What we learned today, Friday 5 February
And we will leave it there for tonight. Here’s a quick summary of what went down today:
- The Victorian quarantine worker who tested positive earlier this week was confirmed to have the UK variant today, but the state did not record any new local cases
- South Australia lifted its hard border with Western Australia today. More than 1,300 people who are in quarantine will be released immediately
- Former South Sydney Rabbitoh’s captain Sam Burgess has been found guilty of intimidating his father-in-law in an incident in 2019
- The prime minister announced a lift in international arrival caps for each state, with the hopes that more stranded Australians can return
- Western Australia also recorded no new cases today, meaning the state will emerge from its lockdown at 6pm local time.
- 500 Australian Open players and staff tested negative, with the draw for the tournament going ahead this evening and the first match scheduled for Monday.
Finally, in light of changing border rules with Western Australia and now Victoria, if you intend to travel interstate this week please take a quick look at the list of WA hotspots, Victoria hotspots and state-by-state restrictions.
Thanks for reading everyone. It has been a hectic week but I hope you all enjoy your weekend.
Updated
A NSW prisoner officer has been charged with manslaughter after shooting an Indigenous inmate in 2019.
Dwayne Johnstone, a Wiradjuri man, was killed when he was shot at Lismore Base hospital while attempting to escape.
Police say the 43-year-old was attempting to escape the facility where he had been taken for medical treatment after earlier being remanded in custody on assault charges.
You can read more on the story here:
Updated
Earlier today, head of the health department, Prof Brendan Murphy, fronted a parliamentary committee and said herd immunity was “unlikely” without children being vaccinated.
The final phase of the government’s vaccine strategy says that children under 16 should be vaccinated only “if recommended”, with authorities saying they need more data to approve a vaccine for that age group.
Murphy told the committee there are still many unknowns around the vaccination programs:
It’s quite possible to get the proper definition of herd immunity we may need to vaccinate children, and children we know don’t get the disease very often but some of them do get it, particularly teenagers.
Updated
Perth festival postponed for another week
The entire Perth festival has been put on ice for at least another week, organisers announced late on Friday afternoon.
Two sold-out concerts at Kings park on Friday night and Saturday featuring Tim Minchin and the West Australian Symphony Orchestra were to have played to more than 10,000 people to mark the festival’s opening.When the lockdown was announced on 31 January they were the first festival events to be cancelled.
Now the three-week festival program in its entirety has been pushed back to Monday 15 February, on the advice of the WA government and the chief health officer.
The festival’s executive director, Nathan Bennett, said the program would be extended to 14 March and all tickets remained valid.
While we recognise the impact of this delay on our artists, audiences, supporters and partners, we understand that we need to do what’s necessary to keep our community safe,” he said.
The leadership and support of the state government … and all our treasured partners and supporters has helped us immensely throughout these uncertain and disruptive times.
We are grateful that their support has given us the confidence and capacity to pursue the dreams of our artists and celebrate our community together.
Updated
The DFES is providing an update on the Perth hills fire, with authorities saying they are working to open some areas from 4pm local time.
DFES commissioner Darren Klemm said that The Great Northern Highway and Tooday Road are expected to open later today.
Everywhere east of Toodyay Road – from Toodyay Road out to Woorooloo or to Werribee Road – that fire impacted area is now fully open to people who resided in that area. Some homes have been lost in those areas.
Some homes are still there. In fact, over 200 homes inside the fire-affected area have been saved during the course of the firefighting effort.
Updated
Earlier today the PM was asked about Liberal senator Gerard Rennick saying he “hasn’t made his mind up” about the Covid vaccine.
Well, a tiff is growing on twitter between the journalist who reported the lines, Samantha Maiden, and the senator who is denying he said it:
Further to this I’ve called @SenatorRennick again- he doesn’t dispute any of quotes in article. So for PM to claim he didn’t say it wrong. His point is he’s not saying you can’t get sick from flu. He’s saying he didn’t take flu vaccine as he didn’t think needed it due to his age https://t.co/mvHTbsgjZI
— Samantha Maiden (@samanthamaiden) February 5, 2021
I do dispute what was said in the article- 1) I never said I was too young to get sick 2) I asked that my health history remain private 3) I told the PM that the line in point one was wrong so he’s not lying 4) was I being recorded without my permission? #auspol @ScottMorrisonMP pic.twitter.com/oKOXltQ5Y6
— Senator Gerard Rennick (@SenatorRennick) February 5, 2021
Hi Gerard. The reason why I’m sure of what you said is that I read it back to you today after the PMs press conference and you agreed to all the sentences I read. Do you dispute any of the sentences below ? pic.twitter.com/kQxghFlk8F
— Samantha Maiden (@samanthamaiden) February 5, 2021
To suggest you were illegally recorded when I interviewed this morning is pure paranoia. You weren’t recorded. I read the quotes back to you at the conclusion of the interview to check them for accuracy something I couldn’t do if I was recording them.
— Samantha Maiden (@samanthamaiden) February 5, 2021
Updated
The head of the federal health department hopes state border closures will be a “thing of the past”.
Prof Brendan Murphy has told a parliamentary committee that states have shown they’re capable of contact tracing and controlling outbreaks.
I would hope state border closures will be a thing of the past soon, once we have the vast majority, the vulnerable population vaccinated, I would hope the states and health officials would feel sufficiently relaxed to tolerate small outbreaks.
Updated
Sticking with Collingwood for a moment, journalist Bhakthi Puvanenthiran just gave a great answer on the gravity of an institution being accused of systemic racism:
The term systemic racism, it refers sometimes to things like, you know, using racial slurs, but it also refers to kinds of systems, institutions overlooking certain behaviours and not having appropriate places for those who experience discrimination to get redress. That is what systemic racism is.
Puvanenthiran went on to discuss how Collingwood president Eddie McGuire had seemed to want to deal with the report by ignoring it:
I didn’t see the gravitas, sorry, the gravity of the situation sitting with him in that. I felt there was a lot of discomfort coming from him and the way he was dealing with that was just a kind of roll through it, we will move on, everything is great. He seems to me like someone who was keen to get it behind him, rather than sit in that moment.
Updated
Heritier Lumumba was on the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing with Patricia Karvelas discussing his reaction to the Collingwood players signing an open letter after the release of the Do Better report.
Lumumba said he was “bewildered” by the contents and nature of the letter:
The reason being is that a majority of the players that signed that I didn’t play with. The players that were affected throughout the history of the club didn’t play with those players. So it’s from people we had no connection to whatsoever.
The other important factor is that the players aren’t responsible for the systemic failings of the club. If you read the report it states clearly that there is a distinction between interpersonal racism, direct racism, which, yes, did exist, and the systemic racism, which is the harder issue to identify, but the more severe.
Lumumba also said he wasn’t looking for an apology, which he characterised as requiring true empathy. He said the club has still not yet reckoned with the issue or the past:
I’m not asking for an apology ... I’m asking for an acknowledgment. Just an acknowledgment of the fact that everything that was in the report, you can go through, you can see it mentions there was a serious harm that was inflicted on individuals, communities, and on families; there was also a large price paid for people who spoke up and brought these issues, the issues of the culture, to the people who were supposed to enact on that information to provide safety for the employees and there hasn’t been an acknowledgment of that.
Updated
In some relatively good news, the world’s biggest battery is set to be build in the NSW Hunter Valley.
CEP Energy said that its $2.4b battery will have the power capacity of up to 1,200 megawatts, just about eight times more than the Hornsdale battery in South Australia.
The hopes are that the giant battery will play a major role in filling the gap left by the retirement of coal and gas plants, including the closure of the Liddell power station in early 2023.
You can read more on the story from Adam Morton here:
500 Australian Open players and staff test negative
And in an update on the Australian Open, 500 players and staff have tested negative to Covid.
They had been forced into isolation after a hotel quarantine worker tested positive.
The draw is due to be held later this afternoon, with the tournament still scheduled to begin on Monday.
Updated
Tasmanian premier Peter Gutwein announced today the vaccine rollout in his state will begin later this month.
Gutwein said the state will receive 2,340 doses of the Pfizer vaccine each week for the first three weeks of the rollout.
We want as many Tasmanians as possible to get vaccinated. The vaccine is free, it is safe and it’s available to everyone. Any Covid-19 vaccine approved for use in Australia must pass the TGA’s rigorous assessment and approval process to ensure it is effective and safe for use.
He also announced restrictions on indoor entertainment venues have been eased.
Organisers can now sell up to 75% of seats for indoor events with fixed seating for more than 250 people, such as concerts.
Events must still have Covid-safe plans.
If filling 75% of the seats means the density will be more than one person per 2 square metres, patrons and staff must wear a face mask unless they are exempt from wearing a mask for medical reasons.
Updated
Albanese calls for national quarantine program
Earlier today opposition leader Anthony Albanese held a presser where he again pushed the government to consider nationalising the quarantine program so that more Australians can return home.
He referred to the government’s report that recommended something similar:
What we are seeing is the government having a report from Jane Halton last year that recommended an expansion of places like Howard Springs in the Northern Territory, of Exmouth and Western Australia, and other facilities. That just tells you once again that common sense, if you have a quarantine program, it is better to do so away from large populations and, in particular, away from environments whereby, for example, large hotels in the capital cities which, of course have air-conditioning systems were things flow through.
The government should have responded to its own report.
Updated
Queensland's three-day lockdown review
A highly infectious variant that leaked out of Queensland’s hotel quarantine system and triggered a three-day lockdown in the city probably spread from returned travellers to a hotel cleaner who touched a contaminated surface.
However, the review into the spread of Covid-19 in Brisbane’s Grand Chancellor quarantine hotel in January – six cases among returned travellers, a hotel cleaner and their partner – failed to conclusively “determine the exact root cause of the transmission”.
Investigators found that “the cluster is most likely a result of multiple gaps in infection prevention and control”.
Despite being unable to determine the root cause of transmission, investigators were able to rule out the hotel’s air-conditioning system as a cause of transmission.
The review’s report notes several gaps in infection control in Queensland’s hotel quarantine system, and makes several recommendations, including limiting how frequently returned travellers open their room doors, and installing CCTV of hotel corridors to monitor guest movements.
The investigators also recommended ensuring air extraction and ventilation of corridors in quarantine hotels.
The recommendations follow a warning from epidemiologists that security guards shouldn’t be sitting in the corridors of Australia’s quarantine hotels due to the risk more infectious variants of Covid could be spreading via communal spaces.
Updated
How has the premier coped with this past (admittedly quite hectic) week?
I am OK. It has been a tough week for everyone, I mean this genuinely. I still get paid. A lot of people out there in a retail shop or a cafe who might be a casual worker did not get paid. So I think they have been affected far more harshly than I have.
Updated
Now, an interesting discussion on why authorities opted for a snap lockdown, especially considering the lack of cases this week. Cook said: “Every outbreak has its own unique damage.”
In this case we had an individual who had been infectious in the community for a number of days with the most virulent strain of the disease, and had visited a number of locations.
If you have a different outbreak, or an outbreak with different colour characteristics, you calibrate the response according to those health risks.
Updated
The WA health minister Roger Cook was just asked a very interesting question about masks and beards (I’m not biased, but it has always bothered me):
Just for the day-to-day wearing out in the community, people with beards can obviously participate in mask-wearing as well. You obviously do the best you can, given your facial hair.
Glad to see beards get a time in the limelight.
Updated
The premier has also just announced that WA will have an extension on the lifting of caps on international arrivals.
As opposed to the rest of the states, WA has until the end of February under the current caps, allowing it time to adjust and prepare.
As an extra precaution, the prime minister has agreed to extend the 512 person per week cap for WA until the end of February. I would like to thank him for his agreement. This will give us that extra time to ensure our hotel quarantine systems are as strong as they can be, especially when dealing with these new, highly contagious, variant strains.
Updated
McGowan is announcing support packages for small businesses and charities in light of the lockdown and fires.
Small businesses and charities impacted by the five-day Covid-19 lockdown will be able to access a $500 offset on their electricity bills. We expect the $500 offset will be available to approximately 85,000 eligible Synergy and Horizon customers. It is estimated to provide, on average, up to two months of bill relief. This is a $43m package for 85,000 customers.
... I hope it does provide some form of help. As always, the state government will continue to monitor the impact on businesses and we will do what we can if further support is needed.
Updated
No new local cases in WA, says McGowan
McGowan confirms that there have been no new local cases in WA, but that there has been a positive test in a recent overseas arrival.
The premier then confirms the state will exit lockdown from 6 tonight.
The only reason that could change was if local cases were recorded this afternoon. But I’m confident in our transition plan out of lockdown is the right approach. Like many Western Australians I’m so relieved we have got to this point and we can get businesses and our economy back open with full confidence.
Updated
Western Australia premier Mark McGowan has stepped up (late, but he said it was his first time) at a windy outdoor conference.
He begins by announcing that the number of homes destroyed in the Perth Hills fire has been revised to 86.
The people whose homes have been destroyed or severely damaged, we’re all thinking of you. And the firefighters who’ve put themselves in danger to protect the community, thank you so much. Western Australians stand ready to help in any way that we can.
It shows how devastating this bushfire has been for the people involved.
Heritier Lumumba has responded to the open letter of apology released yesterday by 150 Collingwood players after the report that revealed a culture of structural racism at the club.
Lumumba, whose experiences as a Magpies player prompted the club to commission the independent review, said he does not “doubt the sincerity of the players when they say they are ashamed of silent and have been shocked by the contents of the leaked Do Better report”.
But, he wrote, he found it strange that “young players – who are not responsible for the administration and culture of the club – have issued an unconditional statement acknowledging harm when the management and leadership of the club have yet to do so”.
The letter, sent by an all-encompassing group that includes the current women’s AFLW team and the club’s Super Netball team, was also endorsed and “supported fully” by its 120 staff members.
“ ‘All staff and players’ surely includes black players and staff, as well as players and staff of colour. Why should they be apologising for racism?” Lumumba wrote.
“Unfortunately, this feels like the club using the genuine sentiment of some players and staff as a tool for damage control. This explains the lukewarm public response to the letter.”
Lumumba added he has been “overwhelmed” by the remorse and shame over the club’s past shown by Collingwood members and fans in recent days.
Updated
I just want to return for a moment to the comments the PM made about senator Rennick, with journalist Samantha Maiden challenging them:
Just re PM comments @SenatorRennick 100 per cent told me he hadn’t made his mind up on COVID vaccine. He also told me hadn’t taken the flu vaccine as he was too young to get severely ill. It’s all in his quotes so very cheeky of PM to claim he didn’t say it
— Samantha Maiden (@samanthamaiden) February 5, 2021
The Qld Senator point is he didn’t say he was too young to get COVID - which of course the story never said so it’s a complete straw man. He doesn’t dispute any of the quotes in the story which are there in black and white
— Samantha Maiden (@samanthamaiden) February 5, 2021
So, to be fair, the PM said the senator hadn’t said he was too young for the Covid vaccine ... because that isn’t exactly what he said. Make of that what you will.
Updated
And with that, the PM’s presser comes to an end.
But fear not, WA premier Mark McGowan is expected to speak shortly, and we’ll be bringing you those updates as well.
Finally the PM is asked if the responsibility for hotel quarantine will remain with state governments:
The states run hotel quarantine consistent with the public health orders that are in place with each of their states and territories. That was the decision we made last March. And that was also made after having advised how the federal biosecurity laws work. And so that’s why it was agreed that that was the most effective way of put that into place and it has been extremely effective.
Updated
So a little more clarity on what, exactly, Philip Gaetjens will be doing. Prof Kelly was asked what percentage of vaccinations the country needs to reach before quarantine is eliminated or changed:
That’s a very key point, actually. What mix of vaccines, how many vaccines, in which parts of the community and how that affects it.
I mean, to be very clear, we’re starting – we’ve got our prioritisation settings we’ve talked about many times at this podium and others which is looking at those at most risk of exposure. At the moment that’s our quarantine workers and anyone working in that stream from airports through to people being cared for in hospital in relation to the borders.
Updated
'No fireworks' in national cabinet, says Morrison
Were there any “fireworks” (not sure exactly what this is referring to) during the national cabinet meeting? The PM was unwilling to share.
No, there were no fireworks. I mean, honestly, we’re professional leaders of governments. We get on with the job as people would expect us to do.
Updated
And, inevitably, we have circled back to Craig Kelly, this time just as a reference point. The PM was asked if senator Gerald Rennick was undermining the government’s message by saying he was “too young” to get sick.
The PM said that was not what the senator advised him he said:
I think I can best answer that question that the comments you have attributed to senator Rennick, he has advised me this morning that’s not what he said. So there’s not much more I can say about that given the premise of the question.
What does the PM think of Kelly returning to posting on Facebook?
I’ve seen a report about that and I don’t think it represents the type of thing that is being suggested but any position is the same – a little less on that front is helpful.
Updated
The PM is asked if Western Australia’s response was “proportionate”, especially in light of some criticism from Peter Dutton, and in light of WA premier Mark McGowan saying quarantine was a federal responsibility:
The premier had made comments last year about whether we should be using places like Christmas Island and things like that. And our advice has been very consistent, that those are not conducive to the task. That’s why we’re at Howard Springs. I mean, the national resilience facility there, as it’s called, that was the response to what Jane Halton recommended, and we put that in place.
And they’re always a supplement. They’re not a replacement. That’s what I want to be very clear; the things that we’re doing nationally are the supplement, and that’s why our charter flights go through that facility. And that takes the pressure off what’s happening in the states themselves.
Updated
The PM was also asked about the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet secretary, Philip Gaetjens, who has been tasked to:
lead a process with the directors general of all the state and territory governments to advise us on how the risk environment has changed in relation to the management of the pandemic, taking into account all the factors I’ve mentioned: the new strains that are emerging, improvements that have been made in how things are managed both on a testing, tracing, quarantine system improvement and public response, and thirdly the impact of the vaccines on the risk environment.
What exactly does that mean?
Now that can include any number of things. That can potentially, over many months, include, you know, how we respond to a breakout of a case. Now, right now, a breakout of a case has a particular context. Three months from now, when vaccinations are occurring, where there is a downward pressure on the risk of serious, serious illness, then the risk is different. And so it is about trying to recalibrate.
Updated
The PM was asked an interesting question about uniformity of response to outbreaks, especially in light of the states taking their individual paths of response:
What’s important is increased certainty about what happens when event X happens; what is the response going to be? So businesses can understand what’s happening, employees can understand what’s happening.
He goes on to describe a “consumption-led” economic recovery plan:
We have been able, from the commonwealth’s perspective, to transfer over $250bn on to the balance sheets of householders and businesses in this country ... unlocking that, because you know the savings rate has increased. That is the key to the further waves of support in the economy, is unlocking that.
Unlocking the support will continue to drive those further waves of improvement in our economy. And confidence, as Chris Richardson often says, is the cheapest form of stimulus there is.
Updated
Chief health officer Prof Paul Kelly has given an update on the Covid responses discussed in the national cabinet, saying that with hotel quarantine, although “top class”, there’s always a chance of “human error”.
There is absolutely a need to continually improve the quality of our quarantine. It is already really top class. We’ve seen only a small number of incursions from quarantine, and we need to understand these are complex systems with humans, and there is always an opportunity or a chance of human error.
There is also chance issues like two doors opening across a corridor, as has seemed to have occurred in the Victorian situation. So we do need to continue to look at these things. At the national cabinet, I think it was a month ago, I think it might have been earlier, a set of general principles were agreed. We can look at those again to make sure all of those things are being done.
But the system has worked very effectively up to now, and continues to work very effectively.
Updated
Hotel quarantine remains 'primary' system: PM
The PM has stressed that hotel quarantine remains the “primary system” of running quarantine in Australia, but announced an expansion of the capacity at particular facilities, including Howard Springs:
But hotel quarantine is the primary, and remains the primary, system for running quarantine in this country. It has been incredibly effective, as I said to you yesterday. Over 211,000 people have gone through that process, and the number of breaches we’ve had – albeit, when they do occur, they’re serious – is incredibly small in comparison to that large volume.
We are looking to expand the capacity further of Howard Springs. Already expanding it to 850, and potentially well beyond that, which would involve a more than doubling of that capacity ... We will also continue to assess the proposal in relation to Toowoomba. But we are still seeking a lot more information on that proposal, and the secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet has pulled together the various agency that is need to assess that proposal.
Updated
PM announces lift to international arrival caps
The PM has moved on to discuss international arrivals to Australia, saying that caps on arrivals will be lifted:
We must remember that our borders are actually shut. No one can just come to Australia. To be able to come to Australia, you need to be an Australian resident or citizen, or have a particular exemption in a particular occupation or something of that nature, which is handled through border force, to enable someone to come.
And that is only a small proportion of the arrivals that come to Australia. It was also agreed that from 15 February, the caps will return to the previous levels for New South Wales and Queensland. So we will see that capacity lift again.
South Australia is also increasing what they’ll take to 530. Victoria will increase to 1,310. And premier Andrews and I will be having further conversations about where it goes after that. And, of course, I’m still working through arrangements with premier McGowan.
Updated
Prime Minister arrives at presser
And finally Scott Morrison has stepped up and begun his presser by saying that, sometime down the track, in a potential future, Australia will respond to Covid the way it does to other diseases:
The point is that the vaccination program, over months, as it’s rolled out, can change the nature of how Australia then manages the virus. And the point was made, it’s less than about cases as it is about presentations at ICU or seeking significant treatment. And that we can potentially move to a situation where we manage the virus potentially like other conditions that are in the community.
Now we’re not there yet. We’re some way off that, as Prof Kelly will tell you. But that risk environment is what we now, as leaders of governments, need to define, understand, and ensure that our responses to things that occur are proportionate.
Updated
Queensland reports no new local cases
In the meantime, Queensland is reporting zero new local cases, and one new case acquired overseas.
Friday 5 February – coronavirus cases in Queensland:
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) February 4, 2021
• 0 new locally acquired cases
• 1 overseas acquired case
• 5 active cases
• 1,309 total cases
• 1,795,994 tests conducted
Sadly, six Queenslanders with COVID-19 have died. 1,293 patients have recovered.#covid19 pic.twitter.com/2uSJlRhOJt
Updated
Good afternoon everyone, and a quick thanks to Naaman for his hard work this morning.
We are on standby for the prime minister right now. We’ll be blogging his presser and bringing you the rest of the day’s news. Stay tuned.
Updated
Ahead of the Morrison presser, I’ll be handing over to my colleague Mostafa Rachwani who will take you through the rest of the day.
Thanks for following along – and if you are in Canberra over the weekend, please try and get a glimpse of the Skywhale, and her companion Skywhalepapa, who will return to our skies on Sunday morning.
Scott Morrison is due to speak in 20 minutes.
SA lifts border restrictions with WA
The premier of South Austraila, Steven Marshall, is speaking now.
He says the hard border arrangement with WA “is being removed immediately”.
And more than 1,300 people from WA who are in quarantine will be released immediately.
“We’re very satisfied with the data that is coming in from WA and the decision was made to remove the hard border arrangement with Western Australia immediately,” he says.
Travellers from the WA lockdown area will still need to take Covid tests on day 1, day 5 and day 12 and “remain isolated while they’re waiting for their day one test result.”
And he says most people are getting their vaccinations within 6 to 12 hours.
Updated
Amanda Meade’s latest Weekly Beast column is up, and it’s a cracker.
You may have seen Tuesday’s Daily Telegraph front page – “School of Hard Woke” – which claimed “activist teachers” are penalising students for not giving “woke” answers in the HSC exams last year.
What were the “woke” errors? Economics students were marked down for “confusing the World Bank with the International Monetary Fund”, German beginners were told to “avoid the use of English syntax and English words” and English extension students told to avoid referring to children’s cartoons and video games in their work.
The results of an inquiry into James Packer’s Crown Resorts, which was sparked by media reports of money laundering and criminal involvement in junkets at the group’s casinos, will be made public on Tuesday after being tabled in NSW parliament.
During hearings, former judge Patricia Bergin, who ran the inquiry for the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority, heard evidence that included threats made by Packer against another businessman (which he apologised for) and the involvement of people accused of being linked to organised crime in high-roller junkets.
However, she also explored ways that Crown could keep its potentially lucrative license to operate a new casino complex at Barangaroo, on Sydney’s harbour.
The final decision on what happens to the license is up to Ilga, which will need to go through a separate process if it wants to take action against Crown.
Legal action is very possible, with much riding on the temperature inside Crown’s executive suites on the day.
It’s believed Crown and the Victorian regulator - which has much riding on the outcome as many of the allegations that have been made against the company during hearings relate to its Melbourne casino - have not seen the report.
Separately, Crown on Friday morning said it would partially re-open its Perth casino, which had been largely shut down by new coronavirus restrictions in WA.
Restaurants and banquets will re-start tomorrow, with social distancing rules in place, while the gaming floor will remain shut until 14 February.
Masks and some other restrictions will remain in Western Australia, even as the state recorded four consecutive days of no new community cases, AAP reports.
Earlier today, premier Mark McGowan said the five-day lockdown for metropolitan Perth, the Peel region and South West will end at 6pm on Friday.
However, he said other restrictions would remain in place for Perth and Peel until midnight on Sunday 14 February.
All residents, including teachers and high school students, must continue to wear masks while outside of their homes except for during vigorous outdoor exercise.
The health minister, Roger Cook, believes any isolated cases that emerge in coming days won’t result in the lockdown being reinstated.
“In the coming week, if we have a positive case – particularly if it’s among one of the close contacts, we know that person would have been isolated, we know that person would have been tested extensively so we have great insights,” he told Perth radio 6PR on Friday.
“So in that instance, we certainly wouldn’t back down on our transition out of this.”
Updated
Melbourne is forecast for an afternoon downpour today and parents are being urged to be careful while picking up kids from school.
Melbourne is tipped to receive between 15 and 35mm of rain this afternoon, AAP report.
The state’s central north and northeast is likely experience 30mm-60mm of rain.
Updated
Here’s the full story on the Burgess verdict.
Sam Burgess found guilty of intimidation
Former South Sydney Rabbitoh’s captain Sam Burgess has been found guilty of intimidating his father-in-law in an incident in 2019.
Burgess was found guilty this morning in Moss Vale local court and sentenced to a two-year community corrections order, requiring him to be of good behaviour.
The 32-year-old yelled “fuck you, I’m going to get you” 20 centimetres from Mitchell Hooke’s face during an expletive-riddled rage, sparked when he was asked to leave the Hookes’ Southern Highlands property in October 2019.
“I accept Mr Hooke was terrified, that his whole body went cold,” magistrate Robert Rabbidge said on Friday.
Burgess denied swearing in the home but admitted angrily cursing when the argument continued in the driveway.
He also accused the father of his estranged wife, Phoebe Burgess, of being the aggressor.
But police attacked the former footballer’s testimony, saying parts did not make sense.
Burgess conceded Hooke said, “What are you going to do? Hit a 64-year-old man?” but claimed the men were metres apart at the time.
“Surely such words could only be uttered after a close encounter,” the magistrate said.
“What is incontrovertible is the shock and distress that Mr Hooke displayed to his daughters and police.”
Burgess’s legal team had alleged Hooke and Ms Burgess set out to harm Burgess’ career and reputation by making the allegation and orchestrating a damaging expose on the retired Rabbitoh published by News Corp Australia in October 2020.
But that was dismissed by the magistrate, who found Hooke’s testimony clear and concise.
Burgess retired in 2019 after a 270-game NRL and English Super League career and stints with England’s national rugby union and rugby league sides.
He stood down from roles as a commentator and South Sydney assistant coach in October.
Updated
China’s foreign ministry has criticised what it called “interference in China’s internal affairs” after the Australian government called for a senior UN official to be given immediate, unfettered access to investigate human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region.
China’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Wang Wenbin, also said there was “nothing underhand” happening in Xinjiang, but China was firmly opposed to “the hyping-up of the so-called ‘investigation’ in Xinjiang by someone who is already convinced that we are guilty”.
The remarks were specifically in response to comments from a spokesperson for the Australian foreign minister, Marise Payne, who said yesterday that Australia had been “consistent in raising our significant concerns with the human rights abuses in Xinjiang”.
Referring to detailed new accounts reported by the BBC of rape, sexual abuse and torture in ‘re-education’ camps for Uighurs, Payne’s spokesperson said: “These latest reports of systematic torture and abuse of women are deeply disturbing and raise serious questions regarding the treatment of Uighurs and other religious and ethnic minorities in Xinjiang.”
Payne’s spokesperson also urged China “to allow international observers, including the UN high commissioner for human rights Michelle Bachelet, to be given immediate, meaningful and unfettered access to Xinjiang at the earliest opportunity”.
Asked specifically about the Australian government’s comments at a daily press briefing in Beijing overnight, Wang said China had “extended invitation long ago to the UN high commissioner for human rights and we are in communication on this with the UNHCHR”.
“We welcome fair-minded foreigners to visit Xinjiang and learn the real situation there. At the same time, we are firmly opposed to interference in China’s internal affairs by any country or individual under the pretext of human rights.”
It has previously been reported that Bachelet was in discussions with the Chinese government about visiting Xinjiang but she has made clear she will only go there if she and her team are guaranteed “unfettered” and “meaningful” access.
In some rather strange news, a man has been arrested after threatening people with a samurai sword in the Adelaide CBD this morning.
Police say that just after midnight Friday morning they were called to Rundle Street after reports a man was wielding a samurai sword and threatening passers-by and those driving past.
Officers who were patrolling locally rushed to the scene and one tackled the man to the ground and arresting him. Luckily there were no injuries to public, police or even the would-be samurai.
He is a 25-year-old man from the far north and has now been charged with aggravated assault, carrying an offensive weapon and unlawful possession of a weapon.
Police say they expect him to be refused bail and he is set to appear in the Adelaide magistrates court some time today.
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Google threat to leave Australia is 'misplaced', Frydenberg says
Frydenberg says that Google’s threat to leave Australia is “misplaced” and the company has committed to the country.
The treasurer, the prime minister and the communications minister all met with the head of Google yesterday.
“There was certainly a more constructive tone to the discussion yesterday,” Frydenberg says.
“What they recognise is there is a need to pay for content, and I think they also recognise maybe some of the threats have been misplaced about the future in the Australian market, because they certainly see a future in the Australian market.
“They re-committed to Australia, we re-committed to the code.”
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Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is on the ABC now speaking about the quarantine system.
He says the prime minister will definitely address the issue after national cabinet.
Frydenberg is asked about calls for the federal government to do more, and he says “we have already provided an enormous amount of funding to Victoria”.
“Hotel quarantine has seen more than 200,000 Australians come back,” he says.
The governor of the Reserve Bank, Philip Lowe, has said he will “not” and “should not” target house prices before a parliamentary committee.
“Instead our focus is on the lending that is used to purchase housing. We want to see lending standards remain strong,” Lowe said in testimony at a parliamentary economics committee hearing, AAP report.
“At present, there are few signs of a deterioration in these standards.”
Lowe said the Reserve Bank is “watching closely” the housing market and its many moving parts.
Quizzed by committee chair Tim Wilson, Lowe conceded it was “possible” that persistent low interest rates could cause an unsustainable rise in asset values, referring to both the sharemarket and house prices.
“But it hasn’t yet,” Dr Lowe said. “The main issue here is the debt.”
Regulators have intervened in the past when banks hunting market share lowered lending standards and used dodgy practices, causing excessive levels of household debt and financial distress.
“That would be our approach again.”
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Google has announced it is rolling out an early version of “Google News Showcase” in Australia, starting today.
The company describes it as “a product and licensing program that benefits publishers and readers”.
Australian publishers will be paid to provide content for the showcase, with the Canberra Times, the Illawarra Mercury, the Saturday Paper, Crikey, the New Daily, InDaily and the Conversation all signing up.
Google is, of course, under pressure to accept the ACCC’s news bargaining code, which is still opposes, and even threatened to pull the search engine from Australia.
“We are looking forward to bringing more Australian media partners on board in the coming weeks and months as we further build out the experience for publishers and users,” a Google spokesman said.
“The panels will appear across Google News on Android, iOS and the mobile web, and in Discover on iOS ... We also plan to bring News Showcase to Search as well as the other surfaces of Google News and Discover in the future.
“Each article linked in a News Showcase panel takes the reader directly to the corresponding page on a publisher’s site, allowing publishers to further grow their business by showing users ads and subscription opportunities.”
- Note: Guardian Australia has been in discussion with Google over inclusion in its new “Showcase” offering that would see the company pay news providers for inclusion in this product.
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Let’s revisit Craig Kelly’s latest Covid post for a moment.
Just hours after being rebuked by the prime minister for his social media activity that was undermining the government’s official health advice, Kelly posted an interview backing up his case for ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine.
Kelly’s Facebook page points to a radio interview with emeritus professor Robert Clancy from Newcastle University, an immunologist, urging his followers to “Listen to THE expert” and “forward this to Tanya and Ally” – a reference to Kelly’s very public stoush with Labor’s Tanya Plibersek on Thursday.
Clancy told 6PR that while he did not agree with Kelly on some things, he couldn’t understand why the Federal government wouldn’t authorise the use of both drugs, which he said were being widely used in Brazil and other countries.
The stoush over hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin has become a right wing cause after former US president Donald Trump advocated for the use of the former. A vocal group of doctors on the internet want the freedom to prescribe the drugs, while several health authorities, including WHO have said the body of scientific evidence does not support their widespread use.
Back home, chief medical officer, Prof Paul Kelly, no relation to Craig, has said there is not data to support the use of the two medications and that Hydroxycholoquine in particular can have adverse side effects.
The US National institutes of health has modified its advice on ivermectin to neutral.
Clancy said he had spoken to Craig Kelly on the phone but didnt know him.
It remains to be seen whether the PM will again rebuke his maverick MP (a former furniture salesman)for sharing views about matters medical.
On Wednesday, the University of Newcastle put out a statement distancing themselves from Clancy. “Robert Clancy is not speaking on behalf of the University of Newcastle... the university has not funded his research since 2009 and he retired in 2013.
“The University does not consider Robert Clancy a subject matter expert on Covid-19”.
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More than 1,000 people are workplace or exposure site contacts
Victoria Covid-19 testing chief Jeroen Weimar says that there are over 1,000 workplace or exposure site contacts of the infected man, who have been notified so far.
He says he expects this number to increase in the coming days.
He says that 743 workplace contacts, in the hotel quarantine system, have been notified and are being tested every day.
“They have all been contacted by their respective employers and they are being called and ensured that we get them tested over the coming days,” he says. “It is very important that we get hold of those workplace contacts and ensure that we really establish whether there’s any other leakage from that hotel quarantine period into that workforce.”
He also says there have been 299 people “identified so far through the 14 exposure sites”, who are self-isolating.
The man visited a range of locations over the weekend. “That 299 number I expect to increase over the coming days as more people come forward,” Weimar says.
Finally, he adds that 96% of yesterday’s tests had results delivered within 24 hours.
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Victorian quarantine worker has UK variant
The chief health officer, Prof Brett Sutton, confirms that the man who tested positive on Wednesday, who worked in hotel quarantine, does have the UK variant.
“Our reference laboratory has identified the sequence in our case as the B117 variant,” he says. “That’s the variant that was first identified in the UK, so the one that people understand to be the UK variant.
“It is a more transmissible variant of concern. We’ve always worked on the assumption that it was going to be this variant. That’s because four of the six residents who’d tested positive at the hotel had that variant identified in them. Where exactly it’s come from is still to be determined.
“We do need to marry-up that genomics information with the epidemiological information – so the CCTV footage, the interviews – to really understand how transmission might hav occurred.
“As we’ve said previously, there was no apparent breach in infection prevention and control protocols, or PPE.”
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Victorian premier Daniel Andrews was up a few minutes ago.
He said the state conducted more than 14,000 yesterday, and a further 8,000 this morning. A further 6,000 swabs were taken yesterday that have not yet been processed.
“That’s a long way of saying thank you to many tens of thousands ofVictorians who’ve come forward andg ot tested,” he said. “It was a very big testing 24 hours.”
Victoria has recorded no new cases of Covid-19.
He also responded to reports of long waiting times saying the state was “trying to ste up” to “the surge in demand”.
“We can stand up more additional resources if we need to,” he said.
He adds that there have been 17 close contacts of the hotel quarantine worker who have been tested. 16 are negative and one is “still in the lab”.
“It doesn’t mean that they might not test positive at a later point... But these are good signs. Very good signs. That we caught this in good time.”
Australian Open officials are awaiting 12 remaining Covid test results this morning before they can give the tennis cohort in Melbourne the all-clear ahead of the start to the year’s first grand slam.
Of the 507 players and support staff ordered to isolate on Wednesday, just a dozen are yet to return a negative test. Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley said he expected those results to come back shortly.
“So far everyone is negative, we’ve got a few pending as a result of being tested late last night,” Tiley told 3AW this morning. “Hopefully in the next few hours we get the positive outcome that they are all negative.
Play in the six Australian Open warm-up events being played at Melbourne Park was suspended yesterday following the discovery of a positive Covid case in hotel quarantine associated with the tennis, but will resume today, with Ash Barty and Nick Kyrgios among those in action as organisers attempt to get the tournaments finished before Sunday.
The draw for the Open, which starts on Monday, will take place at 3pm AEDT today.
It seems Craig Kelly is posting on Facebook again.
i REGRET to inform you that less than two days after being DrEsSeD dOwN,
— CAMERONWILSON (@cameronwilson) February 4, 2021
Misinformation superspreader Craig Kelly is back on his bullshit, sharing an interview from someone promoting unproven COVID-19 treatments whose own university does not consider a subject matter expert pic.twitter.com/ymG6s6ecsO
This morning, we’ve actually published a fascinating story on the MP’s previous posts that are no longer visible on his Facebook page’s public timeline.
And you can listen to a special newsroom episode of the Full Story podcast where editor Lenore Taylor and news editor Mike Ticher join editor and host Gabrielle Jackson to discuss Morrison’s rebuke of Kelly and whether it will work.
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Virus spreads in corridors – Queensland report
The Queensland government will recommend people in quarantine wear facemasks when opening their hotel room doors, after a report due today found that the virus spread in corridors.
A report into how a cleaner at Brisbane’s Hotel Grand Chancellor contracted Covid-19 is due to be released today.
The premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, told Nine’s Today program this morning that the report found the virus spread via the hotel’s corridors.
“This virus is actually just circulating in the corridors so it’s a wake-up call, it’s happening in Western Australia, Victoria and Queensland, so we’ve got to do more – our quarantine is our last line of defence when it comes to protecting Australians,” she said.
The premier said the report is set to recommend people in quarantine must wear masks when they open their doors to receive meals, put out rubbish or change over their linen.
According to AAP, Palaszczuk said the virus is so hard to contain within hotels, the longer term solution is moving quarantine out of major cities, so if outbreaks occur they don’t spread quickly in urban areas and trigger lockdowns.
Palaszczuk is taking her proposal to set up a network of outback or regional quarantine facilities in vacant mining camps and other locations to national cabinet later on Friday.
“This is why I’ve been calling to have quarantine in other locations, away from your city centres where everyone’s got to travel back in from,” she said.
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A woman has drowned and a man is missing after they went for a night swim in big surf on the Gold Coast, AAP reports.
The pair was initially seen going into the ocean at Old Burleigh Rd, Broadbeach about 9.20pm on Thursday.
People found a woman laying unresponsive on the beach about a half an hour later and called emergency services.
She was pronounced dead at the scene.
The man is missing, with police on Friday morning using a helicopter to scour the water and local beaches.
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Zero new cases in Victoria
Some good news – there have been no new cases of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours in Victoria.
14,612 test results were received.
Yesterday there were 0 new locally acquired cases reported, and 3 in hotel quarantine. 14,612 test results were received #EveryTestHelps us to #StaySafeStayOpen.
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) February 4, 2021
More info will be available later: https://t.co/lIUrl0ZEco#COVID19Vic #COVID19VicData pic.twitter.com/mSscIqALXM
Long waits at Melbourne testing sites
With the news this week of another hotel quarantine worker contracting Covid-19, there are again long waits at Melbourne testing sites.
All residents of the city have been urged to get tested if they develop symptoms.
At Keysborough, there are reports of a two-hour wait time – even at opening.
Wait time at Keysborough already two hours. They opened early at 7.45am. Recommend people go elsewhere, there are other sites with very short waits. @sunriseon7 @7NewsMelbourne pic.twitter.com/6NZBEnKRa7
— Nathan Templeton (@nathantemp7) February 4, 2021
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Last night, WA premier Mark McGowan confirmed that more than 80 homes had been destroyed by a bushfire in Perth’s north-east.
McGowan described the loss as “too much to comprehend”.
“We’re all thinking of those who’ve lost their homes,” he said. “In some cases, their livelihoods.”
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Victoria bans gay conversion practices
Overnight, in a late night sitting of Victorian parliament, gay conversion practices were banned in the state.
AAP has this report:
Gay conversion practices have been banned in Victoria following a lengthy debate in parliament overnight, during which two Liberal MPs broke with party ranks to vote against the bill.
The Change or Suppression (Conversion) Practices Prohibition Bill passed the legislative council on Thursday night 29 votes to nine following a 12-hour debate.
Liberal MPs Bev McArthur and Bernie Finn broke party ranks and voted against the government’s legislation, along with crossbench MPs Jeff Bourman, Catherine Cumming, Clifford Hayes, Stuart Grimley, David Limbrick, Tania Maxwell and Tim Quilty.
The bill will outlaw practices that seek to change or suppress a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
Those found to have engaged in conversion practices that result in serious injury will face penalties of up to 10 years’ jail or up to $10,000 in fines.
In supporting the bill, Animal Justice party MP Andy Meddick described himself as the proud father of two “perfect” transgender children.
“They do not need fixing,” he said. “Nor do any other children or adults who do not fit an often religiously held belief that sexuality and gender are binary only.”
Labor’s Harriet Shing, the first openly lesbian member of Victorian parliament, acknowledged conversion therapy victims and survivor groups who have advocated for the ban for many years.
Here is that tweet from Greg Hunt yesterday with a Liberal party logo, that Berejiklian was asked about. In case you missed it.
On the advice of the Scientific Industry Technical Advisory Group on Vaccine lead by Professor Brendan Murphy, the Australian Government has secured an additional 10 million doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. pic.twitter.com/OHGZ0eepUx
— Greg Hunt (@GregHuntMP) February 4, 2021
No call from NSW to raise caps
Earlier, NSW premier Gladys Berijiklian declined to say whether she would support an increase to the arrivals cap.
ABC host Michael Rowland asked her twice whether she agreed that the cap should be raised, saying that the prime minister, Scott Morrison, will be lobbying for that at national cabinet today.
“I support a system where every state does its fair share,” Berejiklian says. “New South Wales has been ... taking 3,000 every week.
“I just say to the other states, it’s important for all of us to do our fair share, to make sure we support returning Australians but also that we accept and appreciate, as NSW has done, that the quarantine system is really the biggest risk we have from the virus”.
She also said that NSW didn’t need more hotel quarantine support from the federal government, and waved away calls for federal government to assume more of the role.
“I’m not quite sure what they’re [other premiers] asking for in terms of, operationally, the systems are already up and running. We have some federal agencies supporting the NSW effort, whether it’s Border Force or the ADF support what we’re doing in the system.
“I don’t understand what they mean by increasing the support. Of course, financially, that would be useful but, operationally, the systems are already there and it’s joint efforts. I mean, the NSW police force is in charge of our quarantine system and they have been from day one ... to disrupt that would be detrimental.”
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Berejiklian is also asked about health minister Greg Hunt’s decision yesterday to attach a Liberal party logo to an announcement about Australia acquiring 10 million more doses of the Pfizer vaccine.
ABC host Michael Rowland asks: “Would you, as a political leader, as a government leader, attach a political logo to a taxpayer-funded announcement?”
Berejiklian refuses to criticise Hunt.
“I’m not going to comment on something I haven’t seen ... there are lots of life and death issues facing our community today. I’m not going to go into that one.”
On the advice of the Scientific Industry Technical Advisory Group on Vaccine lead by Professor Brendan Murphy, the Australian Government has secured an additional 10 million doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. pic.twitter.com/OHGZ0eepUx
— Greg Hunt (@GregHuntMP) February 4, 2021
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NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian is being interviewed on the ABC right now.
She says that the recent leaks from hotel quarantine show that the risks are always there.
“You have thousands of workers involved. You have to transport people to the system and often people with the virus are more contagious in a closed environment like a bus or a taxi, or an Uber, than they are in a hotel room.
“No matter where the quarantine system is, that risk doesn’t go away, it doesn’t solve the problem”.
Good morning and welcome back to our live coverage of Australian news and the coronavirus. It’s Naaman Zhou here with you.
It’s Friday – so parliament isn’t sitting, but national cabinet meets today. With two states currently under increased restrictions (Western Australia and Victoria), we can expect hotel quarantine to be on the discussion table.
And, after a hotel quarantine worker tested positive on Wednesday night, all eyes will be on Melbourne and the latest Covid-19 figures today.
Meanwhile, a parliamentary inquiry will ask experts from the health department to give an update and further information on our vaccine approval process.
We’ll bring you all the latest as it happens. Stay with us.
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