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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Caitlin Cassidy, Donna Lu, Nino Bucci and Mostafa Rachwani

NSW schools reportedly to reopen earlier than planned and Oberon enters lockdown – as it happened

What we learned today, Wednesday 29 September

With that, we will wrap up for the night. Thanks for being with us. Here are the headlines for today:

  • Nine News is reporting NSW schools will return to face-to-face learning a week earlier than planned, with kindergarten, year 1 and year 12 students to return from 18 October.
  • The NSW local government area of Oberon has entered a seven-day lockdown from 6pm.
  • The former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has announced he will be attending the Glasgow climate summit in a biting press club speech, in which he described the Morrison government not securing enough Covid-19 vaccine doses in 2020 as “the biggest failure of public administration I’ve ever witnessed”.
  • WorkSafe has charged the Victorian health department with 58 breaches of the Occupational Health and Safety Act over its hotel quarantine system.
  • The CFMEU headquarters in Melbourne has been named as a tier one exposure site following the protests outside its office last week. Four officials from the Victorian construction union have tested positive to the virus. Victoria recorded 950 new cases and seven deaths.
  • NSW recorded 863 new cases and 15 deaths. The ACT recorded 22 Covid-19 cases. Queensland recorded one new local case.

Updated

No new Covid cases in Western Australia

Updated

Reports NSW students will return a week early

This hasn’t been officially confirmed, but Nine News is reporting NSW schools will return a week earlier than initially planned.

Updated

More on the Tasmanian premier Peter Gutwein’s comments on modelling showing likely Covid-19 deaths if the island reopened at 80% vaccination rates from AAP’s Ethan James.

Gutwein today outlined what would happen, according to Doherty Institute predictions, if the state allowed travellers from NSW and Victoria with that percentage of its population fully vaccinated.

Over the first six months it would result in 14,900 cases, up to 590 hospital admissions, 97 intensive care admissions and almost 100 deaths.

Gutwein has targeted a 90% full vaccination rate for people over 16 by 1 December. He said Tasmania was “on track” to reach the number and aiming to reopen by Christmas.

The national plan out of Covid-19 aims for easing of restrictions at 80%, although state borders aren’t specifically mentioned.

Gutwein said:

The reopening of our borders is what we’re considering. Other states are considering the reopening of their communities. That’s the difference we have in Tasmania. As we move to reopen our borders, Delta will arrive. And when Delta arrives some people will get sick, some people will get very sick and unfortunately some people will die. What we need to do is to get to a point where I can confidently say to myself that every single Tasmanian that is eligible has had the opportunity to have the vaccine.

Almost 58% of Tasmania’s eligible population has been fully vaccinated, behind only the ACT and NSW.

Premier Peter Gutwein speaks at a Covid briefing in Hobart on Monday
Premier Peter Gutwein speaks at a Covid briefing in Hobart on Monday. Photograph: Ethan James/AAP

Updated

A union that represents about 9,000 Queensland nurses has launched a fighting fund in challenge of the state’s mandatory vaccination policy for Queensland Health staff.

Tomorrow marks the first deadline for staff who care for patients to have had at least once vaccination dose in the state. They must be fully vaccinated by 31 October.

Queensland Nurses and Midwives Union, which has about 62,000 members, is actively encouraging its members to get vaccinated.

But its much smaller rival, the Nurses’ Professional Association of Queensland, says the mandatory jabs policy could drive away frontline workers and cripple the health system.

It has launched a public fundraising campaign to bankroll “key legal fights” in support of nurses it says should not have to choose between a jab and a job:

We are opposed to the mandate for the Covid-19 vaccinations and believe that nurses are medical professionals and are far more capable than politicians, bureaucrats, and so-called public health officials of making informed medical decisions relating to their own bodies and how they will protect their patients.

Last month, the union released a statement supporting nurses’ “right to choice” to have or not have a Covid-19 vaccine.

Updated

Quite a lot happening here:

Updated

The family of a toddler, who died after suffering a cardiac arrest, was placed on hold by triple zero for longer than usual due to “unprecedented demand”, AAP’s Emily Woods reports.

Victorian authorities are investigating the call as the state’s health system struggles under the weight of “extraordinary” pressure due to a rise in Covid-19 cases and other emergency presentations.

Ambulance Victoria said paramedics were dispatched “without delay” after being called to a cardiac arrest near Bendigo at 6.29pm on Monday.

An Advanced Life Support crew arrived first at 6.43pm, loading the three-year-old girl for the hospital, but she died while in their care.

The child’s family waited on hold to triple zero for one minute and 41 seconds, far longer than the target time of five seconds. It’s not yet known whether the delay contributed to her death.

The Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority said the call was answered outside its target range “because of the almost unprecedented demand” for triple zero calls on Monday:

ESTA sends our deepest condolences to the family involved. Our triple zero operators care deeply about the service they provide and the community they serve,” a spokesman said. ESTA will continue to investigate the call.

The authority’s chief executive Marty Smyth said 3250 Victorians made ambulance calls on Monday, the highest number since the deadly thunderstorm asthma event in 2016.

Since the pandemic, ambulance call demand has increased substantially, meaning ESTA’s workload has increased accordingly. We are regularly seeing unprecedented numbers of calls now. Levels, which before COVID-19 were seen only on busy weekends, are now almost a daily occurrence.

Each day paramedics are seeing more than 150 Covid-positive patients and up to 300 who suspect they have the virus.

Updated

The former Japanese foreign minister Fumio Kishida has been elected leader of the ruling party.

Updated

Anne Aly agrees the decision of going to Glasgow is up to Malcolm Turnbull:

On the matter of the prime minister going to Glasgow and the message that sends, Boris Johnson says the future is green, even making terrible jokes about Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy, and meanwhile we have Scott Morrison who ridiculed the 2050 target and thought it entirely appropriate to bring a lump of coal into parliament.

Again, because of a series of bad judgment calls by our prime minister on this topic, we have serious ground to make up and Australia is being left behind on the world stage when it comes to climate change. I think that not going to Glasgow sends a strong message, that the prime minister really should reconsider the fact that it does mean something, that message is important for Australia in the world stage to have. To have the prime minister there.

Updated

The Liberal MP Tim Wilson and Labor MP Anne Aly are speaking on ABC News now.

Wilson is asked about a press club speech the former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull made this afternoon, when he announced he would be attending the upcoming Glasgow climate conference. Scott Morrison has yet to confirm whether he will attend.

Wilson:

Mr Turnbull I have no doubt will be attending in a private capacity because he has no official role and I am focused, as I’m sure the prime minister is, on what we need to do to deliver the right outcomes regarding greenhouse gas emissions. If he goes to sign a bit of paper in Glasgow is frankly a secondary consideration.

If it was a choice between having someone go to Glasgow but not deliver the right policy outcome or having the prime minister here delivering the right job to address greenhouse gas emissions and Australian jobs and making sure we have the framework going forward, I would go with the latter.

Updated

Bird of the Year is heating up.

Updated

Oberon to go into lockdown

Stay-at-home orders for the NSW local government area of Oberon will be introduced from 6.00 tonight due to an increased risk of Covid-19 in the area.

The stay-at-home order will last for seven days and will also apply to anyone who has been in the Oberon LGA since 20 September.

Residents will only be able to leave home for essential reasons including shopping for food, medical care, getting vaccinated, compassionate needs, exercise and work or tertiary education if you can’t work or study at home.

Anyone with the slightest of symptoms is being urged to get tested.

Updated

Victoria Racing Club lobbying for 11,500 people at Melbourne Cup

This could only end well!

Updated

The prime minister of Fiji, Frank Bainimarama, has tweeted his congratulations and thanks to Gladys Berejiklian after today’s announcement that NSW would cut the state’s emissions by 50% by 2030.

Bainimarama, a fierce campaigner on climate change, has been calling for countries to come to the upcoming Cop26 summit in Glasgow with a commitment to getting to net zero emissions sooner than 2050.

“The science is in and the alarm is rung – the world is not doing enough to cut emissions,” tweeted Bainimarama as the general assembly opened last week.

Fijian prime minister Frank Bainimarama.
Fijian prime minister Frank Bainimarama. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Updated

NSW braces for severe weather

The Bureau of Meteorology has listed a number of severe thunderstorm warnings across much of NSW as storm season arrives early in the state.

A severe thunderstorm warning has been issued west of the Great Dividing Range, with damaging winds, large hailstones and heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding possible into this evening across Enngonia, Walgett, Cobar, Bourke, Ivanhoe, Lightning Ridge and Brewarrina.

The trough wreaking the havoc will move across NSW, bringing showers and the potential for more severe thunderstorms to the east coast on Thursday and Friday, when the state’s storm season begins, AAP reports.

Showers will be widespread, but storms will be less common, the Bureau of Meteorology’s Hugh McDowell says:

“It’s not wall to wall storms. It’s going to be quite hit and miss. It’s not an Armageddon scenario. We’re going to get some severe thunderstorms.

“The long weekend ... is looking drier with sunny skies and temperatures warming up as well. We’re likely to see temperatures on the east coast into the mid to high 20s and in the west, high 20s to perhaps the low 30s.

“With the weekend temperatures warming up, the air drying out, and sunny skies – we’re also seeing westerly winds – that is going to increase the fire dangers across parts of the north coast, mid north coast, northern rivers district.”

Updated

The Victorian government will not be providing comment after WorkSafe charged the state’s health department over its hotel quarantine system in 2020:

Victoria’s health department is facing more than $95 million in fines after it was charged over alleged hotel quarantine failures that led to the state’s deadly second wave of Covid-19.

After a 15-month investigation, WorkSafe today charged the Department of Health, formerly the Department of Health and Human Services, with 58 breaches of the Occupational Health Safety Act.

A filing hearing in Melbourne Magistrates Court is set for 22 October.

Updated

A significant change for Victorians stuck in Sydney.

Updated

Tasmanian premier says NSW roadmap contradicts national plan

Tasmania’s premier Peter Gutwein has criticised NSW premier Glady’s Berejiklian’s plan to have no restrictions for residents once the state reaches 90% double-dose vaccination targets:

I was very concerned to see the NSW premier make a statement where by 90% she will, it appears, depart from the national plan and allow free access for all those in NSW whether vaccinated or not. That is a recipe for an acceleration of the spread of the virus.

Updated

Did someone say Bird of the Year? No?

Ease into your afternoon with this lovely video from Guardian Australia photographer at large Mike Bowers, who meets keen Canberra birdwatcher Geoffrey Dabb.

Updated

A new report into veteran suicides has “reaffirmed” the need for the upcoming royal commission, AAP’s Callum Godde reports.

The fourth annual report on suicides among permanent, reserve and ex-serving Australian Defence Force members, released today, has expanded its scope to include those who served from 1985 onwards, more than doubling the ADF personnel under consideration to almost 373,500.

Previously, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report dataset was limited to those who served from 2001.

While the number of suicides among the current and former army, navy and air force community has grown by 808 since the 2020 report, the risk is not higher and trends remain largely unchanged.

The report comes after the federal government gave the green light to a royal commission into defence and veteran suicide, which is yet to begin formal hearings.

Commission chair Nick Kaldas said the statistics were “harrowing”:

Reports such as this from the AIHW help build a more complete picture of defence and veteran suicide and are critical as we prepare for public hearings.

Compared with the general Australian population, age-adjusted suicide rates from 2002 to 2019 were 51% lower for permanent ADF servicemen and 48% lower for reserve servicemen.

However, the trend swings once members leave, with the suicide rate 24% higher for ex-serving men and 102% higher for ex-serving women.

Lifeline: 13 11 14
Open Arms: 1800 011 046

Updated

More national vaccination data, this time from Australia’s favourite teenage coders. NSW and the ACT had the highest increases in vaccinations across 12- to 39-year-olds in the past week.

Updated

Some 77.28% of Australians aged 16 and over have now had at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine, and 53.42% are fully vaccinated. But there is significant disparity between states.

Updated

Many thanks to Donna Lu for keeping the blog nice and toasty. I will be with you for the rest of the afternoon.

With that I will hand the reins over to Caitlin Cassidy, who will masterfully guide you through the rest of the afternoon.

The Australian parliament’s joint committee on intelligence and security has reported on its inquiry into the government’s critical infrastructure bill, with an unusual recommendation: break the proposed legislation in half.

The Security Legislation Amendment (Critical Infrastructure) Bill 2020 is designed to enhance protections against cyber attacks for Australia’s critical infrastructure, such as water services, the medical sector, airports, transport corridors, and communications networks.

The committee said:

Australia faces a very serious and rapidly deteriorating cybersecurity environment. It demands both a swift and comprehensive response. As this report sets out, the committee does not believe both can be done at the same time in the same bill. If the parliament seeks to achieve both in the same process, it may achieve neither.

This is due to the inherently complex nature of the challenge and the proposed response to it, and the extraordinary and unusual economic climate we find ourselves in. The committee received compelling evidence that the pervasive threat of cyber-enabled attack and manipulation of critical infrastructure assets is serious, considerable in scope and impact, and increasing at an unprecedented rate. This threat requires a rapid response. However, there is significant disagreement between industry and government on the exact response required.

The Liberal party-chaired committee recommended the “bill should be split to legislate promptly the urgent measures which seek to address the immediate threat”, while the remainder of the proposed framework be deferred, so it can be “revisited and amended” in consultation with affected industries.

A particular recommendation hints at a desired de-politicisation of the issue of national security issues when it comes to critical infrastructure.

Recommendation 13 states:

The committee recommends the government review the processes and protocols for classified briefings for the opposition during caretaker periods in response to serious cyber-incidents, and consider the best practice principles for any public announcement about those incidents.

Hacker on a computer
‘Australia faces a very serious and rapidly deteriorating cybersecurity environment,’ a parliamentary committee says. Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo

Updated

Here are the worst-polling contenders so far in today’s bird of the year vote. Five more will be knocked out at the end of the day, reducing the birds remaining to 35.

If you want to save one of them, it’s not too late to cast your daily vote here. Otherwise, you should vote for the wedge-tailed eagle, which is objectively the best bird.

Updated

The Australian federal police have found no evidence of criminality in the federal government’s controversial purchase of land near the western Sydney airport for 10 times its market value.

The purchase of Leppington Triangle prompted a damning audit last year, which revealed the infrastructure department had paid $29.8m for the 12-hectare plot in mid-2018. A valuation a year later showed it was worth just $3m.

The AFP announced it had carefully investigated whether bribery, conspiracy to defraud or abuse of public office were involved in the controversial purchase, but said it could not find sufficient evidence of criminality by commonwealth officials or others involved in the purchase.

Read more here:

Updated

Some positive data out of NSW: Covid hospitalisations and cases in ICU appear to have plateaued.

Updated

Aged and Community Services Australia, the peak body for non-profit aged care providers, has welcomed the NSW government’s announcement that double vaccinated people will be able to visit loved ones in aged care homes from 11 October.

ACSA says the NSW roadmap for residential aged care visits should be emulated nationally.

Chief executive Paul Sadler says ACSA advocates for rapid antigen tests to give extra protection for residents, staff and visitors. He said:

Older Australians in aged care have suffered through various types of lockdown for the longest period and we can’t just treat them like an afterthought.

These are extremely difficult choices, because an outbreak in a residential home can be deadly and very hard on all residents and staff. This is the case even now that we are almost fully vaccinated in residential aged care.

All governments must have a clear policy and plan for our visitation in aged care that will work when the virus is in the community but we have high vaccination rates.

Updated

The Australian Capital Territory chief minister, Andrew Barr, has welcomed “further clarity” on the Covid disaster payments provided by federal treasurer Josh Frydenberg on Wednesday.

Barr told reporters “the gradual tapering of the disaster payments aligns with the ACT’s pathway forward” out of lockdown on 15 October because the additional two weeks of payment after the 80% threshold is reached “will ensure that the month of October is covered” before a further big easing of restrictions on 29 October.

He said:

We’re not jointly funding the Covid disaster payments, that’s an entirely commonwealth funded program, so it’s entirely in their purview to determine the level and how it’s tapered. We put a case to them that there would be a need to taper and there would still be people that need support in the transition phase. To the extent their announcement addresses that, either partially or fully, will be in the eye of the beholder.”

Barr noted people out of work are eligible for the normal safety net of jobseeker.

Barr also revealed that he has reached in-principle agreement with Frydenberg for the extension of ACT business support grants, with a joint announcement on Thursday.

Updated

The ACT and NSW are set to establish common travel and quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated people, AAP reports.

ACT chief minister Andrew Barr expects fully vaccinated residents to be allowed to move freely through NSW in accordance with that state’s restrictions once it double-doses 80% of over-16s.

From mid-October and throughout November, the ACT anticipates matching NSW quarantine requirements for residents of that state coming into Canberra.

In the meantime, the ACT’s border bubble with NSW just outside Canberra is set to continue operating as usual.

The ACT also expects to continue to restrict entry for any residents subject to future lockdowns in parts of NSW.

“It would be logical to draw a distinction between vaccinated and unvaccinated people as to potentially both the duration of quarantine and the location of quarantine,” Barr told reporters on Wednesday.

“If it’s possible to have a consistent approach between the two jurisdictions, I understand that would make life easier for everyone.”

The chief minister said the bottom line was travel would be a lot more complicated and restricted for the unvaccinated.

NSW plans to start treating unvaccinated people the same as those who are double-dosed from December 1.

A member of the community receives a Covid vaccine at the Kimberwalli Aboriginal vaccination hub in Whalan, west of Sydney
A member of the community receives a Covid vaccine at the Kimberwalli Aboriginal vaccination hub in Whalan, west of Sydney. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAP

Updated

The Victorian construction union has blamed the violent protests at its Melbourne headquarters last week for a Covid-19 outbreak which has seen four officials test positive to the virus and forced the union’s secretary, John Setka, into isolation.

It has released a statement pointing to “reckless and irresponsible behaviour of protestors” for the outbreak.

The CFMEU’s headquarters has been declared a tier-one exposure site by the Victorian government after a number of positive cases among union staff.

You can read the full story here:

Updated

Turnbull describes the Morrison government not securing enough Covid-19 vaccine doses in 2020 as “the biggest failure of public administration I’ve ever witnessed”.

It would have been so easy to buy the Pfizer that was being offered, Moderna and so forth. So if we had enough vaccines we could have had higher levels of vaccination many months ago.

On the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous vaccination rates, he says:

As far as Indigenous communities are concerned, again, this is just another failure of administration.They were obviously and well known to be among the most vulnerable populations. They should have been provided with vaccines at the earliest possible opportunity, as a matter of priority. It is extraordinary that you have vulnerable communities that are actually lagging behind the mainstream of the community.

Malcolm Turnbull gives his National Press Club address via video link from Sydney on Wednesday
Malcolm Turnbull gives his National Press Club address via video link from Sydney on Wednesday. Photograph: Screen Grab/AAP

Updated

If Morrison doesn't go to Cop26, he's 'sending a message': Turnbull

Asked about the Cop26 climate summit, Turnbull says:

History is made by those who turn up. If Mr Morrison decides not to go to Glasgow, he is sending a message. His absence will send a strong message about his priorities.

Australia needs to stop burning coal and gas, and commit to at least a 50% emissions reduction target by 2030, he says.

It troubles me that we still have this nonsense from the government of a gas-led recovery ... you have got to get cracking with the right infrastructure, like Snowy Hydro 2.0 to make renewables reliable. But you won’t get there with building new gas-fired power stations, which seems to be Mr Morrison and Mr Taylor’s only energy project at the moment.

Updated

Back to Turnbull at the National Press Club, who says the damage of Aukus to the France–Australia relationship “has been enormous”.

This was a government-to-government, a nation-to-nation partnership. They were entrusting us with some of their most sensitive military secrets, the design of their latest submarine. Having behaved in such a bad way and in bad faith, there would be some hesitation about coming back into business, into partnership with Australia. It may be a new government could do that, that is a possibility. I think Mr Morrison … is not inclined to apologise or admit fault or flaw.

Updated

Some news from Queensland: premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has announced that walk-ins will be accepted at all state-run vaccination hubs, with opening hours to be expanded.

Updated

Worksafe charges the Victorian health department with breaching OHS laws

Worksafe has just issued a statement about charges against the Victorian health department over its hotel quarantine system. It has charged the department with 58 breaches of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

WorkSafe alleges that the department of health breached OHS laws by failing to appoint people with infection prevention and control (IPC) expertise to be stationed at hotels it was utilising for the program.

It alleges the department failed to provide security guards with face-to-face infection prevention control training by a person with expertise in IPC prior to them commencing work, and either failed, or initially failed, to provide written instruction for the use of PPE.

WorkSafe further alleges the department failed to update written instructions relating to the wearing of masks at several of the hotels.

In all charges, WorkSafe alleges that department of health employees, Victorian government authorised officers on secondment, or security guards were put at risk of serious illness or death through contracting Covid-19 from an infected returned traveller, another person working in the hotels or from a contaminated surface.

The maximum penalty for a body corporate for each of these charges is $1.64m (9000 penalty units).

Updated

Thanks Nino Bucci. Continuing on at the National Press Club, when asked about the implications of Australia’s withdrawal from its deal with France, Turnbull has some strong words:

What seems to have been overlooked is that one of our national security assets is trust, trustworthiness… This is an appalling episode in Australia’s international affairs and the consequences of it will endure to our disadvantage for a very long time.

My colleague Donna Lu is going to take the controls of this submarine for a few hours but I’ll be back later. Ahoy!

Turnbull has finished his opening comments, in which he said he hoped the Aukus alliance was successful:

Throughout this time and since, our security alliance and cooperation with the United States became stronger and more intense. But we always made our own decisions. Of course, our rivals and critics have said Australia will always fall in with the US. Years ago I remember the foreign minister of one of our neighbours said if Australia is seen as a branch office of the US, why should we take time with you. Better it talk to head office.

If we want influence in our region, we must be trusted. Our word must be our bond. We must be seen to have an independent foreign policy and sovereign defence capabilities. We need to have, developed and retain relations with other nations in our region and beyond, like the Trans-Pacific Partnership which are not simply derivatives of our alliance with the United States. At the heart of all of this is trust.

Updated

Covid-19 vaccine safety data for adolescents has been published by AusVaxSafety, a collaboration between immunisation providers, research institutions, and state and territory governments which has been monitoring vaccine side-effects.

Their data shows adolescents aged 12–19 years are reporting similar short-term vaccine side effects to those reported by older Australians. Commonly reported among adolescents aged 12–19 years is pain at the injection site, headache and fatigue. These common adverse events are linked to the immune response following immunisation, are expected to occur, and are generally mild and short lived, with the overwhelming majority of recipients recovering within three days.

AusVaxSafety has so far received more than 150,000 completed day three safety surveys from adolescents aged 12–19 years who received their Covid-19 vaccine and the data analysis has not detected any safety concerns for this age group.

On the whole, data reported by this age group were largely consistent with those seen in AusVaxSafety analysis of Covid-19 vaccine safety at a population-wide level.

Adolescents aged 12–19 years reported fewer adverse events and had similar rates of medical attendance in the three days following Pfizer Covid-19 vaccination when compared to the adult Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine recipient population.

However, 18 to 19-year-olds reported more adverse events and had slightly higher rates of medical attendance, following dose one only, in the three days following AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccination, compared to the adult AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine recipient population. Medical attendance in 18 to 19-year-olds following dose two was in line with the broader population.

Updated

Turnbull says that any time Australia tries to deal with another European government again they will wonder whether we will throw them under the bus like we did Macron:

France believes it has been deceived and humiliated and she was. This betrayal of trust will dog our relations with Europe for years. The Australian government has treated the French republic with contempt. It won’t be forgotten. Every time we seek to persuade another nation to trust us, somebody will be saying ‘Remember what they did to Macron. If they can throw France under a bus, what would they do to us?’

What should have been done? The conventional nuclear debate was hardly news. Morrison could have told the truth. Yes, he could have done that, he could have told the truth. He could have said to president Macron that we wanted to explore the potential for acquiring nuclear-powered submarines. Macron would have been supportive. The French government had already invited such a discussion.

Updated

Turnbull goes on:

Always inclined to protectionism historically, France became a strong supporter of our bid for a Free Trade Agreement with the EU, invited Australia for the first time to the G7 and aligned its Indo-Pacific strategy and ultimately that of the European Union to ours.

Mr Morrison has not acted in good faith. He deliberately deceived France. He makes no defence of his conduct other than to say it was in Australia’s national interest. So is that Mr Morrison’s ethical standard, with which Australia is now tagged? Australia will act honestly unless it’s judged in our national interest to deceive.

Malcolm Turnbull makes National Press Club address

He is, of course, going into submarines. Turnbull:

It was only a few years ago that our partnership with France was one for generations. As the sun set over Sydney Harbour in March 2018, from the deck of HMAS Canberra, president Emmanuel Macron described the partnership with Australia as the cornerstone of France’s Indo-Pacific strategy. This was not just a contract to build submarines. It was a partnership between two nations in which France chose to entrust Australia with its most sensitive military secrets, the design of their latest submarines.

Updated

The former prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, is speaking at the National Press Club. He’s talking about nuclear, of which he is a fan.

Thanks for another fine stint at the crease, Mostafa Rachwani. Let’s get into it.

And with that, my time on today’s blog has come to an end. The ever incisive Nino Bucci will carry the blog into the afternoon, thanks for reading.

As the CFMEU headquarters in Melbourne is named as a tier one exposure site following the protests outside its office last week, health officials say negotiations are still ongoing to re-open construction in Victoria following the two-week suspension.

The suspension is due to expire on Tuesday, but acting chief health officer, Prof. Ben Cowie, said he could not say whether construction workers will be allowed back to work next week.

He said positive negotiations are happening, and it will depend on the safe settings on worksites, including vaccination rates and ventilation.

He said:

They are critical elements. Looking at the type of construction and fit outs obviously presenting certain risk, such as adding walls that reduces ventilation and increases viral load if there is somebody infected, you know, surveillance testing, there’s certainly aspects of that, as well as waste water surveillance has been a big part of the response. There are a lot of ways we can make it a lot of ways we can make it as safe as we can.

Cowie would not confirm reports the CFMEU Victorian president was among several union workers to test positive after the protests last week, with the CFMEU headquarters being named a tier one exposure site.

Four officials from the Victorian construction union have tested positive for Covid-19 and the union’s secretary, John Setka, is in isolation after an outbreak following violent protests at its Melbourne headquarters last week.

The CFMEU’s headquarters was declared a tier-one exposure site on Wednesday, and the union released a statement blaming the “reckless and irresponsible behaviour of protesters” last week for an outbreak of the virus among union staff.

“Last week’s protests put union officials and police at risk with infected demonstrators showing no regard for the wellbeing of people affected by their actions,” the union said in a statement.

“Their reckless behaviour has resulted in transmission to union staff and officials who were not involved in the protest. To date, four positive cases have been recorded.”

The union confirmed the designation of the headquarters as a tier-one exposure site had forced staff, including Setka, into isolation.
The union slating blame on the protestors for the outbreak comes after at least two protesters who marched in anti-lockdown and mandatory vaccination protests last week have tested positive for Covid-19.

Updated

Victoria has not yet finalised plans to shorten the gap between doses of the Pfizer vaccine from six to three weeks, with health minister Martin Foley stating Victoria needed more certainty about supply from the federal government.

Shortening the gap between doses will speed up when Victoria reaches its 70% and 80% double dose targets that will trigger the end of lockdown and the re-opening of the state.

Nine Newspapers reported on Wednesday the gap would be cut, after assurances were provided by the federal government on supply of the Pfizer vaccine. However Foley said it would likely not be finalised until later this week.
He said:

I have been asked about this a lot, we have seen some interesting reports. We will reduce the six weeks down to three weeks the moment we are confident we have the supply to achieve that to bring forward the double-dose rate to the earliest possible opportunity we can. That requires us to have confirmation of supply over October. I can assure you that as recently as last night, the very productive discussions we have with senior officials at the commonwealth reconfirmed that as of last night we still do not have confirmation of that last week in October.

I have seen all sorts of interesting reports to the contrary. The direct advice from the most senior sources in the commonwealth government is that we will have that advice by the end of the week. If that advice comes in and we can lock in changes, we will do so the minute we possibly can because everyone wants to bring forward those double-dose dates but we can’t do it at the expense cancelling those vaccination programs, and we can’t lock it in to then only disappoint people who would expect us to deliver that second dose and the timeframes we committed to.

And, we have confirmation that the WA Covid update is happening in ... five minutes.

Updated

Victoria has not yet finalised plans to shorten the gap between doses of the Pfizer vaccine from six to three weeks, with health minister Martin Foley stating Victoria needed more certainty about supply from the federal government.

Shortening the gap between doses will speed up when Victoria reaches its 70% and 80% double dose targets that will trigger the end of lockdown and the re-opening of the state.

Nine Newspapers reported on Wednesday the gap would be cut, after assurances were provided by the federal government on supply of the Pfizer vaccine. However Foley said it would likely not be finalised until later this week.

He said:

I have been asked about this a lot, we have seen some interesting reports. We will reduce the six weeks down to three weeks the moment we are confident we have the supply to achieve that to bring forward the double-dose rate to the earliest possible opportunity we can. That requires us to have confirmation of supply over October. I can assure you that as recently as last night, the very productive discussions we have with senior officials at the commonwealth reconfirmed that as of last night we still do not have confirmation of that last week in October.

I have seen all sorts of interesting reports to the contrary. The direct advice from the most senior sources in the commonwealth government is that we will have that advice by the end of the week. If that advice comes in and we can lock in changes, we will do so the minute we possibly can because everyone wants to bring forward those double-dose dates but we can’t do it at the expense cancelling those vaccination programs, and we can’t lock it in to then only disappoint people who would expect us to deliver that second dose and the timeframes we committed to.

Updated

ACT records 22 new cases

The ACT has recorded 22 new locally acquired cases, with at least seven infectious in community.

Victoria is overhauling its contact-tracing system, as cases continue to rise.

Victorian health department deputy secretary Kate Matson said although national benchmarks on contact tracing are being met, with 97% of cases contacted within 24 hours, the department needed to refocus onto cases that present the biggest public health risk – such as the workplace people work, or the environment they mix in.

In areas with higher case numbers, cases will get a text message confirming they’re positive, and then will receive a triage form with questions that will determine how to prioritise that case.

The department will ask questions about the need for support, as well as vaccination status, and whether there have been high-risk exposure sites such as hospitals or aged care or in regional Victoria.

The phone interview that follows will be prioritised based on those answers, Matson said, but everyone will still get a call.

Close contacts will continue to be managed as normal, but the initial interview will focus more on immediate households, rather than interviewing every primary close contact.

She said:

The risk is different and helping to protect Victoria as what the system is about, and preventing illness and death. Should case numbers increase further, although it is in our collective will and efforts to contain them, we will adapt the approach again and again and refine it based on risk.

The goal of our approach and through this planning and enhancement of systems is to manage settings that may result in the highest number of transmission, and we will continue to refine overtime.

Updated

So, Berejiklian is asked about the federal government’s plan to roll back disaster payments at 70% and 80% vaccination rates.

This is what she had to say:

Firstly, Treasurer Perrottet is talking to our federal counterparts in relation to these matters. We want to make sure businesses remain a going concern but we are getting good feedback on the likely pent up demand there is and people will be out over patronising in midweek than what previously occurred so we are watching the situation very carefully, making sure there is enough support there but also making sure that we allow businesses to do what they do best and I just want to commend and thank businesses who have held on by a thread literally during the past three months.

Obviously we are looking at those issues and I can’t guarantee anything at this stage but Treasurer Perrottet is discussing these matters with our federal counterparts and I want to reiterate that we took a big, but important, decision to make sure we allowed our small business grants and disaster payments to go to anybody across the state not just those who lived in those Covid hot spot areas and that was a decision we took acknowledging that many tourism operators, many other businesses who relied on people coming and going were impacted.

I suspect we will have a much more targeted approach because the business community is so diverse, businesses range in size and what they are doing and some weathered the storm really well and done really well and others haven’t.

I think going forward it will be a much more targeted approach and that is the issues that Treasurer Perrottet will bring to cabinet and consider but certainly we have started conversations with our federal colleagues.

Updated

Five-thousand extra doses of the Moderna vaccine will be distributed in state-run clinics and pharmacies in the Latrobe council areas in Gippsland in Victoria, after the LGA was put into lockdown for seven days.

As Victoria recorded 950 new cases of Covid-19 on Wednesday, the state health minister, Martin Foley, said the decision to lockdown the regional area on Tuesday evening was due to the public health risk deteriorating “quite rapidly”, meaning the lockdown needed to be brought in quickly.
He said:

We really had little or no choice for the public health advice but to act and to act quickly. We expect that the testing demand is high and the reports we have had this morning is that that is precisely the case.

Two new pop-up clinics have been brought in, and testing sites will run extended hours. The Traralgon Racecourse vaccination site and seven other community sites in the area will all be extending their hours and opening, including on the weekend.

Foley said 5,000 extra Moderna vaccines will be delivered into state-run clinics and pharmacies in the area to boost people getting vaccinated.

The 950 new cases statewide takes the total active cases in this outbreak to 9890. There are 371 people in hospital, 81 in intensive care, and 55 on a ventilator.

Of the over 15,000 total cases since July, 79% were eligible for the Covid-19 vaccine at the time of their infection, but 88% were unvaccinated. Eighty-six percent of the cases hospitalised were unvaccinated, and 98% of those admitted to intensive care were unvaccinated.

The majority of the new cases reported on Wednesday were in the north of Melbourne, including 204 in Hume, and 102 in Whittlsea.

There were 30 cases across regional Victoria, including the four that resulted in the lockdown in Latrobe.

Updated

The Australian federal police have found no evidence of criminality in the commonwealth government’s controversial purchase of land near the western Sydney airport for $29.7m, almost 10 times its market value.

Police announced on Wednesday it had carefully investigated whether bribery, conspiracy to defraud, or abuse of public office were involved in the infrastructure department’s controversial purchase of Leppington Triangle.

But it said it could not find sufficient evidence of criminal offending by commonwealth officials or others involved in the purchase.

The financial analysis undertaken as part of the investigation found no evidence of commonwealth officials obtaining a personal benefit from the acquisition, or other persons receiving or paying corrupt payments.

The AFP investigation found that the purchase was in line with the requirements of the Lands Acquisition Act (1989), and was authorised by appropriate Commonwealth officials and authorities.

Updated

New Zealand records 45 new cases

New Zealand’s daily Covid cases have jumped sharply to 45 – more than five times the previous day’s number.

The rise comes after several days of about 12 cases a day, and around a week after the Auckland region lifted its strictest lockdown restrictions.

“This is a big number. It’s a sobering number. I don’t think anybody who’s involved in this process would be celebrating a number like the one we’re seeing today,” said the Covid-19 response minister, Chris Hipkins.

“But the fact that such a significant proportion of those are known contacts or household contacts does point a little bit to the nature of this particular outbreak that we’re now dealing with in the way it’s concentrated in larger households.”

Officials urged people to continue following level 3 rules and get tested. “We’ve still got to hold our nerve here,” Hipkins said. “We’re still aiming to run this into the ground.”

The government lifted some restrictions in Auckland last week after a month of lockdown, in what experts called a “gamble” and a “calculated risk”. The changes saw an estimated 300,000 additional people return to work in their city workplaces.

Will contact tracing be scaled back after 80%?

Here is what Chant had to say:

It is not about scaling back contact tracing. It is around us focusing on what is the best way in which we can support a reduction of disease transmission in the community? It will be the prioritisation and this has been an ongoing process where we have had to determine where best to allocate our resources.

The key message is if you are a case and you have Covid, you will be required to isolate for 14 days. We still will be asking the community to get tested and I hope we have changed fundamentally the view that people go to work if they have got a sniffle, a sore throat and runny nose, given the fact we have progressed so much around working from home technologies.

Updated

It appears (and correct me if I’m wrong) that Chant is indicating that Health will be, to some unknown degree, dependent on current Covid-safe plans and restrictions as a means of safeguarding against future cases in businesses.

To what extent that is just hope, or an answer just for now, or the actual strategy moving forward is unclear.

Here is Chant laying it out:

My comment to all businesses and this will be the setting. All businesses will be having indoor mask wearing. All businesses will be having fully vaccinated staff.

Can I just – in terms of hospitality or new businesses that are opening and permitted at 70%, those strategies and having the CovidSafe tea rooms will protect you from having anyone off. If there is an outbreak amongst staff in the facilities, obviously that will ratchet up our response again.

Best thing business can do is make sure you have been fully vaccinated but you continue to make sure staff are diligently wearing masks and they are not congregating in any other informal settings which pose a risk of transmission.

Updated

So, building on that, another journalist has asked what would happen to the definition of “close contact” after the state hits 80%, and it appears neither Berejiklian nor Chant have an actual answer yet.

Chant says Health is “formulating” their advice to government on that (less than two weeks from 11 October):

I can talk in general terms about some of the concepts we are grappling with. We are going to be factoring vaccination status into whether you even fall into the category of a close contact and we have been factoring in other protective measures.

If people are wearing masks indoors, we can assume that provides an additional layer of protection and if your case is positive and they have been wearing a mask, that provides protection.

We will tend to be providing businesses with a matrix which takes into account various areas. We will be more concerned about some settings, so some settings like healthcare, disability, aged care, we may take a pro cautious approach, because we are concerned about the complexity and the consequences in those settings.

In other settings, it may be that we assume when everyone is vaccinated, and you have knowingly taken that risk, we don’t do the same level of contact tracing that has been occurring in the earlier phases in the outbreak.

Updated

The premier is next asked about the situation in Byron Bay, where a case emerged after the region came out of lockdown.

Now, she gave a fairly standard answer, but, interestingly, did not confirm that stay-at-home orders will change after 11 October:

We always rely on the health advice as to whether a region goes into lockdown. Secondly, all those situations extinguish on 11th of October. It then becomes about vaccinated people and unvaccinated people.

From 11th of October, the stay-at-home orders are lifted across the state. That puts us into a new phase, a different phase of looking at the way in which we are dealing with Covid.

I want to make that clear. There will be more certainty from October 11 because it will be more about individuals exercising freedom who are vaccinated.

Updated

An interesting first question for the NSW premier, with a journalist asking who will be stopping unvaccinated people from breaching the public health orders preventing them from partaking in the freedoms afforded vaccinated people.

It comes after yesterday the health minister, Brad Hazzard, said businesses won’t be fined if they don’t check who is in their premises, and that police say they won’t be policing for vaccination passports either.

This is what Berejiklian had to say:

Please be assured that in fact these discussions are ongoing in government but, as was the case before Delta, there is a very obvious onus on the individual to make sure they do the right thing.

There are fines of $1,000 every time you do the wrong thing. Businesses, there are fines from $5,000 all the way up to $11,000 and closure for a period of time if businesses flagrantly disregard the Covid safety plans and that might mean not even displaying a QR code or not having done the basics.

Let there be no mistaking that we expect everybody to do the right thing and, in the main, NSW has been outstanding at that. It is only a handful of people that choose to disregard the law and given, by the time that we open up even at 70% double dose, we will have around at least nine out of 10 over 16-year-olds with at least a jab.

I am confident that the system will work well without giving any - putting any burden on businesses and my message to businesses is this: We put out our three stage road map to give everybody certainty but to reassure you that our expectations are pretty much what they were pre-Delta and everybody coped well.

The NSW government has provided a lot of support through Services NSW, whether it is directly interacting with business or providing opportunities on how to get QR code and all those things and nothing changes except for the fact that there will be an extra onus on the individual to demonstrate they are vaccinated.

For a large venue with hundreds of people if there, we would expect a staff member to be checking that as people come in. For very small premises, that expectation is less and I want to stress, we have worked together in the last nearly two years now and I am confident that will continue to be the case.

Updated

Berejiklian 'confident' NSW will hit 90% first dose next week

Berejiklian also announced she was confident the state would cross the 90% mark for first doses sometime next week:

New South Wales has hit the 86.2% first dose and 61.7% second dose.

We are inching closer to that 70% double dose figure, and 12 to 15-year-olds, 44.5% of them have already had a first dose, which is outstanding given the vaccine was only made available a few weeks ago.

Updated

NSW to allow two vaccinated visitors to aged care facilities

Berejiklian has announced one further addition to the eased restrictions to come into effect on 11 October, with aged care residents able to welcome two fully vaccinated visitors per day from that date.

The premier mentioned the need to allow people to see their loved ones and how important that was, but warned that people needed to “exercise caution”:

The New South Wales government is able to announce, from 11 October, aged care residents are able to welcome two fully vaccinated visitors per day. I am looking forward to seeing my parents in that week.

For those of you who haven’t been able to see a loved one for around three months, Monday, the 11th, so long as you are fully vaccinated, two at a time and two per day are able to visit a loved one in an aged care facility.

This is welcome news and we ask people to exercise a degree of caution. If you have symptoms or you are not well, don’t do it. We don’t want to compromise the safety of your loved ones and those around you.

Updated

NSW CHO Dr Kerry Chant is giving details on the 15 deaths now, which include two people in their 40s, two in their 50s, four people in their 60s, three people in their 70s, one in their 80s, and three people in their 90s.

Two people died at home, one a woman in her 70s who was double vaccinated and a man in his 40s who had underlying health conditions.

One person from the group had received two doses, five had one dose and nine were not vaccinated.

Updated

NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian has mentioned in her opening remarks that the government was seeing a reduction in cases in Sydney, greater Sydney, western Sydney and south-western Sydney, but an increase in cases in the regions, especially in the Illawarra Shellharbour region.

Berejiklian also had the following to say on hospitalisations:

Interestingly, our hospitalisation rate and ICU rate is doing OK compared to our modelling. We are tracking under what we envisaged we would but there is no time for complacency.

Updated

NSW records 863 new cases, 15 deaths

New South Wales has recorded 863 new locally acquired cases today.

Sadly, the state has recorded 15 new deaths, making yesterday the most deadly of this outbreak.

Updated

With the first round of the presser cycle over, lets return to the growing pressure on the federal government to cement an emissions reduction target.

NSW environment minister Matt Kean (who, you may remember from earlier today was on the radio) was on ABC TV saying the government needed to “get on with it” after the NSW government itself set a target.

My message to the commonwealth is – get on with it, this is not only the right thing to do, it is also the economically rational thing to do, because it is in our nation’s economic interest.

I think the prime minister should be going to Glasgow to persuade the rest of the world to take stronger action on climate change, because it is in our economic interest to do so.

Updated

So, what would potentially spark a lockdown? Dr Young says it’s about case numbers, and the potential number of mystery cases:

If we see large numbers – so we see spread, and definitely if we start seeing unlinked cases that I can’t say where they’ve come from.

Young had earlier said she was not “comfortable” with the situation quite yet though:

I’m watching this very, very carefully and I’m just asking, because Queenslanders have done such a fantastic job with our last few outbreaks with wearing masks, with coming forward and getting tested, that, at the moment, I’m prepared to wait and see if we’ve got any local transmission. At the moment, all of these cases are linked.

We know exactly how they’ve got them. We have got fantastic contact tracers, they’ve honed their skills beautifully, so they’re getting hold of all of these people and getting them into quarantine. And I know that people in Queensland fully understand what quarantine means now and they adhere to it.

Updated

Queensland’s CHO, Dr Jeanette Young, has called these cases part of a “brand new outbreak,” unlinked to previous outbreaks in the state:

All of these are new clusters. So I got back the whole genome sequencing results last night for our two cases from yesterday, if you remember those two cases. And both of them are Delta and neither of them have clustered with any case in Queensland.

They’ve clustered with cases in New South Wales and, indeed, with the United States. That fits with that aviation worker who works in that facility that we know international pilots use.

We know they’re not linked to any case in Queensland. So we have these brand-new outbreaks happening every day.

Updated

Queensland’s health minister has said the virus is on the state’s “doorstep”:

We know that the virus is on our doorstep. We have been saying this for some time now, from New South Wales, ACT, Victoria. These cases reinforce this again. The genomic sequencing that came back on the two different clusters yesterday show that this virus is not linked to any existing Queensland cases, that these are linked to interstate and potentially overseas.

That’s good news. It shows that we don’t have any evidence of the virus still circulating within the community from previous clusters. But it once again shows the risk to Queenslanders of this virus coming across our borders.

Masks made mandatory in Gold Coast

D’Ath has also announced some new restrictions, including the re-introduction of a mask mandate in the Gold Coast.

The restrictions also cover people accessing hospitals, aged care, disability facilities, and correctional services facilities.

Queensland records one new case

Queensland has recorded only one new locally acquired case, a close contact of the aviation worker.

Health minister Yvette D’ath also mentions that another person, a truck driver, tested positive, but got tested in NSW so will be included in their numbers.

That means there are 18 active cases now in Queensland.

Updated

We are currently on standby for the Queensland Covid update.

Updated

So we have a statement from Frydenberg, as well as Senator Bridget Mckenzie, on the plans to cut the Covid-19 disaster payments.

The statement says the payments are being cut as part of the government’s “economic recovery plan,” and that the payment will be cut once any individual state or territory reaches 70% double-dose rates.

At that point, the payments auto-renewal system will end, with people then having to apply each week to confirm their eligibility.

At 80%, “the temporary payment will step down over a period of two weeks before ending”.

For those who haven’t already returned to the workforce following the end of the temporary payment as the economy opens up, the social security system will support eligible individuals back into work.

Updated

The seven-day average in Victoria is now 828, which you can see in the daily graph below:

Updated

Victoria records 950 new cases and seven deaths

Victoria has recorded 950 new locally acquired cases, a significant jump on yesterday’s numbers.

Sadly, seven people died overnight.

Updated

We have our first press conference announcement out!

Catholic Social Services Australia has released a statement saying the federal government’s plan to roll back disaster payments a “blow to struggling families.”

It comes as the federal treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, will announce later today that Covid disaster payments for lockdown affected workers will end after states and territories reach the 80% vaccination mark.

Francis Sullivan, the chair of Catholic Social Services Australia, said that the government needs to ensure that in future lockdowns they are able to reinstate the payments quickly (something government reps have indicated is unlikely):

The federal government was very slow to provide assistance to people who had lost work at the start of both last year’s and this year’s shut downs,.

This meant that for weeks, sometimes months, people were effectively living off welfare services and placed under huge amounts of pressure.

Sadly the federal government seems to be late in providing assistance to struggling families and fast in cutting off the support.

This is only going to place greater pressure on low income families, the disabled and those who have been worst hit by the lockdowns.

The financial uncertainly that this decision will bring will only exacerbate the mental health issues that thousands of people around Australia are now suffering.

Updated

Just building on that (and what I assume will one of the theme’s of today’s blog), federal finance minister Simon Birmigham was on ABC News Breakfast this morning, and was asked why disaster payments were being cut off at the 70% and 80% vaccination marks:

Because it is consistent with the scientific research modelling and because it is consistent, as well with the fact that New South Wales, Victoria, ACT have started to outline different road maps and importantly the support for individuals under the Covid disaster payment, which is running at around $1bn a week, in costs, will continue through between 70% and 80%.

Individuals will need to move to a process of reapplying each week for that assistance. Then at 80% it tapers off over a period of a few weeks and we then still have the normal social safety net are in place for individuals n addition to ongoing measures such as our loss carry back arrangements for businesses or some of the targeted measures which have been implemented such as for the aviation industry.

When asked what he makes of the pushback on the move, especially considering the fact that lockdowns are a distinct possibility for some areas even after we hit 80% double dose, Birmigham just referred to pre-Delta employment figures:

Where before we had the Covid outbreaks, the Delta strains in Victoria and NSW, we actually had an economy that was running with higher levels of employment that had been the case pre-Covid and record levels of participation across the work place and with record lows being driven, in terms of unemployment rates.

Our economy is clearly very strong and the labour market demands we have seen coming out of lockdown circumstances and restrictions before, have equally been very, very strong.

Make of that what you will.

Updated

We’re expecting a doorstop presser from treasurer Josh Frydenberg in a moment, but he was on Sunrise a while ago, backing the government’s decision to cut disaster payments once a the country hits the 70% vaccination rates.

The Sunrise hosts asked him if he was trying to “corner” some state premiers who weren’t keen to reopen their economies:

The Doherty Institute modelling, which was the basis for the national plan that was agreed to in national cabinet, said at 80% [vaccination] lockdowns were unlikely.

They may exist, but they will be temporary [and] targeted. In which case we have the welfare system provide that support.

The existing Covid disaster payment is an emergency payment. Right now the commonwealth is providing more than $1bn of taxpayer money each and every week.

That emergency payment needs to come to an end, which is why we have set up a transition plan of 70 to 80% [vaccination].

I don’t think anyone has called $300bn of economic support being stingy.

If you look around the world ... whether it is in the UK, US, Canada, Japan, people are starting to get about their normal lives. Learning to live with the virus in a Covid-safe way.

As our vaccination rates hit 70 and 80%, we need to do that as well. So this announcement today backs our plan and allows Australians to get their lives back.

Updated

British high commissioner: 'The time is now' to agree 2050 target

The British high commissioner to Australia, Vicki Treadell, is on the ABC’s RN Breakfast now, and is talking the pressure on the prime minister to agree to set a target of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.

Treadell said Morrison is under pressure from UK prime minister Boris Johnson to back the target:

The world is moving in that direction and none of us want Australia left behind. Australia has huge potential to be a leader in climate action.

Treadell goes on to say that the pressure on PM has “never been stronger” and that it was the time to seize the opportunity:

The time is now. International and domestic pressure on this has never been stronger. So either we seize the opportunity to move forward into a low emissions/zero emissions future or we get left behind.

Updated

So, NSW environment minister Matt Kean was on RN Breakfast this morning, discussing the state Coalition’s announcement that they will halve the state’s emissions by 2030.

But Kean also blasted federal National Matt Canavan, who said coal prices were at record levels, which he though should kickstart mining expansion.

Kean was not having it:

It’s great that Matt Canavan is selling Kodak cameras but it doesn’t count for much when the iPhone is coming. The reality is the world is changing rapidly.

We need a net-zero commitment by 2050 at least by the federal government and we should have more ambitious targets in line with what the states and territories are doing for 2030, as well.

Kean said NSW’s plan will be underpinned by a shift from coal to renewable energy, as well as an electric vehicle strategy (finally) and a fund to help the industry transition.

We don’t think it’s a choice between protecting our environment and growing our economy here in NSW. We think we can do both and projections suggest that’s exactly what’s happening.

It will not only set our state up for success in the areas of industry, electricity and electric vehicles but it will also support agriculture. It’s in line with what Meat and Livestock Australia has said is needed for agriculture.

The renewable energy zones that we’ve legislated here in NSW are forecast to attract around $32bn worth of private sector investment over the next decade and majority of that funding will go into rural and regional NSW.

Kean was asked about what it took to convince his colleagues from the Nationals to join the plan, keeping in mind the federal Nationals’ protestations at the idea. Kean said it was “quite easy”, actually:

There is no greater champion for growing prosperity of the bush than John Barilaro, which is why he supported renewable energy zones and why he’s supporting this commitment.

Updated

Sources have told Elias Visontay that it would be “naive” to expect pre-pandemic levels of travel by Christmas.

Foreign airlines have said international tourism is unlikely to resume by the end of the year due to too much uncertainty around quarantine requirements and vaccine passports, with a source saying the PM’s timetable was “naive.”

According to that same source, even when international flights resume, they would operate at a “fraction of pre-pandemic levels” due to home quarantine requirements.

You can read more on the story here:

Updated

The Lowy report also says Australia accounted for 42% of all aid to the Pacific region between 2009 and 2019 but, in more recent years, the amount of money being spent on health has been cut in favour of infrastructure projects.

As part of its pandemic response, Australia established a temporary AU$305m Covid package within the Pacific Step-Up program, which aimed to “to help address the economic and social costs of the pandemic in the Pacific and Timor-Leste, helping to underpin our region’s stability and economic recovery”.

The package was mostly designed to help Pacific governments maintain essential services, including aviation, during the worst of the pandemic. Vaccines have also been sent to Pacific Island governments, along with specialist teams, to help curb the spread of Covid.

But with the world beginning to move on, the Lowy Institute points to more needing to be done to ensure nations within the Pacific region do not fall further behind.

Australia is also facing pressure from its Pacific neighbours to act on climate, with warnings the Coalition’s “inertia” on the issue was undermining its position within the Indo-Pacific, at the same time as scrambling to reassure partners the new strategic Aukus pact would not heighten defence tensions in the region.

Updated

Australia’s Pacific neighbours risk a “lost decade” following the Covid pandemic, with the region facing its greatest economic contraction in four decades, according to a new report into foreign aid.

The latest Lowy Institute Pacific aid map, which sets out aid spending and donations to the Pacific Islands regions shows US$2.44bn in foreign aid reached the Pacific in 2019, which is about 8% of the region’s GDP.

Australian aid to the region has increased, after growing fears China’s “soft diplomacy” through concessional loans for infrastructure projects was lessening Australia’s influence on the region. While Australia’s total foreign aid budget has shrunk under the Coalition, the Pacific has been the focus of what remains, with Australia “retooling” its budget to increase its contributions to Pacific neighbours.

But China, an emerging force in the region, slashed its contributions that same year, reducing its aid budget from US$246m in 2018 by 31%, delivering US$169m in 2019.

Lowy reports that’s the lowest level of aid China has given to the Pacific region since 2012, with the drop occurring even as Beijing secured new diplomatic alliances. China’s funding to the region is more commonly given in the form of a concessional loan, leaving countries indebted to the government. In 2019, 67% of Chinese aid was given in the form of loans, up from 41% the year before.

The early analysis for 2020 shows no indication China has increased its financial support, leaving governments in the region with financial gaps it has little hope of filling.

The Lowy Institute analysis, to be released on Wednesday, estimates an additional US$3.5bn will be needed for the region to recover from the pandemic, but donors appear in short supply.

All up, aid to the Pacific declined by 15% in 2019, with health spending accounting for just 11% of the US$2.44bn.

Updated

Two men charged for entering WA for the AFL grand final illegally

Two men have been charged with entering Western Australia illegally, to attend the AFL grand Final over the weekend.

The pair were taken into custody yesterday, after WA police made a public plea to help find them.

One of the men had posted a photo on his instagram account alongside player Alex Neal-Bullen inside the Demon’s locker room, celebrating and drinking with the players.

The men had allegedly entered WA via Darwin using false documents, where they had claimed to have been in the Northern Territory during the preceding 14 days.

An anonymous tip-off led police to suspect the men had lied on their documents and had been in Melbourne just 11 days earlier.

Both men were tested once they were taken into custody, with one of them returning an inconclusive result. The other tested negative.

They were charged with three counts of failing to comply with a directive and were refused bail. They are set to appear in the Perth magistrates court later today.

Updated

Good morning, Mostafa Rachwani with you to take you through the morning’s headlines.

We begin in Queensland, where health authorities have warned that the next 48 hours will be critical in containing the state’s latest outbreak. Four cases were reported yesterday (with two press conferences), including in an aviation worker and his wife, a truck driver and a woman who had recently left quarantine.

The cases have created uncertainty around the NRL grand final, due to be held in Brisbane on Sunday.

Melbourne today wakes up with slightly eased restrictions, after the state hit the 80% first-dose vaccination mark, with some outdoor activities and gatherings allowed, with the 10km radius now extended to 15km. It comes after the state recorded its worst ever day for cases yesterday, with 867 locally acquired cases recorded and the Latrobe Valley enters lockdown.

Elsewhere, federal treasurer Josh Frydenberg will today announce that disaster payments will be wound up once the a state or territory reaches 80% double-dose vaccination. It comes after the government has paid more than $9bn in disaster payments but means if particular areas in those states go into lockdown, there will be no future disaster payments.

Focus will also be on the prime minister, Scott Morrison, today, and how he navigates the Coalition’s climate fault lines, especially after the NSW Coalition promised to cut the state’s emissions in half this decade.

And sticking with NSW, residents in Port Macquarie and Muswellbrook entered a week-long lockdown last night, just as Byron Bay and Tweed Heads have emerged from lockdown.

We will of course keep our eyes on the headlines in the lead up to the inevitable press conference crossover, usually at around 11am. Stay tuned.

Updated

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Paul McCartney's Reddit activity faced moderation after attempts to post in r/PaulMcCartney, sparking debate about platform rules, subreddit moderation, and how even global celebrities navigate online communities.
International Business Times UK
International Business Times UK
Say my name: For newcomer and racialized children, belonging begins with classroom greetings
The first time I understood that names could hold two worlds was not by changing mine, but by hearing it differently. As a Pakistani child growing up in Canada, I learned early that my name could sound different depending on who was saying it. My name is simple and deeply…
The Conversation
The Conversation
‘Death hunted him since he was a kid’: how Lamar Odom survived to become a villain in his own tale
A new documentary charts the tragic events that led to the former NBA star overdosing in a Nevada brothel – and what came next
The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
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