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The Guardian - AU
National
Cait Kelly (now), Stephanie Convery (earlier) and Matilda Boseley (earlier)

Victoria pandemic powers bill debate postponed – as it happened

What we learned today, Thursday 18 November

And with that, we are going to put the blog to bed.

Thank you so much, as always, for spending the day with us. Before we go, let’s recap the big stories from today:

  • Australia extended humanitarian visas for Afghans.
  • Victoria recorded 1,007 new Covid-19 cases and 12 deaths.
  • “Division doesn’t work against this,” the Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, said of the controversial pandemic bill that continued to be debated in parliament.
  • The prime minister, Scott Morrison, said unvaccinated people should be able to “go get a cup of coffee in Brisbane”.
  • The Queensland deputy premier, Steven Miles, slammed the PM’s comments advocating for unvaccinated freedoms.
  • New Zealand recorded 167 new local Covid-19 cases.
  • No new Covid cases recorded in the Northern Territory overnight.
  • A former detective defended the earlier investigation into William Tyrrell’s disappearance.
  • Northern Territory health workers fear for Indigenous communities amid Covid outbreak.

And that is a wrap – thank you so much – let’s do it again tomorrow!

Updated

The bulk of the work to remove combustible cladding from Victorian buildings remains unfinished, a report released today reveals. From AAP:

Victoria has barely made a dent in fully removing combustible cladding on buildings, with less than a fifth of rectification works completed.

Cladding Safety Victoria’s annual report was among a dump of more than 100 documents from state government agencies tabled in parliament on Thursday.

To 30 June this year, the report reveals CSV had overseen the completion of rectification works on 107 buildings since the statutory authority was set up in December 2020.

Some 25,524 square metres of cladding was removed from 40 private apartment buildings and 67 government-owned buildings, equivalent to 1.25 times the playing surface of the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

The MCG is one of three sports and entertainment venues to have flammable cladding removed so far, along with a major hospital, 10 public housing buildings and 40 Victorian schools.

But the bulk of cladding removal works remain unfinished.

Of the 723 buildings referred to the CSV by mid-2021 including 176 over the last financial year, 536 were inducted into the program.

Removal work was under way on a further 206 buildings – which means rectification is still incomplete or hasn’t started on 429 in total.

Updated

In Victoria, the debate over the (very) contentious pandemic bill looks likely to spill into tomorrow.

Updated

The former federal Labor MP and trade union leader Craig Thomson has been granted bail in Gosford local court but has surrendered his passport and agreed not to approach any witnesses involved in a complex visa scheme.

Wearing a white open-neck shirt, Thomson appeared by video link from Gosford police station and was represented in court by another Labor figure, the former New South Wales secretary of the ALP, Jamie Clements.

Read the story here:

Updated

The Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, has been speaking at a virtual event in Canberra. AAP has this report:

India’s prime minister says technology and data are the new weapons of the digital era and democracies need to be aware of their dangers as well as opportunities.

Narendra Modi told an Australian Strategic Policy Institute forum India would not let “a few vested interests” misuse the openness of democracy.

“The digital age is changing everything around us. It has redefined politics, economy and society. It is raising new questions on sovereignty, governance, ethics, law, rights and security,” Modi told the virtual event on Thursday.

“But we also face new risks, and new forms of conflicts across diverse threats from sea-bed to cyber to space.”

He labelled technology and data the weapons of the digital era.

“The biggest strength of democracy is openness. At the same time, we should not allow a few vested interests to misuse this openness,” Modi said.

The Indian government has been accused of repression and censorship.

Updated

The fashion designer Lisa Gorman will depart the business that bears her surname, after 22 years in business.

Known for her colourful prints, artist collaborations and playful, almost childlike cuts, Gorman’s womenswear label has built up a cult following in Australia, with fans trading and reselling popular garments online through dedicated Facebook groups.

Lots of similarities being drawn between the US freedom protests and what has happened in Victoria over the past few days.

Updated

NT health workers fear for Indigenous communities amid Covid outbreak

Indigenous health workers in the Northern Territory town of Katherine say they fear for vulnerable community members – including many living on the streets or in severely overcrowded homes – as authorities scramble to contain a Covid outbreak.

The Northern Territory recorded no new Covid cases on Thursday, but the chief minister, Michael Gunner, says concern remains for “large vulnerable households” in Katherine and the tiny remote community of Robinson River.

And we’ve got an escapee - this from AAP:

A 37-year-old Queensland man who arrived in Tasmania without approval has allegedly absconded from a quarantine hotel by climbing down from a third-storey balcony.

The man, who arrived on a flight from Sydney on Wednesday, was discovered missing from his room at Peppers Seaport in Launceston around 9am on Thursday.

He was arrested in the nearby suburb of Newnham about an hour later and has been charged with failing to comply with emergency directions.

Premier Peter Gutwein said the man is awaiting a coronavirus test result but investigations suggest he had “minimal contact” with people despite spending about nine hours in the community.

In mid-October, a coronavirus-infected NSW man left hotel quarantine in Hobart, sparking a three-day lockdown across the south.

Despite spending time at several houses, a park and a Woolworths supermarket, he didn’t spread the virus.

PK asked Davey if the PM, has in fact also been in people’s lives the last few years in a big way.

She said this:

And people are, after two years of it, people are tired. They’re exhausted. And they’re frustrated. That still does not give anyone the excuse to threaten the safety or the wellbeing of anyone.

“I don’t care if it’s an elected politician or whether it’s their neighbour. There should never be threats of violence.”

Updated

Nationals senator Perin Davey is now on Afternoon Briefing.

She tells Patricia Karvelas:

I don’t condone violent protests. I think everybody has the right to peaceful protest. But what we’re seeing does cross the line. I don’t condone it at all. But to be fair, as well, a lot of the questions that have been put to the prime minister have been about what he plans to do, regarding a – a bill before the Victorian parliament.

And, so, I think the prime minister is absolutely right condemning the violence, but he’s also right in that it’s not his place to tell the Victorian parliament what they should and shouldn’t be doing.”

Updated

Western Australia will hold a parliamentary inquiry into homelessness in the state, amid a spate of deaths among those sleeping rough in Perth.

Guardian Australia reported last month that researchers from the University of Western Australia had recorded at least 44 deaths this year among people who’d experienced homelessness in Perth. The average age of those who died was 49.

News of the inquiry follows a year-long investigation into street deaths by the West Australian newspaper, which reported on Thursday that the 2021 year-to-date figure of homeless deaths in Perth has now reached 51.

The inquiry, to be chaired by Liberal upper house MP Peter Collier will look at issues including the current funding and delivery for services, the state’s 10-year homelessness strategy, and how “existing data systems and how data informs service delivery”, according to the terms of reference.

Collier told Guardian Australia the inquiry was “not a finger-pointing exercise” and was aimed at improving the lives of people experiencing homelessness in Perth.

“In the 21st century, the fact that we’ve still got thousands of people sleeping on the streets at night is unacceptable. That’s not a political statement, that’s just fact. What we’re going to do as a committee is ascertain whether what’s being provided is adequate and appropriate.

He said “inevitably” the deaths of people experiencing homelessness would be examined part of the inquiry.

“We’re not going to prejudge ... We’ll ascertain whether the services and the provisions are adequate and whether they did, perhaps, add to deaths on the streets.

The Greens have also previously expressed support for an inquiry, but the WA Labor government, which has a majority in both houses, has previously dismissed the need for such a probe, pointing to a record spending on housing and services in its recent budget.

Greens MP Brad Pettitt, who is on the committee that will run the inquiry, told Guardian Australia he hoped it could put politics aside to take an “open and transparent” look at the issue.

“All of the evidence is that homelessness in Western Australia is growing. Deaths on our streets have been increasing at an alarming rate. There are some clear gaps on the kinds of information that are collected around that.

Advocates have also been calling for an inquiry for some time, pointing not just to the UWA research, but also a spate of high-profile deaths of Aboriginal woman in the Perth CBD.

Husic is now asked about a marketing firm claiming to work for the Labor party offering to pay TikTok users to post anti-Scott Morrison sponsored content.

The party can work out how it does its advertising and how it’s set up. So I honestly don’t have evidence right in front of me that that’s the case.

If it is, you know what - I don’t mind. I would rather we engage the creativity of young Australians instead of paying oodles of money to all these advertising agencies, If young Australians have got ideas on how to use social media in that way to engage other young Australians who may not necessarily - let’s face it, they don’t necessarily engage in politics, well good on them.”

(Side note - pretty sure school strikes for climate is young people being engaged)

Updated

Husic is attacking the PM for earlier condemning the protests and calling on the government to step back from interfering in people’s lives.

He said:

He was called on today to exercise national leadership to say to the country, ‘We will not tolerate this type of behaviour being directed in this way to our democracy’.

And it seems like, with Trump, Scott Morrison doesn’t want to upset violent extremists. Why? Is it because he wants to curry their votes because today was not the day for him to exercise some sort of moral equivalency.

Today was the day for him to say on behalf of every average Australian that goes, ‘Mmm, this is too far, this is wrong and we’re going to stamp it out’.”

Updated

Ed Husic is the member for Chifley and the shadow minister for industry and innovation. He is on the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing now with Patricia Karvelas.

He said the protests in Melbourne represent “a threat to democracy”.

“This is a result of what has festered for some time because the Morrison government has refused to take the advice of its own agencies, refused to take stock of what’s been said for the last few years.

“This represents and edging towards a form of domestic terrorism, right-wing extremism in this form.

“This represents a serious threat to democracy and it should be called out.

“I’m frankly stunned that it took Scott Morrison days for this to happen and I’m even more alarmed by the attempt to establish some sort of moral equivalency like what we saw with Donald Trump at Charlottesville.”

Updated

The Lachlan River flood event may be subsiding but perhaps not for long.
River levels peaked at 10.53m at Forbes on Thursday morning just below the 2016 flood height, the Bureau of Meteorology said today.

Meteorologists, though, are watching a low-pressure trough that will develop into a discrete low, bringing with it more rain. Ben Domensino, a senior forecaster at Weatherzone, predicts another 30-50mm of rain will fall in the Lachlan catchment, so we might see renewed flooding there.
The same system, though, will bring a lot of rain and potentially thunderstorms to the region around Sydney.

Depending on how far north it tracks, the city could receive 40-100mm over the Sunday to Monday period, Domensino says.

With Sydney’s dams at 96% full and the big one, Warragamba at 100% capacity, there is the potential for reservoirs to spill and for some flooding in the Hawkesbury-Nepean river.

It seems an age ago but that valley copped severe flooding just last March.
With conditions tilting towards a La Nina in the Pacific, we can expect a wetter than normal summer. Given that some inland dams are at above capacity already - Burrendong is at 129% - there’s a fair bet emergency services are in for a busy season ahead.

Earlier today Victorian premier Daniel Andrews was defending the pandemic bill in parliament.

He said:

This is about keeping us open. This is about making sure that we can recover and rebuild, heal and go forward after 1-in-100 year event.

Heal, as in healing a wound and something you wouldn’t know much about I wouldn’t have thought.

You know, really, wordgames and laughter, that’s what we get from this one, not a leader’s bootlace on the back door - on the back door but on the front steps, sucking up to extremists.

Sucking up to violent extremists, you ought to be condemned.”

It currently looks like the government cannot pass the bill as it stands.

Updated

But northern WA you’ve got extreme heat warnings - along with parts of the NT and QLD. Stay safe and hydrated.

Hey (southern) WA! Its your turn for rain:

Brisbane’s Catholic Archbishop has been the first to impose a vaccine mandate on his priests - giving them one month to get fully vaccinated if they haven’t already.

Archbishop Mark Coleridge says unvaccinated clergy present a health risk to parishioners.

Human Rights Law Centre legal director Daniel Webb has commented on the postponing of the Victorian government’s controversial pandemic bill, which was due to be debated and possibly voted on in the upper house today.

He says it’s “clear” Victoria needs to have something in place to support “common sense public health measures” to keep people safe when the state of emergency lapses on 15 December:

“The pandemic isn’t over and governments around the country are still relying on public health and emergency powers to help manage it. The new bill isn’t perfect but it’s a big improvement on the existing law. There are some new human rights and transparency safeguards in there that aren’t in the laws in other states, like an express requirement that all decisions and actions comply with Victoria’s Human Rights Charter.

These are the sorts of safeguards that ultimately help governments make better decisions and strike the right balance between public health and the right to life and other rights and freedoms. We do however think there should be an outer limit on how long a pandemic declaration can be extended for and stronger appeal rights for detention. But overall the new bill offers much greater transparency, oversight and human rights protections than the current law and the law in other parts of the country.”

I just want to jump back to Western Australia quickly.

Not only has premier Mark McGowan been forced to close his office indefinitely after violent threats - but he has also condemned “deranged” behaviour from anti-vaxxers after they targeted WA schools.

The anti-vaxxers have been targetting schools in WA that are offering on-site vaccination for their students.

Allegedly, one protestor told a student in Perth yesterday that they “might as well shoot you now”.

McGowan said their “extremist behaviour is verging on urban terrorism”.

“It’s demented, it’s deranged, it’s outrageous, it’s selfish. And I’d just urge these people to stop. Harassing kids at their schools or in shopping centres is not the Australian way.”

Updated

Those who follow the blog religiously (and I know there are a few of you!) will remember earlier this week we posted about a catch to South Australia opening its border that concerned some Greens MPs in NSW and VIC.

On 23 November SA will open its borders to fully vaccinated people from all Australian states and territories, but quarantine will apply to LGAs with community transmission and less than 80% of the population fully vaccinated.

Because of statistical anomalies, both City of Sydney and City of Melbourne have shown low vaccination rates - but that looks like it is about to change for Melbourne at least:

Updated

Detective defends previous investigation into William Tyrrell's disappearance

Gary Jubelin, the retired homicide detective who once led the William Tyrrell case, has defended his previous investigation as the renewed search for the child’s remains continues.

The former detective was responding to criticisms from the state’s current police commissioner, Mick Fuller, that the new investigation team had “inherited what was a bit of a mess”.

Updated

“There’s been death threats and there’s been threats to rape my staff,” McGowan told reporters.

“It’s disgusting and disgraceful and they should stop because it’s not going to make the government change its policy.”

police are investigating.

Hello team Guardian, Cait Kelly here. First up, thanks to Stephanie Convery who smashed it this morning.

I want to start on a lighter note, and I think a lot of you will be pleased to hear this ...

From Sunday, fully-vaccinated Singaporeans will be able to visit Australia.

Students, family members and tourists will all be able to come without quarantining.

83% of the city-state has had two doses of the vaccine. It’s the first travel bubble since a similar corridor ended with our mates across the ditch.

And with that, I’ll hand you over to the magnificent Cait Kelly, who will take you through what remains of the afternoon. Thanks for sticking with me!

OK, just as a slight aside, I don’t know about you, but I am very glad to see that our resident agony aunt Eleanor Gordon-Smith has tackled the big topic in the lead-up to the silly season: managing family events with that agonising aunt (or sibling or cousin) who refuses to get vaxxed.

Updated

This is not your common or garden variety burglary. Thieves have uprooted more than 200 citrus trees from an orchard in South Australia’s Riverland.

Grower Jeff Knispel, the joint managing director of Nippy’s Group, said sometime after dark on the Friday before last, someone snuck in and stole the trees.

They had been planted just days before, so they would have been easy to pull out. A small, camping style shovel was left behind.

Read more on this juicy story here:

Here’s some more detail on the situation with the South Australian deputy premier Vickie Chapman. If you missed it, a parliamentary committee has recommended that she be found guilty of wilfully misleading parliament in statements regarding her decision to block the development of a timber port on Kangaroo Island when she was planning minister.

From Max Opray at AAP:

Labor MP Andrea Michaels tabled the parliamentary committee’s final report into Chapman’s rejection in August of the $40m timber port, describing her denials of conflicts of interest as “Trumpesque at best”.

“Blatant denialism of objective evidence and plain truth does the attorney general no favour,” Michaels told the SA parliament on Thursday.

The parliamentary committee found Chapman, who is planning minister and attorney general, should be suspended from parliament for nine days and make a public apology.

Chapman and her family have long held property on Kangaroo Island, but she told the committee she had no personal interest in any business or industry.

The Labor opposition is set to push for a no-confidence motion in Chapman on Thursday afternoon, which, if successful, would be the first time in the state that a no-confidence motion has been passed in the lower house against a minister.

The SA premier Steven Marshall had described the inquiry as a “kangaroo court” and previously said he fully supported his deputy.

Updated

Floodwaters from the lake in Forbes spills into the town cutting roads and inundating businesses, workers from businesses in Lower Rankin Street use a kyakto paddle down their street. Photograph by Mike Bowers. Thursday 18th November 2021. Guardian Australia NSW FLOODS
A worker from a business in Lower Rankin Street, Forbes, use a kayak to paddle down the floodwaters inundating the street. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

Residents of the central-western NSW town of Forbes began returning to their homes and businesses tried to reopen their doors on Wednesday after officials said floodwaters from the Lachlan River had peaked.

Dave Rankine, a spokesperson for the state emergency service, said the floodwaters had reached 10.52m and had stayed at that level since 3am:

Whilst we haven’t seen a drop in the river, [that] probably suggests it’s plateaued.

The threat of rising floodwaters remains though, with more rainfall forecast.

We had planned for the worst-case scenario which was 10.65m and would have seen water right the way through town; it hasn’t eventuated. Whilst it’s been a small inconvenience for local businesses who’ve had to shut for a few days.

Read the full story here:

Updated

To New South Wales now, our photographer Mike Bowers is out in Forbes, where floodwaters from the Lachlan River have been rising this week.

Floodwaters spill into the town of Forbes, cutting roads and inundating businesses in Lower Rankin Street
Floodwaters spill into the town of Forbes, cutting roads and inundating businesses in Lower Rankin Street this morning. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian
A truck drives through floodwater in Forbes
A truck drives through floodwater in Forbes. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

Updated

Traditional owners in Western Australia have requested urgent help from the United Nations after the tabling of the state government’s new draft of the Aboriginal cultural heritage bill.

The WA government says the bill will be a “new way” to protect Aboriginal heritage in the wake of the Juukan Gorge disaster.

But the Aboriginal Heritage Action Alliance, a coalition of senior Aboriginal people from WA, said the bill didn’t address the “urgent need” to strengthen legal protections for sacred cultural sites.

Dr Hannah McGlade, on behalf of the alliance, sent a letter to the UN on Wednesday seeking immediate assistance before the bill is passed in parliament.

We’ll leave the NT press conference there. Crossing fingers for all the folks in remote communities that the outbreak has been contained.

The NT chief health officer says the woman who is hospital has had one dose of the vaccine, and that the high vaccination rate in Robinson River has probably protected her:

That high vaccination rate is a protection to that community. We may be seeing some of that benefit in it – we know that half of those were – of all the cases we had, about nine out of the 19 were fully vaccinated. We’re probably benefitting from that. Certainly they’re benefitting from that in terms of how ill they may get.

I should have mentioned yesterday that the lady that is in hospital has had one dose of vaccine. And that’s probably protecting her as well. So, I think if we hadn’t, if we hadn’t had that level of vaccination, we may be looking at some quite different.

We had an enormous uptick in our vaccination rates. I have to say I feel we have turned the corner.

Updated

The general tenor of this press conference is definitely cautious optimism.

All of the known Covid cases are from three households, authorities say, and the vast majority of people in the locked down areas are complying with stay-at-home orders.

Care packages are being rolled out to communities and in Katherine emergency accommodation has been set up for those who need to transit through or need a place to stay.

Updated

Robinson River meanwhile should soon be at 100% first dose:

The high vaccination rates of Robinson River has been crucial. We have prepared for this, we have surged in, the community has been magnificent. Only 15 people remain to receive a first dose in Robinson River. I understand they all want to be vaccinated today.

Updated

Gunner turns to the worryingly low vaccination rates in Katherine:

The rate was 71%, and that’s a concern ... I understand the issue may be a mobility one and we’re tasking the local team to provide options today. I have asked for on-the-ground advice.

I have seen a photo of a queue to our clinic. It may be that people were prioritising testing and this will shift to vaccinations today. Vaccinations remain one of the five reasons to leave your home in a lockdown. If you have family or a mate who isn’t vaccinated, encourage them to get their first dose today. We need to see a lift in the vaccination rates in Katherine.

Updated

There’s another exposure site on the list for folks up there but Gunner is sounding cautiously optimistic.

The next few days remain crucial. We still have lots of testing and tracing work to do, but things are looking more positive.

There’s one new exposure site that I want to highlight. That’s the BP service station in Katherine on 13 November. If you’re there on the date from 2.40 to 4pm, please call the Covid hotline and identify yourself as a close contact. You will need to isolate and get tested and remain isolated even after a negative test. It’s a different date and time to the already announced casual contact site at the BP.

Updated

No new Covid cases recorded in the NT overnight

From the NT chief minister:

The total number of cases, cluster number two, remains at 19. Nine are fully vaccinated, two have one dose, five are unvaccinated, and three are not eligible to be vaccinated.

There were no new positive cases in the Northern Territory overnight. This is good news but it’s not a date to get ahead of ourselves. We won’t presume this means we have trapped the virus. This is delta, this is in large vulnerable households, we’re not out of the woods. The next day or two remain crucial. We’re still waiting for tests to return from Robinson River.

Updated

NT chief minister Michael Gunner is giving a Covid update now.

Updated

My colleague Melissa Davey has pulled together a wrap of all the forthcoming changes to Victoria’s covid restrictions, which are kicking in early thanks to the state hitting its vaccination target faster than expected.

We’re going to hear from the Northern Territory government shortly about the Covid outbreak in Indigenous communities there.

Joe Martin-Jard from the Northern Land Council just spoke on the ABC about that outbreak, which is currently centred in Robinson River and Katherine, but there are fears it may spread to Borroloola.

We’re very shocked ... The people, through no fault of their own – they’ve been listening to the messages about getting double vaccinations, been very disciplined that way, doing the right thing – and there’s people in the Northern Territory letting us down.

Martin-Jard is calling on the NT government to put Borroloola into lockdown.

We call on them again, lock it down until at least Monday. We’re probably too late. We are hearing reports this morning that people fled Borroloola and are now in Darwin. Nonetheless, it would be good to lock it down anyway until Monday. And we need to lock down Robinson River. Because a lot of families move back and forth between those two places.

Updated

Back in Victoria, and Legislative Council leader of the opposition David Davis just asked whether the Victorian government’s motion to delay debate on the pandemic legislation meant discussion would resume later today or at a further date.

He did not receive an answer.

It came after a rather trivial argument about finger pointing. One MP (I didn’t catch their name) accused another of finger pointing, while, unfortunately, finger pointing themselves.

Updated

Sticking with South Australia just for a moment, and some news for sports fans:

Updated

The alleged conflict of interest issue relates to Chapman’s decision to block the development of a timber port on Kangaroo Island when she was SA’s planning minister.

The SA parliament is expected to move a motion of no confidence in the deputy premier, and it’s possible that will get up.

Updated

The ABC is reporting some breaking news out of South Australia, that a parliamentary committee has recommended SA’s lower house find the state’s deputy premier Vickie Chapman “guilty of contempt” for wilfully misleading parliament and for having a conflict of interest in a planning decision. I expect we’ll hear more about that soon.

SA deputy premier Vickie Chapman.
SA deputy premier Vickie Chapman. Photograph: Roy Vandervegt/AAP

Updated

Hello folks. Thanks so much to Matilda Boseley for her inimitable blogging this morning. I’ll be with you for the next couple of hours, be kind!

With that I shall hand you over to the one and only Stephanie Convery, making her daily news blog debut! You are in for an absolute treat!

See you all tomorrow!

Updated

New Zealand records 167 new local Covid-19 cases

New Zealand has reported 167 new cases of Covid-19 today, as its delta outbreak continues to spread across the country.

Two people died yesterday, according to the health ministry, and 85 are in hospital.

While the vast majority of cases are still in Auckland, infections have also cropped up in Northland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, MidCentral, Canterbury and the Lakes District. Particularly notable this week were cases in the Wairarapa – just outside Wellington – and in Christchurch, the South Island’s largest city.

According to ministry figures, 91% of eligible adults (those aged 12 and over) have had their first dose of the vaccine and 82% are fully vaccinated.

Updated

Victorian pandemic powers bill debate postponed

Over in the Legislative Council in Victoria, Labor’s motion to postpone debate on the pandemic bill has just carried 20 votes to 17.

Upper house opposition leader David Davis said he “expected today we would be debating the pandemic legislation” and encouraged the Coalition’s proposed amendments to the bill to be circulated.

The Victorian government hoped to pass the bill this week with the support of three key crossbenchers, but will have to enter into critical further negotiations if an agreement is to made before the emergency powers end on 15 December.

Protests have continued at Victorian parliament for days over the pandemic bill.
Protests have continued at Victorian parliament for days over the pandemic bill. Photograph: Joel Carrett/EPA

Updated

Updated

Just a bit more on those case numbers out of the ACT. The Territory recorded 25 cases in the past 24 hours. That’s the highest for almost a month, since 28 cases were recorded on 21 October. It’s also more than double the cases recorded the day prior.

Case numbers have generally hovered around the 10 per day mark in recent weeks. The ACT has only recently lifted the majority of its restrictions, including removing the need for masks in most settings.

It’s still too early to say whether this latest result is part of a trend back to higher case numbers. But the good news is the ACT’s population has a remarkable vaccination rate. The vaccination rate of ACT residents aged 12 and over has now reached 96.8%.

That’s reflected in the low numbers of Canberrans in hospital.

Only three people are hospitalised with Covid in the ACT. One is on a ventilator and in intensive care.

Updated

Queensland deputy premier slam PM's comments advocating for unvaccinated freedoms

Queensland’s deputy premier Steven Miles has accused the prime minister of attempting to appeal to anti-vaxxers in order to help curry votes in the next election after he said unvaccinated people in Brisbane should be allowed to “go get a cup of coffee” if the state is at 80% vaccination.

He is so desperate to claw together a coalition of anti-vaxxers for his own political benefit.

[The new venue vaccination rules] do not deserve to be undermined by a PM more interested in currying favour with coffee baron donors and lunatic backbenchers than the health and the jobs of Queenslanders.

Updated

'Division doesn't work against this': Daniel Andrews on pandemic

Dan Andrews turns to the protesters outside Victorian parliament today.

He condemns “extremists with intolerable views” among the demonstrators, but doesn’t want to say much more because of charges that have been laid by Victoria police. On Coalition MPs who are yet to denounce the protests outright, he is less measured:

I’m so deeply grateful that some people have stood at the back door today professing to be constructive and work together while their colleagues are standing in front, alongside extremists ... That’s not democracy, that’s political games.

To all those complaining about lockdown, we’re not in lockdown because the Victorian community didn’t listen to you, they went and got vaccinated ... division doesn’t work against this but a unified community does.

Just imagine for one moment a premier over the last two years that had been beholden to extremists. Would we be at 90% today? I don’t think so. Would we be open today? Absolutely not, and if we were, our hospitals would be full to bursting.

Daniel Andrews at Victorian parliament on Thursday.
Daniel Andrews at Victorian parliament on Thursday. Photograph: James Ross/AAP

Updated

Dan Andrews’ presser has turned to the pandemic legislation, which is in disarray today after former Labor minister Adam Somyurek announced he would return to the upper house to vote against the bill.

The premier says he’s “not here to comment on individual members of the Legislative Council”:

If you want to have a chat to him you can absolutely do that. We don’t have the numbers in the upper house ... we’ll try and get an outcome that keeps us safe.

I don’t know if this outcome will get resolved today, tonight, tomorrow, we’ll just have to wait and see. The story today is Victorians being proud and their government being grateful to them ... we are united in our belief in science and the power of doing something for yourself and everyone else.

Updated

ACT records 25 new local Covid-19 cases

The Australia Capital Territory has recorded 25 new Covid-19 cases in the latest reporting period.

Federal Labor condemn threats of violence from Victorian protesters

Anthony Albanese has come out this morning to offer a significantly more unreserved condemnation of the rhetoric coming out of the Victorian protests:

I condemn it, there’s no place in Australian public life. For people threatening the lives of politicians or anyone else.

What we’ve seen is the participation* as well of at least one member of the House of Representatives in Craig Kelly, and stake members of the Liberal party along with with other figures who participated in these demonstrations setup included explicit threats against the premier of Victoria, and against other people in public life.

*Participation in the protests, that is. Not the participation in the threats themselves.

Updated

Here’s the full (lengthy) press release on all the changes coming to Victoria from midnight tonight.

This would be a great time for me to actually have weekend plans, wouldn’t it?

Updated

Good news for regional Queensland! The restrictions on hospital and aged care visitation will be lifted in Goondiwindi.

These were imposed after a positive case was recorded in the area.

Updated

Police search continues for remains of missing three-year old William Tyrrell

The fourth day of the latest search for the remains of missing boy William Tyrrell has begun, with police continuing their focus on soil in the home where he went missing in 2014 and a patch of nearby bushland.

This morning specialist teams continued clearing trees in the area of bushland on Batar Creek Road in Kendall, a town about four hours’ drive north of Sydney and about an hour inland from Port Macquarie.

Yesterday the search team discovered red fabric that was quickly ruled out as being from the Spider-Man costume that William was last seen wearing.

But the patch of land where the fabric was found was covered with a protective tarpaulin overnight, and officers have resumed sifting through earth.

Later this morning NSW police assisted by the Australian federal police forensics imagery and geomatics team continued searching at the former home of William’s foster grandmother, where he was last seen.

Searchers are using ground-penetrating radar in the garage of the home to look for disturbances or anomalies in the soil under a slab of concrete.

The concrete is understood to have been laid after William disappeared.

The renewed search comes seven years after William went missing in September 2014, when visiting his foster grandmother with his foster family.

Updated

Many of these new freedoms apply only to those who are fully vaccinated.

Ben Cowie:

Restaurants, cafes, live music venues will operate at full capacity for vaccinated people and, as the premier mentioned, you will be able to have as many people as you can tolerate in your home, and we strongly encourage all of those people to be vaccinated.

There is no limit [on how many people can get] together in a public place and all the customers are fully vaccinated, those under 12, all those medically exempt will be able to enter non-essential retail.

Updated

OK, here is Ben Cowie with all the places that Victorians will still need to wear their masks:

The premier referred to face masks, there requirements will be moved in a large range of settings, they will still be required in some particularly sensitive or high-consequence settings.

This will include primary school staff, visitors and students in grades 3 to 6, as is presently the case. Serving staff at hospitality venues will still be required to wear masks.

They will be required in indoor retail settings for now, there is a mix of essential and non-essential services in shops and a range of shopping centres, for instance, with a lot of people aged under 12 who are unable to be vaccinated in those retail settings as well, which is why we made a recommendation to government to retain those settings.

Taxis, rideshare will require masks, as will passenger planes, although high-risk workplaces, masks will still be required, so thinking about meat processing in particular.

Updated

Victorian deputy chief health officer Prof Ben Cowie admits that some people will die from Covid-19 in the months ahead:

Even with 90% vaccination, we will continue to see infections with Covid-19 in the community. But for vaccinated people, they are so much less likely to get seriously ill, to end up in hospital, to end up in intensive care, or obviously also so much less likely to lose their lives. It is that important.

As we move forward, some people will still need to be admitted to the hospital system, and there will be a loss of life. That is a tragedy, do something that we need to support the families and those affected, as the community has continued to do throughout the pandemic. All of us at some stage we’ll know someone who has had the virus, or will get Covid.

Updated

Victoria should consider stricter air quality enforcement measures and ensure agencies such as the Environment Protection Authority are adequately resourced to police them, a Legislative Council Committee inquiry has found.

The Environment and Planning Committee received 145 submissions and heard from more than 40 witnesses. Its chair Sonja Terpstra said:

We’re pleased that we found that Victoria’s overall air quality is good but there are pockets of pollution that lead to severe health outcomes and we think there’s much more that could be done to address those.

The committee has made 35 recommendations addressing a range of issues including the pollution caused by domestic wood heaters and vehicle exhaust and aimed at improving community consultation to mitigate air pollution.

It found that wood smoke from domestic heaters makes a significant contribution to air pollution, particularly in winter:

The government should assist renters and people from low socioeconomic backgrounds to transition away from wood heaters and towards reverse cycle air conditioning ...

We’d also like to see the government consider a rebate scheme to phase out wood heaters from homes in built-up areas. This could be done by helping replace home heating systems when houses are put up for sale.

The committee made a range of recommendations aimed at mitigating the impact of motor vehicle pollution, including further promoting the uptake of electric vehicles and a range of measures to reduce vehicle idling, especially near schools.

The full report can be found here.

Updated

Isolation protocols overhauled in Victoria

Victoria’s health minister Martin Foley has confirmed isolation protocols will also change dramatically from midnight, with many people who would have previously been required to isolate for two weeks now simply required to produce a negative PCR test:

Now that we have achieved this astonishingly, by global standards ... at 90% double dose, we can take a whole series of steps that keep Victoria open, and keep Victoria safe ...

I want to touch briefly on some of the details around what that 90% double dose means when it comes to making sure that the quarantine and isolation obligations can be reduced as a result of those really high numbers of vaccinations.

Victorians who test positive will continue to have to isolate, but with changed circumstances, we will go into more later ...

From 11.59pm tonight, the vast majority of people who come into contact with a confirmed case, outside of their home context, won’t have to do self-quarantine. They will have to receive a standard PCR test, and isolate it until they get that negative result.

That means that if an office, restaurant, nightclub, any of those areas you want automatically how to quarantine the patrons, all the staff who previously designated primary close contacts, will be quantified as a tier one contact and will have to do isolate accordingly.

You will get your test, and as long as it is negative, you are free to go about your lifestyle.

Updated

While a huge number of restrictions are being lifted in Victoria, a mask mandate for indoor retail venues will remain, the premier has confirmed.

Dan Andrews also confirmed Victorians will be able to celebrate “a normal Christmas”:

Because of public health advice, we will keep them on in retail for a few more weeks. Until the middle of next month.

And we hope that if we continue to see a trend of lower hospitalisations than we thought and falling hospitalisations, and we may be able to make that change.

As we look to Christmas, it will be a Christmas like no other, but a normal Christmas. It is one that we have all earned, and one that every Victorian I’m sure we’ll enjoy.

Updated

Dan Andrews:

Because 90% of Victorians have gone and gotten vaccinated, so many of these rules, almost all of them can fall away ...

Whether it is 100,000 people at the MCG on Boxing Day, or a smaller group of people standing up at the local pub having a beer.

This is a Covid-normal that every Victorian has wanted, this is the safe delivery of the national plan – I am not only proud of Victorians but also deeply grateful.

Updated

All Victorian gathering caps to be lifted from midnight tonight

Victoria premier Daniel Andrews is speaking now and has confirmed that the state will imminently pass through the 90% double vaccination mark, so new, relaxed restrictions will come into effect from tonight:

What do these rule changes from 11.59pm tonight mean? Well, first and foremost, there are no more caps, there are no more closures.

There are no more rules in terms of how many people can be in different spaces.

As it is to your home, back to normal. The number of people in a pub or cafe or restaurant, back to normal.

There will not be Covid rules that determine how many people are at the pub, it will be the liquor licence, back to normal.

You can stand up to have a drink, dancefloors, all of those things that we have missed, and that are absolutely about getting to as normal a situation as possible.

That normality that we have all craved, we are able to deliver that as a result of the amazing work that Victorians have done in getting vaccinated in record time. And in record numbers.

Updated

The politicians have descended on Forbes as flood waters continue to plague the town:

Updated

Looks like the Victorian press conference today will indeed be confirming that restrictions will be eased once the state hits its 90% double vaccination rate:

Updated

Victoria’s fire authority has declared its first total fire ban of the season, as the state government prepares 50 planes to assist in fighting bushfires this summer, repots AAP.

The Mallee is forecast to experience temperatures in the mid 30s, strong and gusty winds and a risk of thunderstorms on Thursday.

With a severe fire danger rating, the Country Fire Authority has declared the region will be subject to a total fire ban for Thursday.

It means no open air fire can be lit or remain alight from 12.01am to 11.59pm, and strict rules also apply for use of farm machinery, chainsaws and lawn mowers.

A very high fire danger rating is forecast for the nearby Wimmera region on Thursday, while it is deemed high for the Northern Country and South West and low-moderate for the rest of the state.

Meanwhile, emergency services minister Jaclyn Symes says 50 aircraft, including firebombing planes, will be “strategically placed” across Victoria over the summer to help firefighting efforts.

These include the state’s highest capacity helicopter, a CH47 Chinook carrying 11,000 litres of water or retardant, which will be used in the hottest part of the day and can continue into the night.

Two large air tankers that can carry 10,000 litres and require less room for takeoff and landing will be based at Avalon Airport, one of which will be shared with Queensland.

These aircraft are always a critical weapon in our firefighters’ arsenal during summer, ensuring that Victoria has the strongest possible fire response each year as we head into the fire season.

While the outlook for this fire season indicates a lower threat of prolonged bushfires, grass and crop blazes remain a high risk across the state after average-above average rainfall and strong fuel growth.

We will be hearing from the Victorian premier at 10.30am. Although the press conference is not about the pandemic legislation, I’m sure Daniel Andrews will get asked some questions on the topic, so it should be well worth a listen.

Updated

I’m just hunting down the exact quotes for you by Victorian opposition leader Matthew Guy, who has told ABC radio that the sports minister Martin Pakula is “a little unhinged” after the Labor frontbencher suggested Liberal MPs were cozying up to protesters spreading violent rhetoric.

Well, Pakula has now responded, doubling down and accusing the state Liberals of not doing enough to condemn neo-Nazism:

Updated

Hydrogen produced by fossil fuels is more expensive, will release more greenhouse gas emissions and comes with a greater risk of creating stranded assets, according to new research from the Australian National University.

In the paper, published in the peer-reviewed engineering journal Applied Energy, researchers compared the emissions and financial cost of producing hydrogen using fossil fuels or renewable energy.

“Blue hydrogen” is produced using natural gas while “green hydrogen” is made by running an electric current through water using an electrolyser powered by renewable energy such as wind or solar.

“Clean hydrogen” is the term used for when carbon capture and storage is used to capture carbon dioxide emissions during the production process, similar to proposals for “clean coal”.

You can read the full report below:

NSW records three Covid-19 deaths

NSW Health has managed to get the office number announcement up and, as expected, the state has recorded 262 new Covid-19 cases.

We now know that the state has also recorded three Covid-19 deaths in the latest reporting period:

Updated

Brittany Higgins sexual assault case to be heard June

The man accused of raping Brittany Higgins, Bruce Lehrmann, will stand trial in June 2022, with a tentative date of 6 June set for a three- to four-week trial.

Lehrmann is pleading not guilty to one charge of sexual intercourse without consent and denies any form of sexual activity took place.

ACT director of public prosecutions Shane Drumgold will also hold a criminal case conference with Lehrmann’s legal team on 7 February, a process that aims to reduce the issues at dispute at trial.

The ACT supreme court held a directions hearing on Thursday, at which Drumgold asked for a trial date and indicated there was “not a lot of benefit” to the pre-trial conference.

But registrar J Reece said the practice was to hold a conference for all criminal matters. Drumgold and Lehrmann’s lawyer, Warwick Korn, then agreed to hold one.

The matter has been listed for further mentions on 16 December and 28 February. Reece extended Lehrmann’s bail to 7 February. Lehrmann was present in court only via audio and was silent throughout the hearing.

The matter was listed for trial as a “special fixture” (indicating a trial of more than a week’s length) to begin on 6 June. Drumgold indicated that the prosecution case will take two weeks.

Updated

Prime minister Scott Morrison was asked what he thought about some of his state Liberal counterparts mingling with protesters when, at other times during the same demonstrations, prop gallows had been displayed and some in the crowd had called for the execution of high-profile Victorian politicians.

Reporter:

What do you think of state-level MPs joining in on these protests and associating themselves with these messages?

Morrison:

I don’t support any of that.

Oh, and we have some awesome blog news this morning! You can now filter the blog to read only the key events, just in case you want to quickly get across all the biggest stories of the day:

Updated

NSW records 262 new Covid-19 cases

It seems NSW Health is having difficulty tweeting out the Covid-19 numbers this morning, however, the new data is available on their website.

The state has reported 262 new Covid-19 cases in the latest reporting period.

Unvaccinated people should be able to 'go get a cup of coffee in Brisbane', Scott Morrison says

Interestingly, the PM appears to be advocating for states to relax mandatory vaccine laws, saying people should “be able to go get a cup of coffee in Brisbane regardless of whether you’ve had a vaccine or not”:

Australians have done an amazing job when it comes to leading us through this pandemic. But now it’s time for governments to step back and for Australians to take their life back and for Australians to be able to move forward with the freedoms that should be this. That’s what we’re doing as the government and where we see it going.

Our position on mandatory vaccines, for example, is in very specific circumstances. We aren’t in favour of mandatory vaccines imposed by the government. Businesses can make their own choices on the law but we aren’t about telling them Australians what to do. Vaccines are only mandatory in cases where you have health workers working with vulnerable people.

That’s what our medical advice has always been and, as we get above 80% in particular, which the scientific advice shows us and the research showed us that means Australians can have their lives back, they should be able to go to a get a cup of coffee in Brisbane regardless of whether you’ve had a vaccine or not.

Updated

Victoria records 1,007 new Covid-19 cases and 12 deaths

Victoria’s daily case numbers have jumped back over the 1,000 mark, with 1,007 new infections recorded in the state.

Sadly, 12 people infected with the virus have died.

Updated

Scott Morrison has condemned the threats of violence coming from Victorian protesters but says it’s also time for governments to “take a step back” from people’s everyday lives.

He is speaking now in NSW:

We are a civil, peaceful society. We have disagreements and we don’t handle them with violence ...

No matter how frustrated people might be, that’s never the answer and there needs to respect shown in those debates that we have. Has to be appropriate guidance and stability. There are many who feel frustrated.

Over the last couple of years, governments have been telling Australians what to do, now there has been a need for that as we have gone through the pandemic, the time is now to start rolling all of that back.

Updated

Your Thursday morning stats wrap

Not a lot on the stats front in Australia this morning, although extended labour force figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics might shed some handy insights into where the pinch points are in the economy. That’s also where wage bargaining might be of interest too.

Greg Jericho dived (never dove) deep into yesterday’s release of the wage price index here.

Key observations include the fact that, yes, wages are on the rise but they aren’t keeping up with the CPI, and so in real terms are going backwards. The pay freeze for public sector employees is one of the drags, and that will come to an end as wage claims start to build.

If the AFR’s story today about Scott Morrison resisting pressure to open up the economy for a surge in migration is correct, competition from overseas workers will be some way off. Mind you, it would presumably take some time for people to arrive, set up new lives and find work in any significant numbers.

And Covid restrictions on people arriving and leaving over the past couple of years will probably have put off more than a few potential migrants.

On the markets, Australian shares are poised to open flat, to the dismay of speculators, with the main overseas stock indices down a bit.

The main overnight news including more jumps in inflation, especially in the UK. There the CPI came in at 4.2% versus October last year, or higher than economists expected, and twice the Bank of England’s 2% target. Core inflation, which strips out volatile items was the highest in a decade at 3.4%.

The ANZ wrote in a briefing note:

The strength in price rises, combined with the strong post-furlough labour market data earlier in the week, would seem to open the runway for the BoE to hike rates. Although, given the surprise non-hike earlier in November, markets may be reluctant to price-in a December move with absolute certainty.

(Note to self: avoid “hike” when discussing rates, unless it’s something about mountains.)

Updated

Australia is hoping a tourism campaign lures travellers from Singapore when two-way quarantine-free travel resumes between the two countries, reports Georgie Moore from AAP.

From Sunday, fully vaccinated Singaporeans can arrive in Australia without quarantining as long as they return a negative Covid-19 test.

Tourism Australia has launched a campaign to encourage travel from the city-state worth about $1.5bn to the Australian economy.

Managing director Phillipa Harrison told the Nine Network on Thursday:

It is not going to make up for the loss of international but, surely, it is a great start ...

[Singaporeans] are very familiar with Australia. They travel far and wide around Australia.

That is why we are back in the market with our first conversion brand campaign in quite a period of time, convincing them to come back.

Australians were this month given the green light to travel to Singapore.

Harrison expects post-Covid tourism to rebound by 50% relatively quickly as international and domestic restrictions reduce.

There is a lot of demand for travel around New South Wales, Victoria and also the ACT ...

It is a good start, but we do need all of the borders open as soon as we can.

Prime minister Scott Morrison has flagged that quarantine-free travel with South Korea and Japan could be on the horizon.

Updated

NSW Labor is calling for an overhaul of the state’s grant process after a number of pork-barrelling accusations levelled against the Coalition government.

The state opposition plan to introduce a new government grants administration bill to parliament which they say will:

  • Impose new reporting requirements on ministers and agencies
  • Confer new powers on the auditor general to follow the money
  • Introduce new grants guidelines

Opposition leader Chris Minns says Labor wants to “draw a line in the sand” on the pork-barrelling, basically daring premier Dominic Perrottet to publicly decline to support the bill:

It is time to end the rorts and deliver a fairer outcome for the people of New South Wales.

We are willing to work with the Premier and the government to realise these reforms.

But if the Premier won’t come to the table on grants reform, the people of New South Wales are right to demand an explanation.

Updated

The NSW government will move to ban dark roofs as part of its push to deliver more sustainable housing and reach its target of net zero emissions by 2050.

Speaking to the Committee for Sydney, planning minister Rob Stokes foreshadowed the policy switch to ensure all new housing has light-coloured roofing.

He said University of NSW research commissioned by the federal government found Sydney’s ambient temperatures could be reduced by up to 2.4C if dark roofing was ditched across the city. A light-coloured roof could reduce temperatures inside the home by up to 10C during a heatwave.

Stokes told the Committee for Sydney on Wednesday:

This would have an enormous impact on the urban heat island effect in our city, and I will be asking the Department of Planning to implement this as part of our Net Zero Cities approach.

You can read the full report from Anne Davies and Elias Visontay below:

Updated

There is a choice selection of Victorian state politics memes on the interwebs this morning, let me tell you:

Updated

Victorian crossbench MP Fiona Patten has told ABC News Breakfast that the pandemic powers bill will have to be adjourned now that Adem Somyurek plans to vote against the legislation:

Certainly of this morning, the bill is due to be adjourned and the parliament will go on to other bills while the government tries to work out what they’re going to do.

They’re in a pretty precarious situation now, without, you know, with a state of emergency ending and no other pandemic protections in place.

Updated

The attorney general, Michaelia Cash, has requested “detailed drafting” from the Australian Law Reform Commission to ensure children are not discriminated against in faith-based schools, as the government pushes ahead with its revised religious discrimination laws.

But as the crossbench reveals they will either oppose the revamped bill or seek to reinstate the ability for doctors to refuse patients on religious grounds, the government looks likely to need Labor’s support to pass the legislation before the election.

All government legislation faces difficulty in the final sitting fortnight, with two of its own senators, Gerard Rennick and Alex Antic, vowing to withhold their votes in protest against vaccine mandates and One Nation also promising “so much mayhem” in the Senate.

You can read the full report from Sarah Martin and Paul Karp below:

Updated

Australia extends humanitarian visas for Afghans

Temporary humanitarian visas issued to Afghans who helped Australian forces and were trapped on the ground after the allied withdrawal will be extended, reports AAP.

The decision to extend the visas on an “ongoing basis” affects certified local workers, including interpreters, under the Department of Defence, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Australian federal police.

It also includes people who worked in other capacities with the Australian government in Afghanistan, and their families who were issued temporary humanitarian visas, the federal government said on Thursday.

More than 5,600 temporary humanitarian visas were issued during the Afghanistan crisis in August.

More than 3,500 Afghan temporary humanitarian visa holders have begun their settlement journey in Australia.

Immigration minister Alex Hawke called on the ruling Taliban to not stop people who want to leave Afghanistan:

Australia expects the Taliban to uphold its undertakings to allow Australians and Afghan visa holders to depart Afghanistan safely if they wish to do so ...

We continue to work with international partners to that end.

But temporary humanitarian visas granted to other Afghans outside the certified local worker program will expire. Hawke said those people would get priority under Australia’s humanitarian and refugee intake program.

Initial priority will be given to vulnerable and persecuted minorities, women and children and those who have links to Australia, the government said:

The government will continue to make announcements regarding Afghanistan and the evolving humanitarian situation in the near future.

Updated

Australian universities have converted as few as 1% of their casual staff to permanent roles six months after labour laws changed, leaving “shocking” levels of insecurity in an industry hard hit by Covid-triggered job losses.

This week staff at the University of Newcastle conducted a 12-hour digital “sit-in” to protest after having just five of 2,300 casual staff converted to full-time work.

The National Tertiary Education Union described the conversion rate as “abysmal across the sector”.

In March the federal government amended the Fair Work Act to mandate that casual staff who meet two criteria be offered full-time or permanent part-time positions. To be eligible, they must have been employed for at least 12 months and have worked a regular pattern of hours for at least the six previous of those months.

You can read the full report below:

Updated

Victorian crossbench MP Fiona Patten says she doesn’t see how anyone in the upper house would change their mind to support the pandemic bill after Adem Somyurek announced he would return to parliament to vote against the bill, plunging to vote into deadlock.

Patten is asked about the situation on ABC radio:

He may be coming in for some payback ...

Given the aggression, the intensity of this debate, I’m not sure anyone is possibly willing to change their mind on this legislation.

As a key crossbench vote, Patten says she has been the target of much of the protester vitriol:

I was walking down the street the other day and someone had tagged a sign that said, “Hang Dan Andrews.” I don’t remember a time in Australia’s history where we’ve talked of killing our political leaders ...

On Saturday’s protest, there was three nooses hanging off a mock gallow, reflecting the three crossbenchers. We’ve never seen anything like this. I’ve been having threats of snipers outside my office ...

We’ve certainly seen an increase in security around the building. These people are saying they’re fighting for democracy ... but because of all of these threats, we’ve had to close the parliament to the public.

Reason party leader Fiona Patten yesterday
Reason party leader Fiona Patten yesterday. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP

Updated

I mentioned before that an Adem Somyurek-shaped wrench has been thrown in the works of Daniel Andrews’ new pandemic powers bill after the former Labor member and current MP said he would not be voting to pass the legislation.

The Victorian upper house now appears to be headed for a deadlock, with 19 MPs supporting the bill and 19 against it.

Somyurek told the Herald Sun via an op-ed that there isn’t enough oversight built into the laws, even with the amendments announced yesterday:

Given its importance, there is not enough attention and scrutiny on it ...

Parliamentary accountability has declined to such an extent that it ceased to exist in lower houses with the advent of disciplined modern political parties. Accountability of the executive only exists in the upper house, where the government does not control the numbers in that chamber.

Where it does, our parliamentary system is essentially an elective dictatorship.

Updated

The federal opposition is continuing its internet policy rollout, this time promising one year’s free NBN access to up to 30,000 families with no broadband at home if it wins the next election.

A day after committing to upgrade up to 1.5m premises to the faster fibre to the premise NBN connection, Labor has promised free internet for one year for eligible families with school-aged children.

The policy came about after the difficulties many families faced during the pandemic, when homeschooling became the norm.

As Stephanie Convery reported previously, in some cases, community services such as libraries had to step in to fill the gap for families struggling without internet access during lockdown.

The Labor policy is part of a policy plan highlighting, and then filling, government gaps exposed during the pandemic.

Families in need would be identified through schools, education departments and through local community organisations.

Updated

An intelligence agency chief says malicious cyber activities “pose a significant risk to Australia’s national security and to international stability”.

In a speech in Canberra today, Rachel Noble, the head of the Australian Signals Directorate, will say her agency is launching offensive cyber operations to “strike back against offshore cybercriminals conducting malicious activities”. She will say the agency is “fighting that battle with criminals – state actors and serious and organised crime”.

ASD has previously disclosed that a quarter of cyber incidents reported to it last financial year targeted critical infrastructure and essential services, including healthcare, energy, water and telcos.

In her speech this morning, Noble will expand on the alleged perpetrators:

Some were state actors undertaking intelligence gathering, reconnaissance and pre-positioning malicious software most likely with a view to activate it at a time of their choosing to deny, degrade or disrupt critical services to Australians.

They are also capable of moving laterally between networks – getting in to the weakest and moving up into the strongest by using trusted network pathways to get there. Our goal is to defend our networks by pushing them off before harm is done and to undertake offensive cyber operations to deny them the benefits of their crime.

In other remarks, Noble will also argue against any move to split ASD (there has been talk moving cyber security into a standalone agency, separate from ASD’s key role of gathering “signals intelligence”):

The idea that we could draw a line somehow between these functions would take away the very cutting edge that Australia has, and needs, over our adversaries.

She will offer a gloomy assessment of the current global tensions, without naming any particular country:

We are living in one of the most strategically uncertain times of my generation and perhaps even the generation before me. We are at the crossroads, some are opining, of a potential major global power shift.

She will also say it’s the job of ASD and other intelligence agencies to “enable our government and allied governments to have the best possible understanding of foreign adversaries’ intent in order to help the government make the best decisions for our national interest and avoid misunderstandings or miscalculations”:

It is also a vitally important role of intelligence agencies, if the worst does happen, that we can ensure not only the best possible force protection and overwatch of our military and that of our allies, but that we are also able to generate capabilities through intelligence collection and more recently offensive cyber effects that will greatly shorten any conflict – like we always have.

Updated

Good morning

Good morning, everyone, it’s Thursday and there is plenty to get through.

It’s Matilda Boseley here and I’m horrified to report that I have run out of coffee in my home. As a result, I’m nursing a cup of tea this morning, so if you notice a slight dip in energy, you know why.

Well, why don’t we start off in Victoria, where the future of the state government’s new pandemic powers bill has now been plunged into doubt after disgraced MP Adem Somyurek, who was previously a member of the Labor party, had his parliamentary suspension lifted.

The Victorian government has been confident the bill will pass after making amendments to secure the support of upper house crossbenchers – the Greens’ Samantha Ratnam, Reason Party MP Fiona Patten and Animal Justice party MP Andy Meddick.

But the return of Somyurek, who quit the party before he was expelled for allegedly leading a widespread branch-stacking operation, opens the door for him to cast the deciding vote.

If he votes against it as he has suggested he will, it would result in a tie and would mean the bill would have to be reintroduced in parliament’s lower house.

Up in NSW, police have descended on the mid-north coast town of Kendall for a fourth day, vowing to leave no stone unturned in the search for the remains of three-year-old William Tyrrell.

Yesterday the police strike force set up to investigate the disappearance of William in 2014 charged a man and a woman over the alleged assault of a child.

NSW police said information had been received about the suspected assault of a child during ongoing investigations under Strike Force Rosann. They refused to provide any additional detail but multiple reports said the charge did not relate to William himself.

With all this in mind let’s jump into the day. There’s a lot to get through.

Updated

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