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The Guardian - AU
National
Elias Visontay (now) and Mostafa Rachwani and Cait Kelly and Matilda Boseley (earlier)

NSW classified ‘extreme risk’ by WA as SA records most cases since last April – as it happened

What happened Wednesday 15 December 2021

With that, we’ll end our live coverage for today.

Here’s a recap of today’s major news developments:

  • New South Wales announced 1,360 new Covid cases on Wednesday as mask requirements and bans for unvaccinated people were dropped, with the state’s health minister revealing that modelling predicts daily case numbers could reach 25,000 by the end of January.
  • The Australian Medical Association has warned that the Covid vaccine booster program is “already falling behind”, risking more infections and “a repeat of mistakes seen overseas where we are seeing the rapid spread of Omicron”.
  • Western Australia further tightened its already strict border rules for travellers from New South Wales in response to spiralling case numbers in the state. WA also announced it would halve its weekly international arrival cap from 530 to 265 in response to the Omicron variant.
  • Victoria recorded 1.405 new Covid cases, the Northern Territory recorded four, while South Australia recorded 26 new Covid cases – the state’s highest daily total since last April.
  • Tasmania reopened to fully vaccinated travellers from hotspot areas.

Have a great evening. We’ll be back tomorrow to do it all over again.

Updated

New Zealand’s cities could be reshaped for decades to come, forcing the long-entrenched dream of the quarter-acre block to the margins, after the government joined forces with the opposition to pass sweeping legislation in favour of housing densification.

In a rare display of cross-party collaboration, Labour and National passed the Resource Management (Enabling Housing Supply and Other Matters) bill – a policy that aims to counter urban sprawl and boost supply by up to 105,000 new homes in the next eight years by forcing councils to loosen restrictions on building in urban areas.

Councils won’t be able to block townhouses or apartments under a sweeping reform aimed at improving affordability – but will it work? And could the idea cross the Tasman?

My colleagues Eva Corlett and Caitlin Cassidy have this very interesting read:

Allowing Australians to use their superannuation to buy a home would cause another “price explosion”, property economists have warned.

The $3.3tn savings pool is an attractive target for politicians wanting to boost home ownership, fund infrastructure or wean people off government pensions in the decades ahead.

A McKell Institute report released on Wednesday models the effect on the housing market should Australians be given access to super for a home deposit, as advocated by federal government MPs such as assistant minister Tim Wilson.

Housing prices have increased significantly during the pandemic, helped by record low interest rates. Rental costs have also risen.

A standard 20% deposit for a house in Sydney – where one-fifth of Australia’s population lives – is now around $300,000, or close to five times the median annual earnings for an individual.

Read more:

Western Australia will halve its weekly international arrival cap to 265 in response to the Omicron variant.

The WA government announced it would cut its hotel quarantine intake on Wednesday, as premier Michael McGowan announced a reclassification of New South Wales as “extreme risk” and a further tightening of the already strict entry rules for travellers from the state.

The halving of the arrival cap comes as WA has recorded its first known Omicron cases in hotel quarantine. Two returned overseas travellers are confirmed to have the Omicron strain of the virus and are being monitored in state-run hotels, reports AAP.

WA currently receives 530 international arrivals per week but the government will halve the cap from next Thursday.

It comes after a number of breaches involving ventilation issues at Perth’s quarantine hotels, two of which prompted short lockdowns earlier this year.

“Halving the arrivals cap will ensure capacity in hotel quarantine and safeguard models are maintained given the heightened Omicron risk and addition of NSW approved travellers in hotel quarantine,” a state government spokesman said on Wednesday.

The NSW government will forge ahead with plans to license flood plain harvesting before the end of the year but will make amendments to address some of the findings in a NSW upper house committee report which warned knowledge around the practice was inadequate.

The committee report, issued Wednesday, calls for further scientific work to establish the extent and impact of flood plain harvesting, which involves capturing floods moving across plains using massive dams, levees and channels.

The practice, which has grown dramatically in the past 20 years, has been blamed by the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists for some of the 20% reduction in flows in the Murray-Darling, along with climate change.

Environmental scientists have warned over-licensing could have long-term catastrophic impacts on the ability to achieve improvements in the Murray-Darling basin.

Read more:

Western Australia’s premier Mark McGowan has urged all Western Australians in New South Wales to return to the state immediately ahead of already strict border rules tightening even further from Saturday.

In a post on Facebook, McGowan said the situation in NSW – where 1,360 Covid cases were announced on Wednesday – is “very concerning”.

McGowan said:

I urge all Western Australians currently in New South Wales with an approved G2G Pass to come home immediately, because once the reclassification takes effect on Saturday, they will not be able to do so, except for the most extraordinary circumstances.”

Residents returning to WA will have to navigate a complex set of rules and gain specific approval to enter from Saturday.

McGowan said exemptions for approved travellers will be restricted to certain government and specialist workers or extraordinary circumstances determined by the state emergency coordinator or the chief health officer.

Additionally, to gain approval to enter the state, travellers in those categories must have had at least two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine (if eligible) and return a negative test prior to travel, and will be subject to the following conditions on arrival unless otherwise advised:

  • Undertake mandatory hotel quarantine at a state quarantine facility for 14 days at their expense.
  • Undergo Covid-19 testing on days 1, 5 and 13.

McGowan noted that arrivals from NSW were already required to do 14 days of quarantine at home under current border settings, but the move to extreme will mean it must be done in hotel quarantine, and the number of eligible travellers is restricted further.

He added:

We want Western Australia to remain Covid-free until we safely ease our borders on 5 February.

WA Premier Mark McGowan speaks during an announcement in Perth
WA premier Mark McGowan says all Western Australians with approved passes should return home immediately. Photograph: Richard Wainwright/AAP

Updated

WA classifies NSW 'extreme risk'

New South Wales will be classified as an “extreme risk” in Western Australia’s Covid border controls, bringing it into the same travel rule category as Victoria.

The classification will come into effect from 12:01am on Saturday, and follows a spike in Covid cases in NSW. On Wednesday, 1,360 new cases were announced.

Western Australia’s premier Mark McGowan also noted the NSW government’s eased rules for unvaccinated residents when announcing the reclassification on Twitter.

McGowan said:

Ahead of our safe transition, we need to do everything we can to protect our State, while we continue to get Western Australians vaccinated.

Under this category, the exemptions for approved travellers will be restricted to certain Government and specialist workers or extraordinary circumstances determined by the State Emergency Coordinator or the Chief Health Officer.”

Updated

Rural patients and those living in lower socio-economic areas are struggling to access Covid booster shots, experts are warning, amid concern the vaccine rollout is “falling behind” as the Omicron variant spreads.

General practitioners and pharmacies are reporting a sudden increase in demand for vaccines, after federal health advice changed to allow boosters five months after the second primary dose.

Representatives of the aged care sector said the rollout for residents and staff was improved from earlier this year, with more than 1,000 booster clinics conducted in aged care facilities already.

But rollout problems are emerging in other areas.

Some GPs caught off guard by the weekend’s announcement said they were left without enough supply to meet demand. Demand on pharmacies also increased suddenly and significantly.

The Australian Medical Association said it was “extremely concerned” at the lack of support for both GPs and pharmacists, and warned the booster rollout was already falling behind.

My colleagues Christopher Knaus, Natasha May, and Cait Kelly have more on this:

Updated

Just when is the right time to signal your exit from a senior position in the government (or elsewhere)?

Mike Pratt, the secretary of the NSW Treasury, is clearly not happy that his intention to leave before the next state election in March 2023 made it into the media.

So he’s sent an all-staff memo to tell everyone he was “weighing up” whether to return to the private sector. (The Australian described him as “sensationally” sending it to the department staff, but we opted for a more sober take.)

Pratt said “only a small number of people were aware of my early thinking. Unfortunately, this information has been prematurely leaked to the media, and I am disappointed with this breach of confidentiality.”

That’s usually a cue for more leaking. (Please note: I’m open to Wickr, Telegram, Signal, you name it, even peter.hannam@theguardian.com).

Anyway, Pratt will probably face more questions about his future tomorrow when he is due to front a NSW upper house committee looking into the accounting treatment given to $40b of state rail assets.

It’s a complex tale but if you want to understand more on what the fuss is all about, there is this handy explainer.

Updated

Embattled NSW treasury secretary, Mike Pratt, has denied he’s planning an imminent exit from the role, telling staff there is still “so much work left to do” to help the state recover from the pandemic.

In a message sent to staff on Wednesday, Pratt denied a media report that his resignation and the appointment of a successor were being planned. He said, though, he may leave the public service prior to the March 2023 state election.

“I want to let you know that I have been weighing up whether to return to the private sector before the next state election after almost a decade in public service,” Pratt said in his missive to staff. “The timing would enable a smooth transition to a new secretary before the poll.”

Pratt said “only a small number of people were aware of my early thinking. Unfortunately, this information has been prematurely leaked to the media, and I am disappointed with this breach of confidentiality.”

The statement to staff comes a day before Pratt is scheduled to front a NSW upper house inquiry over the finances of the Transport Asset Holding Entity, or TAHE. The entity, which holds about $40bn in rail assets, is at the centre of a standoff between treasury and the state’s auditor general, Margaret Crawford. The state’s audit office this week stated it was refusing to sign off on the state’s 2020-21 financial report “due to significant accounting issues”.

Read more:

Updated

Queensland has backtracked on public health advice that threw dozens of airline passengers into hotel quarantine, and has caused further flight cancellations, according to a tourism body.

All passengers on two Virgin flights – VA1105 from Newcastle to Brisbane and VA375 from Brisbane to Townsville – were declared close contacts of a male traveller with the virus on Tuesday night, and ordered to isolate for 14 days regardless of a negative test result.

Two further exposure sites were listed in Townsville and Brisbane Airport.

But the health minister, Yvette D’Ath, backflipped on the decision on Wednesday morning, announcing only passengers in the rows behind, in front of and beside the passenger would be required to complete a fortnight quarantine.

The rest of the passengers would be deemed casual contacts and would be released from isolation after receiving a negative test result. The passengers were initially facing Christmas in hotel quarantine.

D’Ath said it was the first domestic flight into Queensland where there was a potential Omicron case on board and health authorities acted “just as we did” when the new Delta variant arrived.

Read more:

Thanks for bringing us the news Mostafa.

You have Elias Visontay with you now. I’ll be taking you through rest of the afternoon.

If you see anything you think I should be aware of, you contact at me at elias.visontay@theguardian.com or via Twitter @EliasVisontay.

And with that, I’ll hand over the blog to the writer of the previous post, Elias Visontay. Thanks for reading.

The New South Wales Labor opposition has called on the Perrottet government to release the health advice that it relied on when deciding to ease Covid rules from today.

The call from opposition health spokesman Ryan Park followed the NSW Covid update on Wednesday, where the state’s chief health officer, Kerry Chant, pleaded with residents to continue wearing masks in indoor settings despite the government dropping the requirement from Wednesday.

Chant said “my clear advice is in indoor settings, wear a mask”, and did not directly answer a question about why mask rules were being wound back on a day when NSW announced 1360 new Covid-19 cases – up from 804 on Tuesday.

Shortly after the NSW Covid update, Park said “obviously Kerry Chant made recommendations about masks and they are important”.

He said:

We trust Kerry Chant and her team. All we’re asking the government to do is to release that advice and to ensure that they are making decisions based on that advice

We want the health advice made public because we want to make sure that the government is following that advice and the decisions it makes, not for us, but for the community who’s naturally somewhat concerned at the moment. There is a heightened sense of anxiety in the community. I understand that. What we’re saying to the government in the spirit of bipartisanship is please release the advice because that will go a long way in keeping people calm.”

NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant (centre) speaks to the media during a press conference in Sydney, Wednesday, December 15, 2021.
NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant (centre) speaks to the media during a press conference in Sydney, Wednesday, December 15, 2021. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP

Throughout the pandemic, the NSW opposition has largely supported the government’s Covid rules in line with health advice, and Park echoed premier Dominic Perrottet’s comments that hospital system strain, and not daily case numbers, is the more appropriate metric for concern.

Updated

New Zealand has recorded 74 new cases of Covid, and one death.

Health authorities said another 15 new cases were also detected late yesterday, so will be added to tomorrow’s numbers.

The NZ Ministry of Health offered their condolences to the family of the deceased:

A patient with Covid-19 has passed away at Tauranga hospital. The family has requested that no further details be released and, out of respect for those wishes, we will be making no further comment.

Of the 9,963 cases in the current outbreak, 84% (8,353) are not fully immunised. Of the 508 hospitalised cases in the current outbreak, 93% (474) are not fully immunised.

Updated

NT records four new cases

The Northern Territory has recorded four new locally acquired cases overnight, all linked to the Katherine cluster.

The NT recorded 11 overall cases, with five being international arrivals, and another case in an aircrew member from a flight from London. There was also a case in home quarantine in Darwin.

Two of the new locally acquired cases are in the Royal Darwin hospital precinct, including a woman in her 30s and her young son, both from Timber Creek.

They had stopped in Katherine before going to Dawrin for surgery for the child.

The other cases are a woman in her 20s and a teenager from Katherine East.

Updated

SA records 26 new cases

Earlier today, it was announced that South Australia has recorded 26 new cases, the highest daily total since last April.

Two cases are health workers who had attended a number of aged care facilities, with six sites identified as sites of concern.

It comes as premier, Steven Marshall, defended the state’s contact tracing resources, after they were delayed in naming exposure sites:

A lot of the information does come in late because you’re speaking to people and then they recall where else they may have been or could have been an actual transmission that wasn’t there previously.

So look, I’m absolutely 100% convinced we have provided the adequate resources, we’ve been asked for more resources, we’ve provided more resources, I think our contact tracing is the best in the world.

But what we do need to understand is it’s a changed environment from where we were even just two months ago.

So it is important to list exposure sites so people have got some information, but we are at a different level of stress with regards to this disease from where we were two to three weeks ago and certainly where we were two to three months ago.

Marshall also announced changes to restrictions for international arrivals, who will see their quarantine periods cut to seven days.

But the premier added that testing requirements pre-departure wouldn’t be changing “anytime soon.”

Updated

AMA says booster program must be 'sped up'

The Australian Medical Association has warned that the booster program is “already falling behind,” risking more infections and “a repeat of mistakes seen overseas where we are seeing the rapid spread of Omicron.”

In a statement, the AMA’s president, Dr Omar Khorshid, says there are concerns at the lack of support for the booster program:

GPs and pharmacists are not being properly supported to implement this critical booster program.

By the end of this month close to four million people will be eligible for the booster, however, in the last week Australia has only been able to administer just over 210,000 booster doses.

The commonwealth has cut vaccination funding for GPs delivering boosters. This is making it very difficult for GPs to run clinics at the volume and scale required, including running extra vaccination clinics or extra sessions. GPs, for example, need to hire extra staff and make hundreds of telephone calls to encourage patients to get their boosters.

Unless primary care is supported, the booster program will fall further behind, and millions of Australians will be put at greater risk of the significant complications associated with Covid-19. The return of stringent public health restrictions will once again be inevitable.

Dr Khorshid also said the new variant “poses a significant risk” and that it was essential that the public are encouraged to take up the booster:

The latest strain of Covid-19, Omicron, poses a significant potential risk to the population and appears much more transmissible than previous strains, so we have to pick up the pace to protect the community.

We need to urgently reach out to the public to encourage them to come forward for their booster, and GPs are best placed to do this for many in the population.

Updated

ACT lifts travel restrictions

The Australian Capital Territory has updated its restrictions on domestic arrivals, with fully vaccinated close contacts of Omicron cases no longer needing to quarantine for 14 days.

They’ll have to isolate for seven days instead, with all other restrictions on domestic arrivals lifted.

A statement from minister for health, Rachel Stephen-Smith, outlines the new changes:

People will no longer need to fill out a declaration or exemption form to travel to the ACT, and all remaining high risk geographical areas will be removed.

The three-day quarantine requirement for fully vaccinated overseas arrivals will be retained, and this is likely to remain over the Christmas and New Year period.

The ACT also removed special restrictions on fully vaccinated arrivals from South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia, Eswatini and/or Malawi, who will only need to quarantine for three days.

Updated

NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant, just earlier told reporters it was still too early to judge the severity of the Omicron variant.

Speaking at today’s health update, Chant said authorities believe the reason for NSW’s growing cases was the new variant, and warned people to be vigilant.

We still don’t have enough information to inform our assessment about the severity profile, but we believe that that information will be emerging over the next two weeks.

We have seen a rapid uptick in cases and what we believe is that Omicron is driving that uptick.

A little bit of it is driven by Delta as we are getting out and about ... but, primarily, we believe that Omicron is certainly driving the uptick in cases – particularly in the Newcastle area.

Updated

No vehicle? No worries – it shouldn’t mean you have to hit the brakes on your getaway plans, writes Caitlin Cassidy.

Westpac will stop funding fossil fuel projects but Australia is not ready to rely on renewables immediately, chairman John McFarlane says.

McFarlane gave a lengthy defence of continued lending to coal and gas projects in response to environmentally-concerned shareholders at an annual general meeting on Wednesday, AAP reports.

Investors calling into the virtual meeting pleaded with executives to stop lending to companies such as Whitehaven Coal and Woodside for new coal and gas projects.

McFarlane said the easy decision would be to stop financing all fossil fuels projects.

“But given this is Australia, it’s not the right answer,” he said.

“This country does need us to finance various sectors, including electricity generation.

“We know gas will be with us for some time. We’re not going to be able to deal with renewables immediately.”

Updated

We’ve got some mixed messaging coming out of NSW - on masks and Covid numbers.

Here’s a little more on the Covid situation in Victoria, where 1,405 new cases and three deaths were announced today.

There are currently 86 people in the ICU in Victoria and of those 46 are ventilated.

The issue is of course Victoria’s case numbers have not dropped since the state hit 90% vaccination, so the concern is Omicron is circulating and may create a surge in cases.

Updated

NSW to change close contact definition and drop seven-day isolation for some

Thank you, Matilda. We’re going to go to NSW where premier Dominic Perrottet was just speaking about how there will be a change around who is a close Covid contact – and that some will no longer need to isolate for seven days and will only need to get a PCR test.

He said close contacts would now be focused on household contacts, and that even household contacts may not have to isolate for seven days. “A close contact will be a member from your household ... there may be occasions where Health may determine outside of that definition that you would be a close contact.

“In those circumstances, rather than isolating for seven days, you’ll just need to get a negative PCR test.”

It’s not entirely clear what the new rules mean but we’ll bring you more when we know.

Updated

With that, I shall hand you over to the amazing Cait Kelly who will bring you all the updates from this NSW press conference.

NSW could have 25,000 Covid cases a day by January, modelling predicts

Modelling has predicted that New South Wales could see up to 25,000 new Covid cases a day by the end of January.

The University of NSW modelling estimate was revealed by NSW health minister Brad Hazzard on Wednesday, as Covid restrictions eased in the state.

From today, unvaccinated residents can enter most settings and mask mandates in shops, hospitality and other settings have been scrapped.

Hazzard also urged people to minimise their gatherings in high density settings, and to wear a mask even though it is not a requirement, as thousands of people in the state who become close contacts in coming days face isolation orders over Christmas.

NSW recorded 1,360 new Covid cases on Wednesday.

Updated

The Victorian ombudsman and Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission have asked the state’s political parties how laws can be changed to deter the misuse of public funds.

The integrity bodies have written to leaders of Victorian political parties seeking recommendations for legislative changes as they continue to investigate the alleged widespread misuse of ministerial and parliamentary entitlements as part of a branch stacking operation within the Labor party.

According to a statement from the agencies, it is hoped the legal reforms will strengthen the frameworks for parliamentary accountability, particularly in relation to breaches of the members of parliament code of conduct.

Evidence heard during recent public hearings regarding alleged branch stacking suggested that some Victorian MPs misused public resources by directing electorate officers and ministerial staff to engage in work that furthers their political objectives.

The Victorian ombudsman, Deborah Glass, said reforms introduced in the wake of the so-called red shirts scandal appeared not to have done enough to protect against the misuse of public funds. She said:

The evidence indicates that despite a package of reforms enacted by Parliament in 2019 in response to my Red Shirts report in 2018, existing laws and rules around the legitimate use of public resources are not robust enough to prevent their misuse.

The Ibac commissioner, Robert Redlich QC, who has overseen the public hearings, said:

Much of the evidence heard at the public hearings spoke about how taxpayer funds were directed to ministerial and electorate office staff to perform party‐political during work hours, rather than the job they were hired to do in performing ministerial or electorate work.

According to the Ibac and Ombudsman statement, Victorian MPs are also being asked to provide clarity about the process they use to appoint staff for electoral or ministerial work, and whether reducing the staffing allocation and electorate office budget should be considered.

The public hearings have heard from MPs and staffers that factional tasks were often done by publicly funded workers when there was not enough “legitimate” work to do.

The feedback from MPs will help form the recommendations in the final public report, which will be handed down next year.

Updated

Ummmmmmmmmm...

Household close contacts in NSW no longer need to isolate for seven days

I’ll bring you more on this soon, but the rules in NSW has once again relaxed, with household close contacts of Covid-19 cases (those who live in the same home) no longer need to isolate for seven days, just return a negative PRC test.

Morrison has been asked if he thinks the Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk’s success in limiting Covid-19 deaths in her state will benefit her federal Labor candidate Anthony Albanese.

I tell you what, after the next federal election, Annastacia Palaszczuk will be the premier of Queensland. How you vote will not change that. In Victoria, Dan Andrews will still be the Premier of Victoria. Mark McGowan will still be the Premier of Western Australia. However, you vote at the next federal election.

But I can tell you one thing, if you don’t vote for the Liberal-National parties then Anthony Albanese will be the prime minister of Australia and not myself and that’s what this election is about. Ultimately it’s a choice between those alternatives.

Others will have their view. But if Anthony Albanese needs to be propped up by premiers, take that as a vote of no confidence in him because they don’t think he knows how to do the job.

Here is what Morrison had to say about the allegations of “pork barrelling” that have arisen following this nine newspaper analysis of how much federal grant funding each electorate received.

It’s selectively looked at. People can make their own judgements about that. When we make a commitment, we keep it.

When we commit to support local community organisations, when we commit to bust congestion in urban areas, whether it’s here in Ryan or any other parts of the country, when we make that commitment, Australians know that we’ll keep it. In addition to that, when Australians are facing tough times - the grants you’re talking about have predominantly gone into rural and regional areas, particularly here in Queensland, because they were dealing with drought-affected communities and grants going into drought-affected communities. S

o people in rural and regional Australia understand that when they’re doing it tough, they know the Liberals and Nationals, the LNP in Queensland, will be here to support them. Others might want to criticise us for keeping our commitments. They might want to criticise us for the support we’ve given to drought-affected and flood-affected communities but when I make a commitment to do those things, I carry it through.

Morrison says he “welcomes the common sense” decision by the Queensland government to let most passengers on the Virgin hot spot flights to leave isolation after they return a negative test.

He urged the state not to go backwards, to keep moving towards living with Covid-19, and it a not so subtle swipe at the Queensland government noted how “shattered” those on the flight must have felt during the period where they believed they would be in isolation over Christmas.

Morrison has been asked about the Nine newspaper analysis which appears to show Coalition and marginal electorates were given significantly more in grants from the federal government than their federal counterparts.

I’m just working to bring you the full transcript, but the prime minister has suggested that the funding data was “selective” and tried to drive home the point that when the Coalition commits to a project, it delivers on it.

Updated

Morrison says he's 'probably the most quarantined' PM in the world

Morrison has been asked about him recently being declared a casual Covid contact:

I did get that advice. I was there at that event. I’ve been double PCR tested since and both negative.

I think I’m one of the most tested-for-Covid prime ministers anywhere in the world and probably the most quarantined as well.

And so we always take that health advice seriously and we fully comply. Before we came up here today, we ensured we were fully compliant with the Queensland rules for coming into Queensland and so, of course, we’ve done that.

Updated

Bruce Saunders, the assistant minister for trade, has laid out what this new proposal would mean more clearly:

Perhaps 13- to 24-year-olds that have lived a life with a tablet a mobile phone for most of their young lives. They know the tricks. They know the loopholes, the anxiety, the difficult times that are out there and it’s really important that we listen to the youth of Australia and be guided by their decisions and make an impact on the new youngsters coming through to really make a difference to make sure the predators know we are fair dinkum. Don’t touch our kids.

Our kids are well-skilled, well-tooled, well-analysed and, importantly, recognise potential danger, know how to react, and, most importantly, will report any dangers that exist both in the online world and also the real world. So there is no place to hide. And the youth advisory group will provide a structure that provides initial skills and tips to keep our youngsters safe online.

Updated

OK, so now we have moved on to the main meat of this press conference. The newly proposed online safety act that the Coalition wants to bring in.

Morrison:

We need to make sure this is continually informed by young people, because they are living with it. They know what is going on. They understand the technology better. They understand the tricks that these monsters will use to try and trick them.

And we need their feedback and we need help from them to guide us in this area. And help parents by giving them the right tools.

That is why we are setting up reporting with the e-safety commissioner Julie Inman Grant, the first to listen directly to young people about how we can even more successfully and effectively keep their world safe online.

This is a great passion of mine and Jenny’s, it is a great passion of parents all around the country.

Updated

Morrison is really hitting all the talking points in the first minute or two of this press conference:

What we can say is a country is no country got everything right, but it is important to get the balance right. And we made the big calls and we have got the balance right.

And as a result, Australia has one of the lowest fatalities rates [anywhere] in the world. We have one of the strongest economies is of an advanced economy is in the world.

Updated

Scott Morrison is back in Queensland today for the first time in a long time after borders reopened this week.

It is great to be back in Queensland. It is so great to be back in Queensland. I have been looking forward to this and it is wonderful to be here. It is wonderful to see the country connecting again, it is wonderful to see Tasmania open, it is wonderful to see, as I flew in today, there was a Japan Airlines plane on the tarmac here in Brisbane, as we note that Japan, Korea, students and of course skilled migrants being able to come into Australia.

We are living with this virus and the opening up, the national plan which we lead as a federal government*, that set the targets for vaccines to ensure that we could connect again, it has been put in place and that has led to the opening of these borders.

* It’s REALLY stretching the outer limits of the truth by suggesting the federal government is in any way in control of the national reopening plan.

Updated

Oh my good lord! We are going straight from the Victorian press conference to the prime minister.

Lord help me!

An important update on that PM cricket photo opp:

91% of Victorian Covid cases in ICU were not fully vaccinated: CHO

Sutton has laid out some fairly stark statistics on which demographics are still getting seriously ill from Covid-19.

Those in hospital yesterday, 73% were not fully vaccinated. And 58% did not even have their first dose. Of those in intensive care, 91% were not fully vaccinated and 88% had not had their first dose. No vaccine at all.

We’re talking about the eligible population in ICU, so if vaccines did nothing, you would expect 92% or 93% of people to be fully vaccinated. But we are seeing a tiny proportion who are fully vaccinated. Everyone else is not fully vaccinated or has just one dose.

If that is not a story of the protection of vaccines, I do not know what is.

Updated

Chief health officer Brett Sutton says Victorian now has 10 confirmed cases of the Omicron Covid-19 variant.

You would have seen a media release this morning although we have an additional four cases of Omicron variant detected in the community. That brings the total cases to 10.

That went out early this morning to advise people who had been attending the Sircuit or Peel Hotel, if they were at those venues on the 10 December.

They are all required to be fully vaccinated and checked in via the QR codes. We don’t expect there are unvaccinated individuals though, they have been provided advice on the 14-day requirement for unvaccinated individuals nonetheless, we thank everyone for the assistance.

Really, thanks to that QR check-in we have been able to check in with all of those 850 plus patrons who checked in and have been directly messaged through the course of today.

Updated

Foley has confirmed that no one currently in hospital with Covid-19 in Victoria has received a booster jab.

It’s important to know that of those people in hospital with the virus at the moment, none have received a booster, and while sadly they continue to be overrepresented in the non-vaccinated as well.

We will continue on with these efforts to make sure that Victorians can get those out over the holiday period.

Updated

I am WEEPING as I type.

Foley:

Elective surgery rules will also be updated, with health services and regional services able to step up and resume to 75% of normal elective surgery activity.

Foley:

Workplaces exposed to a positive coronavirus case will no longer need to undertake the same level of extensive deep cleaning they had historically. Now international evidence into the coronavirus is an evolving the airborne or droplet borne disease, and the likelihood of becoming infected by touching a surface is increasingly seen as a low risk.

Having said that, normal cleaning arrangements will continue to apply, among the benefits we have seen it is just the lifting and hygiene as a result of the increased arrangements we have had through the pandemic.

Victorian vaccine mandate lifted for non-essential retail

Foley:

Secondly, the mandatory vaccination requirement when it comes to non-essential retail and retail more broadly. It will be lifted, except for hair and beauty services.

The vaccination requirement will also be lifted when it comes to real estate, as long as people are not hanging around for long. As well as places of worship and weddings and funerals.

Masks will still be required in retail settings. Having said that, face masks in those religious settings such as weddings and funerals or ceremonial settings will not be required.

If an event is held at a place of worship, there will not be any vaccination requirements or limits of participation.

If that same ceremony is under way at a hospitality setting, then vaccination requirements will continue to apply as they will continue to apply in all hospitality services.

Christmas shoppers at Melbourne’s Royal Arcade.
Christmas shoppers at Melbourne’s Royal Arcade. Photograph: Diego Fedele/AAP

Updated

Victoria’s health minister, Martin Foley, says that, as the state’s newly minted pandemic powers come into effect from midnight tonight, several Covid-19 rules in the state will be tweaked.

Firstly, people who are under 18 will no longer be required to show proof of vaccination status at hospitality venues, the current arrangement is 12 and above. In terms of these arrangements, particularly for families at Christmas, moving up to 18 make sense.

Updated

Here are the new Victorian Covid-19 rules:

The main change seems to be that those under 18 will no longer need to have proof of vaccination in order to enter venues.

Someone who knows more about sport than I do, is this a good or bad throw from the PM?

Albanese has been asked how he intends to swing marginal Tasmanian seats back into the red during the upcoming election.

By putting a message to Tasmanians that they need to hear and that that they want and that message is very clear – that here in Tasmania, they want jobs. They want secure work. They want to see companies like this backed with high-value manufacturing. They want a government that actually looks after their interests and the whole of ... not just marginal electorates.

This government have been in office now for almost a decade. They’re asking for a second decade in office.

Do Tasmanians think that this is as good as it gets? Because a fourth-term government, can you imagine the rorting of taxpayer funds that will occur in a fourth term if this government gets its way?

Updated

Albanese:

When I was the minister, we funded projects like Gold Coast light rail in safe Coalition seats, because it was the right thing to do. We put $7.6bn into the Pacific Highway when we were in office, a highway that didn’t cross a Labor electorate from the north shore of Sydney right up to the Queensland border for most of that area.

The truth is that this government have been involved, and they’re addicted to it and they just dismiss it and in the last budget, they established a range of funds where they allocated billions of dollars in decisions taken but not announced. It’s not on!

Updated

Albanese:

We need a national anti-corruption commission and we need it now and I put the prime minister on notice that a national anti-corruption commission will be able to look at the sports rorts program and these rorted programs of taxpayer funds.

Taxpayer funds are ones that are paid for by the hard workers such as at this company here.

They deserve better than to have their funds, their taxpayer funds from their hard work funnelled into marginal electorates on the basis of a political whim. They deserve for funding to be allocated as well for major infrastructure projects.

Updated

Reporter:

Well, what would you do?

Albanese:

What we did. What we did was to have grants based upon integrity. What we did was to have a grants system [going] through local government where every local government in the country benefited, and where we took advice from departments.

We didn’t have is the sort of system that this government has – and we will not have in government – is a few ministers sitting around with colour-coded sheets and the prime minister’s office sitting down with colour-coded seats based upon the marginality of electorates and determining funding that way.

Funding should be based upon objective criteria and should be based upon need.

Updated

Now that the Tasmanian border is open, Anthony Albanese is down there talking about how bad the Liberals are. No surprises there.

Let’s have a little listen to what he has to say about this research done by Nine newspapers, showing the distribution of grant funding by the government by the electorate:

Well, this is just a disgrace. Today, we have found through the research that has been done by Nine newspapers that $4 has gone to Coalition electorates for every dollar that has gone to a Labor electorate.

In my electorate of Grayndler, they’ve received $700,000 of commonwealth grants funding at the same time as the electorate just next door, that has a very similar composition, Reid, has received $15m and Cook $8m.

Taxpayers don’t pay different rates of tax according to what electorate they’re in but what we know is that unless you’re in a marginal National or Liberal party seat you won’t receive the same support as those voters do. And the pork-barrelling is just out of control.

This government have set up a number of funds – sports rorts, commuter car park rorts, regional grants, a whole range of programs. They’ve even politicised the community safety program. The community safety program should be above partisan political interests.

What we see from this government is rort after rort.

Updated

Omicron will inevitably spread through Queensland, CHO says

Queensland’s chief health minister, Dr John Gerrard, says that Omicron spreading throughout Queensland is inevitable and the state will not be changing its approach to reopening.

He said the Virgin flights were pretty with extreme caution simply because it was the first time they were confronted with the possibility of an Omicron carrying flight. (We don’t actually know if it was Omicron yet, but it could be.)

We took an extremely cautious approach. This is the first domestic flight on which a likely Omicron case has been diagnosed.

But moving forward, following these discussions, we believe it will be safe to use our more usual infection control measures whereby we isolate or we quarantine those people two rows in front of and behind the person involved, even if it is Omicron, as we expected.

As I’ve said, this virus is going to continue to spread. It is clear now that Omicron is very contagious and most of us now believe that the speed with which we will reach a peak is probably faster than we anticipated.

It’s more in the weeks than the months, from what we’re seeing in New South Wales and the United Kingdom. It’s very much faster and much more contagious than we’ve seen previously with Delta. We’ll see that in the coming days and weeks and I think we can reasonably expect that Omicron will spread in Queensland in the coming weeks. It won’t be a surprise. We are not going to change our plans as a result of that.

Updated

Most passengers on two Queensland hotspot flights will be released from isolation before Christmas

D’Ath has confirmed that – with the exception of the infected person’s travel group, and those sitting in close proximity – all the passengers of those two hotspot Virgin flights will be allowed out of isolation once they return a negative PCR test.

The health unit and chief health officer and deputy chief health officers analysed overnight what should be our approach when we have Omicron on these flights. Do we need to take a different approach to quarantine? Or can we apply our normal rules?

So there’s been a lot of discussions overnight and I know that there’s been contact with other chief health officers and health officials interstate to see how states are dealing with this based on the national guidelines.

I’ve been advised this morning that the chief health officer and the deputies have viewed that we can apply the normal rules in relation to these flights and we don’t need to wait until we get the findings of whether it’s Omicron because, if it is, we still will apply these rules.

That means that other than those people who will be directly advised they are close contacts ... the remainder of the passengers will be deemed to be casual contact. What that means for those people will be that they have to get tested, isolate until they get a negative result, and then just watch for symptoms over the next 14 days.

Updated

D’Ath:

Now, in relation to two of these particular positive cases in the community, we can advise that one person was at the Argyle hotel in Newcastle and although, in both of these cases we are waiting on the genomic sequencing to come back, we are certainly treating them as if they are Omicron.

We know there has been a large number of cases of patrons who had been at the Argyle hotel in Newcastle. Secondly, there was the gentleman who flew from Newcastle to Brisbane, then Brisbane to Townsville. This person had attended another exposure site in Newcastle.

We are, at this stage, treating it as if it was Omicron. It was this gentleman who was on the two flights we put up as exposure sites yesterday afternoon.

Updated

Six Queensland Covid-19 cases, some infectious in the community

Queensland’s health minister, Yvette D’Ath, is speaking now and confirms that the state has recorded six new Covid-19 cases, all from interstate travellers who tested positive in Queensland.

In relation to these cases, they are in a number of places across Queensland and have been infectious for up to six days. So places such as Goondiwindi, Wide Bay, Townsville, Gold Coast and Brisbane South have all reported these cases.

In addition, we can report that one of our previously reported overseas positive cases who have arrived from the UK has now been tested positive for Omicron. So that is in hotel quarantine.

Updated

Here are the details of the Covid-19 positive woman who died in the latest NSW reporting period.

She had received three doses of the vaccine but, NSW Health says, had underlying health conditions.

This is the third death linked to an outbreak at this facility.

Updated

So we are just standing by now to hear from the Queensland health authorities when they step up at 11am (AEDT), but looks like we will be hearing from the Victorian crew shortly after that at 11.30am.

Then we’ve got NSW at 12! I’m going to need a coffee.

ACT records six new Covid-19 cases

News Corp is reporting that most passengers on board the two Queensland flights that have been caught up in a Covid-19 scare will be released from isolation after testing negative.

According to News.com.au:

News.com.au has confirmed the vast majority will now be deemed casual contacts by the Queensland government. That means they will be tested and released from quarantine.

Reportedly those seated in close proximity to the infected passenger will still be required to do the full isolation period.

I’ll follow this up and see if we confirm it for you guys.

Updated

I know this doesn’t start until June but it still feels like a weird vibe to be promoting the new international flight route you’ve helped organise, while many people can’t enter or leave WA to see family for Christmas.

Updated

This is a great point (although worth remembering that hospitalisations are generally delayed by one or two weeks, so naturally when numbers are declining hospitalisations will be higher than when they are inclining).

Updated

Scott Morrison will travel to Queensland despite being identified as a casual contact of a person with Covid-19 after his attendance at a Sydney high school graduation.

Morrison and a person with Covid-19 were among about 1,000 attendees of the Kincoppal-Rose Bay graduation gala at the International Convention Centre at Darling Harbour on Friday.

A spokesperson for the prime minister confirmed he was deemed a casual contact by New South Wales authorities on Tuesday night but he has returned two negative PCR tests since the event.

You can read our full coverage of this story below:

OK, we will be hearing from the Queensland health authorities at 10am and will hopefully get some clarity on whether a Covid case onboard flights to the state will always mean the entire plane needs to isolate for two weeks.

Updated

There is an update from the ongoing inquest into the Melbourne aged care home St Basil’s, which had a deadly Covid-19 outbreak last year.

AAP is reporting that former chairman Konstantinos Kontis has requested to be excused from giving evidence, believing this could incriminate him legally.

Updated

Criticism is coming in this morning after the Western Australia’s upper house passed the Labor government’s contentious Aboriginal heritage legislation last night despite protests by Indigenous groups, AAP reports.

In a statement on Wednesday, Nyikina Warrwa Traditional Custodian and academic Anne Poelina said Labor had squandered the opportunity to right wrongs and scrap racist laws.

Our power to speak for our Country and self-determine how it is protected has been disregarded...

McGowan has failed us.

The National Native Title Council also condemned the passage of the bills, noting they were not co-designed with the input of traditional owners.

NNTC chief executive and Gundjitmara Djabwurrung man Jamie Lowe said:

“As we have stated repeatedly, the bill does not make traditional owners the decision-makers in the protection and management of their cultural heritage,”

If you want to change a history of heritage destruction to a future of heritage protection, Aboriginal people must have an independent right of review for ministerial decisions, with genuine power to make decisions about heritage sites.

Federal Liberal MP Warren Entsch, who chaired a parliamentary inquiry into the destruction of the Juukan Gorge, warned while speaking to ABC that the laws don’t give Indigenous people an avenue to stop abuses of ministerial power.

The reality is while it certainly goes some way to addressing the deficiencies in the current [law] it falls far short of the reforms that were advocated in our [inquiry] recommendations.

Updated

Australia’s air force chief ticked off on a $16bn Joint Strike Fighter program clearing a major milestone despite acknowledging “deficiencies” with the aircraft and support systems.

The defence department has also revealed that a much-trumpeted upgrade to the Jindalee Operational Radar Network is running “several years” behind schedule, a year after the Morrison government announced plans to expand surveillance of Australia’s eastern approaches.

The disclosures follow moves by the defence minister, Peter Dutton, to dump the trouble-plagued MH90 Taipan helicopters early and replace them with Black Hawks from the US in coming years.

A detailed new report on Australian’s defence acquisitions outlines problems with other major projects, including the Joint Strike Fighter program.

You can read the full report below:

The ABC is reporting that the Covid-19 positive man who travelled from Newcastle to Townsville, triggering two flights full of passengers into isolation over Christmas, was an Australian defence force officer.

He was alerted that he was a close contact when he landed in Townsville, went to get a test, and subsequently came back positive.

Updated

Victoria records 1,405 new Covid cases and three deaths

Victoria is still slightly ahead of NSW in the daily case number with 1,405 new infections, but that gap is narrowing.

Sadly three people infected with Covid-19 have also died in the latest reporting period.

Updated

NSW daily Covid cases jump to 1,360, with one death

NSW has once again seen a significant jump in cases with 1,360 new Covid-19 cases in the latest reporting period.

We will have a breakdown of where in the state those cases are later this morning.

Sadly one person infected with Covid-19 has died.

Updated

Labor senator Pat Dodson has blasted the Western Australian government for failing its one opportunity to protect Aboriginal heritage and stop the “tyranny of cultural genocide” after the state’s controversial new heritage bill was passed into law.

The new law, introduced after Rio Tinto destroyed a 46,000-year-old cultural site at Juukan Gorge, has drawn anger from Aboriginal traditional owners, shareholder groups and even federal MPs. After months of asking, the bill was finally released to the public on 16 November.

Critics had called on the WA government to halt its passage and conduct further consultation with traditional owners.

“It’s a discredit to the legislators and particularly those who advise the legislators,” Dodson said. “If you look back at the history of Western Australia, it hasn’t been so advanced in this space for a very long time and this was the one opportunity it had to be a bit advanced, and it has failed.”

You can read the full report below:

This funniest part of Josh’s chat.

We will be hearing from the NSW premier, health minister and chief officer at midday today (AEDT).

Speaking of the huge Omicron exposure in Melbourne, the Guardian’s very own reporter Josh Taylor has been caught up in it, which means we will be one team member down at the Christmas party tonight.

Here he is chatting with ABC News Breakfast:

I got a text message at 11pm, saying I had been identified as a close contact of an Omicron case.

That was all the information I had last night. I got up early, went and got tested and saw the press release this morning, identifying the club I was at on Friday night as one of the exposure venues for Omicron.

I’m actually not surprised that they have done this ... As you have just reported, what we are seeing in Newcastle with the amount of cases that have spread within that one nightclub, I’m not surprised they are working fast to stop a repeat of that here.

Updated

Morrison will still travel to Queensland despite casual contact status

Scott Morrison has spoken to 4BC Radio ahead of his trip to Queensland, confirming that he is still coming to the state despite being a casual contact of someone with Covid-19.

Morrison said that both the chief medical officer and Queensland authorities have confirmed it is safe to travel, citing his two negative PCR tests since the Friday night event he attended.

Morrison said:

That’s what living with the virus is. The virus is there, Omicron is in Australia. We’re going to live with this virus not let it drag us back where we’ve been.

We’ve got one of the highest vaccination rates in the world. We’re about to tip over 90% double dose around the country. Yesterday we had another bumper day in terms of our booster program ... We’ve got to keep moving forward, we can’t slip back.

It’s great Queensland has opened up, but we need better and faster methods to get back in the community.

Morrison then hedged on a number of Covid measures:

  • On the Covid contacts having to quarantine for 14 days in Queensland, Morrison said he hoped allowing people to be out by Christmas would be a high priority and there is “nothing magical about 14 days”. He argued governments have to be more “innovative” with solutions like allowing people out earlier if they test every day.
  • On cruises, Morrison said it was “terribly frustrating” P&O had pushed back the start date for cruises, and the federal government is “keen to move”. But “we’re still being patient about it” while state authorities give necessary approvals.

Morrison also spruiked two other announcements:

  • A youth advisory committee on online safety;
  • Easier access to the pension loan scheme through a more attractive interest rate for people of pension age to draw down on equity in their homes.

Updated

Looks like we might get some clarity on what the Queensland flight situation will be when Queensland authorities step up to chat to media later this morning. Stay tuned to the blog for all the updates.

Australian schoolchildren’s basic literacy and numeracy skills were relatively unscathed during first year of the Covid-19 pandemic, but gaps are widening between city students and those in regional and remote areas, the latest Naplan study has found.

Analysis of long-term data for the annual National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (Naplan) National Report 2021 – found significant and growing gaps between some demographics, including along gender lines, between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students, and those in metro and regional areas.

The full 360-page report, released on Wednesday, follows high-level data in August which indicated that students in years 3, 5, 7 and 9 in 2021 continued to perform on par with students in 2019, despite lockdowns and periods of remote learning through 2020.

The Naplan tests were not conducted in 2020 due to nationwide lockdowns.

You can read the full report below:

The New South Wales government has picked Kerry Schott to chair its net zero emissions and clean economy board, hoping for a happier outcome than its first attempt.

Earlier this year, the energy and environment minister Matt Kean chose former prime minister and mentor of sorts Malcolm Turnbull to lead that role.

Within days, though, right-wing media stirred into action, demanding Turnbull be dumped. The then premier Gladys Berejiklian complied, with the ex-PM decrying the “thuggery” involved.

Schott, a seasoned official, was Turnbull’s choice to head the energy security board but her appointment is unlikely to stir such animosity.

Kean said:

Dr Schott is one of the most outstanding public servants in the country and brings with her a wealth of knowledge and experience which will be invaluable as NSW drives towards halving our emissions by 2030 and reaching net zero by 2050.

The board’s role includes providing advice on the design of net zero programs, opportunities for low-emissions research and industries in NSW, and strategies to support existing industries to adopt low or zero emissions technologies.

Kerry Schott
Kerry Schott has been named chair of the NSW net zero emissions and clean economy board. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

We had a reminder of the challenges this week, with the NSW government’s own natural resources commission warning that trapping carbon in the soil as a way of reaching emissions goals won’t be easy with warming temperatures likely to result in a rise in soil carbon emissions.

Kean, meanwhile, has a busy week with plans to release the state’s mid-year budget update tomorrow morning. Now also the NSW treasurer, Kean has inherited a growing scandal over the accounts of $40bn in assets of what was RailCorp.

The NSW auditor general Margaret Crawford is not satisfied with how the government has used the assets to make the overall budget look better than it is, and is refusing to sign off the government’s accounts. Read this explainer for more detail on this odd affair.

Updated

Restrictions ease in NSW despite rising cases

Unvaccinated people are now free to shop and socialise in New South Wales and travellers arriving from southern African countries no longer have to quarantine, AAP reports.

The NSW government is honouring its pledge to significantly ease Covid-19 restrictions despite a sharp rise in Covid case numbers amid super-spreading events in the festive season.

For the first time in three months, the same set of rules now applies to the vaccinated and the unvaccinated in NSW.

QR code check-ins will be scaled back and masks are only required only in high-risk settings like public transport and planes.

There’s no cap on visitors in homes, hospitality venues, or on numbers at outdoor public gatherings.

Sydneysiders at a cafe at Bondi beach on Wednesday. Restrictions have eased further in NSW today.
Sydneysiders at a cafe at Bondi beach on Wednesday. Restrictions have eased further in NSW today. Photograph: Jenny Evans/Getty Images

Meanwhile, NSW Health says fully-vaccinated arrivals from eight southern African countries of concern where the Omicron variant emerged will no longer have to enter 14 days of hotel quarantine, bringing all international arrivals under the same requirements.

Chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant said all fully-vaccinated international arrivals must self-isolate for 72-hours and have a negative result within the first 24 hours of arrival and avoid high-risk settings for a week.

The lifting of restrictions - long-planned for December 15 - comes just as case numbers spike to a two-month high.

Some 804 people tested positive for Covid-19 in NSW in the 24 hours to 8pm on Monday and infection numbers have quadrupled in the past two weeks.

They included 224 people in Newcastle, where super-spreading events at a nightclub and a pub have been identified.

Updated

The big question today seems to be will every flight to Queensland positive person on board lead to all passengers quarantining for two weeks?

I ask this partially as a journalist and partially as a person who has a holiday booked in for Noosa in January.

According to the Australian, the event Morrison attended on Friday was Kincoppal-Rose Bay’s school graduation gala at the International Convention Centre in Sydney’s Darling Harbour.

Updated

Scott Morrison declared a Covid casual contact but does not need to isolate

The prime minister, Scott Morrison, has been tested for Covid-19 after being deemed a casual contact, but is not required to isolate.

It’s understood that the PM’s office sought advice from NSW prior to meeting the Korean president at Kirribilli House on Tuesday night.

Here is the statement from his spokesperson:

Last night the Prime Minister was deemed a casual contact by NSW Health following attendance at an event last Friday night.

Since the event, the Prime Minister has received two negative PCR tests and as such NSW Health and the Chief Medical Officer has advised he is not required to isolate.

As per the NSW Health guidelines, the Prime Minister will be tested again on day 6.

The PM will still travel to Queensland today after getting advice from Queensland Health and the state’s chief medical officer who agreed that all the normal requirements have been met.

Scott Morrison has been deemed a casual Covid contact.
Scott Morrison has been deemed a casual Covid contact. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP

Updated

On a lighter note, here is Gutwein’s reaction when asked about Tasmania hosting its first ever Ashes test match in January (after WA failed to open its borders in time).

I can’t get the smile off my face. When we were discussing this with Cricket Australia, I made the point that this wasn’t just about money, this was about making history.

And Tasmania has never had an Ashes test. I expect that Tasmanians will turn up in droves. I hope it’s a decider, if not, it makes no difference. We still have got an Ashes test and I know it’s something that all Tasmanians are very proud of.

Updated

Speaking of Tasmania, the premier Peter Gutwein has told ABC News Breakfast that Covid-19 cases arriving in the state is inevitable as the borders open to all of Australia this morning.

Well, I’m excited. It’s been nearly two years that we’ve had to have border controls in place.

I’ve been up-front with Tasmanians. At some stage, Covid will arrive here. We’ve got our business community well prepared, our broader community well prepared and our health system is well prepared.

We’re going into this slightly differently. We’ve largely been Covid free. We’ll be one of the few places in the world who are going into a reopening like this, with such a high rate of vaccination, and no Covid in our community currently. That will stand us in good stead.

Updated

Potential Omicron superspreader event in Melbourne

The other breaking news this morning is two possible Omicron superspreader events in the inner Melbourne suburbs of Fitzroy and Collingwood.

According to Victorian health authorities, a person who later tested positive for the Omicron variant of Covid-19 attended two venues on Friday, 10 December. (Last Friday).

Everyone who attended Sircuit Bar on Smith Street in Fitzroy between 9pm and midnight, and the Peel Hotel on Peel Street in Collingwood between 11.30pm and 3am (Saturday), are now considered close contacts.

Health authorities predict that 320 people were at the Peel Hotel and more than 410 people were at Sircuit. Those who are fully vaccinated must quarantine for seven days and those not fully vaccinated must isolate for 14 days.

I’ll bring you updates on this throughout the morning as well.

Updated

Passengers on two Queensland flights to quarantine through Christmas

Good morning everyone – it’s only ten days until Christmas and the news just won’t stop!

It’s Matilda Boseley here with you this morning and please know that I am wearing a Father Christmas hat this morning, and will be every day till the 25th.

Speaking of Christmas, I have some bad Christmas news to start the day. Two planeloads full of passengers will be forced into quarantine in Queensland for 14 days (including Christmas). It comes after an unknowingly Covid-19 positive person flew on a Virgin Australia flight from Brisbane to Townsville on Monday. The other affected flight, also a Virgin Australia service, was to Brisbane from Newcastle, where there has been a recent superspreader event at a nightclub.

The flights are: VA1105 Newcastle to Brisbane; and VA375 Brisbane to Townsville.

Queensland Health confirmed the case in a tweet on Tuesday night. All passengers on both of the flights were designated as close contacts, while those who were in the parts of Brisbane airport around the time have been listed as casual contacts. I’ll bring you more updates on that throughout the morning.

And further south, Tasmania is throwing open its borders to all fully vaccinated travellers this morning, after closures spanning the best part of two years.

Under the reopening plan, people coming from designated high-risk areas must return a negative test in the 72 hours before they arrive and present proof at the border.

The state government released border reopening modelling a few months ago, which predicts 87 deaths in the six months from December and 50,000 cases. The health department said the system is prepared although several unions have raised concerns about staff levels.

Updated

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