, if you’re in the vulnerable category, do you need to go out and about in your community? And, please, limit that. So, where you can stay home, please stay home. But if you’re going out, make sure you wear your mask.
So it appears this presser has a theme: no lockdown but masks, QR codes and testing are essential.
The deputy premier, Steven Miles, says by maintaining those three elements, Queensland can avoid another lockdown:
There are three things that will keep us out of lockdown: Masks, QR codes and testing. And if we can keep those up for 13 days, we can avoid another lockdown, hopefully this will be our last one. For the first time in a long time, though, there could be cases in our community that we don’t know about.
And so it’s important that everyone, particularly in the south-east, goes about as though they could come in contact with the virus. And that’s why those three things are so critical.
Updated
The Queensland premier has given some details on the locally acquired coronavirus cases, saying the first is a person connected to the Portuguese restaurant cluster.
The second is a man in his 50s who works at the Sunshine Coast University whose infection seems to be acquired from the Portuguese restaurant cluster.
The third is a 29-year-old Brisbane man, and he has travelled to Eumundi and he is related to a previously reported cases.
The fourth is a woman in her 50s from Everton Park, who works at Prince Charles Hospital, and who had her first vaccination dose.
The final case is a man in his 50s, a baggage handler who works in Brisbane domestic airport, lives at Carindale and is not a known contact.
Updated
Brisbane and Moreton Bay lockdown to end at 6pm
Palaszczuk has also just announced that the lockdown across the Brisbane and Moreton Bay regions will be lifted at 6pm tonight, as planned.
She urged residents to come forward for testing, and to maintain the mask mandate, and finally to ensure people continue to check in at venues.
Updated
Queensland records five new local Covid cases
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has just announced that the state has recorded five new locally acquired cases and three in overseas arrivals.
Updated
While we wait, it’s worth a look at this yarn from Naaman Zhou, on the families who will remain stuck overseas as arrival caps are slashed.
Tony Sammartino, whose three-year old daughter, an Australian citizen, is stranded overseas, said he was left “angry” and “sick” by the announcement:
I had to turn off the television, I had a sore vein in my chest, it makes me sick what they’ve done, I speak to strangers, and people don’t even understand, your daughter has been away … tickets are $5,000, they don’t realise that.
You can read the story here:
Updated
And of course, we are ready and waiting for the QLD update, up next.
Oh, they just suddenly wrapped it up, but at the end there Chant was asked if the lockdown was “half-hearted” (which, to be clear, I don’t really understand, but worth seeing Chant’s answer):
No. Absolutely not. What we have actually seen this the sorts of exposures that people have when they are infectious artefact that they have gone through a drive through to pick up food. Yes, that is a theoretical risk, but pretty remote given the remoteness where you usually tap the card.
You are picking up your coffee or your bread at the bread shop, being in and out really quickly and not going in if there is a bunch of people.
Updated
Dr Chant was just asked if Sydney will “realistically” emerge from lockdown next week:
I am forever an optimist. We will brief and look at the data but the things that the community can do to absolutely give us the best chance of me being really happy, and that takes a fair bit, is we just need people to come forward and get tested.
The next few days will really disclose the pattern. As the premier said, there were some glimmers of hope last night that we would actually see more people in isolation. A number of the links were made and we have solved a couple of puzzles overnight. That all gives me confidence.
So ... that’s a maybe?
Updated
Berejiklian was also asked about arrival caps, and the impact a cut would have to the plan to bring back international students:
Unfortunately, New South Wales has always been extremely ambitious in the way we approach dealing with Covid. It causes us to reconsider all of those things.
The other states have clearly indicated they don’t want to continue to welcome Australians in the number we had. And it does also impact the other people you can welcome home. And so I think it does put a huge question mark over those plans. But New South Wales has always done our fair share.
I want to stress, just because you’re welcoming home less Australians every week, doesn’t mean that outbreaks aren’t going to happen. Mistakes are going to happen.
We have seen some states bringing home far fewer Australians than New South Wales is, having those outbreaks and having those concerns. So, it doesn’t mean we are not going to face these outbreaks.
Updated
The premier is asked about vaccine supply, with the journalist asking if the state, and Australia, have the chance to catch up:
We have the potential to catch up very quickly. We’ve a resilient, strong nation. Even though we’ve got a pause in the number of vaccines we’re getting out, come September, October, according to what the commonwealth is telling us, we’re going to get a whole lot of supply.
That’s why I’ve been vigilant in making sure in New South Wales we are working with our GPs, we’re working with all of our facilities to really bump up the opportunity to get the jabs in arms. We really need to think about what the world looks like in Australia between now and when those vaccines are available.
Pushed about the supply, she returns to a classic line:
Well that’s something the federal government controls.
Updated
OK, well, on that note, a journalist has just asked the premier what she thinks of the crowds at Bondi and at Centennial Park.
Berejiklian:
I’m concerned the good weather, and all of us being cooped up, people will let their guard down. Yes, it is great weather, we live in the best place on Earth, but please be sensible. If you’re exercising with others outside your household, maintain good social distancing.
Don’t let an exercise group of 10 become 20 or 30. We much prefer people exercising outside in a safe way, in a socially distanced way, and we just ask people to not give up now. We’re at the halfway point. We’re at a good position. The lockdown is having the impact to date we thought it would.
Updated
Everyone at this presser keeps mentioning the great weather, its making me want to frolic in the sun.
Brad Hazzard has stepped up now with his daily colourful choice of words.
Today, we are “at war” with the virus and we apparently cannot win this war with “wacko views”.
We are deep in a war with this virus.
And we can’t win this war unless the community are all with us, absolutely. Now, most of the community are with us. Most of the community understand the weapons we have in this war, QR codes, getting tested if you’ve been at a venue of concern or if you have symptoms, any cold or flu-like symptoms.
And, of course, wearing masks. When you’re in a war, you don’t win it with wacko views. Unfortunately, we’re seeing that with some people who think it’s OK not to wear masks.
Updated
NSW police deputy commissioner Gary Worboys has given his daily infringement updates, which usually have some interesting tidbits.
Today, he said a whopping 350 people called Crimestoppers to report people breaching public health orders. Seventy-eight infringement notices were issued, including at a cafe in Jindabyne, people travelling to the Jenolan caves (because they were “bored” no less), and finally a group of people partaking in “burnout activity” in Tuggerah Lake.
Police would much rather not issue personal infringement notices. We would rather see people comply with public health orders. The vast majority of people that police come into right across the state do the right thing.
They do the right thing by themselves, their family and communities. We would much rather be highly visible and having people do the right thing.
Updated
Chant has given a rundown of the cases linked to the student nurse who tested positive earlier this week and worked while infectious:
Testing of her close contact identified an additional eight cases across three linked households. Of those, five worked in aged care and healthcare and two had worked in Baulkham Hills while infectious. One had worked at Royal North Shore, Royal Ryde and Fairfield hospital while infectious and the others had not worked while infectious.
Follow-up investigations at the healthcare facilities have identified two further cases at Royal North Shore hospital, including one of today’s cases, who was identified as a close contact of the student nurse. This case did not work while infectious and was fully vaccinated.
There are therefore two cases who acquired their infection through healthcare exposure, but both had not worked while infectious. That is the rationale. If we can detect cases, we can remove them from workplaces and make sure we do not see ongoing transmission. We are obviously very watchful and I appreciate the efforts of staff but also patients.
Updated
Chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant has just stepped up to give us some further details on the cases.
She says 29 of the new cases were linked to previously confirmed cases, with 14 being household contacts. Twenty-three were in isolation for their infectious period.
Six cases remain under investigation. Unfortunately we did not break our testing record, coming in at just over 56,000 on Friday.
Updated
NSW premier urges residents to avoid shopping centres
The premier has urged people to avoid shopping centres and instead go outside in Sydney today:
If you do want relief from your home today, if you have been staying at home and doing the right thing, please avoid shopping centres or indoor areas.
If you do feel you need to get out of the house for exercise, please go outdoors. The weather is great. We know the virus transmits less when you’re outdoors, and please make sure you keep good social distance.
The next few days are critical. Let us not give up, but instead keep respecting what the stay-at-home orders and the lockdown mean.
Updated
Berejiklian seems pleased with the number, saying that despite it being the most recorded cases in a single day during this outbreak, the “green shoots” of hope were still there:
While, as predicted, the number of cases is going up, we are seeing a greater proportion of those cases in isolation, which is exactly what we want to see. The green shoots are there. The green shoots of the lockdown doing what we hoped it would certainly there. We have not seen a huge surge in cases and we certainly feel through our contact tracing that we are not at stage missing any chains of community transmission.
Updated
NSW records 35 new cases
Premier Gladys Berejiklian has just announced New South Wales has recorded 35 new locally acquired cases, but only nine were infectious in community.
Updated
Gladys Berejiklian to give Covid update at 11am
An update on the press conference schedule. We are expecting NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian to step up at 11am, then QLD premier Annastacia Palaszczuk at 12pm.
Updated
Katharine Murphy never misses, and her take on the PM’s plan announced yesterday is a must-read:
Updated
Julia Banks alleges she was inappropriately touched by male Coalition MP
Julia Banks has alleged she was inappropriately touched by a male Coalition MP in an extract from her book published by Nine newspapers.
The former Liberal MP says the unnamed MP put his hand “just above my knee and edged slowly and deliberately to my inner thigh and then further up my leg” in an “astoundingly brazen” act.
“The only saving grace was that this time I was wearing suit pants, not a skirt and bare legs,” she writes of the incident in Power Play: Breaking Through Bias, Barriers and Boys’ Clubs.
Banks says in her book that she was subject to slurs about her age and appearance from both sides of politics and was questioned about her age and who would look after her children when she was seeking preselection in 2015.
She says she was subjected to “brutal and overt conscious bias” while an MP “as opposed to the more polite, unconscious variety I’d experienced in my corporate career”.
Updated
A pipeline has caught fire in the Gulf of Mexico, leading to this astounding and frankly terrifying footage:
The Gulf of Mexico is literally on fire because a pipeline ruptured pic.twitter.com/J4ur5MNyt1
— Brian Kahn (@blkahn) July 2, 2021
I may be in the minority here, but I do not believe the ocean should be on fire. But that’s just me.
It appears the QLD Covid update has been delayed. We were initially expecting it to happen at around 10.30am but the time has now been changed to 12pm.
I don’t know if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but there you go. The NSW update will likely happen at 11am, as it does everyday like clockwork. Fingers crossed we get some good news.
There was a lot of news that came out of a hectic Friday yesterday, but perhaps the biggest announcement was that of the PMs four-stage Covid-19 “exit strategy.”
Experts have welcomed the development, but warn that full vaccination of vulnerable and high-risk groups will be key to easing restrictions.
My colleagues Christopher Knaus and Melissa Davey spoke with four leading epidemiologists and immunisation experts on the plan, and all of them emphasised the importance of a high level of vaccination among the vulnerable.
You can read their reactions at the story here:
We are on standby for the Queensland Covid update but in the meantime Labor’s Jason Clare is on the ABC as well this morning, and is condemning the federal government for the vaccine rollout:
One of the big mistakes Scott Morrison made last year was he only ordered Pfizer and AstraZeneca, when other countries were ordering vaccines in the order of four or five different types. This time last year, America was ordering Pfizer, the UK ordered Pfizer and so did Canada. We didn’t get our first order of Pfizer until the end of last year, and that’s the reason we don’t have enough of that vaccine now.
That’s the reason that our vaccination rates are so much lower than almost every other country in the world. Scott Morrison made two big mistakes last year. He didn’t order enough different vaccines and he didn’t build quarantine facilities around the country. And we are paying for that now.
Updated
Australia’s chief nursing and midwifery officer, Prof Alison McMillan, was on the ABC this morning, and was asked about the future of lockdowns, and how they should be used in light of the PM’s announcement yesterday of a four-phase exit strategy:
Well, if I use the Northern Territory example of recent days, we saw Northern Territory choose to introduce some restrictions.
It gave them the opportunity to get all of that contact tracing completed. It prevented the chain of transmission continuing. It was contained quickly and, as you just announced, we are now seeing Alice Springs and Darwin come out of those restrictions.
So there may still be occasions, rare occasions, where there is concern of significant community transmission, these will be required, but what we heard yesterday from national cabinet was they will be used as a means of last resort.
Updated
More than 2 million people in Perth and the Peel region are emerging from lockdown this morning, and into some limited restrictions for the next three days.
The West Australian premier, Mark McGowan, laid out the path forward yesterday, outlining the restrictions of the next three days, which include a mask mandate and limits to visitors at home.
McGowan warned that although the lockdown had ended, “until we have enough West Australians vaccinated”, they would remain a necessary tool to curb outbreaks.
McGowan said different states’ interpretation of “last resort” meant they approached outbreaks differently.
NSW’s version of ‘last resort’ is get 80 cases and then you have community spread and a lockdown that might go for weeks and weeks, if not months.
Our view of last resort is that you listen to the medical advice, you see if there’s any prospect of community spread and try and kill it quickly and efficiently right then rather than let it drag on and result in potentially catastrophic consequences.
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Victoria records zero new Covid cases
In some good news though, Victoria has recorded zero new cases overnight:
Reported yesterday: 0 new local cases and 0 new cases acquired overseas.
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) July 2, 2021
- 19,623 vaccine doses were administered
- 24,247 test results were received.
More later: https://t.co/2vKbgKHFvv#COVID19Vic #COVID19VicData pic.twitter.com/LWERsj0cSg
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There are fears the Greater Sydney lockdown could be extended, after NSW Health identified 35 new exposure sites overnight.
The new close contact exposure sites include the Exquisite Brows and Spa in the Marrickville Metro, a Strathfield medical practice, the Manly Novotel and the Eastlakes Woolworths.
Further alerts have been issued for venues in Burwood, Auburn, Homebush, Strathfield, Eastern Creek, Roselands, Villawood and Lakemba in Sydney’s inner west and west; Bondi Beach and Bondi Junction in the east; Eastlakes, Matraville, Oatley, Caringbah, Kirrawee, Rockdale and South Hurstville in the south and south-east; and Avalon in the northern beaches.
So, it leaves us on a knife’s edge, with case numbers bubbling along all week. Many in the state will be keeping their fingers crossed we see a reduction over the weekend, as the lockdown begins to affect numbers.
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Something else to keep an eye on this Saturday will be the testing numbers coming out of NSW. The state broke its own record for most tests in one day, recording a pretty amazing 73,000 tests in 24 hours, beating the previous record of 69,000 set in December, in the midst of the Avalon outbreak.
On that note, I was also one of the people getting tested yesterday, and incredibly I received my (thankfully negative) result only five hours later, so many thanks to the health staff making it possible.
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Dozens of new Sydney exposure sites
Last night NSW Health added to the list of areas of concern:
⚠️PUBLIC HEALTH ALERT – ADDITIONAL VENUES OF CONCERN⚠️
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) July 2, 2021
NSW Health has been notified of new venues of concern associated with confirmed cases of COVID-19 pic.twitter.com/3MwMW2AaKB
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Good morning everyone, my name is Mostafa Rachwani and I will be guiding you through the news this morning.
We’re expecting another big day of press conference again today, especially after New South Wales recorded 31 cases yesterday, the most in a single day since the outbreak began on 16 June.
Dr Kerry Chant, the CHO, has warned that the situation might get worse before it gets better, so we’ll be keeping an eye on case numbers today.
We’re also expecting to hear from Queensland today, who recorded three new cases yesterday, and with parts of Greater Brisbane waking up in an extended lockdown.
The premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, announced the extension, which is scheduled to run until 6pm tonight. Let’s hope nothing changes until then.
Otherwise, we’ll be here for whatever else may emerge and, after a wild week, you really cannot predict what will emerge, so let’s get stuck in.
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