Summary
And with that, we’ll be closing the blog for today.
Thanks for reading. A huge thanks to Amy Remeikis, who helmed it for the vast majority of each day this parliamentary sitting week, and to Matilda Boseley and Calla Wahlquist who ran it earlier today.
Here’s what happened today:
- Queensland announced a new case of community-acquired Covid-19 infection. A 26-year-old man from the Brisbane suburb of Stafford had been infectious since last Friday.
- The Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, announced minor new restrictions for the Brisbane city council and Moreton, including closing aged care homes and masks on public transport and crowded areas.
- The Tasmanian premier Peter Gutwein announced an election for 1 May.
- Scott Morrison said that Queensland MP Andrew Laming’s social media comments were “disgraceful”. Laming had earlier apologised after a news report came out about him trolling his own constituents, who run a charity. Morrison said he “called him into my office and instructed him to apologise and deal with it”.
- Queensland state Labor MP Kim Richards also came forward with further allegations of online harassment by Laming.
- NSW police delayed an interview with Nationals MP Michael Johnsen for six months, over an alleged rape that was reported to them in September last year. Johnsen was set to only be interviewed for the first time today.
- The government admitted it is spending $100,000 a month to keep the Covidsafe app running, despite it identifying only 17 contacts not otherwise identified through manual tracing methods in 11 months.
- It also confirms it does not have consolidated data on Aboriginal deaths in custody.
- Morrison and premier Gladys Berejiklian also announced flood grants on a visit to Wauchope in NSW.
- Victorian police revealed there is an active counter-terrorism investigation involving rightwing extremists in the state.
- Labor asked the Australian Electoral Commission to investigate vaccine pamphlets paid for by Clive Palmer.
We’ll be back tomorrow with all the news as it happened. Stay safe.
Updated
State Labor MP accuses Andrew Laming of online harassment
Queensland state Labor MP Kim Richards has come forward with further allegations of online harassment by Liberal backbencher Andrew Laming, including a bizarre $100 reward he allegedly offered to help him identify people the MP was seen with in public.
Richards, the member for Redlands, which overlaps with Laming’s seat of Bowman in Queensland, told Guardian Australia Laming had published a photo of her accompanied with an apparent slur that she had “no reason to be in a kids’ park” as part of what she described as a long-running campaign against her.
Yesterday, Laming apologised in parliament for his online behaviour to some constituents, and the prime minister, Scott Morrison, said the comments were “disgraceful”.
Paul Karp has the story.
Queenslanders who attended close contact venues are banned from NSW
NSW Health is asking all recent arrivals in the state from Queensland to “be vigilant and follow the latest health advice” after a community case in Brisbane was detected today.
Anyone who attended a close contact venue, as defined by Queensland Health, is prohibited from entering NSW, and if they are already in NSW, they must immediately get tested and go into isolation for 14 days.
Currently Queensland has not named any close contact venues, only casual contact venues.
“Anyone who has attended casual contact venues listed on the website during the relevant times is asked to immediately get tested regardless of symptoms and self-isolate until a negative result is returned,” NSW Health says.
“NSW Health is asking all persons who have been in Brisbane or Moreton Bay area since Saturday 20 March 2021 and have entered NSW to check the Queensland Health website for public health instructions.
“Venues of concern are listed on the Queensland Health website.
“For more information if you are in Queensland, please call 13HEALTH (13 43 25 84). If you are currently in NSW and have been to any of the venues, please call NSW Health on 1800 943 553.
“Anyone who has been in the Brisbane City Council or Moreton Bay Regional Council areas since 20 March should avoid non-essential visits to hospitals and residential aged care facilities and disability residential care services until further notice.
“People who have been in the Brisbane City Council or Moreton Bay Regional Council areas since 20 March who work in these facilities should check with their employer, monitor the Queensland Health website for further advice and use masks when at work.
“If symptoms develop, you should get tested immediately and isolate until you receive a negative result.
Updated
NSW schools pledge to improve consent education
The heads of NSW’s Catholic, independent and state school systems have today pledged to improve consent education, after thousands of current and former school students came forward with stories of sexual assault.
They signed a signed a statement of intent today, after meeting with NSW police about the issue in early March, AAP reports.
The statement identifies curriculum changes, increased support for teachers and school leaders, better communication with students and improved community and parent connections as starting points.
“We commit to identifying and taking concrete actions that will strengthen children and young people’s ability to form healthy relationships and prevent harmful situations, both at school and outside the school gates,” the statement reads.
Updated
The ASX200 has risen 0.49% today, marking its best week since early February.
For the week, the ASX200 rose 1.73%.
Updated
Twitter user @Mesut_Ausil has written a poem to submit to our global callout page on how to free the boat in the Suez Canal.
the guardian are cowards if they don't heed my advice pic.twitter.com/uJWHZwaeql
— Dave (@Mesut_Ausil) March 26, 2021
The thinktank Committee for Sydney has called for a buyback-style scheme for homeowners in flood-affected areas of Sydney’s west as it predicts the area’s properties will become increasingly uninsurable.
The call follows the New South Wales planning minister, Rob Stokes, halting development plans for thousands of new homes in the north-west of Sydney, including along the Hawkesbury and Nepean rivers, following the deadly floods caused after Sydney’s Warragamba Dam spilled over and submerged suburbs along the flood plain.
On Friday, Committee for Sydney’s resilience program director, Sam Kernaghan, said “it’s time for Sydney to look at a long-term plan to reduce the cycle of disaster, response and recovery that continues to test the safety and resilience of at-risk communities and stretch the resources of our emergency management agencies”.
Kernaghan noted voluntary buybacks of property offered after the 2011 Queensland floods, and warned that “if nothing is done to address this escalating risk from extreme weather and climate change, by 2100 Sydney will have a projected 91,000 ‘uninsurable’ addresses – the most of any city”.
In particular, Kernaghan warned “the most ‘uninsurable’ areas will be concentrated near the Georges River in the south-west, the Hawkesbury River to the north and the Nepean River in the west”.
Kernaghan said:
As the costs of the response, recovery and rebuild of the past week’s devastating floods add up, commentators have begun to ask how we can build back better – we believe this time, building back better may mean building back somewhere else.
The bill will be enormous. The insured costs of the areas affected in western Sydney are not available yet, but it will likely be most of the estimated $2 billion statewide insurance bill.
Then there’s the uninsured costs. Over the past decade, insurers have improved their ability to assess the risk of specific households, which means pricing risk more highly for those most at-risk. That means much higher insurance costs for many in the flood plain. Anecdotally, many have given up. This leaves the government, as insurer of last resort, with the bill for large-scale deployment of emergency services, defence forces and longer-term relief and recovery support.
The final cost will be in the billions of dollars. As residents, businesses and governments face the stark reality of rebuilding and reestablishing homes, farms and businesses in this increasingly hazard-prone location, we have an opportunity to use that money differently to support Western Sydney residents and businesses for the long term.
Regardless of what Sydney decides to do, the question before Western Sydney is this: do we really want to continue to put people in the flood plain? Previous governments ignored the science, hoping it would be all right. The result has been tragedy for thousands of people.
The recent floods should make it clear it is not responsible to put people where they will be exposed to this level of harm.”
You can read more about flood-affected residents concerned about new estates and rising developments creating more run-off here:
Updated
The Queensland police union has called for the state’s Crime and Corruption Commission to be stripped of its responsibilities for investigating major and organised crime, claiming the current situation has become “dangerous”.
Ben Smee has the story:
NSW police delayed interview with MP over rape allegation for six months
An important story from Anne Davies on the allegations aired in NSW parliament this week.
On Wednesday, the NSW state MP Trish Doyle used parliamentary privilege to allege that a government MP raped a sex worker at a “secluded lookout” in the Blue Mountains in 2019.
Michael Johnsen, the Nationals MP for the Upper Hunter, later that night identified himself as the subject of the allegations – which he denies.
The matter was reported to police in September 2020. But Johnsen was only due to be formally interviewed by police for the first time on Friday.
Updated
Here at the Guardian we are now running a global suggestions page for your ideas for how the ship in the Suez Canal can be freed.
Please click through and submit your idea below.
The form asks for your opinion “particularly if you are a salvage expert, an engineer or you have significant experience in shipping”, but I’ll go ahead and say anyone can have a crack.
Three men have admitted to planning to gun down members of the public in a terrorist attack in Victoria.
Ertunc Eriklioglu, his brother Samed and another man, Hanifi Halis, on Friday pleaded guilty to one charge each of conspiring between 9 and 19 November 2018 to buy a firearm in preparation for an attack, AAP reports.
Documents released by Victoria’s county court show an attack against members of the public was planned for the “advancement of Islam through violence”.
The trio are next due in court on 15 June for a pre-sentence hearing.
Updated
The anonymous whistleblower who first shared details of a Coalition staffer who allegedly masturbated on the desk of a female MP, has said he will be named “against his wishes” in a news story tomorrow.
Hi guys, I have a journalist who is naming me as the whistleblower tomorrow, despite my wishes that he doesn’t. Amongst other things, he is accusing me of destroying the careers of those involved. I have supplied him the statement below. I’m not looking forward to tomorrow pic.twitter.com/SWDRYYRVBj
— Tom the Whistleblower (@BlowingTom) March 26, 2021
The man, who goes by Tom the Whistleblower on Twitter, had revealed the details of a group of staffers who allegedly shared pictures of the incident.
Updated
A mother accused of injecting her son with faecal matter will be acquitted after the crown prosecutor admitted there was not enough evidence to prove the charges.
The woman’s lawyer told the NSW district court today that it was only brought to trial because of “wild speculation”, AAP reports.
The concession means the Blue Mountains mother, now 39, will be acquitted more than six years after being accused of administering faecal matter to her young son while he was in Sydney’s Westmead hospital.
The paediatrician and infectious diseases specialist Prof David Isaacs sounded the alarm that something might have been injected into the boy’s bloodstream, after a blood sample on 27 September 2014 tested positive for E coli and one other bowel organism.
It came after a number of sterile blood cultures and urine cultures were performed following his admission to hospital on 2 September.
Isaacs said it was unusual that the organisms would grow despite the son receiving antibiotics, and other explanations for the presence of E coli did not make sense.
Giving evidence to the court, Isaacs admitted that there were other scientific explanations for the sample result, including contamination of the sample.
An expert infectious diseases doctor, Bernie Hudson, later told the court that contamination of blood cultures can occur and there was not evidence to rule it out.
“The accused is here today only ... because of the speculation of one person, namely Dr Isaacs,” said the defence barrister, Pauline David, in her closing submissions on Friday.
Updated
Scott Morrison is asked about Brittany Higgins, and whether he “misjudged the mood of the nation”.
He says he addressed this in the morning.
“This is a very serious, important issue,” he says. “I am doing everything I can to ensure we do the things we need to do to get this right.
“I was simply saying this is a very deep and difficult issue, which has many different dimensions. We have an understanding at one level.”
Updated
Government still spending $100,000 a month on Covidsafe app, despite it only finding 17 new contacts in 11 months
The federal government is spending $100,000 a month to keep the Covidsafe contact tracing app running, despite QR code check-in systems largely substituting the app as Australia records almost no cases of community transmission.
Despite the prime minister describing it as “sunscreen” and key to unlocking Australia, just 17 contacts not otherwise identified through manual tracing methods have been found by the app in the 11 months since it launched, the digital transformation agency CEO, Randall Brugeaud, told Senate estimates on Thursday night.
The government has spent over $14m developing and advertising the app in the past year, and Brugeaud told estimates the agency was spending $100,000 to keep the app running in the event it could prove useful in an outbreak:
It costs about $100,000 per month to run the infrastructure. And we’ve made a provision for about $200,000 per month to allow us to make future changes. Now that isn’t money that must be spent, but we’ve estimated about $200,000 a month for future feature changes that may be required by the Department of Health.
The Labor senator Nita Green asked if the agency planned on discontinuing the app, but Brugeaud said that was a matter for the health department and its counterparts in the states:
Covidsafe was developed based on the health need, and it will continue to be supported until we’re advised that that capability is no longer required.
The social services minister, Anne Ruston, defended the app, stating 17 identified cases could have led to many more, and the app was developed at a time when it was unclear how many cases Australia would have:
It was something that was put in place at the time, an unknown time. It has served a purpose ... but the health officers ... in both Victoria and New South Wales have both indicated they believe that to date the app has provided a very positive opportunity and benefit to their states. So, I think in hindsight, it was a decision that was taken that has provided some value.
There have been a total of 7.1m downloads of the app, but as Guardian Australia has previously reported, around one-third of those users have not updated to the latest version of the app.
Updated
Morrison is now taking questions.
He tells reporters: “Let’s please focus the questions at first on the matters that obviously have been the subject of the announcements today. Happy to deal with other things, I suppose.”
But he adds that he and Berejiklian “are on a schedule”.
The NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian, is speaking now.
She says the deputy premier, John Barilaro, will be responsible for flood cleanup and recovery.
Updated
Morrison says that the federal government and state government will fund the flood recovery “50/50”.
“We will carry this load together,” he says.
He announces “small business grants for those directly impacted” up to $50,000 and primary producer grants of up to $75,000.
Scott Morrison announces flood grants on visit to Wauchope
Scott Morrison is speaking now in Wauchope in NSW about the recent floods.
“The premier and I have stood here in this very spot, not that long ago, as fired ripped through the area,” he says.
“David [Littleproud] and I have been here through drought. Now we are here for floods. And we have been dealing with Covid.”
Updated
Two Victorian women have been sentenced to community service for not complying with Queensland’s previous public health directions.
The two women had their photos and names plastered on the front page of the Courier-Mail and branded “Enemies of the state” earlier in the pandemic. They had failed to declare that they had been in Victoria before entering Queensland, and one later tested positive to Covid-19.
They were initially charged with fraud, but these charges were dropped and they were eventually only charged with failing to comply with a public health direction.
The had previously been fined in Victoria as well.
Updated
And perhaps the best sport story of the day.
Last night Melbourne City’s Rhali Dobson scored in the last match of her professional career, and accepted a marriage proposal from her partner.
Updated
One of Australia’s top swimmers at next month’s national championships, gunning for the Olympic trials ... is former teen pop sensation Cody Simpson.
How did this happen? Emma Kemp has the story:
Updated
Victoria police confirm active counter-terrorism investigation into right-wing extremists
Victorian police have revealed there is an active counter-terrorism investigation involving rightwing extremists in the state, and confirmed that separate action would be taken against a handful of people who had allegedly made vile threats against others because of their race or religion.
In a wide-ranging briefing about the extent of the right-wing extremism threat in Victoria, senior police said that about 40% of the “hundreds” of extremists currently being monitored in Victoria were from that cohort.
But the force would not comment on whether there were any known members of Victorian far-right groups who were members of the military, nor confirm how many far-right extremists had been stripped of their firearm licences or issued with firearm prohibition orders.
Assistant commissioner Mick Hermans also said Victoria Police had not uncovered any officers who espoused right-wing ideology, but it was something the force was currently investigating to ensure there weren’t any “gaps”.
Hermans said it had been clear that other groups such as outlaw motorcycle gangs had attempted to infiltrate the force in the past, and it would be naive to think that right-wing extremists would not try similar action.
Police revealed no other information regarding the current investigation, including whether it involved individuals or a group.
Hermans said that while there was increasing overlap between far-right extremists, conspiracy theorists, and anti-lockdown protestors, the counter-terror investigation regarding the destruction of a phone tower in Melbourne’s south-east had not uncovered any evidence linking the crime to the far-right.
It had also not uncovered any evidence that the far-right were actively seeking to recruit those who were drawn to conspiracies or protests related to Covid-19.
Updated
An update to our patented vaccine tracker.
We are now below both our original goal and our revised goal:
Updated view of our vaccine rollout tracker, looking at current doses vs new revised trajectory from health department estimates (spoiler: still a big gap) - by @joshcnicholas n me https://t.co/WnzIjsyfGH pic.twitter.com/DkzoIqoRFS
— Nick Evershed (@NickEvershed) March 26, 2021
Updated
Labor asks AEC to investigate Clive Palmer vaccine pamphlets
Labor has written to the Australian Electoral Commission asking it to investigate vaccine pamphlets paid for by Clive Palmer. The pamphlets state that Palmer is “very concerned by the emergency use of this vaccine on the general population”.
Shadow health minister Mark Butler said he had written to the AEC seeking advice on whether the flyer is in breach of the electoral act.
The Covid-19 vaccine rollout and the government’s response to the pandemic are clearly issues which will influence the way electors vote at the next federal election, which could be held as early as August this year.
The subject matter makes it more likely that the dominant purpose of the flyer is to influence the way electors vote at the election.
Clive Palmer is the leader of the United Australia party. Although the flyer does not mention the United Australia party, electors associate Clive Palmer with the party.
Updated
Government confirms it does not have consolidated data on Aboriginal deaths in custody
The Senate has heard the federal government does not keep consolidated data on Aboriginal deaths in custody, with information and responsibility spread across several departments.
The National Indigenous Australians agency said it relies on data from the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) as well as “monitoring media reports”, but that tracking and reporting on deaths was the responsibility of the Home Affairs department.
The most recent official data compiled by the AIC, from 2019 shows that 455 Aboriginal people have died in custody since the 1991 Royal Commission. NIAA officials were unable to provide an updated figure.
There followed a tense exchange between Labor senator Pat Dodson and Senator Amanda Stoker representing the government, after Dodson expressed frustration at the perceived lack of federal response to the numbers of Aboriginal deaths in custody.
Stoker said: “We know there is more to do to improve the outcomes for Indigenous people in this country, there’s more to do to reduce Indigenous incarceration. But it’s also true to say that simply having responsibility for royal commissions, doesn’t mean that all of the recommendations that come out of it unnecessarily things for the commonwealth.
“And so while we play our part in addressing the drivers of incarceration by monitoring and providing support for the areas of youth engagement, unemployment, family and domestic violence, out of home care, many of those lie overwhelmingly in state hands and territory hands, and so we need to understand that while that coordination role is important it’s not something about which it’s constructive to point the finger at something for which we all need to work together.”
Senator Pat Dodson shot back: “Right, so minister I didn’t really need the lecture on the inadequacy of the report you quote from … 33 experts in this field have commented on how overly positive those recommendations’ implementation are. We’ve got nearly 500 deaths since the royal commission. Why? Why have we got nearly 500 deaths, if these recommendations have been so effective in the implementation by the states and by the commonwealth?
Stoker: “I understand that the outrage and the upset is real because the lives of every person, through our justice system are important, no matter what the colour of their skin is, they are living human beings, they are Australians and they all matter. But just because we are outraged and upset at the result doesn’t mean anything I have just said is untrue and I reject the characterisation of it as, as a lecture or anything other than trying to constructively work through the issues in a way that I know you’re committed to.”
NIAA officials also confirmed there has still been no government response to the ALRC’s Pathways to Justice Report, which was tabled three years ago.
Updated
Hi everyone, it is Naaman Zhou here. I’ll be on the blog for the rest of today.
Thanks to the incredible Matilda Boseley and Calla Wahlquist for their work earlier today.
And with that, I might leave you in the capable hands of Naaman Zhou, who will take you through the afternoon.
Updated
Tasmanian opposition leader Bec White doesn’t seem to be happy about all this “being pregnant will make it hard to run for election” chat.
I’m not sure why? Plenty of pregnant woman continue to work. I’m no different and I can assure everyone that as far as I’m concerned it’s game on!
— Rebecca White (@bec_white) March 26, 2021
Queensland community case details.
So here is the long and short of the Queensland community case.
- The man infected is a 26-year-old man from the Brisbane suburb of Stafford.
- He has been infectious in the community since last Friday.
- We don’t know where he got the virus just yet but “he has not been overseas in his period that he would have acquired this.”
- We do not yet know if he has one of the highly contagious Covid-19 variants.
People who have been to the following locations have been urged to get tested and stay isolated until they receive a negative result.
20 March:
- Carindale - 11am - Carindale shopping centre visiting a number of shops
- Everton Park - Baskin and Robbins ice cream store.
21 March:
- Newstead - 9am - Fresh food market stall at Gasworks
- Redcliffe - 12.20pm - Mumma’s Italian Waterfront restaurant
22 March:
- Paddington - Worked outside as a landscaper
- Stafford - 12.20pm - Drive-through at Guzman and Gomez
- Stafford - 1pm - Bunnings
OK, that’s wrapping up now. Now off to go figure out what on Earth is going on in Queensland! A busy 20 minutes, by golly!
Updated
For everyone watching along, take a shot for every time Gutwein says he has “called the election to secure Tasmania’s future”.
Actually don’t. That would be fatal.
Reporter:
Support for the federal government is deteriorating and it will be potentially damaging for the state government to wait until after a federal election. Did that play in your thinking?
Gutwein:
I have called the election because we want to secure Tasmania’s future.
Updated
More questions on if the election timing could be opportunistic:
Reporter:
There is a focus, premier, nationally about the rights of women ... how does forcing a heavily pregnant woman go into a long election campaign...
Gutwein:
As I have said, that is looking in terms of the questions, you should put that to her. I have given this a great deal of thought. Obviously an election later this year is completely out of the question. But I believe ...
Reporter:
Why?
Gutwein:
In late June, Ms White will be giving birth. I understand through July will have a newborn child ...
Right now we are in a minority government situation. The election will be held on 1 March and this matter will be over one way or the other.
Updated
Ooooooft, Gutwein is under the pump here:
Reporter:
You spoke with the Speaker on Sunday. You have decided you have had enough, out of the blue, on Sunday and finally have a conversation with her. Why are we supposed to believe this is not about political self-interest?
Gutwein:
The Speaker brought that on herself ...
This figure voted against the government on a number of occasions. The Speaker is now an independent. I don’t expect that behaviour to get any better under the circumstances we find ourselves in.
We are in minority government. That is a statement of fact. And I want to deliver a majority government for Tasmania. It’s as simple as that. I want to ensure we can secure Tasmania’s future and have a clear plan to do so.
Updated
Reporter:
Premier, you effectively send your own government into minority ... and the opposition leader is due to deliver a baby in June. Why should we believe that calling an election the year before it is needed is anything but political self-interest?
Gutwein:
One of the things they know and from being treasurer for seven years is that confidence is very important. Under a minority Labor-Green government we went into recession and lost jobs ...
In terms of the opposition leader, I have given a great deal of thought to that matter. For obvious reasons ... if the parliament were to descend into dysfunction in June or July or August, that would not be appropriate and it would be something I would not want. I think it is important that we go now and provide a certainty at the beginning of May.
Updated
Gutwein:
In conclusion, every election is a choice and this one is no different.
This election is a choice between a majority Liberal government with a clear plan to secure Tasmania’s future, or a hung parliament and another dysfunctional Labor-Greens dysfunctional government.
The only way to deliver the certainty Tasmania needs is by re-electing a majority Liberal government My message for the next five weeks lives if you want a strong stable government, vote Liberal.
Updated
OK so pretty standard election stuff now from Gutwein – Liberals good, Labor bad etc. etc.
But he has made an interesting announcement here:
Before I’d take questions, I want to mention one other matter that has been raised in the parliament in the last week. This is the issue of donation disclosures.
I want to assure Tasmanians that a re-elected majority Liberal government will legislate the changes we have publicly announced.
But because that obviously can’t happen in time for this election, the Liberal party has agreed to voluntarily disclose, within two business days, all donations received by the state campaign exceeding $5,000.
The state director will put a statement out later today with more detail on how this will work and I will hope that other parties will likewise voluntarily disclose thresholds and amounts themselves.
Updated
Tasmania elections called for 1 May
Peter Gutwein has just called the elections for 1 May.
This morning, I called on the governor and requested that election be held for the house assembly at the 1 May.
I did this because Tasmania can’t afford the uncertainty of minority government. Now more than ever, we need a strong, stable majority government. That is why this election will be about who can deliver a strong, stable government to secure Tasmania’s future.
Updated
OK, I will come back to that soon. Now the Tasmanian premier is speaking.
Updated
So Young has just confirmed that it’s too soon to say yet if the man has one of the more highly contagious varients of Covid-19.
She has commended him on how helpful he has been.
Young is providing details about the man’s movements while he was infectious:
On the 20 March at around 11am, he was in the Carindale shopping centre and visited quite a few places through there. That is a high-risk area.
Then at 8pm, he went to Baskin-Robbins ice cream at Everton park at 8am.
Then on the 21st, that is last Sunday, at 9am, he went to refresh food market stall at gasworks at Newstead.
Then at 12.20pm, he went to Palmer’s Italian waterfront restaurant at Redcliffe.
Then on the 22nd, the day he started to get symptoms, he worked in Paddington, he works as a landscaper. That is good because most of his work happens outside so we will work with him about that.
Then he went through Stafford at 12.30 that day to Guzman and Gomez as a drive through, a probably minimal risk there.
But then at 1pm he went to Bunnings at Stafford.
He stayed home all the next two days and went and got tested yesterday at the Nundah respiratory clinic at Sandgate Road in Nundah. He also went to the Aldi at Stafford for about 10 minutes that day.
Anyone who has been to these specific venues in the specific timeframes, come forward and get tested, whether or not you have systems, and remain in isolation until you get a negative result.
Can I say, I hate all the “making fun of where have they been” dialogue with these cases but this seems like a really pleasant and nice week. I’m happy for him.
Updated
Young has given some more details about the infected man’s movements:
He stayed home, has been fantastic. Come forward and get tested so we know what is going on so we can contact trace as he did. So please, any signs of illness at all, stay home and get yourself tested.
We don’t know where this virus is next going to pop up but as I have always said, if we can find the first case in a cluster, not the 40th, we will be able to get on top of that much, much weekly.
This gentleman developed symptoms on Monday, became reasonably unwell. He then stayed home so he had been out and about in a presymptomatic period as you would expect for a young man.
We have tested him twice on different platforms and both times he has tested positive so we know it is a confirmed positive case. We are doing other tests on him as we speak, so gene sequencing for example. And other tests to get those results through today and tomorrow to assist us.
Updated
Chief health officer Dr Janette Young has urged Queenslanders to spend the weekend outside if they want to socialise:
If you are in that vulnerable cohort, maybe stay-at-home for the next few days until we understand exactly what is happening here. So at this point, I am just asking that everyone adhere to the requirements still in place.
We know outdoor is a very low risk. Go out and really enjoy the outdoors this weekend. You couldn’t imagine a better weekend. It is just perfect. So everybody please, go outdoors, enjoy the outdoors. We know that is very low-risk stop if you are going indoors, make sure you adhere to the two square metres and maintain social distance from people who aren’t in your normal household when you’re going out to restaurants and venues and things like that.
Hand hygiene is important and most importantly of all, everyone, please stay home if you are sick as this gentleman did who has tested positive once he became unwell.
Updated
Minor Covid restrictions reinstated in Queensland
Palaszczuk:
From 12 noon today, aged care, hospitals, prisons, people caring for people with a disability will be closed to visitors but this will be confined to the Brisbane city council areas and to Morton.
These are sensible precautions to look after our most vulnerable. What we are going to ask is people of course in the Brisbane city council areas, and in Moreton, is that if you are in crowded areas, to wear a mask. If you’re going to a football match on the weekend, where your mask going into the venue. If you are on a crowded train, put a mask on. These are the sensible precautions and we will be updating you over the weekend there are any more cases.
Updated
New community transmission Covid-19 case in Queensland
The premier has confirmed there has been a case of community transmission in Queensland.
He is a 26-year-old man from starting. He has been tested yesterday but infectious in the community since last Friday.
We are also expecting to hear from the Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, in the next few minutes (if my ADET to ASET conversions are correct).
Queensland has not put out their daily numbers so far today and there was a positive wastewater detection yesterday so I’ll bring you the updates as soon as I can.
Positive wastewater detection in Brisbane yesterday.
— Queensland Health (@qldhealthnews) March 25, 2021
Fragments of SARS-CoV-2 have been detected at the Luggage Point (servicing the Brisbane North area and some inner-city Brisbane South suburbs) wastewater treatment plant.https://t.co/aCTpvHS65K
Updated
The Australian federal police announced this morning that two men were charged with terrorism-related offences yesterday.
They at a press conference a few minutes ago:
I am here to inform you today of a Queensland joint counter-terrorism investigation, which resulted in the arrest of two yesterday. Two men were charged in what we will allege was their involvement in organising a sophisticated terrorist network based here in south-east Queensland. which had involved facilitating Australian foreign fighters to travel from Australia into Syria between 2012 and 2014.
This network, we will allege, was facilitated in support of these people to get into Syria to join terrorist organisations, and also to engage in hostile activity. The man in Queensland, the 34-year-old, has been charged with numerous offences. One account involves the, actually engaging in hostile activity inside Syria itself.
We will be alleging that he entered Syria, fought alongside terrorist organisations and did that against the Syrian government. That is an offence that carries 20 years. Also, other charges and counts include the preparations of foreign incursions into foreign states for the purpose of engaging in hostile activity as well. That is a 10-year offence and what that really involves is providing services and facilitating other persons in getting into Syria to engage hostile activity.
The 31-year old man in Melbourne has also been charged with a preparation for a foreign incursion offence. A 10-year offence. I should say that the man in Melbourne, I will confirm, has also been designated by the US government in regards to financial sanctions by their Department of Treasury for material support to al-Qaeda.
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So for those wondering why the Tasmania state election being called is such a big deal, here is the lowdown.
The election wasn’t due until March next year, but last week the Liberals decided to dump House Speaker Sue Hickey, Gutwein apparently breaking the news in her own home after asking her to make him a coffee. She subsequently declared she would run as an independent sending the government into a minority.
(Hickey made headlines this week for using parliamentary privilege to accuse Eric Abetz of “slut-shaming” Brittany Higgins – which he denies.)
So that’s how we got here!
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Tasmanian premier Peter Gutwein is expected to speak to the media at 11.45am. As he has just rolled up to Government House it’s probably safe to say he will be announcing that he has called a state election.
Tasmanian Labor and Opposition Leader Rebecca White is due to give birth in June which could complicate Labor's campaign in the election. #politas #auspol
— Antony Green (@AntonyGreenABC) March 25, 2021
Josh Frydenberg said he hasn't had occasion/needed to call out sexist behaviour in his office or out because he "doesn't go to the bars and fraternise" so when revelations came out "they had nothing to do with me" #auspol
— Paul Karp (@Paul_Karp) March 25, 2021
Albanese calls for Laming to leave parliament
The opposition leader has also slammed the prime minister’s response to accusations that federal Liberal MP Andrew Laming harassed two women. Albanese said he should have been booted from his role:
Once again, Scott Morrison, he has got out the feather* against a Liberal MP in Andrew Laming, who has had vile abuse against his own constituents.
[Laming] delivered a belated apology for abuse that has gone on for year after year against people who have done nothing more, according to Andrew Laming, than be upstanding citizens in their community and have led organisations delivering services in his own community.
Quite frankly, the prime minister’s response is totally inadequate, as it always is, as it always is. He waits and waits and waits and then says, ‘oh, that’s a real concern and I’ll look into it and we will get Andrew Laming to stand up and say he’s sorry’.
This has gone on for a long period of time. I saw distraught people on TV last night, who have suffered from trolling from a federal MP against his own constituents.
I will say this. In my view, Andrew Laming isn’t fit to continue as a member of parliament and if the Liberal party want to continue to associate themselves with him as what a federal public representative would be, then I’ll look forward to campaigning with the Labor candidate in that seat and sending a message, not just to Andrew Laming, but to the entire country that that sort of behaviour is completely unacceptable by removing Andrew Laming from the parliament.
*As opposed to a sword I’m assuming?
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OK, back to Albanese in Adelaide. He has been asked about the formal complaint former Liberal staffer and alleged rape victim Brittany Higgins made to the prime minister’s office accusing the government of backgrounding journalists again her loved ones after she went public.
This government lets down Brittany Higgins and the government is still though, at the same time he is saying he is prepared to talk to her, still will not give a straight answer.
He should ask his chief of staff what they knew, he should ask his own office and should just say what happened with the undermining of Brittany Higgins’ loved ones that she had to write to him about yesterday. Until that point in time he was just refusing to answer.
Albanese was then asked about complaints again Labor MP and staff made on a Facebook group:
The Facebook site was there, it was anonymous, the complaints that were made on that Facebook site ... I have never suggested this only affects a single side of politics, it is an issue for our entire society. Labor has processes in place that allow for confidential processes to be examined when come forward, and I respect that process.
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Tassie premier arrives at Government House
Oh my gosh! Big things happening down south! Looks like Tasmania is on for an early election.
It is on! The Premier has arrived at Government House #politas
— Alexandra Humphries (@alliehumphries) March 25, 2021
It’s on. Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein has arrived at Government House as early election speculation reaches fever pitch. @7tasnews #politas #auspol pic.twitter.com/AgDqAM3Sj6
— Sean McComish (@spmccomish) March 25, 2021
Looks like Premier Peter Gutwein has arrived at government house. #politas pic.twitter.com/rDYCufFHaB
— Elliott, I (@Elliott_IAE) March 25, 2021
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Albanese has condemned Morrison’s A Current Affair interview last night and seems to be a big fan of poker references this morning:
We have a government that has been in office for eight long years, and that’s unravelled before our eyes. A prime minister who keeps searching for the reset button, but on Tuesday we saw the abuse as a result of just getting asked a question in a press conference in parliament and last night, in the interview with Tracy Grimshaw, what we saw was more dissembling, more deferral, more talk about inquiries. No action. No action.
I mean, sometimes the prime minister, it seems to me, is asking himself if only I was in a position to do something about the challenges that are being confronted. And, over coming days, what we will see is a reshuffle.
Well, shuffling the deck will not change the bad hand that this government is dealing Australians. Shuffling the deck will not change that bad hand.
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Hello again old friends, Matilda Boseley here, and opposition leader Anthony Albanese has just stepped up to the plate to talk about jobkeeper ending in 48 hours.
We know that jobkeeper will end on Sunday we know also that what the government said would replace it, for example, the great employment program that was going to create 450,000, has actually created 609 entrants, as of this week. So they are about 449,000 short.
But they are short of so much. The fact is, that the vaccine rollout won’t reach the 4 million people who Scott Morrison said would be reached by the middle of next week. So they are withdrawing support, while the basis for that withdrawal is not being delivered.
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On that note, I’ll hand you back over to Matilda Boseley. Stay safe, stay out of floodwaters, and take a bracing draught of tea before reading any political news.
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SES NSW assistant commissioner Sean Kearns gave an update on the flood recovery process a short time ago.
He told the ABC:
We still are out there trying to assist the community through providing them with suppliers, which we have been doing over the last couple of days.
We are now starting to move into assessing the damage that has occurred to people’s properties, and getting a bit of an understanding and then we will start moving into the cleanup phase. That is going to be a prolonged effort and it is going to take a loss of people power to do that, which is going to be from a not only SES but also partner agencies that are going to assist us in at that.
We do take a little bit of time, even though the floodwaters may have receded and properties can be accessed, there are still assessments I need to occur to make sure that it is safe for people to return. Obviously, the roadways can be washed away or have impact and there are also things like drinking water, sewerage, electricity, gas, and other utility suppliers that need to make sure they are safe for people so it’s not dangerous for them when they do go back. We do remind people that during this time, the floodwater can bring all sorts of things and we have started seeing reports about a lot of snakes and other sort of creatures as well so people do need to be careful during this time.
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Legal services in Victoria have called on the Andrews government to establish the post of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social justice commissioner to undertake an independent review into the implementation of the recommendations of the royal commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody.
It follows the news that there have been four Indigenous deaths in custody in a matter of weeks.
The royal commission handed down its final report in 1991 and made 339 recommendations. There’s considerable debate about the extent to which those recommendations have been implemented. A report commissioned by the federal government in 2018 said that 64% had been fully implemented, 14% were mostly implemented, 16% were partly implemented and 6% were not implemented at all. But it was disputed by Indigenous academics, who said the report was “misleadingly positive” and used such poor methodology that it was “largely worthless”.
The Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service and Djirra, a culture and family violence support centre, released a statement on Friday criticising the Andrews government for investing in prison construction projects and tightening bail laws, saying it shows a “reprehensible level of apathy” toward the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and was a clear contradiction of royal commission recommendations.
And to make that worse, specialist Aboriginal legal services were underfunded.
VALS chief executive Nerita Waight said:
We need an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social justice commissioner to ensure the unfinished work of the royal commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody is finally completed.
The lack of transparency and accountability by state and federal governments over the last 30 years is why there has been at least 470 Aboriginal deaths in custody since the royal commission. We also expect the government to be more open with regards to the implementation of a new detention oversight body this year, as required by the UN under our OPCAT obligations.
The Victorian government has until January 2022 to develop a new detention oversight body to comply with requirements under the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT), which Australia signed in May 2019.
VALS said it had asked for the consultations to develop that oversight body be conducted in a culturally safe way.
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The long cleanup has begun at Windsor, north-west of Sydney. This is the new Windsor bridge, which was submerged in flood water all week.
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The State Emergency Service has begun conducting damage assessments in flood-damaged areas, as the waters have begun to recede and a number of locations have had evacuation orders lifted.
From AAP:
The SES expects to assess about 600 properties in Penrith using aerial reconnaissance with a remote piloted aircraft as well as detailed assessments by teams on the ground.
Flood evacuation orders were lifted in several areas of northwestern Sydney late on Thursday night including South Creek at Mulgrave and the Hawkesbury River from Wisemans Ferry to Brooklyn and in Vineyard.
Major flooding continued on Friday morning at Maclean in the northern rivers region while the situation in Grafton and Ulmarra had eased to moderate flooding.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian warned on Thursday that “complacency is our biggest challenge”.
“While rivers may be reaching their peak, the flows and the current are very dangerous,” Berejiklian told parliament.
She urged people in affected areas to be “extra cautious”.
“Benign” conditions will hang around the east coast for at least the next couple of days, the Bureau of Meteorology says.
Between 3000 and 4000 people returned to their homes over the past 24 hours, the premier said.
“We know that many people are confronted by very catastrophic conditions and their lives will never be the same,” she said.
The sheer volume of rain that fell across the state will take quite some time to work its way through the river systems, hydrologist Victoria Dodds says.
“We’ve seen exceptionally high flood levels, high-velocity flows, lots of dangerous debris in these floodwaters,” she told reporters on Thursday.
Dodds said flood warnings would likely remain in force across the state, particularly in inland areas, for the days and weeks ahead.
Morrison left CSL in Melbourne to jump straight on a plane – he’s due at Port Macquarie to speak to emergency services in about 90 minutes.
Morrison: Andrew Lamming's social media comments were 'disgraceful'
Back to that press conference Scott Morrison held at CSL this morning. He was asked directly about Andrew Laming’s social media comments abusing constituents.
He said:
I found them disgraceful, I called him into my office and instructed him to apologise and deal with it – and he has.
Asked if the prime minister would have zero tolerance if such an incident were repeated, Morrison replied that Laming is “very clear about my expectations”.
Morrison was also asked about how inquiries are going into the allegation that Coalition staffers brought sex workers into parliament for MPs – and whether the claims relate to current MPs.
Morrison replied that it is a “very serious issue” and thanked the whistleblower, who met with Simon Birmingham’s office yesterday. He said the matter is “sensitive” and it is important to follow proper processes without a “running commentary”.
Earlier in the week Morrison told parliament the claim relates to a former minister, but now appears unable or unwilling to rule out that it also relates to current MP(s). An interesting development.
Hello, it’s Calla Wahlquist, taking the reins from Matilda Boseley for a bit because she’s a busy woman.
I’ll bring you back to federal politics in a short while but first, because I’m in my mid-30s, I found this release from the Victorian government interesting.
The Andrews government says that a record number of Victorians bought their first home this financial year, taking advantage of stamp duty discounts and first home owner grants which were increased in the last state budget.
The most popular municipalities were Casey, Wyndham and Hume – all in that urban sprawl area on the city fringes.
About 28% of all first home owner grants were for properties in regional Victoria.
Treasurer Tim Pallas:
We know how important it is to help Victorians into the property market, turning the hope of owning a property into a reality.
We’ve saved Victorians nearly $3bn and helped more Victorians into safe, comfortable and secure homes through our record investment in housing.
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A question from News Gopher:
@MatildaBoseley
— News Gopher (@NewsGopher1) March 25, 2021
Morning Matilda, can you remind us on the blog just what extinction rebellion's demands of the government are? I just want to assess how realistic they are.
Thank you, Mr Gopher, why yes I can.
Here are the demands listed on their Australian website:
TELL THE TRUTH – Government must tell the truth by declaring a climate and ecological emergency, working with other institutions to communicate the urgency for change.
ACT NOW – Government must act now to halt biodiversity loss and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025.
BEYOND POLITICS – Government must create and be led by the decisions of a Citizens’ Assembly on climate and ecological justice.
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Just catching up on Scott Morrison’s press conference at CSL earlier – the prime minister used a question about improving attitudes to women to blame social media for disrespectful language.
That’s an interesting pivot, because Liberal MP Andrew Laming is under fire for online abuse of two of his constituents which he pre-emptively apologised for last night just hours before a Channel Nine story went to air.
Morrison told reporters:
And I’m deeply troubled by the way that social media is corroding respect and dignity in how we all deal with each other. I think this has a lot to do with the sort of attitudes and the way that we engage with each other and particularly that can feed the sort of disrespect towards women that can result in the most awful of violent acts. And you know it used to be people would just say hateful things and write it down on a post. People are now saying these things to each other. Australia, we have got to fix this. And governments alone can’t fix this. We have got to work harder on how we respect each other.
One could argue that social media doesn’t abuse people, people abuse people. But Morrison clearly wants a broader conversation than the alleged wrongdoing of one government MP.
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The finance minister, Simon Birmingham, has been out again this morning indicating that once the government identifies the Coalition staffers and establishes whether they committed solo sex acts in parliament they will be dismissed.
Birmingham told Channel Seven’s Sunrise:
We’ve shown we’ve got zero tolerance for that sort of thing. On Monday night, one individual was able to be identified and that individual was sacked. We will take similar action if similar acts have been undertaken by other people. It’s very clearly zero tolerance.
I am grateful to those who are helping in terms of investigations. Obviously, sacking someone is a significant step and we need to be confident that we know that people are guilty of having undertaken such acts or anything similar, but we won’t tolerate it where we can find that evidence and that is why we are reaching out to undertake such investigations.
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Just back on the Melbourne protests for a moment. Here is a bit of extra information from a media release Extinction Rebellion sent out this morning:
A 17-year-old youth rebel is currently sitting at the top of a 6m high steel tripod, preventing any traffic from passing because of government climate inaction and refusal to accept Extinction Rebellion’s demands.
It is expected that hundreds of cars will be unable to move because of this action and there will be major traffic delays. We’ve done this because the government has refused to comply with our demands.
I’m sorry! Did you just say that you HAVEN’T listened to the newest Full Story podcast episode?
You really should. Political editor Katharine Murphy and Guardian Australia editor Lenore Taylor have a deep discussion about another devastating week in Australian politics, gender quotas and the coalition.
Murphy:
I know there are women in the Liberal party that want to advance, that have significant and important contributions to make and will be thwarted in their advancement because they are too independently minded, because they’re not a “good fit” with how the boys do things and that’s really genuinely soul destroying for people.
It’s really worth a listen:
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Government to respond to Respect at Work inquiry before October
Morrison has suggested he will move to make significant changes to the workplace culture in Parliament House before the end of the year when the final report from the sex discrimination commissioner’s inquiry is expected.
The deputy secretary of my department is coming back to me very soon with a report on how we can get such a complaints process in place even sooner than that. So, we don’t have to wait until the sex discrimination commissioner’s inquiry is finished, which is much later this year. We need such a process much sooner than that. And that was one of the first things I initiated soon after Brittany took her story public.
He also finally committed to a time frame to respond to the Respect at Work inquiry.
We will respond to the Respect at Work inquiry before the budget. I have been directly involved in that process with the acting attorney general, Michaelia Cash, as well as the assistant minister to the attorney general, Senator Stoker.
We are working swiftly. Of the 20 recommendations directly put to the Australian government, because of the 55 recommendations the [Respect at Work report], it is an issue that is not confined just to government. And of those 20 that directly went to the Australian government, nine we responded to the budget in October. We are responding to more.
Just a note: They have already had this report for more than a year, so October isn’t that impressive.
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OK! Finally, have the prime minister up and he says he would be happy to meet and speak with Brittany Higgins if she wanted:
We’re happy to meet. I can understand if Brittany wished to meet. She hasn’t expressed that to this point. I understand why. That’s fine.
We have sought to respect her privacy and her wishes on this and I could also appreciate that why she wouldn’t necessarily want to meet in Parliament House. That would be totally understandable. We can arrange to meet in other cities.
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Like I thought, the Melbourne protests are by climate change activist movement Extinction Rebellion.
They have been pretty active in the cities this week with demonstrations and now it looks like they have set up a roadblock on the extremely busy intersection of Kings Way and the West Gate off-ramp.
#BREAKING: Traffic chaos on Kingsway as motorists exit the West Gate Fwy. Extinction Rebellion protesters have set up a roadblock. Police are on scene. @10NewsFirstMelb pic.twitter.com/IOJDbi255U
— James Bird (@JamesBirdTEN) March 25, 2021
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I believe the prime minister is speaking now or very soon, but looks like the ABC might not be broadcasting? I’ll try to find a live stream and bring that to you as soon as I can.
In the meantime here is a clip from that A Current Affair interview Morrison did last night.
Crisis in Canberra. The interview.
— A Current Affair (@ACurrentAffair9) March 25, 2021
Prime Minister Scott Morrison one on one with Tracy Grimshaw.
Tonight at 7.00. #9ACA pic.twitter.com/BaNgTUL51Y
There seems to be a large protest situation in the Melbourne CBD at the moment. I’ll bring you more as soon as I can.
Protestors are currently located at the intersection of the Kings Way and the West Gate Freeway off ramp. They are also moving from Carlton Gardens towards St Kilda Road.
— Victoria Police (@VictoriaPolice) March 25, 2021
WOW! Pretty poor form of me not to recognise that today is ...*checks notes*... World Dietitians Day?!
Happy Dietitians Day!
— Greg Hunt (@GregHuntMP) March 25, 2021
Today, we thank and recognise Accredited Practising Dietitians (#APDs) for the work they do with food and nutrition to build healthier communities across the country. #DietitiansDay2021 #ExtraordinaryAPDs #MakeNoiseforAPDs pic.twitter.com/CkOAvRX5Cg
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Friends of the deceased woman who made an allegation of rape against the attorney general, Christian Porter, say they will continue to push for an independent inquiry into the case regardless of any imminent reshuffle, and have urged his demotion to the backbench.
The prime minister, Scott Morrison, who is expected to strip Porter of his attorney general and manager of government business roles when he rejigs the ministry this weekend, has indicated he is considering advice from the solicitor general about Porter’s current duties.
Porter, who named himself as the subject of a historical rape allegation from 1988, has denied the allegation and has since launched defamation proceedings against the ABC in the federal court.
You can read the full report below:
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Anyone else hungry for a Krispy Kreme?
Yesterday there were no new cases reported. 13,800 test results were received. Thanks for getting tested when you have symptoms - #EveryTestHelps.
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) March 25, 2021
More later: https://t.co/lIUrl0ZEco #COVID19Vic #COVID19VicData pic.twitter.com/xkDNFkTuSC
So you might remember on Tuesday Scott Morrison attempted to prove he understood and empathised with the struggles woman face at the hands of male disrespect and violence ... and then immediately tried to out a woman’s harassment complaint at News Corp that ended up not existing and also totally undoing everything he just said.
With speeches no longer available to him to try and prove that he is listening, he has gone on A Current Affair to be interviewed by Tracy Grimshaw. This also didn’t go great, to be honest with you.
The prime minister defended himself against the accusation that he is late to the issue of sexism, saying that while women “live with it every day”, he has had different experiences.
I believe Grimshaw responded with “but you’re not on an island,” to which Morrison replied:
For many Australians, this has been like a big wake-up call and it’s been like a red light to say, stop, look, listen’ and that’s what we’re doing.
He also dug his heels in on his defence of the attorney general, Christian Porter, again labelling him “an innocent man” and rejecting the idea that he could instigate a non-criminal inquiry into a historical rape allegation about him.
He said that “many things ... will make our country stronger to deal with these issues” including the need for respect towards women.
Equally, our courts, our police, our justice systems, they are also important. We can’t dismiss that and think we are fixing that problem.
He repeatedly drew an analogy to former opposition leader Bill Shorten, who faced his own rape allegation, which police declined to prosecute.
That’s not the first time this has happened in this country.
The prime minister also confirmed he had instigated an inquiry into whether his office was backgrounding journalists against former Liberal staffer and alleged rape victim Brittany Higgins’ family and that he would not condone that conduct.
He told the program his chief of staff had spoken to a “direct and confidential source” on Thursday, who had allegedly witnessed the backgrounding.
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Good morning, Matilda Boseley back on the blog and ready to see off the week in style.
Well, not too much style, because that’s right guys, there is yet another scandal about the mistreatment of women from parliament.
Liberal MP Andrew Laming has apologised to two Brisbane women who accused him of online abuse in a Nine news report last night.
Laming conceded commentary he made via social media had caused significant distress to two highly respected people.
Nine News reported Laming accused one woman, Alix Russo, of misappropriating charity funds, which she denies. Russo told Nine that the exchange had led her to contemplate taking her own life.
This apology came in the form of a written letter and in a statement delivered to parliament, issued shortly before Nine news aired the accusations of online abuse.
Now, in NSW, the long and arduous cleanup process as the majority of floodwaters across the state have receded and evacuation orders begin to lift.
Flood evacuation orders were lifted in several areas of north-western Sydney late on Thursday night including South Creek at Mulgrave and the Hawkesbury River from Wisemans Ferry to Brooklyn and in Vineyard.
But not everywhere is out of the woods, with major flooding continuing this morning in Maclean in the northern rivers region, and while the situation in Grafton and Ulmarra they are still experiencing moderate flooding.
The NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian, said between 3,000 and 4,000 people returned to their homes over the past 24 hours and pleaded with people not to drive through floodwaters on their way back.
Now some other things to look out for:
- We are keeping an eye out for any clue as to when the federal cabinet reshuffle will be announced. It looks like Scott Morrison may move frontbenches around, in part to get beleaguered ministers Christian Porter and Linda Reynolds out of their current, super senior, positions. Although he says they will still be part of the cabinet.
- SA premier Steven Marshall and opposition leader Peter Malinauskas will go toe to toe at the SA Press Club today, as they begin the long race to the election this time next year.
- Australia will fly its national flag at half-mast to mark the death of Tanzania president John Magufuli, a prominent coronavirus sceptic.
- And finally, unions are set to push for a $26-a-week rise in the minimum wage, suggesting if pay packets don’t rise then Australia’s economic pandemic recovery could falter.
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.
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