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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Stephanie Convery and Matilda Boseley (earlier)

Australia bans imports of Russian oil, petroleum, gas and coal – as it happened

New South Wales United States Australia Queensland Kumanjayi Walker Russia Kimberley Kitching Zachary Rolfe Aus Bill Shorten
Opposition leader Anthony Albanese
Opposition leader Anthony Albanese inspects flood damage in Lismore alongside Labor state member Janelle Saffin. Photograph: Jason O’Brien/AAP

What we learned today, Friday 11 March

That’s where we’ll leave you on this Friday evening. It’s been a big week. Here’s what we learned today:

  • The Northern Territory police officer Zachary Rolfe has been found not guilty of murder in relation to the shooting death of Kumanjayi Walker. The trial heard Rolfe shot Walker, a 19-year-old Warlpiri man, while trying to arrest him in the remote community of Yuendumu, about 300km from Alice Springs, on 9 November 2019. Walker’s families have spoken of their grief, and called for “no more guns in remote communities” in the wake of the trial.
  • Australia has banned imports of Russian oil, gas, petroleum products and coal, following similar sanctions from the US and the UK, as Russia continues waging war in Ukraine.
  • Five people were injured, one critically, when a helicopter crashed into the Snowy River near Guthega power station in Kosciuszko national park in NSW during a routine aerial survey. Two passengers and the pilot have been flown to Canberra hospital, the latter with serious injuries but in a stable condition.
  • The Tasmanian premier, Peter Gutwein, has revealed he was the victim of sexual assault as a teenager.
  • Tributes have rolled in for Labor senator Kimberley Kitching who died suddenly yesterday of a suspected heart attack. Bill Shorten, speaking live on radio earlier today, said he had “no doubt that the stress of politics in the machinations in the back rooms had its toll” on the politician.
  • The federal health minister, Greg Hunt, announced an extension of the rapid antigen test program for concession card holders.
  • The Australian government has said it will buy 130,000 doses of a vaccine to protect against Japanese encephalitis as the outbreak spreads across four states.
  • And there were at least 30 Covid deaths in the last 24 hours around the country as Western Australia recorded more than 5,000 cases in a day for the first time.

That’s all from me this week, thanks for your company. Join my lovely colleagues for all the day’s news tomorrow, and have a good weekend.

Updated

The federal government is under increasing pressure to expand its reinsurance pool for cyclone damage to include flooding, with calls for the Coalition to pass the legislation in the final days of parliament before the looming election.

Politicians across the political divide, at state and federal level, have backed calls to expand the $10bn Northern Australia reinsurance pool for cyclone damage to cover more natural disasters, across the country. Several Coalition members – including Warren Entsch, one of the scheme’s principal advocates, and Kevin Hogan, representing the Lismore-based electorate of Page – have thrown their weight behind the changes, as well as north coast MPs Janelle Saffin and Tamara Smith.

Scott Morrison’s government continues to come under pressure over its response to the flooding crisis along Australia’s east coast, with the Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, urging the commonwealth to extend more disaster payments to victims in her state too.

The reinsurance scheme is meant to bring down the cost of insurance and further incentivise providers to offer cover in areas they may not currently, due to the high risk of natural disaster.

Politicians representing flood-devastated areas in southern Queensland and northern New South Wales say many people in their communities simply cannot afford, or cannot access, insurance.

Read the full report:

More on Australia’s ban of Russian oil, coal, petroleum and gas that was announced a short time ago: the ban will not take effect for 45 days.

That means the Australian government will allow cargoes already on the way and paid for to arrive, a spokesperson for the foreign minister, Marise Payne, told Guardian Australia.

Updated

The pilot and two of the passengers from the helicopter that crashed into the Snowy River in Kosciuszko national park this afternoon have now been flown to hospital.

AAP has some more details of the events this afternoon. Critical care doctors and paramedics were winched down to the crash site.

The pilot was flown to Canberra hospital in a serious but stable condition with head, back and possibly spinal injuries.

Two of the passengers were flown to the same facility for assessment of possible spinal damage, while the two remaining passengers were able to walk away with minor injuries. They were driven to Cooma hospital for further assessment.

The NSW Ambulance acting Inspector Jennifer Barker said the fact nobody died in the incident “is either good luck or good piloting”.

Crews had difficulty accessing the remote scene.

Barker said:

Having rescue helicopters with winching capabilities was critical to getting everyone treated and safely extricated as quickly as possible.

Updated

It is heartbreaking to watch this family’s palpable grief but also so important that they are heard.

Australia bans imports of Russian oil, petroleum, gas and coal

Looks like Australia has joined the UK and US in banning oil, coal and gas imports from Russia. This just in to us from a spokesperson for the foreign minister, Marise Payne:

The Australian government is prohibiting the import into Australia of Russian oil, refined petroleum products, gas and coal.

These energy products are Russia’s largest global source of export revenue. Australia does not import large amounts, but taking this action with key partners will collectively curtail Russia’s revenue and ability to finance Russian President Vladimir Putin’s unjustified war against Ukraine.

... This decision does not risk Australia’s fuel security. Australia has diverse and resilient oil supply chains, and adequate fuel supplies thanks to the government’s comprehensive fuel security package.

The announcement follows those by the US and UK to impose a ban.

It remains unclear, though, whether this ban affects shipments of oil already ordered by Viva Energy and Ampol, two refiners in Australia. We’ll try to find out.

Updated

The immigration minister, Alex Hawke, says the Australian government has so far granted more than 3,000 visas to Ukrainians since the Russian invasion.

All Ukrainian nationals in Australia with a visa due to expire by 30 June this year will be given an automatic six-month extension.

Updated

Back to the news that Zachary Rolfe was found not guilty of murder over the fatal shooting of Kumanjayi Walker.

Valerie Napaljarri Martin, the deputy chair of the Paraumpurru select committee, spoke outside the court today in the wake of the verdict being delivered. Here’s what she said:

We are feeling so empty that our beloved young fella has been taken away from us.

We have every right to speak and to say this must stop. Do not silence us.

The system traps our young people in youth detention and then in jails. The elders and the community know what to do. We are trying to help our young people but we need more support to keep our young people out of the system.

Listen to us. We are all connected in this country, we should not be divided by racism but we are.

We don’t want guns in our community. We want to increase support for families and young ones. We want to work with yapa-controlled support services.

We need control back in our communities so we can deal with the problems that are there.

Valerie Napaljarri Martin speaks to the media outside the supreme court in Darwin
Valerie Napaljarri Martin speaks to the media outside the Northern Territory supreme court in Darwin. Photograph: Aaron Bunch/AAP

Updated

Some flood warning updates for New South Wales of varying intensity – please check your region’s specific conditions.

It’s good to see the flood waters recede in the rivers across NSW, especially in the Hawkesbury-Nepean.

As of yesterday, many people were still to return to their homes and assess the damage, an unhappy chore for many today.

The Hawkesbury mayor, Patrick Conolly, told Guardian Australia last year’s floods in March inundated 4,000 homes in his area, and this year’s event would be of that order:

I’d imagine it’s something similar to [March 2021], but we will have to wait and see for those numbers.

The council too is still to count the cost. “It’s a bit of an anxious wait of course, because in March last year we had major damage to roads in particular” and some services “just got washed away”, he said.

The repairs to infrastructure, from potholes to fix and so on, reached $35m.

Conolly:

I’d be expecting it’ll be that plus some more this time.

Conolly made another point that might resonate in local government areas elsewhere that suffer disasters. Yes, the national disaster management deal means repair work gets largely reimbursed, but that doesn’t extend to council staff who end up dealing with little else:

What they don’t reimburse us for is all the time that our staff spend managing all these projects, and that’s something that I’ve been talking about a lot because it doesn’t feel at all sustainable ...

If we’re going to have these events more often, and they’re going to be more extreme as is being predicted, then a council like the Hawkesbury shouldn’t have to drop everything and do no other work other than focusing on recovery for a year.

Conolly added that state or federal governments should second staff to help ease the load.

Updated

It’s about that time again: First Dog on the Moon time.

We have some more information about the helicopter crash in NSW’s Snowy Mountains.

Four staff members of National Parks and Wildlife Service were on board the helicopter at the time of the crash, along with a commercial pilot, who had been contracted to help the parks team with some aerial surveys.

Guardian Australia understands they were undertaking routine aerial surveys of the invasive Scotch broom weed.

At about noon, the helicopter was forced to make an emergency heavy landing in the Snowy River near Guthega power station in Kosciuszko national park.

We understand the five people on board are still being stabilised at the scene of the crash, with NSW police, ambulance, the Rural Fire Service, State Emergency Service and NPWS in attendance.

The NSW environment minister, James Griffin, has released a statement, saying:

My thoughts are with the National Parks and Wildlife Service staff and contractor, who were involved in a helicopter incident in Kosciuszko national park today.

The NPWS family is incredibly professional, dedicated and close-knit, and I know this will affect everyone deeply, as it has me.

I’ll be doing anything I can to support the NPWS staff involved in today’s incident, and ensure they, and their families, are supported.

Updated

Here’s the official statement from Kumanjayi Walker’s families.

After five exhausting weeks we have finally heard the jury’s decided verdict. We are deeply saddened by the results and cannot begin to explain our grief in words.

Many of us have travelled far to be here, to represent our family, our community and most importantly Kumanjayi. Kumanjayi was only 19 when he died in the Yuendumu police station after being shot 3 times by Zachary Rolfe. This is a fact.

He died without the support of his family, thought we stood outside begging for answers on the night of the 9th. Sometimes I think about how he must have felt in his last moment, was he sacred? Terrified, I’d imagine. Was he hurt? In terrible pain I would think. His death has affected our community in ways we could never have predicted.

We are all in so much pain, particularly our young men. They have struggled, they have been scared yet they have been so respectful of this process. Though throughout this trial Kumanjayi has been depicted as a solely violent, and dangerous individual who in the words of the [defence] “was the author of his own misfortune”.

Kumanjayi Walker
Kumanjayi Walker. An image provided to the media by his family/community to use in our coverage. Photograph: Supplied by his family

He has been criticised and picked apart by people who did not know him, they saw only his flaws and wished to put him on trial for his own death. We as a family and community will continue to remember him as a young man who loved animals, who loved his community and homelands, his partner, his family, his friends, and loved music. A traditional Aboriginal young fella who loved hunting and being out on country. A joyful young man who was generous. A young man who was taken far too soon, and a young man who is deeply missed by everyone.

To Strickland and his team, thank you for your efforts, we know you did all you could. To those who have stood with us, thank you for your unwavering support. And to my family, and community, thank you for the dignity and grace you have shown throughout this difficult time. I know Kumanjayi would be proud of us all.

This is not the end of his story. This is not the end of our fight, after some rest we will turn our attention to the coronial inquest where we hope our truth and our questions will finally come. To ensure no other family will go through what we have endured over the past two years.

Read the full story about the trial and the not-guilty verdict for Zachary Rolfe here:

Updated

Insurance claims from Queensland and NSW floods close to $2bn

Back to the floods. The Insurance Council of Australia has updated the claims tally from the Queensland and NSW floods and the tally is closing in on $2bn. (And that excludes the non-insurance losses.)

The claims rate is steadying, at least before the Sydney damage gets added to the mix.

The rivers, meanwhile, are dropping back, with the Hawkesbury-Nepean no longer at major flood levels.

And Warragamba Dam, which started spilling more than nine days ago, looks like it’s almost done:

Updated

South Australia records one new Covid death with 10 people in ICU

South Australia has reported one new death from Covid-19 and has 10 people in ICU.

There were 2,503 cases recorded in the state over the last 24 hours, with 88 people in hospital and 10 in intensive care.

Updated

Northern Territory records one Covid death with 29 people in hospital

The Northern Territory today reported the death of a male in his 60s with Covid-19.

The man, who was from a remote community in the East Arnhem region, had underlying health conditions, and died at Royal Darwin hospital.

There were 273 new cases of Covid-19 recorded in the NT in the last 24 hours. There are 29 patients in hospital, with six requiring oxygen and one in ICU.

A little addendum to yesterday’s numbers: Guardian Australia reported last night that there were no deaths in NT from Covid-19 reported yesterday, but after publication the NT authorities did report a death – that of a male in his 60s. The man, who was from a remote community in the Big Rivers region, had underlying health conditions, and passed away at Royal Darwin hospital.

However, it seems the late reporting may have been due to an error – NT Health said in a statement yesterday that the death of a man in his 50s from East Arnhem had been reported twice. So, yesterday NT’s death toll was still at 30. Today, however, with this new death reported, it’s risen to 31 in total over the pandemic.

Updated

I’ll come back to the floods soon, but let’s break for some art.

The weather in Sydney has cleared and it seems like there’s a bit of a rush on to see the Life & Spirit exhibition of art by France’s Henri Matisse at the Art Gallery of NSW.

With the heavy rains keeping people away for the past week, and Covid interruptions since the exhibition opened last November in Sydney, it perhaps is not surprising it’s crowded this afternoon.

Better put your skates on, though, if you’re in the vicinity as the exhibition closes on Sunday (assuming there are tickets left).

It’s a bit of a building site outside, but it’s also good to see the gallery’s Sydney Modern project beginning to take shape.

Updated

The NSW police force has charged one of its own civilian employees following an investigation into the alleged sharing of child abuse material.

A statement from NSW police said that in October 2021, officers from the professional standards command began an investigation after they received reports the employee was allegedly involved in sharing child abuse material on a phone platform.

The statement says:

Following inquiries, a 56-year-old man from a specialist command was today (Thursday 10 March 2022) charged with six counts of using a carriage service to transmit child abuse material.

He was granted conditional bail and is due to appear before Hornsby local court on Tuesday 29 March 2022.

The man’s employment status is under review.

Updated

Kumanjayi Walker's family call for no guns in remote communities

Kumanjayi Walker’s family and senior Yuendumu elders have called for “no more guns in remote communities” following the not guilty verdict handed down by the jury in the murder trial of police officer Zachary Rolfe today.

They have provided a list of demands for sweeping changes to Northern Territory policing including a call for increased Aboriginal community control.

In a statement released shortly after the verdict was delivered, Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves, a long-term advocate for no guns in remote communities said:

No more guns in our communities. It must never happen again. The police must put down their weapons. We have been saying this since the beginning.

We are calling on all yapa [Aboriginal] organisations and supporters to join us in demanding no more guns in remote communities.

Local police only, no external police units. Our senior elders and yapa police liaison officers must be decision-makers in policing matters, not ignored.

The Walker family and elders say these changes will move toward stopping police shootings of First Nations people. Valerie Napaljarri Martin, the deputy chair of the Parumpurru Justice Committee elected at Yuendumu to instruct the Kumanjayi Walker matter said:

We are feeling so empty that our beloved young fella has been taken away from us. Nothing can bring him back.

The trial heard Rolfe shot Walker, a 19-year-old Warlpiri man, while trying to arrest him in the remote community of Yuendumu, about 300km from Alice Springs, on 9 November 2019. Walker stabbed Rolfe with scissors prior to the first shot being fired. This shot was not subject to any charges but the two shots following shortly after were.

Rolfe defended the charges on the grounds he feared for the life of his partner, who he believed Walker was attempting to stab, and was acting in good faith and “the reasonable performance of his duties” when he fired the final two shots.

Updated

The Tasmanian premier, Peter Gutwein, has revealed he was sexually assaulted as a teenager.

The ABC reports that Gutwein was asked at a press conference today whether he would discipline members of his own party who were heard groaning in response to a question from the opposition in parliament about the state’s upcoming commission of inquiry into child sexual abuse, in which a question from a Tasmanian victim-survivor of child sexual abuse was quoted.

Gutwein said he was “troubled” that a victim-survivor might feel his government was not being supportive:

I have great empathy with people who are victim-survivors. I crossed the floor in 2002 to bring about a commission of inquiry that ultimately could have completely derailed my career.

When I was a young man, when I was 16, I was the victim of a sexual assault, it was by a former teacher. I was asked to go to their home for a beer, which I thought was fantastic. I’d known this person for a long period of time, they’d spent a lot of time at the football club I was involved with ...

While I was there, they put their arm around me and they grabbed for my groin, tried to put their hand down my pants. I was big enough and strong enough to get them off me and get away.

I haven’t spoken to anyone about the motivations about why I crossed the floor in 2002, why I feel so passionate about having this commission of inquiry, once and for all getting to the bottom of these matters, but they are very personal.

Tasmanian premier Peter Gutwein
Tasmanian premier Peter Gutwein says he was the victim of a sexual assault by a former teacher when he was 16. Photograph: Ethan James/AAP

Updated

The family of Kumanjayi Walker and the Warlpiri community have been addressing the media in Darwin this afternoon, breaking their silence after the Zachary Rolfe not guilty verdict was delivered.

In their statements, the family and senior Yuendumu elders have called for an end to police guns in remote communities.

Updated

Just while we’re waiting for more updates from Darwin, Fire and Rescue NSW has released some details about the helicopter accident in the Snowy Mountains. It says the helicopter was forced to make an emergency heavy landing.

According to the Rural Fire Service:

Firefighters are using winches to perform a vertical rescue as there are five passengers with reported injuries after the helicopter landed near Guthega Dam in the Kosciuszko national park just before midday.

FRNSW crews have also deployed booms to prevent 150 litres of fuel from entering a nearby waterway.

NSW Police, NSW Ambulance, Rural Fire Service (RFS) and State Emergency Service (SES) crews are also in attendance.

Updated

Outside court, Zachary Rolfe said:

A lot of people are hurting today, Kumanjayi Walker’s family and his community. I’m going to leave this space for them.

The Northern Territory police association president, Paul McCue, said it was a travesty Rolfe was ever charged.

Today we’ve seen justice prevail.

Updated

Zachary Rolfe found not guilty of murder over Kumanjayi Walker fatal shooting

Northern Territory police officer Zachary Rolfe has been found not guilty of murder in relation to the shooting death of Kumanjayi Walker.

Rolfe, 30, was also cleared of two alternative charges of manslaughter and engaging in a violent act causing death.

The verdict comes after an almost five-week trial in the supreme court, and after the case was delayed multiple times because of legal argument and the pandemic.

Read the full report about the incident and the verdict here:

Zachary Rolfe (centre) and his mother Debbie Rolfe (left) depart the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory in Darwin Thursday, March 10, 2022.
Zachary Rolfe (centre) and his mother Debbie Rolfe (left) depart the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory in Darwin Thursday, March 10, 2022. Photograph: Aaron Bunch/AAP

Updated

Five people treated for injuries after helicopter crash in NSW

We now have a few more details about the helicopter crash: five people are being treated by paramedics, with one in a critical condition, after the helicopter went down in the NSW Snowy Mountains region, AAP reports.

NSW Ambulance was called to Wilsons Valley in the Kosciuszko national park just before noon on Friday after reports a helicopter had crashed near the Guthega power station.

One patient is critical with neck and back injuries while three others are in a stable condition with limited injuries.

The condition of a fifth patient is still being assessed.

Ambulance road crews and rescue helicopters have been sent to the scene and are assessing how to transport the patients to hospital.

Updated

Earlier today we reported that a woman had died in a house fire that allegedly involved petrol being thrown.

Unfortunately AAP is now reporting that a 33-year-old man, who had been transported to the Royal Brisbane and Women’s hospital after the fire near Logan early on Thursday morning, has also died after suffering critical burns in that incident.

A 31-year-old woman, believed to be known to the man but not living at the home, was killed in the blaze, and an autopsy will confirm her identity.

Superintendent Mark White said:

We believe the person who does not reside at that residence somehow gained entry and then once in there was able to throw petrol around.

A domestic violence link between the man and a former partner is forming part of the investigation.

Police attend the scene of a fatal house fire near Logan, south of Brisbane.
Police attend the scene of a fatal house fire near Logan, south of Brisbane. Photograph: Jono Searle/AAP

Updated

More on that helicopter crash in NSW’s Kosciuszko national park that we noted below: the ABC is reporting that the helicopter crashed into water in the Wilsons Valley region and that there were five people on board. At least two people have reportedly been injured, one with critical leg injuries. Emergency services crews are on their way. Please bear in mind that we haven’t verified this directly yet.

Updated

Palaszczuk clarifies that this “aggressive campaign” will not target NSW:

Similar to what we did with the tourism industry, whether it’s helping out with initial accommodation, air fares, travel, we’ll look at all of those incentives for a quick, sharp package to lure tradies to Queensland.

Of course, we will not be targeting NSW, let me make that very clear. They have been going through natural disasters. They need their resources there on the ground. This is other states to encourage people to come to Queensland.

Updated

Queensland seeks tradespeople from other states to help with flood recovery

The Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, has been speaking in Brisbane, and she’s straight up begging tradespeople to move to Queensland to help with the post-flood recovery. She’s called it an “aggressive campaign” to bring skilled workers into the state.

Palaszczuk says:

We want tradies to come to Queensland. We’ve got a big job ahead of us. Already there’s $1bn in insurance claims alone to rebuild people’s houses and, let’s face it, we have more than enough work to go around.

So if you’re living in another state, we want you to come to Queensland. We want you to come to paradise. We’ve had a very successful campaign with getting people from other states to come to Queensland for tourism, but now we really need tradies.

Updated

Western Australia records 5,005 new Covid cases

WA has recorded 5,005 new Covid-19 cases with 92 people in hospital.

This is the first time the state has recorded more than 5,000 cases in a day.

There are 92 people with Covid-19 in hospital in WA, with three people in intensive care.

You can see the full statistics for WA here.

Updated

We’ll all be putting in ballot papers this year, so please take heed of this very important reminder.

The Victorian government has appointed Annette Kimmitt, who quit as chief executive of Minter Elisson last year after criticising the law firm’s decision to represent Christian Porter, to head the state’s rejigged gambling and casino regulator.

Minter Ellison has also acted for Crown Resorts in the various inquiries mounted into it over the past few years, but there is no suggestion Kimmitt had anything to do with the firm’s representation of the scandal-plagued casino group.

Kimmitt left Minters in March last year by agreement with the firm after an internal email in which she said the decision to represent Porter was made without going through its “due consultation or approval process”.

She said in the all-staff email:

I know that for many it may be a tough day and I want to apologise for the pain you may be experiencing.

Kimmit, who was not available for interview today, will begin on 21 March.

In a statement, Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission chair Fran Thorn said:

[Kimmit’s] background in the business world and her experience in audit and risk management in particular will be a huge asset to our regulation of the gambling and liquor industries and ensuring harm minimisation.

The VGCCC replaces the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation, which was heavily criticised during Crown’s scandals for its lack of action against the casino group, as Victoria’s gambling regulator.

Updated

My colleague Peter Hannam has been watching fuel prices, and they’ve just pipped $2 a litre on average. Erk.

Fire and Rescue NSW is reporting that a helicopter has crashed in Kosciuszko national park.

Updated

The National Press Club has withdrawn an invitation to the Russian ambassador Alexey Pavlovsky to deliver a speech. His Ukrainian counterpart delivered an address at the NPC yesterday. In a statement, the NPC said:

Invitations to speak at the club were made some weeks ago to both the Russian ambassador, Alexey Pavlovsky, and the acting Ukrainian ambassador (Chargé d`Affaires), Volodymyr Shalkivskyi. Mr Shalkivskyi delivered his National Press Club address on 10 March 2022.

The invitations were issued at a different stage in the conflict in Ukraine before allegations of war crimes and bombing of civilian targets and the board now considers it inappropriate to continue with the invitation to the Russian ambassador.

The club stands by its principles of encouraging free speech and promoting a balanced national discussion of the big issues of the day and reserves the right to revisit this decision at a later date.

In addition, the National Press Club is a vigorous champion of media freedom and strongly condemns the media censorship in Russia. Under new laws in Russia both local and international journalists face charges of high treason and 15-20 year jail terms for reporting the facts. This situation should not be tolerated and has no place in a democratic society.

Updated

Good afternoon lovely people. Thank you Matilda Boseley for your blogging this morning! I’m Stephanie Convery and I’m going to take us all through this afternoon’s news. Happy Friday!

With that, I shall hand you over to the wonderful Stephanie Convery who will take you through to the weekend.

National Covid summary

Here are the latest coronavirus numbers from around Australia today, as the country records at least 30 deaths from Covid-19:

ACT

  • Deaths: 3
  • Cases: 791
  • In hospital: 31 (with 1 person in ICU)

NSW

  • Deaths: 7
  • Cases: 14,034
  • In hospital: (with people in ICU)

Northern Territory

  • Deaths: 1
  • Cases: 273
  • In hospital: 29 (with 1 person in ICU)

Queensland

  • Deaths: 8
  • Cases: 4,327
  • In hospital: 250 (with 16 people in ICU)

South Australia

  • Deaths: 1
  • Cases: 2,503
  • In hospital: 88 (with 10 people in ICU)

Tasmania

  • Deaths: 0
  • Cases: 1,129
  • In hospital: 16

Victoria

  • Deaths: 10
  • Cases: 6,811
  • In hospital: 185 (with 27 people in ICU)

Western Australia

  • Deaths: 0
  • Cases: 5,005
  • In hospital: 92 (with 3 people in ICU)

Updated

New Zealand records seven Covid deaths and 20,989 new infections

New Zealand has recorded another seven Covid-19 deaths, its deadliest day of the pandemic, AAP reports.

Five of the deaths occurred in Auckland, with one in the Waikato and another in the South Island’s Southern region. The ages of the deceased ranged from the 50s to the 90s.

The death toll now stands at 98, after a health ministry reconciliation of Covid deaths this week produced a higher number than previously reported.

The Omicron wave shows no sign of relenting, with 20,989 cases reported on Friday and another record hospitalisation count.

There are 856 people are in NZ hospitals with Covid-19, including 20 people in intensive care, also a record.

Auckland remains the hardest-hit region, with 588 of the hospitalisations, though cases in NZ’s biggest city are receding, down to 7240 on Friday from daily highs above 12,000.

New Zealand’s vaccination campaign continues alongside the Omicron outbreak.

Over 95 per cent of people aged 12 and over are double-dosed, while 73% of eligible Kiwis have taken a booster dose.

Updated

More than $13m has been donated to support those affected by the devastating floods in Queensland and New South Wales, and most of the money has been directed towards peer-to-peer fundraising efforts such as GoFundMe.

Many of those crowdfunding campaigns have been set up by people living in the flooded regions to cover urgent costs and fund relief and rescue efforts, including more than $20,000 raised to run a rescue helicopter.

Since 24 February, more than $9.6m has been donated across 1,700 fundraisers on the peer to peer platform GoFundMe. About 22% of all donations has been directed towards fundraisers based in the NSW northern rivers region. In Mullumbimby alone, 50 different campaigns have raised a total of $400,000.

You can read the full report below:

Queensland records eight Covid deaths and 4,327 new Covid cases

Victorians are being encouraged to flock to pop-up Covid-19 vaccination hubs at Bunnings stores across the state to lift third dose rates ahead of winter, reports AAP.

The state government on Friday announced the major hardware chain will host 20 temporary clinics at various Melbourne and regional Victorian sites from next week.

“Come down, get your snag, get your tools and get a vaccination,” health minister Martin Foley told reporters from a Bunnings site in Melton.

“What we need to do, particularly as we’re heading towards the winter season, is to keep those vaccination levels up as high as we possibly can.

“There are some communities where we know we need to do more to lift those vaccination rates [in] some of the outer suburbs, some of the regional centres and some communities with culturally and linguistically diverse [people].”

The first hubs will open in Wodonga, Keysborough and Melton East on Wednesday.

About 53% of residents 16 and over from the City of Melton, 52.3% from the City of Greater Dandenong, and 65.6% from the City of Wodonga have had three vaccine doses to date.

Other pop-up clinics are planned for the Queen Victoria Market, Swan Hill Food and Wine Festival and annual Elmore Tractor Pull in coming weeks.

Victoria currently has 61.9% of adults vaccinated with three doses, ahead of mandatory vaccination rules kicking in for key workers.

After being pushed back, the deadline is approaching for aged care, disability, emergency service, meat processing, quarantine and food distribution workers to get their third jab.

From 11.59pm on Saturday, these workers, including contractors, volunteers and students on placement, will need to have received their third dose to continue working.

Healthcare workers who received their first jab before September 12 will also be required to have their third by Sunday.

Updated

The ACT records three Covid deaths and 791 new infections

Three people with Covid-19 have died in the ACT today, at the territory records 791 new cases.

Updated

Pollution washed into Sydney’s beaches and waterways could linger for days, with state authorities urging swimmers to exercise caution after the flood disaster.

Sydney Harbour turned brown as a result of storm water carrying soil and debris, and algal blooms have appeared on the usually pristine sands of Hyams beach in the Jervis Bay region.

Rainfall is the major driver of pollution into coastal areas because it generates storm water and triggers the overflow of raw sewage into waterways.

Flood waters, sediment and debris are behind the murky colour of many waterways along the New South Wales coastline and the viruses and bacteria carried by untreated sewage can pose a health risk to swimmers.

You can read the full report below:

This is a horror movie.

The announcement of an interdependent planning review of building in the floodplains of NSW by Anthony Roberts this morning at estimates, hasn’t gone that well, it’s fair to say.

For one thing, it’s not at all clear what councils like Lismore – a town that was inundated by riverine flooding that beat previous heights by two metres – are supposed to do in the meantime if someone turns up seeking to build or rebuild.

Roberts has also been pressed by Labor and the Greens to detail is expected right now, a line of questioning he described as “highly obnoxious”, and that would “scaremonger and create anxiety”.

David Shoebridge, the Greens MP who will soon head to Canberra as a federal senator, was also asking if householders who would not be able to return would get any compensation.

The announcement of the review offers some cover for the minister, who says compensation is something that would be looked at. “The government is looking at all angles,” he says.

Still, there’s no commitment that the review will hold public hearings, with Roberts saying that’s up to the independent reviewer to decide. Can imagine they’ll be a bit of angst if there are no public hearings.

One issue raised by Labor’s Rose Jackson is that the bushfire review is still to deliver for many bushfire-hit regions in southern NSW, implying there are reasons to doubt the effectiveness of the coming flood planning one.

Roberts also adds the government will “very shortly” release its regional housing strategy, without saying one.

Given the crisis in housing in the northern rivers alone – as reported here by Christopher Knaus – it’s fair to say expectations are going to be high.

Updated

Nature is healing.

The governor general has published a message from Prince Charles, offering his condolences to those affected by the floods.

It is with the greatest sadness that once again my wife and I express our distress, as well as immense concern and sympathy, following the tragic deaths and devastation caused by widespread flooding in Queensland and New South Wales.

Having visited many of the affected areas over the years, I am deeply shocked by the extent of this flooding across rural areas, as well as in major cities such as Brisbane and Sydney.

My wife and I were first struck by the appalling images from Lismore, and other communities in the Northern Rivers region, as well as south-east Queensland.

We saw pictures of streets turned into fast-flowing rivers and water levels rising to the rooftops of family homes.

From the other side of the world we witnessed the valiant efforts of volunteers in small boats rescuing trapped neighbours and strangers alike. We saw interviews with people who, having rebuilt their homes and lives following previous floods, know they must go through the painful process of rebuilding again. It is incredibly distressing to learn that thousands of homes have been left uninhabitable, beyond repair.

Updated

A blog treat! Here is Georgie the wedge-tailed eagle soaring to over 2kms in the air!

More Japanese encephalitis vaccines available for Australians

Australians will have access to more vaccines for Japanese encephalitis as part of the federal government’s response to an outbreak across four states.

Nearly $70m will be spent to combat the virus, which has been detected in NSW, Queensland, South Australia and Victoria and killed two people so far, AAP’s Maeve Bannister reports.

Federal health minister Greg Hunt said the virus was concerning but state governments were being proactive about responding with commonwealth support.

There are 15 confirmed human cases of Japanese encephalitis in Australia.

Following health advice about people at risk, the government will buy 130,000 doses of a vaccine to supplement the 15,000 doses already in Australia.

Australia’s deputy chief medical officer, Sonya Bennett, says while the virus is new to mainland Australia, it was not new internationally and vaccines have been successfully used for decades.

What’s important to understand is that it is transmitted to humans through mosquito bites, it cannot be transmitted human-to-human.

From a human point of view, those most at risk are people who work in the affected piggeries and people doing animal and mosquito control.

To understand the spread of the virus, the government will enhance surveillance of mosquito and animal activities, model the potential virus spread as well as undertake mosquito control.

We understand the virus but what we hadn’t anticipated is seeing it emerge as quickly as it has in piggeries throughout the states.

We are dealing with where the virus is and also mounting a surveillance effort to understand where it has been and where it may go.

The government will spend $5m on an information and awareness campaign to help people understand how to protect themselves.

This involves “covering up, wearing repellent, doing all of the things that people are used to doing to protect themselves in an area where there are mosquito-borne diseases”, Hunt said on Friday.

Meanwhile, $10m will be spent to support state and territory agriculture departments responding to the virus.

Updated

Twenty motor homes are now on their way to the flood zones to provide temporary accommodation for those who lost their homes in deluge.

Updated

Thousands more people could soon be living on an extensive flood plain on the fringes of Sydney if land already approved for development were to proceed, according to planning officials, councillors and the New South Wales government’s own data.

Blacktown city council alone has more than 10,000 homes already planned, with that region’s population expected to swell by half to more than 600,000 over the next two decades .

Thousands of hectares lie in the Hawkesbury-Nepean flood plain, and while the NSW government is pausing new developments while it revises its flood strategy, pressure to open up more land for housing isn’t expected to recede.

That is despite two east coast lows in a week swelling the river to its highest levels in some places since 1978. Hundreds of homes are likely to have been inundated, renewing worries many more people will be placed in harm’s way if developments proceed based on historic flood data that doesn’t account for climate change.

You can read the full report below:

Tasmania records 1,129 new Covid cases

Tasmania has just released its daily Covid numbers, recording 1,129 new infections.

There are now 16 people in hospital with the virus.

NSW premier Dominic Perrottet has laid out his priorities to get the flood-ravaged Northern Rivers region of NSW back on its feet, including the urgent task of finding housing for displaced people, AAP reports.

“To me, the top priorities here are getting the clean-up done, getting people into homes and getting financial support out for those who need it,” he told the Nine Network on Friday. “We want people out of evacuation centres and into their own homes.”

The NSW government has announced a $551m housing support package for 25,000 households, jointly funded with the federal government.

However, coordinating housing for flood survivors was going to be a “significant challenge”, Perrottet warned.

The clean-up also poses a significant challenge with tonnes of debris and household waste remaining after the floods.

We have around 4,000 tonnes every day of debris being collected. It is a massive operation. It will take weeks and months.

Some $90m has been set aside for the clean-up across 28 local government areas.

Asked if he had urged the prime minister, Scott Morrison, to declare the Northern Rivers region a natural disaster zone sooner, the premier said it was “only relevant to coordination at a commonwealth level”.

In NSW, we set up our state emergency operation centre immediately.

The premier said the state emergency management centre is able to bring in all NSW government agencies with “that whole-of-government coordination”.

We don’t have a declaration in place because that coordination is in place.

Updated

NSW estimates are running this week, and the (newly recycled) planning minister Anthony Roberts has this morning announced he’ll be launching an independent review of planning for development in the floodplains of the state.

“We’ve never faced anything like this,” Roberts said at the opening.

The terms of reference are still to be set and the person to lead it are still to be decided, Roberts said.

Roberts said he hoped for “learnings” that may have “generational” effects, adding that he didn’t want to preempt the findings.

A man has died after suffering critical burns in a suspicious house fire, allegedly involving petrol, that earlier claimed a woman’s life.

The 33-year-old man was transported to the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital after the fire near Logan early on Thursday morning and died shortly after 10pm.

A 31-year-old woman believed to be known to the man but not living at the home was also killed in the blaze, and an autopsy will confirm her identity.

Superintendent Mark White said on Thursday:

We believe the person who does not reside at that residence somehow gained entry and then once in there was able to throw petrol around.

Paramedics arrived at around 3am to find five people outside the home as firefighters tried to extinguish the blaze.

Ambulance operations supervisor Simon McInnes said in a statement on Thursday:

We have arrived to find that a house was pretty well engulfed in flames. Three children – aged two, three and five – were not injured.

Paramedics took a second woman, aged 30, to hospital with suspected airway burns.

Updated

You can listen to that full interview with Bill Shorten discussing the death of his friend and colleague Kimberley Kitching below:

Travellers are facing steep air fare hikes and are being urged by industry experts to book early as bans on Russian oil cause jet fuel prices to surge.

The Qantas chief executive, Alan Joyce, has said the average fare would increase by 7% as a result of the increased crude oil prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but others predict the price rises could be higher.

The Brent crude oil price sits at around US$112 a barrel, up from about US$78 a barrel at the beginning of 2022 and marking an eight-year high, according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

The surge follows the US and UK banning oil from Russia – the world’s biggest exporter of crude and oil products combined.

You can read the full report below:

Updated

Hunt:

That then leads to the other element in addition to the winter preparedness plan, we will be extending to 30 September – and that is again subject to continuous review – the national partnership agreement with the states.

That supports the state hospitals on a 50/50 basis, as well as testing and other related costs in the public health sector. So far, we have paid out $9.9bn under the national partnership agreement with the states and so that is a very important contribution.

It gives certainty over the course of the next six months and as has been the case throughout the pandemic, that will continue with the review.

Updated

Hunt:

Then in relation to residential care and disability, we are investing an extra $1.2m over the course of the next six months with a particular focus on the provision of PPE which is over $900m of that funding.

Those three elements are all part of the preparedness plan and what we have done and Dr Bennett will take you through this, is preparing for the worst contingencies and as ever, seek to beat those outcomes.

In terms of all of the predictions of worst-case scenarios with regards to impact on hospitals for Omicron, we were able, as a nation, to in fact be the best of the scenarios over the course of summer, not without challenge and difficulty and hardship, but nevertheless with the strong support of all of those involve in the system.

Updated

Government extends rapid test subsidies for concession card holders

The health minister, Greg Hunt, is speaking now from Canberra announcing an extension of the rapid antigen test program for concession card holders.

The extension of the concessional rapid antigen test program, so this program, so far, has delivered over 20 million rapid antigen tests, there have been over 5.5 million collections by concession card holders, pensioners, low income, people on disability, so that has been a very important program, and that will be extended by three months through to 31 July.

And just to remind everybody, of the terms, that means over any 3-month period, 10 rapid antigen tests available for free, a maximum of five per month. At the moment we have 5,500 pharmacies that are participating in the program and delivering the rapid antigen tests, and, as I say, already over 20 million tests at approximately 3 million per week.

Updated

Victoria records 10 Covid deaths and 6,811 new infections

NSW records seven Covid deaths and 14,034 new infections

NSW residents whose homes have been damaged or destroyed in the devastating floods will be able to call on support totalling more than half a billion dollars as the clean-up continues, AAP reports.

Premier Dominic Perrottet said a $551m housing support package will benefit some 25,000 households.

The federal government will provide half the funding.

The package will provide 16 weeks’ rent support, ranging from $6,000 to more than $18,000 per household.

Of the 9,200 homes assessed so far, 5,500 are damaged and 2,834 are uninhabitable, Perrottet said.

The cost of the catastrophic floods continues to rise with NSW claims totalling $663m – an 18% rise in the last 24 hours, according to the Insurance Council of Australia.

In the latest mobilisation of volunteers, starting from Friday Lismore residents in need of medical help will be able to call on the services of Street Side Medics – the brainchild of 2022 Young Australian of the Year Dr Daniel Nour.

“As the result of a natural disaster, you have thousands of Australians who have inevitably become homeless and the difficulty is that medical centres are flooded,” he told AAP before heading north from Sydney.

A fully equipped mobile health van will act as a temporary hub for local doctors.

I know of a lady in Lismore, who has been unable to go and see her GP for her blood thinner medication for two or three days and she then had a stroke.

So just giving people the ability to access their doctor is critical.

Heavy rain has eased across the state’s east coast as the low moves out to sea. Thunderstorms are possible over western NSW on the weekend, the Bureau of Meteorology has warned.

River levels at North Richmond and Windsor are expected to remain above major levels for the remainder of the week, meaning locals will be unable to return home to start the clean-up until at least the weekend.

Opposition leader Anthony Albanese is due in Lismore on Friday after visiting flood-ravaged communities around Ballina.

Updated

Australia’s nuclear-powered submarines would “inevitably” be forced into an emergency reactor shutdown by swarms of jellyfish if the fleet was based in Brisbane, a leading marine scientist says.

The Australian government this week released a shortlist of three sites – Brisbane, Newcastle and Wollongong – as a potential east-coast home port for the nuclear submarine fleet, which will arrive in about 2036 under the Aukus partnership with the US and the UK.

The Queensland government has been cagey when asked whether it supports a base in Brisbane, a position described as “very strange” by the federal defence minister, Peter Dutton, whose electorate is in Brisbane.

“There are many thousands of jobs that are associated with such a facility,” Dutton said last week.

You can read the full report below:

Albanese was asked what he would have done differently as prime minister in response to the flood emergency in Queensland and New South Wales.

Firstly, I would have actually spent money in the emergency response fund which has been sitting there being treated like a term deposit by this government. We know that in Australia we have a history of natural disasters, be it floods, bushfires or cyclones.

We established a fund that was meant to see $200m expended every year and it hasn’t been touched. It has grown from $4bn to $4.8bn. That is the first point. Secondly, Lismore here was excluded from funding for projects, for disaster mitigation, in particular flood.

This is a flood-prone area. There have been floods in Lismore before, not like this but it has occurred before and it was excluded from the funding.

Updated

Labor leader Anthony Albanese is speaking to ABC News breakfast now from Lismore. He has been asked about the death of Labor senator Kimberley Kitching.

It was an enormous shock, James. I was visiting a family in Ballina yesterday, who have lost everything and I got an urgent message and then I took a call and it is something that was just totally unexpected. Kimberley was just 52 years of age. She was just beginning her political career. It was her first term serving in the Senate.

I appointed her to the frontbench and gave her additional responsibilities when I became the leader and Kimberley was someone who lit up a room when she was there. She was so full of life. She was a vivacious character and to lose her so young is just an enormous shock.

Politics is a difficult business. There are pressures on people in politics and that is part of what we do but I certainly think that this was totally unexpected.

No one could have anticipated this and people were ringing each other, I think multiple times to get confirmation because it was such a shock. Kimberley looked fit, she had got fitter in recent times and there was no history of heart condition and that is why it’s such a tremendous shock for the entire Labor family today.

Updated

The housing crisis in Queensland and New South Wales in the wake of catastrophic floods has been “brewing for years” and needs to be urgently remedied, according to national housing advocates.

Peak advocacy body Everybody’s Home has written to the prime minister, Scott Morrison, and the federal minister for housing and homelessness, Michael Sukkar, today, urging the federal government to invest in emergency housing, rental assistance and permanent social housing infrastructure after the floods disaster.

The letter calls for the establishment of a national program involving adequate supplies of temporary housing that can be transported to areas affected by natural disasters. It also calls for planning grants to local and state governments “to fortify and protect existing homes [from climate disaster], mitigate threats to new homes, and preserve and increase supplies of homes that are both climate-resilient and affordable to lower-income residents”.

Action is urgently needed to avoid repeated housing disasters each time there is a major emergency, the letter says, noting that many long-term residents of NSW’s south coast are still living in caravans after the black summer bushfires.

Kate Colvin, spokesperson for Everybody’s Home, told Guardian Australia that the rental crisis was already making lives hard for people in those regions before the floods hit:

Essential workers who were lauded in the pandemic, like those in aged care, child care or supermarkets were already forking out up to three-quarters of their salary on rent. Unless we want a social disaster to follow this natural disaster we need to get serious about giving people on low and modest incomes a decent shot at getting and keeping a house. That means more social and affordable housing is urgently needed.

While temporary housing will obviously be necessary for the thousands of people displaced by the floods, Colvin said it wasn’t a long-term solution and too long spent in poor-quality and insecure housing had knock-on effects on people’s long-term physical and mental wellbeing:

The problem with temporary housing is the lack of security and the poor quality. If people are in a temporary home but know they will have permanent housing soon, they are safe and warm through winter, and they can keep their job and kids can continue at their school, then they will most likely do well.

But if they are worried about how long they will have a roof over their head, and where they will live in the future, if they feel unsafe, or always have a cold because they can’t warm their home, or if the housing dislocates the family from the community they know, then their mental and physical health will suffer.

Updated

Bill Shorten:

There has been quite an outpouring and it just reminds me though, of all the nice things being said about it now, perhaps we all need to just put a zipper over and therefore we want to say something mean about someone and say the nice things to the person while they’re still alive.

Updated

Bill Shorten:

The loss is Andrew’s – her husband’s – and their family. The loss is her friends like myself and Chloe and her family, but the loss is also the people that won’t get to meet her so I appreciate the opportunity to talk about someone [like her].

Updated

Stress of party politics 'had its toll, on Kimberley Kitching, Bill Shorten says

RN Breakfast host Patricia Karvelas:

There has been reporting this morning, Bill Shorten, that she’d been under incredible stress in terms of her Senate position, pre-selection issues, issues in the Senate. What can you tell us about that, because I feel like there are unanswered questions about what people are referring to?

Shorten:

She was under great stress. Preselection is never easy. I’m not a coroner. I can’t tell you why this woman at 52 was taken from us but I have no doubt that the stress of politics in the machinations in the back rooms had its toll.

She’s a very strong person. She could give as good as she could get. But you take all that home with you ...

Karvelas:

Do you feel like there is an extra level of toxicity that’s gone on ... that you’re concerned about?

Shorten:

Today for me is about her husband Andrew, mother and father, brother. I encouraged her interest in politics.

If you could dial forward and predict back what’s gonna happen. I do wonder if she would have been better off never going near politics. But you don’t know and so what you can do is think about the good things.

Updated

Bill Shorten on Kimberley Kitching:

We have lost someone who’s a very good person. She’s a friend, first and foremost. She’s a very warm person. She could light up a room she could talk to anyone.

She represented health workers and that she could sit down and talk to anyone from any walk of life. And she had an enviable skill. Sometimes in politics, we can appear indirect or guarded, [but she] was never guarded. She was very open ...

This means that her husband has lost his soulmate. They were two sides of the same coin. So that’s difficult. That’s very hard to imagine.

To my kids, she was the sort of veritable aunt and so you know, no parent wants to explain to their child that an adult in their life is just no longer there. How do you explain death and loss? It’s not an easy conversation. I’m not unique in that but it’s still not easy.

In the parliament. You know, I think one of the things which frustrate Australians ... they feel that politicians aren’t saying what they think ... but in Kimberley’s case, she would speak her mind.

She was a human rights advocate. She was fierce about dictatorships and autocracies around the world and sometimes that can ruffle feathers. And I think that, you know, she got a lot of stress ... she wouldn’t cut the cloth of her views to suit the fashion of the day.

Updated

Former Labor leader Bill Shorten was a close friend of Kimberley Kitching, who died suddenly of a suspected heart attack last night.

He helped assist the senator’s husband as the undertakers came, and is speaking to ABC radio this morning to pay tribute:

You would give anything not to be here, wouldn’t you? Her husband rang myself and said that Kimberley had passed.

When you get news about someone who you know really well who’s young, you’re sort of in disbelief.

But they were in the next, she was in the next suburb when she passed. So my wife Chloe, who’s a close friend ... we just immediately drove over and we sat with a couple of other dear friends of Kimberley and Andrew on the side of the road as we waited for the undertaker’s van to turn up.

Updated

Tributes paid to ALP senator Kimberley Kitching: 'It’s a dreadful loss, at 52 she’s been taken far too young'

A tearful Bill Shorten has told how he rushed to the aid of the husband of Victorian Labor senator Kimberley Kitching, who died suddenly at the age of 52 from a suspected heart attack.

Shorten said he got a “dreadful” call from Andrew Landeryou on Thursday night saying she was gone, AAP reports.

We raced over to this street in Strathmore where she had pulled up in the car, where she experienced a heart attack, and we waited with her husband until the undertaker’s car came, which was terrible ...

I feel for her husband most of all. They had each other, and now one half of two people has gone.

Shorten told the Nine Network that Kitching was a fierce and warm person who spoke her mind with real honesty:

She is the reason why we have very strong laws against corruption by foreign gangsters who then park their money in Australia ...

It’s a dreadful loss, at 52 she’s been taken far too young.

Colleagues and friends shared tributes on social media on Thursday night, with Labor leader Anthony Albanese saying the party was in shock at the tragic news. He said on Twitter:

My sincere condolences to her family. Kimberley will be missed by us all.

Updated

Good morning

Good morning, all, it’s Matilda Boseley here with you, and we will get through this Friday together! We’re nearly there, people.

Prime minister Scott Morrison will convene a cabinet meeting in Canberra to discuss additional support for flood-affected communities.

Later in the day, he will meet with governor general David Hurley to advise him on the country’s first national emergency declaration.

The emergency declaration decision came despite Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk earlier on Thursday saying the state would not need the measure:

The time for that national emergency was probably a week ago.

Queensland is poised to lift local disaster declarations two weeks on from the peak of floods that killed 13 people and wreaked billions of dollars in damage to homes, businesses, roads and bridges in the state’s south-east.

The prime minister said there had been a misunderstanding over the impact of the national declaration, which would have nothing to do with the flow of funding. The national declaration would allow the Morrison government to access stockpiled resources and remove red tape in terms of business and welfare support.

It’s the first time such a declaration will be made, with the law only coming into effect in 2020 after the black summer bushfires. The PM said:

We will stand with those communities as they go through the rebuilding process ... We’ll be adding more and more to the economic infrastructure and the rebuilding effort as we learn more.

With that in mind, why don’t we jump right into the day.

Updated

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