Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Calla Wahlquist (now) and Nino Bucci (earlier)

At least 500 to be hired for vaccine rollout – as it happened

healthcare worker rakes a swab from someone in a car
A person is tested at a coronavirus testing facility at Bondi Beach in Sydney. Tasmania is to reopen its borders to greater Brisbane and most of Sydney.
 Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP

How things stand

We will leave our live coverage here for the day. You can follow our rolling global coverage of the coronavirus pandemic here.

This is what happened today:

Thanks for your company today. We’ll see you again in the morning.

Updated

It’s fair to say Scott Morrison’s comment about how 28 January, 1788 “wasn’t a particularly flash day for the people on those [first fleet] vessels either,” has not gone down well.

Labor’s Indigenous Australians spokeswoman, Linda Burney, said:

Suffering is not a competition. What the prime minister has said makes no sense.

As the leader of the country, he has an example to set for the rest of the nation and he should know better.

How can we expect to see real progress on issues such as reconciliation and closing the gap when he makes such ignorant and unhelpful comments like this?

And Labor MP Graham Perrett offered a fact check – there were only 11 ships in the first fleet, not 12 as the PM said. Morrison’s electorate is Cook, named for Captain James Cook.

Perrett quipped:

Luckily our prime minister doesn’t have an electorate connected with this event.

We shared Greens senator Lidia Thorpe’s criticism of Morrison’s comments earlier.

She wasn’t alone in her anger.

And a name change has been suggested:

Updated

Berejiklian has also said that coronavirus restrictions in NSW will not be eased before 26 January, amid concerns of “super-spreading events”.

She was talking primarily about Australia Day parties.

There are different rules for protests, which you can find here.

NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian has joined the prime minister and Peter Dutton in criticising Cricket Australia for changing the name of its Big Bash game on 26 January.

To be clear, they are still holding the games, they’ve just decided to drop references to ‘Australia Day’ in the name of promoting inclusivity. The bare minimum, if you will.

But like Morrison and Dutton, Berejiklian disapproves.

She was asked by 2GB host Jim Wilson if the decision to remove references to “Australia Day” was “political correctness gone crazy”.

Berejiklian replied:

Can I just say Cricket Australia is a really professional outfit and our government loves dealing with them but I don’t think it’s too late for them to change their mind on this one.

Wilson: Would you hope they do?

Berejiklian:

I do absolutely, I hope they do change their mind. I mean, you can’t imagine Australia Day or summer without the cricket, cricket and Australia Day kind of go hand in hand. Look as I said they’re a professional outfit, extremely well-run organisation and I would hope they reconsider that on behalf of the nation.

To be clear: the cricket is still being played on 26 January. They are just dropping Australia Day from the branding. This does not in any way prevent people who celebrate Australia Day from watching the cricket on Australia Day.

Updated

Tasmania drops border restrictions with Brisbane, much of Sydney

Tasmania has dropped coronavirus border restrictions for greater Brisbane and much of Sydney.

From AAP:

The greater Brisbane region will shift from medium risk to low risk from 12.01am on Friday, Premier Peter Gutwein announced on Thursday.

It means travel between Queensland and Tasmania can occur without restrictions.

“Queenslanders entering the state will no longer need to quarantine,” Gutwein said.

Tasmania had declared greater Brisbane high risk on 8 January after an outbreak of the more contagious UK Covid-19 strain and forced all recent arrivals into isolation.

Those people still in quarantine will be allowed out at 12.01am on Friday.

“I want to thank them for their patience during this. It’s been a challenging period of time,” Gutwein said. “Not everybody I’m sure will race out at one minute past 12. Some may like to sleep through the course of the night, but it will be welcome news.”

Twenty-four local government areas in greater Sydney have been downgraded from medium to low risk.

“The outbreak in the northern beaches appears to be over. The last diagnosed case was over a week ago now,” State Public Health Director Mark Veitch said.

However 10 council areas in the city’s west, including Canterbury and Parramatta, remain medium risk, meaning people who have recently been in those areas must still quarantine upon arrival.

It is the only remaining quarantine requirement for domestic travellers entering Tasmania.

Both Queensland and NSW recorded no locally acquired cases on Thursday.

Updated

This is quite cool. Students in Western Australia will be able to learn Hindi, Korean, and Tamil at school in just two years’ time.

The curriculum for Hindi and Korean will be developed for years 11 and 12, and for Tamil it will be pre-primary to year 12.

Every student in years three to six in WA has to study a language.

Education minister, Sue Ellery, said:

We have an internationally diverse culture in Western Australia and these new subjects will give schools the opportunity to offer a broader choice to students in their local area.

Western Australia’s engagement with Asia is a state priority, and giving students the opportunity to engage with these additional languages will set them up for jobs for the future.

Parents often raise with me the choice of languages in WA schools so I am thrilled to be able to announce this today.”

Updated

The Law Council says criticism of Australia’s age of criminal responsibility at the United Nations overnight was a “stark reminder” that Australia was behind the rest of the world in its treatment of juvenile offenders.

The council’s president, Dr Jacoba Brasch QC, said Australian governments should commit to raising the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14.

It is unconscionable that in 2021 Australia, while a child under 13 years cannot sign up for a Facebook account, cannot board a plane unsupervised if under 12, but children as young as 10 can be found to be criminally responsible, charged with a crime and kept in detention.

The Law Council is not discounting that there are some legitimate concerns held amongst some parts of the community about community safety and juvenile crime. However, children aged 10 to 14 are statistically very unlikely to commit serious crimes such as homicide.

However, evidence strongly suggests that having a low minimum age of criminal responsibility of 10 years old does not work. It does not make our communities safer because it fails to prevent reoffending or to rehabilitate children. It does not make the children themselves safer.

Instead, it is likely to entrench criminality and creates cycles of inter-generational disadvantage that heighten reoffending rates.

Guardian Australia’s Laura Murphy-Oates has written extensively about the damage the juvenile justice system in Australia has wrought upon Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. You can read the latest in her series here.

Updated

Australian Open tennis players who have not been locked down as potential close contacts of coronavirus cases are let out of hotel quarantine to practise.

Marcelo Melo of Brazil leaves a Melbourne hotel for a practice session on Thursday
Marcelo Melo of Brazil leaves a Melbourne hotel for a practice session on Thursday. Photograph: William West/AFP/Getty Images
Tennis players return to a Melbourne hotel via a secure walkway after practising
Tennis players return to a Melbourne hotel via a secure walkway after practising. Photograph: William West/AFP/Getty Images

Updated

A man fatally shot by police following a car chase in Gippsland was fired upon very soon after being confronted by officers, police have said.

The man in his 30s died after being shot twice in Drouin, about 100km east of Melbourne, this morning.

He had allegedly stolen a silver Audi at knifepoint at Mirboo North, about 60km further east, at 7.40am and drove “erratically” before police began a pursuit. That ended when the Audi crashed into a guard rail in Drouin.

Acting commissioner Glenn Weir told reporters:

Police confronted the male who exited the car with the edged weapon, refused demands to put the weapon down, advanced on police. Two shots were fired and the male was struck. Police on the scene rendered first aid and called for an ambulance ... Unfortunately the efforts of the police and the ambulance were unsuccessful and the male is deceased at the scene.

Weir said the firing of the shots was “fairly instantaneous” with the man getting out of the car.

The man was known to police in the Latrobe Valley, and was “fairly itinerate”, Weir said.

He would not comment on what kind of knife the man was allegedly holding, but said it was:

Certainly fairly terrifying for the owner of the Audi and also the police who were confronted with that knife.

The driver of the Audi was not hurt.

The state coroner, judge John Cain, attended the scene and will conduct a public inquest. Witnesses have been asked to contact Crime Stoppers.

Fatal shootings by police officers and of people who shoot themselves in police custody account for 30% of all deaths in police custody, according to the Australian Institute of Criminology.

Updated

Australia’s biggest bank, the Commonwealth Bank, says there has so far been a “seamless transition” away from government benefits – but any further Covid clampdowns are likely to cause more economic damage once the jobkeeper scheme expires at the end of March.

CBA’s chief economist, Gareth Aird, based his prognostications on the bank’s internal data about customer accounts – a pretty good snapshot of the country given the group’s dominant market position.

In a note out this afternoon, Aird said household income has “inched higher over the past few months”, despite cuts to jobkeeper and jobseeker payments by the government. He said:

Growth in salary and wages paid into CBA bank accounts has lifted materially over recent months reflecting strong growth in employment, hours worked and the personal income tax cuts.

Household savings have also rocketed, fuelled by government benefits, increased employment and withdrawals from superannuation – in December, average savings balances per household among bank customers was up by 16.7% on the same time in the previous year.

The average total savings balance per household continues to rise sharply and the huge amount of savings accrued by the household sector will be a key source of support for household consumption in 2021.

However, CBA’s data still shows government benefits continuing to pump into customer accounts. Aird thinks government policy on benefits is “very well calibrated” – so far. But if restrictions return and government support for business and workers does not, it will be a different story.

Updated

In shark news, this good boy has been spotted just 100 metres off Cottesloe Beach, one of the most popular beaches in Perth.

Great whites are beautiful animals and pretty common off the coast of Western Australia at this time of year.

And I will just correct the wording of the above tweet: North Cottesloe beach was closed because a five-metre great white shark was spotted 300 meters offshore, and a tiger shark was detected multiple times.

Updated

Former Victorian minister Marlene Kairouz could face expulsion from the Labor party after her initial answers to an audit on allegations of branch stacking failed to satisfy party stalwarts, AAP reports.

Marlene Kairouz has been issued a show-cause notice by audit administrators Steve Bracks and Jenny Macklin, who have already purged the party of 1,700 “non-genuine” members.

The high-profile duo is digging deeper into the scandal, with former powerbroker Adem Somyurek accused of handing over cash and using parliamentary employees to create fake branch members and amass political influence.

A factional ally of Somyurek, Kairouz and fellow minister Robin Scott resigned from cabinet in June after their staff were implicated in his alleged branch-stacking efforts.

All three are under investigation as part of a joint probe between the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission and Victorian Ombudsman.

Kairouz has vowed to clear her name and was offered the opportunity to respond to the party elders in a questionnaire.

Despite legal advice to the contrary, the ex-minister for consumer affairs, gaming and liquor regulation returned the form only to be chastised.

She said in a statement on Wednesday:

The administrators were not satisfied with my responses and issued a show-cause letter due to my responses being deemed to be ‘non-responsive answers that have done little to assist us’.

Kairouz said she was told to keep her answers “succinct” to avoid inadvertently impeding the ongoing corruption watchdog probe.

My responses to the questionnaire were prepared in good faith.

The state member for Kororoit in Melbourne’s outer west insists the Labor party is not accusing her of branch stacking.

I am disappointed that my attempts to co-operate with this investigation have not been interpreted as such.

After consultation with IBAC, Kairouz said she had provided more information to Bracks and Macklin, who are due to finish in their roles at the end of January.

Kairouz will be booted from the party and forced to sit on the crossbench, effectively ending her political career, if the allegations of misconduct are not properly addressed, the Age reports.

Asked if he believed she would stay in the fold, the Victorian Labor leader and premier, Daniel Andrews, said:

I’m not briefed on either of those processes and I really can’t offer any comment on them.

Updated

Here is the video of Scott Morrison’s comment about 26 January.

Leaving aside that people who had been on a boat for six months were probably quite keen to get off that boat, this is such a weird comment. The genocide of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is a historical fact, not erased by whether or not members of the first fleet were feeling flash.

And a reminder: this (for today) is all about cricket. Cricket.

Dutton: medevac refugees released because it was 'cheaper' for them to be in the community

The home affairs minister, Peter Dutton, says the 50 men transferred to Australia under medevac legislation, who were being detained in hotels for the past 18 months, were allowed onto bridging visas because it was “cheaper” to keep them in the community.

It’s cheaper for people to be in the community than it is to be at a hotel or for us to be paying for them to be in detention and it’s demonstrated not to be a threat ... that’s the assessment that’s been made by the experts, then it is cheaper for people to go out into the community until they can depart.

Dutton was speaking to Ray Hadley on 2GB. He also said a recent riot on Christmas Island over conditions for detainees had caused $4m in damage.

The minister also said he expected Cricket Australia to reverse a decision of the game’s governing body to drop references to “Australia Day” in promotional material for Big Bash League games, and instead simply refer to “January 26”.

I’d be very surprised if Cricket Australia doesn’t overturn this decision because it is divisive and it’s unnecessarily so. I think they need to reflect on the decision that they’ve made and they need to reverse it. And I hope that they can do that today.

Updated

Greens senator Lidia Thorpe has criticised the prime minister for not acknowledging 26 January as a day of mourning for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Scott Morrison reportedly said, of celebrating Australia day on 26 January:

It’s all about acknowledging how far we’ve come. When those 12 ships turned up in Sydney, all those years ago, it wasn’t a particularly flash day for the people on those vessels either.

He was responding to Cricket Australia’s decision to drop “Australia Day” from the name of its 26 January test, but not, er, change the date.

Thorpe said Morrison’s “racism, ignorance and denial of this country’s history is on show”.

She continued:

The prime minister has an opportunity to unite this country, not to divide it. And that starts with telling the truth about this country’s history.

First Nations people have been here since time immemorial. Despite the massacres and the genocide, we are here. We have survived.

A person fit to lead this country would acknowledge this day for what it is – as a day of mourning.

Maybe the colonising First Fleet did feel sick on the boat over here. I can tell you that we feel sick to think that 26 January is a day that the leaders of this country should choose as the national day of celebration. For First Nations people, it’s like dancing on the graves of our ancestors.

Updated

And now, for an important update on wombat mange.

Sarcoptic mange is a significant issue for wild wombat populations and causes an agonising, drawn-out death. But a trial in Tasmania has found a common tick and flea treatment for domestic pets could help prevent mange.

The drug in question is Bravecto. Here’s AAP with more details.

Mange, which is caused by skin-burrowing mites, causes hair loss and often leads to a drawn-out and agonising death.

“It causes some of the worst animal suffering I’ve ever seen from a disease,” University of Tasmania wildlife ecologist Dr Scott Carver, who is involved in the research, told AAP.

“When a wombat gets it, it suffers a really slow deterioration over a period of about three months.”

Results from the trials, published in scientific journal ‘Parasites & Vectors’ in early January, show Bravecto is safe to use on wombats and successful in treating mange.

“In terms of duration of protection, the former drugs last a week or less whereas this drug will last at least one month, possibly more than three,” Carver said.

“It’s a huge difference in duration of protection. That’s the main and important difference.”

Scientists are expanding the project to field trials where they’ll tackle the challenge of treating wild wombats.

“We’ve got a really good drug now but there are still some challenges in delivering this drug,” Caver said.

The story notes that the drug is applied on domestic pets by parting their fur and applying to the skin, “but that can be tricky on wombats not used to humans”.

Carver said scientists would test putting flaps with the drug on the burrows of wild wombats as one possible delivery method.

And in case you were wondering: yes, Europeans caused this problem. The mites were thought to be introduced by early colonisers.

Australian prime minister Scott Morrison has had this to say about Biden’s swearing in earlier:

I appreciate the warm sentiment that we’re already getting back from the Biden administration and the many challenges that we have to work together on, both within our alliance, both more broadly in multilateral fora, with like-minded countries, whether they are in the G20, the G7, plus the OECD. There is a lot of work, importantly on regional security here in the Indo-Pacific, and the great partnerships we have [with] the South Pacific nations, the south-east asian nations and ASEAN. These are the big issues that President Biden and I will continue to address, as prime ministers and presidents always have.

Updated

Labor leader Anthony Albanese and shadow foreign minister Penny Wong have released a joint statement welcoming the inauguration of US president Joe Biden.

Labor congratulates United States President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on their inauguration.

The swearing-in of the Biden administration represents a triumph of hope over fear, and common purpose over division.

America’s greatest power has always been the example it sets to the world. When we look to the United States today, we see a woman of colour elected to high office, a Cabinet that reflects modern America and hope for progress on issues of central importance to Australia.

The Biden administration presents an opportunity to expand cooperation within the Australia-US alliance, to tackle the great challenges in our region and around the world.

We welcome Joe Biden’s commitment to working with allies, reinvesting in US global leadership, including on climate change – and Australia must be a strong partner in this.

Australia needs to lead by example to work with the US to secure the region we want – one that is stable, prosperous and respects sovereignty.

Let’s go back to the unemployment figures. The Australian Council of Social Service says that far from being back on track, they show Australia’s job market has a long way to go to recover from the damage done by the pandemic.

Only two-thirds of all full-time jobs lost since March have been restored, and there’s not enough growth in the job market to account for 200,000 school leavers.

CEO Edwina MacDonald said:

We know that for every job vacancy, there are nine people looking for a job or more hours, and that this is even worse in many regional areas.

What’s more, we still have to generate enough jobs for people entering the labour market, including over 200,000 school leavers. There are huge opportunities for job creation through providing much needed investment in social housing, the care sector and in energy efficiency upgrades for low-income homes.

To rebuild from this crisis, the government must focus on job creation and ensuring people without enough paid work can cover the basics, including a roof over [their] head and food on the table.

While the government did the right thing at the start of the crisis by increasing income support, it’s now undoing that good work with cuts, which have left people on jobseeker struggling to get by on $50 a day. What’s worse, the government still hasn’t ruled out going back to the brutal old Newstart rate of just $40 a day at the end of March.

Last year we heard from people who were able to buy new clothes and shoes for the first time in years but now they’re again having to make hard decisions between covering rent, groceries and medical needs.

Instead of short-term measures and cuts to income support, we need to finally see a permanent and adequate increase to the base rate of jobseeker of at least $25 a day more than the old Newstart rate, so that people can cover the basics and rebuild their lives.

Updated

Twenty-five refugees released from hotel detention in Melbourne

Mostafa “Moz” Azimitabar is one of 25 more refugees being released from the Park Hotel today and moving onto a bridging visa after 26 were released yesterday.

More buses departed the Park hotel in Melbourne on Thursday morning, bound for the Melbourne Immigration Transit Accomodation in Melbourne’s north before the men will be issued bridging visas and allowed to live in the community in Australia.

The Department of Home Affairs will not confirm how many were being granted bridging visas this week, but it is understood 14 of the men who were transferred to Australia under medevac legislation for medical care as long as 18 months ago remain in hotel detention.

It is unclear why those remaining men are being held separately from the others who will now be able to live in the community for at least six months.

Home affairs say the visa will allow them to finalise their medical treatment and either return to Manus Island, Nauru, their home country or accept a settlement offer in the United States.

Advocates are calling for the men to be resettled permanently.

Moz, a musician who was given a guitar from Jimmy Barnes while being kept in the hotel, has been invited to see Barnes perform this weekend, it is understood.

Updated

Employment minister Michaelia Cash also addressed the media a short time ago about today’s labour force figures, which showed unemployment has fallen by 0.2% to 6.6% and the underemployment rate decreased to 8.5%.

Cash says this is good news, and puts the country back on track to the record high participation rates of March 2020, which obviously took a dive when the pandemic hit.

Cash said:

When you look at where we are now, compared to where we were, with 90% of the jobs that were lost during Covid now returning to the economy, with that strong jobs growth – and certainly note that since Victoria has lifted its restrictions, you are seeing more and more jobs return to the economy. We are well and truly heading in the right direction ...

The resilience of the Australian economy – but in particular – you know, the Australian employers and the businesses out there should never be underestimated.

But Labor says these figures are not strong enough to merit the loss of the jobkeeper payment from March. Labor’s Jim Chalmers told reporters in Carins that until international borders reopen and tourism returns to pre-pandemic levels, direct economic support would continue to be required.

As it stands, Morrison and Frydenberg would rather jobkeeper money go to executive bonuses in Sydney than to small businesses in Cairns. And that’s a disgrace. What we’ve heard from the peak organisations, businesses of all sizes and workers that we have spoken to already today, is that when JobKeeper ends, too many local workers will lose their jobs. So we need to avoid that.

We need Mr Morrison and Frydenberg to understand what’s going on in Cairns and in the surrounding areas. We need them to understand that when the international borders are closed and tourism is impacted, that doesn’t just impact the tourism sector. It impacts the entire local economy. They need to understand that. That’s why jobkeeper and other sorts of economic support are so crucial to this town.

Updated

Hunt also made some comments on a travel bubble, after Gladys Berejiklian floated the idea of a Sydney travel bubble.

He said that Australia was keen to expand the New Zealand travel bubble, and also to add other countries to the list of minimal risk, or “green” countries under the traffic light system, from which travel may also be allowed.

Our goal is if the Pacific countries are able to be shown to be at the lowest risk level – and they are doing extraordinarily well – and that we’re able to put in the appropriate protections, then we could well expand that bubble.

At least 500 extra healthcare workers to be hired for vaccination clinics

Good afternoon, everyone, and thanks to Nino for taking you through the morning.

I want to take us back briefly to something health minister Greg Hunt said about the delivery of Covid-19 vaccines in Australia.

It’s going to require at least 500 additional healthcare workers to staff the planned vaccination clinics, Hunt said.

That includes commonwealth-funded vaccination clinics, state-funded clinics, and clinics run by Aboriginal community-controlled health organisations, all of which will be used in the first phase of the vaccine rollout to deliver the Pfizer vaccine. The AstraZeneca vaccine will also be delivered from pharmacies, so there will be more staff required there as well. Some of those additional healthcare workers will work in outreach in aged care and workplaces, and remote Indigenous communities not serviced by an Aboriginal community-controlled health organisation, Hunt said.

He said the proposed additional workforce will be “uncapped in terms of numbers” and could be “more than a thousand”.

This is on top of ... hospital staff, our cornerstone general practices, state vaccination clinics, the work of, in particular, the commonwealth vaccination clinics and Indigenous or Aboriginal community-controlled health organisations, and our pharmacists. So all of those groups are already in place.

This is to provide the additional support either with any of those or, in particular, with the outreach to Indigenous communities, aged care centres, and work places such as supporting border control and quarantine staff.

Ask how much this would cost and when training would start, Hunt said:

The training is expected to start within the next fortnight, if not earlier. The final costs will be released by the department of health in line with what they normally do with regards to overall contracting. So ... there is a process for that release.

And finally, has Australia managed to secure more doses of the Pfizer vaccine, after the pharmaceutical company announced it would up production?

The short answer appears to be no. Here’s the long answer:

Sure. So we continue to engage with our vaccination program. At the moment we have approximately 140m doses – one of the highest rates of dosing per population in the world. We take the advice of the medical expert panel and we respectfully never pre-empt any additional purchases, given the highly competitive and commercial global nature of it. We will keep under review. We’re engaging with our medical experts and they are the ones that will advise if they believe more is required, more will be provided. To think of a population of 25 million ... with 50 million doses required to meet the entire population, but knowing that at this stage, children have not been recommended. We have enough to provide the whole population three times over.

Healthcare worker in PPE holds a syringe of the vaccine

Updated

Thanks for reading, Calla Wahlquist is taking over now.

Here is an update on the news so far today:

Updated

Greg Hunt, the health minister, is speaking in Victoria. He says the government is taking additional action as backed by the national cabinet.

Hunt said he had signed Biosecurity Act orders today so that as of tomorrow, PCR tests will be required within 72 hours prior to departure for international travellers and masks will be required on international flights.

“These are difficult and will be challenging for many people. I’m apologetic that we need to put in place these restrictions.”

But Hunt said there was a need for vigilance, citing “those global comparisons, the success at home, the agonising challenge abroad, the fact we have new more virulent strains emerging around the world”.

Updated

Prime minister Scott Morrison said earlier today that he felt it was “pretty ordinary” that Cricket Australia had removed references to Australia Day in promotional material for Big Bash League matches to be played on 26 January after consulting with Indigenous leaders.

He has now reportedly had this to say about the First Fleet:

NSW Health warns residents to prepare for upcoming heatwave

As previously mentioned, it is going to be hot in Australia for the next few days. NSW health are warning people to take it easy (in a Covid-safe way). Here’s part of a statement just released:

With much of NSW forecast to experience severe to extreme heatwave conditions over the coming days, NSW Health is urging residents to take steps to beat the heat.

Acting director of Environmental Health, Dr Adi Vyas said people should take extra care to prevent heat-related illness.

“Hot weather puts a lot of strain on the body, including dehydration, and can make underlying health conditions worse,” Vyas said.

“It also causes heat stress and heat stroke. People over 75 years, people with chronic medical conditions and people who live alone are particularly vulnerable.

“Plan for the upcoming heatwave by checking your fridges, freezers, fans and air-conditioners work properly. Set your air conditioning to cool; a setting of 24C can keep you cool while helping to reduce electricity demand. Put jugs of water in the fridge and cool packs in the freezer. Also ensure your blinds are closed before the sun hits your windows. Plan your activities safely on hot days.

“Protect yourself during the heatwave by postponing or rescheduling your outdoor activities. Reduce the impact of heat by avoiding being outside during the hottest part of the day; keeping well hydrated with water; and looking after vulnerable neighbours and relatives.

“Signs of heat-related illness include dizziness, tiredness, irritability, thirst, fainting, muscle pains or cramps, rapid pulse, shallow breathing, vomiting and confusion.”

People showing severe signs of heat-related illness should seek urgent medical attention and, in an emergency situation, call triple zero (000).

While everyone needs to take necessary precautions to avoid heat-related illness, NSW Health is also urging people to continue to practise Covid-19 safe behaviour during the heatwave.

bronte ocean pool

Updated

Here is a little more news just in about Covid-19 vaccinations in Australia, which we have posted a bit about today. The Pfizer vaccine could soon be approved for use here:

National cabinet will be held tomorrow, on the same day as Covid-19 restrictions lift in Brisbane. So it is perhaps fitting that AAP are foreshadowing some spirited discussions about state border closures.

Motorists approach the Queensland/New South Wales border last month.
Motorists approach the Queensland/New South Wales border last month. Photograph: Dave Hunt/AAP

Here’s part of a report that AAP recently filed:

State border closures continue to cause political leaders headaches with the issue set to be thrashed out at Friday’s national cabinet meeting.

A group of NSW and Victorian MPs has urged prime minister Scott Morrison to adopt a uniform border closure policy and compensate affected businesses.

Some Sydney residents still can’t travel to Queensland and Victoria, while Western Australia continues to keep its border closed to all of NSW.

National cabinet is also due to discuss the Queensland government’s proposal to use mining camps for quarantine instead of hotels.

Updated

Covid-19 vaccinations are slated to start in Australia next month, and AAP report that a workforce has been hired to get the jabbing started. Here’s some of that report:

Australia’s vaccine workforce is being beefed up ahead of the first jabs as health services prepare to immunise millions against coronavirus.

Vaccinations will be administered through hospitals, general practices, state and federal vaccination clinics, community controlled Aboriginal health organisations and pharmacies.

The new workers will supplement those services as well as being deployed to aged care and remote Indigenous communities.

The federal government has appointed private providers Aspen Medical, Healthcare Australia, International SOS and Sonic Clinical Services to fill the jobs.

Health minister, Greg Hunt, said the boosted workforce would ensure vaccines were administered efficiently, particularly to priority groups in residential aged care, disability facilities and carers.

“Our vaccination strategy requires the highest levels of operational readiness,” he said on Thursday.

No health professional will be allowed to administer a vaccine without compulsory training, which is being developed by the Australian College of Nursing.

“The nature of the Covid-19 vaccines requires immunisers receive information on a range of issues, such as the use of multi-use vials and handling practices for the Pfizer vaccine which requires very low temperatures for storage,” Hunt said.

The federal government will this week issue expressions of interest for GPs and pharmacists to be involved in the vaccination program.

Authorities continue to allay fears about vaccines with chief nursing officer Alison McMillan reminding Australians the medical regulator is independent of government.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration is in the final stages of regulatory checks for the AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines with jabs expected to start next month.

Dr McMillan said herd immunity was the long-term goal for Australia.

“Right now we want to protect those most vulnerable from the severest of the disease and that is what we are working towards,” she said.

There have been no cases of local transmission of the virus across the country for three days.

Health minister Greg Hunt.
Health minister Greg Hunt says the government has hired private medical providers to help the rollout of the Covid vaccine. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

Updated

Human Rights Watch has urged the Morrison government to show leadership on raising the age of criminal responsibility, after about 30 countries raised the issue at a human rights session in Geneva overnight.

Elaine Pearson, the Australia director at Human Rights Watch, said the federal government should work with the states and territories “to change their laws to raise the age of criminal responsibility and comply with international standards”.

Australian officials last night faced questions from international counterparts by videolink, as part of the UN’s universal periodic review of human rights, which happens about every five years.

Andrew Walter, a senior official from the Attorney-General’s Department who led the Australian delegation, replied that the age of criminal responsibility remained 10 years in all locations in Australia, but the ACT and NT had both flagged an intention to pursue changes.

Defending the current policies, Walter argued that “between the ages of 10 and 14, a child is presumed to have been incapable of committing a criminal offence unless the prosecution establishes beyond reasonable doubt that at the time of the offence the child knew that what they were doing was seriously wrong in a criminal sense”.

Human Rights Watch said more than 40 nations had also questioned Australia’s policies toward asylum seekers and refugees. The concerns included the continued use of offshore processing and prolonged detention for asylum seekers - but the Australian delegation argued that Australia was committed to strong border protection policies to “send a clear message that people smugglers cannot sell a path to Australia” and those policies had “saved countless lives at sea”.

Pearson said:

It’s disappointing to see the Australian government doubling down on policies that have caused immense harm to asylum seekers and have been repeatedly condemned by UN officials and other governments. While Australia has abandoned its responsibilities towards these people, it’s good to see the rest of the world has not.

For more on this issue, see our story overnight:

Just another detail I missed earlier on that one new case of Covid-19 detected in Queensland hotel quarantine, premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said it related to an Emirates flight crew member who had actually since departed the state.

The Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says Brisbane was the site of the first Australian battle against the UK variant of Covid-19.

One-way travel bubble from Cook Islands to New Zealand starts today

The one-way quarantine-free travel bubble from the Cook Islands to New Zealand has commenced today, with the first flight from Rarotonga reported to have landed at Auckland International Airport this morning with about 100 people on board. Some are students returning to New Zealand to study and some are in need of medical treatment.

Air New Zealand chief executive officer Greg Foran told Stuff that the airline had been encouraged by bookings in the coming months, following the New Zealand and Cook Islands’ governments announcement last week.

“The first couple of flights inbound have had strong uptake, which is terrific,” said Foran. Air NZ intends to operate two flights a week.

To be eligible to enter New Zealand without a two-week stay at a government isolation facility, arrivals in the Cook Islands must not have been overseas or come into contact with a confirmed Covid-19 case in the past fortnight, and must have maintained physical distancing at the airport.

New Zealanders wanting to travel to the Cook Islands will have to wait for a two-way agreement. The NZ government is still hopeful of introducing a travel bubble to Australia by April, pending the resolution of Covid-19 outbreaks in several states.

Flights have started between the Cook Islands and New Zealand
Flights have started between the Cook Islands and New Zealand. Photograph: Nigel Marple/Reuters

Updated

Unemployment drops to 6.6%

The labour force statistics are out – and unemployment has fallen by 0.2% to 6.6%.

Of the 50,000 new jobs created in December, most (35,700) were full-time jobs, with a further 14,300 part-time jobs.

The other headline figures are:
The participation rate increased to 66.2%.
Employment increased to 12,910,800.
The employment to population ratio increased to 61.8%.
The underemployment rate decreased to 8.5%.
Monthly hours worked increased by 2 million hours.

Updated

Man shot dead by police in Victoria

A man has been shot and killed by police after officers said he armed himself with an “edged weapon”.

Police said in a statement that the “dynamic incident” occurred at Drouin, east of Melbourne, earlier this morning.

Here is that statement from Victoria police:

A man has died after being shot by police in Drouin this morning.

Police were initially called to the intersection of Baths Road and Strzelecki Highway at Mirboo North to reports of an armed carjacking about 7.40am.

Investigators have been told a man armed with a knife made threats to a man before stealing his silver Audi station wagon.

Police then received reports of a vehicle, believed to be the stolen Audi, driving erratically in the Drouin area shortly before 9am.

Responding police attempted to stop the car before it was involved in a collision.

During the highly dynamic incident it is believed the male produced an edged weapon and was shot by police.

The man has since died.

The investigation is in its infancy, detectives from the Homicide Squad will investigate to determine the exact circumstances on behalf of the Coroner, which will be oversighted by Professional Standards Command, as per standard protocol when a police firearm is discharged.

Anyone who witnessed the incident is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential report online at www.crimestoppervic.com.au

Updated

Here is some more about the changes to restrictions coming in for Brisbane from 1am tomorrow:

There’s a fair few changes, but some of them are:

  • 200 people allowed at weddings and funerals;
  • 50 people in homes and 100 people in public spaces;
  • 100% capacity at ticketed venues and open air stadiums; and
  • Dancing allowed in all venues, subject to the one person per two square metre rule.

Updated

Shares in pure-play coalminer Whitehaven Coal are down by almost 3% this morning – but the fall is unlikely to be related to Joe Biden’s new executive order committing the US to rejoining the Paris climate accord.

The accord is bad news for coalminers, as it commits participants to take action to reduce global heating to under 1.5C, but Biden’s made it clear for months that he would bring America back into the Paris fold after the former president, Donald Trump, quit it.

Coal mining at the Whitehaven mine in New South Wales
Coalmining at the Whitehaven mine in NSW. Photograph: Fairfax Media/Fairfax Media via Getty Images

Whitehaven’s share price spiked last week after it put out a fairly upbeat update on Thursday, but since then news in the sector has been grim and some of the market optimism about the company’s fortunes seems to have fallen away.

Yesterday, BHP announced it would write down the value of its Mount Arthur coalmine in the Hunter Valley by at least $1.5bn, amid plunging prices for the thermal coal it produces.

Whitehaven says it’s getting better prices for its coal than BHP, but the long-term outlook for the sector remains poor.

Updated

NSW Health have also provided sewage surveillance program updates.

Fragments of the virus were detected in Warriewood overnight. The plant takes in more than 160,000 people on the northern beaches. Fragments were also found at Berala, which takes in a catchment of almost 10,000 people across the suburbs of Berala, Auburn, Lidcombe, Rookwood, and Regents Park in Sydney’s west.

The virus was also detected at a treatment plant in Glenfield, which takes in a catchment of more than 160,000 people, yesterday.

NSW Health said:

While this likely reflects known recent confirmed cases in these areas, everyone living or working there should monitor for symptoms and get tested and isolate immediately if they appear.

Updated

NSW Health confirm the testing rate was again relatively high yesterday, but there is some uncertainty regarding the numbers because of an IT issue.

This is from the NSW health statement:

While there were 12,213 tests reported to 8pm last night, compared with the previous day’s total of 19,959, NSW Health can advise the reported testing numbers today appear lower after a minor IT issue delayed inclusion of approximately 6,000 negative tests. These figures will be counted in tomorrow’s numbers. There were no delays reporting test results to individuals who had been tested.

Updated

NSW records no new locally acquired Covid-19 cases

NSW health has confirmed there were no locally acquired cases of Covid-19 in New South Wales recorded until 8pm yesterday, with five cases recorded in hotel quarantine.

Updated

The Consumers Health Forum of Australia has released a position statement on the Covid-19 vaccination program.

It says state and federal governments should provide:

  • A safe waiting area that allows for physical distancing;
  • A dedicated monitoring area staffed by appropriately qualified healthcare;
  • An appropriate record-keeping system to track who has received the vaccine and how many doses;
  • A contact system for follow-up reminders to receive a second dose; and
  • A commitment to provide the vaccine at no cost to consumers.

All this vaccination program talk reminds me off this cartoon from yesterday:

That is it for the day from Victorian premier Daniel Andrews. There was basically nothing there which could be construed as a crack at other states, the federal government or tennis players, which is a nice change.

Andrews says that in Victoria we have always been good at spending Australia Day: “Acknowledging the past and acknowledging the pain, but also coming together to celebrate the values that we share.”

He then makes clear we shouldn’t come together this year, because of the pandemic, but that he hopes 2022 will be different because of the Covid-19 vaccine.

Victorian premier Daniel Andrews.
Victorian premier Daniel Andrews. Photograph: Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images

Updated

Andrews addresses issues raised by Melbourne residents earlier this week about used personal protective equipment overflowing from a bin at an Australian Open quarantine hotel into their street. He says the problem was caused when a garbage truck was late. Just so you know what I mean by a “bitsy” press conference.

This Daniel Andrews press conference is fairly bitsy. He has been speaking about jobseeker/keeper and the rate of Newstart, the ability to get foreign workers to farms, international students, and a few other things.

Updated

Andrews is mostly speaking about government initiatives relating to social housing at this point. He says the plan is great for builders and residents as the state tries to claw its way out of the economic doldrums caused by the pandemic.

Daniel Andrews gives press conference

Victorian premier Daniel Andrews is speaking in Melbourne. Earlier, the state confirmed a 15th day in a row without a locally acquired case, and one new case in hotel quarantine.

Updated

New Zealand fights complacency on Covid

New Zealand public health officials are facing an uphill battle against complacency in the fight to keep the country free of community transmission of coronavirus.

Use of the Covid-19 tracer app recording check-ins at public places in the event of an outbreak has plummeted in the months since November, when Covid-19 was last recorded locally.

The number of daily scans is now down to a fifth of its peak, registering 515,759 scans across the country on 11 January, down from a high of 2.5 million on 4 September.

Epidemiologist Dr Michael Baker last week called for the government to make scanning at crowded venues such as nightclubs mandatory in a bid to shore up New Zealand’s protections in the event of an outbreak.

Writing in Stuff, Virginia Fallon said New Zealanders were wrong to be acting so relaxed.

“While part of our national charm is our relaxed approach to life, right now we’re taking the ‘she’ll be right’ attitude way too far. And it’s going to come back to bite us.”

Updated

Queensland reports no new locally acquired coronavirus cases

There were no new local Covid cases and one case in hotel quarantine in Queensland.

Updated

Restrictions to ease in Brisbane from tomorrow

Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk confirms that from 1am tomorrow Covid-19 restrictions will lift for greater Brisbane.

On 4RO radio, Morrison explained that the new gas export heads of agreement aims to ensure domestic users of gas are able to buy it at the same price (the netback price) as users overseas.

He said:

No doubt energy companies and others will want a floor on that price – or government control to shore up their position. That’s not what this is about: there’s a strong market around the world, so Australians should get the benefit of that competition and lower prices.


There were a few culture war-style jabs at Labor, as Morrison claimed that “heavy industry has a future under a Liberal National government because we believe in the things that are needed to keep those things under way”. Labor is not opposed to gas and also wants cheap renewable energy – so I’m not sure what he’s referring to.

Morrison also claimed:

In some universities today people who go into studying mining and engineering are treated a little bit like pariahs, and that’s rubbish, we should be celebrating them. These are the people that are going to be driving growth for years to come.

Morrison didn’t give much comfort to tourism operators looking for support when jobkeeper wage subsidies finish on 31 March.

He said the government is “monitoring” the economic situation “very closely” but critics had said jobs would be lost when jobkeeper tapered down in September and December – but instead 450,000 businesses and 2m workers graduated off the payment.
The predicament of the tourism industry “cuts both ways” because although no international visitors are coming in, no Australians are going out.

He said:

So far it’s been mainly Queenslanders seeing Queensland. But as those borders open up domestically – that is going to be of greater assistance in the short term than anything else.”

Updated

Scott Morrison rebukes Cricket Australia for dropping Australia Day reference

Cricket Australia has dropped a reference to Australia Day in its promotional material for a Big Bash league matches on 26 January after consulting Indigenous leaders.

But Morrison says the decision is “pretty ordinary”.

“I think a bit more focus on cricket, and a little less focus on politics would be my message to Cricket Australia,” he told radio 4RO on Thursday morning.

“I think that’s pretty ordinary - that’s what they’re putting on their press releases - that would be my view.”

The Daily Telegraph reports that the Cricket Australia First Nation’s advisory committee recommended that Australia Day not be used to promote the matches.

Cricket Australia reportedly advised the six teams involved in the matches of the stance, but said each team could promote the matches as they wished.

Melbourne teams the Renegades and the Stars will both play in matches on 26 January
Melbourne teams the Renegades and the Stars will both play in matches on 26 January. Photograph: James Ross/AAP

Updated

Morrison has been asked about visiting parts of western Queensland where there had been drought during his last visit in 2019, but farmers there are bouncing back.

Bailey, the 4RO presenter, asks how he felt when he “saw the green stuff”.

“It was very moving,” Morrison replies. “I got emotional.”

Updated

Morrison is being asked about tourism in central Queensland. He is urging Australians to keep seeing the country, and is looking forward to state borders reopening.

“This is a great opportunity for the tourism industry,” he said.

“In Queensland it’s been mostly Queenslanders seeing Queensland, and that’s great.”

But he warns that it must continue after the conclusion of jobkeeper and other government stimulus programs.

“You can’t run your economy on taxpayer’s money forever, and I think Australians understand that.”

Updated

This is part of a press statement the Morrison government released this morning regarding the future of gas, which he is elaborating on right now to central Queensland radio station 4RO:

The Liberal Nationals Coalition Government is keeping downward pressure on energy prices for families and businesses with a new agreement under the Government’s JobMaker plan.

The new Heads of Agreement with east coast liquefied natural gas (LNG) companies will ensure more gas is offered to the domestic market, more often, and on more competitive terms.

The Agreement, signed by Prime Minister Scott Morrison and LNG exporters, Australia Pacific LNG, Queensland Curtis LNG and Gladstone LNG will help secure competitively priced gas supply for the east coast market at least until 2023.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said cheaper and more reliable energy was central to Australia’s economic recovery and the Government’s JobMaker plan.

“Gas is critical to our economic recovery and this Agreement ensures Australian businesses and families have the gas supply they need at the cheapest possible price,” the Prime Minster said.

“This is about making Australia’s gas work for all Australians, while also supporting economic growth and backing important regional jobs in our expanding LNG sector.

“As part of our JobMaker plan we are delivering more Australian gas where it is needed at an internationally competitive price, this particularly includes manufacturing businesses who employ more than 850,000 Australians, many of which rely on gas to operate,” the Prime Minister said.

Since the Government first acted in mid-2017 to ensure gas supplies for the domestic market through the introduction of the Australian Domestic Gas Security Mechanism and the first Heads of Agreement, the spot price for gas has dropped from $12.50 to $10.50 a gigajoule to now be between $7 to $5 a gigajoule.

Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia Keith Pitt said the new Heads of Agreement puts Australian families and businesses first by making sure Australia does not experience a shortfall in supply at the expense of exports.

Prime minister Scott Morrison is in regional Queensland this week
Prime minister Scott Morrison is in regional Queensland this week. Photograph: Lukas Coch/EPA

Updated

Bailey has interrupted (Just Like) Starting Over by John Lennon to get Morrison on the line from Gladstone. Morrison “got his laps in” at the pool there yesterday, he says.

Prime minister Scott Morrison is going to speak on central Queensland radio station 4RO soon about the “gas lead recovery” from Covid-19, according to presenter Michael J Bailey, who is having a little trouble getting him on the line.

I...I don’t think this will sell more lamb? The latest instalment in lamb promos for Australia Day looks as if it’s been inspired by, ahem, beef, over the Covid-19 response (either states v states or states v Morrison government).

Updated

It is going to be an interesting Covid-19 numbers day in Queensland and New South Wales.

Both states have had a run of zero days, and if it continues then restrictions will ease in Brisbane from tomorrow, and in Sydney next week.

NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian flagged yesterday that some restrictions around mask use in busy locations such as public transport could continue “indefinitely”.

We will bring you those figures when they arrive (should be any time in the next hour or so).

Mask use on public transport in Sydney could continue “indefinitely”
Mask use on public transport in Sydney could continue ‘indefinitely’. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP

Updated

A further 24 refugees are set to be released from detention in Melbourne at 11am today, according to a statement just in from the Refugee Action Collective.

Collective spokesman Chris Breen said it was expected the men, who were originally transported to Australia from offshore detention facilities for medical reasons, would be driven from the Park Hotel to a detention centre in Broadmeadows before being released.

The men had been held for almost eight years, he said.

A protestor outside the Park Hotel in Melbourne yesterday
A protestor outside the Park Hotel in Melbourne yesterday. Photograph: Michael Currie/Speed Media/REX/Shutterstock

Updated

The Australian government should try to recover unpaid student loans from people who have died, the Productivity Commission reckons.

Also if you’re interested in what is going to happen with universities this year, this piece from yesterday is illuminating.

The Department of Home Affairs mistakenly sent letters to visa applicants telling them they had to travel overseas during the pandemic or risk derailing their applications

Djokovic says letter of Australian Open demands was 'misconstrued'

Tennis world No 1 Novak Djokovic is just a soul whose intentions were good, but oh lord, he has been been misunderstood.

Novak Djokovic of Serbia responds to fans from a hotel balcony in Adelaide on Wednesday
Novak Djokovic of Serbia responds to fans from a hotel balcony in Adelaide on Wednesday. Photograph: Morgan Sette/AFP/Getty Images

That’s according to a lengthy statement he released overnight defending his gripes regarding quarantine conditions for the Australian Open.

Updated

Victoria records no new Covid cases

Victoria records its 15th straight day without any locally acquired cases of Covid-19. Only one in hotel quarantine, and a very impressive 20,070 tests.

Updated

China has attacked Australia at the UN, my colleague Daniel Hurst reports:

Here is a bushfire and weather-related story that is worth your time, as we approach a string of hot days. It is about the recovery of certain types of forest from the 2019-20 bushfires.

The Childhood in Custody series is truly excellent and you can read today’s story from Laura Murphy-Oates here:

It is the middle of summer in Australia, so of course it is hot, but it will be particularly hot for the next few days.

There are bushfire warnings in place in South Australia, with Adelaide set to reach 35C today, 32C tomorrow, 39C on Saturday and 41C on Sunday.

A bushfire warning in Western Australia for Nannup, south of Perth, was downgraded overnight, but fire and emergency services in the state, who have already had a busy summer, are bracing for more.

Basically all the major cities in Australia included on the Bureau of Meteorology forecast are going to top 30C at least once in the next three days apart from Hobart.

Boys escaping the heat at a popular swimming hole in Penrith last month
Boys escape the heat at a popular swimming hole in Penrith in Sydney’s west last month. Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAP

Updated

The world’s media will be largely fixed upon Washington DC today after Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th president of the United States, but here is what is happening closer to home.

The Productivity Commission has called for a shake-up of the $6.4bn of public funding given to vocational education and training, but courted controversy with a recommendation that the government chase the estates of deceased students to repay outstanding loans. Australian students have amassed $58bn in unpaid loans, with the proposed rule change relating to deceased estates estimated to recoup around $46m over a decade. The commission has also called for the introduction of minimum upfront fees to challenge the idea of the loans representing “free money”.

A Queensland-based coal seam gas company is hoping to drill hundreds of new wells in an area declared off-limits due to a previous environmental disaster at the site. An Arrow Energy spokesman said the company has extensive modelling that suggests the proposed drilling would be safe.

Subalpine forest areas are struggling to recover from the 2019-20 bushfires, researchers suggest, but eucalypt forests on the New South Wales south coast appear to be faring better than expected.

Applicants for parent or partner visas have mistakenly been sent “outdated” government letters, advising them to book international flights out of Australia, despite the inherent risks of doing so during the Covid-19 pandemic.

And the Australian Open has confirmed it is footing the bill for the quarantine of all players, walking back from comments made by its chief executive, Craig Tiley, that the Victorian government would foot part of the bill for quarantining Australian Open players, coaches and officials.

Updated

Good morning, Nino Bucci here with you on the Australia live blog on Thursday 21 January.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Sir Paul McCartney Was Not Banned From Reddit — Moderator Says A Bug Incorrectly Flagged His Account
Sir Paul McCartney's Reddit account was briefly flagged as banned due to a technical bug, but moderators confirmed he was never actually banned.
International Business Times UK
International Business Times UK
Woman Tries To Parallel Park. Then She Looks Out Her Window And Sees What A Group Of Men Is Doing: ‘That Would Piss Me Off'
A woman documented an acute bout of performance anxiety she experienced while attempting to parallel park her vehicle. TikTok user Vanessa Sosa (@vanessa_sosa_95) posted a viral clip of her attempting to get her vehicle into a vacant space situated between two other cars.
Motor1
Motor1
Dallas woman grabs cart at Aldi. What she sees inside stops her in her tracks—lowkey traumatizing her: ‘People are dying to shop at Aldi I guess’
Aldi is a fan favorite grocery store in the United States, where consumers flock to find better quality food for lower prices. Besides this, there are many things you can find at the supermarket chain that you didn’t know even existed, most notably, the mountainous variety of snacks and the…
The Mary Sue
The Mary Sue
Pet Microchipping: Is It Really Necessary?
Losing a pet is one of the most stressful experiences for any pet owner. Despite precautions like collars and ID tags, pets can still go missing without a trace. This is where microchipping comes into play as a reliable identification method. A microchip is a tiny electronic device implanted under…
Times Pets
Times Pets
Rowntree’s trust appoints Keon West to tackle brand’s colonial history
Author and academic says role is a chance ‘to make real, meaningful changes’ as trust confronts enslavement links
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Elvis Presley's 1968 Pool-Side Furniture Captures the Retro Look Designers Say is Set to be on All the Chicest Patios in Summer 2026
Ornate metal outdoor furniture was everywhere in Elvis' era, but nearly 60 years on, it's making a reappearance in a big way
Homes & Gardens
Homes & Gardens
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.
Download on the AppStore Get it on Google Play