End of blog for Tuesday
What a busy afternoon. That is where we will wrap up the live blog for Tuesday. We will be back with you again tomorrow for all the latest news but here’s what you might have missed from today:
- Victoria recorded two new cases associated with the Holiday Inn quarantine hotel at Melbourne airport, with one worker and one former guest who left on Monday becoming infected with Covid-19. It is believed transmission occurred at the hotel, rather than the former guest being a day 16 infection, but investigations and contact tracing are under way.
- New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern has cast doubt on the return of the trans-Tasman travel bubble between Australia and New Zealand in the first quarter of 2021 following recent issues with hotel quarantine.
- Australia’s chief health officer, Prof Paul Kelly, has attempted to calm concerns over the efficacy of the AstraZeneca vaccine on the South African strain of Covid-19, stating there’s “no evidence” of less effectiveness anywhere in the world.
- Eddie McGuire has resigned as Collingwood football club president after 23 years, effective immediately. McGuire brought forward his resignation after strong backlash to his response to the release of the “Do Better” report on systemic racism at the AFL club.
- A long-awaited report into Crown has found the company is not fit to hold a casino licence in New South Wales, raising questions about the company’s future not only in NSW but across the country.
Until tomorrow, stay safe.
Updated
Western Australia on schedule to lift Covid measures
Western Australia remains on track to remove local coronavirus restrictions this weekend with another day of no new cases, AAP reports.
The most stringent restrictions were eased on Sunday with the rest to be lifted on 14 February, provided no new cases emerge.
“Obviously, things are going well, we have no cases reported,” the premier, Mark McGowan, said.
“The events of the last two weeks have shown that our systems, when required, will adapt to difficult circumstances.”
Under the existing measures, all Perth and Peel residents, including high school students, must continue to wear masks while outside their homes except for during vigorous outdoor exercise.
Private indoor gatherings are limited to 20 people, while a four square metre rule and a cap of 150 patrons apply to hospitality and retail venues and weddings.
Restaurants, pubs and bars can only have seated service and only essential travel is permitted in and out of the combined restricted zone.
Other restrictions in place included a requirement for travellers from both NSW and Victoria to isolate for 14 days and present for a coronavirus test on day 11.
Updated
Kerryn Phelps to run for Sydney lord mayor
Former federal MP and Sydney City councillor Kerryn Phelps has launched a bid to oust long-time political rival Clover Moore as the city’s lord mayor, AAP reports.
Phelps will run against Moore – who has held the position of lord mayor for 17 years – in the election of be held on 4 September.
As the first female Australian Medical Association president, former federal member for Wentworth, marriage equality advocate and key architect of the medevac laws, Phelps is no stranger to campaigning.
Still, she expects it will be a tough fight.
“I am up against an incumbent with massive resources but it’s time to place the City of Sydney in new safe hands and to bring in an era of enthusiasm [and] energy,” Phelps said in a statement.
“Sydney deserves a lord mayor who really listens to the community and truly understands the problems people face and who has the determination, the courage and the strength to face the challenging times ahead and to restore the city we love.”
Phelps was elected to the Sydney City Council on Moore’s ticket in 2016, taking up the position of deputy mayor.
She sensationally quit the post within a year, citing a hostile environment, but remained a councillor.
Updated
Labor MP takes branch-stacking claim to court
Victorian Labor MP Marlene Kairouz has applied to the supreme court for an injunction, arguing charges of branch stacking against her are invalid, AAP reports.
The former cabinet minister was ordered before a Labor disputes tribunal over allegations of branch stacking, sparked by claims her factional ally Adem Somyurek handed over cash and used parliamentary employees to create fake branch members and amass political influence.
Charges against Kairouz were laid on 31 January.
A day later rules were amended again to remove the branch stacking offence, but note all charges laid during the period of administration would still be heard and determined by the disputes tribunal.
“Any suspension of the member in question shall continue,” the amendment said.
Kairouz filed for an injunction in Victoria’s supreme court, arguing the national executive had no constitutional power to make any of the resolutions.
As a result, she argues the charges against her are invalid. Kairouz wants an injunction stopping the disputes tribunal hearing from going ahead.
Updated
Victorian health minister Martin Foley was asked to comment on the other big Melbourne news of the afternoon: the resignation of Eddie McGuire from the Collingwood Football Club. He said he was focused on the coronavirus response.
“What happens at the Collingwood football club is beyond [my] remit so I might pass on that one,” he said.
Back on the new cases, Foley praised the returned traveller who tested positive today.
“There would appear to be at this stage no exposure sites and only one direct close contact,” he said. “That person has done the right thing.
“This person with no direct exposure to the family, but on the same floor, has seemingly picked up the virus and it would appear, from initial very early indications, that the same thing has happened to the most recent worker as well.”
Chief health officer Prof Brett Sutton said it was not yet known exactly how either of the new cases contracted the virus, but said it was “likely transmission from that floor [of the hotel] despite there not being close face-to-face contacts”.
“Obviously food is delivered to the door, the door is knocked on, there is no close contact for delivery of food but we need to go through the interview process again to work out exactly what has happened,” he said.
Genomic testing for either case has not yet been completed, but Sutton said it is likely to be a new variant.
“The majority of cases that are now being detected in hotel quarantine are variants of concern. they are becoming the predominant cases,” he said.
Updated
Thorpe also dismissed McGuire’s comments about the good Indigenous programs at the club:
It is a bit like, ‘I am not racist because I have got an Aboriginal friend.’ I don’t think that those comments help. I think that clearly Eddie himself has an issue with racism and he has some incredibly good, smart people at that organisation that have had genuine partnerships with Aboriginal communities and organisations and so they should. That should be the norm. So, it was a bit of an eye roll moment for me.”
Thorpe says she’s received text messages from ex-AFL players saying it is a “great day” and puts McGuire’s ill-fated words from last week back on him, saying “It is a proud day for Aboriginal people in this country and people of colour that we can stand in solidarity and we don’t have to continue to be subjected to this kind of behaviour.”
Updated
Greens senator Lidia Thorpe, who was one of the signatories to the open letter calling for Eddie McGuire to resign as president of Collingwood, has told ABC TV’s Afternoon Briefing it was overdue, and it was good he had resigned, but said his tears were “white tears”:
The tears that I saw from Eddie, we actually refer to them as ‘white tears’ because the pain that these players have endured and the effect that it has had on their lives and their careers has been insurmountable and it is something that you can’t just move on with.
It is something that affects us profoundly. So I hope Eddie realises that and I hope he does do his own soul-searching to have an understanding of how racism affects people who have been perpetrated against all of their life.
That is what we have dealt with this in this country for too long.”
Updated
Victorian health minister Martin Foley said the new case is a food and beverage worker at the Holiday Inn who “has just tested positive in the last few hours”.
“In terms of the information that has just come to hand, it would appear that the person as a worker at the hotel has been in the exact same exposure period of this most recent case of people in and around that particular vicinity,” Foley said. “This information has just come to hand literally on the way here.”
Foley said both this new case and another new case reported a short time ago, involving a returned traveller who tested positive to Covid-19 two days after being released from Covid-19, appeared to relate to the same floor of the hotel.
All other people in hotel quarantine who were staying on that floor and have since been released to the community have been asked to do another 14 days’ isolation.
“We know that this will come as difficult news to those people that have just completed their 14 days’ mandatory hotel isolation but it is a necessary public health move,” Foley said.
Victoria’s chief health officer, Prof Brett Sutton, said the new cases “does relate to likely transmission within the hotel quarantine system”.
He said it did not, at this stage, appear linked to greater transmissibility of a new variant of Covid-19.
The press conference was initially called to discuss the case of the returned traveller. She was released from quarantine at the Holiday Inn on 7 February and sought a coronavirus test today after seeing reports that another hotel quarantine worker at the hotel had tested positive on Sunday.
“Early indications are she had not left home since exiting the hotel quarantine on 7 February other than to obtain her Covid-19 safe testing,” Foley said.
“At the moment every indication is there is very limited movement. We have only identified one other social and household primary close contact, however this number may increase.”
Updated
Another Victorian hotel quarantine worker tests positive
“Another worker at the Holiday Inn quarantine hotel has tested positive to Covid-19,” health minister Martin Foley has announced.
Foley said the new case was confirmed just 10 minutes ago before he began a press conference about another positive case, a guest, linked to the Holiday Inn.
“It brings the number of positive cases in the community linked to the hotel to three.”
It was announced earlier on Tuesday afternoon that a former hotel guest tested positive on day 16 after they’d left the Melbourne hotel.
Updated
Here are Eddie McGuire’s final comments as he leaves the job of Collingwood football club president:
“So I leave knowing one thing for certain, that in every endeavour, my heart has been true, that my devotion to fairness [has] grown, that never have I turned my back on anyone who has asked for support. When I have been called upon by the AFL to play a leadership role, then I have always acted in the best interests of the competition.
The benchmark of time and office is to ask if the organisation is left in a better place than when the term began. I believe that to be the case, but one thing I have learnt this week, plenty of people have their say about me.
He ends with a “go Pies” and that’s the end of the press conference.
Updated
McGuire says he is quitting now because it was not tenable for the club because people were focused on his comments last week:
People have latched on to my opening line last week and as a result I have become a lightning rod for vitriol, but have placed the club in a position where it is hard to move forward with our plans of clear air.
And he doesn’t want the controversy to cause divisions in the club:
“When I came to Collingwood, it was a club riven with rivalries, enemies and division. It has not been the case in my time. So I do not want any of this cause rancour or factions. It is better to fast-track my leaving of the club from the end of the year to now.”
McGuire is getting quite teary now as he talks about his love of AFL, and the club.
Updated
McGuire is now talking about the “Do Better” report, and his response to it:
The report does make the point that there have been systemic problems, which the authors explain means problems without processes that saw our club react to incidents. It is why in the first paragraph of my written statement last Monday, which I didn’t read out in my spoken comments, but I will say again, in the first paragraph of the written statement handed out and online I quote again: “The board of the Collingwood football club commissioned the Do Better Report for the right reasons. We can learn from our past. Collingwood is and will continue to be a wonderful club, but this should not stop us from striving to do better.”
The CFC Do Better Report is an acknowledgement that our club, our game and our country have not always got it right and for our part we have always sought to do our best, but that hasn’t always been good enough, and for that we are sorry.
The report also says, if there is one thing that united almost every person that we spoke to in this whole review, it was their commitment to the Collingwood football club and their desire to see it be the best version of itself.
Updated
McGuire is detailing his 23-year history as Collingwood president, including the Indigenous-focused programs put on by the club. He repeats he does not think the club is racist.
This is why I say we are not a racist club, far from it. It is why I’m so proud of our club and the people every day of every week who benefit and who are inspired by the very purpose of the being of Collingwood and that is to be a beacon of hope for all people, particularly those at their lowest ebb or who have been socially isolated and left behind.
Updated
Eddie McGuire resigns from Collingwood football club
An emotional Eddie McGuire has announced he has resigned as president of Collingwood football club effective immediately, after 23 years in the role.
“I try my best and I don’t always get it right, but I don’t stop trying. Today, effective immediately, I step down from the presidency of the Collingwood football club,” he said.
It came on the day an open letter signed by MPs and sporting greats had called on him to resign over his response to the “Do Better” report on systemic racism at the club.
It is just over a week ago at the release of the report, where McGuire called it a “proud day” for the club. He later said he regretted the comment.
Updated
If you want to watch the Collingwood press conference live, Collingwood is streaming it here. I will bring you updates otherwise (plus from the Victorian Covid press conference, too).
— Collingwood FC (@CollingwoodFC) February 9, 2021
As promised, my colleague Ben Butler has the full report on the finding that Crown is unsuitable to hold a casino licence at Barangaroo in New South Wales.
A report chaired by former New South Wales supreme court judge, Patricia Bergin SC, said the evidence to the inquiry of money laundering, Crown’s operations in China which led to arrests of its staff in 2016, and its associations with junket operators with possible organised crime links made the company and its controllers unsuitable.
But she has said it is open to the regulator, the Independent Liquor and gaming Authority, to suggest ways Crown would keep its licence.
The Age is reporting ahead of the 4.15pm AEDT Collingwood press conference that president Eddie McGuire is stepping down effective immediately. He was due to step down at the end of 2021.
We have not independently verified this yet, but we will bring you information from the press conference when we have it.
Updated
Another case out of Victorian hotel quarantine
The Victorian health department has just announced a hotel quarantine resident who had completed their 14 days in the Holiday Inn at Melbourne airport has subsequently tested positive today after leaving quarantine on Monday.
Primary close contacts are being identified and we expect more information shortly.
It includes people who departed the Holiday Inn on 7 February. They will be required to quarantine for another 14 days.
The Victorian health minister Martin Foley and chief health officer Prof Brett Sutton will hold a press conference at 4.30pm AEDT.
DH was notified today of a resident of the Hotel Quarantine facility at Holiday Inn Melbourne Airport who has tested positive to coronavirus (COVID-19) after completing their 14-day quarantine. A strong public health response is underway, building on measures already in place.
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) February 9, 2021
Updated
Crown not suitable to hold a licence in NSW: report
The report commissioned by NSW Liquor and Gaming into Crown’s operations following a series of allegations has found Crown is not suitable to hold a licence in the state, for Barangaroo or indeed elsewhere in the state.
You can read the report here. We will have more info soon.
There’s a bit going on.
and now the Health Minister Foley and @VictorianCHO has called a 430 presser.
— Richard Willingham (@rwillingham) February 9, 2021
My colleague and regular live blogger extraordinaire, Amy Remeikis, has just published this story on the Australian’s cartoonist, Johannes Leak, being awarded $40,000 to paint a portrait of former prime minister Tony Abbott, to hang in parliament house.
Updated
Interesting timing for another Collingwood press conference this afternoon, given the letter today.
Collingwood Major press conference at 4:15pm we will bring it to you love with analysis after on @abcnews TV #afternoonbriefing
— Patricia Karvelas (@PatsKarvelas) February 9, 2021
Yesterday, LNP senator Matt Canavan threatened to cross the floor of parliament to vote against any government legislation to enact a net zero emissions by 2050 target.
Today, his colleague, National senator Bridget McKenzie has said they won’t have the opportunity because the goal will not need to be legislated, AAP reports.
“My understanding is there will be actually no legislative requirement if the government decides to head off to Glasgow and sign this up,” McKenzie told ABC radio on Tuesday.
The target has been adopted by Australia’s major allies including the United States, but locally it’s creating fractures between the Liberal and National parties in government.
The target has been adopted by all Australian states and territories, and is also federal Labor’s policy.
Opposition leader Anthony Albanese says the government is falling behind the world on climate policy.
“It’s quite preposterous that this government’s having a debate about what should be excluded from a target that they haven’t adopted,” he told reporters on Queensland’s Fraser coast.
Canavan thinks the climate debate is a distraction, as he continues arguing for a new coal-fired power station.
He says the exclusion of agriculture – which is being discussed within the Nationals as a bargaining chip with their Liberal colleagues – would not change his approach to the issue.
Excluding agriculture would put Australia in line with New Zealand’s net zero by 2050 plans, which places a lower target on reducing methane levels.
Agriculture made up 13% of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions last year and the percentage is expected to rise to 2030 as the effect of the drought eases.
Updated
More from the press conference in which New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern refused to show confidence in the trans-Tasman travel bubble going ahead in the first quarter of 2021.
“It’s fair to say that things have changed a little bit since we set that goal and aspiration [for the first quarter of 2021].”
“I can report significant changes in the environment. We’ve had the Sydney outbreak and the response from Australia [following an Auckland outbreak]”
“We continue to work on it, but I have always had hesitancy over putting dates on these things … so much of this arrangement will be around how the different states behave and there hasn’t been a formula for it. So it’s very hard to establish a regime …”
Ardern said the knock-on effect of Australia deciding to shut its border in January “was quite significant from a commercial perspective”.
“We have to ask the question of whether airlines will want to operate in an environment where within three hours they can have cancellations for multiple days.
In that circumstance, we didn’t believe the border needed to close – it was – and that demonstrates the low tolerance and that means that it will have a commercial implication.
It’s not a simple issue to resolve.
Look what’s happening is the sovereignty of Australia to make its own decisions and the sovereignty of New Zealand to make its.
I do not apologise for a moment for being cautious about this – you cannot unscramble the egg.
It will be damaging to everyone if we open, close, open, close and then shut it permanently.
Updated
Looks like the ACT budget has just been released, or the journalists have just come out of lock up.
Here’s a list of the big announcements, via AAP:
- Big Canberra Battery - $100m over the next five years to deliver at least 250 megawatts of new ‘large-scale’ battery storage system capacity across the ACT.
- ACT Hardship Fund - The program, established to provide financial assistance for those impacted by Covid-19 and ineligible for other support, is being extended to 30 June, 2021, but with total funding reducing from $1.25m to $750,000.
- Future Jobs Fund - An initial $9.2m over two years to help finance projects that create and protect local jobs in tertiary education, research and key industry sectors such as space, renewable energy and cybersecurity.
- Payroll tax deferrals for universities - Payroll tax deferrals of up to $10m per university to ease cashflow pressures.
- Free registration for zero emissions vehicles - $5.15m for two years free registration for zero emissions vehicles registered during May 2021 to June 2024.
- Covid-19 public health response - $26.5m over two years, including health, education and hotel quarantine fees.
- Covid-19 vaccination program - $20.4m over four years to deliver vaccine rollout and associated costs for operating clinics.
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander housing - $1.6m over four years.
- Mobile device detection cameras - $9.7m over four years as part of road safety program and to support law enforcement activities.
- Light Rail Stage 2 - $1.3m for feasibility study to assess the viability of extending light rail.
NZ PM casts doubt on two-way trans-Tasman travel
Prime minister Jacinda Ardern has cast serious doubt on whether the trans-Tasman bubble will go ahead in the first quarter of this year, telling reporters at her weekly press conference “things have changed” significantly since Australia abruptly closed its borders to New Zealand in January, following a small Covid-19 outbreak at a quarantine facility in Auckland.
“In that instance, we didn’t believe the border needed to be closed, and it was, and that had significant commercial implications.”
“Our expectation was that the border wouldn’t close in that situation – and it did.”
Ardern said the sudden closure of the border has left New Zealand officials with “a lot of questions” over how the trans-Tasman bubble would function, and once the egg was scrambled – ie: the borders opened – they “couldn’t be unscrambled”.
Updated
No changes to restrictions in South Australia just yet, AAP reports.
The state’s transition committee met on Tuesday but decided against any changes.
The only major border measures that remain in place are a requirement for people to get three coronavirus tests if they come from Greater Melbourne in Victoria, Greater Sydney, Wollongong, the Central Coast in NSW and Perth, Peel and the southwest in Western Australia.
The only exception is people who attended the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Melbourne between 21 and31 January, who must quarantine for 14 days.
Police commissioner Grant Stevens said the SA transition committee would meet again next week to review some local restrictions including the ban on dancing and stand-up drinking in public and clubs.
He said the committee understood the hospitality sector was looking for some relief on those activities and the committee would consider ways to provide that a safely as possible.
There’s just under two months until Jobseeker is due to go back to pre-Covid levels, despite just about everyone apart from those in government saying the rate should not go back to what it was before.
The Greens now have a countdown to when it is due to return to those levels, as pressure mounts on the government to keep it higher.
We've started the clock.https://t.co/XpLVkDaQSx
— Rachel Siewert (@SenatorSiewert) February 9, 2021
Days until 1.3 million people go back to $40 a day - 5⃣2⃣
Years since JobSeeker has had an increase in real terms - 2⃣7⃣
Amount people have to live on after essential costs - $7⃣
Updated
Support group to aid Western Australia bushfire recovery
AAP reports a State Recovery Coordination Group has been established to help people affected by last week’s devastating bushfire in Perth’s north-east.
The Wooroloo blaze burnt through almost 11,000 hectares and destroyed 86 properties amid severe conditions over several days.
The support group is backed by the Department of Fire and Emergency Services with a brief to ensure a whole-of-government approach to recovery efforts.
Fire and emergency services commissioner Darren Klemm said a personalised approach was needed to help people get back on their feet.
“The group will meet on a regular basis and will oversee all aspects of the recovery process to ensure state government, local government and not-for-profits are working together to address issues as quickly as possible,” he said.
“The road to recovery will be a long process, and DFES is committed to providing ongoing support to help people through this challenging time.”
Discussions so far have focused on immediate recovery activities, including the clean-up and damage assessment.
The Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements have also been activated to provide disaster assistance to assist communities in the City of Swan and Shire of Mundaring.
Updated
On the Australian Medical Association concerns over whether pharmacists should be excluded from providing the vaccine, Paul Kelly noted that the AMA represents doctors, and the government was looking at rolling out the vaccine as wide as possible.
He said pharmacists have already had experience in vaccinations, and would likely have a role to play in the Covid-19 vaccine rollout, albeit later on in 2021.
He said while allergic reactions can be a concern, in the vaccinations so far it is incredible low – 11 per 1 million.
Updated
On the vaccine distribution in Australia, Paul Kelly says it is still on track for the first injections to be happening before the end of February, but will not put an exact timeline on it.
The aim will be to get 20 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine before the end of this year, in weekly deliveries. Kelly said the AstraZeneca and Novovax vaccines will also be used if and when they are approved by the TGA:
We don’t want a lot of vaccines sitting out in warehouses, so we will be looking to roll out, particularly for those priority populations that people will know about now, as soon as we can. But then we will be going back to the same population, those people, to give them a second dose. That is really important.
We will await the TGA advice in relation to AstraZeneca but some of the information that has been coming up in the last few weeks is that it may actually be a longer interval for that second dose.
Updated
Australia's chief medical officer backs AstraZeneca vaccine
Australia’s chief medical officer, Prof Paul Kelly, is also moving to reassure people about the effectiveness of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine.
He said it was still in the process of being approved by the Therapeutics Goods Administration, and talked down claims it was less effective in treating the South African variant of the virus.
I just want to make a very clear statement about people taking small amounts of information quickly, without looking at it carefully. And making conclusions. At the moment, I can absolutely say, and this may change in future, and we will be nimble in the way we look at that information, and putting that into our planning, but at the moment, there’s no evidence anywhere in the world AstraZeneca effectiveness against severe infection is affected by any of these variants of concern.
And that is the fact. What we have at the moment is a small group of people in a study not yet peer-reviewed or published in South Africa where there was an effect on the mild or moderate disease in relation to that variant of concern in that country. But there were no severe infections in any of the people that received the vaccine in regards to any of those types of the virus.”
Updated
Australia’s chief medical officer, Prof Paul Kelly is holding a press conference.
He says the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) will be reviewing the hotel quarantine program from end to end, from pre-flight testing, to transport, to the quarantine situation in hotels in light of the recent transmission in hotels in NSW, Victoria and Western Australia.
He said he has asked New South Wales to put forward a proposal on day 16 tests for returned travellers to AHPPC.
I’ve asked my New South Wales colleagues to give a proposal through to AHPPC and we will be looking at that later this week around that particular component but that is one of many things we are looking it.”
Updated
Increase jobseeker to pension rate, says Acoss
The Australian Council of Social Service has called for payments such as jobseeker and Youth Allowance to be permanently raised to pension levels, in its federal budget submission.
AAP reports:
For a single unemployed Australian that would mean receiving about $944 a fortnight, taking the payment to $67 a day instead of $40 on jobseeker after the coronavirus supplement ends.
Acoss chief Cassandra Goldie says there is twice the amount of people on unemployment payments compared with before the pandemic.
“It’s crucial that job creation plans are coupled with a permanent and adequate increase to the jobseeker payment – we cannot leave people behind to struggle in the poverty trap as we get through this crisis,” Goldie said.
“We need to work together as a community, as we have demonstrated we can do in dealing with successive outbreaks.”
Acoss says the jobkeeper wage subsidy should not finish at the end of March but instead be extended for as long as needed to help industries affected by coronavirus restrictions.
The group is urging the government not to go ahead with the second step of $17bn in tax cuts for high-income earners.
The budget submission also puts forward plans to construct 20,000 to 30,000 social housing homes and a national strategy to improve energy efficiency in low-income households.
This would create tens of thousands of jobs, Acoss says.
Updated
NSW police will hold a press conference shortly over the defacing of a mural of former Rural Fire Service commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons, which was only a day old.
The mural, at Erskineville railway station, was defaced on Monday night between 8.55pm and 10.40pm, police said. They have CCTV footage of the a man believed to be able to assist, in his early 20s, with a black hooded jumper, a face mask, and work pants and light-coloured work boots.
The mural was commissioned for graffiti removal day in March, and some of the graffiti text reportedly read “mural removal day”.
Mural of Former RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons outside Erskineville Station by street artist Sid Tapia @abcnews pic.twitter.com/gX2fw7mWAV
— Antonette Collins (@antonette_news) February 7, 2021
Updated
With that, I’ll be handing over to my colleague Josh Taylor, who will take you through the rest of the day’s news. Thanks for reading and stay safe.
No charge for teenager over Queensland unborn baby death
Queensland police have clarified that a teenager charged with murder over the car crash deaths of a Brisbane couple on 26 January will not be charged for the murder of their unborn child.
There have been two high-profile deaths involving cars and alleged young offenders in Queensland, with the premier today announcing tougher new bail laws.
On Friday in Townsville, a 22-year-old woman, Jennifer Board, was killed after she was hit by a car driven by an alleged “vigilante” chasing a stolen car.
On 26 January in Brisbane, a couple were killed by a car allegedly stolen by a 17-year old teenager.
Kate Leadbetter was pregnant when she and her partner Matt Field were struck and killed.
The 17-year old was charged with the murder of both Leadbetter and Field on the day in January, but police today clarified that there were no charges relating to the death of their unborn child.
Police said legal advice shows they can’t charge him with killing an unborn child in this case.
“We understand that this may be difficult for some to understand,” assistant commissioner Brian Codd told reporters on Tuesday.
‘But I can assure you that the death of baby Miles will not be overlooked and will be presented for consideration to the courts as an aggravating element of the murder charge that we have put forward relating to the death of his mother Kate.”
Updated
Here is our full story on a remarkable development in the US.
Facebook has banned misinformation about all vaccines following years of harmful, unfounded health claims proliferating on its platform.
Queensland man charged with murder using a chair
A man has been charged with murdering another man using a wooden chair at a home in Rockhampton, AAP report.
The two men were at a house at Lakes Creek on 28 January when they got into an altercation, police say. They were both from Lakes Creek and knew each other.
One man, 35, allegedly hit the other man, 32, in the head with a wooden chair handle.
The 32-year-old suffered serious injuries and later died at Rockhampton Hospital.
The 35-year-old was later charged with one count of murder, Queensland police said on Monday night.
He is due to face Rockhampton magistrates court on May 5.
Updated
The crew of an Australian coal ship has been allowed to disembark after waiting for months off the coast of China.
The crew of the MV Anastasia will be heading to Japan soon to allow its crew to change over.
The Australian newspaper reported that the ship was believed to have left Chinese waters on 4 February.
The ship has still not been given permission to dock in China.
Great news! Crew on two ships carrying Aust coal that have been stuck off the coast of China for 8 months are now being relieved. Yesterday news of Jag Anand finally free, #7News spoke to them in Dec, now news Anastasia ship will be diverted to Japan for crew change #auspol https://t.co/JZcQotNI9R
— Jennifer Bechwati (@jenbechwati) February 8, 2021
Updated
The Queensland police minister, Mark Ryan, clarifies that the reversal of the presumption of bail for young offenders only applies to serious offences while committed on bail.
“This is about the hardcore recidivist offenders, those on bail committing serious indictable offences,” he says.
The leader of a new youth crime taskforce, assistant commissioner Cheryl Scanlon, is asked about the GPS tracking of 16 and 17-year-olds.
“It is just one tool in the suite of what could be offered,” she says.
“So it is not the panacea but it is one tool that we do not have right now. We have seen it used in other places and that is what the trial is about.”
Updated
The Queensland police commissioner, Katarina Carroll, says she welcomes the state government’s new laws.
But she says it is important to know that “youth offending and the amount of youth offenders has decreased dramatically over the years”.
“But unfortunately as has been mentioned a number of times, there is a small cohort of 10% [repeat offenders] who need to be dealt with.”
Carroll also says that it is important that the laws are a trial.
“What the trial does is give you the ability to see what is working and what may need to be changed.”
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Palaszczuk also announces that police will be able to use handheld metal detector wands “to check for knives”, especially in areas on the Gold Coast.
And there will be “anti-hooning” laws, where “the registered owner of a vehicle can be deemed responsible for offences unless the car was stolen or they can reveal another driver.”
She says that these changes will be evaluated in six months’ time by former commissioner Bob Atkinson.
NSW records no new local Covid cases
New South Wales has recorded no new locally acquired coronavirus cases in the 24 hours until 8pm Monday.
That comes after a returned traveller in the Wollongong area tested positive on the 16th day after entering the country, and visited a range of locations. NSW Health said on Tuesday:
“Extensive investigations remain ongoing into the source of infection for a returned overseas traveller who tested positive to Covid-19 after being released from hotel quarantine ... The person from the Wollongong area returned two negative tests during their quarantine period at the Sofitel Wentworth, but subsequently returned a positive result after being contacted on day 16 by NSW Health and requested to be tested again, as part of an enhanced follow-up for all returned overseas travellers introduced last week.
“NSW Health has updated its advice for people who attended two previously announced venues in the Wollongong area. Anyone who attended the beer garden at the Headlands Hotel in Austinmer on Tuesday 2 February from 1pm to 3pm, and the Bulli Beach Café on Saturday 6 February from 1.30pm to 4pm is now considered a close contact and should immediately get tested and self-isolate for 14 days, regardless of the result.”
“Anyone who was at the Headlands Hotel (in all areas other than the beer garden), and anyone who got takeaway from the Bulli Beach Café at the above dates and times, is now considered a casual contact and should monitor for symptoms. If any symptoms develop, get tested immediately and self-isolate until you receive a negative result.”
Two new cases were acquired overseas.
There were 7,315 tests reported to 8pm last night, compared with the previous day’s total of 11,399.
NSW recorded no new locally acquired cases of #COVID19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) February 9, 2021
Two new cases were acquired overseas, taking the total number of COVID-19 cases in NSW since the beginning of the pandemic to 4,936. pic.twitter.com/EpvjCAsYv0
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Queensland youth offenders to be fitted with GPS as part of 'seven tough new measures'
Palaszczuk says that young offenders who are charged with serious crimes like breaking and entering, while on bail, will now have the presumption of bail “reversed”.
Sixteen and 17-year-olds will also be required to wear GPS trackers while out on bail.
“48% of the youth crime in Queensland is committed by just 10% of criminals,” Palaszczuk says. “They have no concept of the consequences of their actions and no fear of the law.”
She says cabinet is “unanimous” on this issue. “In fact, it was one of the longest cabinet meetings deliberating one particular issue,” she says.
Queensland will “reverse the presumption of bail” – for young offenders who are charged with “serious indictable offences” like breaking and entering and armed robbery.
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Queensland records no new local Covid cases
Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is speaking now.
She says the state has recorded no new community cases of Covid, and one internationally acquired case.
She announces “strong action” on youth justice.
“This is a really serious issue and, of course, I said publicly that the community expects us to do more and that is exactly what we will do,” she says.
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EU promises not to block shipments of Pfizer vaccines
The European Union has promised not to block shipments of coronavirus vaccines to Australia, AAP reports.
Australia is currently relying on 20 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine, which are being produced within Europe. There were fears the order could be delayed after the EU placed export controls on vaccines produced in its territory.
But the EU ambassador to Australia promised Europe would not delay or block the order.
“Australia can indeed rely on deliveries from Europe,” Michael Pulch told ABC radio on Tuesday.
“The shipments to Australia will arrive on time. My colleagues in Brussels have assured the Australian side that they will work with them on the smooth authorisation process.”
Meanwhile, the Morrison government has backed the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine despite concerns it is not effective in combating a concerning mutant strain.
South Africa suspended its rollout of the vaccine after data showed it gave minimal protection against mild to moderate illness caused by the country’s new strain of the virus.
The health minister, Greg Hunt, has downplayed concerns, citing the latest UK data.
“There is currently no evidence to indicate a reduction in the effectiveness of either the AstraZeneca or Pfizer vaccines in preventing severe disease and death,” he told reporters in Melbourne.
“That is the fundamental task to protect the health of not just Australians, but people all around the world.”
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Here is the full story on the Townsville crash, where a man was charged this morning:
South Australia closes in on one million coronavirus tests
South Australia is closing in on a major milestone, AAP reports, with almost 1 million Covid tests conducted over the past year.
The state has so far conducted more than 994,000 swabs for coronavirus, which health minister Stephen Wade said gives it one of the the world’s highest testing rates per capita.
Daily testing rates in SA have fluctuated considerably over recent months but peaked at more than 17,000 during November’s Parafield cluster in Adelaide.
The state has a current estimate population of 1,769,319.
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Annastacia Palaszczuk and Queensland police will be giving media conferences later today about youth crime and vigilantism in the state.
On Friday, a suspected vigilante in Townsville killed a woman, after he hit her with his car while chasing down an alleged stolen car.
Last month in Brisbane, on 26 January, a couple and their unborn child were killed when they were hit by a teenager driving an alleged stolen car.
Palaszczuk released a statement this morning saying: “The loss of four innocent lives cannot go unanswered”, and will give a media conference later today about youth crime.
Queensland police are expected to speak earlier.
On Friday night, Jennifer Board, 22, was killed in Townsville after she was hit by a Holden Statesman, which had allegedly been following a stolen Hyundai sedan during a suspected vigilante pursuit.
A 25-year-old Bushland Beach man who was allegedly driving the Holden was arrested on Monday and charged with murder.
Two 18-year-old men, from Rasmussen and Garbutt, were also charged over the fatal crash.
In January in Brisbane, Kate Leadbetter, who was pregnant, and her partner Matt Field were struck by an allegedly stolen car driven by a teenager in Alexandra Hills.
The decision to repeal lockout laws in Sydney’s Kings Cross – the last zone the controversial laws have remained in place – will breathe new life into the Sydney icon, according to the Sydney Business Chamber.
The changes mean venues will be able to accept customers after 1:30am, restrictions on serving drinks in glass as opposed to plastic cups scrapped.
The changes will come into effect from 8 March, and effectively remove the last remnants of the strict lockouts introduced in 2014.
However businesses will still be subject to a last drinks rule, which has been extended until 3.30am.
Katherine O’Regan, executive director of the Sydney Business Chamber, said the changes are “a great opportunity to realise the full potential of Kings Cross as a diverse, inclusive and economically valuable addition to the city as a place not simply centred around late night drinking,”
“Historically the Cross has a rich diversity of characters and places like the Minerva and the Hays Theatres and we now have the opportunity to transform it into a culturally significant, fun and safe precinct for people of all ages to enjoy at night.”
“Sydney’s late-night drinking scene has matured since the laws were first introduced to curb alcohol fuelled violence and with clever planning and security measures, Kings Cross can accommodate the needs of a much broader clientele in a safe and vibrant atmosphere that every truly global city needs,” O’Regan said.
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The ABC has cut away from the Daniel Andrews press conference to give other news updates – as the premier started talking about a local infrastructure issue.
The broadcast should be back in time for questions from reporters, anchor Joe O’Brien says.
Latest Victoria quarantine worker to contract Covid has UK variant
Andrews confirms that the latest hotel quarantine worker to contract Covid-19, at the Holiday Inn, has the UK variant.
He says there are 136 work contacts of the woman, and eight “social primary contacts”.
“[That is] family and other who are very very close to this particular worker. They are all isolating. They’ve all been tested. We have no positive results back yet. We have no results back yet.”
“There are 136 work close contacts or employment close contacts. Similarly, they’re all isolating, they’ll get tested and as soon as we’re in a position to update you on those results, we will.”
The latest hotel quarantine case was recorded on Sunday night, and is a woman who worked at the Melbourne airport Holiday Inn. Previously another quarantine worker tested positive who worked at the Grand Hyatt hotel, which was part of the Australian Open quarantine process.
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Returned traveller taken to intensive care in Victoria
Victorian premier Daniel Andrews is speaking now.
He announces, as was reported earlier, that the state recorded no new cases – either local or international – in the past 24 hours.
However, he says that a returned traveller, who has Covid-19, has been taken to intensive care.
“That’s a returned traveller, not a community, case but, of course, we send our best wishes to that person and their family,” he says. “And we again are reminded of the outstanding care that our health professionals provide to all of those who have been touched by this global pandemic.”
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Victorian premier Daniel Andrews will be speaking soon, according to the ABC.
Domestic demand for postgraduate courses has nearly doubled at some Australian universities after the billions of dollars lost from the shut-out of international students during the pandemic.
Most Australian postgraduate students pay the full cost of their degree – without government funding – and their fee costs can be borrowed through the fee-help system, the postgraduate version of the Hecs loan scheme.
At the University of Adelaide, total fee-help loans are forecast to increase from $11.4m to $21.9m.
But universities say they will still not compensate for the $3.8bn lost revenue.
Victoria reported no new cases in past 24 hours
Victoria has reported no new cases on Monday – after a new case in a hotel quarantine worker was reported on Sunday night.
Yesterday there were no new cases reported. 12,816 test results were received. Got symptoms? Get tested, #EveryTestHelps. More later: https://t.co/2vKbgKHFvv#COVID19Vic #COVID19VicData pic.twitter.com/zOXFmSkiJG
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) February 8, 2021
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Facebook has widened its ban on Covid-19 misinformation in an attempt to quell distrust in the vaccine rollout.
The internet giant has been tweaking its community guidelines surrounding vaccine posts throughout the past year, in December banning claims about vaccines that have been debunked by public health experts, such as that they contain microchips.
Now Facebook has announced the will broaden this ban to including posts claiming Covid-19 is human-made or manufactured, that vaccines are not effective at preventing the disease or that it’s safer to get the disease than to get the vaccine.
They will also be regulating posts that discuss well-known conspiracy theories about vaccines in general, such as suggesting they are toxic or cause autism.
Interestingly Facebook says its key focus will now be on pages and groups, semi-private Facebook communities that have the potential to create echo chambers of misinformation. Groups that repeatedly post banned content will be shut down, Facebook says.
These new community guidelines also apply to Instagram, which Facebook owns.
Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social media platforms have repeatedly come under fire for allowing potentially dangerous misinformation to live on their sites.
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EU could follow Australia in forcing big tech to pay for news
The European Union is looking to follow Australia’s example in forcing Google and Facebook to pay for news, according to the Financial Times.
Members of the European parliament told the newspaper that they admired Australia’s media bargaining code, as developed by the ACCC.
Alex Saliba, a Maltese MEP, said the Australian approach managed to address “the acute bargaining power imbalances” with publishers.
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The family of Sean Turnell, an Australian Aung Sun Suu Kyi adviser who has been detained after Myanmar’s military coup, has released a statement:
“We are distraught that Dr Sean Turnell, our beloved family member and an internationally respected academic, has been detained in Myanmar.
Sean Turnell is a dedicated family man, beloved of his wife and daughter, his dad and his sister and her family, as well as to an extended family in Australia and in Vietnam.
He is warm and kind-hearted, generous, and always thinks about others before himself. Even now, wherever he is confined, we know that his thoughts and concerns are with those worrying about him.
Sean has read voraciously since his youth and has always shown a thirst for knowledge. He is a practical economist who has and will always use his expertise and experience for a good cause. Myanmar is a country with which he has fallen in love, and through working on and for it for more than two decades, he brought jobs, investment, and hope to many of the poorest people there without thought of reward or concern for his own advantage.
The Australian Embassy in Yangon has provided strong support to Sean, in very challenging circumstances. We are in contact with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade which is working tirelessly to bring Sean home. We welcome the calls by the Australian Government, other Governments, and by Sean’s many friends around the world, seeking his immediate release.
We ask that the media respect both Sean’s and our privacy while we concentrate on getting Sean released. Given the complex and sensitive situation in Myanmar at present, we will not be making any further public comment at this time.
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South Africa suspends AstraZeneca vaccinations but WHO says not to dismiss it
South Africa has suspended its vaccinations using the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab after preliminary data indicated that it had only 10% efficacy in preventing mild or moderate infections against the South African variant of the virus.
Australia has ordered 53.8m doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine and yesterday Scott Morrison said he was “still hopeful” about its effectiveness.
The World Health Organization has also told countries not to dismiss the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Richard Hatchett from the WHO said:
It is vastly too early to be dismissing this vaccine. It is absolutely crucial to use the tools that we have as effectively as we possibly can.
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Day two of the Australian Open will continue today.
Yesterday 30,000 people attended Melbourne Park, in what was the biggest event to be held in Australia since the pandemic began.
My colleague Calla Wahlquist spoke to epidemiologist Prof Catherine Bennett, who said:
The risk in the wider community [of transmission] is very low. It is very unlikely that something will stem from this event. The tennis itself is as safe as it can be.
We should focus on absolutely enjoying the tennis, because that’s what the prize is for getting transmissions so low.
Australia’s Nick Kyrgios played last night, defeating Frederico Ferreira Silva in straight sets.
He had this to say about Novak Djokovic – after the world No 1 said he had no respect for Kyrgios “off the court”.
“Someone that’s partying with his shirt off during a global pandemic, I don’t know if I can take any slack from that man. That’s as bad as it gets for me.”
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Sydney to remove last of lockout laws
The last of Sydney’s lockout laws will be scrapped next month, AAP reports.
The laws shutting down drinks venues from 1.30am were removed from venues in Sydney’s CBD in January last year but had remained in Kings Cross.
From 8 March, they will be removed from Kings Cross, as part of a NSW government bid to revive the area’s night-time economy, which was hit hard by the pandemic. Alcohol will be able to be served in the Cross until 3.30am – giving patrons an extra two hours of drinking and entertainment time.
Restrictions on particular drinks, shots, cut-price cocktails and glass tumblers after midnight will also go, as will the requirement for responsible service of alcohol marshals and CCTV surveillance.
The laws were introduced in 2014 after the death of 18-year-old Thomas Kelly, who was killed in a one-punch attack as he walked along a Kings Cross street.
Gladys Berejiklian said the changes would boost jobs and revitalise the once-infamous Kings Cross precinct.
“Kings Cross has transformed considerably since these laws were introduced over six years ago,” the NSW premier told the Sydney Morning Herald on Tuesday.
“The precinct is now well-positioned to continue to evolve into a vibrant lifestyle and cultural destination with a diverse mix of small bars, live music venues and restaurants.”
The independent MP for Sydney, Alex Greenwich, whose electorate includes Kings Cross, welcomed the change.
“Harmonising the licensing conditions with the rest of the Sydney CBD and Oxford Street is long overdue and will bring hope to businesses who have been doing it tough,” he said. “Global cities don’t tell people when to go to sleep, they help them have a fun and safe night.”
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Good morning everyone, and welcome back to our live coverage of Australian news and the coronavirus.
Both New South Wales and Victoria will be on high alert today, after both states reported new Covid-19 cases. In Victoria, another hotel quarantine worker tested positive, with no obvious safety breaches that could have led to transmission.
In NSW, a returned traveller who had completed 14 days of quarantine tested positive after 16 days, placing the Wollongong region on high alert.
We’ll bring you all the latest new as it happens. Stay with us.
