What we learned today, Friday 16 April
That’s where I’ll leave you for this evening. Thanks for reading this week. Here’s what we learned today:
- The prime minister, Scott Morrison, has asked health authorities to brief the government on the possibility of allowing Australians who have had both vaccine doses to travel overseas and return without having to go into hotel quarantine for two weeks.
- The New South Wales premier, Gladys Berejiklian, backed the
proposal, but warned it would depend on getting the population vaccinated. - Morrison and the chief medical officer, Paul Kelly, urged Australians not to “jump to conclusions” after the Therapeutic Goods Administration said it was investigating the death of a 48-year-old diabetic woman who developed blood clots after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine. It is not yet known whether the two things were linked.
- Morrison also visited the cyclone-devastated town of Kalbarri in Western Australia. He called it a “miracle” that no lives had been lost during Cyclone Seroja, which damaged more than 800 buildings in the town.
- A United Nations request that Australia promptly allow the return of two citizens from the United States should be “a wake-up call” for the government, according to a group campaigning to help thousands of stranded Australians.
- James Packer struck a deal with the New South Wales gambling regulator to reduce his influence over Crown Resorts. It may help the embattled group retain its Australian casino licences.
- The defence minister, Peter Dutton, said he had instructed the chief of navy not to hire any more dance troupes for official events after the uproar over a group of dancers who twerked at the launch of a warship.
Updated
The rugby league great Tommy Raudonikis was farewelled on Friday at a livestreamed funeral mass on the Gold Coast
The 70-year-old, who died of cancer last week, was remembered as the game’s greatest character and competitor.
Shortly after Raudonikis died, the veteran coach Wayne Bennett had ruefully pondered whether the afterlife would be ready for him.
“But they’ll have to handle him,” Bennett joked.
AAP reports that on Friday, at Sacred Heart Catholic church, Dennis Watt made it clear in his eulogy that while Raudonikis “at times was a naughty boy”, he belongs with the angels.
The Gold Coast Titans chairman quoted John 15:13, one of the Bible’s best-known passages. Watt said:
‘Greater love have no one than this, to lay down one’s life for his friends.’
Tommy was such a man, whether on the football field or in life ... he was the bright light helping you through the darkness.
Raudonikis’s son Lincoln fought back tears as he also paid tribute.
“You all knew Dad as an icon, but we knew him as Dad,” he said.
Fellow league luminaries Allan Langer and Wally Lewis and swimming icon Dawn Fraser were among the mourners at the service.
Watt wryly noted that the demographics of the congregation reflected the man they were mourning.
“Rarely has there been a richer collection of achievers, rugby league royalty, larrikins, colourful characters and persons of interest, all in this room,” he said.
Watt also remembered the first and last boxing event at the Sydney Opera House, which Raudonikis helped promote.
It descended into a riot.
“For the first time in his life, mindful that he’d have to pick up the damages, Tommy actually tried to stop the brawl – usually he was starting them,” Watt said.
But the battler who epitomised rugby league’s “fibros v silvertails” ethos also had a great heart, once visiting a friend who was struggling in a hospital spinal unit.
Watt said after lifting the spirits of his friend, Raudonikis “then proceeds to spend time with every one of the other 42 patients ... a wave of laughter and pure joy just follows him around the ward and they talk about him for days.
“That’s Tommy.”
Calling Raudonikis “the toughest No 7 of the them all”, Watt said he died peacefully, in the arms of his wife Trish Brown.
The larger-than-life ex-Western Suburbs and Newtown legend lost his long battle with cancer last Wednesday, prompting an outpouring of grief in the rugby league community.
Raudonikis played 201 first grade games for the Magpies across 11 seasons, nine of them as club captain, before joining Newtown in 1980, playing 37 games over three seasons – including the 1981 grand final as captain.
A tough halfback, Raudonikis represented New South Wales on 24 occasions and played 29 times for Australia in Tests and World Cup matches – twice as captain.
His coaching career featured two years in charge of the NSW State of Origin team.
On Monday, the public will pay respect to the man known as Tom Terrific during a memorial service at the SCG.
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That’s all from Scott Morrison.
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Morrison is asked about his proposal to open international travel and allow Australians to quarantine at home once they’ve been vaccinated. We heard earlier from the chief medical officer, Paul Kelly, that health authorities will be addressing national cabinet on this issue next month.
Morrison says he sees it as “the next sensible step” but notes the states will also “have to sign off on those arrangements”.
That’s next step but we have been guided by the medical advice and that is the question we put, so let’s wait for the medical advice before we can set any timetables.
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Morrison is asked whether the scheduled mandatory superannuation increase will go ahead as it is currently planned to. He, uh, doesn’t answer the question at all:
The budget is in May.
Morrison is asked about the 48-year-old woman who died after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine.
The question is a bit presumptuous – presuming the two things are linked – and Morrison rightly points out we don’t know whether the two things are related yet and urging people not to “jump to conclusions”.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration is considering this now, the chief medical officer has made some comments on this. When you have people who have comorbidities and other issues ... to jump to any conclusion about those, it would be unwise and potentially be quite unhelpful. We just wait for the facts and the advice in this situation.
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Forgive the long pauses ... we’re getting a lot of hyper-local Kalbarri questions.
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There’s been a few other talking heads but Western Australia’s Fire and Emergency Services commissioner, Darren Klemm, has given some more detail about the devastation in Kalbarri.
He says 32 buildings were lost in the town, 23 of those residential homes. Some 875 have received some form of damage. He says 15 emergency services teams are coming from the eastern states to help with the cleanup, while the Australian Defence Force is already on site.
So they’ll be out on what is 35,000 sq km of affected area from this particular cyclone.
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'Miracle' no lives lost in Cyclone Seroja: Morrison
Morrison says it is a “miracle” no lives were lost in the cyclone, and pays tribute to evacuation efforts.
I was also incredibly impressed by the work that has been done to prepare this district for the ferocious cyclone that was coming. Some 7,000 [people] ... who were in this town before that cyclone hit and the commander of the local SES made sure that people got out. That clearly saved lives. That quick thinking, that experience that was needed in that moment, the work that was done as a community to get people to safety was extraordinary and we are now in the position where the injuries here are minor, substantially, and there has certainly been no loss of life and that is, indeed, a miracle, given what we’ve seen happen as a result of this terrible cyclone.
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Morrison, who has been touring the cyclone-ravaged town, is paying tribute to volunteers, including locals who have also been devastated by the storm.
Meeting some of those volunteers today, they themselves have had their homes and their businesses destroyed, but there they are, supporting, once again, as we’ve seen on so many occasions, supporting their fellow Australians, even though they themselves have suffered considerable loss. My message to the people of Kalbarri today is that Australia is standing with you, as Australia has stood with all of those Australians who have faced such terrible natural disasters.
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Scott Morrison is now speaking in Kalbarri, Western Australia.
“We’ve seen too many disasters in this country in recent years,” he says.
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AAP reports that an elderly Sydney barrister who described his sexual harassment of a young female solicitor as “attempted chivalry” has been ordered to have at least eight hours of counselling.
After the junior solicitor started crying, David Raphael placed his arm on her shoulder, kissed the top of her head and said “don’t worry you poor thing”.
Raphael, who was admitted as a solicitor in 1965 and has practised as a barrister since 1995, admitted sexually harassing the solicitor in a conference room in the NSW supreme court in 2017.
After referring to her wedding ring, the then 78-year-old said: “Won’t your husband get jealous because we are spending so much time together? He will think something is going on.”
The Civil and Administrative Tribunal on Friday reprimanded the barrister, finding he engaged in unsatisfactory professional conduct by putting his arm on her shoulder and kissing her head.
Rather than the one hour suggested by Raphael, the tribunal ordered he undergo a combination of education and counselling for at least eight hours to address his harassing behaviour.
“It was an unwelcome act of physical intimacy,” the tribunal said.
“Having regard to all the circumstances, a reasonable person would have anticipated that Ms X would be offended, humiliated and intimidated by the conduct.”
The lawyers, who had never previously met, appeared in a case before a registrar and went to the conference room to discuss a timetable, before going back into court.
The registrar wanted further information, so the solicitor returned to the conference room alone with the door closed before Raphael came in and made the husband comment.
In his affidavit, the barrister characterised his conduct as “attempted chivalry” and said he “did not consider at the time that there was the slightest sexual aspect” to what he said and did.
As a “78-year-old grandfather”, he said his comment “could not have been taken seriously”.
But on reflection, he characterised the events as a “misguided attempt … to console a younger female solicitor” and to try to help her, before he accepted the physical touching was “wholly inappropriate”.
The tribunal said his original comments show his complete lack of understanding of the nature and potential effect of his conduct at the time.
“While Mr Raphael now admits that the conduct constitutes sexual harassment, it is significant that he came to this realisation so late in the day.”
Character references showed he “enjoys a reputation for generosity and kindness”, but some referees also mentioned he had previously made inappropriate remarks.
The tribunal accepted he didn’t intend to distress, upset, humiliate or embarrass the solicitor.
But his lack of understanding of the potential impact of his behaviour was of considerable concern.
“Despite extensive media coverage about sexual harassment in the legal profession and being spoken to by colleagues about remarks he has made, Mr Raphael has only belatedly acknowledged the unacceptable nature of his behaviour.”
He needed to understand that “this kind of conduct is not perceived by the vast majority of women as being comforting, chivalrous or even vaguely humorous,” the tribunal said.
“Sexual harassment of this kind has the potential to adversely affect a victim’s mental health and to dissuade her from continuing a career in the law.”
Updated
Multiple people have been shot at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis
Some breaking news from the US:
Multiple people have been shot at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis and the suspected gunman killed himself, police have said. Officers have confirmed multiple people were shot but did not give a specific number.
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While we wait for Scott Morrison – who I’m told is still giving a press conference – here’s what the deputy prime minister, Michael McCormack, said earlier today when asked whether Australian athletes should be able to receive their vaccination earlier in order to take part in the Tokyo Olympics:
Well, again, I say [throughout] the vaccination program, we’ve taken the advice of the medical experts. That’s what we’ve done the whole way through. We don’t want our athletes going overseas and being placed at risk and I’m sure that the Olympic officials don’t want that either. So we’ll take the best possible medical advice. Yes, whatever the case might be, as far as athletes perhaps being put further up in the queue than some Australians, you’ll always be able to find an Australian who feels they should have received that jab first and foremost. So we’ll work through the best possible medical advice as the vaccination program rolls out.
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Next week’s restoration of pre-Covid travel between Australia and New Zealand has been labelled “Monumental Monday” as airlines, airports and travellers gear up for the trans-Tasman bubble.
“It’s day one of our revival,” the Air New Zealand chief executive, Greg Foran, said.
AAP reports that Air New Zealand is running 30 flights across the Tasman on Monday, carrying more than 5,000 people.
Qantas has scheduled 25 flights, with another four from Jetstar, following the New Zealand government’s lifting of quarantine restrictions for Australian travellers.
Virgin Australia has opted against resuming trans-Tasman travel for the next five months, citing the uncertainty of future Covid outbreaks that will mean flight cancellations on short notice.
For Air New Zealand, the chance to return to the skies for their most important international routes is a blessed relief.
The national carrier has operated a largely domestic network for the past year, laying off thousands of workers as it adjusted to life in a pandemic.
Last week it announced an extension of a loan facility with the NZ government to $NZ1.5bn ($A1.39bn), and a deferring of a planned capital-raising program.
Foran, who joined Air NZ in February last year on the eve of border closures, is eyeing Monday as a reset.
“The accumulation of the opening of the trans-Tasman bubble and the start of the Kiwi school holidays has created a real sense of momentum and energy,” the American said.
Air New Zealand’s 30 flights on Monday will scale up to more than 300 a week within three months.
That includes a new Auckland-Hobart route, returning international flights to Tasmania for the first time in almost three decades.
Auckland and Wellington airports are throwing welcoming parties for their first trans-Tasman arrivals on Monday.
The first quarantine-free flight to land in Aotearoa will be a Jetstar service from Sydney, landing before lunchtime in Auckland.
The restoration of flights has an unfortunate consequence for some Kiwis.
The beginning of quarantine-free, or “green zone”, flights from Australia has led to the end of quarantine “red zone” flights across the Tasman.
That means Kiwis further abroad have fewer options to get home, need to transit through Doha, Dubai or Singapore or get special approval to complete quarantine in Australia.
A New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson told news outlet Stuff the government was working with Australian counterparts “to find a possible solution”.
Updated
That’s all from the chief medical officer, Paul Kelly.
Updated
Kelly is talking about the risk of opening up Australia to international travel. He says health authorities have been asked to brief national cabinet in May about the risks associated with opening borders. Here’s what he had to say:
Any change in the way that we deal with people coming across our border ... increases the risk of incursion of cases into the Australian population and so they are important and difficult decisions to make. One of the key elements will be the rollout of the vaccination in Australia, there’s no question. We are currently very vulnerable, because essentially we’re completely open and all of those Covid-safe measures that have been in place for almost a year now, almost all of those have been removed because we’re able to do that. But it does increase the opportunity for the virus to circulate. At the moment, only 5% or so of the adult population of Australia have been vaccinated, we need to continue to increase that and that will continue to increase the protection for Australians.
Updated
Kelly is asked about the suggestion I mentioned a little earlier that a third dose of Pfizer may be needed within 12 months. He’s asked whether Australia will need to consider ordering more doses of the virus.
He notes that he’s said before that it’s still early days in terms of knowing how long the vaccine effectiveness will last, and says it’s probably between 6-12 months before we will know whether boosters will be needed.
He calls the vaccines being rolled out “the first stage” and says it is likely there will be more in the future.
There are many unknowns at the moment in terms of the vaccine, one of them is about the duration of effectiveness.
Updated
Kelly says Australia has now delivered 1.42m vaccines nationally, but acknowledges there had been “some hesitancy” since the government’s advice for under-50s not to take the AstraZeneca jab.
Interestingly he says that is coming “particularly in the state-run clinics” that are mostly vaccinating healthcare workers. But he notes many of those people are under 50.
Updated
Kelly is going into some detail about the risk-reward scenario of the AstraZeneca vaccine. He essentially acknowledges that some Australians might not think it’s worth it given our low case numbers, but notes how rare the blood clot events are and also that it won’t be the case forever that Australia does not have Covid cases.
We will at some point in the future, we do not know when, but we will have cases here in Australia. The chances of being infected will increase, so being vaccinated is a protection not only for yourself, but also for the people you care for, if you’re working, for example, in an aged care home or a hospital, your family, and the wider community. That is why we have a vaccination program. And the benefits of being vaccinated outweigh the risk of these rare events.
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Expert group to examine death of 48-year-old woman after having AstraZeneca shot
He begins by addressing that story I mentioned earlier about the death of a 48-year-old diabetic woman who developed blood clots after receiving a coronavirus vaccine.
He notes there has been “a lot of discussion” and “speculation” about the woman’s death.
He says people (ie people like me in the media) should “be cautious about jumping to conclusions”.
Kelly says the TGA has convened a special expert group to examine the information we have about the case, which will meet at 4pm today.
He does confirm the woman had received the AstraZeneca vaccine a few days before falling ill.
Whether those two events are related is a matter for those experts that will be meeting today. And so I won’t go into further details about that particular case.
Updated
Paul Kelly is speaking now.
Just before Prof Kelly appears, my colleague Christopher Knaus has this excellent story about warnings from experts that suggestions a third dose of Pfizer may be needed within 12 months again show why Australia “urgently” needs to develop an onshore capability to manufacture mRNA vaccines.
The chief medical officer, Paul Kelly, is due to hold a press conference in about 10 minutes.
Let’s see if we hear anything more about the TGA’s investigation into the death of a 48-year-old diabetic woman who developed blood clots after receiving a coronavirus vaccine.
Looks like Paul Kelly is explaining why 50 is the magic age above which AstraZeneca is recommended and below which not. Based on risk of Covid outbreak equivalent to first wave. #auspol pic.twitter.com/bEcMWRC7FH
— Paul Karp (@Paul_Karp) April 16, 2021
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Rugby league world farewells Tommy Raudonikis
The funeral of rugby league legend Tommy Raudonikis was held at the Sacred Heart Catholic church on the Gold Coast today. The guests were a who’s who of the league world, including Allan Langer, Kevin Walters, Ben Ikin, Ken Arthurson and the media mogul John Singleton.
Also, that’s my Uncle Terry in the Victa jersey. Seriously.
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Here’s our full story, via my colleague Naaman Zhou, on that federal court ruling today, which found that Google “partially” misled Australian consumers about collecting their location data.
The court found Google continued to collect “Location History” and “Web & App Activity” on some Android and Pixel phones, even for customers who ticked “No” or “Do not collect” on their settings.
Sorry I got that wrong. Morrison’s press conference isn’t until about 4pm AEST. He’s currently in the Western Australian town of Kalbarri, which was recently devastated by Cyclone Seroja.
Scott Morrison will hold a press conference in about 10 minutes.
James Packer company strikes deal with NSW gambling authority over Barangaroo
James Packer’s private investment vehicle, Consolidated Press Holdings (CPH), has struck a deal with the NSW casino regulator to reduce the influence it can have over Crown Resorts.
The agreement comes after an inquiry, run for the NSW Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority (ILGA) by former judge Patricia Bergin, raised concerns about Packer’s influence over Crown.
Bergin made findings including that Crown Resorts facilitated money laundering and that junket operators who brought high-rollers to the group’s casinos were linked to organised crime.
She said the company was not fit to run a new casino at Barangaroo, on Sydney harbour, but set out a pathway for it to become a suitable operator.
In a statement, the ILGA said that key undertakings made by CPH included:
- Not entering into any information-sharing arrangements with Crown.
- Not initiating any discussions with Crown, other than through public forums, about Crown’s businesses or operations.
- Not seeking to have its executive or nominee appointed to Crown’s board, or requisition a meeting of Crown shareholders to seek the appointment of any person as a director of Crown, before October 2024.
- Not seeking any amendment to the Crown constitution which would affect the management or operation of Crown’s businesses.
The ILGA said it expected to reach a final agreement “in an enforceable legal document between CPH and the authority”.
Updated
AAP was there to catch the prime minister, Scott Morrison, and Fortescue Metals chairman, Andrew Forrest, performing a weird exercise dance ... thing ... at the Christmas Creek mine site in the Pilbara, Western Australia this morning.
News.com.au has video of the performance, which took place to the tune of Working Class Man. They’ve compared it to the warship twerking scandal ... scandal (?), which is a little unfair. They are clearly squatting.
Honestly I love this country so much. I’m shouting Dudes Rock over and over as I type this.
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Yesterday I told you about a siege that was unfolding in Sydney’s western suburbs.
In the past hour the New South Wales police have issued a statement revealing a man will face court today after being charged with using an offensive weapon to prevent lawful detention and two counts of failing to comply with an interim supervision order.
Police say that just after 1pm yesterday officers from the State Crime Command’s Child Abuse and Sex Crimes Squad attended a home on Denison Street, Carramar to conduct a check on a 35-year-old man.
Police allege they were threatened by the man, before he armed himself with knives.
Additional officers attached to Fairfield City Police Area Command attended the scene, and police allege they were also threatened by the man, now armed with a machete, before he entered a unit.
A 22-year-old woman, known to him, was also inside the unit.
Police said:
A perimeter was established, and specialist police units were deployed to the scene.
About 9.45pm, specialist police entered the premises and deployed a taser before the man was arrested.
He was taken to Fairfield Police Station before being transferred to hospital with minor injuries.
Upon release from hospital, the man was returned to Fairfield Police Station and charged with use offensive weapon to prevent lawful detention and two counts of fail to comply with extended/interim supervision order.
The man was refused bail to appear at Fairfield Local Court today (Friday 16 April 2021).
The woman inside the unit at the time was uninjured and assessed by NSW Ambulance paramedics at the scene.
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What’s this? A culture wars beat-up? In Australia? No!?
Amanda Meade’s latest Weekly Beast column is a cracker.
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Hello! It’s Friday afternoon, and you know what that means: nothing. Your employer expects you to work diligently through to the end of your shift. Keep toiling!
Some interesting news from this morning: The United Nations Human Rights Committee has ruled the Australian government must “facilitate and ensure” the prompt return of two overseas Australian men who argued the government had breached international law by imposing “arbitrary caps on international travel”.
The case, brought by the group FreeAndOpenAustralia.org along with the human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson QC, had argued Australia was in breach of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which states “no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of the right to enter his [or her] own country”.
It was brought as a test case by two Australian men who have been vaccinated and are willing to do 14 days quarantine. On Twitter, the barrister Lionel Nichols, who assisted on the case, said the UN had “accepted our submissions that the petitioners would suffer “irreparable harm” if not permitted to return home and ordered their “immediate repatriation to Australia”.
Deb Tellis, a spokeswoman for FreeAndOpenAustralia.org, said the decision was “an important victory for the rights of all Australian citizens”.
“Today’s decision by the UN is a wakeup call to the government.
“It must allow [the two men] Alex and Jason to come home and enable all others in their position to come home as well. It must use its power to expand quarantine facilities, and end travel caps that are being dictated by the states. There are thousands of our fellow citizens suffering loss of their relatives and loss of their jobs. By not caring about them, Mr Morrison and his ministers are not only acting cruelly, but unlawfully.
There are still about 34,500 people registered with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade as wanting to return to Australia. About 5,000 of them are classified by the Australian government as vulnerable.
The #UnitedNations Human Rights Committee has today ruled that Australia “facilitate and ensure” the return of #strandedaussies. We will keep fighting until these travel restrictions are lifted and their #HumanRights are respected. https://t.co/ev3CbwR1dm
— Lionel Nichols (@LionelNichols) April 15, 2021
Just heard from @RobertsonQC the UN has granted the request for interim measures in the application from Aus citizens stranded overseas. Aus has been directed to facilitate and ensure the authors prompt return to Aus while their case is pending before the Committee. #auspol
— Kim Rubenstein (@Rubenstein_Kim1) April 15, 2021
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With that, I shall depart for the day! But don’t worry, Michael McGowan is here to see off the week with you.
Look, it’s now Friday afternoon, so I couldn’t blame you if you were seriously considering giving up on work for the week right about now.
If that’s where you are at, can I recommend this long read from Sirin Kale?
In 2019, the body of a man fell from a passenger plane into a garden in south London. But who was he?
Drug kingpin Tony Mokbel has been ordered to face a fresh trial on drug charges pre-dating his escape to Greece in a decision that split Victoria’s Court of Appeal, reports Karen Sweeney from AAP.
Mokbel was hiding out in Bonnie Doon in March 2006, ahead of his infamous fugitive stint, when he was convicted of importing two kilograms of cocaine from Mexico.
His conviction was overturned by three appeal judges in December, after they found there had been a miscarriage of justice caused by his barrister, gangland lawyer and police informer, Nicola Gobbo.
In a 2-1 split decision on Friday, Justices David Beach and Robert Osborn said Mokbel should face a new trial.
But after the conviction was overturned in December, crown prosecutor Rowena Orr said no new trial would be held, regardless of what the court was to decide.
Mokbel was sentenced to 12 years behind and ordered to serve at least nine, a sentence that began after his capture in Athens in 2008. He had served the full sentence by the time of his appeal.
The judges said they had that in mind in making their decision, but determined the practical futility would not be an overriding factor.
In the present case we have determined that it is not appropriate to order an acquittal.
Court of Appeal President Chris Maxwell was the only dissenting voice in the case, favouring acquittal.
The fact Mokbel had served his entire sentence was his most significant consideration, and the ultimate conclusion was reinforced by the decision of prosecutors not to proceed with a fresh trial, he said.
Mokbel still has another appeal case underway linked to Ms Gobbo’s informing, which prompted a nearly two-year, multi-million dollar royal commission into Victoria Police’s use of informers.
Justice Maxwell said in February that Mokbel’s appeal and seven others involving Ms Gobbo were being treated as a “top priority” by the court.
Mokbel’s other appeal could be heard as early as July.
OK, in case you were wondering what Scott Morrison has been up to in Western Australia today, here is the rundown.
In the morning, he spoke at a business breakfast in the mining epicentre of Karratha in the state’s Pilbara region, visited an ammonia plant and headed to Kalbarri to inspect the widespread damage inflicted by Tropical Cyclone Seroja.
As the government deals with the fall out of Seroja, which occurred alarmingly far south for a tropical cyclone, Morrison admitted natural disasters have tested the nation’s resilience and flagged new measures to combat climate change in next month’s federal budget.
We have gone through a period in this country where the resilience has been tested.
And a key focus of the government, and you’ll see more of this in the budget and announcements in the weeks ahead, it’s about addressing all of those practical issues.
There are things we can and must do to address Australia’s climate challenges.
But he made a point to say reducing emissions could not come at the expense of the resources industry, which he and the government hail as the backbone of the national economy.
Oh, and who could forget, Morrison also attended the morning shift changeover at a Fortescue Metals Group ore processing plant this morning and was invited by CEO Andrew Forrest to join in with daily stretching exercises to the strains of Jimmy Barnes’ Working Class Man.
Very on the nose.
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Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has been asked about Scott Morrison’s proposal that vaccinated Australians could soon be allowed to travel overseas for essential reasons and return without needing to quarantine, or quarantining at home.
The idea has faced significant criticism this morning given how slow Australia’s vaccine rollout is progressing.
Frydenberg said the plan would be based on medical advice:
The prime minister made very clear we would obviously follow the medical advice but he was also presenting the opportunity that arrives, when we do roll out that vaccine more broadly, not just here in Australia but also around the world, our desire is to get the vaccine to as many people as quickly as possible.
We’ve obviously followed the medical advice with respect to the cautious that we have provided Australians with the AstraZeneca vaccine and those who are under the age of 50.
We will always follow the medical advice. That is something we’ve done consistently through this process.
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Oh and no new local cases in NSW!
NSW recorded no new locally acquired cases of #COVID19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) April 16, 2021
Seven new cases were acquired overseas, bringing the total number of cases in NSW since the beginning of the pandemic to 5,174.
There were 10,415 tests reported to 8pm last night. pic.twitter.com/Jcyre9FXFH
No locally acquired cases in Queensland today.
(Personally I miss the maroon Palaszczuk version, which was missing this morning.)
Queensland #COVID19 update 16/04/21
— Queensland Health (@qldhealthnews) April 16, 2021
Queensland has recorded 5 new cases of COVID-19 today.
All these cases were acquired overseas and detected in hotel quarantine. pic.twitter.com/ZAfwvonDoM
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Sims:
Google’s business model is to collect as much data ... as it possibly can and then uses that in advertising to make money.
It makes an enormous amount of money, it has gone from nothing to being a one trillion-dollar company in a very short period of time. The concern is that consumers, what they know, what they want to be able to do, and whether or not they are misled.
This is the same issue about any consumer purchase. If you buy any good, you want a good understanding, or service, of what you are actually letting yourself in for. You have to make informed decisions, and as I say some people, a good number of people, are very concerned about whether where they go and when they go is collected, that information is collected and stored, many consumers do not want that to happen as part of using the Google server.
Then find out that they were misled, and it was happening when they signed on, in their mind on the basis that it was not happening, but to us is extremely serious.
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Sims has been asked why Google collection location data in this way could be problematic:
The concern is that if the consumer wanted to stop Google being able to get their personally identifiable location data, not just as it happens, but store it and keep it, that they may have been misled into how they [could stop that from happening].
These issues are really personal ones for the consumer. Some consumers just do not care whether the platforms and others know exactly what they’re doing and when they are doing it, others care a lot. They care about whether they might be tracked going to a doctor, they care about whether there might be tracked going to all sorts of places, for all sorts of reasons.
When consumers take steps to stop Google collecting and storing the location data, they should not be misled into what they actually have to do to achieve that outcome.
Naaman reported before that the ACCC has found Google to have “partially” misled Australian consumers about collecting their location data, according to a federal court ruling handed down on Friday.
The ACCC chairman, Rod Sims, is holding a press conference now:
This is the first ruling of its type in the world in relation to these location data issues, it is also the first result we have had of a series of cases in relation to digital platforms, and so we are very happy to have come out with a very positive court result.
What the court found was that Google misled consumers into thinking that if they turned off location history, that that would stop Google storing and keeping, or collecting and keeping, their personal identifiable location data, when in fact that was not the case.
To stop Google collecting and keeping your personally identifiable location data, not only did you have to turn off location history, you had to turn off another setting called Web & App Activity when you sign onto Google was automatically defaulted to on.
We think today’s results is a very clear message to the digital platforms that they have to be upfront with consumers about what is actually happening with our data, how it is being used, and how consumers can invite protect their data.
These are fundamental issues for Australians going forward in this future digital economy. Data issues are only going to be more important, it is crucial there for we get some court rulings in relation to what platforms can cannot do, again, that is why we’re so pleased with today’s outcome.
Updated
A drought resilience hub will be established in South Australia to research and improve drought preparedness on local farms, reports Tim Dornin from AAP.
The SA centre will be one of eight across the country to support the testing and scaling up of new solutions to combat seriously dry conditions.
It brings together 59 grower groups, the three SA-based universities, government agencies, indigenous partners, agribusinesses and industry organisations.
“The partners provide an extensive regional coverage of the state and bring together a diverse range of skillsets, perspectives and resources,” University of Adelaide lecturer Rhiannon Schilling said.
Their significant support underlines the need for industry to work together towards a common goal of building future drought resilience in agriculture.
In 2020, about 70 per cent of the state and more than 4500 farming properties were affected by drought.
The SA Drought Hub will receive $8 million of funding over four years from the Australian government’s Future Drought Fund, with an additional $11.47 million coming from the hub’s partners.
A core site at the University of Adelaide’s Roseworthy campus will be complemented by five nodes throughout regional South Australia at Minnipa, Port Augusta, Orroroo, Loxton and Struan.
Didn’t we learn our lesson about governmental booty-shaking yesterday?
"It's a bit different to a barre class" - Scott Morrison during morning exercises in WA. @10NewsFirst pic.twitter.com/M1EqLagreU
— Chloe Bouras (@ChloeBouras) April 16, 2021
Updated
The Bundaberg-based company that sits atop failed global finance group Greensill has debts totalling almost $4.9bn and should be liquidated, its administrator has told creditors.
Hundreds of millions of dollars of transactions with Peter Greensill, the brother of Greensill founder Lex Greensill, also require further investigation, administrators Matthew Byrnes, Philip Campbell-Wilson and Michael McCann of accounting firm Grant Thornton said in a report to Greensill Capital creditors.
Greensill was a major source of funding for the business empire of British entrepreneur Sanjeev Gupta, and its collapse has thrown the future of his businesses, including the Whyalla steelworks in South Australia, into doubt.
The administrators said former staff of the Bundaberg company, Greensill Capital, are likely to receive all their entitlements.
You can read the full report below:
The Queensland deputy premier is speaking now. So far it’s just local state issues but I’ll update you if he talks about international travel.
The federal government has extended the areas in Western Australia eligible for relief payments after tropical cyclone Seroja tore through coastal regions of the state.
Residents in the local government areas of Carnamah, Chapman Valley, Greater Geraldton, Mingenew, Morawa, Perenjri and Three Springs are now also eligible for the $1,000 payments for adults and $400 payment for children.
Media release: Australian Government assistance for Tropical Cyclone #Seroja extended pic.twitter.com/SXZn6Z6Qy5
— David Littleproud (@D_LittleproudMP) April 16, 2021
The ABC previously reported on a a family whose homes were drastically damaged by the cyclone being told they were not eligible for relief payments because they did not live in the Shire of Northampton.
Updated
50th greyhound dies on Australia race tracks in 2021
50 greyhounds have died on Australian racing tracks so far this year, nearly a 50% increase in fatalities from 2020, according to data collected by the Coalition for the Protection of Greyhounds.
According to the organisation, the latest dog to die was two year old “Pretty Smart”, who was euthanised on Wednesday after fracturing their femur after falling at a track’s turn.
They were one of 23 greyhounds killed in NSW this year, the highest fatality rate of any state.
The CPG say “oval tracks and races with too many dogs,” are likely to blame:
Three of the four deadliest racetracks in 2021 are in NSW. Maitland, Richmond, and Wagga Wagga have recorded three deaths each, as has Albion Park in Queensland.
The CPG also recorded 2,888 injuries to greyhounds this year. Victoria recording 1032 and NSW 828.
The coalitions National president Dennis Anderson said greyhound racing was “incompatible with animal welfare.”.
2021 has been a horrific year for greyhounds, marked by an alarming rise in deaths on NSW racetracks.
Greyhound racing is incompatible with animal welfare. Death and injury is inevitable whenever greyhounds race and no dog should die for the gambling industry,” he said.
Analysis of stewards’ reports shows the deadliest elements of greyhound racing are oval tracks and the number of dogs in a race.
Most greyhounds die after being fatally injured at track turns, in races with seven or eight dogs.
According to the organisation data out of the death so far this year 77.5% were sustained at track turns, and 69 percent% occurred in races of seven or eight dogs.
66% of the dog were less than three years old.
The only way to stop the suffering of greyhounds is to ban greyhound racing. Until that happens, the industry should act on what its own research recommended in 2017, that straight tracks and six-dog races are safer alternatives.
Updated
Google has been found to have “partially” misled Australian consumers about collecting their data, according to a federal court ruling handed down today.
The court found that Google continued to collect “Location History” and “Web & App Activity” on some Android and Pixel phones, even for customers who ticked “No” or “Do not collect” on their settings.
The action was brought by the consumer rights watchdog, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. The ACCC alleged that Google breached the consumer law.
If a customer said no to “Location History”, but left “Web & App Activity’ switched on, Google still continued to collect location data, the ACCC said. In a judgment published today, Justice Thomas Thawley said that this was “partially” misleading.
Thawley said that some consumers would have been mislead, and reasonably believed this data would not be collected, and others would not have.
He said:
The ACCC submitted that the first representation was misleading because if the Web & AppActivity setting was turned “on”, Google continued to collect and store such data. I accept this submission.
In my view, the class included users who, acting reasonably, who would have formed the view,from what was stated and by the absence of any specific reference to location, that having Web & App Activity turned “on” did not enable Google to obtain, retain and use location data.
The ACCC has established breaches or contraventions of ss 18, 29(1)(g) and 34 of the ACL to the extent indicated above. The parties should confer with a view to agreeing orders to reflect the conclusions reached and agreeing the appropriate further steps.
For the reasons which follow, I have concluded that the ACCC’s case under s 18 of the ACL is partially made out in respect of each of the three scenarios. Google’s conduct would not have misled all reasonable users in the classes identified; but Google’s conduct misled or was likely to mislead some reasonable users within the particular classes identified.
The number or proportion of reasonable users who were misled, or were likely to have been misled, does not matter for the purposes of establishing contraventions.
Updated
Yesterday the Australian fashion industry paid tribute to the life of industry icon Carla Zampatti at her, extremely fashionable, state funeral.
Georgina Safe has written a beautiful piece about the ceremony:
The beauty and majesty of St Mary’s Cathedral was an apt backdrop for the state funeral of Carla Zampatti, the grande dame of Australian fashion.
“It could be said that Carla Zampatti was indeed a reigning monarch, the queen of fashion,” said Archbishop Anthony Fisher. “I suspect the angels are about to get new uniforms.”
On this earth, the sight of 1,200 monochrome and immaculately tailored mourners would doubtless have pleased Zampatti, who dressed Australian women in her effortlessly sophisticated designs for more than half a century.
You can read the full story, and see all the photos below:
Hmmm, no Queensland Covid-19 numbers today as of yet. Expecting to hear from the deputy premier in about 15 minutes, so perhaps they are just holding off for that.
Be right back...
I’m ducking away from the blog for a second, but never fear Astro has you covered. pic.twitter.com/ioWShkDSEY
— Matilda Boseley (@MatildaBoseley) April 16, 2021
(Yes I’m making this joke for the second day in a row. Also, context for the Carlton mug in this story.)
Updated
Berejiklian backs PM's idea for quarantine-free travel
The New South Wales premier, Gladys Berejiklian, has backed Scott Morrison’s proposal for quarantine-free travel, but warned it will depend on getting the population vaccinated.
Earlier, Berejiklian told Channel Nine’s Today program:
Look, I think that is a great suggestion but it does rely on us having the vaccinated population. These are the kind of issues we will be able to look at, we will be able to think about once we will be able to think about once we know that the majority of our population has the vaccine. Once you have the vaccine, it vastly reduces your chance of getting the disease, vastly reduces your chance of spreading it and, even if you do get it, it doesn’t mean you will have it severely. This is why the vaccine is so important. It will change the way we are living. It will be much more normal than we have experienced in quite a significant period of time and we don’t know how long Covid is going to hang around for. So the earlier we get our population vaccinated in a safe way the better we have those opportunities for travel and everything else.
The finance minister, Simon Birmingham, told Sky News that reopening travel will depend on whether Covid-19 vaccines reduce transmission.
Birmingham said vaccines prevent people getting sick from Covid, but there is medical research underway to determine if they “could still get Covid ... and could pass it on to someone who is not vaccinated”.
That will determine the rate at which we can reopen different parts of society including the international border.
Updated
The federal treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, has been another politician making the rounds this morning.
He has been telling various media outlets that he is confident Australia has bounced back from the coronavirus recession but conceded there could still be some “choppy” jobs figures ahead.
Yesterday we found out unemployment has fallen for the sixth month in a row and now sits at 5.6%. The jobs market is also growing much faster than anticipated with more than 70,000 jobs created in March.
But these numbers do not yet show the effects of the end of jobkeeper on the labour market. More than 1 million people were estimated to still be on jobkeeper in the first three months of the year, and Treasury estimated many as 150,000 could have lost their job when the program ended.
But, on Sunrise, Frydenberg seemed pretty optimistic:
Australia has come so far from the depths of the crisis when we were standing on the edge of the economic abyss.
There is a long way to go, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
The treasurer acknowledged unemployment was likely to increase following the demise of jobkeeper, but downplayed the longer-term impacts.
Even if you see a bit of choppiness around the numbers over the next month or two, it is Treasury and the Reserve Bank of Australia’s expectation that the unemployment rate will trend down over the course of the year, even after the end of jobkeeper.
Updated
Speaking of Queensland, premier Annastacia Palaszczuk will not face an ethics committee grilling over her controversial private emails, reports Marty Silk from AAP.
State speaker of the house Curtis Pitt knocked back the opposition’s bid to refer the premier to the committee over allegations she misled parliament about the emails back in early 2017.
Palaszczuk told the House on that day she had not used her private email account for official purposes, but in one of her emails publicly released, current transport minister Mark Bailey asked her about Paul Simshauser’s political leanings before his appointment as director-general of energy and water in 2015.
The Crime and Corruption Commission, and the former state archivist Mike Summerell, have said her private emails should be retained as official records.
Opposition integrity spokeswoman Fiona Simpson applied to have Palaszczuk referred to the Ethics Committee over her comments in parliament.
However, speaker (and Labor MP) Curtis Pitt denied Simpson’s request, calling it a “question of semantics”.
In his ruling tabled in parliament, he said the email contents could be classified as being for “official purposes” just as easily as for “party political activity”.
This is a question of semantics which comes down to the subjective and personal classification of what the person answering the question at the time might constitute official purposes.
I find that the premier has made an adequate explanation in that at the time the question was asked she did not consider her prior use of her private e-mail accounts as for official purposes but rather that they relate to party political activity.
Therefore, I will not be referring the matter for the further consideration of the House via the ethics committee.
Updated
We are expecting the Queensland deputy premier, Steven Miles, to speak to the media at 10.30am (East coast time).
He’s expected to respond to the PM’s suggestion vaccinated people could have quarantine free travel, even if this results in an increase in Covid cases.
Updated
Oh did we mentioned where Albanese decided to make Labor’s candidate announcement?
Anthony Albanese is announcing Labor’s candidate for the QLD seat of Bowman (Andrew Laming’s electorate) outside Andrew Laming’s electorate office in Brisbane this morning.
— Josh Butler (@JoshButler) April 15, 2021
Very petty, very hilarious.
Labor announces challenger for Laming's federal seat
More on the opposition leader’s press tour this morning:
Labor leader Anthony Albanese has announced that Labor’s candidate for the seat of Bowman will be Indigenous health advocate Donisha Duff.
Bowman, centred on the Redlands, is a tough ask for Labor requiring a 10% swing to win, although embattled Liberal MP Andrew Laming has been disendorsed after a string of online harassment incidents, which should open the contest up a little. Albanese told ABC Brisbane it was “pretty embarrassing” that Laming remains in the parliament. He said Duff will be a “great candidate” and has lived in the Redlands for 30 years.
Asked about empathy training, Albanese said:
They shouldn’t be in parliament if they do [need empathy training], frankly. The idea you can represent a community for that long and not have empathy and need training – of course the prime minister got empathy training for the federal government during this term as well – I just shake my head. To me, the whole reason you go into politics is because you care about people: you care about your neighbours, you care about your local community, and you care about your nation. This bloke has basically harassed people online, his own constituents.
Laming has apologised for his communication style but claimed he was simply asking hard questions and his opponents have “reinvented” this behaviour as harassment.
On Thursday, Albanese announced that Gladstone mayor Matt Burnett will be Labor’s candidate in Flynn. Albanese predicted the next election will be in March 2022 – so they’re certainly getting the candidates in early.
Updated
Opposition leader Anthony Albanese is speaking from Queensland now and I’ll give you three guess what his chatting about.
Could it possibly be slamming the federal government’s vaccine rollout? Yes. Yes, it could.
This is a government that has reached the end of its period. The fact is that they are out of idea, out of time and at the next election they should be out of office.
And Queensland had been taken for granted by this government. it is obvious that Scott Morrison’s priority is the 24-hour management of political cycle, not the long-term future for Queensland.
Scott Morrison said Australians would be home by Christmas. That’s Christmas 2020. There are more than 40,000 Australians still stranded overseas.
The Queensland government have put forward practical suggestions for quarantining. The Northern Territory government was saying almost a year ago that Howard Springs could be opened up for many more people. We should have had Queenslanders and Australians home by now.
Updated
Now I got sidelined with more twerking news earlier this morning but I reckon it’s worth going back to bring you this exchange between employment minister Stuart Robert and ABC News breakfast host Michael Rowland.
They are discussing former Australia Post CEO chief executive Christine Holgate.
Rowland:
You more than most would sympathise with Christine Holgate. You were mired in your very own watch scandal some years ago.
You were forced to return a very expensive Rolex you were given by a Chinese billionaire. You kept your job. Christine Holgate didn’t. Can you see why some people would see double standards are at play here?
Robert:
I can see why your facts are wrong for a start.
We were given watches we thought were fakes. We got them valued, found they were real. Returned them. Voluntarily. And then a number of years later the story hit the media.
So, let’s start with facts first. We did what we’d expect everyone to do in those circumstances – which was the right thing.
Rowland:
Should you have taken the watches in the first place from the Chinese businessman?
Robert:
We thought they were fakes. We politely thanked them very much. We got them valued and we returned them.
Rowland:
In 2018 you were forced to repay $38,000 to the government after excess internet bills at your home.
Clearly, somebody in the finance department thought, gee, that wasn’t a great use of taxpayers money.
You kept your job, Christine Holgate didn’t. Double standards at play?
Robert:
The finance department set up that process because there was no connectivity. I was the one that voluntarily repaid it based on something that was set up for me. Again, the circumstances are fundamentally different, Michael.
Rowland:
Does Christine Holgate deserve an apology?
Robert:
Again, Christine Holgate resigned*. She resigned from her post before an investigation was complete.
.@mjrowland68 asks @stuartrobertmp if he sympathises with Christine Holgate after he returned watches to Chinese billionaire years ago.@stuartrobertmp: "We were given watches, we thought were fakes. We got them valued, found they were real and returned them voluntarily." pic.twitter.com/dz1TUwnt1h
— News Breakfast (@BreakfastNews) April 15, 2021
*Holgate contests this. She says she was forced out.
Updated
Going back to the death of a woman in New South Wales.
Gladys Berejiklian has come out this morning to urge people not to jump to the assumption the blood clot-related death is linked to any Covid-19 vaccine.
Speaking on the Today show, she said the matter was very much still under investigation.
The vast majority of our citizens know the benefits of taking a vaccine, they also know the risks, as slight as it is.
I turned 50 last year and got the jab and am very excited to get the second one. The vast majority of our citizens want a vaccine, want to get ahead of it ... some of the things I hear about potential travel, that depends on us getting a safe vaccine.
It’s currently unconfirmed which vaccine the woman in her 40s received, and it’s not yet known if she even suffered from the specific and rare type of blood clots that are associated with the AstraZeneca jab.
Updated
The death of a baby girl found in a car on a Perth school ground by her distraught mother was a “terrible incident”, the institution’s principal says.
Emergency services were called to Kingsway Christian College at Darch, north of the city, about 5.40pm on Wednesday after the baby was found unresponsive, reports AAP.
The school’s principal Peter Burton released a statement:
Words cannot begin to express the depth of sadness we feel as a result of what, at this time, appears to be the accidental death ... of an 11-month-old child.
West Australian police commissioner Chris Dawson said the baby’s 39-year-old mother had been at the school to pick up or drop off another child.
Upon finding her baby in the car, the mother rushed her into the school but despite immediate care she could not be resuscitated.
The length of time the baby was in the car will form part of the police investigation Dawson said on Thursday.
It is a very tragic event and we will deal with it sensitively.
The baby’s mother has spoken with officers.
Updated
Anthony Albanese has been out and about everywhere on the radio this morning, but here is the main take away.
Asked how he lost weight, Anthony Albanese tells ABC Brisbane: "Don't eat the bread. Bob Carr used to say that when I worked for him - don't eat the bread."#auspol
— Paul Karp (@Paul_Karp) April 15, 2021
Updated
The outbreak of a war over Taiwan would be “disastrous” for the region, the chief of the Australian defence force has warned, as he indicated Australia would keep pushing for peaceful dialogue.
General Angus Campbell urged countries to “all work to avoid” conflict over the future of Taiwan, speaking just weeks after an American diplomat revealed the US and Australia were planning how to respond to military scenarios in the region.
Taiwan’s government said 25 Chinese military jets breached its defence zone on Monday in what amounted to the largest such incursion in a year, while China has cautioned what it considers independence forces against “playing with fire”.
A former defence minister, Christopher Pyne, told an audience in Adelaide this week Taiwan loomed as the “most likely next flashpoint in the region” and Australia could get dragged into a conflict. A war involving China, Pyne said, was “something that you and I may well have to confront in the next five to 10 years”.
You can read the full report below:
Mitchell! Why did you make me see this with my own two eyes!
Why are there so many fonts! Why are they all the default fonts you can choose on Instagram? Why so many clashing colours?
I need to pour myself another cup of coffee.
@MatildaBoseley sip? Or is this the equivalent of taking an (espresso) shot https://t.co/VQ3VdaWLFN
— Mitchell Crichton (@mj_crichton) April 15, 2021
I mean, look. Obviously, it isn’t viable for the ADF to keep hiring dance troupes after this weeks debacle, but I really hope “twerking is bad” is not the message we all take from this saga.
No more twerking at ADF events says Dutton
The defence minister, Peter Dutton, has instructed the chief of navy not to hire any more dance troupes for official events.
The 101 Doll Squadron on Sunday performed at the official commissioning ceremony for the HMAS Supply in Sydney.
The choice of dancers raised eyebrows after the group twerked and performed other moves in front of the naval ship, during what is usually a fairly solemn event.
Dutton was asked about the incident this morning on the Today show:
It wasn’t a good look, it’s not going to happen again.
Great man, the chief of navy, but I’ve made very clear that won’t be happening again.
The foreign minister, Marise Payne, also spoke about the dance troupe during her appearance on Sunrise this morning, saying they had been the victims of “extraordinary abuse”, after ABC issued an apology a news story that’s editing made it appear that the woman were performing for the government general, who actually arrived later.
I do think it’s important for that apology to have been issued, I acknowledge the ABC for doing that.
I also know that the group of performers who take great pride in what they do in the Woolloomooloo community have really been victims of extraordinary abuse as a result of this debate.
I think that goes a long way to the importance of the discussion we have about respect and how we deal with each other when we have a difference of opinion or a difference.
They are a Woolloomooloo community group, I know that they have strong support in the community, I know fleet based East, the location of the commissioning of HMAS supply has a good relationship right across the Woolloomooloo community and with its cultural organisations.
I am sure defence will look at the way they look at commissioning events and process and make sure that they are addressing any concerns that were raised, but I don’t want the participants in a performance group like that to have to endure the sorts of things that they have enjoyed in the last week, frankly.
"The group of performers who take great pride in what they do have really been victims of extraordinary abuse as a result of this debate"
— Sunrise (@sunriseon7) April 15, 2021
Foreign Minister @MarisePayne on the Navy ship twerking performance controversy. pic.twitter.com/l8p2PPCdkn
Updated
No new local Covid-19 cases in Victoria today. In fact, there were doughnuts all around, with no overseas acquired cases either.
Yesterday there were no new cases reported.
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) April 15, 2021
- 3,265 vaccine doses were administered
- 14,708 test results were received
Got symptoms? Get tested.
More later: https://t.co/2vKbgKHFvv#COVID19Vic #COVID19VicData pic.twitter.com/UGcRLjxzrw
The nurses’ union, the Queensland government, and the peak doctors’ body have warned the deployment of mass vaccination clinics will place strain on Australia’s immunisation workforce.
The federal government is considering whether to set up mass vaccination clinics, which have been deployed successfully in the United States and the UK, to help accelerate Australia’s much-criticised rollout.
Experts have broadly supported using mass vaccination clinics in tandem with general practitioners as an effective means of distribution.
The Australian Medical Association and experts have warned that without greater supply certainty, there is little point in establishing such clinics, though the federal government is not intending to do so until later in the year, when it has a larger volume of domestic AstraZeneca production and additional Pfizer imports.
You can read the full report below:
Russian govt undermines security: Payne
The Russian government is to blame for a cyberattack on US software firm SolarWinds, says Australia foreign minister Marise Payne.
According to a statement also signed by defence minister Peter Dutton and home affairs minister Karen Andrews, the Australian government “has determined that Russian state actors are actively exploiting SolarWinds and its supply chains.”
Over the past 12 months, Australia has witnessed Russia use malicious activity to undermine international stability, security and public safety. Australia condemns such behaviour.
This comes after the US government already pointed the finger a Russia’s foreign intelligence service, known as the SVR, for the SolarWinds hack last year.
The alleged cyber-espionage operation was carried out largely through a hack of widely used software from Texas-based SolarWinds Inc and resulted in intrusions at nine US federal agencies and hundreds of private companies around the world.
The SVR has responded, calling the US allegations “nonsense” and “windbaggery,” international news agencies reported.
The UK and EU have also back the US over the cyber attacks.
UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said on Thursday:
The UK and the US are calling out Russia’s malicious behaviour to enable our international partners and businesses at home to better defend and prepare themselves against this kind of action.
Environmental consultants from a company that advised governments on major developments in New South Wales have made windfall gains of millions of dollars by selling what’s known as conservation offsets for those very same developments to the state and federal governments, a Guardian investigation can reveal.
In theory, offsets allow developers to compensate for the environmental damage they cause in one area by undertaking work to deliver an equivalent environmental benefit in another.
But offsetting is beset with problems, including in one case a 20-year delay in delivering environmental protection and so-called “double-dipping” by developers in areas of urban sprawl.
Now, the transactions of one company – Meridolum No 1 – have sparked calls for an investigation after it made more than $40m by buying land and then selling offsets on that land to government. The offsets were for infrastructure projects that a consulting firm that employed two of Meridolum’s directors provided offset advice on.
You can read the full report below:
Coalition promotes 'woman-led recovery from pandemic
Federal minister for employment minister Stuart Robert has been out and about this morning talking about the government’s new “woman-led recovery”, citing that 80% of the new jobs created in March went to women:
It’s a woman-led recovery. It’s wonderful. Not just in terms of the macro, but also youth unemployment dropped by 1.1%, led almost entirely women and girls as well. It is great to see participation up. In fact, women’s participation the highest it’s ever been. As a nation, we should be pretty encouraged by that.
There’s more jobs now in the economy: 13m ... We are one of first industrialised nations to have that claim. We should be optimistic, but cautious.
Updated
Good morning to all, and we made it! It’s Friday!
(Well, actually, I’m working tomorrow, but I’m trying my best to be happy for you.)
It’s Matilda Boseley here, ready to see off the week with you.
First up, Scott Morrison has warned that Australians would have to deal with skyrocketing Covid-19 case numbers if we were to open international borders any time soon.
The prime minister spoke to Perth radio station 6PR yesterday afternoon, stressing that the vaccine rollout wasn’t a “silver bullet” just yet:
If we were to lift the borders and people to come, then you would see those cases increase and Australians would have to become used to dealing with 1,000 cases a week or more ...
Now, it is true that our most vulnerable populations would be vaccinated, but I don’t think Australians … would welcome restrictions and closures and border shutting and all of those things again.
At a community forum that day Morrison indicated that, when travel does open up, it will likely be for vaccinated Australians to leave the country and return, rather than international tourists coming to our shores:
What I’m working on right now, is that where an Australian is vaccinated under our program, when they will be able to travel overseas.
I would think in the initial stages, particularly for essential purposes, business, things like that, medical reasons, friends and family, important events, funerals, and so on.
That could be done and return to Australia without the need for a hotel quarantine of 14 days and to be able to do that either at home or under some other less stringent environment than you have with hotel quarantine.
Now that would require being vaccinated and I think that would be an important incentive for people to do that.
The prime minister has also urged the community not to rush to conclusions over the death of a NSW woman on Wednesday who developed blood clots a day after receiving a Covid-19 vaccine.
The ABC reported on Thursday night initial tests did not show a conclusive link between her condition and the vaccine.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration said it was investigating whether it could have been linked:
It has not yet been established whether there is any link between the COVID-19 vaccine and the tragic death reported by NSW health officials ...
Many conditions can arise during normal life, whether or not a vaccine is administered, but it remains important to report any new serious or unexpected events so that safety can be appropriately monitored.
It’s not yet clear if this woman suffered from the specific type of blood clots associated with the AstraZeneca vaccine, and the type of vaccine she received also hasn’t been publicly confirmed.
The TGA warned that non-vaccine related blood clotting is very common:
The blood clotting disorders being investigated in connection with the AstraZeneca vaccine are very rare and differ from common blood clots or venous thromboembolism, which occur in around 50 Australians every day.
The clotting disorder being investigated in connection with the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is now referred to as “thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome”, has been confirmed in only two cases out of over 700,000 people who have received the AstraZeneca vaccine in Australia.
With that, why don’t we jump into the day. If there is something you reckon I’ve missed or think should be in the blog but isn’t, shoot me a message on Twitter @MatildaBoseley or email me at matilda.boseley@theguardian.com.
Updated
