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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Elias Visontay and Josh Taylor

Victoria's hotel quarantine program revealed to cost $195m – as it happened

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What we learned, Friday 6 November

That’s it for tonight, thanks for reading. To recap today’s developments:

  • The high court has rejected Clive Palmer’s challenge against Western Australia’s border ban. A majority of justices on Friday held that the state’s quarantine directions and the emergency management law authorising them did not breach the constitution. The decision was welcomed by the WA premier, Mark McGowan.
  • The Victorian hotel quarantine inquiry released its interim report, which recommended significant changes to the program, including clear oversight by the minister, 24/7 police presence and the potential for returned travellers to quarantine at home. The inquiry also found the quarantine program has now cost the Victorian state $195m.
  • The chief of the defence force, Angus Campbell, has received the inquiry report into alleged war crimes by Australian special forces in Afghanistan. Guardian Australia understands he will consider the contents of the report over the coming weeks before a decision is made about how much of the detail can be released publicly about the inquiry into the conduct of elite Australian forces in more than 55 incidents of alleged unlawful killings between 2005 and 2016.
  • The opposition leader, Anthony Albanese, is calling on Scott Morrison to use his “close relationship” with Donald Trump to urge the US president “to respect the democratic process”. Albanese is also asking the prime minister to pull into line several Coalition politicians who he alleges are spreading “disinformation” in the aftermath of the US election.
  • On Friday, Victoria recorded its seventh consecutive day of no Covid-19 cases or deaths, as the premier, Daniel Andrews, revealed Melbourne airport will begin accepting direct international flights from New Zealand from 9 November.
  • New South Wales reported four locally acquired cases of Covid-19. One is under investigation, and the other three are close contacts of that case. Moss Vale public school, and Southern Highlands early childhood centre have been closed for cleaning and contact tracing is under way. The announcement of new cases followed reports the NSW government is considering giving households $100 meal vouchers in an attempt to boost the hospitality sector.

Updated

Defence force chief reviewing Afghanistan war crimes report

The chief of the defence force, Angus Campbell, has released a statement about the inquiry into alleged war crimes by Australian special forces in Afghanistan.

Campbell said he received the Afghanistan inquiry report today, which examined the conduct of elite Australian forces in more than 55 incidents of alleged unlawful killings between 2005 and 2016.

Guardian Australia understands he will consider the contents of the report over the coming weeks before a decision is made about how much of the detail can be released publicly.

Campbell said:

Today I have received the Afghanistan Inquiry report from the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force (IGADF).

The independent inquiry was commissioned by Defence in 2016 after rumours and allegations emerged relating to possible breaches of the Law of Armed Conflict by members of the Special Operations Task Group in Afghanistan over the period 2005 to 2016.

I intend to speak about the key findings once I have read and reflected on the report.

Welfare and other support services are available to those affected by the Afghanistan Inquiry.

Last week, Afghan and Australian human rights groups urged the government to release in full the details of the inquiry into the “bone-chilling” allegations of special forces war crimes in Afghanistan.

Updated

A spokesman for the federal environment minister, Sussan Ley, has confirmed she has delayed a decision to approve a $700m extension of a NSW coalmine so a legal challenge from young climate campaigners can be heard in federal court next year.

Whitehaven Coal wants to extend its Vickery mine to dig up about 7m more tonnes of coal a year for 25 years, with about 60% to be used for making steel and the rest for burning in coal plants.

A federal court hearing was adjourned this morning for a full five-day hearing in March 2021, when lawyers for eight young people will argue the minister has a duty of care under common law to protect them from climate change impacts from burning the coal.

Ley’s spokesman just sent this statement:

Given that the hearing for the matter is listed for early next year, the court suggested that the minister provide an undertaking not to make a final decision in relation to the project until the matter is heard and the minister provided this short-term undertaking to allow the legal issues to be considered.

The government has highlighted the importance of certainty around our environmental framework which benefits all parties and ensures that decisions can be made efficiently and in the interests of both the environment and the economy.

The Guardian also approached Whitehaven Coal for a comment earlier today.

Updated

Western Australia has reported one new case of coronavirus, in a returned traveller in hotel quarantine.

According to WA Health, the case is a man in his 30s.

There are currently 16 active cases of Covid-19 in Western Australia.

Labor calls for Morrison to act on Trump

Opposition leader Anthony Albanese is calling on Scott Morrison to use his “close relationship” with Donald Trump to urge the US president “to respect the democratic process”.

Albanese is also calling on Morrison to pull into line several Coalition politicians who he alleges are spreading “disinformation” in the aftermath of the US election.

On Friday morning (Australian time), Trump said he “easily” wins the election if only “legal” votes are counted, also repeating his unsubstantiated claim of voter fraud.

In a joint statement with opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong, the pair said:

Australia’s alliance with the United States – forged by John Curtin in the darkest days of World War Two – is based on shared interests and values, including democracy.

Our leaders should always speak out on the democratic values we hold dear.

Australia should consistently advocate for free and fair elections where every vote is counted. Scott Morrison must do that now.

Mr Morrison has a close relationship with President Trump, and he must have the courage to urge President Trump to respect the democratic process.

Mr Morrison must also put an end to the spreading of disinformation by Coalition MPs – such as Matt Canavan and George Christensen. He has to pull them into line.

It is undeniably in Australia’s interest in a contested world that the United States remains a stable and credible democracy.”

South Australia has reported one new case of coronavirus, in a returned traveller in hotel quarantine.

According to SA Health, today’s case is a child who tested positive days into their stay in hotel quarantine, where they have been with their family.

There are now 17 active cases of Covid-19 in South Australia.

Updated

That is where I am finishing up for today, and now I will pass you over to my colleague Elias Visontay for the rest of the day.

I hope you all have a good weekend.

Here are Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s comments on the high court decision rejecting Clive Palmer’s challenge of Western Australia’s border closure, via AAP:

That high court case has clearly showed that the declarations that were made around the border were valid, they were constitutional.

She is expected to make further announcements on border rules at the end of the month, saying Victorians could be allowed in before Christmas.

Updated

Here’s my full report on the hotel quarantine inquiry’s interim report.

The important thing to note is that the focus of this report is on what needs to change for the program to restart, to allow Victoria to soon begin accepting returned travellers again. That’s why this came first. The “what went wrong” part will come on 21 December, when the final report is provided to government.

More time was needed on that after more evidence was sought from the inquiry in the form of call records and statements surrounding the decision to use private security for the program instead of police or Australian Defence Force personnel.

The Stamford Plaza hotel in Melbourne
Melbourne’s Stamford Plaza hotel, which featured in the inquiry. Photograph: James Ross/AAP

Updated

The Senate inquiry into the jobmaker hiring credit has reported back. Despite union concerns about the lack of safeguards in the bill, it seems Labor is content to pass it.

The Labor senators’ report is full of criticism for the way the government has designed the scheme, but they did not issue a “dissenting” report, and nor did they indicate the opposition will make amendments.

The criticisms included:

  • The hiring credit “leaves behind many businesses and their employees who used jobkeeper [wage subsidies] behind”
  • The bill allows the treasurer to create the scheme, but will mean that parliament needs to disallow changes he makes to it
  • The design incentivises casual and insecure work
  • The program lacks dispute resolution processes

But how should these be fixed? Well, “the government should include safeguards ... in the enabling legislation”.

By contrast, the Greens have indicated they will introduce amendments including to prevent employers sacking existing staff to claim the subsidy.

Updated

In other election news, the results of the Victorian local council elections have been slowly flowing in.

It was an entirely mail-in voting process, and they’ve been counting the votes for a couple of weeks.

In the City of Yarra in Melbourne’s inner north, the Greens will have a majority, picking up five of the nine council spots.

The party has also said it has picked up 34 spots in councils across Victoria including: Ballarat, Banyule (2), Colac-Otway, Darebin (3), Glen Eira, Golden Plains, Greater Dandenong, Geelong, Shepparton, Hobsons Bay, Manningham, Maribyrnong (2), Melbourne (2), Monash (2), Moreland (4), Port Phillip (2), Stonnington (2), Surf Coast and Yarra (5).

There are more results to come, but you can find what is available here.

Here’s my colleague Paul Karp’s full report on the high court rejection of the challenge to Victoria’s lockdown:

The chief justice, Susan Kiefel, told the solicitor general for Victoria, Kristen Walker, there was no need for oral submissions in support of the state’s case, which rejected the existence of the implied freedom of movement.

Kiefel said the justices had unanimously upheld Victoria’s demurrer, an objection that even if the court accepts the facts as stated by the plaintiffs, the legal arguments made on the basis of those facts do not hold.

Updated

Simon Birmingham is distancing the federal government from the high court challenge to Western Australia’s border closure put forward by Clive Palmer, which Palmer lost today.

Birmingham said the federal government ultimately did not participate in the case at the request of the WA government.

Federal Labor and WA premier Mark McGowan don’t see it that way. McGowan says the Liberals “have explaining to do”.

Federal Labor has demanded to know how much the federal government spent on the case before withdrawing support.

Updated

Birmingham indicates he still hasn’t spoken to his counterpart in China:

It is disappointing that China refuses to engage at a ministerial level. From an Australian perspective, our door remains open to work with and talk to our Chinese counterparts.

We want to engage in a manner that is respectful of one another, that advances our areas of mutual interests but also acknowledges the fact that, yes, we have points of difference, we have had for decades, we will have into the future, but it doesn’t mean that we can’t manage to advance the areas of mutual and beneficial interest to one another.

And now, in terms of contact from Chinese ministers or with Chinese ministers and Australian ministers, the ball is very much in China’s court. The Australian government stands willing to have that type of mature, responsible dialogue and we would welcome that being reciprocated by our counterparts.

Updated

Trade minister Simon Birmingham is holding a press conference about the ongoing trade issues with China.

Birmingham says Australia welcomes “the fact that Chinese authorities have denied some of the rumours of instructions being given to businesses to ban Australia’s imports into Australia”.

He says given those denials, he hopes China quickly moves to resolve the regulatory issues.

Clearly it’s unacceptable for precious, fragile cargo like live seafood to sit on a port for days on end waiting for clearance. We need swift action to address uncertainty for sectors like that.

As I said before, Australia’s wine industry is one which is world-class, not only in the quality of wine produced but also in its economic practices. It is not subsidised, doesn’t engage in dumping. It operates in a highly commercial environment. That’s why it is treasured not just in Australia but around the world.

Lobster at Sydney fish market
Lobster at Sydney Fish Market. Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAP

Updated

Today so far

Hello, Josh Taylor back with you for the next hour and a bit.

Now is a good time to look at what we have learned today so far:

Updated

Environment minister Sussan Ley will not make a final decision on the $700m expansion of a coalmine in New South Wales until a Federal court challenge from a group of young climate campaigners has been heard in March 2021, according to the children’s lawyers.

A federal court hearing this morning heard the minister will delay her decision on Whitehaven Coal’s Vickery mine extension that would dig up about 7m tonnes of coal a year.

Lawyers for the eight young people will argue the minister has a duty of care to protect the children from harm that would be caused from the climate change impacts of burning the coal from the Vickery Extension project, which gained approval from the NSW Independent Planning Commission in August.

Whitehaven has said about 60% of the coal from the extension will be used for making steel, with the rest for burning in power stations. The company has not made a final decision to go ahead with the project.

This morning lawyers for the young people, who have all been part of the School Strike For Climate protests, were ready to press for an injunction to prevent the minister from making a decision until after the hearing.

But David Barnden, principal lawyer at Equity Generation, which is leading the case, told the Guardian that legal representatives for the minister told the hearing the minister would delay her decision until after the March hearing.

Barnden said:

The hearing was adjourned, and that means our clients get the chance to present their case in full at a hearing commencing on 2 March next year.

The case is unusual in that it will try to establish the minister has a duty of care under common law to protect young people from the climate change impacts caused by the burning of coal and the release of greenhouse gas emissions.

Barnden added:

It’s a great outcome, and having the chance to present their case to court over five days and to talk about the foreseeable and devastating harms of climate change is a win.

Anjali Sharma, who is one of the children being represented in the case, said:

I’m super pleased. This is a chance for us to present all our arguments to the court and it shows the justice is interested in the complex legal arguments.

The Guardian has contacted the office of the environment minister and Whitehaven Coal for comment.

Pile of coal
Whitehaven Coal’s Vickery mine extension would dig up about 7m tonnes of coal a year. Photograph: Kelly Barnes/AAP

Updated

Victoria’s opposition leader Michael O’Brien seems to think the interim report into hotel quarantine is a little too interim.

Updated

Another protest that had been planned to go ahead in Melbourne this afternoon has apparently been cancelled, according to the office of an MP who was fined for attending a rally on Tuesday.

David Limbrick had earlier urged police and the state government to allow the protest for climate justice, which was scheduled for 5 pm at the Edinburgh Gardens in Fitzroy.

Limbrick and an electorate officer were fined, along with almost 400 others, for attending an anti-lockdown rally on Melbourne Cup day.

Updated

Crown Resort’s failure to properly investigate long-standing allegations that the junket operators who brought high-rolling gamblers to its casinos is another reason why the group isn’t fit to hold a licence in Sydney, an inquiry has heard.

Counsel assisting an inquiry into Crown held by the NSW casino regulator has been spending this week making recommendations to commissioner Patricia Bergin, and this morning it has been the turn of Naomi Sharp SC.

Her submissions focus on Crown’s dealings with junket operators, some of whom the inquiry has heard had alleged links with organised crime.

Sharp condemned Crown for failing to properly investigate allegations of serious criminality against the operators of junkets at its casinos that have been repeatedly made over the years.

We say that the failure of Crown Resorts to meaningfully act on these longstanding allegations about the junket operators bespeaks both a culture of denial and a culture of arrogant indifference to regulatory compliance.

We say this culture permeated the organisation.

Sharp also took aim at Crown’s biggest shareholder, James Packer, who the inquiry has heard closely monitored the VIP business.

Mr Packer set a dubious tone from the top in relation to junkets.

Sharp said he “drove a culture that put the pursuit of profits above all else”.

Another of the counsel assisting the inquiry, Adam Bell, has already said Packer shouldn’t be approved as an associate of the casino operator, due to threats he made to another businessman that the billionaire admitted were “disgraceful” and “shameful”.

Crown itself is also not fit to hold a licence, the inquiry has heard.

Crown's logo
James Packer ‘drove a culture that put the pursuit of profits above all else’ at Crown, counsel assisting Naomi Sharp SC told the inquiry. Photograph: Jason Reed/Reuters

Updated

Victoria's hotel quarantine program cost $195m

One interesting tidbit of information from the hotel quarantine inquiry interim report is updated information on the cost of the program. It has now cost the state $195m.

We previously thought it was around $130m, but the inquiry found that was how much the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions had spent.

The Department of Health and Human Services had spent $51.288m up to the middle of September, while the Department of Justice and Community Safety had spent $10.9m as of the end of September.

Inquiry chair Jennifer Coate said in the report:

On any measure, the cost of the hotel quarantine program until the end of September 2020 has been considerable. The amount incurred by DJPR alone demonstrates the considerable cost involved in securing hotel rooms, engaging security guards and acquiring specialised cleaning services

Coate has argued the cost alone somewhat justifies moving to a mixed model for hotel quarantine versus home quarantine.

Updated

High court throws out challenge to Victoria's lockdown

The high court has thrown out the challenge against Victoria’s lockdown.

The court heard submissions from the plaintiff’s counsel Bret Walker all morning asking the court to imply a new freedom of movement into the commonwealth constitution.

Victoria had lodged what is called a “demurrer” – an objection that even if the court accepts the truth of the other party’s statement of the facts of the case, the legal arguments made on the basis of those facts do not hold.

After Walker concluded his submissions, the court briefly adjourned and chief justice Susan Kiefel returned to say Victoria need not make any oral submissions

“The court is unanimously of the view demurrer be allowed,” she said.

Updated

Stuart Ayres, the NSW minister for Western Sydney, says those who are delaying the Warragamba Dam project are committing environmental terrorism.

The government wants to raise the dam wall by 14 metres, but the move would impact on a world heritage listed area.

Ayres, speaking on radio station 2GB on Friday, said it was time to get on with the project.

There is no flood mitigation capability at Warragamba Dam. We’re not giving up any more time; we’re not bowing to what is, for all intents and purposes, environmental terrorism.

The full interview is here.

Updated

Victorian hotel quarantine inquiry delivers interim report

The interim report of the Victorian hotel quarantine inquiry has recommended considerable structural changes for the operation of quarantining returned travellers in Victoria, including defined roles, a clear responsible minister and regular reporting.

Among the 69 recommendations, the inquiry, chaired by former judge Jennifer Coate, has recommended to the Victorian government:

* That the program have a clear line of command vesting ultimate responsibility in the approved department and minister.
* The responsible minister ensures that the departmental structure for the operation of the program has clearly defined roles that have the necessary expertise and advice embedded at appropriate levels of seniority in the operational structure, forming a governance body.
* The responsible minister ensures that the body provides regular, timely
and accurate reports to the minister as to the operation of the program, across all sites.
* Hotels continue to be used, but must be near hospitals, and be modified where necessary to ensure people can be physically separated and risk of transmission kept to a minimum, and to allow for fresh air breaks.
* Police on-site 24/7, infection prevention and control expertise on-site, and all staff working in hotel quarantine to be “salaried employees with terms and conditions that address the possible need to self-isolate in the event of an infection or possible infection, or close contact exposure, together with all necessary supports, including the need to relocate if necessary and have a managed return to work”.
* The numbers of returned travellers to be controlled, with Victoria to get information from the commonwealth on expected numbers of returned travellers, to assess whether they would go into hotel quarantine or quarantine at home.

Updated

I’m going to hand over to my colleague Nino Bucci for a bit while I write up the Victorian hotel quarantine inquiry interim report. You can find the report here.

Australia’s defence minister, Linda Reynolds, says the outcome of the US election will “make very little difference to the strength and growth in our defence-to-defence relationships”.

Speaking about the election during an Australian Strategic Policy Institute webinar last night, Reynolds said:

I think like most of the world I’ve been glued to my TV for the last couple of days – and what I see is a very robust and healthy democracy in action. And the relationship between the United States, it is deep, it is enduring, and our alliance will remain strong and enduring no matter who wins the presidential election.

Reynolds and the foreign affairs minister, Marise Payne, travelled to Washington for the Ausmin talks with their American counterparts in late July.

The defence minister said that during that visit to the US, the pair had detected “very strong bipartisan support for additional engagement in our region, but there was really strong support for our alliance”. She said Australia’s recent defence strategic update – which flagged increased defence spending by Australia and backed continued US engagement in the Indo-Pacific – had also resonated well in Washington.

Reynolds was speaking during a webinar alongside Germany’s defence minister, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, who has foreshadowed increased defence cooperation between Australia and Germany in the Indo-Pacific.

Kramp-Karrenbauer said the US election was “full of suspense” and she thought we would need to wait “for quite some time until we have a result that will be accepted by all sides”.

But she was frank about the challenges Germany had faced in dealing with the Trump administration: “The policies we have seen in recent years – and I can be frank about that – have sometimes put a strain on our friendship. It has been quite a challenge sometimes.”

Updated

McGowan says he is “very concerned” for the whole of the country over reports of import bans on Australian goods in China.

“The last few years have been difficult ... and that’s having severe consequences it appears.”

He says crayfisherman, small businesses, wine makers, and regional tourism will suffer, and calls on the federal government to engage with China:

“I know in some quarters it might be popular to attack China because they do have a different system of government ... but you’ve always got to think what the consequence might be and the consequence for hundreds of thousands of Australians could be the loss of their job. That’s why I am very keen to continue the relationship ... very important we continue to have that good relationship.

We need to engage, we need to continue to work constructively.

He says there is no inconsistency with having a good relationship with both the US and China.

Updated

“Can I thank all of the states bar New South Wales for their support,” McGowan says.

He says the NSW position is “very convoluted” given there is a border closure between NSW and Victoria (which is opening on 23 November).

He says it’s been “remarkable” that Victoria has gone seven days without a Covid-19 case. He pays tribute to premier Daniel Andrews for defeating the second wave: “He and the Victorian government have done a great thing.”

McGowan said the legal costs will be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

He says Clive Palmer has eight court actions against the WA government at the moment.

“He keeps trying to take our health, and take our wealth, and we will keep fighting him at every single turn,” McGowan says.

He says WA is moving to a controlled border, and people from NSW and Victoria will need to continue to go into quarantine and get tested in order to get into WA.

McGowan says he was “very disappointed” the state and federal Liberal parties backed Palmer in his challenge.

“That is very, very disappointing, and they have some explaining to do.”

He says the border rules will remain in place for the foreseeable future.

WA premier Mark McGowan says the High Court rejection of Clive Palmer’s challenge of the border closure is a “big win for all the people of Australia.”

“The borders have been essential, to protect the health and welfare of the people of Western Australia, and indeed protect the health and welfare of the people of Australia.”

He says WA was always confident of its position, and worked over the past eight months to keep the border in place.

He says the legal advice at the time eight months ago said it was proportionate, legal and effective to close the border.

Here is my colleague Paul Karp’s full report on the High Court decision dismissing Clive Palmer’s appeal of the WA border closure. We are expecting to hear from WA premier Mark McGowan on this decision momentarily.

Tourism figures improve in Queensland, despite border closure, AAP reports.

Tourism Research Australia figures released on Friday show visitors to the regions rose 3.0 per cent in August.

The majority of those travellers are from within the state with Queensland’s borders closed due to Covid-19.

Tourism spending was still down 6.0 per cent in the regions and 49 per cent in Brisbane.

Overall tourism spending fell by $362 million or 24 per cent to $1.14 billion in August compared with August 2019.

However, that was proportionately the smallest drop in tourism spending in any state that month.

Spending fell by $942 million or 51 per cent in NSW and 1.2 billion or 96 per cent in Victoria in the same period.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, who has been under pressure from high-profile tourism operators such as Flight Centre to open the borders, lauded the figures.

“I asked Queenslanders to get out and explore their state. This data shows that they’ve answered the call,” she told AAP in a statement on Friday.

“Not only are we seeing more Queenslanders out and about, they’re spending more - pumping millions of dollars into local businesses and supporting local jobs.

“This is only possible because of our strong health response in Queensland.”

Updated

NSW reports four locally acquired cases of Covid-19

New South Wales has reported four locally acquired cases of Covid-19 overnight, and five in hotel quarantine.

One was locally acquired, with the source under investigation, and three are close contacts of this case.

One of the new cases attended Moss Vale Public School, and another of the new cases attended Southern Highlands Early Childhood Centre. Both sites are closed today for cleaning and contact tracing is underway. The school and childcare centre are working closely with NSW Health to identify close contacts.

Updated

Andrews won’t criticise the other states that have yet to announce opening up to all of Victoria (i.e. every other state). He says it is “only a matter of time” with everyone (bar WA) agreeing to open up before the end of the year.

Andrews says it is too early to speculate where Victoria will be for the rest of November with Covid-19, but there will be “big steps that will get us much closer to Covid normal” announced on Sunday.

“Seven days of zero is not a vaccine ... stay safe, stay open, and stay vigilant ... If we don’t, this thing will come back. Zero days are great, but that doesn’t mean there’s zero virus.”

He says the “after dark stuff” commentary around contact tracing criticism doesn’t stack up when the NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian, has confidence enough in how Victoria is going to open up the border on 23 November.

Updated

Andrews said once the government responds to the hotel quarantine inquiry report, the changes needed to hotel quarantine will be made before Victoria begins accepting returned travellers again.

He says he can’t put a timeline on that, but he says the aim to have everyone able to get home by Christmas is the timeline agreed to.

NZ residents able to travel to Melbourne direct from 9 November

Victorian premier Daniel Andrews announces that from 9 November, Melbourne international airport will accept incoming flights from New Zealand directly.

Prior to this, people coming to Victoria had to travel via Sydney, which Victoria was not too pleased about.

Andrews says the flights may not come in from the 9th, it will depend on the airlines and airports, but Victoria will accept those flights from that date.

Hotel quarantine inquiry report to be tabled at 12pm

Andrews says the hotel quarantine inquiry interim report will be tabled at noon.

He says he will be spending time over the weekend reading the report in detail, and responding to it after that.

Andrews is announcing Melbourne metro construction. There’s a hard hat and hi-vis. Very few questions on Covid-19. Nature is healing.

Andrews says Victoria is “all on track” and the numbers are impressive.

He says he will announce significant easing of restrictions on Sunday, including about the regional-metro “ring of steel”, the 25km travel limit, and capacity restrictions for venues.

He said they will also outline the next steps for the rest of November.

Victorian premier Daniel Andrews is holding a press conference.

There are now just 15 active cases in Victoria.

Just two people in hospital, none in ICU.

There were 18,671 tests yesterday.

Can’t stop thinking about the name “Bravus” after Naaman Zhou’s report yesterday.

A worker has locked himself to machinery in a environmental protest at a railway construction site of the Carmichael coalmine in central Queensland, AAP reports.

Barney Jackson used a steel elbow lock to attach himself to a concrete batching plant near Belyando on Friday morning.

The $2bm mine is being built by Indian-owned Bravus Mining and Resources, formerly known as Adani Australia.

The company is building its 10 million tonne-a-year capacity thermal coalmine in the Galilee Basin, which could be expanded to six times that size.

Bravus is also building a rail line that will be opened to other companies if it gets the tick of approval to mine the coal-rich region.

Jackson strung out a banner with the words “Water is Life” on it in protest against the company’s water extraction rights.

“If anything is sacred, it’s water. If there is no water we all die, humans included. Water is life says it all,” he said in a statement.

“Growing up in north Queensland where water is often very scarce, Adani having a licence to take unlimited amounts of water makes me very concerned.”

Updated

WA premier Mark McGowan is pleased with the ruling.

High Court rejects Clive Palmer's challenge of WA border closure

The High Court has ruled that the WA border closure decision was valid.

The Australian competition watchdog is keeping a close eye on lawsuits against digital platforms overseas, including the US Department of Justice’s recent case against Google and proposed new competition laws in Europe, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) chair Rod Sims has said.

“The ACCC is focusing on the media bargaining code, our ad tech inquiry and our study examining app stores, and we have noted the Epic Games proceedings against Apple and Google in the US in regards to the latter,” Sims said in a speech on Friday.

In regards to the size of the platforms, Sims said the ACCC would put forward ideas for changes to Australian merger laws in 2021.

“These are complex issues, but they matter enormously and, in different ways, they are being considered all over the world,” Sims said.

“The international focus is encouraged by the many acquisitions by the main digital platforms. While the platforms have grown through amazing and beneficial innovation, they are cementing their position through frequent acquisitions.”

“We have seen the same in Australia in a range of domestic sectors.”

Looks like there’s still no result in the US election, the update from Pennsylvania is just that they’re still counting the votes (good).

Australia’s services sector is seeing a marked improvement as domestic demand perks up after the doldrums of the coronavirus pandemic, AAP reports.

New figures show the services industry is expanding for the first time since November 2019 as government stimulus and improved confidence leads to an increase in sales, new orders and deliveries.

The Australian Industry Group performance of services index surged 15.2 points in October to 51.4 points.

Ai Group said the move above 50 points indicated a tentative recovery in national domestic demand was under way following Australia’s coronavirus-induced slump.

The Reserve Bank of Australia hopes cutting the cash rate to a record low 0.01 per cent, alongside other monetary policy tools including a massive $100 billion bond buying program, will help spur on the recovery.

The central bank will release its quarterly statement on monetary policy on Friday, which will further explain its decisions.

Updated

Unified security also had pointed comments for Sky News host Peta Credlin, although it didn’t specifically name her.

The firm denied suggestions recently put forward by Credlin that Unified had been given an early heads up about the set up of hotel quarantine on 27 March.

The first contact Unified Security received from anyone in State or Federal government regarding Hotel Quarantine in Victoria was an email from the Victorian Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions at 11:33pm on March 27, 2020.

This was nine hours after it was announced by the Prime Minister.

The firm also said it was not just “handed” a $30m contract, but instead was given work fortnightly.

“Media outlets have been provided with this information, but some have chosen to deliberately ignore it and instead report that we were simply handed a $30m contract.”

Updated

Security company at the centre of hotel quarantine denies responsibility.

Unified Security, which was the company given the bulk of the contracts for hotel quarantine in Victoria, including at the Rydges, which accounted for 90% of all infections in Victoria since late May, has issued this lengthy statement ahead of the report due out today.

The company says it was “certainly not” responsible for the outbreak, despite some of its guards testing positive for Covid-19, because the firm was “never in charge of infection control”.

“Security guards provide security services, they don’t run infection control programs,” the firm says in the statement.

“The clear evidence from the hotel quarantine inquiry is that the primary cause of the outbreak was the appalling lack of infection control protocols in the hotels and the confused and ineffective governance structure that meant no one knew who was in charge.”

The firm shoulders responsibility back on to the government, stating hotel quarantine was treated “as a logistics exercise, rather than a critical health response” and it would have been the same if ADF or police had been used instead.

“DHHS failed to adequately consider and assess the risks involved in the Program and to take responsibility for the Program as the control agency,” Unified said.

“The Inquiry heard the virus was most likely transmitted from a surface or through air droplets. Cleaning of surfaces or ventilation in a hotel was not the responsibility of a security company.”

Updated

Australian politicians are just waiting for the results of the US election like the rest of us.

Via AAP:

Home affairs minister Peter Dutton described the protracted contest as “an amazing spectacle”.

“Obviously some matters are heading to the court and votes are shifting around,” he told Nine on Friday.

“Whatever the outcome our friendship will be as strong as ever.

“Let’s hope it’s resolved sooner than later, but that’s a question for the US.”

Deputy opposition leader Richard Marles is content to wait for a result.

“Elections sometimes take time to get the result, this is playing out as was expected in the US,” he said.

“Our job at the moment is to just give them the space to land this, and I’m sure they will.”

Updated

Australia’s agriculture minister, David Littleproud, has said the government is seeking clarity from China over potential new trade curbs as Labor ramps up its calls for Scott Morrison to “stand up for Australian exporters”.

Littleproud played down the significance of the report in China’s state-controlled Global Times that appeared to confirm a halt to imports of seven Australian products.

In a radio interview with Brisbane’s 4BC this morning, Littleproud said Australian officials in Beijing would continue to seek clarity from their Chinese counterparts.

But he said the last official clarification Australia had was a rejection of any discrimination against Australian products.

Littleproud speculated that media reports in China “can also be skulduggery from their own industries trying to cause some uncertainty amongst importers”.

Asked whether it had become riskier for Australian businesses to export to China, he said: “I think it depends on the commodity.”

Labor issued a statement this morning saying it was “deeply concerned by reports that Chinese authorities are planning to halt imports of Australian wine, lobsters, sugar, coal, copper, barley and timber”.

The opposition frontbenchers Penny Wong, Joel Fitzgibbon and Madeleine King said in a joint statement:

Scott Morrison must stand up for Australian exporters. If any country, including China, unreasonably blocks our exports we must call them out. Mr Morrison must explain to the Australian people what these new restrictions mean for jobs, what he is going to do to help our exporters.

Labor said the relationship with China was increasingly complex but accused Morrison of failing to show leadership by not admonishing “inflammatory behaviour by his backbenchers that has made a bad situation worse”:

he most recent example of Mr Morrison failing to provide leadership was when Liberal senator Eric Abetz questioned the loyalty of Australians of Chinese heritage.

Updated

I just listened to Gladys Berejiklian’s 2GB interview.

She was asked about the fact that the Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, did not respond to the NSW premier’s election-night text about opening the borders, but did text back when Queensland won the first State of Origin game.

Berejiklian said she didn’t want to make it about her relationship with the Queensland premier, she just wanted it resolved:

“I’m over the personal stuff, to be honest. I just want it fixed ... Imagine not being able to see your loved ones, imagine not being able to operate your business, imagine your business shutting down because of this decision.

I don’t want to see that happen. I don’t want to see more people go through it. We’ve all been through enough in 2020, haven’t we?

Updated

Victoria records zero cases and deaths for seventh day in a row

Wonderful news, Victoria has recorded no new cases, yet again.

NSW considers meal vouchers to boost hospitality

The NSW government is considering giving households vouchers of up to $100 each to pay for a meal in an attempt to boost the state’s hospitality sector, AAP reports.

The $500m proposal could be announced in the state budget, to be handed down on 17 November.

Gladys Berejiklian wouldn’t confirm the budget measure this morning but said it was being considered.

“We get how tough it is for families at the moment, what a stressful year everyone’s had, how tough it is for small businesses,” the premier told 2GB radio.

“If we did go down that path ... it would be a positive thing.”

Updated

Today will also mark the end of quarantine for the first set of Australians brought back to the NT Howard Springs facility under the new agreement between the NT and federal governments aimed at clearing the backlog of Australians waiting to return home.

China’s foreign ministry has rebuffed Simon Birmingham’s call for clarity on potential new trade actions against a range of Australian sectors, which reportedly could take effect as soon as today.

It comes after the state-run Global Times appeared to confirm that China had “halted seven categories of Australian goods from the market” but did not provide any further details. At a regular press conference late yesterday, the foreign ministry spokesperson, Wang Wenbin, was asked about the reported measures targeting sectors including copper, sugar, wine, barley and timber.

Wang provided the following general response, which is similar to the line from earlier in the week:

The Chinese competent authorities’ measures on foreign imports are in line with Chinese laws and regulations and international customary practices. They protect the safety of consumers and the legitimate rights and interests of domestic industries, and are consistent with the free trade agreement between China and Australia.

Bloomberg’s reporter asked a second time whether, in light of the recent actions that China has taken, it has set certain conditions for the open access to the Chinese market. Wang said there was “simply no reason to doubt China’s commitment on opening up and cooperation which has already delivered tangible benefits”.

The AFP news agency then asked whether Wang could give any details or confirmation of the specific measures that have been taken against Australian products in light of Birmingham’s call for greater clarity on the reported restrictive actions. Wang said: “I already responded to this matter.”

In a strongly worded statement yesterday, Birmingham said the inconsistent messages from China about what was happening with Australian exports were “heightening risks” and also undermined “the statements made by President Xi” about opening up at this week’s import expo in Shanghai.

Here’s our story from last night:

Updated

We may also know sometime today (our time) the outcome of the US election.

You can follow all the US election updates on our live blog here. If we get the result, we will include some local reaction in this Australian blog.

Updated

In case you missed it last night …

A Chinese-Australian community figure who was pictured with the federal minister Alan Tudge donating $30,000 in Covid-19 relief to a Melbourne hospital in June has become the first person charged with a foreign interference offence. (There is no suggestion Tudge was involved in any wrongdoing.)

Updated

Jacinda Ardern has given strong indications that the one-way bubble between New Zealand and some Australian states will not be altered, AAP reports.

The prime minister said she wasn’t likely to alter “existing border settings” in the short term:

New Zealanders want and deserve a safe summer holiday, so our focus is on managing the existing risk profile. We will be continuing with our existing border settings for now while we work on what can be accommodated within those settings.

Updated

Good morning

Hello and welcome to Friday. I’m Josh Taylor and I will be bringing you all the Australian Covid-19 news and the latest in politics.

Here’s what we know so far:

  • Victoria has had six days in a row of zero new Covid-19 cases and zero deaths. There are now just 20 active cases in the whole state – in metro Melbourne.
  • New South Wales, by comparison, has reported six new locally-acquired cases in the same period.
  • The Victorian opposition leader, Michael O’Brien, is calling on the state to match the restrictions in NSW, given that Victoria now has fewer cases than NSW.
  • The Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, is set to announce a further easing of restrictions on Sunday, with the 25km radius limit rule and the “ring of steel” between metro Melbourne and regional Victoria to go, more capacity in venues and gyms to reopen.
  • The high court will hand down its judgment in the billionaire Clive Palmer’s challenge of the Western Australia hard border at 9.45am.
  • The Victorian hotel quarantine inquiry will provide an interim report to the government at some point today, paving the way for Victoria to begin accepting returning travellers.
  • NSW residents can now travel to Tasmania freely.

Let’s get started.

Updated

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