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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Cait Kelly (now) and Matilda Boseley (ealier)

Morrison comments on Aukus fallout – as it happened

And that is it for Friday’s news. As always, it was a delight to spend the day with you team GA. Thank you for your company.

Let’s go through the big ones for today:

  • There was wild weather through large parts of eastern Australia again today. With severe flood warnings issues in SA, QLD, NSW and Vic.
  • NSW assisted dying laws were debated in parliament.
  • Legendary entertainer Bert Newton was farewelled with a state funeral in Melbourne.
  • Australia hit the 90% first-dose vaccine milestone.
  • Scott Morrison gave a press conference where he announced the government’s net zero modelling would be released.
  • Fifteen minutes after that press conference the modelling was released, to widespread condemnation from climate scientists.
  • Crown resorts disclosed it received $291.2m in jobkeeper.

I am off to quickly walk the dog before it starts raining again. If you are in a region severely affected by the wild weather, please keep an eye out for updates from the BoM.

I’ll see you all again on Sunday. Go well.

Updated

Updated

The NSW transport department has been ordered to pay more than $300,000 in damages to a manager sacked for helping a police investigation into a woman’s murder.

The case involved the 2018 killing of Nicole Cartwright, allegedly at the hands of former transport department employee Dennis James Pietrobon.

Tomorrow NT will bring in a vaccine mandate.

It will cover people who work with children, those in customer-facing roles, those who work with vulnerable people and those who work in Aboriginal communities and community services sector.

It also applies to people employed in high-risk settings or in the healthcare sector or people who work in essential infrastructure and logistics.

A full list can be found here.

Updated

If you missed the blog this morning on Bert Newton’s funeral, we’ve got a run down here...

I’ve got some quotes for you from today’s debate in NSW parliament about the voluntary assisted dying legislation.

In support:

Liberal MP for Pittwater, Rob Stokes: “At the heart of love is freedom and at the heart of freedom is choice. I hate death and the pain it wreaks but love is greater than death.

“While none can escape death we can demonstrate love to those who want to die and those who want to live by empowering them with genuine support for the choice they make.”

Against:

Labor MP for Prospect, Hugh McDermott:

“(The bill) is the most heinous piece of legislation ever introduced before this parliament. The debate must be framed for what it truly involves - a failure of public policy and human rights.”

Updated

Modelling of the Morrison government’s strategy to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 shows its “technology not taxes” plan will leave the nation relying on offsets and unknown technology breakthroughs, but leave the gas sector to grow.

Released on Friday afternoon, the modelling report suggests the “net zero” plan will see the value of the coal industry drop by half by 2050.

A 160km multi-day hiking trail running the length of the Grampians (Gariwerd) National Park will open to the public on Saturday becoming one of the longest trails in Victoria.

Connecting some of the parks’ most spectacular peaks, the Grampians Peaks Trail is a 13 day/12 night journey commencing at Mt Zero and travelling south over the ranges that make up Gariwerd and ending in the town of Dunkeld.

This now from AAP:

Accused drug lord Mostafa Baluch did not attempt bail for a second time after allegedly cutting off his ankle monitor before police found him trying to cross into Queensland.

The fugitive was shackled and flown back to Sydney from the Gold Coast on Thursday evening under police guard before his matter was called on Friday morning.

Magistrate Margaret Quinn confirmed in Central Local Court that his bail had been officially revoked after prosecutors filed fresh charges to ensure he remained in prison.

The northern beaches restaurateur is being held in Silverwater while undergoing a quarantine period, Acting Corrective Services NSW Commissioner Kevin Corcoran told 2GB radio on Friday.

He confirmed Baluch will then be transferred to Goulburn Supermax prison.

“They will be keeping a very close eye on him,” Mr Corcoran said.

Before he was first granted bail he was already deemed an “extreme high-security inmate, with Mr Corcoran saying that could also be upgraded.

“He has been very compliant so far,” he said.

Baluch’s desperate bid for freedom ended when he was found hiding in a grey Mercedes concealed in a shipping container being transported on the back of a truck.

More than two weeks earlier, police say Baluch cut off an ankle monitor while on bail and sparked “one of the largest fugitive hunts in the country”.

Police allege he was planning to flee overseas from Queensland.

Defence lawyer Moustafa Kheir said his client need not appear via video link on Friday and confirmed he would not be applying for bail.

He declined to comment outside court, while the matter will next be called on December 1.

Baluch is charged with a string of drug offences related to a 900kg shipment of cocaine into Australia that had a street value of $270 million.

Following a tip-off Queensland officers searched dozens of trucks before zeroing in on the container after noticing it wasn’t properly secured.

After a night in the Southport Watchhouse, Baluch’s extradition application was consented to without objection.

Wearing prison greens, with hand and leg restraints, Baluch left Southport about 1pm under police escort.

He was taken to Coolangatta Airport and flown by PolAir6 - a Cessna Grand Caravan - to Bankstown Airport.

Before his arrest in Queensland, the accused kingpin was last seen in Bayview on Sydney’s northern beaches on October 25, days after being granted bail.

He was released on strict conditions, including $4 million surety on a waterfront home at Bayview.

The man who was driving the truck in which Baluch was found - who police say owns a transport company - was also arrested.

The 46-year-old has been charged with doing an act intended to pervert the course of justice and denied bail.

Woolworths Group have also admitted to getting jobkeeper this afternoon.

Over the 20/21 financial year, $429,000 was paid to 286 workers for a subsidiary of the Endevour Group. The money has been paid back.

Updated

Lots of flood warnings coming through for regional NSW. Keep an eye out.

Updated

God, I got so caught up in the net zero modelling I almost forgot about the pandemic. Joke. Here is some cool vaccine data

Updated

Remeikis said Australia’s journalists need to call lies out when they see politicians make them, instead of helping normalise it.

“It’s not normal for public officials to lie to you, especially so blatantly.”

Remeikis is talking about how the question of ‘does Scott Morrison lie’ bubbled up into the middle of Australia’s political discourse over the last few days.

“He was the one who raised the old John Howard question … who do you trust,” Remeikis said.

“At the moment whether people trust Scott Morrison’s word is at the forefront.

“We have seen Scott Morrison basically say ‘oh I never said that’ on things that he did. So we’ve got a long way to run on this question.”

Crown Resorts received $291m in jobkeeper

Crown Resorts Ltd has disclosed that it received $291.2m in jobkeeper, a $40m increase on the figure it reported in March.

In 2019/20 it received and paid on $92.87m to 10,341 employees; in 2020/21 it received and paid on $198.34m to a similar number.

Crown has not made any voluntary repayments of the wage subsidy.

Although credited with saving 700,000 jobs, jobkeeper has become controversial due to the failure of the Morrison government to legislate a clawback mechanism for companies that didn’t meet the required downturn threshold.

Some $38bn was paid to companies that didn’t meet the downturn threshold - although as Crown’s casinos were shuttered by public health orders, it would not be among them.

Updated

Amy Remeikis is on ABC now, she says the PM’s policy on electric vehicles is not a complete 180 - because there is actually nothing serious to help people buy them.

“There is nothing to encourage electric vehicle take-up. The policy is ‘we’re going to look at charging infrastructure’.

“There’s nothing to make them any cheaper … This is serious because a lot of the developing world are talking about phasing out traditional fuel cars.

“Scott Morrison is talking about electric vehicles like they’re a saviour but the government doesn’t have anything to make it easier or get Australians to take them up.”

Updated

Greens leader, Adam Bandt, has called the government’s net zero modelling a plan for “not zero”.

“The plan is built on more coal and gas and a vague hope that the private sector will voluntarily offset 159m tonnes of someone else’s pollution,” he said.

“The prime minister fundamentally misunderstands ‘can-do capitalism’ if he thinks big corporations will voluntarily hand over a big bag of cash for permits they’re not obliged to buy.

“Under the Liberals’ plan, in 2050 Australia won’t have a safe climate and it won’t even have net zero emissions,”

Bandt said Australia needs to reduce 75% of its emissions by 2030.

“Under the Liberals, in 2050 Australia will emit 94m tonnes per year in 2050, a larger amount of climate pollution than countries like New Zealand or Greece emit right now in 2021.”

Updated

Let’s go to Nino who has been covering Victoria’s IBAC hearings.

https://twitter.com/ninobucci/status/1459028530134540291

Mazengarb says business and investors need better knowledge of what the transition actually looks like.

“Businesses and investors, the energy sector, really want that detail to know where we’re going. The modelling doesn’t provide it.

“The plan doesn’t really provide it and I think there’s still questions and uncertainty is still there. And the government is still going to be asked for that detail.”

Updated

Mazengarb says there is a lack of detail in the report.

“This modelling does sort of look like something that’s been sort of put together right at the last minute. It has come out after the policy has been announced.

“We heard through Senate estimates the government was still writing the modelling report even after they made the policy announcement.”

Updated

Michael Mazengarb from Renew Economy is on the ABC talking about the modelling.

“The government’s plan has outlined a few different sectors where they expect the emissions reductions to occur.

“They expect around 60% of those emission reductions to occur within the Australian economy itself. So this is through reduction in electricity emissions, cuts to waste transport emissions.

“There’s another 25% or so which the government is expecting to through international carbon offsets. So buying offsets from overseas.

“And there’s this remaining 15% gap which the government has basically just said we might be able to beat our assumptions in terms of emissions cuts in the electricity sector or new technologies might emerge that we haven’t expected.

“And that’s what they’re counting on to give them the last 15% and really we don’t know what that is. It’s just a bit of a guess, really.”

Updated

We’ve got a bit more info on Victoria’s new consent laws here for anyone who wants to read further:

WA police have called off the search in Lancelin for missing man Matthew Phillips, who is believed to have been attacked by a shark on the weekend.

Members of the public are asked to keep watch for any diving equipment that may be located in the water or washed ashore in Lancelin and any waters/beaches to the immediate north and south.

Of particular interest are any signs of the diving suit, diving bag, equipment and flippers seen in the attached photos of Phillips’s diving gear.

Any member of the public who finds such items is asked to record the exact time and location (GPS coordinates if possible), take a photo of the equipment in-situ, and contact police immediately on 131 444.

Matthew Phillips’ diving equipment.
Matthew Phillips’s diving equipment. Photograph: WA Police

Updated

Guardian Australia’s very own Amy Remeikisis about to appear on Afternoon Briefing with PK to analyse the government’s net zero modelling. I’ll bring you the best bits of that for those who can’t tune in.

Updated

Police in New South Wales argued against a proposed public health order that would have allowed vulnerable Aboriginal communities to choose to lockdown in the event of a coronavirus outbreak.

The ABC reports that the NSW chief health officer, Dr Kerry Chant, proposed the health order in March 2020 in response to a request from some remote Aboriginal communities to restrict access and travel to those communities to prevent the spread of Covid.

There are still flood warnings in place in South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria.

NSW is being hit hardest, with parts of the state copping almost 100mm of rain in the last 24 hours.

For those on the southeast of the country, you can expect a wet, cold and in parts wild weekend.

Updated

Tame said she felt heard and hopeful after the meeting:

“There are incredible achievements that we have already seen from state to state. I guess, what the aim is of the meeting like this ... is getting the states and territories to get together and identify which of the best existing models of legislation in this area and rising to that model and that standard.”

Australian of the year, Grace Tame, has addressed a meeting of attorneys general this afternoon, calling for sexual abuse legislation to be consistent across states and territories.

She is on ABC right now and says:

“Currently we have eight jurisdictions with eight different sets of legal definitions.

“These jurisdictional inconsistencies actually lend themselves to being exploited by perpetrators of sex crimes.”

Updated

Updated

I’m just going to interrupt the net zero analysis to bring you the sad news that yesterday one of Melbourne’s Collins Street falcons died.

It is survived by its siblings.

For those who can’t remember, here is our story on their birth last year:

Updated

WA police are investigating after a man allegedly offered a nurse administering Covid vaccines money in exchange for her saying he had received the dose.

This from the police:

“South Hedland Detectives have charged a 31-year-old man after an incident that occurred at a health campus in South Hedland.

“During the morning of Wednesday 10 November, the man attended an appointment at the health campus to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.

“Upon attending, he was escorted to a booth where he handed the nurse a note offering money in exchange for a fraudulent vaccination record.

“The nurse refused and the man left the health campus.

“The 31-year-old man from Port Hedland has been charged with one count of attempted fraud. He received bail and will appear before South Hedland Magistrates court on 22 November 2021.”

There’s also some bad news for Australia’s fossil fuel exports in the net zero modelling released by Angus Taylor.

It said: “The modelling projects a rebalancing in mining activity driven by shifts in international demand. Specifically, global demand shifts beyond Australian control are expected to reduce the value of coal production by around 50% to 2050, and slow the growth of gas, but mining overall grows by 5% in real terms to 2050, reflecting increased demand for critical minerals and other mining activities.

“This shift is projected to occur over several decades, with most impacts observed beyond 2030 as countries make progress towards their decarbonisation goals. Increases in other mining activity is projected to more than offset expected declines in coal and other traditional energy sources.”

Gas has a slightly longer shelf life than coal though: “The outlook for gas is more positive, with demand projected to grow until 2040, before turning lower. This is consistent with other analyses.”

Updated

The minister for energy and assumptions about future emissions reduction, Angus Taylor, has released the modelling underpinning the Morrison government’s claim it can reach net zero by 2050.

Taylor has said Australia’s gross national income will be 1.6% higher, and people would be nearly $2,000 better off on average in 2050 compared to a scenario where no action was taken.

The main sleight of hand is in this assumption: “All action is taken voluntarily by the private sector, even where there are marginal costs up to $25 [per tonne of carbon dioxide or equivalent]. In this case, the action taken is still interpreted as being entirely voluntary as the cost is consistent with, or lower than, the marginal cost of voluntary action widely observed today.”

So, basically, the government thinks businesses will pay up to $25 per tonne to reduce their emissions, voluntarily, even though we have no carbon price to incentivise them to do that.

This action is “supported by the government either through an emissions reduction fund-style incentive for abatement activities that are additional to business-as-usual, or by other enabling actions” including co-investment. Some might call that an implicit carbon price, but for the Coalition it’s just “direct action”.
And where does the $2,000 per person come from? The modelling says it is due to:

  • Higher global growth due to lower abatement costs
  • The creation of a new cost-competitive global hydrogen sector, worth more than $50 billion in 2050, lifting national income by about $1,000 per person
  • Avoiding the imposition of a capital risk premium on Australian investors and firms assumed in the ‘no Australian action’ scenario

There’s a pretty big caveat in all this, which is that the model “is not a precise prediction of how trends in technology or the Australian economy will unfold over the next three decades”.

It said: “In particular, the quantity of emissions reduction or offsets generated in the model should not be interpreted as requiring a specific reduction or output from that sector. Australia’s net-zero emissions by 2050 target is a whole-of-economy target. Australia does not have any sectoral emissions reduction targets.”

Coal mining is forecast to fall by 51% by 2050 under the government’s net zero plan ... unclear if this would happen anyway given how unviable it has become.

Updated

New analysis from CARE shows most climate finance for developing countries is not new money.

Across the 23 donor countries analysed, only 6% of climate finance in 2018 was in addition to aid targets, despite agreement that it should be “new and additional”.

As negotiations in Glasgow wound up, the Alliance of Small Island States said the draft COP26 outcome does not provide strong enough assurances of support to at-risk countries.

The aid agencies also condemned Australia’s failure to update emissions reduction targets for 2030. Based on our wealth and emissions, Oxfam and ActionAid have calculated that Australia’s fair share of climate finance should be $12 billion annually by 2030.

The aid agencies are calling on the Australian Government to step up and immediately increase climate finance to $3 billion over the next five years, in addition to the aid budget. The agencies also call for Australia to rejoin the UN’s Green Climate Fund, as supported by neighbouring countries in our region.

Morrison government releases net zero modelling

For those playing along at home the government has finally dropped the net zero modelling here.

I’ll see if we can get some expert analysis for you.

Updated

And that is it from Albanese.

We’ll have more on the government’s modelling when it drops this afternoon – as I am sure you are all keen to have a look.

Updated

Albanese is defending Labor’s policies on climate change. He says they will have more to announce.

“We have a policy for community batteries, for solar. We have a policy of new energy apprenticeships to make sure that Australians can benefit from that job creation.

“We have policies when it comes to climate across the board, but we have more to say, and we will have more to say during the election campaign. What we won’t do is promise things that we can’t deliver.

“We want to have an ambitious program but one that’s realistic, one whereby people know, when they vote for us, what they’ll get in their first term.”

Opposition leader Anthony Albanese.
Opposition leader Anthony Albanese. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Updated

Now we are going to Anthony Albanese in Melbourne.

He is attacking the PM for not legislating net zero by 2050.

“It should be legislated. This is a government that actually stand up and say, they’re trying to make legislation a pejorative word. I don’t know what they think goes on in parliament, but in most parliament’s they’re call legislatures because what they do is they debate laws and legislation.”

Updated

Morrison is now attacking Labor for not having a plan on climate change.

“They have no plan and no modelling in terms of how they say they’re getting to 2050. They say they want to put policies in place that tell you what to do, rather than allow you to make the choices.”

Each is attacking the other for not having a plan ... when neither has a clear plan. Welcome to pre-election time folks.

Updated

PM says government will release net zero modelling this afternoon

Morrison is asked if he needs a more ambitious plan on climate change ahead of the election, especially to keep voters in Victorian seats like Higgins or Kooyong on side.

He says the government will release the modelling behind its net zero 2050 plan at some point today.

“And today, as modelling will be released on our plan to get Australia to net zero by 2050, a plan that is about technology, not taxes, it’s about choices, not mandates.

“It’s about having a portfolio of technologies that we can have brought to scale and at the right cost to ensure that our economy can be on that path, that ensures that we have affordable, reliable power.”

Updated

Now we are on to net zero and the government’s modelling. Morrison says:

“But this is the point, when you make assumptions about achieving technology targets, now, you will be familiar with the technology targets we have set up with the low-emissions technology program.

“Hydrogen for $2 a kilo, for example, when you can get technologies at the right price so they can be commercialised and introduced at scale, then you know how that will impact on industrial processes and how these fuels are used in Australia.

“And that’s how you work that through your modelling of the economy, to understand its impacts on being able to lift up jobs.”

Updated

'Of course the French are upset': Morrison on Aukus fallout

Morrison is now talking about the Aukus agreement and our fallout with the French after dumping the $90bn submarines contract with France. Here are the main quotes:

“Of course the French are upset.

“I decided, and my government decided, that Australian needed better and that we needed nuclear-propelled submarines.

“I am prepared to make those decisions and if they are upset with me, I understand. But I’m not going to have Australia’s best interests intimidated by people who might be a bit upset with me over things like that.”

Updated

The PM said Labor want to “push” people into buying electric vehicles – even though there was no mandate in their policy.

“Labor wants to control what you do. They want to control your life, they want government more involved in your life. It is not how we will secure the economic recovery.”

Updated

Scott Morrison gives press conference in Melbourne

The prime minister is speaking in Melbourne.

Updated

MPs have a conscience vote and debate is expected to go all day, until 5 pm, so we’ll have more on that as it goes along.

Updated

We’ve also heard from NSW Labor MP Joe Haylen who co-sponsored the bill – she spoke in support.

“I can only speak for myself when I say that this is a choice I would like available to me if I was terminally ill.

“When it is my time to go, if I am suffering and unable to benefit from further care, I would want to say goodbye on my own terms, surrounded by my family with the same respect and dignity with which I try to live my life.”

Updated

NSW debates assisted dying laws

And we have an update from the NSW parliament where members are debating the legislation to legalise voluntary assisted dying.

The debate has started and it is already passionate. Premier Dominic Perrottet is opposed to the bill, which was introduced by independent Alex Greenwich.

Perrottet started the debate, saying his grandmother is currently dying from pancreatic cancer and although she is suffering, he does not think voluntary assisted dying is the answer.

He promised to fix the NSW palliative care system.

“Our society is judged by how it treats its most vulnerable. The sick, the frail, the elderly, the disabled.

“It sees them as a blessing, not as a burden. It stands in solidarity with those who suffer. And it accompanies the sick and the dying on their journey. Not offering death but care, comfort and compassion.”

NSW premier Dominic Perrottet opposes the voluntary assisted dying bill.
NSW premier Dominic Perrottet opposes the voluntary assisted dying bill. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAP

Updated

Australia hits 90% first dose Covid vaccine target

After a slow start, 90% of Australians aged 16 and over have now had their first dose of a Covid vaccine.

On Twitter the health minister Greg Hunt said: “Thank you to each and every Australian who has had their vaccination. You are protecting yourself, your loved ones, your community and helping Australia to reopen and stay safely open.”

A nurse administers a Pfizer vaccine at a drive-through vaccine hub in Sydney.
A nurse administers a Pfizer vaccine at a drive-through vaccine hub in Sydney. Photograph: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images

Updated

A massive funnel web spider with fangs so long they could bite through a human fingernail has been donated to a lifesaving antivenom program at the Australian Reptile Park.

The arachnid has been named Megaspider, and the park says she is roughly twice the size of a typical funnel web spider, more comparable to a tarantula.

Debate on a controversial piece of pokies legislation in Tasmania went late into the evening yesterday, with independent upper house MP Meg Webb spending 6.5 hours on her feet delivering what other MPs called a record speech against the bill.

The Gaming Control Amendment bill marks the end of a 50-year monopoly on gambling licences in Tasmania held by a company called Federal Group. The Liberal state government argues the legislation will deliver an additional $8.5m a year in state revenue for essential services and community needs.

But Webb and other critics of the bill say it is a missed opportunity for reform in a state where gaming interests have long held sway. They say the tax cuts embedded in the bill are robbing the state of millions of much-needed revenue, and that the gambling harm minimisation measures proposed are inadequate. Tasmanians as a whole lose an average of $15.5m every month to poker machines.

Webb was scathing in her speech of the Liberal and Labor parties, who she said had a “gut-wrenching fear … should this industry decide to turn against them at a future election”.

The bill will not go on to an upper house inquiry to be further interrogated, as its critics wanted.

Justifying her marathon contribution, Webb said in her concluding remarks that she wanted her concerns put on the public record so “there could never be an opportunity to say there wasn’t grounds for us to properly and thoroughly scrutinise this [bill] in a comprehensive way.”

Updated

Volkswagen's $125m emissions fine upheld by high court

German car manufacturer Volkswagen has lost its appeal bid in Australia’s highest court against a $125m fine for breaching diesel emissions standards, AAP reports.

The company admitted contravening Australian consumer law through false representations about its vehicles’ exhaust emissions between 2011 and 2015.

But Volkswagen sought special leave to appeal a 2019 federal court penalty on the grounds it outstripped a deal struck with Australia’s consumer watchdog, the ACCC, for a $75m fine plus $4m in legal costs.

The high court on Friday refused Volkswagen’s application for special leave to appeal.

Volkswagen lost a federal court appeal in April 2021 over the original fine for conduct characterised as an “egregious breach of Australian consumer law of the worst kind imaginable”.

The federal court was told Volkswagen evaded emission standards in Australia by installing a “two-mode software” causing different emissions to be released depending on how the vehicle was operated. One mode of operation reduced pollution while the other increased it.

“It suffices to note that the software was designed, created and in due course implemented for the purpose of evading and defeating emissions standards tests,” justice Lindsay Foster said when imposing the original penalty.

vW logo
Volkswagen has failed in its High Court bid to appeal a $125 million fine over diesel emissions. Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA

Updated

Perth Airport has become the first major airport in Australia to acknowledge the Traditional Owners of destinations across the country.

Boarding gates will now show both the commonly used name of the destination, along with the name of the Traditional Owners of that place.

The screens will rotate between the commonly used place name and the name of the Traditional Owners.

A flight to Adelaide will be displayed as Adelaide/Kaurna Country and flights to Newman will be Newman/Nyiyaparli Country.

Perth Airport CEO Kevin Brown said that acknowledging Traditional Custodians is an important part of the reconciliation process.

“Acknowledging Country demonstrates respect for Aboriginal traditional cultural practices and promotes greater appreciation and respect,” Brown said.

“This is a small but meaningful step in our efforts to create a better understanding and appreciation of Aboriginal culture and traditions.

Updated

This is coming out of Kew in Victoria. David Davis is a former health minister, lives in the electorate and is broadly popular with members there. He is known to be more progressive than Tim Smith.

Kew is a safe seat for the Liberals and Davis has been tipped as a potential future leader depending on the outcome of the next state election.

Updated

New Zealand has reported 201 cases of Covid-19 today, the second time the country has cracked 200 cases in the last week.

All of those cases were in the North Island, with the vast bulk (181) in Auckland, the city at the centre of the outbreak. There were 85 people in hospital with the virus, including eleven in intensive care. The total number of cases in the current outbreak has now passed the 5,000 mark, hitting 5,196 today.

According to the Ministry of Health, 90% of eligible New Zealanders (those aged 12 and up) have now had their first dose of the vaccine, and 80% are fully vaccinated.

There are ongoing concerns that Maori and Pacific New Zealanders will bear the brunt of the outbreak, due to lower vaccination rates and younger populations – 76% of eligible Maori have had at least one dose and 59% are fully vaccinated. Among Pacific New Zealanders, 87% have had one dose and 74% are fully vaccinated.

The ministry said in a release that those who tested positive should reach out if their condition deteriorated, following several deaths among people self-isolating in the community.

Updated

ACT records 15 new Covid cases

And the ACT has recorded 15 new locally acquired COVID-19 cases today but there are no cases in hospital.

And we’ve got some extra detail about today’s Covid numbers from Victoria.

The state recorded 1,115 new infections - that’s down from yesterday’s figures and nine people have died.

There are 426 people in hospital and 82 in intensive care.

On vaccinations, just over 86% of eligible people are fully vaccinated, and 92% have had their first dose.

Updated

Let’s get some more info on Queensland, where the state has recorded two new Covid cases.

There have been two locally acquired cases who are both known contacts of an existing outbreak, which is good news.

They are a child under 10 and a young woman in her teens.

Queensland health authorities are still concerned about the unlinked cases on the Gold Coast, announced yesterday. There were 2,000 tests on the Gold Coast in the last 24 hours.

Schoolies is meant to be next week.

Updated

In Melbourne, the final farewell prayer for Bert Newton is about to begin.

Many have commented on social media that Newton’s funeral has been playing on every free to air channel - showing just how big his impact was.

Queensland records two Covid cases

Queensland has recorded two new locally acquired cases of Covid, both of which are linked and in quarantine.

Updated

Lauren Newton also shared this anecdote of Bert as a grandfather:

“We had so many special times together, and I am so glad he got the chance to know my children. They loved Poppy so much, and his love for them was clear to see. He would spend hours playing games with them, his favourite game being hospitals and hotels.

“Mum and I wondered why he liked that game the best, then we realised it was because all he had to do was lie on the bed and rest.

“He was my kids’ most captive audience. He even got the job of introducing them on stage when they played, and I wondered if they knew how lucky they were. He even put his good voice on, like he was doing the Logies.

“I knew it was one of his favourite gigs ever.”

Updated

'Family always came first for dad': Bert Newtown's daughter Lauren's pays tribute

At Bert Newton’s funeral, Peter Smith also read out a moving eulogy written by Bert and Patti’s daughter, Lauren.

“I’m not sure where to begin, or if I could ever put into words how much I love my dad. From the love I felt as a child, to watching him with my own children, he made us feel so special and always brought laughter and fun to everything we did,” she said.

“I always felt lucky I had two dads: one on TV and one at home.

“Family always came first for dad, and he included us in everything he did. He and mum were a team and he wanted us to be involved in everything. He made me feel very special and I knew I could always count on him.

“When my car broke down on the freeway and had to be towed, dad raced to be by my side with a Diet Coke in hand for us both. That was him, he was always there when I needed him, he was always interested in everything I did.

“He was the greatest father I could’ve wished for.”

Lauren and Patti Newton at the state funeral for Bert Newton at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne today.
Lauren and Patti Newton at the state funeral for Bert Newton at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne today. Photograph: Sam Tabone/Getty Images

Updated

Some parts of Australia are experiencing the heaviest rainfall this year and there are several severe weather warnings in place across Vic, QLD and NSW.

We’ve been sent this amazing picture from North Star NSW.

A flooded road near the town of North Star, NSW. Australia. Rain, storm, flooding, Australia.
A flooded road near the town of North Star, NSW. Australia. Rain, storm, flooding, Australia. Photograph: Angela McMaster

And you can see how bad some rivers in NSW are already getting in the video below ...

In NSW 94.1% of people aged 16 and over have received a first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, and 90.6 % are fully vaccinated.

Updated

And we now have a detailed breakdown of today’s Covid numbers from NSW.

NSW recorded 286 new locally acquired cases in the 24 hours to 8pm last night. There have been two deaths.

The total number of cases in NSW since the beginning of the pandemic is now 77,762.

There are now 236 Covid patients being treated in hospital, with 34 people in intensive care, 15 of whom require ventilation.

Updated

The federal government has committed $1.1m toward establishing a national scheme to ensure the traceability of horses, which animal welfare groups hope will provide better data on the number of horses going to slaughter. But the working group established to figure out how the proposal would work has yet to report any meaningful progress.

The national scheme was recommended in 2019 after a Senate inquiry called by the Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi, off the back of a report on the ABC’s 7.30 program on racehorses going to slaughter and a report in Guardian Australia on horse auctions in Victoria.

The proposed scheme will ensure the traceability of all horses and ponies in Australia — not just racehorses — to ensure better animal welfare, better disease control, and potentially reduce safety issues.

The proposals being considered include mandatory microchipping and registration of horses, currently optional outside of the thoroughbred industry.

Agriculture minister David Littleproud said horse welfare was “part of the rural social fabric on which Australian agriculture’s continued productivity relies”:

Reliable national horse identification and traceability supports good biosecurity, exports, food safety and animal welfare outcomes.

The Australian government is prepared to do its part, to support the horse industry and state and territory regulators, to kick-start practical traceability arrangements that benefit the horse industry and community.

Establishing appropriate national arrangements will also help to bolster trading partners’ confidence in our arrangements, including animal welfare attributes — and in turn assist access for horse product exports to markets.

Horse traceability will safeguard our rural and regional industries and communities and the enviable horse health status on which they rely.

The funding will go toward implementing the yet-to-be-released recommendations of a working group established by state and federal agriculture ministers, led by Victoria. That group has yet to make any reportable progress. It is yet to use the $50,000 in funding it received from Littleproud in March.

Faruqi said the funding was welcome but “means little without a clear implementation plan from the working group, which was established over a year ago and appears to have made little progress”:

We need movement from the working group and a clear commitment to getting this register off the ground as a matter of urgency.

Updated

The eulogy was read by family friend Peter Smith. And Matthew Newton has paid tribute to his father from New York:

I am very sorry that due to the pandemic I can’t be with you. Growing up, I never really watched Bambi or Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. I didn’t want to – what fascinated me were the movies that created the black and white glow from my dad’s office.

A lot has been said about my dad’s sharp wit, but my two favourite lines weren’t said on TV, or even in front of an audience. Once was in a doctor’s office and there were only two people in the room – one was a doctor, the other was an 11-year-old me.

Updated

Good morning and a very big thanks to Matilda Boseley – who has, as always, left some impossibly big blog shoes to fill this morning.

Let’s go back to Melbourne, where we are saying goodbye to entertainment legend Bert Newton. Those at the state funeral are now listening to a scripture reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Philippians.

Daniel Andrews was the first to address mourners earlier and you can watch a bit of his tribute below:

Updated

With that I shall pass you over to the wonderful Cait Kelly, to take you through the rest of the day’s news.

Federal MP Bob Katter has slammed proposed federal voter ID laws, labelling them “blatantly racist” against Indigenous people.

Updated

Perth airport will become the first in the country to acknowledge the Indigenous names of Australian destinations on boarding gate signs.

The West Australian newspaper reports that boarding gates at the airport’s domestic terminals will rotate between the commonly used place name and the name used by the traditional custodians.

For example, a flight to Adelaide will now read as both Adelaide and Kaurna country.

This will be rolled out across terminal 1, terminal 3 and terminal 4.

Updated

Today’s is Victorian Labor powerbroker Adem Somyurek’s last day of hearings in the branch stacking inquest by the state’s Independent Broad‑based Anti‑corruption Commission.

Nino Bucci is providing updates for us:

Updated

Victoria to adopt 'affirmative consent' model in sexual assault law reform

The Victorian government has just announced that as part of a suite of changes to sexual assault laws, the state will now adopt an “affirmative consent” model, and amend the wording of legislation to make explicitly clear that stealthing (that act of removing a condom during sex without the other person’s consent) is a crime.

This comes just a day after affirmative consent laws passed the lower house of the NSW parliament.

Updated

Critics of Victoria’s proposed new pandemic powers legislation say it is the “most extreme of its kind” and will give the premier and health minister too much control, while the legislation has become the focus of anti-lockdown and anti-vaccination protesters in Melbourne since restrictions eased.

Daniel Andrews cancelled a press conference in Bendigo this week due to security concerns related to a small group of protesters targeting the Victorian premier over the bill.

The legislation passed the legislative assembly last month, and is due to be debated and potentially passed in the legislative council next week.

Key upper house MPs such as the Reason party’s Fiona Patten, Greens leader Samantha Ratnam and Animal Justice party’s Andy Meddick have faced abuse and death threats in attempts to persuade them to vote against the bill.

So what will the new pandemic legislation actually do?

To find out all the details, check out the explainer below:

Updated

Not 100% sure about the choice of photo for this tweet.

Dan Andrews:

Ladies and gentlemen, everyone knows, when we think and speak of Bert Newton, we are really reflecting on a duo. A double act. Bert’s partnership with Patti was everything. Both formidable talents, both deeply in love.

Theirs is a story for the ages. Christmas 1974, Bert flies from Melbourne to LA and eventually on to New York to board a cruise ship unannounced and unprepared. He is travelling with the hope that the woman he loves but hasn’t seen for quite some time will accept his proposal of marriage. And during a rainstorm in the Caribbean on Australia Day 1974, she did. Bert and Patti were partners in every way. Husband and wife, parents and grandparents, best friends, entertainers performers and soulmates ...

He found a love that lasted nearly five decades, and he led a life that was full. He entertained his audience because he respected his audience. He never forgot where he came from and he lived his values. Compassion and kindness, generosity and empathy. Always working to lift those around him to new heights. Always so giving and so generous, never for a claim or fuss or fanfare.

On the half of all Victorians I offer sincere condolences to Patti and the family. We are all richer for his life and poorer for his passing.

Updated

Dan Andrews:

He was a pioneer, an icon, a legend. But Bert’s stories much more. A shy working class kid from no apologies and no prisoners North Fitzroy who loved trams and going to the pictures.

His life however changed in June of 1950 when the seventh Brunswick Boy Scouts took him to see his very first live radio broadcast of a show called Peter’s Pals. When Bert walked into the 3XY Spring Street Studios he was just trying to get his scouts badge but by the time he left he found his calling.

Not his love, we will talk about that in a moment, but his calling.

Updated

Victorian premier Daniel Andrews is speaking now at Bert Newton’s state funeral at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne:

My grandfather, a devout Catholic, and a train driver absolutely loved Bert Newton. I’m certain it was his Catholicism that sealed the deal. He would often speak to me about the gift of faith. Bert Newton had that gift. And I can’t but help think that he’d be so honoured to be farewelled with a full mass here at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral ...

Bert Newton was a great entertainer and life itself was his stage. He was always there, omnipresent on our screens and in our hearts.

To Australia, Bert wasn’t just a man on a screen or an actor on a stage. He was someone we all felt we knew. Like a fireplace on a cold night, families gather around their TV sets drawn in by his warmth and his inviting ease. He was more than talent, he was trust.

His story is the story of Australian television and, while he was first beamed into our homes in black and white, Bert was colour TV long before technology arrived.

Updated

Mourners have arrived at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne for the state funeral of Australian TV legend Bert Newton.

Dan Andrews gets out of his car.
Dan Andrews gets out of his car Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP
Molly Meldrum is among the mourners
Molly Meldrum is among the mourners. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP
Rebecca Harding and Andy Lee attend the ceremony.
Rebecca Harding and Andy Lee attend the ceremony. Photograph: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images
Anthony Albanese arrives
Anthony Albanese arrives. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP

Updated

Scott Morrison has just arrived at the state funeral of Bert Newton.

Updated

Surging energy costs and export restrictions from usual overseas suppliers are leading to record high fertiliser prices in Australia, with analysts predicting farmers could be forced to ration its use, potentially disrupting global food supply.

Modelling from Thomas Elder Markets shows the price of fertiliser in Australia is at a record $1,320 a tonne for purchase, freight and discharge.

Agricultural market analyst Andrew Whitelaw says fertiliser prices had been rising since the start of the year but have skyrocketed since August.

He said as a result “we’ll see more rationing, as farmers will use less fertiliser because it’s too expensive” which could disrupt the global food supply chains.

You can read the full report below:

Updated

Looks like we will be hearing from the Queensland premier at 10am Brisbane time, 11am Sydney and Melbourne time.

Yesterday she warned that if there continued to be mystery cases discovered in the Gold Coast further restrictions may need to be brought in, so likely this one will be worth keeping an eye on.

Ummmmmm ...

Updated

A national effort to save the Murray-Darling by returning 2,750 gigalitres of water to the system is under way, but climate change could see roughly the same amount evaporate.

The extra water is needed to save ecosystems in the southern basin.

Top CSIRO scientist Francis Chiew says while it is a better scenario than not delivering the water at all, global heating means it is effectively giving with one hand and taking away with the other.

A reduction in flows means “Armageddon” in South Australia, Conservation council of South Australia chief executive Craig Wilkins warns, threatening wildlife and agriculture that depend on the water.

You can read the report below:

Updated

Just under 93% of Victorians aged 12 and over have received at least one vaccine dose and 86% both, reports AAP.

Almost all restrictions are set to be scrapped for the fully vaccinated when the state reaches 90% double-dosed, forecast to occur by 24 November.

Yesterday the state’s chief health officer warned that several vaccination deadlines are approaching.

The controversial mandate, which sparked violent protests across Melbourne in September, requires all tradies to have had two vaccine doses by tomorrow to continue working on Victorian construction sites.

The deadline for residential aged care workers is also fast approaching, as they must be fully vaccinated by Monday to continue working.

About 1 million of Victoria’s essential workers will be required to be double jabbed by 26 November.

Updated

OK taking you back for some more highlights from that 3AW interview.

Neil Mitchell:

You’ve got a former prime minister of Australia, the French president, both calling you a liar, and it doesn’t worry you? Even politically?

Scott Morrison:

No, because I’m making the right decisions, Neil. I’m making decisions to protect Australia’s national defence interests, to ensure that we got rid of, and didn’t proceed with, a contract that wasn’t going to do the right thing for Australia ...

I was prepared to make the decisions that I had no doubt was going to draw some flak, and people would disagree with it. And if you don’t have the strength to do that, if you don’t have the strength to deal with the sledges and other things that come your way, well, you shouldn’t be in this job.

And I have certainly got a pretty good track record of being able to cop what comes, and be able to keep focused on the job and get things done and stand up for things right.

Mitchell:

Do you want Malcolm Turnbull out of the Liberal party?

Morrison:

That’s not a judgment for me, it’s a matter for the Liberal party.

I don’t see the need for that. I mean, if others do, that’s fine, but it’s just not something I think about.

Updated

Australia passes 90% first dose vaccination milestone

Scott Morrison has revealed that Australia has passed the 90% first dose vaccination rate for those aged 16 and over.

In a wide-ranging interview with 3AW, Morrison took credit for Australia’s low fatality rate and high vaccination rate during the Covid-19 pandemic but also claimed that into the future the Liberal-National government will seek less “control” over citizens’ lives.

Morrison brushed off Malcolm Turnbull’s suggestion that he is a serial liar:

It’s important not to have a thin skin, not to get bitter, and to stay focused on the job ... If you haven’t got the thick skin to deal with that, you’re in the wrong job. I don’t tend to take things personally.

Morrison said he didn’t believe he had ever told a lie in public life:

He rounded out the interview with the same lie he told yesterday , that Labor wants to put up the price of petrol (or its policy would indirectly have that effect – it’s not clear, because he hasn’t explained the basis for this claim).

Morrison made his pitch for re-election, noting that it’s “true” he is the underdog for now but the Coalition will focus on “securing the economic recovery” and “shifting from the pandemic mindset of the government telling everyone what to do” to government “supporting” individuals and businesses.

Updated

Victoria records 1,115 local Covid-19 cases and nine deaths

NSW records 286 local Covid-19 cases and two deaths

Morrison says he has never told a lie in public life

Here is probably the most interesting exchange from that Scott Morrison 3AW radio interview.

Host Neil Mitchell:

Prime minister Scott Morrison, have you ever told a lie in public life?

Morrison:

I don’t believe I have, no. No.

Updated

Lord help us, I’ve just been told Labor leader Anthony Albanese was speaking with ABC radio Melbourne at the same time as Scott Morrison was on 3AW. Give me a moment, I’ll get you all the highlights from both!

Updated

Between all the grandstanding from Neil Mitchell about the Victorian emergency management legislation, I missed that the prime minister just confirmed that Australia has now passed the 90% first dose vaccination milestone!

Updated

PM refuses to condem controversial Victorian pandemic legislation

Scott Morrison is chatting to Melbourne radio station 3aw at the moment and has been asked about the state government’s new emergency management legislation.

But despite constant prompts from host Neil Mitchell encouraging him to condemn the state government’s approach, the prime minister is staying well out of the fray:

This is a matter for the Victorian parliament and the Victorian government. And you know, that’s the thing about the federation. We’re all responsible for the things we’re responsible for, and we’re accountable for them ...

Mitchell:

Do you agree it is this legislation is deeply scary and undemocratic?

Morrison:

Well, as I said, I mean, we’re going the opposite direction. Now. No, but what I just like to bring up so this is something for the Victorian people to determine and to the Victorian government determine what I’m saying is Australians have had about government’s telling them what to do ...

Mitchell:

But as prime minister, you are able to have a view on it, [others in government have said] it’s scary and undemocratic. Do you share those concerns?

Morrison:

Well, look, I’m always respectful of the federation, and I am respectful. I don’t give lectures to through this pandemic. I respect the federation.

I work with all the premiers and chief ministers but the key message about this is it’s your call your responsibility and don’t expect the federal government to go and argue your case when it’s not a policy that we have.

Updated

The issue of whether the contraceptive pill – the first choice of birth control among Australian women using contraception – should be made available over the counter has divided the medical community.

Other countries have already made access to the pill easier. In New Zealand, some oral contraceptives have been sold over the counter after a consultation with a pharmacist since 2017. The pill is also available over the counter in China, Greece, India, Turkey and other countries.

But the Australian drug regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration, made an interim decision in October not to approve over-the-counter access to the pill. A final decision will come before Christmas; final submissions on the topic closed on 1 November. The last time the TGA considered the issue, in 2015, it also rejected making the pill accessible over the counter.

You can read the full report below:

Updated

Watch out, ACT! A severe thunderstorm warning has just been issued for you, with heavy rains and damaging winds expected.

Updated

Extremely important update:

Accused drug smuggler Mostafa Baluch is due to appear before NSW court today after he was recaptured, extradited from the Gold Coast and slapped with an additional outstanding arrest warrant charge.

It’s alleged that Baluch is the financier behind a 900kg shipment of cocaine into Australia, and was on the run for nearly two weeks after allegedly cutting off his ankle monitor.

He was found this week hiding in a container on the back of a truck that had just crossed the NSW-Queensland border. After a night in the Southport watch house, Baluch’s extradition hearing was held on Thursday.

Unvaccinated for Covid, Baluch remained in isolation and unable to appear in court so listened to the proceedings by phone. His lawyer, Nicholas Andrews, consented to the extradition application without objection.

You can get up to date on the whole situation below:

Updated

Federal finance minister Simon Birmingham has responded to protesters piling dung outside his electoral office, encouraging gardeners in the area to come pick up some “spring fertiliser” so the poo doesn’t go to waste.

Updated

Sixteen people have died while in Australia on the government’s troubled seasonal workers program since the beginning of the pandemic.

The figures have come to light as the scheme faces widespread accusations of exploitation and “inhumane conditions”, as well as a potential class action.

The spike in fatalities has also raised concerns that the Pacific Islanders coming to Australia under the program are not being given adequate safety training.

The 16 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic were in contrast to zero recorded between 2018 and 2019 and three between 2017 and 2018.

You can read the full report below:

Protesters dump pile of dung outside finance minister's office

Extinction Rebellion protesters have marked the last day of Cop26 by dumping a large pile of dung outside the office of federal finance minister Simon Birmingham, declaring that the UN climate summit was a “shit show”.

Here’s what a spokesperson for the group said in their accompanying media statement:

Extinction Rebellion’s message is simple: the Cop26 climate summit was bullshit, and Australia’s contribution stunk most of all.

Not only did the Morrison Government take a weak, non-binding ‘plan’ with no new policies or mandates, it also refused to sign global pledges aimed at limiting methane emissions and phasing out fossil fuel production.

Instead, the Government continued to spruik coal and gas, with the major carbon polluter Santos taking centre stage at Australia’s pavilion in Glasgow.

Updated

Cop26 draws to a close

Today also marks the last official day of Cop26, but UN chief António Guterres says the emission reduction commitments from countries so far are “not enough” and he has urged the global community the “pick up the pace”:

The announcements here in Glasgow are encouraging – but they are far from enough ... Promises ring hollow when the fossil fuels industry still receives trillions in subsidies.

Cop26 president Alok Sharma warned that time was running short to clinch a deal before the meeting’s scheduled end on Friday evening, reports AFP:

We still have a monumental challenge ahead of us. Quite a lot has been achieved. But we are still some way away from finalising those very critical issues that are still outstanding.

He welcomed a joint China-US pact to accelerate climate action this decade, which experts said should allay fears that tensions visible early in the summit might derail the talks.

Updated

Bert Newton to be farewelled in state funeral

In Melbourne today hundreds of family members and friends of Bert Newton will gather today to farewell the Australian TV legend at a live broadcast state funeral.

Newton died at the end of October, aged 83, at a private Melbourne clinic.

Today’s ceremony will be held at St Patrick’s Cathedral in East Melbourne from 10am. It is not open to the public, due to Covid-19 restrictions, but the service will be streamed online, with TV networks Nine, Ten and Seven also broadcasting.

Updated

NSW assisted dying laws to be debated today

A bill that would give terminally ill people in NSW access to voluntary assisted dying is due to be debated in NSW parliament today, reports AAP.

NSW is the only state that is yet to pass voluntary assisted dying laws.

A “respectful” debate on the voluntary assisted dying bill 2021 will take place in the lower house according to its proponent, independent Sydney MP Alex Greenwich:

Following a year of consultation and many months after the public release of the legislation, I’m pleased that debate can finally begin on Friday on this compassionate and conservative bill.

Greenwich’s bill has a record 28 co-sponsors from across the political spectrum.

Both Labor and the Coalition have indicated they will allow a conscience vote on the issue. But premier Dominic Perrottet and Labor opposition leader Chris Minns have said they’ll vote against it.

The SMH reports Perrottet will take the unorthodox step of being the first government speaker to respond to the bill.

Greenwich introduced the bill on 12 October but debate won’t finish before 2022, after the government and Labor agreed to refer it to an upper house inquiry.

The inquiry will hold hearings throughout December, with a report due back on next year’s first sitting day.

Greenwich has accused his parliamentary colleagues of stalling. But he said the debate would begin before lunchtime today “assuming no further procedural games”.

Updated

Good morning

Good morning all and welcome to Friday. It’s Matilda Boseley bringing you all the news updates you need as we count down to the weekend.

Of course, the big news today is the vicious rain and winds causing flooding across the east coast, with some areas of NSW receiving more than a month’s worth of rain in a matter of days.

Colder temperatures, showers and gusty west to north-westerly winds are expected around the state today, and the Bureau of Meteorology has warned sheep graziers that the weather may be so bad that their animals might not survive the day.

Victoria’s emergency services have also warned that heavy rain may lead to flash flooding in parts of Gippsland.

The heavy rain trapped an empty school bus and three 4WDs between two fast-rising creeks near Narrabri on Wednesday afternoon. In Bingara, the SES were forced to ferry stranded holidaymakers out of a flooded caravan park.

It seems there could be more scenes like this today, with flood warnings in place for the Lachlan River at Nanami, and for the Gwydir and Mehi rivers at Gravesend, Pallamallawa, Yarraman Bridge and Moree.

Updated

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