Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Luke Henriques-Gomes (now) and Matilda Boseley (earlier)

New case in person who travelled across state borders; new vaccine advice for pregnant women – as it happened

Queensland chief health officer Jeannette Young is providing a coronavirus update.
Queensland chief health officer Jeannette Young announced on Wednesday afternoon that a woman who travelled with her partner from Melbourne on 1 June and arrived in Queensland on 5 June has tested positive for Covid. Photograph: Darren England/AAP

What we learned today, Wednesday 9 June

We’ll leave it there for today.

Here are today’s main developments.

  • Victoria recorded one new Covid-19 case, as authorities announced an easing of restrictions from Friday.
  • Those changes will see a return to school for students while hospitality and retail will also reopen, but gyms were left disappointed by news they will remain closed.
  • Queensland recorded a new case after authorities revealed a woman travelled from Melbourne to Caloundra and subsequently tested positive today. Officials said it was too early to consider any changes to Covid rules in response to the case.
  • NZ authorities say three Victorians were placed in hotel quarantine after trying to enter the country during the Melbourne lockdown.
  • Federal authorities have updated their vaccine guidelines and are recommending pregnant women have the Pfizer vaccine.
  • The federal government floated the possibility the Biloela family might be resettled in a third country, such as New Zealand, but the family’s lawyer said the suggestion has not been raised with them.

We’ll see you tomorrow.

Updated

The fire in Bondi has now been contained.

Three Victorians placed in hotel quarantine in NZ after entering during Melbourne lockdown

New Zealand authorities say three Victorians have been placed into hotel quarantine after they entered the country while the trans-Tasman bubble was suspended.

The Ardern government has barred Victorians from entering New Zealand given the current outbreak in Melbourne.

NZ health authorities told reporters on Wednesday that the group of three had entered Auckland via Sydney, but were identified when they arrived.

“Those three people were identified when they arrived and were immediately transferred to a managed isolation facility in Auckland where they will remain for a 14-day period,” the NZ director general of health Ashley Bloomfield said.

Bloomfield said they had so far returned negative tests.

The New Zealand prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, said:

They stopped at the border and were put into managed isolation. That demonstrates even when we have people who are making a deliberate attempt to get through, it will be picked up. It’s up to us to make sure we’re putting in place different mechanisms to make sure we are stopping people, even when they’re making a deliberate attempt to get through. There’s multiple points where we can pick people up and we have. Anyone considering breaching the rules we have in place, in this case the family has been picked up and put into a managed isolation facility. There are consequences.

The New Zealand Herald reported that the group had been seeking to attend a funeral being held in Auckland this week.

The NZ Covid-19 response minister, Chris Hipkins, said the group would have to pay for their stay in hotel quarantine, but fines were a matter for the police.

Updated

In response the latest confirmed case in Queensland, Western Australia’s department of health says:

Anyone who has recently arrived into WA from Queensland and has been to one of the listed Queensland exposure sites since 1 June 2021 during the relevant times is required to get tested and self-quarantine for 14 days and present for 48-hour and 11-day testing.

If you’ve recently returned to WA from Queensland you should continue to monitor the Queensland Health site.

And anyone who has been to an exposure site in NSW and has since entered WA is required to get tested and self-quarantine for 14 days.

Updated

This is that fire at the school in Bondi.

AAP has this market wrap at the close of play.

Shares reached record heights for the sixth consecutive trading day on the Australian market before investors saw signs of rampant inflation in China.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index hit an all-time high of 7334.90 points in the first hour of trading.

Yet buying turned to selling after China revealed factory gate prices increased at the fastest pace since September 2008.

The producer price index rose 9% from a year earlier in May.

CommSec market analyst James Tao said investors had a negative response to the data.

He said higher inflation could lead central banks to lift interest rates or ease monetary policy, which have been helpful for shares.

“The ASX rally we’ve seen in the past 12 months is much to do with there being a lot of easy money,” Tao said.

China’s consumer price index rose 1.3%, which was less than expected.

US futures were little changed in the wake of the China data.

The lack of demand for Australian shares caused the ASX200 to close lower by 22.4 points, or 0.31 per cent, to 7270.2.

The All Ordinaries closed down by 20.3 points, or 0.27 per cent, to 7522.

US inflation data, due on Thursday night, will also test investor nerves.

The Australian dollar was buying 77.50 US cents at 1728 AEST, higher from 77.46 US cents at Tuesday’s close.

My colleague Paul Karp reports:

Andrew Laming has threatened to sue a publication owned by The Chaser, a media figure and a social media user for characterising an incident in which he took a photo of a woman bending over as “upskirting”.

Senior Australian and Japanese ministers have called for peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, while voicing their “strong opposition to coercive and destabilising behaviour in the region” in a message aimed at China.

The joint statement follows a virtual meeting between Australia’s foreign affairs minister, Marise Payne, and the defence minister, Peter Dutton, and their Japanese counterparts Toshimitsu Motegi and Nobuo Kishi this afternoon.

The group said the relationship between Australia and Japan was growing stronger, and they renewed their “determination to deepen cooperation to promote a free, open, inclusive and prosperous Indo-Pacific where disputes are resolved peacefully, without the threat or use of force or coercion, and where the sovereignty and rights of all states under international law are upheld.”

The statement appears to take aim at China for behaviour that “undermines the rules-based international order” and voices “serious” or “grave” concerns about a range of issues, including the situation in the East and South China seas, Xinjiang and Hong Kong.

After Dutton’s recent comments that the risk of conflict of Taiwan could not be “discounted”, the joint statement said:

We underscore the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and encourage the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues.

In a particularly strongly worded section on the South China Sea, the Australian and Japanese ministers expressed “our objections to China’s maritime claims and activities that are inconsistent with the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea”.

We share serious concerns about the recent negative developments and serious incidents in the South China Sea, including continuing militarisation of disputed features, dangerous use of coast guard vessels and ‘maritime militia’, and efforts to disrupt other countries’ resource exploitation activities. In this context, we reiterate our concerns over China’s Coast Guard Law in the context of the South China Sea.

Updated

On that fire at Bondi Beach Public School, a NSW Fire and Rescue spokesman says crews were called to the scene at Warners Avenue, Bondi, about 5pm. He says the top of the two-level school building is “well alight”.

There are no reports of injuries, though firefighters are still searching the scene as they work to get the fire under control. Residents are encouraged to avoid the area due to a “fair bit of smoke” and because there is currently a heavy emergency service presence.

Updated

Some concerning footage coming out of Bondi just now.

Updated

Fair to say the Twitter meme factory has already gone into overdrive with that photo of the NSW premier.

The G7 summit in Cornwall will be somewhat of a homecoming for Scott Morrison, reports AAP’s Paul Osborne.

As the prime minister noted in a speech in Perth on Wednesday:

It’s a long time since one of my family was in Cornwall.

Morrison’s ancestor William Roberts – who the prime minister described as his “fifth great-grandfather” – was born in the English county in 1755.

Roberts was tried at the Bodmin assizes in Cornwall for stealing “five pound and a half-weight of yarn” belonging to William Moffatt, from the nearby market town of Launceston.

The theft made the local newspaper in August 1786.

He was initially placed on the hulk Dunkirk a month later, moored at Plymouth, before being transferred to the convict transport Charlotte and later put on board the Scarborough – one of the 11 ships in the First Fleet.

Roberts arrived at Sydney Cove in January 1788 and soon gained respect and attention for his carpentry skills.

He had two children with another convict Kezia Brown, who arrived on the Neptune, before they were married in August 1793 at St Philip’s church in Sydney, by the colony’s first minister, Richard Johnson.

The family settled in the Windsor area, north-west of Sydney, becoming stalwarts of the community with family members holding rural property there until the 1950s.

The prime minister is related to Edward Roberts, the last of William and Kezia’s children, born at the family property Hobby Farm in April 1813.

Edward inherited the farm, which official records show in 1822 was planted to wheat, maize, barley, potatoes, an orchard, and ran cattle and pigs.

William Roberts died aged 65 in February 1820, with wife Kezia spending 34 years as a widow.

William and Kezia are buried at St Matthew’s Anglican church in Windsor.

Updated

The Biloela family’s immigration lawyer, Carina Ford, has been on the ABC and provided an update on Tharnicaa’s health.

She is still stable but there’s no idea yet when she will be released. She is unsettled which at that age, often when you are sick, she’s not sleeping that well. And I’d have to say that they’re all pretty tired because of a week of non-sleep. She is relieved that she is there. [Her mother, Priya] knew something was wrong. So the mother is feeling more relieved about her daughter being in hospital and getting the right care.

Here are the new exposure sites from NSW Health. The department says:

Anyone who attended the following venues at the times listed must immediately get tested and isolate until you receive further information from NSW Health:

  • Gillenbah, Caltex Narrandera, 1 Newell Highway, Tuesday, 1 June, 10.30 am to 11.00am
  • Forbes, Vandenberg Hotel, 7 Court Street, Tuesday, 1 June, 6.00pm to 10.00pm
  • Forbes, Brew Coffee Bar, 1/99 Lachlan Street, Wednesday, 2 June, 7.00am to 10.00am
  • Dubbo, CSC Church Street Cafe, 15 Church Street, Wednesday, 2 June, 11.30am to 2.30pm
  • Dubbo, Reading Cinemas Dubbo, 49 Macquarie Street, Wednesday, 2 June, 6.00pm to 10.00pm
  • Dubbo, Homestead Motel, 101 Cobra Street, From Wednesday, 2 June at 12.00pm to Thursday, 3 June at 10.00am
  • Moree, Gwydir Carpark/Motel & Thermal Pools, 4 Amaroo Drive, from Thursday, 3 June at 1.45pm, all day Friday, 4 June to Saturday, 5 June at 7.30am
  • Moree, Cafe Omega, 145 Balo Street, Thursday, 3 June, 1.30pm to 4.30pm,
  • Moree, Cafe Omega, 145 Balo Street Friday, 4 June, 7.00am to 9.30am
  • Moree, Cafe Omega, 145 Balo Street, Friday, 4 June, 11.50am to 2.00pm
  • Moree, Amaroo Tavern, Amaroo Drive, Friday, 4 June, 4.30pm to 11.00pm

Updated

Biloela family daughter's condition improving, has been seen by infectious disease expert

Tharnicaa, the three-year-old daughter of the Tamil family from Biloela being held in immigration detention on Christmas Island, is improving and has seen an infectious disease expert, but supporters say there are no answers as to how she contracted pneumonia that led to a blood infection and required her to be transferred to hospital in Perth.

Her temperature is dropping, but her mother Priya has reported Tharnicaa is still not eating. Blood test results will take two days to return, by which time Priya has said she believes they could be sent back to Christmas Island. Australian Border Force has not confirmed this to them.

Following comments from the foreign minister, Marise Payne, on Tuesday that the family could be resettled in New Zealand or the US, the family’s lawyer, Carina Ford, said they have not yet been contacted about it, and family friend Angela Fredericks said they could not say whether it was a serious offer:

We’ve lost count of the times Priya and Nades’ hearts have been broken by speculation like this, or similar, in the past. Hope is all they have, and speculative discussions like this can do harm to their mental state and wellbeing.

We have a perfectly good resettlement option here in Biloela. We continue to urge minister Karen Andrews to use ministerial discretion and let our friends come home to Biloela, where they will be safe and loved.

Updated

The Berejiklian contribution may be a subtle homage to this classic from her fellow Liberal, Malcolm Turnbull.

State of Origin, premiers edition. Seems to me NSW premier is very keen, given the game starts at 8.10pm.

Let me know if I’m missing some well worn NRL ritual – I’m an AFL person.

Updated

Queensland Covid exposure sites

Here are those Queensland exposure sites:

Saturday 5 June 2021:

  • McDonalds Goondiwindi
  • BP Complex – Cunningham Hwy Goondiwindi, 7.35am-7.50am

Sunday 6 June 2021

  • Sunnys @ Moffat – 10 Seaview Terrace Moffat Beach, 2.35pm-3pm

Sunday 6 June 2021

  • Coffee Cat on Kings Beach – 4/8 Levuka Ave Kings Beach, 3.30pm-4.30pm

Monday 7 June 2021

  • The Coffee Club – Stockland Caloundra Shopping Centre, Shop 30 & 31, Stockland Caloundra, 47 Bowman Rd, Caloundra 10.50am-11.05am

Monday 7 June 2021

  • Female toilet near JB Hi-Fi, Kawana Shoppingworld 119 Point Cartwright Dr Buddina, 1pm-1.10pm

Monday 7 June 2021

  • Foodcourt, Kawana Shoppingworld – 119 Point Cartwright Dr Buddina, 1.30pm- 2pm

Tuesday 8 June 2021

  • Female toilets near IGA Baringa White’s Supa IGA – 1 Edwards Terrace, Baringa, 4.05pm- 4.15pm

Updated

I’m just waiting for those exposure sites to be posted on the Queensland Health website and then I’ll bring them to you. Same goes for NSW.

Young says the case will have no impact on tonight’s State of Origin match. Also it’s too early to think about the likelihood of a lockdown.

D’Ath notes there’s been no community transmission within Queensland yet.

Young won’t be drawn on the specific case but she says “any case of Covid is frustrating”.

“The community has had to put up with so much now for 18 months ... any community case of Covid is going to be frustrating for a lot of people,” she says.

You can also expect that NSW Health will issue some exposure sites given the woman appears to have been infectious while travelling through NSW.

Young says the woman’s partner has tested negative, but he’s been moved to Sunshine Coast university hospital to be monitored.

There are six close contacts.

Young says the woman was likely positive with Covid dating back to 1 June. She developed symptoms on 3 June.

She is unaware of whether the woman is vaccinated.

Updated

Young is outlining the exposure sites. They include Goondiwindi McDonald’s, a Caltex super petrol station in Toowoomba, Sunny’s at Moffat Beach, and sites in Caloundra, but I’ll bring you more detailed list shortly.

An aerial view of Caloundra on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.
An aerial view of Caloundra on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. Photograph: Dan Peled/AAP

Updated

The Queensland health officer, Dr Jeannette Young, says the woman travelled with her partner from Melbourne on 1 June.

She arrived in Queensland on 5 June. The woman crossed the border from NSW to Queensland at Goondiwindi.

Updated

Confirmed case in Queensland after woman travelled from Victoria

Yvette D’ath, the Queensland health minister, says the state now has a positive case.

The woman is 44 years old and arrived from Victoria via New South Wales.

She was tested yesterday and her results came back as positive today. She is in Caloundra.

Updated

We’re expecting this Queensland press conference to begin in the next five minutes or so.

Doctors' group says government should reunite Biloela family

The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) says the Morrison government should reunite the Biloela family.

In a statement, chair of the RANZCP Asylum Seeker and Refugee Mental Health Network Committee, Dr Kym Jenkins, expressed concern for the mental health and wellbeing of the family’s youngest daughter, who has been airlifted to Perth with her mother.

However, Tharunicaa’s father remains on Christmas Island.

Jenkins says:

It’s beyond understanding why the federal government would separate the family when one of their daughters is so unwell.

It goes against everything we stand for as a country to continue to cause so much grief and suffering to this family.

To be separated from each other during a time of significant stress and anxiety simply compounds the already existing mental health and wellbeing issues they’re suffering in detention.

The prolonged and indefinite detention of this family, and other asylum seekers and refugees, violates their rights to liberty and freedom, as well as their rights to seek asylum without punishment on account of their method of entry into a territory.

This family, like many others, have suffered long enough and it’s time to end that suffering.

Tharnicaa (right) comforted by her sister Kopika on Christmas Island. Tharnicaa has now been medically evacuated to Perth with a suspected blood infection. Her sister and father remain on Christmas Island.
Three-year-old Tharnicaa (right) comforted by her sister Kopika on Christmas Island. Tharnicaa has now been medically evacuated to Perth with a suspected blood infection. Her sister and father remain on Christmas Island. Photograph: SUPPLIED/PR IMAGE

Updated

We’ll bring you more details when they come to hand.

This is such a sad story.

More details in a previous post, from AAP. The case is being examined at the disability royal commission today.

Winter has well and truly hit us.

South Australian budget to upgrade railway stations

The South Australian government has promised to spend $111m over the next 10 years to upgrade railway stations across metropolitan Adelaide, reports AAP.

The funding includes $66.4m across the next four years to be allocated in this month’s state budget.

It will allow for station makeovers to ensure they are safer and more enjoyable for train commuters.

Premier Steven Marshall said the funding would encourage more people to leave their cars at home and catch public transport

“We know that if we can get more people on to our buses and trains it will help to ease traffic congestion on our roads and reduce the impacts on the environment,” Marshall said.

The station upgrades will include new shelters, seating and bins, lighting upgrades, painting, and landscaping, and are expected to create more than 100 jobs.

Updated

Scott Morrison is giving a speech in Perth but so far it’s been pleasantries and musings on tonight’s State of Origin. Something about blue tie, something about a WA audience not getting the reference.

If there are questions, I’ll bring you Morrison’s comments live. But his speech has already been briefed out, and you can read about it below.

Dogs that killed Queensland woman put down

Three unregistered dogs have been put down after they attacked and killed a Queensland mother who was minding them, reports AAP.

Tributes are flowing for 41-year-old Amanda Carmichael, who was mauled to death in the yard of a Maryborough home on Tuesday morning.

Paramedics fought to revive her but she was pronounced dead at the Milton Road property where the attack occurred.

She had suffered wounds to her head, chest and arm.

The mixed-breed dogs had already been corralled into a shed by the time authorities arrived.

They were seized by council officers and were later put down after the owner formally surrendered them.

Fraser Coast mayor George Seymour has offered his condolences to Carmichael’s family and friends.

“This is a tragic event that is now subject to a police investigation and until the coronial inquest has been undertaken, we cannot comment on the circumstances surrounding the incident,” he said in a statement.

“The dogs were unregistered.”

Police have said Carmichael was well known and well liked in the Maryborough community, and her death is being treated as a tragic accident.

A report will be prepared for the coroner.

Updated

Not everyone is happy with Josh Frydenberg’s op-ed in the Herald Sun today.

Just to let you know we’re expecting the prime minister, Scott Morrison, to step up for a media conference in about half an hour.

Updated

Australian health authorities now recommend Pfizer vaccine for pregnant women

The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG) and the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (Atagi) has updated its Covid vaccine advice for pregnant women.

They recommend pregnant women at any stage of pregnancy be routinely offered the Pfizer mRNA vaccine.

“This is because the risk of severe outcomes from Covid-19 is significantly higher for pregnant women and their unborn baby,” a joint RANZCOG/ Atagi statement said.

Global surveillance data from large numbers of pregnant women have not identified any significant safety concerns with mRNA Covid-19 vaccines given at any stage of pregnancy. Furthermore, there is also evidence of antibody in cord blood and breastmilk, which may offer protection to infants through passive immunity.

Pregnant women are encouraged to discuss the decision in relation to timing of vaccination with their health professional. Women who are trying to become pregnant do not need to delay vaccination or avoid becoming pregnant after vaccination, the advice states.

A pregnant Brazilian woman, Carolina de Lima, receives a dose of Pfizer coronavirus vaccine in Sao Paulo.
A pregnant Brazilian woman, Carolina de Lima, receives a dose of Pfizer coronavirus vaccine in Sao Paulo. Photograph: Carla Carniel/Reuters

Updated

Epic Games is appealing the federal court decision preventing its case against Apple over the banning of Fortnite from the store from being waged in Australia while a similar court case in the United States is under way.

Fortnite was banned from the Apple App Store last year after Epic offered an alternative payment method in the app that allowed people to bypass Apple’s own in-app payments system on which Apple takes up to a 30% slice.

The federal court ruled earlier this year that it would be up to the US court to refer any issued under Australian competition law back to Australia. The full federal court heard from Epic’s lawyers that a US court is an “inappropriate and incapable forum” to determine Australian law, and could not grant remedies to the same degree as an Australian court would.

The court also heard the stay would allow companies to put forum selection clauses into their contracts which would prevent legal action being brought in Australia for contraventions of Australian competition law. The case continues this afternoon, with Apple to respond. Google and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission also made written submissions to the court, but were not required to give verbal submissions.

Updated

RBA expects banks to soak up cheap funding

The Reserve Bank of Australia expects there will be a last-minute rush from banks to take advantage of a funding program that is due to end this month, reports AAP.

Its three-year term funding facility provides low-cost funding for banks.

It was introduced by the central bank during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic and at a time of extreme economic uncertainty.

RBA assistant governor for financial markets Christopher Kent said to date around $145bn has been drawn down from the facility.

“Banks have until the end of this month to draw on remaining allowances of $64bn,” he told an online conference on Wednesday.

He noted drawdowns have accelerated in recent weeks – a similar experience to when the TFF was initially set to run until September 2020.

“We expect that the bulk of available funding will be taken up because the cost of the facility remains well below the cost of similar funding available in the market,” Kent said in his speech to the KangaNews Debt Capital Markets Summit.

Updated

On what proportion needs to be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity, Khorshid says that’s not the primary aim.

We don’t know enough about the vaccines and enough about the various types, variants of this virus, to know what proportion of the population needs to be vaccinated with which vaccine to get to true herd immunity. That’s not really the aim here. The aim is to keep Australians out of the hospital. That’s been enunciated by the chief health officer and governments around the country and that should still be our primary aim.

Updated

Khorshid is talking about the AMA’s support for a sugar tax. He says:

It’s really a signal to the society from government to say, “This product is actually not helpful. This product has no nutritional value, this product is harming your health and the health of others in the community. So let’s drive a change in society.”

The AMA also supports an “increased volumetric taxes on alcohol or a floor price”, he says.

Updated

Khorshid is asked about the Victorian government’s response to the pandemic, and in particular the current lockdown.

He says:

The AMA has been supportive of the actions of the Victorian government. I think the public expects to be kept safe and this is what is necessary to be kept safe when we’re in an evolving situation. As information comes in, things become clearer, decisions become easier to make. I think the best thing for us all to do is support the advice that’s been given by the chief health officers around the country.

His main message is that people should go out and get vaccinated.

Updated

My colleague Paul Karp asked Omar Khorshid about the AMA’s concerns about the recent proposed changes to Medicare rebates.

He asked if the AMA’s concerns have been addressed and what he made of Labor’s warnings of a government assault on Medicare. Are we likely to see another “Mediscare campaign”?

Khorshid says:

I certainly hope we’re not going see a Mediscare campaign. The sad reality of Medicare is successive governments over the entire life of Medicare have failed to index it properly, and have therefore effectively cut Medicare for 30 years. This review that the AMA has supported was designed to modernise the MBS, and it has taken five years to do, we have a few quibbles and issues with how it was done, but at the end of the day the AMA is supportive of the review process and of most of the outcomes.

Khorshid says what the AMA was not happy with was the “process of implementation”.

“That message has been heard by government, and the agreement with the minister was that for future rounds there will be more time given so every patient is ensured a full, informed financial consent,” he says.

Federal president of the Australian Medical Association Omar Khorshid delivers his address to the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday.
Federal president of the Australian Medical Association Omar Khorshid delivers his address to the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Updated

Ann Marie Smith's death 'incomprehensible'

A former schoolmate of Adelaide woman Ann Marie Smith, who died in horrific circumstances while under disability care, has relayed a moving account of their longtime friendship, reports AAP.

In a statement read to the disability royal commission on Wednesday, the woman said Smith enjoyed singing along to Abba songs, loved her dogs and had an unforgettable laugh.

The pair had gone to primary school together in Adelaide and had kept in touch during high school and as adults.

“We watched each other grow from little girls to adult women and I will always cherish our friendship through many good years,” the woman said.

But she said Smith could also be headstrong and stubborn, and told the commission they did not speak with each other in the year before her death because of a falling out.

“This is something I really struggle with. I shouldn’t have made excuses,” the woman said.

“I carry a lot of guilt about that and I know that things would have been different if I had gone around to see her.

“For me, it is still incomprehensible what has happened to her.”

Smith, who had cerebral palsy, died in hospital in April last year from septic shock, multiple organ failure, severe pressure sores and malnourishment.

She had been found to be living in squalid conditions in her own home, largely confined to a cane chair, while under the care of the national disability insurance scheme.

Her death has been subject to a police investigation, with her former carer Rosa Maria Maione charged with manslaughter.

NDIS quality and safeguards commissioner Graeme Head also launched an independent investigation by former federal court judge Alan Robertson, with his report last year essentially clearing the commission in how it exercised its regulatory functions.

Robertson said on the question of whether it should have acted earlier to ban Maione, the commission had no information to take such action before Smith’s death.

He said there had been no complaints made to the commission and no incidents reported in relation to the 54-year-old’s care.

And in terms of action against her care provider, Integrity Care, Robertson found that once the commission became aware of Smith’s death, it took steps in relation to the company.

“I have not identified any significant failings in the nature or timing of those steps,” he said.

Updated

Just back on the Liveability Index, here’s the Guardian’s news story on this year’s list.

Meanwhile, Omar Khorshid, the president of the Australian Medical Association, is speaking at the National Press Club in Canberra.

I’ll be sure to bring you any notable moments from that event.

And that just about wraps up the Victorian press conference.

Thanks Matilda. It’s Luke Henriques-Gomes here.

We’ve moved on a bit from Covid now. James Merlino is asked about the Economist’s liveability index. Melbourne has slumped to eighth place.

A reporter asks: does Melbourne still deserve to be in the top 10?

Merlino says:

Do we deserve that? Do we deserve being in the top 10?Absolutely we do! This is the best place in the world to live. Victoria in Melbourne, we are going through a tough time at the moment, but it is still the best place to live. I love being a Melburnian, and we look forward to climbing back up that ladder over the next few years.

Melbourne ... how’s that serenity?
Melbourne ... how’s the serenity? Photograph: Daniel Pockett/EPA


Updated

With that, I shall pass you over to the fantastic Luke Henriques-Gomes to see off the press conference and take you through the rest of the afternoon.

Let’s have a chat about brothels! Under the new restrictions, regional brothels are allowed 100 customers a day.

One reporter has asked why this is the case when you can only have two visitors in your home, and chief health officer Brett Sutton says the answer is scale:

Visitors to the home are a cumulative risk. We are talking about hundreds of thousands, millions of homes across Victoria. When you have a particular easing of a restriction for an indoor environment, the most high-risk environment indeed for coronavirus, you have to look at the cumulative effect at what it means to allow two people, plus dependants, excluding kids under 12 months, across hundreds of thousands of homes.

For other venues, you are also looking at the cumulative risk, and if there are only three or four of those venues, if there are no casinos, if there are a few other settings you are talking about using restrictions, the cumulative risk is not the same as what it means to change the settings for a private gathering.

Of course, if you are looking at my home versus what I am able to do in another setting, it looks out of accord, but we have to look at what it means to make these changes across the board, understanding what it means for millions and millions of person-to-person interactions.

Updated

Sutton has been asked why the lockdown measures have to ease tomorrow night not right this second.

There are complex legal drafting matters to be done that needs to be measured against all of the charted considerations for each and every charter obligation that is in play with restrictions. And to make sure that it is not a sloppy process. We need to go through with a fine-tooth comb to make sure every single drafted peas with the public health directions are appropriate and correct. You are talking about public health advice.

Federal rescue funding will be cut off when Melbourne leaves lockdown

So good news, Melbourne is coming out of lockdown. Bad news, this means the federal government’s already fairly narrow wages support package will be cut off.

Merlino says the federal government has rejected requests for this funding to be extended:

These are the settings that the federal government put in place. They put a lot of conditions on the funding. We welcome the additional support but acknowledge that whether it is the conditions that they set, the taxing arrangements that they put to that funding, that is a decision that they have made. We understand hardship doesn’t end at 11.59pm tomorrow night.

I can confirm that Tim Pallas, our treasurer, reached out to the federal treasurer to advocate for the continuation of support. My understanding is that is not forthcoming but in terms of questions of additional income support and continuation of that support, that should be put to the federal government.

Updated

Now it’s time to talk about Victoria’s hospital capacity, which has been feeling the strain in recent months.

Reporter:

How would our hospitals cope with a Covid surge if one were to happen? We don’t have enough nurses and there aren’t enough beds as is. Are you concerned if we were to have another outbreak, our hospital won’t be able to cope?

Health minister Martin Foley:

I am concerned about every case of Covid.

In terms of preparation by our healthcare system, as we have seen, for instance, in the private residential aged care system with the Arcare Maidstone number of cases, I think it is three residents out there, whether it is aged care to be immediately moved into hospitals where it has been run which has happened with those three cases there.

Whether it is prioritising all the work in a number of particular hospitals that would be best placed should there be cases that need hospitalisation, we have done a lot of preparatory work with those hospitals in the healthcare system and in a collaborative way to be ready should that happen. That is why these public health measures that we have been taking in the past few weeks are designed to avoid that set of circumstances.

Updated

Sutton says while hotel quarantine is not perfect, it’s still a very important part of Australia’s Covid-19 response, which didn’t actually answer the question he was asked. Have a look.

Reporter:

The statistics ... relate to the number of positive cases. Per positive case with one in every 42 positive cases is a breach. That is the highest rate of any state per cases. Do you have any idea why that is? These are recent figures.

Sutton:

Sure. Hotel quarantine is not a perfect system.

As Paul Kelly’s referred to this in estimates, it is still probably the most powerful and positive public health intervention that Australia could have made back in March last year.

It has gotten us to that state of no community transmission that has made a world of difference on the global scale, in terms of how we have managed to open up in Australia and how we have managed to protect so many Australians from dying from Covid. There will be ongoing challenges with hotel quarantine. We just need to continue to investigate and improve as much as possible and where alternatives that can be built exist, we should pursue those also.

Side note: I haven’t seen that “1 in 42 positive cases” myself so I can’t vouch for that in terms of accuracy. I’ll see if I can find out where that came from.

Updated

More questions for Sutton (he has been up for quite a while now, come on Merlino, help a bro out!)

Reporter:

Between the end of October and June, Victoria has had the highest rate of hotel quarantine breaches per case of any other state, with one in every 42 cases of breach. Why is this?

Sutton:

We have had fewer breaches than some other jurisdictions with respect to hotel quarantine. We need to look at what the causes are but, as the acting premier said, as every first minister or head of quarantine or public health across the country has said, we need to look at every single aspect, every mitigation in hotel quarantine because they are not from an engineering point of view, the most ideal – they’re not open air.

Another reporter:

Do you have ongoing confidence in hotel quarantine in Victoria?

Sutton:

Yes, absolutely. Again, it doesn’t mean we should never consider that there isn’t a risk of the virus coming out of hotel quarantine.

Victorian chief health officer Brett Sutton.
Victorian chief health officer Brett Sutton. Photograph: James Ross/AAP

Updated

You can check out a full table of the new restrictions here.

If you prefer a version without an eye-wateringly busy layout, I’ll link to the Guardian Australia explainer as soon as it’s updated.

The federal treasurer (and Victorian resident) Josh Frydenberg released an op-ed today calling for school closures to be used as an absolute last resort in the case of a Covid outbreak.

Merlino was just asked about this:

Moving to remote learning is a last resort, absolutely is a last resort and for last couple of weeks, our schools have been open for vulnerable children and for children of authorised workers. We are in a position, based on public health advice, to have our year 11s and 12s back at school last Friday. I am pleased, as education minister and a parent, that on Friday, all children will be back at school.

Updated

Merlino slams the 'complete myth pedalled by the Liberals' over health advice transparency

The Victorian Liberal opposition is gunning hard for more transparency around health decisions. Merlino was just been asked what he thinks of this tactic.

Reporter:

The Victorian opposition is calling for the health advice behind lockdowns to be made public. Do you support that?

Merlino:

I am very happy to deal with this myth that the Liberals are pedalling around transparency.

We have got the public health directions which are publicly available. That is the public health advice, signed off by Victoria’s chief health officer.

We have got experts standing up every day answering all sorts of questions, Prof Sutton, Prof Cheng, Covid-19 commander, commissioner Casser from CQV and in the parliament, in terms of the state of emergency legislation, there is a written report provided by the chief health officer monthly and a briefing to the parliament on the pandemic.

Being absolutely transparent and clear with people, in terms of the situation, the settings that are in place and the reasons why, this is a complete myth pedalled by the Liberals.

Updated

Merlino is making no promises on further lockdowns:

In terms of any further lockdowns, whether we are talking about Victoria, New South Wales, WA or SA this is a global pandemic and it is impacting our nation.

The path to easing of restrictions completely and living a normal life is the successful rollout of the Commonwealth’s vaccination program and the construction and the operation of a purpose-built quarantine facility for our highest risk people. That has always been the path through this pandemic.

In meantime, we make our hotel quarantine system as safe as we possibly can, and if and when there is an outbreak, we absolutely run it to ground so we can get back to the life that we’re enjoying just a few weeks ago.

Updated

Sutton has been asked when people in Victoria can expect to “snap back” to pre-outbreak conditions:

It is a week-by-week respect, as the acting premier has flagged, we are looking aspirationally to the kind of levels that regional Victoria are moving to now in a further week. That would be my further hope.

We can be surprised on a day-by-day basis around what can emerge, and we have to recognise it remains a reasonably volatile situation.

The idea of a snap back to absolutely no restrictions whatsoever, no one has done that after significant community transmission, it didn’t happen after Avalon, it hasn’t happened after other significant community outbreaks, and so we have to move by increments, safely, but with the minimum restrictions that we know will continue to control this.

Updated

Reporter:

Where do you believe there are people not in quarantine who should be who would spread it if we open it up fully today?

Sutton:

Well, if I knew where they were, we wouldn’t be worried about them. It is potentially undetected cases out there and we have had a few mystery cases over the last couple of weeks, you know, as recently as a week or so ago. So it is needing to have that high level of testing in coming days to be absolutely sure that there are no undetected chains of transmission.

The Delta variant is one in particular that is obviously being discovered through people coming forward for testing which doesn’t have that intermediary case, necessarily, with hotel quarantine. I would want to be absolutely sure that we can find if there are any cases. But also, with the other variants, the Kappa variant, we have had a number of cases where acquisition is it absolutely clear, so we just need to run back down as much as possible.

Updated

Victoria "absolutely has to have zero" cases, chief health officer says

Remember back in the day when everyone was pretending that we weren’t going for the elimination of Covid-19? No one would admit we were all aiming for zero.

Well how the times have changed - here is what Victorian chief health officer Brett Sutton has to say:

So just a huge thank you from me for ... everybody who has made a sacrifice through this period of lockdown.

It is an awfully painful period, I have always had in mind that we need to do what is required to make sure that we get back down to zero.

There is really no alternative. Our national strategy of aggressive suppression is there for a reason. If you do not get to zero, there is no grumbling along with one or two cases.

This started with one case in Wollert that has led to almost 100 cases over a period of a few weeks. So we absolutely have to drive it back down to zero. But this has been the national strategy for a reason. It is what allows the travel bubble, what allows our internal borders to be open again.

Updated

Foley is laying out the total case number for all the clusters across greater Melbourne.

Here is where we stand for each of those different aspects of the outbreak, as of yesterday.

In the city of Whittlesea outbreaks, we have identified 1500 primary close contacts to that outbreak, and the Port Melbourne outbreaks, we have seen 2100 primary close contacts. These numbers are continuing to fall each day as people finalise their quarantine period.

And as these numbers fall, so to do the list of exposure sites linked to these aspects of the original part of this outbreak.

There are now fewer than 200 exposure sites online, and we expect as sites and primary close contacts continue to be cleared, that this figure should continue to come down.

In regards to the private residential aged care outbreaks, the Arcare Maidstone location, where we have seen 1057 primary close contacts, that number grew as a result of the case associated with the family member yesterday, and a number of those sites have been added as of yesterday.

With the West Melbourne cluster, which is still moving and shifting, in fact, we have seen that number of primary close contacts grow to 1112, obviously the majority of test results which continue to come in from the outbreak have given the public health team the confidence they need to make these recommendations that the acting premier has just announced.

So what about this person who was diagnosed today?

Well, I’m glad you asked, and the Victorian health minister, Martin Foley, has some answers for you:

So, today’s locally-acquired case is directly linked to the Stratton Finance workplace, and like many of these cases we are currently managing, this person was quarantining securely during their entire infectious period.

Updated

Merlino finishes up his speech with a congratulations ... and a warning:

Everyone should be absolutely proud of what we have all achieved together. But we know this isn’t over yet, and until we have widespread vaccination across Victoria and across our country, the virus will still be with us. So we can’t let complacency creep in, and I am asking everyone to keep doing the right thing.

Follow the rules, check-in, get tested if you are feeling unwell. You know, we are into the depths of winter now. People will get the sniffles. Any symptoms, any symptoms, please go and get tested. That is the most important thing you can do, and if you are eligible, please get vaccinated.

We are making some big steps today, we are announcing some big steps. This is a good day.

The acting Victorian premier, James Merlino, addresses the media
The acting Victorian premier, James Merlino, has congratulated the community on what they have achieved, but warns: ‘this isn’t over yet’. Photograph: James Ross/AAP

Updated

Oh, and there is some extra business supports announced for the Victorian businesses that have missed out in this round of restrictions easing.

Merlino:

In terms of business support, with the restrictions easing for Melbourne, but I have just outlined, we know that some businesses, so, for Melbourne, like gyms, amusement parks, dance studios and nightclubs, they will need to remain closed for a little while longer stop that is why I am announcing a further $8.36 million to provide an additional $2000 grant to support thousands of businesses eligible for the business cost assistance program that remain closed under the restrictions that I am announcing today.

Merlino foreshadows stricter QR code check-in requirements to come:

Another thing that I want to put on people’s radar is in regards to QR codes. On the advice of the chief health officer, we will be moving to make QR check-ins compulsory for all workplaces, with very limited exemptions.

Previously it has only been mandatory for customer-facing services, but through this outbreak we have seen a number of cases occur in office settings, so we want to take the next step on this.

We will be looking to consult with industry over the next few days around implementation and we will finalise the details next week ahead of the requirements coming into effect.

Updated

Melbourne travel restriction may relax next week

The acting premier has said that, if all goes to plan, the travel restrictions barring people in Melbourne moving around the rest of the state will be eased from next Thursday night.

Merlino:

We will have more to say about what the next stages of easing will look like next week, but I want to assure people that are subject to the public health advice, the epidemiological conditions through the next week, we expect to be, next Thursday night, that the original Metro divisions will come down and we will be able to travel more freely around the state again.

For Melbourne, we will be looking to further ease restrictions on venues, community sport will be able to come back for competition, so again, this allows local sporting clubs to start planning for what the weekend after next looks like.

We want to see what more can be done to further ease restrictions safely on businesses, without jeopardising the gains we have made, and we will be looking again to make some further changes for regional Victoria.

Updated

Here is what will be changing from 11.59pm Thursday for regional Victoria.

Merlino:

The changes include visitors to homes, so that is limited to two adults per day, plus their dependents.

Public gatherings will be increased to 20 people.

Restaurants and cafes can open to a maximum of 150 per venue for seated service, including up to 75 allowed indoors.

Religious ceremonies will be capped at 15o per venue.

Funerals will be limited to 75 people, while weddings will be limited to 20.

Offices will remain capped at 50%.

Community sport is back for all ages, both for training and for competition in regional Victoria.

Finally, regional Victorians will still be able to travel around regional Victoria, Melburnians will not.

Updated

Here is what will be changing from 11.59pm Thursday for Melbourne:

Merlino:

The five reasons to leave home will no longer apply in metropolitan Melbourne.

The existing 10km limit will be increased to 25km. That means the only reasons to go further than 25km will be for work, education, caregiving or getting a vaccination.

Travel into regional Victoria still remains a no go for now.

We are also still not in a position to be able to have visitors in our homes, but outdoor gatherings will be increased to a maximum of 10 people.

Schools will be able to resume face-to-face learning from Friday. Which is great news for teachers, staff, students and parents.

Masks will no longer be required outdoors unless you cannot maintain a 1.5 metre distance, but it is important that everyone continues to wear them indoors, whether that is shopping, on the train or at work.

Funerals are limited to 50 people, weddings are limited to 10.

Religious ceremonies will be capped at 50 people inside. Offices will be able to return with 25% or a cap of 10, whichever is greater. But we’re still asking people to work home where they can.

Restaurants and cafes can reopen for seated service with up to 100 people per venue and a maximum of 50 inside.

Retail can reopen in line with density limits of one person per four square metres.

Beauty therapy can also resume for treatments where masks can be worn.

Community sport can return to training in metropolitan Melbourne.

Auctions can happen outdoors, with a maximum of 50 people.

Some entertainment venues and community facilities will also open in line with density limits and additional caps, and they are in line with the current settings in regional Victoria.

Updated

Melbourne to come out of lockdown from Friday

The acting premier, James Merlino, is announcing the easing of restrictions for Melbourne and regional Victoria now.

Today, on the advice of the chief health officer, we can announce some significant steps. So, from 11:59pm tomorrow night, metropolitan Melbourne will move to most of the same settings currently in place across regional Victoria, and regional Victoria will move further towards further easing

Updated

Australia’s most populous state capitals Melbourne and Sydney have plummeted down the list of the world’s most liveable cities.

The Economist Intelligence Unit’s survey for 2021 rated Auckland, New Zealand as the most liveable city across the globe, ahead of Osaka, Japan, reports AAP.

Melbourne had basked in the title for seven years and was in second place the last time the list was compiled in 2019.

The Victorian city has now dropped to eighth, behind both Adelaide (third) and Perth (sixth), after enduring the nation’s longest Covid-19 lockdown last year.

Brisbane has also entered the top 10.

Brisbane city
Brisbane has been named among the top 10 of the world’s most liveable cities. Photograph: David Clark/AAP

Despite enjoying some of the most relaxed restrictions across the nation, Sydney dropped from third to 11th in a similar dive to Melbourne.

The index gave Melbourne 100% in infrastructure and education, while its healthcare (83.3) and culture and environment ratings (88.2) fell.

Here is the top 10 list as it now stands (Don’t worry the numbering confuses me too):

* 1. Auckland, New Zealand

* 2. Osaka, Japan

* 3. Adelaide, Australia

* 4. Wellington, New Zealand

* 4. Tokyo, Japan

* 6. Zurich, Switzerland

* 8. Geneva, Switzerland

* 8. Melbourne, Australia

* 10. Brisbane, Australia

Updated

Okay, we are just standing by now from Victorian acting premier James Merlino to step up now.

Updated

I swear, politicians have a bad reputation for being disingenuous and talking around the questions, but they have nothing on professional sports people.

Say what you mean, Buckley! Say what you mean!

No Covid-19 for NSW by the way!

Ummmmm is it just me or is this... good graphic design choices from Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk?

I need to go buy a lotto ticket, this is clearly a very special day.

Ben Roberts-Smith to take stand in defamation trail

Ben Roberts-Smith will take the stand this morning in his defamation trial against three Australian newspapers who have accused him of war crimes.

His trial will stay behind closed doors initially before the Victoria Cross recipient takes the stand in open court to give evidence about what he saw and did in Afghanistan.

He is expected to answer questions about his actions on deployment with the SAS in Afghanistan. The newspapers have accused him of committing six murders, on five separate occasions, while on deployment.

The first two days of the trial opening this week has heard from Roberts-Smith’s barrister, Bruce McClintock, who has sought to impugn those who have made allegations against Roberts-Smith as “fabulists” and “failed soldiers”.

McClintock told the court:

“[Roberts-Smith] has never killed anyone outside the rules of engagement ever.

But before Roberts-Smith’s defamation trial begins day three, a parallel legal action he is bringing, suing his ex-wife Emma Roberts over alleged access to emails and other information, is also set to be heard before a different judge.

Roberts-Smith claims his former wife had access to his email - and may have disclosed to others - confidential, sensitive or privileged material.

Roberts-Smith, 42, is suing the Age, the Sydney Morning Herald and the Canberra Times for defamation over a series of reports published in 2018 which he alleges are defamatory because they portrayed him as someone who “broke the moral and legal rules of military engagement” and committed war crimes, including murder.

Roberts-Smith, a decorated former corporal in the SAS, has consistently denied the allegations as “baseless”, saying they were “completely without any foundation in truth”.

Ben Roberts-Smith arrives at the Federal Court of Australia on June 09, 2021 in Sydney, Australia.
Ben Roberts-Smith arrives at the Federal Court of Australia on June 09, 2021 in Sydney, Australia. Photograph: Sam Mooy/Getty Images

Updated

Collingwood CEO Mark Anderson appears to be eulogising Nathan Buckley while sitting right next to Nathan Buckley. It’s all very awkward.

Looking at the next three to five years. As those conversations unfolded and particularly over the last couple of weeks and the last few days with Graham and Nathan, it became clear that Nathan’s time as coach would finish this year and that we wouldn’t be going on into 2022.

We will find the right time to honour and respect his amazing legacy to the club. He is a towering figure and legend of the club and we will respect that and provide our members and fans that opportunity of respecting that as well. We know all of our people and particularly our players will be doing their very best for Bucks and our club on Monday but it will be the last time that Bucks will be leading our players and our club on Monday afternoon.

OK, the Zoom call Collingwood press conference about Nathan Buckley stepping down is starting now.

Updated

A brilliant photo essay out today from Alana Holmberg.

Super duper worth checking out on your morning coffee break!

Speaking of pressers, we will be hearing from the acting premier, James Merlino, at 11.30am today where he is expected to confirm Melbourne will come out of lockdown from Friday. (With a number of restrictions still in place.)

Updated

Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley is to stand down

Nathan Buckley is to stand down as Collingwood coach midway through the AFL season as the club continues its large scale structural reform.

A press conference has been called for 11am at which Buckley is expected to confirm his exit, having told the club’s football department and playing staff earlier this morning.

Buckley’s last game in charge is expected to be against Melbourne at the SCG on the Queen’s birthday on Monday.

Buckley, who has been in charge of the Pies since taking over from Mick Malthouse in 2012, becomes the second of Collingwood’s major figureheads to leave the club this year, following the departure of former president Eddie McGuire.

It brings to an end months of speculation about his future, following a disappointing start to the season which has seen his side win just three games from 12 outings. The Pies currently sit 16th on the ladder.

It is unclear who will take over the job on an interim basis, but he counts his assistants as Brenton Sanderson, Robert Harvey, Hayden Skipworth and Damian Carroll.

Nathan Buckley coach of the Magpies during the Round 8 AFL match between the North Melbourne Kangaroos and Collingwood Magpies at Marvel Stadium, Melbourne.
Nathan Buckley coach of the Magpies during the Round 8 AFL match between the North Melbourne Kangaroos and Collingwood Magpies at Marvel Stadium, Melbourne. Photograph: Hamish Blair/AAP

Updated

Important news from Europe.

Now I know nothing about AFL (or any sport in general), but luckily the fantastic Guardian Australia sports editor Mike Hytner will drop-in in a second and bring you all the important news about Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley reportedly stepping down.

By the way, we are still waiting for a time to be confirmed for this Victorian press conference. I’ll let you know as soon as we know!

(Seems like the acting premier is still deep in discussion this morning as he is MIA in parliament.)

Updated

Whoops, looks like the Victorian Liberals have no plans on easing up the attacks on the Andrews government today.

Updated

The Australian Medical Association is backing a digital coronavirus vaccination certificate for Australians vaccinated against coronavirus.

People who have had both doses of Pfizer or AstraZeneca are able to access proof through their Medicare account, reports Matt Coughlan from AAP.

Australian Medical Association president Omar Khorshid told ABC radio on Wednesday that allowing immunisation status to be shown on a screen without disclosing other private health information was a logical step.

Australians need to be able to prove they are vaccinated one way or another...

It’s going to be needed for international travel. It may well be needed in many workplaces. Yes, we do support a mechanism for you to demonstrate your vaccine status.

The certificate has a coat of arms hologram and includes the person’s name, date of birth and a green tick of validity. No one will be required to share information about non-Covid vaccinations or other health data.

Proof of immunisation is seen as vital to relaxing restrictions long term, with some businesses and political leaders floating it as an incentive to receive jabs.

The government services minister, Linda Reynolds, said the new record would make it simple for people to show their vaccination status.

The Covid-19 digital certificate makes proof of vaccination accessible anytime, anywhere.

The certificate can be accessed through the Medicare app or online through myGov.

Updated

Just a quick shout out to the artist whose artwork is featured in the header photo of the blog today.

The piece is called “Spatial deconstruction #23 (resilience)“, so a fairly fitting photo for today’s news, and it’s by the fantastic Emma Coulter.

If you are keen to see more of her work she has a super bright and fun Instagram page here.

Updated

The Victorian truth and justice commission, the Yoo-rrook Justice Commission has named Dunghutti man Josh Smith as its inaugural CEO.

The Yoo-rrook Justice Commission, announced in March, is preparing to conduct an inquiry into the ongoing effects of violent dispossession and genocide as part of the process to get to Treaty in Victoria. Commissioners have already been named.

Smith is a career public servant — his previous roles include the deputy secretary of Aboriginal justice at the Victorian Department of Justice and Community.

The announcement of his appointment said Smith would “assist the commissioners in helping them to achieve the commission’s objectives, including those related to truth-telling, educating the wider public and making recommendations for structural reform”.

He starts on 21 June.

Updated

If are keen to learn more about the Biloela family’s situation, and the timeline of medical care three-year-old Tharnicaa received, can I suggest this fantastic explainer from Melissa Davey and Josh Taylor:

Priya Nadesalingam has become a fierce advocate for her young daughters – Tharnicaa, three, and Kopika, five, – since her family was taken from their central Queensland home in 2018 and put in detention after her and her husband’s visas had expired.

Family friend Simone Cameron said Nadesalingam has had no choice but to fight for the girls, who were both born in Australia. The health of her daughters has significantly deteriorated since the family was moved to immigration detention by Border Force officials.

Only allowed half an hour outside a day in the early months of detention, Tharnicaa and Kopika became vitamin D deficient and prone to repeated infections. Tharnicaa was two when her teeth were so rotten she needed surgery to have two of them removed.

You can read the full timeline below:

Updated

Queensland is (local) Covid-19 free as well by the way!

Potential new Covid-19 restrictions for Melbourne

Victoria’s acting premier, James Merlino, is expected to give a press conference mid-morning announcing that the lockdown in Melbourne will lift from midnight on Thursday.

The Victorian government has not confirmed any of the conditions which will apply post-lockdown, and says it did not provide them.

But it is not refuting reports in the Herald Sun which suggest that the post-lockdown conditions will include:

  • A 25km travel limit for people in greater Melbourne to prevent people travelling to regional areas for the Queen’s Birthday long weekend.
  • Students returning to the classroom as early as Friday.
  • Outdoor gatherings limited to 10 people.
  • Cafes and restaurants limited to 50 customers.
  • Visitors to the home still banned.
  • Gyms to remain closed.
  • Mandatory face masks indoors.
  • Density limits in offices.

Again, these are not confirmed rules — but they appear pretty likely. It’s not clear yet how long they will remain in place. Some may be lifted after the long weekend.

We’ll bring you all the official details once the announcement is made in a few hours.

A Tamil asylum seeker family detained at a Christmas Island facility has had no communication with the federal government about the prospect of being sent to the US or New Zealand, reports AAP.

The Murugappan family’s lawyer Carina Ford on Wednesday responded to suggestion the two countries were likely destinations, as the government continues to reject pleas they be allowed to remain in Australia.

For the record we and our clients have not been approached about this by the government - we have written to the Department of Home Affairs to ask why.

The family has been on the island, far off the West Australian coast, for two years after being removed by federal authorities from their home in Biloela, Queensland.

The home affairs department had been threatening to send them back to Sri Lanka, despite the family’s pleas they would be targeted.

On Tuesday, the home affairs minister, Karen Andrews, said “a range of resettlement options” were under negotiation.

The foreign minister, Marise Payne, later expanded on that statement, saying the US and NZ were options.

“I do know that the minister for home affairs, Ms Andrews, has indicated that there are two options there, and the United States and New Zealand are both in the frame,” she told Sydney radio 2GB.

Vigils will be held outside the hospital in Perth on Wednesday evening, where the youngest daughter is being treated after being medically evacuated from Christmas Island, and at Sydney Town Hall on Thursday.

Updated

Just one new Covid-19 case in Victoria

Victoria has recorded just one new locally acquired case overnight, which the department of health has confirmed was linked to the current outbreak and was already quarantining.

This absolutely bolsters the idea that Melbourne will be allowed out of lockdown from Friday.

NSW government announces $100m in new mouse plague rebates

Massive mouse plague news! (The only news I care about)

The NSW government will provide up to $100m in rebates to farmers purchasing the mouse control chemical zinc phosphide amid a plague of the rodent blighting rural and regional communities.

NSW farmers will be offered a rebate of 50% on their purchase of zinc phosphide - which is already tax deductible - up to $10,000.

This comes after the agriculture minister, Adam Marshall, had controversially focused the government’s response on getting a permit to use the currently agriculturally banned super-strong mouse killer bromadiolone.

Last month the NSW government secured 5000 litres of the anti-coagulant, enough to treat about 95 tonnes of grain, to be provided to farmers for free once federal authorities approve its use.

But environmentalist and the NSW Farmer’s Association were quick to express concerns about the extremely high secondary poisoning risk to native animals that comes with this poison.

Unlike zinc phosphide, bromadiolone stays in a mouse’s body after death, placing all scavenger animals, such as owls, raptors, snakes, fish and even domestic pets, at risk.

In a statement, Marshall said the government was also chipping in $5m to help transport zinc phosphide to Australia.

Mice have been running rampant through large tracts of inland NSW and parts of southern Queensland since last year, destroying crops and causing significant damage to tonnes of stored hay and grain.

Mice scurry around stored grain on a farm near Tottenham
Mice scurry around stored grain on a farm near Tottenham. The NSW government will provide $100m in rebates to farmers purchasing zinc phosphide to help tackle the plague. Photograph: Rick Rycroft/AP

Updated

In case anyone was wondering, the Victorian Liberals haven’t been totally chased out of town and were out and about again this morning.

Updated

Court clears Greenpeace's use of AGL logo

The Federal Court has ruled while most Greenpeace social media posts using energy provider, AGL’s logo next to the tagline “Australia’s greatest liability” fall under “fair dealing”, some lacked parody and therefore breached the company’s copyright.

Basically ruling the environmental group has to be funnier or risk further legal action.

Greenpeace launched a campaign in May while publishing a report detailing the provider’s responsibility for 8% of Australia’s carbon emissions.

AGL sought an urgent injunction in the Federal Court, saying allegations of environmental wrongdoing were “unsubstantiated” and it wanted to protect its copyright, reports AAP.

Greenpeace supporters demonstrate outside the Federal Court in Sydney
Greenpeace supporters demonstrate outside the Federal Court in Sydney during the hearing. Photograph: Rick Rycroft/AP

Greenpeace argued its use of the AGL logo should fall under “fair dealing” provisions in Australian copyright law as it is clearly satire or parody.

While justice Stephen Burley agreed with the not-for-profit in his ruling on Tuesday, he said not every post was humoured enough for this to apply.

The ridicule potent in the message is likely to be immediately perceived...

Many would see these uses of the modified AGL logo as darkly humorous because the combined effect is ridiculous. AGL is exposed to ridicule by the use of its corporate imagery including by use of the modified AGL logo to convey a message that AGL would not wish to send.

However, no satire was featured in a photo of a school student holding a poster that contained only the logo, the term “Australia’s Biggest Climate Polluter” and “Greenpeace”.

That, and a handful of other social media posts and placards, did breach AGL’s copyright, Burley ruled.

Greenpeace said the ruling was an affirmation that the law “is on the side of freedom of expression”, promising to continue pressuring AGL to close its coal-burning power stations by 2030.

The energy giant welcomed the court’s ruling that its logo had been misused on some occasions and reiterated the case was about “the integrity of how our brand is used”.

The parties will return to court on Thursday to address questions of costs and the form of injunctive relief.

You can read Guardian Australia’s previous reporting on this court case here:

Updated

If you were hanging out with me on the blog yesterday you might remember the (truly wild) decision from the Victorian Liberals to publish a list of questions about the Victorian premier Daniel Andrew’s March fall where he fractured his spine.

There’s no point beating around the bush, it was a move that pretty clearly stoked the flames of conspiracy theories in the state and has been pretty broadly condemned.

Well, now it’s time for the federal Liberals to pay the piper for their state counterparts, with the trade minister, Dan Tehan, being asked about it on ABC news breakfast this morning.

Michael Rowland:

You are a member of the Victorian Liberal Party, in fact a senior member of the Victorian party. What do you make of the grassy knoll conspiracy theories being circulated by the state opposition regarding the premier, Daniel Andrews’, back accident?

Tehan:

As I understand it, it wasn’t grassy knoll conspiracy theories. A series of questions were asked by the opposition...

Look, the opposition in Victoria has the right to ask questions. That is what happens in a properly functioning democracy...

Some of them I would prefer not to be asked, but they are and that is what happens in a properly functioning Liberal democracy and the Victorian opposition have the right to ask those questions...

Rowland:

Do you believe they are fair questions? Not if they are right. I am asking you, you are a senior member of the Victorian Liberal Party, Dan Tehan, do you believe they are fair questions?

Tehan:

The opposition has the right to ask questions. It is up to commentators to decide whether they are fair, whether they are not fair. They have the right to ask those questions and, can I say, I support Louise Staley asking requests as a member of the opposition in Victoria. That is what functioning Liberal parties are all about and good on Louise for asking requests as the opposition shadow treasurer.

Updated

International resettlement being considered for Biloela family

Dan Tehan is being grilled over the Biloela family’s situation after the foreign minister yesterday suggested the young family could be resettled in the UK or New Zealand rather than returning home to their rural town where the community has been protesting for years to get them back.

(Take a sip of coffee for every time Tehan says “before the courts”:

I saw her comments yesterday. I also know that this issue and this matter is before the courts, but [the foreign minister] has been pursuing that.

Host Michael Rowland:

Is there any prospect at all of this family being returned to their community in Biloela if Queensland?

Tehan:

Look, my understanding is that matter is before the courts, so therefore I won’t be commenting any further on it, but also my understanding is based on the comments that Marise Payne made yesterday that we are looking at other resettlement options...

This is before the courts. I am not going to comment on a matter that is before the courts, so I’ll leave it there.

Updated

The minister for trade, tourism and investment, Dan Tehan, is backing up the prime minister’s criticism of China this morning, discussing the need for global rules of trade.

He is speaking with ABC News Breakfast now:

What the PM is putting out quite clearly is that we do have a heightened strategic competition in the Indo-Pacific and it never has been a more important time for liberal democracies to get together and make sure that we are 100% becoming a rules-based order and to make sure when it comes to global trade that those global trade rules are there, that they are being adhered to and also, as with set new rules, it is bodies like the World Trade Organization that are setting those rules.

It never has been a more important time to having all countries setting rules and making sure those rules are adhered to.

Updated

More on ABC’s reports about today’s Melbourne lockdown announcements:

Updated

We are hanging out on the blog this morning, but about 9pm last night we weren’t so sure there would even be a website to have a blog on today!

Yep, let’s talk about the massive global server outage that took down most of Australia’s major news sites last night.

Alex Hern and Dan Sabbagh have the details:

One of the world’s biggest web outages should act as a “wake-up call” that internet infrastructure has become dangerously over-centralised and lacks resilience, security experts have warned.

An unexplained configuration error at a single infrastructure provider, Fastly, which handles 10% of the world’s internet traffic, was enough to render major websites and services inoperable for almost an hour.

Online businesses including Reddit, Amazon, Twitch, Spotify and Hulu were knocked offline, as was the Guardian’s website, the BBC, the New York Times, and CNN. National governments were also caught up: gov.uk was unavailable, making a host of government services inaccessible include the Covid vaccines booking site, as was the website for the White House.

The affected sites all used Fastly as a content delivery network, a service intended to provide greater reliability and performance for heavily trafficked websites.

You can read the full link below on our, thankfully functional, website:

Updated

Senior Victorian ministers reportedly meeting to finalise lockdown easing plans

This hasn’t been independently confirmed by Guardian Australia but here is what the ABC is reporting will be the likely announcements on the end of Melbourne lockdown.

It’s been suggested the city will move to a 25km travel bubble, with density limits in hospitality venues, and all students returning to the classroom.

The ABC suggests that senior minister are meeting this morning to finalise plans so this could still change between now and the press conference.

Scott Morrison is resisting international pressure to lock in more ambitious climate commitments, declaring Australia opposes setting targets for certain parts of the economy or “false deadlines for phasing out specific energy sources”.

Before he sets off for the G7 summit in the UK later this week, the prime minister will use a foreign policy speech to say that “ambition alone won’t solve the problem of actually reducing emissions”.

Morrison is also expected to characterise carbon border tariffs – an idea that is gathering momentum in international discussions as a way to avoid heavy-emitting industries shifting to countries with less ambitious climate commitments – as a “combative” protectionist measure.

In an address to a thinktank in Perth on Wednesday, Morrison is expected to address tensions with China, saying Australia is “far from isolated” despite Beijing rolling out a series of trade actions against Australian export sectors over the past year.

You can read more about Morrison’s upcoming G7 trip below:

Hello, and a very good morning to you all.

It’s Matilda Boseley here to take you through the news of Wednesday.

First things first, we will likely get an update on the Melbourne lockdown today, with the current restrictions notionally slated to end at midnight tomorrow.

Yesterday the acting premier, James Merlino, suggested that, barring any dramatic changes on Wednesday and Thursday, Melbourne was “on track” to ease restrictions at the end of the city’s second week of lockdown.

We are still ... working through all the elements. It is a day-by-day, hour-by-hour analysis about how we are tracking … We remain on track to provide that easing of restrictions to all Victorians.

But Merlino also flagged that this would not mean those living in the city could suddenly begin travelling around the state freely again, saying the bubble around Melbourne “will extend beyond any announcements that we will make later in the week”.

This means we will be keeping a very close eye on today’s Victorian numbers, which are usually published around 9am, and I’ll bring you all the updates when the acting premier (presumably) appears before the media later this morning.

The prime minister, Scott Morrison, will deliver a major foreign policy speech today ahead of a trip to the United Kingdom, where he will be a guest at the G7 meeting of world economic powers.

Australia isn’t important enough to be an official member of this exclusive club, but countries like the US, Japan, Germany and the UK sometimes let us tag along like you would a younger sibling to a house party.

But before Morrison jumps on a plane he will tell Perth’s USAsia Centre that regional infrastructure that comes with onerous conditions or is too expensive isn’t worth having.

Projects should be high quality – and affordable.

They should meet real need, and deliver sustainable economic benefits. And they should not compromise countries’ resilience or sovereignty.

(We will go into detail about this later, but as usual it’s a not-so-subtle jab at China.)

Well with that, why don’t we jump into the day!

If there is something you reckon I’ve missed or think should be in the blog but isn’t, shoot me a message on Twitter @MatildaBoseley or email me at matilda.boseley@theguardian.com.

Updated

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
U.S Soccer releases new World Cup kit. Fans have thoughts
‘The Waldo remix,’ joked one onlooker
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Ex-Adult Entertainer Speaks Out On Alleged Romance With Timothée Chalamet Before Kylie Jenner
“I see these things about him dating Kylie Jenner, and I was very confused about that,” Sarah Tena said.
Bored Panda
Bored Panda
“We knew that if Tiger went somewhere else, it was most likely going to be left behind glass”: Derek Trucks plays Jerry Garcia’s ‘Tiger’ guitar on stage just hours after it sold for $12 million
The second most expensive guitar of all time is already playing out its new owner’s promise of an active second life
Guitar World
Guitar World
Jane Fonda questions Barbra Streisand’s Oscars tribute to Robert Redford
‘She only made one movie with him I made four,’ Fonda said
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
NYC girl goes clubbing for Galantine’s and spots a woman hitting on 2 of her ‘guy friends’. She turned out to be engaged and pregnant
Clubbing stories often center on the bad behavior of men. But New York City TikTok creator Hybee (@hybeereviews) is flipping the script. She’s not telling just any woman’s tale; she was engaged AND pregnant.
The Mary Sue
The Mary Sue
After SNL’s Marcello Hernández Impersonated Him Again, Sebastian Maniscalco Made A Suggestion I Hope Lorne Michaels Sees
It only makes sense.
Cinemablend
Cinemablend
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.
Download on the AppStore Get it on Google Play