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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Mostafa Rachwani and Calla Wahlquist (earlier)

No more hotspots in NSW, head of corporate regulator to stand down – as it happened

Passengers on Sydney trains wearing face masks
Face masks in NSW remain mandatory on public transport, places of worship and for hospitality workers. Photograph: James D Morgan/Getty Images

End of day summary

And with that, both the blog and the week (mostly) comes to an end. Here’s what went down today:

That’s all from me today, enjoy your weekend everyone.

Updated

Australians stranded in Europe were dealt a double blow on Friday with the government acknowledging it inadvertently revealed sensitive details of all passengers booked on a repatriation flight from London.

That followed news Emirates had suspended all flights from the United Kingdom.

The Department of Home Affairs and Trade has contacted passengers booked on a government repatriation flight from London for Darwin on Saturday to tell them about the data breach.

It is at least the fourth such data breach of stranded Australians’ information by Dfat since August.

This time it involved full names, genders, dates of birth, email addresses, passport details, phone numbers and current locations. Those passenger details were “unintentionally copied to one of the department’s consular clients on 24 January”, the department said.

It said it took “immediate action to mitigate any impact” and tried to recall the email within a minute of it being sent. A follow-up email asked the unidentified recipient to delete the material.

The government said the recipient did delete the email. It said it is reviewing internal processes to ensure the breach isn’t repeated.


Read more:

Updated

And in incredible news this evening, scientists have finally solved the mystery of why wombats have cube-shaped poo.

Apparently, the cube shape is formed within the intestines, not when it is excreted.

You can read more on the fascinating discovery here:

Updated

Six Queensland hospitals will be used to deliver Pfizer’s Covid vaccine.

The list includes Cairns Hospital, Townsville Hospital, Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Sunshine Coast University Hospital and Gold Coast University Hospital.

Vaccinations will begin in Queensland as soon as the first doses arrive.

First in line will be frontline health workers, aged-care and disability-care residents and the staff who care for them, and quarantine and border workers.

Updated

The BBC’s China correspondent, Stephen McDonell, is in Wuhan, tagging along with the World Health Organisation’s team of scientists who are working to understand the origins of Covid-19. He’s been live tweeting about their first “field trip”.

To say the team’s work and findings will be interesting is a bit of an understatement, and McDonell has been relaying their movements and some of the questions already being raised:

The team appears to still be making their way to their first destination. I think it’ll be a story worth following.

Updated

Western Australia’s premier, Mark McGowan, has called New South Wales “hypocritical” for criticising Queensland for closing its border.

Mr McGowan said it was a “bit rich” for the NSW government to comment after it recently closed its own border with Victoria.

He said WA had resisted calls to shut down hardware stores and the mining industry, as the NSW government wanted.

“The benefits of what Western Australia did have flowed through to New South Wales through all the tax revenues, through all the support we have provided them over the course of the last year.

I’d just say to the New South Wales government: they should stop always undermining, nitpicking, and attacking other states.

They should be cooperative. We supported them. And we actually stopped some of the things they wanted to have happen at the height of Covid, which saved the Australian economy.

The Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, pleaded this week for an extension to jobkeeper payments for hard-hit tourism operators in her state.

On Friday, her NSW counterpart Gladys Berejiklian – a long-standing critic of Queensland’s border closures– said unnecessary shutdowns cost jobs and create hardship.

Updated

The rain is continuing in Victoria this afternoon, with heavy rainfall alerts issued for the north of the central and eastern ranges:

It appears conditions are not easing, with residents on the lookout for any flooding:

Updated

Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, has released a cryptic teaser on Twitter about a “special broadcast” at 6pm:

Do I have any idea what this is about? Not even a little.

Will I be tuning in? You betcha.

Updated

South Australia has recorded another day of zero new Covid cases and zero patients in hospital, with more than 3,000 tests yesterday:

Updated

The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) has welcomed the release of 15 refugees from the Melbourne Immigration Transit Accommodation (MITA) detention centre yesterday, but has called on the government to release all those who remain detained.

In a statement, the ASRC called on the home affairs minister, Peter Dutton, to explain why so many remain in detention centres.

People are experiencing high levels of distress and are at high mental health risk due to the arbitrary nature of the Minister releasing small, select groups of people at a time, without any transparency or information.

Caseworkers, lawyers and community advocates are especially concerned about the mental health of 11 people left behind at the Park Hotel, due to intense uncertainty of their impending release.

There is no adequate emergency medical support or oversight into mental health care at any of the detention facilities to help protect lives.

Updated

Some reactions from Labor now, to the news Asic chair James Shipton will step down.

Stephen James, shadow assistant treasurer and shadow minister for financial services and superannuation, said in a statement that “the hot mess at Asic continues”.

Josh Frydenberg is doing nothing to fill the leadership vacuum created by James Shipton’s departure.

Instead, he’s tried to save his own skin while throwing respected corporate leaders under a bus.

He’s been happy to leave Asic rudderless at a time when corporate Australia and everyday consumers have never needed a trusted cop on the beat more.

Updated

Once more, I think for the last time today, we turn to the tennis, where we have a first look at the blister that prevented world No 1 Novak Djokovic from playing the first set of his match:

Updated

Researchers say Melbourne “dodged a bullet” during last year’s second Covid wave, when the virus was mutating into something more worrying.

A variant, similar to the ones that have developed in the UK and South Africa, was developing in Melbourne but the city’s extended lockdown stunted its development.

Associate Prof Stuart Turville, from the Kirby Institute at the University of New South Wales, told Guardian Australia he’d noticed differences in patients from Sydney compared with those from Melbourne.

You can read more on this fascinating yarn from Melissa Davey here:

Updated

Etihad will continue to operate fights from the UK to Abu Dhabi and on to Australian cities despite a British government ban on incoming passengers from the United Arab Emirates.

The border closure follows Emirates’ decision to suspend all outbound flights from the United Kingdom from Friday, effectively cutting off one of the last major routes home for Australians in Europe.

On Friday afternoon, an Etihad spokesman eased fears that the UAE-based airline, which flies from Europe to Australia via its Abu Dhabi hub, might follow Emirates’ move to suspend flights.

He said while all Etihad flights to the UK have been suspended until further notice “flights departing the UK remain unaffected and will operate as scheduled”.

Earlier on Friday, Australia’s health minister, Greg Hunt, said the government remained open to scheduling further repatriation flights but it was unclear how much the cancellations would affect the backlog of stranded Australians.

“If more flights are needed, more will be provided,” Hunt said, noting the government announced 20 extra repatriation flights earlier in January.

The Emirates suspension will complicate things for Australians stuck in Europe who are trying to negotiate their routes home because Dubai had served as a major transit hub to Australian cities.

You can read more about the Emirates decision here:

Updated

40mm of rain has been dumped on Melbourne today in the space of four hours, as the Bureau of Meteorology issues thunderstorm warnings for Wimmera and Mallee.

400 calls for help have been made to the SES in the past 24 hours, as parts of Melbourne see some minor flooding.

Updated

Australia’s defence department is monitoring developments in the Taiwan Strait, after Beijing warned a declaration of independence by Taiwan would “mean war” amid Chinese air force patrols in the region.

Taiwan has reported an increase in Chinese military aircraft in its air defence zone since last weekend. Yesterday, Taiwan said six such aircraft, including four J-10 fighter jets, flew close to the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands at the top end of the South China Sea, as Reuters reported.

A Chinese defence ministry spokesperson, Wu Qian, said yesterday Taiwan was an inseparable part of China, and the military activities were “a solemn response to external interference and provocations by ‘Taiwan independence’ forces”.

According to Reuters, Wu also said: “We warn those ‘Taiwan independence’ elements: those who play with fire will burn themselves, and ‘Taiwan independence’ means war.”

Meanwhile the US military announced last weekend that a US aircraft carrier group, led by the USS Theodore Roosevelt, had entered the South China Sea in a bid to promote “freedom of the seas”.

Guardian Australia asked the Australian defence department if the new Biden administration had requested Australia join the US in freedom of navigation exercises in the South China Sea or would do so soon, and also whether it had any response to the Chinese aircraft near Taiwan.

A defence spokesperson responded:

Australian vessels and aircraft will continue to exercise rights under international law to freedom of navigation and overflight, including in the South China Sea, and we support others doing the same. On Taiwan, we are aware of the situation and continue to monitor developments.

It is understood the Australian government’s position is to support a peaceful resolution of differences over Taiwan and other regional issues through dialogue, and without the threat or use of force or coercion. The government also maintains that American leadership in the Indo-Pacific region is welcome in order to uphold rules, norms and standards there.

Australia’s defence minister, Linda Reynolds, had a first phone call with her new US counterpart, the defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, on Wednesday.

Updated

An interesting little set of stats in light of discussions around the Labor party and its cabinet reshuffle this week.

Tim Graham is a senior lecturer at the QUT Digital Media Research Centre, with a focus on the spread of misinformation. He’s found sentiment online towards Labor was not as positive as they might have hoped:

Updated

Jarryd Hayne’s retrial for the alleged rape of a woman during a stopover at her house has been locked in to start in Sydney on 8 March.

The two-time NRL player of the year, who later took up gridiron and rugby sevens, was tried in Newcastle in late 2020 over his encounter with a NSW woman in 2018.

That trial’s jury was discharged on December 7 after failing to reach a verdict.

A second, two-week trial will begin in the district court in Sydney on 8 March, Justice Derek Price confirmed on Friday.

Pre-trial issues will be argued at a hearing on 25 February.

Hayne, who had his bail continued until that date, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of aggravated sexual assault over the September 2018 incident.

The offences allegedly occurred when the former Kangaroo and State of Origin rugby league player visited the woman, then aged 26, at her home on Newcastle’s outskirts on the night of the 2018 NRL grand final.

He’d stopped at the home while travelling from the Hunter Valley to Sydney.

Updated

Returning to the tennis for a moment, there seemed to be some confusion earlier today about whether or not world No 1, Novak Djokovic, will be playing an exhibition match.

Apparently Djokovic wasn’t going to play due to blisters on his hand, and was replaced by Filip Krajinovic.

But then, halfway through the match, Djokovic did emerge and play, replacing Krajinovic.

Earlier, Djokovic fronted the media in Adelaide after emerging from 14 days in quarantine, saying he was “thrilled to be out”.

Updated

Residents in the Kimberley, in Western Australia, are bracing for the first substantial wet season event in three years.

A tropical low has been brewing off the coast over the past week and is expected to move inland over the next few days.

The system has already dumped heavy rain across the region, with a flood warning still active for most of the west Kimberley.

The Bureau of Meteorology has warned the system could quickly intensify and may become a cyclone if it hits warm water on the Kimberley coast.

The Bureau has warned residents to expect thunderstorms and heavy rain across much of the North West as the system crosses over, with parts of the central and east Kimberley already recording significant rainfall.

Updated

The vaccine rollout, climate change and submarines were on the agenda in a call today between Scott Morrison and the French president, Emmanuel Macron.

The Australian prime minister’s office said the leaders discussed the Covid situation in both countries and particularly the vaccine rollout. A readout issued by Morrison’s office said:

“They discussed the importance of ensuring that all nations had access to the vaccine and how they could cooperate on access to the vaccine in the south-west Pacific and south-east Asia. The leaders discussed the importance of the Indo-Pacific region and how cooperation between likeminded nations would help ensure the region was free, open, sovereign and prosperous.”

That appeared to be a reference to working together at a time of rising tensions with China.

Morrison – who once dabbled in rhetoric about “negative globalism” – also discussed with Macron “the importance of multilateral institutions, particularly the G7+, the G20 and the OECD, in ensuring that likeminded nations cooperated on important issues that could drive the global economy forward post-pandemic”.

There wasn’t much detail in the readout on climate change, except a line basically noting Morrison’s preferred focus on technology rather than targets. In public remarks last month, after co-hosting a climate ambition summit at which Morrison was blocked from speaking, Macron said he wanted to work with all parties to the Paris agreement “to keep raising ambition”.

Morrison’s office said of the call: “They also discussed the importance of technology as the key to achieve reductions in global emissions and agreed to work on further cooperation on energy and low emissions technology development.”

Morrison and Macron also discussed the future submarine program, but no details of that portion of the call were provided. The Australian Financial Review reported earlier this month that Morrison was becoming “increasingly exasperated” over the troubled $80bn project. That report cited rising tensions between the defence department and French designer Naval Group.

Updated

So, from 6pm today, the Victorian border with NSW will be relaxed, with only the Cumberland LGA still considered an orange zone.

Finally, Hunt commented briefly on findings by German health authorities, that the AstraZeneca vaccine shouldn’t be given to those older than 65:

With regard to the safety and effectiveness of that particular vaccine for over 65s, I understand that Professor Adam Field, the member of the joint committee on vaccination and immunisation in the United Kingdom, said they have no concerns about the safety of the vaccine in any age group.

So, countries will take different approaches. Our approach will be led by what we believe will be the best medical regulator in the world, the Therapeutic Goods Administration.

We have a total vaccine supply of approximately 140m doses for a population of 25.5m, requiring two doses per person, so we have strong levels of vaccine [supply], but we also have a range of options for roll out, which have already been prepared for all circumstances.

Updated

Hunt has said that over 1,000 general practices around the country have put their hand up to be involved in the vaccine rollout.

Our goal for the public is to have a very simple access approach. So, as you can phone your GP, you can phone the state clinic, or you can come through a single front door. So, to give people different options, because they will all be in different circumstances.

It aligns up with them being able to easily book. We are working quietly behind the scenes with the states to make sure that we’ve got that simple, single front door for people, whether it is online, whether it’s through telephone, depending on their circumstances. They will also be able to go direct to their GPs.

Updated

Australia making representations to WHO to ensure vaccines aren't blocked

Hunt has confirmed that Dfat will be making representations through the World Health Organization about ensuring Australia’s supply of vaccines is guaranteed on a continuous basis.

We understand that the whole world has to deal with supply shops and therefore our volumes have been appropriately set out this week but the Foreign Minister has confirmed today that Australia will be making representations through the World Health Organization and through Europe, with regards to ensuring that the vaccine supplies and certainty for Australia.

Updated

Hunt was asked about the impact of the Emirates suspending flights to the UK, especially on stranded Australians trying to return home:

What we have shown is that if more flights are needed, more will be provided. We added an extra 20 specific charters, which Simon Birmingham announced a few weeks ago.

They were done to make sure that more Australians will come home, so we will have to examine the impact of those particular changes, which we understand and which we respect, and the guidance to Australians is very, very clear.

The prime minister has been clear, if more flights are needed, more will be provided.

Updated

Hunt has gone on to discuss the vaccine rollout, reaffirming that Australia is on track for “a late February commencement of the vaccine rollout”.

He said the time frame was reaffirmed by both Pfizer and AstraZeneca, and commented on the Novavax trial resulting in 90% efficacy:

We have been fortunate enough to select three and all up, we made five vaccine contracts, Pfizer, AstraZeneca the University of Queensland, Novavax, and four out of the five proceeding, and we expected that we will be exceeding supply, with the commencement in late February with completion on track for the end of October.

Updated

Suspension of NZ travel bubble to be reconsidered tomorrow

On the basis of no further community cases, Hunt has said that authorities will be reconsidering the suspension of the New Zealand travel bubble from tomorrow.

They are doing a tremendous job, a tremendous job in terms of widespread testing of staff relating to the hotel quarantine facility, guests, contacts and community.

And this provides a basis for them to be reconsidering the current travel pause for the green zone on a 24-hour basis so they will be considering tomorrow, and if there are continued excellent results out of New Zealand, which is commensurate with their entire performance over the course of the pandemic, then we hope to be in a position to resume that in the coming days.

The Pullman Hotel in Auckland, New Zealand where two people who completed 14 days of hotel quarantine have tested positive for Covid.
The Pullman Hotel in Auckland, New Zealand where two people who completed 14 days of hotel quarantine have tested positive for Covid. Photograph: Phil Walter/Getty Images

Updated

Health minister Greg Hunt is in Melbourne and giving an update, first reflecting on another day of zero community transmission in Australia:

Significantly, zero lives lost and zero patients in ICU with Covid-19 in Australia. So that is a really important outcome. Importantly, as well, this is the 12th consecutive day of zero cases in community transmission in Australia.

That’s a testament to the work of our medical professionals, our public health teams but Australians everywhere for the way in which they have observed the distancing requirements, the way that they have protected each other, the way that they have come out for testing with 12.8m tests conducted in Australia in the latest advice that I have. All of these things have helped keep Australia safe.

Updated

Stranded Australians 'in shock' over Emirates' decision to suspend flights from UK

Some reactions are coming through from Australians stranded overseas over the Emirates decision to suspend flights from the UK.

In the Australians Stranded in the UK facebook group, people have been waiting for news, with user Stephy Pearce saying the wait is the hardest part:

Waiting and not knowing is the toughest part of this process.

Passengers waiting to check in to an Emirates flight at Sydney’s Kingsford Smith International airport on 19 January 2021.
Passengers waiting to check in to an Emirates flight at Sydney’s Kingsford Smith International airport on 19 January 2021. Photograph: James D Morgan/Getty Images

Jen Sanford said many people are “concerned” by these announcements”:

Everyone stranded is affected and concerned by these sorts of announcements. Thousands of Australian citizens on tenterhooks as there are so many variables … The impact on our mental health – anxiety and depression – is immense. Hardly surprising given that there’s no coordinated crisis management.

Mark Woodward said he heard the news just hours after he booked some tickets:

Had just confirmed an Emirates flight to Sydney for 2 March. Two hours later this news broke.

Qantas needs to step up to the mark. Foreign airlines, to be fair, have been pulling out all the stops to provide a service.

Daniella Mansuttim who shared the Emirates update to the same Facebook group, wrote:

I really am in shock they can just spring this on us within 24 hours. This is insane. I’m praying for all of us flying Emirates / Etihad something works out for us. I can’t believe this, I really can’t.

And finally, Brigitte Holly seemed to echoes much of the frustrated sentiment in the group:

I have a flight booked in May and every single bloody week there is a new stress just knowing that I probably won’t be getting on that flight home.

Updated

Frydenberg says it is time for a “fresh start” at Asic as it searches for a new chairperson.

He also says an abridged version of the report on Asic by former inspector general of intelligence Vivienne Thom will be released:

There are going to be changes at Asic and we will be releasing an abridged version of the report after taking advice from Treasury and from the AGS.

The abridged version of the report make it is very clear that there were deficiencies into the way decisions were taken in respect to these matters and that the governance and audit processes and management processes and indeed the legal processes can all be improved and so there will be a need for changes at Asic.

I look forward to working with James Shipton now that he will be resuming his duties to implement the recommendations from the Thom Report, and I will be working with Treasury and be in discussions as well with James Shipton about broader reforms to Asic that the government will consider.

Updated

Treasurer says chairman of Asic to step down

Frydenberg has said he is “satisfied” that Asic chairman James Shipton did nothing wrong, although Shipton has agreed to step down as chair in the coming months:

I am satisfied that there have been no instances of misconduct by Mr Shipton concerning his relocation arrangements, including Asic’s payment for tax advice resulting from his relocation to Australia in early 2018. Nor have there been any breaches of applicable codes of conduct.

Given the nature of the matters raised, the government expects Asic to implement as a priority the recommendations made by Dr Thomson concerning its internal risk management and governance arrangements and to report regular I to me on its progress. In the light of the outcomes of the review, Mr Shipton will return to his role, but Mr Shipton and I have agreed that it is in the best interests of Asic that he will step down as the chairperson of Asic in the coming months.

Updated

Frydenberg has spent some time pointing out that Australia’s economy is “doing better than most”:

At the peak of this crisis, $250bn worth of loans had their repayments deferred. About three-quarters of those loans were home loans and about a quarter of them referred to SME loans.

As of the most recent data, 80% of those home loans where the repayments were deferred, payments have started again, and about 90% of those small business loans where the payments were deferred, we are now seeing the payments being made again.

The unemployment rate fell to 6.6%. 785,000 jobs were created over the last seven months. It is off the back of rising house prices in our capital cities and regional areas, off the bark of strong retail numbers, off the back of increased economic activity and economic growth.

And, of course, the IMF has recalibrated economic forecasts which sees Australia better positioned than nearly any other country in the world.

Updated

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is speaking now, on “Asic governance matters”.

Updated

Tasmania lifts border restrictions on greater Sydney

From Sunday, Tasmania will remove the medium risk Covid-19 designation applying to 10 areas in greater Sydney.

The move to lift the restrictions means the entire country can now travel to Tasmania.

Authorities say the decision has been made based on the absence of community cases in the past fortnight along with extensive contact tracing and testing undertaken by NSW Health authorities.

Updated

Experts have called the news of the Novovax vaccine showing 90% efficacy “mixed”.

Professor Raina MacIntyre, Head of the Biosecurity Program at the Kirby Institute at the University of NSW, pointed out that the vaccine had a relatively low efficacy rate when it specifically came to the South African variant:

Worryingly, in South Africa, where the B1351 variant was dominant, it was only 60% effective, and as low as 49% when HIV infected people were included in the analysis.

This means we urgently need to know the efficacy of other vaccines in the Australian plan, such as Astra Zeneca and Pfizer, against these variants, and plan accordingly.

They all target the same protein, so we can expect reduced efficacy to variant strains with these vaccines. These are likely to become the dominant strains globally and are more contagious, and the B117 appears to be more severe

More green zones in NSW for Victorians

The Victorian government has transitioned the last red zone in NSW to an orange zone, allowing anyone from NSW with a permit to enter Victoria.

From 6pm tonight, the Cumberland LGA will become an orange zone, opening travel up.

Previous orange zones of of Blacktown City, Burwood, Canada Bay City, Canterbury-Bankstown, Fairfield City, Inner West, Parramatta City and Strathfield Municipality and Liverpool will also transition to green zones.

Wollongong and the Blue Mountains will also move to green, leaving Cumberland as the only remaining orange zone.

In a statement, premier Daniel Andrews said he was “extremely happy” to see NSW continue to record low numbers of positive cases:

We’re extremely happy to see the last red zone in New South Wales be downgraded. We’re reminding people to get tested if they’re returning from an orange zone, so we can continue to enjoy an open and Covid-safe summer.

Updated

There’s a public hearing underway in Canberra for the parliamentary inquiry into independent MP Zali Steggall’s climate change bills, and energy and science officials have been pressed on their work to project when the country could reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions.

Steggall and Labor MP Josh Burns both pushed officials from the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources to say if work had been done to project when Australia might reach net zero.

Independent MP for Warringah Zali Steggall.
Independent MP for Warringah Zali Steggall. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Kushla Munro, an acting deputy secretary in the department, said that work was “ongoing” and would form part of a long-term greenhouse gas emissions reduction strategy to be submitted to the United Nation’s climate convention ahead of the next major talks in Glasgow scheduled for November.

Unlike more than 100 countries and many of Australia’s major trading partners, the Morrison government has refused to adopt a net zero target by 2050 – saying only it wants to get there as quickly as possible.

Rob Sturgiss, a general manager in the department, was also asked by Liberal MP Trent Zimmerman if it was practically possible to prepare a greenhouse gas emissions budget out to 2050.

“I think it’s maybe sensible [to do],” Sturgiss responded.

For the rest of the hearing today, the committee is hearing from conservation and climate groups, doctors, vets and nuclear energy advocates.

Representatives of science and technology sectors, as well as property, planning and major industry will also get a chance to make representations to the committee today.

Steggall’s bill would bring a net zero target by 2050 into law and set out a pathway to reach that goal, as well as establish an independent climate change commission to oversee annual national risk assessments.

Updated

Finally, the premier had one small swipe at people who have questioned or will outright not take the vaccine:

I would ask that people look at the facts.

It is just horrendous the number of people who have died from Covid around the world, the number of people whose lives have changed forever.

It particularly has a detrimental impact on older Australians but people of any age group would feel an adverse impact and we have seen many people succumb and develop lifelong conditions, so I would say to everybody who has an alternative view, please look at the facts.

It is serious and please accept the health advice provided because that will save lives.

Updated

On vaccines, Berejiklian stressed there is a preliminary plan, not a concrete one, and that NSW will work with the federal government on the rollout:

We are still waiting for the federal government to come back to us on their plans by the deputy premier and either set on the crisis cabinet committee which looks after these Covid issues and we have already discussed getting the vaccine out to remote and regional communities.

Nothing is final and it will depend a lot on the advice the federal government gives us as to what is NSW’s share in terms of the vaccine but also, the categories of people who will be receiving at first and clearly people working on the front line with the virus and those most vulnerable will be in the queue first.

Updated

The premier has hit out at Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk (again), this time saying Palaszczuk shouldn’t be complaining about the impacts of the pandemic on certain industries, in light of her previous border decisions:

She is now the victim of a policy that she put in place herself.

The whole point that New South Wales has been so strong in keeping borders open within Australia is to prevent exactly what the Queensland premier is now complaining about. When you unnecessarily close state borders you lose jobs, you create hardship, you impact people’s mental health and wellbeing.

There is no reason why certain leaders moved too quickly and shut out New South Wales. There is nowhere in the state that is a hot spot and even if there was, why should people from other parts of the state be prevented from moving freely?

Updated

NSW Premier says no more hotspots in the state

And now, finally, NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian is speaking, saying there are no more hotspots in NSW.

She’s said, as the school year starts, that she is confident that the state is better equipped to deal with the pandemic moving forward:

Every day of the pandemic is a risk and we are always exposed. That is why New South Wales continues to adjust our settings. We continue to get the best advice possible and move forward and as a government we have been very flexible and adaptable. As the viruses changed we have moved. Last year was a very disruptive school year and we did not understand as much about the viruses we do now.

Some of the research we did on the virus young people in particular is some of the best research done anywhere in the world so we can move forward with confidence with schooling this year, confident that there will be less disruption and confident that we know much more than we did one year ago.

Novavax vaccine shown to be 90% effective in UK trial

The Novavax vaccine has shown in its latest trials to be 90% effective against the coronavirus, including the more virulent UK and South African variants.

Australia has agreements to secure 51 million doses of the vaccine during 2021, but it will need to be approved by the TGA. Currently, only the Pfizer vaccine has been approved in Australia.

According to the federal health department, if the vaccine is proven effective, it could be available in Australia by “the first half of 2021”.

US biotech company Novavax’s Covid vaccine.
US biotech company Novavax’s Covid vaccine. Photograph: Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images

Updated

At his doorstop this morning, Labor leader Anthony Albanese declined to buy into the discussion about the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, after German authorities said there was insufficient data to judge how effective the vaccine was for people over 65.

Opposition leader Anthony Albanese.
Opposition leader Anthony Albanese. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

The health minister, Greg Hunt, is due to address media at 1pm about this issue.

Albanese said Australia should heed any advice from its own regulators.

What we need to do is take the advice of the Therapeutic Goods Administration … Labor has a very clear view that once the TGA approves the distribution of a vaccine it should be distributed as soon as possible in accordance with TGA recommendations.

On the extension of the suspension of the travel bubble with New Zealand, Albanese said Australia was “right to be cautious when it comes to these matters”. His main concern was “the fact that there’s a failure of this government to act on the recommendations Jane Halton made to them of establishing national quarantine arrangements” and to step up efforts to return 40,000 Australians stranded abroad.

Updated

And now, finally, arguably the greatest athlete of all time, Serena Williams, is now speaking as well on the time she’s spent outside qurantine:

Yes, and I’m so glad the quarantine is over, because to be in a room with a three year old and being her best friend is definitely difficult especially after training and working out and then it’s like, oh my gosh, it never end.

So yeah. I was coming towards the end of my quarantine towards the end, but honestly I wouldn’t trade anything spending hours with her on hours on hours, it was really fun.

Will she be gunning to break the record of 24 grand slams?

I definitely think so because otherwise they don’t know how they would continue to go. It’s good to always have goals that you try to reach and kind of see what happens.

Updated

Next up, current world number one, Novak Djokovic is up, discussing what he’s been doing in Adelaide since his quarantine ended:

It’s great to be here, and I think again as everybody else, police and health department officials were making this day as best as possible. Conditions were great for us, considering the circumstances.

What did he do as soon as he was out of quarantine?

Walk in the park. Just putting their feet on the ground, you know, just doing something that I didn’t have a chance to do. Just having the space, I think, that’s what we all kind of missed.

Will he catch the greatest of all time (Federer, we must agree, surely) on 20 grand slams?

It’s probably the biggest challenge you can have, but it’s a very long ride and I’ve played professional tennis for so many years and I’ve been very blessed to have great success over the years, so why try to focus my attention on what I have so far achieved and I am grateful for that.

Updated

We’re very much jumping around this morning, this time we are now with Rafael Nadal (the second greatest tennis player of all time, surely we can agree), who is speaking on the disruptions to the tennis schedule:

Well, honestly, for a lot of months it was even difficult to think about tennis now because the world has been suffering a lot, even in my country, the situation is one of the worst, probably. So, yeah, we had a hard lockdown for more than two months in Spain. Honestly one of the last things that I was focused on was tennis.

We just can say thank you very much to South Australia and all the unbelievable great work that Tennis Australia has been doing to allow us to play this tournament and I am excited to be back here in Australia.

Updated

Chalmers has continued with his criticism of the government, this time calling for an extension of jobkeeper in light of industries, particularly the tourism industry in north Queensland, being dependent on it:

When Cairns and places like it are on jobkeeper life support, Josh Frydenberg and Scott Morrison shouldn’t be pulling the plug.

There are businesses in tourism and in other areas which rely on international tourism in particular which are in all kinds of strife and we ask the federal government to understand that and to consider other ways that they could support those businesses and those workers, whether it’s an extension of jobkeeper or some better way.

Updated

And we’ve jumped straight from New Zealand to shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers slamming the government, calling revelations that jobseeker money has gone to dead people a “humiliating revelation”:

They are humiliating revelations because Morrison and Frydenberg have spent much of the last 10 years banging on about checks for dead people during the global financial crisis, so they have a lot of explaining to do. Under Josh Frydenberg, dead people get JobKeeper money but struggling small businesses in the tourism sector won’t.

No wonder this liberal government doesn’t have enough jobs and opportunities to show for its trillion dollars in debt, when all of this money is being wasted on rorts like this one.

Updated

Authorities in New Zealand have confirmed at a press conference that 314 people who were at the Pullman Hotel between 9 and 24 January have returned a negative result.

Both the Auckland cases are currently in a quarantine facility, and 262 close contacts are also isolating. Authorities said there is no evidence of community transmission.

Updated

Good morning and happy Friday everyone. A quick thanks to Calla for a stellar job this morning, and this week.

I’ll be taking you through the news this afternoon, and we’re currently on standby for the NSW premier’s presser. Stay tuned.

Updated

With that, I’ll hand over to Mostafa Rachwani to take you through the rest of the day.

He will bring you NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian’s press conference, which is due to begin any minute now.

Thanks for your company this week.

The Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, popped up on morning TV and held a doorstop with reporters in Canberra, a day after unveiling his frontbencher reshuffle.

Albanese told Seven’s Sunrise the removal of Mark Butler from the climate portfolio was “not at all” a sign his party was backing away from climate action. He said Chris Bowen, as a former treasurer, understood the job creation potential to flow from the necessary economic transition. He said:

Any party that I lead will always be strong on climate change.

At a subsequent doorstop, Albanese said Labor supported the “very positive” motivation behind independent MP Zali Steggall’s private member’s bill. The bill - which includes a 2050 net zero target and would require the government to set a rolling emissions budget to meet it - is focus of parliamentary inquiry hearings today.

Albanese said Labor looked forward to the discussion about the bill but said the truth was that the Coalition government had a majority in the House of Representatives, and therefore it was difficult for non-government bills to get debated and voted on. He said the government should be prepared to have debate and votes on legislation such as Zali Steggall’s.

NSW records 12 days without a locally-acquired Covid-19 case

NSW has recorded no new locally-acquired cases of Covid-19 for the 12th day in a row.

It recorded three cases in hotel quarantine. There were 11,897 tests conducted in the 24-hours to 8pm last night, up from 7,809 the day before.

Police in Melbourne are still searching for the driver of a vehicle drove along tram tracks on Bourke Street Mall and crashed into a bollard, alarming nearby pedestrians who saw it as an echo of the 2017 Bourke Street attack.

Victoria Police assistant commissioner Luke Cornelius said police also initially thought the car could have been involved in what they call a “hostile vehicle attack,” but soon realised the driver of the green Mitsubishi Lancer was just trying to evade police.

The car turned into Bourke Street Mall after police tried to pull it over in Swanston Street, just before 5pm yesterday.

Cornelius told reporters:

We know the history at Bourke Street and we absolutely get the concern about community safety ... particularly at this time as more people come back to work,” Mr Cornelius said.

(But) we’re more than satisfied this was an evade as opposed to a hostile vehicle attack.

Cornelius said police were “confident” they would identify and arrest the driver.

This is a celebratory tour of how Queensland has managed the outbreak, and the level of restrictions it now has. Health minister Yvette D’Ath said:

There has been over 100 public health directives issued over the last 12 months.

As a Victorian, I have to say those are rookie numbers.

D’Ath continued:

We have also, in this amazing time over the 12 months, delivered Covid safe local and state elections. We have hosted a full house at the State of Origin, with great results and we hosted the AFL grand final at the Gabba, the first time the AFL grand final has been held outside Victoria.

We are in a very fortunate position that Queensland is now back in a position of having full stadiums and the lowest restrictions across the country, including allowing dancing. And for all this we say thank you.

Queensland records one new case in hotel quarantine.

Annastacia Palaszczuk is speaking in Brisbane, on the one year anniversary of Queensland declaring a the coronavirus a health emergency.

There was one new case in hotel quarantine today, none in the community.

The case in hotel quarantine is a woman in her 40s who travelled from Pakistan via Doha.

Queensland’s deputy chief health officer Dr Sonya Bennett said it was “a testament to how successful the hotel quarantine program has been that the majority of our cases are detected in quarantine”.

We will continue to see cases and we continue to monitor the situation overseas and I think the situation in New Zealand with the cases they have had is another example. So we will continue to be mindful, continue to remind the community that if you do feel unwell or have any symptoms to please go get tested. Today is probably a day more for celebration really the position we are in.

The Transport Workers Union has criticised Uber for requiring food delivery drivers to sign a new contract from 1 March, which it claims will “distance Uber from responsibility including for injury or damage suffered by riders, stating that riders should take out their own workers’ compensation insurance”.

Riders can also have their pay revoked if a customer complaint is received, without right of reply. Meanwhile, Uber maintains the right to unilaterally alter the terms of the agreement at any time.

The contract also states that a rider can be immediately terminated if ‘the rider engages in conduct that has the potential to cause adverse publicity, media attention or regulatory scrutiny or which may be detrimental to Uber’s reputation or brand.’

An Uber Eats bicycle courier in Sydney.
An Uber Eats bicycle courier in Sydney. Photograph: Loren Elliott/Reuters

It comes after Uber settled an unfair dismissal case with food delivery riders, avoiding a high profile federal court decision.

The TWU says the new contract contains a number of terms which appear to guard against a court finding that delivery riders are employees, such as requiring riders to have an ABN.

TWU National Secretary Michael Kaine said:

After the federal court savaged Uber in December, this move reeks of desperation to shore up a business model which relies on exploitation and the refusal to pay workers minimum wage, or give rights like protection against unfair dismissal and workers compensation.

The contract’s gag order that prevents workers from speaking out in any way that may lead to ‘regulatory scrutiny”’is appalling and shows that Uber is well aware that it imposes working conditions far below the standards expected in Australia. We’re calling on the Federal Government to examine this and intervene if the clause is found to contravene the Fair Work Act.

Updated

Peter Dutton has responded to Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s call for the federal government to extend jobkeeper for the tourism sector in Queensland, saying “we don’t take economic advice from the Queensland premier”.

Dutton told Nine’s Today Show:

We’ve provided significant assistance to businesses and jobkeeper is coming to an end. But the government’s been very clear that if we need to provide further assistance, we’ll look at that. And, everybody feels for people, particularly in the tourism, aviation sectors, but other sectors as well.

And it is made harder, as we just saw in that interview where snap decisions are made to close borders, bookings are cancelled restaurants have ordered food, they’ve employed staff, they’ve got bookings, but they need to close that night, with no warning at all. So we just need to get that balance right. And as was pointed out there, there needs to be consistency by the Premiers around what the definition of the hotspot is so that there is an ability to plan, particularly for businesses because otherwise people are out of jobs.

Dutton said the there was “some politics” in Palaszczuk’s request.

Clearly also some politics in his response. He said:

We are getting lots of stories now from businesses who can’t find staff, because they’re at home on jobkeeper. So we’ve got the balance right so far as the Federal Government will continue to do that, to listen to the concerns, but to get the balance right. And that’s exactly what we’re seeking to do in this budget that’s coming up in May.

Updated

Domino’s, described by the Courier Mail as “the Brisbane-based pizza giant”, will pay back the $792,000 it received in jobkeeper payments, saying the need for the payment has “passed”.

Domino’s was named last year as among a number of companies (including Southern Cross Austereo, K&S Corporation, Adairs, ARB, Ingenia, and Korvest) which had received jobkeeper payments while averaging a 70% increase in profits.

In a note to the Australian Stock Exchange on Friday, Domino’s Group chief executive Don Meij said:

We appreciate the availability and support of JobKeeper during a period of significant uncertainty. That period has passed, the assistance package has served its purpose, and we return it to Australian taxpayers with our thanks.

Updated

Emirates suspends inbound and outbound flights to the UK, potentially affecting Australian travellers

The Australian high commission in the UK says that Emirates has suspended outbound flights from the UK, in response to the UK introducing a ban on direct passenger flights from the UAE.

The suspension begins at 1pm 29 January, UK time, and continues indefinitely.

Emirates said its last flights from the UK on 29 January are:

  • EK 08 to Dubai from London Heathrow
  • EK 02 to Dubai from London Heathrow
  • EK 40 to Dubai from Birmingham
  • EK 28 to Dubai from Glasgow

This is expected to affect Australians attempting to return home from the UK.

Peter Dutton has attempted to calm concerns about Australia’s vaccine rollout, in response to the German regulator warning against giving the AstraZeneca vaccine – which most Australians will get – to people over the age of 65.

Both the makers of the vaccine and the British government, which has already started administering it, say those concerns are unfounded.

Dutton told Nine on Friday:

People need to look at advice coming out of the TGA. The medical advice, the scientific advice in this country, is what we should heed.

We have the best scientists in the world. They have not rushed this process, they’ve looked at the efficacy of the vaccines, and we will make decisions to roll it out on that basis.

Morrison should take 'greater responsibility for international quarantine': Palaszczuk

Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has taken to Twitter to call on the federal government to “take greater responsibility for international quarantine”, saying federal funding is necessary to ensure more infectious strains of the virus do not escape in to the community.

It comes after a scare from the Queensland quarantine system, when a cleaner contracted the UK-strain of the virus and prompted a four-day lockdown.

Palaszczuk said:

Just as we weren’t willing to take chances when we declared a public health emergency 12 months ago, we are not willing to take chances when it comes to keeping new and more infectious strains out of Queensland.

That’s why I am publicly calling on the prime minister to take greater responsibility for international quarantine.

As we contend with the new unknowns of Covid-19, a proper national quarantine plan would mean proper Commonwealth funding as well as adequate defence force and border force resourcing.

She said the state-run hotel quarantine program was “first class” but “now is the time for the Commonwealth to step up to the plate”.

She has suggested quarantine be consolidated into centralised hubs to reduce the risk of transmission of the new variants.

With potentially another unpredictable year ahead of us, now is the time for the prime minister to step up to his responsibilities and put in place a well-funded, adequately resourced nationally-consistent international quarantine plan.

Updated

The last car ever manufactured in Australia, a red Holden commodore which rolled off the line in 2017 while a crowd of Holden faithful watched beyond the factory gates, is up for auction.

Lloyds Auctions chief operations officer Lee Hames told Radio National the bidding has already reached five times the sticker price.

On face value it’s an ordinary 2017 VS series 2 that was produced in 217 in October. It is a red hot red and it retailed on the showroom floor depending on options for $50,000. What makes this vehicle special is it is the very last body that was every manufactured in Australia, the very last vin number, and the very last car painted... it is the very last car produced in Australia.

It has not been driven and still has all the pre-purchase stickers on it.

Bidding was at $118,000 yesterday, and is now at $250,000. The auction ends at 2pm tomorrow.

Sticking with this issue for now, Labor’s Penny Wong was also on the ABC this morning and was asked to comment on Joel Fitzgibbon’s argument yesterday that Labor needs to ditch interim emissions reductions targets in order to connect with its “blue collar roots”.

Wong said:

Joel is a backbencher, just like Barnaby Joyce and just like Barnaby Joyce he engages in a bit of commentary. That’s up to him. But I’m not going to respond to all of his commentary.

Labor Senator Penny Wong.
Labor Senator Penny Wong. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

That’s a direct hit.

Wong continued:

The facts are Labor’s got a very clear position on climate. It’s a position that aligns with that of the newly elected President Biden, of net zero emissions by 2050.

Host Michael Rowland asked whether yesterday’s reshuffle was an attempt to win back votes in areas less enamoured of action on climate change, perhaps at the cost of inner-city seats. Wong said:

There has been no shift in our climate policy. What you have is a person going into the climate portfolio who is committed to action, who recognises the economic challenge that is climate and recognises this is – this is obviously Chris Bowen – who recognises that the future security of the Australian economy, future security of work does demand that we responsibly respond to climate.

Now, you know, people can throw forward all they like, but the facts are our policy is the same as it was last week, and, as Anthony Albanese said, there is zero possibility of a party he leads not having a very clear and ambitious plan on climate.

Updated

Zali Steggall has been speaking this morning ahead of parliamentary hearings into a private members’ bill she has put forward, which includes a net zero emissions target by 2050.

The bill has widespread support from industry groups, the Business Council of Australia, and the Australian Medical Association. It does not, unsurprisingly, have the support of the federal government.

Steggall told ABC News breakfast:

The government – especially the minister – is with respect at the moment playing politics with our future. They are not interested in listening to the business community, industry, science, our medical professionals, on what needs to be done with urgency. They are instead focusing on political gains and delaying what needs to be done.

Energy minister Angus Taylor has previously argued that a net zero by 2050 target would lead to increased power prices, a claim Steggall says is “a complete lie”.

We have more jobs in renewable and future-proof industries than in the industries that are transitioning. We know a jobs disruption is coming. Proper government means we prepare communities. We don’t put our head in the sand and hope it will go away.

Seventy per cent of our two-way trade with countries is now under net zero by2050 goals. Australia is being left behind. We need the government to step up and do this. As to prices, it’s simply incorrect. The lowest prices are from renewables. It’s not from delaying our transition.

Asked if Joe Biden becoming president made it inevitable that the Morrison government would eventually sign up to a net zero by 2050 target, Steggall said:

I think the world will eventually sign up to a target of net zero by 2050 and the Morrison government needs to do that and will do that. The question is how long are they going to drag it out, and how much will the delay cost us? On our current trajectory of where we’re going, we’re on target for $100bn per year of climate impact costs. That’s an incredibly steep price to pay for inaction.

There’s so much upside for us to take action, we’re the continent with the most resources that can absolutely be at the front of this boom. We can be a renewable energy superpower, we just need the government to look to where the economic opportunities are.

Steggall was then asked about the Labor reshuffle, and said she “strongly disputes” that climate change is an issue of either the political left or the political right.

I had constructive discussions with the previous Labor shadow minister, and Mark Butler, and now I look forward to having discussions with Chris Bowen.

Western Australia expands its mandatory contact tracing register

Western Australia is expanding its mandatory contact tracing registers, about two months after first introducing the QR code system for higher risk venues.

From 12 February, retail venues, commercial buses (including tour buses and party buses – side note I can’t believe WA currently has party buses), visitors at public and private hospitals, takeaway food and beverage services, and events of more than 500 people with a Covid-safe plan will have to use the WA government’s official SafeWA QR code system.

Businesses which currently use their own QR code to create a guest register will also have to display a SafeWA QR code.

In a statement, WA premier Mark McGowan said the scheme was being expanded in response to concerns about more virulent strains of the coronavirus. WA has not had a Covid-19 case in the community for 293 days.

McGowan said:

While WA remains free of community transmission, we continue to learn from what’s occurring over east and overseas. With variant strains becoming more prevalent, we need to bolster our processes in case contact tracing is required by our WA health and response teams.

The mandatory QR code was already mandatory at a number of venues from 5 December. They include restaurants, pubs, and cafes, gyms and sporting clubs, indoor play centres, galleries and museums, swimming pools, places of worship and funeral parlours, beauty and hairdressing services, cinemas, auction houses and open homes, zoos, libraries, function centres, boarding schools, zoos, and strip clubs and brothels.

Failing to comply with the mandatory contact register requirements could bring a fine of $50,000 for an individual and $250,000 for a corporation, or 12 months’ jail.

Updated

The makers of the Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine and UK government agencies have defended the vaccine’s efficacy after German authorities recommended it should not be used on people aged 65 or above, citing a lack of data.

A committee at Germany’s disease control agency, the Robert Koch Institute, said there was insufficient data to judge how effective the vaccine was for people over 65, and as a result it could only recommend using the vaccine on people aged 18 to 64. In all other respects the AstraZeneca vaccine was as “equally suitable” as those manufactured by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, it said.

Health worker administers the AstraZeneca/Oxford University Covid vaccine in Middlesbrough, England.
Health worker administers the AstraZeneca/Oxford University Covid vaccine in Middlesbrough, England. Photograph: Ian Forsyth/Getty Images

The recommendation came on the eve of a ruling by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) on the vaccine made by AstraZeneca.

The British-Swedish pharmaceutical company, which has consistently said its vaccine is safe for use on older adults, said on Thursday: “Reports that the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine efficacy is low in adults over 65 years are not an accurate reflection of the totality of the data. The latest analyses support efficacy in this age group, which we expect to be published by the EMA in the coming days.”

Dr June Raine, the chief executive of the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), said: “Current evidence does not suggest any lack of protection against Covid-19 in people aged 65 or over. The data we have shows that the vaccine produces a strong immune response in the over-65s.”

Boris Johnson, the UK prime minister, echoed the MHRA. “This is a local German decision and the EMA will, as I understand it, be approving it for general use,” he said. “I think that’s very sensible of the EMA, because that is the vaccine our own MHRA has said produces an immune response in all age groups, as a good vaccine, so I’m confident about it.”

Read more:

Updated

Victoria records no new locally-acquired Covid-19 cases, one in hotel quarantine

Victoria has reported no new locally acquired cases of Covid-19 for the 23rd day in a row.

There was one new case in hotel quarantine, and 15,546 tests conducted yesterday.

If you have used Google from Australia today, you may have noticed a new badge.

Google is campaigning against the proposed mandatory media code. It has, as the badge states, offered to pay for news, but in limited circumstances including in its premium news services, not for results in search.

Google representatives appeared before a parliamentary inquiry on Friday, and said “if this version of the code were to become law, it would give us no real choice but to stop making Google Search available in Australia”.

An experiment by Google to “measure the impacts of news businesses and Google Search on each other” is hiding news stories from search results.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said it was “inevitable” that Google and Facebook would pay for news content in Australia.

Bowen was asked for Labor’s position on a new proposed gas fired power station in the Hunter region in NSW.

He did not really answer.

Labor’s new climate change and energy spokesman, Chris Bowen, also dropped in to Radio National.

He said he viewed climate change as “the greatest economic challenge facing Australia, and indeed the world,” and added that managing economic transitions was “what Labor does”.

Labor’s climate change and energy spokesman Chris Bowen.
Labor’s climate change and energy spokesman Chris Bowen. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

He dismissed suggestions former climate change spokesman Mark Butler had been shunted from the portfolio out of pressure from the right, saying Butler had told leader Anthony Albanese that after eight years in the portfolio he was ready for a change. Butler has taken Bowen’s old portfolio of health.

Bowen was also asked about Joel Fitzgibbon’s argument that Labor should drop its emissions reductions targets in order to appeal to its base, saying he disagrees with Fitzgibbon.

Updated

Ley was then asked about why the Morrison government had resiled from announcing further emissions reductions targets. A 2035 target has been promised, but won’t be announced until after the next federal election.

Why is there this resistance to set the targets necessary to track Australia’s progress, Swan asked?

Ley:

There’s no resistance to the garget in the Paris Agreement. There is no resistance to our ambition to reach net zero by a clearly articulated pathway.

Asked about a push to allow discussion of a net zero by 2050 target in parliament, which has been pushed by independent MP Zali Steggall, Ley said the government does not want targets “in name only”.

Updated

Federal environment minister says EPBC act 'failing to ecologically support development'

Federal environment minister Sussan Ley has been speaking about the report on Radio National. She says:

It’s time that we focus, as Graeme Samuel says, on outcomes not processes. It’s a very process driven piece of legislation....If you’re on the environment side or the business side you agree it has failings

She then said the EPBC act was “also failing to ecologically support development, which is what the act is for.”

Minister for the environment Sussan Ley.
Minister for the environment Sussan Ley. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

The independent regulator needs to be strong, needs to be, as you say, independent, needs to be a cop on the beat, exactly how and where it lives within government is an active discussion.

The reforms to environment laws being put forward by the Morrison government include the single touch approval model, which will grant states the ability to approve major projects that would ordinarily need a second layer of federal environmental approval. Ley said the single-touch process was not handing over power to states but “accrediting them to our strong national standards”.

Standards, Radio National host Norman Swan pointed out, that have not yet been drawn up.

Ley said she “totally accepts” that people need to see those standards and said they are being brought forward, but did not say when they would be produced.

Updated

A once-in-a-decade review into Australia’s environmental laws has described two decades of failures by successive governments to improve protection systems meant to ensure the survival of Australian wildlife.

The review by former competition watchdog head Graeme Samuel, made 38 recommendations to transform the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act.

Environment reporter Lisa Cox writes:

They include short-term reforms, including the immediate introduction of legally-binding national environmental standards to boost protection, and longer-term changes needed to address the “trajectory of environmental decline”.

In a major shift, Samuel also called on the government to abolish the effective exemption from environment laws granted to all native forest logging covered by regional forestry agreements between the federal and state governments.

Samuel said the government would be accepting “the continued decline of our iconic places and the extinction of our most threatened plants, animals and ecosystems” if it shied away from the fundamental reforms recommended by the review.

“This is unacceptable,” he said. “A firm commitment to change from all stakeholders is needed to enable future generations to enjoy and benefit from Australia’s unique environment and heritage.”

Read more here:

Good morning,

Tennis players including Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have been released from hotel quarantine in Adelaide. Another group were released from quarantine in Melbourne last night. The Adelaide players, including Australian number one Ash Barty, will take part in an exhibition match at Memorial Drive today.

Men’s world number one tennis player Novak Djokovic on his hotel balcony in Adelaide.
Men’s world number one tennis player Novak Djokovic on his hotel balcony in Adelaide. Photograph: Brenton Edwards/AFP/Getty Images

Residents in New South Wales have woken up to eased coronavirus restrictions. In-home gatherings can now have up to 30 guests, weddings and funerals have grown to 300 guests, and other events are uncapped so long as they comply with the one person per four square metre density rules.

Face masks remain mandatory on public transport, in places of worship, and for hospitality workers. It is not mandatory to wear face masks in retail settings, but the shop employees union has urged people to wear masks when shopping anyway to protect retail workers.

Eleven NSW hospitals – the Royal Prince Alfred, Westmead, Liverpool, Hornsby, St George, Nepean, Newcastle, Wollongong, Coffs Harbour, Dubbo and Wagga Wagga hospital – have been named as the first vaccine hubs in that state, which will be responsible for rolling out the Pfizer vaccine from late last month.

The Victorian government is expected to lift its last remaining travel ban against NSW today. The Cumberland local government area in western Sydney is still classified as a red zone, meaning no one who has been in that area in the past 14 days can travel to Victoria. But with 11 days since the last case of community transmission in Sydney, Victorian premier Daniel Andrews indicated yesterday he expected that the area would be downgraded to an orange zone.

And the national crime watchdog has been asked to investigate suspicious betting on the Australia Day awards.

Let’s crack on. You can reach me on twitter @callapilla and email me at calla.wahlquist@theguardian.com

Updated

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