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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Caitlin Cassidy and Royce Kurmelovs (earlier)

Singer Judith Durham dies; Penny Wong calls for restraint on China’s exercises; 89 Covid deaths – as it happened

Australia Flood China United States Dominic Perrottet Richard Marles
Judith Durham performing during The Seekers’ golden jubilee tour in 2013
Singer Judith Durham, best known as the voice of The Seekers, has died at 79. Photograph: Alan Porritt/AAP

What we learned today, Saturday 6 August

With that, we will wrap up the blog for the evening. We’ll be back first thing tomorrow, stay safe, enjoy your evening, and make sure you pump The Seekers extra loud tonight.

Here were today’s major developments:

Updated

Here’s Judith Durham in 1968 at the Lodge, with the then prime minister John Gorton.

Updated

‘Icon of our music’: arts minister Tony Burke pays tribute to Judith Durham

Australia’s minister for the arts, Tony Burke, has posted a tribute to Judith Durham on social media following the news of her death, describing her as an “icon of our music”.

Once, the best known Australian voice was Judith Durham’s ... What a contribution. What a loss.

Updated

Australian singer Judith Durham of The Seekers dies at 79

The Australian singing great Judith Durham has died aged 79.

Durham was best known as the voice of The Seekers, who she performed with from 1963 until 1968.

The band rocketed to worldwide success and had a number of international hits, including I’ll Never Find Another You, The Carnival is Over, A World of Our Own and Georgy Girl. They’ve sold more than 50m records worldwide.

In 1995, Durham received the Medal of the Order Of Australia (OAM) for services to music, particularly as an entertainer and composer. In 2003, she was awarded the Centenary Medal by the governor general for service to Australian society through music.

Updated

Authorities concerned about low uptake of Covid vaccine third dose

State and federal authorities are concerned the number of Australians getting their third dose of Covid-19 vaccine is flatlining, AAP reports.

To date, 71.4% of eligible Australians, or just over 14.1 million people, have received a third dose. But there are more than 5.6 million yet to get their booster.

Queensland is the worst-performing state, with 64.5% of eligible residents boosted, while the ACT has the best coverage (79.9%). The booster rate is 55% for Indigenous Australians nationally.

New third doses are barely rising each day, ranging from NSW recording 2,075 on Friday and the Northern Territory 45.

Information campaigns are being rolled out but there is a persistent problem with the slow rate of uptake by under-65s. The federal opposition health spokeswoman, Anne Ruston, says the government’s response to the Omicron wave is “worrying”. She told AAP:

They have ended a range of supports that have helped Australians through the pandemic and have been forced to backflip on the pandemic leave disaster payment.

With no explanation and no apparent advice or modelling to support their decisions, 70 Covid-related telehealth items, free RATs for concession card holders and aged care homes, and Operation Covid Shield have all ended.

Updated

Chinese embassy responds to Penny Wong call for restraint in Taiwan Strait

A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy has responded to comments made by the foreign minister, Penny Wong, regarding the situation across the Taiwan Strait.

Yesterday, Wong issued a statement expressing concern about the launch of ballistic missiles by China into waters around Taiwan’s coastline, urging restraint and de-escalation.

The spokesperson said the tensions were “fundamentally caused” by the US House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan.

This is a major incident that seeks to upgrade the substantive exchanges between the United States and Taiwan. It causes serious harm to the one-China principle and to China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity ... if the US continues down the wrong path, then all consequences arising therefrom shall be borne by the US.

The one-China principle is the important precondition and political foundation for the establishment and development of diplomatic relations between China and Australia ... Australia’s commitment to one China principle is clear in both concept and content. We hope the Australian side could get a clear understanding of the cause and nature of the current crisis, show its respect to the facts and abide by its solemn commitment to the one China principle in both word and deed.

Updated

Victoria’s elective surgery waiting list could face a long road back

Returning to the hospital data in Victoria, by estimates it will take almost six years to return to the rate the state was at at the same time last year unless elective surgery rates are significantly ramped up.

As noted, some hospitals delayed or cancelled surgeries this quarter due to the current Covid wave and flu rates placing pressure on staff.

Updated

Man found after three days in north Queensland bush

In Queensland, a 60-year-old man missing in rugged bushland for almost three days has been found. The Aurukun community banded together in a massive community effort to find the man.

Search and rescue operations began on Wednesday after his family raised the alarm. Yesterday, more than 40 volunteers, public, council staff, business owners, family and friends were out scouting.

Aurukun officer in charge, Senior Sergeant Amit Singh, said it was a coordinated effort through “some very tough and rugged terrain”.

All I did was ask from help and everyone just jumped in. The local council knocked their staff off early on Friday to help, even the teachers finished early and jumped in again today on their days off.

The man was found in swamp area near the airport just after 11am.

Singh said he was exhausted but stable and transported to hospital for further treatment.

This is the worst thing that can happen in the unit, so I’m relieved it was a good outcome.

Updated

NSW Labor accuses Coalition of burying flood response report

New South Wales Labor has accused the state government of attempting to bury an independent report recommending the shutdown of Resilience NSW.

The report, led by former police commissioner Mick Fuller and chief scientist Mary O’Kane was handed to premier Dominic Perrottet three days ago.

Details have since been leaked to the media including a recommendation for the introduction of a scheme to buyback properties of those who own homes in flood-affected areas and the dismantling of Resilience NSW.

These would form part of a $3bn flood response following the deadly Northern Rivers floods in which 13 people died and over 4,000 homes were lost.

This delay has prompted accusations from Labor leader Chris Minns that the report is “being buried by the NSW government”.

Firstly, there are many public servants that work in that agency that deserve to know what the future of that agency is.

Secondly, we can expect more natural disasters in the coming months. There’s a worrying report from the Bureau of Meteorology about flooding in the back half of 2022 [and] we’re of course concerned about bushfire seasons.

Resilience NSW was created following the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires to coordinate disaster and emergency recovery efforts but has faced criticism in the wake of the 2022 flooding in the state’s north.

– With AAP

Updated

Number of NSW Aboriginal deaths in custody in 2021 double the previous high

The number of Aboriginal Australians who died in custody or as a result of a police operation in New South Wales in 2021 doubled the previous high set 25 years ago, prompting furious calls for reform to the state’s justice system.

Amid rising incarceration rates and a series of legislative changes making it harder for alleged offenders to be released on bail, data provided by the state’s coroner’s court revealed 16 Aboriginal people died while caught up with the justice system last year.

The previous record – eight – was set in 1997.

The revelation prompted an angry response from the Aboriginal Legal Service, as well as the families of the deceased.

For more on this exclusive story from the Guardian, read the full report here.

Updated

Police seize 700kg of cocaine worth $280m on ship at Port Botany

Police are asking the public for help to bust a criminal syndicate behind the importation via cargo ship of 700kg of cocaine with an estimated street value of $280m, AAP reports.

Australian Border Force (ABF) officers found the drugs on 22 July while inspecting containers on the vessel Maersk Inverness at Port Botany in Sydney.

Australian federal police (AFP) officers seized 28 denim bags, each holding about 25kg of cocaine in brick form, the AFP and ABF said in a statement on Saturday.

Forensic examination identified different emblems on the bricks, including the numerals 5 and 365 and the word Netflix, the agencies said.

AFP Detective Inspector Luke Wilson said the ship, which had been allowed to continue its journey, had stopped at ports in Central America and South America before making its way to Australia.

Wilson said the interception of the drugs would be a significant blow to what was likely a well-resourced criminal syndicate.

We are still investigating where the drugs were loaded and who was planning to collect them in Australia.

The AFP estimates this seizure has saved the community more than $451m in drug-related harm.

Updated

NSW premier Dominic Perrottet calls for party unity ahead of election

The New South Wales premier, Dominic Perrottet, has promised to deliver a grand “vision” for the state as he attempts to rebuild his fractured party ahead of next year’s election.

Speaking to Liberal delegates at the state council in western Sydney on Saturday, Perrottet said the party was built around the values “freedom, family and faith”.

It is up to us, the party of all, to unite around those Liberal values.

The call for unity comes after a year beset by scandal and crises.

Dominic Perrottet speaks at the Liberal party state council at Rosehill Gardens in Sydney
Dominic Perrottet speaks at the Liberal party state council at Rosehill Gardens in Sydney. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAP

Perrottet promised the state party would decide which candidates would run and there would be more women and culturally diverse candidates.

He also attacked union groups pushing for better pay and working conditions for nurses, teachers and rail workers.

We’re reforming our education system that is built around our children and not around the demands of union bosses.

We need less ideology in schools and more reading, writing and arithmetic.

Perrottet finished his address with a pitch to voters, saying his party offered stability at a critical moment.

NSW faces a choice; our party of progress and Labor’s party of protest.

– With AAP

Updated

Newcastle man charged with drink driving on mobility scooter

A 65-year-old man has been charged with “high-range drink driving” after police stopped him while allegedly driving an e-mobility scooter erratically on the road.

Authorities say police stopped the man after reports from members of the public over safety concerns.

The man was taken to Newcastle police station where he was subject to a breath analysis which allegedly returned a reading of 0.154.

He is expected to appear in court on 11 August 2022 and has had his licence suspended.

Updated

National Covid summary: 89 deaths reported

Here are the latest coronavirus numbers from around Australia on Saturday, as the country records at least 89 deaths from Covid-19:

ACT

  • Deaths: 1
  • Cases: 579
  • In hospital: 135 (with 2 people in ICU)

NSW

  • Deaths: 30
  • Cases: 11,998
  • In hospital: 2,187 (with 57 people in ICU)

Northern Territory

  • Deaths: 0
  • Cases: 231
  • In hospital: 703 (with 1 people in ICU)

Queensland

  • Deaths: 18
  • Cases: 4,174
  • In hospital: 703 (with 26 people in ICU)

South Australia

  • Deaths: 13
  • Cases: 1,959
  • In hospital: 311 (with 10 people in ICU)

Tasmania

  • Deaths: 1
  • Cases: 651
  • In hospital: 23 (with 5 people in ICU)

Victoria

  • Deaths: 24
  • Cases: 6,261
  • In hospital: 668 (with 36 people in ICU)

Western Australia

  • Deaths: 2
  • Cases: 2,911
  • In hospital: 346 (with 14 people in ICU)

Updated

From Adelaide to Ukraine: what drove one Australian to join someone else’s war?

Matt Roe was devastated when he discovered a medical condition would prevent him joining the Australian military.

“It took me years to get over it … if I ever did,” the South Australian landscaper says.

“It’s all I ever wanted to do.”

But now Roe, 36, has found a different – though potentially illegal – way to become involved in a military campaign, by leaving Australia to join the Georgian National Legion, a unit formed to support Ukraine’s struggle against the Russian invasion.

Roe is not Georgian, or Ukrainian.

He grew up in the north-east of Adelaide, and says that in a lot of ways, he “was living the dream”, earning good money as the owner of a small gardening and landscaping business.

But when the war began, the footage and reports coming from Ukraine kept Roe awake at night.

“It was really eating me up inside just sitting back at home, you know … drinking beers and plodding along enjoying my three-day weekends, whilst people over [there] were suffering.”

For more on how Roe is risking his life and prosecution to serve on the frontline in Ukraine, see the full story by Noah Nicholls.

Updated

Northern Territory records no new Covid deaths

No one with Covid-19 has died in Northern Territory overnight, with the state recording 231 new cases on Saturday morning, 43 people in hospital, and one in ICU.

Updated

South Australia records 13 Covid deaths

South Australia Health has released today’s Covid update.

There have been 1,959 new Covid cases recorded and 13 further deaths.

There are 311 people being treated in hospital with the virus including 10 in ICU.

Updated

Readings staff and supporters protest outside Carlton store over pay dispute

The Retail and Fast Food Workers Union (RAFFWU) secretary, Josh Cullinan, says more than 50 members and supporters protested outside Readings bookshop in Carlton today following the breakdown in negotiations over an enterprise bargaining agreement.

This morning was the first public action taken by members in their bargaining campaign.

Cullinan says:

RAFFWU members have fought a long campaign – starting five years ago – for a fair agreement.

After many meetings in 2022, we believed a satisfactory agreement had been achieved. However, after the Fair Work Commission wage increase of 4.6% in July the company has reneged on its promise to pay that increase as part of the new agreement.

This was the last straw for members who had made many compromises in trying to secure a satisfactory agreement. The refusal would effectively freeze wages for 2 years.

Cullinan says following a meeting with management on Friday afternoon, no further offer or proposal was made by Readings.

We expect a major rally will be organised in the coming weeks along with the commencement of protected industrial action.

Readings has not commented publicly on the action.

Updated

Woman trips in run-in with koala on Gold Coast

A woman on the Gold Coast has had a run-in with the feared drop bear, a vicious Australian creature that has been the bane of tourists for decades.

Updated

Coalition used private contractors to collect intelligence on Nauru asylum seekers

The Australian government used private security contractors to collect intelligence on asylum seekers on Nauru, singling out those who were speaking to journalists, lawyers and refugee advocates, internal documents from 2016 reveal.

Intelligence officers working for Wilson Security compiled fortnightly reports about asylum seekers “of interest”, including individuals flagged as having “links with [Australian] media”, “contact with lawyers in Australia” or “contacts with Australian advocates”.

The reports, seen by the Guardian, were circulated among a group of senior government officials, including superintendents and commanders in the Australian Border Force, officials in Australia’s immigration department, members of the Nauru police, the Australian federal police and other private contractors operating on the island.

The reports were compiled in a year of intense protest against offshore detention, and were designed to brief the government about the activities of individual asylum seekers, including children, who were viewed as a threat to the regional processing centre.

They identified influential community members, protest organisers and anyone spreading “negative propaganda” about offshore detention or having a “negative influence” in the centre. Wilson also kept tabs on asylum seekers who were considered “pro-security” and may have the ability to influence others in the detention centre.

Read the full story here.

Updated

John Tingle, Shooters party founder and former broadcaster, dies at 90

John Tingle, the founder and vice-chairman of the New South Wales Shooters party, has died aged 90.

A former ABC journalist and broadcaster, Tingle moved into commercial radio in 1969 including forays into talkback radio.

Tingle also presented television programs on Seven, Nine, ABC, SBS and Win throughout his career.

In 1992 Tingle founded the Shooters party in response to regulation over gun ownership. He was elected to the NSW Legislative Council in 1995 and served until 2006.

He is survived by three children, including his journalist daughter Laura Tingle, the chief political correspondent on ABC’s 7.30 program.

Updated

Mystery man found in North Sea spent most of his life in Australia, scientists reveal

Scientists in Perth may have helped make a breakthrough in the decades-old German mystery surrounding a man’s body found floating in the North Sea after tests suggest he spent most of his life in Australia.

The man, dubbed “The Gentleman” by investigators in 1994 after his body was found by police off the coast of Heligoland, a German archipelago, was weighed down by cast iron cobbler’s feet.

He earned The Gentleman nickname due to his smart clothing: a wool tie, British-made shoes, French-made trousers and a long-sleeve blue dress shirt.

A supplied image of the unknown man dubbed ‘The Gentleman’ found off the German coast in the 1990s
The unknown man dubbed ‘The Gentleman’ by German police spent most of his life in Australia, scientists say. Photograph: Murdoch University/AAP

The case has baffled German police for 28 years, but criminologists and forensic scientists from Murdoch University may have helped to unravel the mystery after they ran new tests.

They found the man spent most of his life in Australia. Investigators in the 1990s determined he was 45 to 50 years old.

Scientists made the discovery by following the principle of “you are what you eat”, performing an isotope ratio analysis of The Gentleman’s bones.

Differences in climate, soil and human activity across the globe change the isotopic compositions of food, water and even dust – reflected in the isotopic compositions of human tissue.

Researchers from overseas universities were recently also able to get a DNA profile of the man.

There’s hope it could match with DNA being collected as part of Missing Person’s Week, where authorities have been calling on Australians to come forward for testing to help solve some of the nation’s cold cases.

Investigators have been slowly piecing together The Gentleman’s past for years.

The iron tools he was weighed down with were only recently disclosed by police, his shoes are expensive and his distinctive green, yellow and blue striped tie may signal he belonged to a specific organisation.

– From AAP

Updated

Western Australia records two new Covid deaths

Two people with Covid-19 have died in Western Australia overnight, with the state recording 2,911 new cases on Saturday morning, 346 people in hospital, and 14 in ICU.

Fire in Sydney’s Croydon under control after 15 people evacuated

The structural fire in the Sydney suburb of Croydon appears to be under control.

Fire and Rescue NSW crews have been battling the blaze, which force 15 people to be evacuated from the building.

Residents in nearby suburbs were warned to keep windows, doors and vents shut to avoid smoke spreading over the area.

A message sent to residents in nearby suburbs at 11.28am advised “the incident has been resolved”.

Updated

Victoria’s elective surgery waiting list balloons

The elective surgery waiting list in Victoria has ballooned by 21,000 compared to the same time last year, performance data released this morning has found.

The number of people waiting for surgery in Victoria for the quarter ending in June this year is 87,275 – a 21,000 increase from the same quarter last year.

The figures are still a drop from the January to March quarter, when 88,920 people were waiting for surgery. There was a 48% increase in elective surgeries compared to the previous quarter.

The health minister, Mary-Anne Thomas, said the state was in the midst of a “record-breaking” period of demand on the health system.

But this latest data shows that we are weathering the storm and building a system that will be stronger than ever moving forward. All our healthcare workers are doing an incredible job under challenging circumstances.

File photo of Victorian health minister Mary-Anne Thomas
File photo of Victorian health minister Mary-Anne Thomas speaking to the media. Photograph: Diego Fedele/AAP

Hospital emergency presentations have increased to 486,791 in this quarter, a 5.1% increase from the same time last year, exacerbated by the busy flu season and Covid wave.

The past quarter was the busiest in Ambulance Victoria’s history and the third consecutive time demand records were broken.

Updated

ACT records one new Covid death

One person with Covid-19 has died in the ACT overnight, with the territory recording 579 new cases on Saturday morning, 135 people in hospital, 2 in ICU and 1 on ventilation.

Updated

Readings staff hold industrial action outside Carlton store

In Melbourne, Readings staff are holding their first public industrial action this morning outside the flagship Carlton store following a breakdown in enterprise bargaining agreement negotiations with management.

The protest, headed by the Retail and Fast Food Workers Union (RAFFWU), follows the announcement of a two-year wage freeze and the collapse of an in-principle agreement with the union in July for a 4.6% increase in wages.

In June last year, a slim majority of staff voted in favour of pursuing EBA negotiations with management. It would have been the first chain in the country to have done so. Readings has not commented publicly on the current negotiations.

At the time, managing director Mark Rubbo said he “absolutely” wanted to achieve a result that worked for staff and ensured Readings remained viable. He told the Sydney Morning Herald:

I have just had the worst year of my whole career and we’re trying to recover. I don’t see the need for negotiations. We pay above award rates and we give 10 per cent of our profit back to staff as well.

The protests follow the landmark win by workers at Sydney bookshop Better Read Than Dead who secured better pay and conditions following the first retail strike in 50 years.

Updated

Queensland records 18 new Covid deaths

Eighteen people with Covid-19 have died in Queensland overnight, with the state recording 4,174 new cases on Saturday morning, 703 people in hospital, and 26 in ICU.

Updated

Victoria’s elective surgery waitlists jumped by 21,000 in April to June quarter

Victorian minister for health and ambulance services Mary-Anne Thomas is holding a press conference now following the release of numbers showing the number of people waiting for elective surgeries has increased.

There were 87,275 people waiting for surgeries in Victoria between April and June, an increase of 21,000 from the same quarter the year before.

The Victorian Liberal opposition will be holding a separate press conference immediately.

More detail to come...

Updated

Australia remains on top of Commonwealth Games medal tally

Australia is currently top of the medal tally at the Commonwealth Games with 50 gold, 44 silver, and 46 bronze making for a total of 140.

England is following closely with a total of 131 medals with Canada recording a total of 67.

For the full count see The Guardian’s medal tally:

Updated

Endangered rat discovered in Victoria for first time in 32 years

Victoria conservationists smell a rat; the endangered native broad-toothed rat has been discovered in Wilsons Promontory for the first time in three decades.

The chubby cheeked, short-tailed, big-toothed rat is facing an uphill battle for survival in Australia against climate change, habitat loss and predation by feral pests.

Zoos Victoria’s Phoebe Burns says the discovery in Victoria’s southeast is exciting news for the species, which now mainly calls the country’s alpine regions home.

It hopefully means there is extra genetic diversity here that we thought had been lost.

The discovery is a result of a search by Dr Burns and rangers from Parks Victoria of previously inhabited regions by the cute rodent.

There they found the broad-toothed rat’s distinctive bright green poo before being able to catch and release one of the rodents – the first time it has been seen in Wilsons Promontory in 32 years.

File photo of a broad-toothed rat
File photo of a broad-toothed rat. Photograph: Heath Warick/Museums Victoria/AAP

The Victorian government says it shows the success of its Prom Sanctuary project, which is establishing a 50,000-hectare safe haven for native wildlife in the region.

The broad-toothed rat feeds exclusively on grasses and sedges in cool, wet habitats.

News of the discovery comes after the government owned VicForests green lit logging of habitat of the endangered greater glider in Victoria’s east.

Australia has one of the highest rate of species loss in the world.

– From AAP

Updated

Penny Wong 'deeply concerned' about rising tensions around Taiwan

Minister for foreign affairs Penny Wong has says she is deeply concerned about rising regional tensions following the launch of ballistics missiles by China into waters around Taiwan’s coastline.

These exercises are disproportionate and destabilising.

This is a serious matter for the region, including for our close strategic partner, Japan.

Australia shares the region’s concerns about this escalating military activity, especially the risks of miscalculation.

We urge restraint and de-escalation.

Wong called for de-escalation in the region saying it was “in all our interests to have a region at peace and not in conflict”.

Wong is in Phnom Penh in Cambodia for the East Asia Summit where she met with her Chinese counterpart and other leaders from countries in the region.

Updated

Concerns over Australia’s flatlining Covid vaccine booster rates

State and federal authorities are concerned the number of Australians getting their third dose of Covid-19 vaccine is flatlining, AAP reports.

To date, 71.4% of eligible Australians – or just over 14.1 million people – have received a third dose.

But there are more than 5.6 million yet to get their booster.

Queensland is the worst-performing state, with 64.5% of eligible residents boosted, while the ACT has the best coverage (79.9%).

The booster rate is 55% for Indigenous Australians nationally.

New third doses are barely rising each day, ranging from NSW recording 2,075 doses on Friday and the Northern Territory reporting just 45.

Information campaigns are being rolled out but there is a persistent problem with the slow rate of uptake by under-65s. So far 4.22 million Australians have received a fourth dose, after the program was extended several weeks ago.

National cabinet, which is overseeing the pandemic response, is due to next meet on 31 August.

Updated

You sure were, guys.

Tasmania records one new Covid death

One person with Covid-19 has died in Tasmania overnight, with the state recording 651 new cases on Saturday morning, 23 people in hospital, and five in ICU.

Updated

NSW residents warned to avoid fire in Croydon and Ashfield

Fire and Rescue NSW is advising residents living near a structural fire in Croydon and Ashfield to stay inside and avoid the area.

Residents are recommended to close windows, door and vents to avoid smoke inhalation until further notice.

Updated

Victoria records 24 new Covid deaths

Twenty-four people with Covid-19 have died in Victoria overnight, with the state recording 6,261 new cases on Saturday morning, 668 people in hospital, 26 in ICU and seven on ventilation.

Updated

The integrity push that’s driving a confidence boost for the Victorian Greens

The Greens may have made their name campaigning on the environment, but lately the issue voters raise more often than not with the party’s Victorian leader, Samantha Ratnam, is integrity.

“Integrity has emerged as a really important issue for voters – they’ve seen what happens when you don’t act,” Ratnam tells Guardian Australia, at the end of a parliamentary sitting week in which the issue again dominated headlines.

The Greens on Saturday announced a majority women upper house ticket for the 26 November Victorian election.

Party leader Samantha Ratnam heads the five-woman, three-man ticket and will re-contest Northern Metropolitan Region.

Port Phillip councillor and former environmental lawyer Katherine Copsey will challenge for Southern Metropolitan, Geelong councillor Sarah Mansfield for Western Victoria and Maribyrnong councillor Bernadette Thomas in Western Metropolitan.

Cate Sinclair will run in Northern Victoria and former federal candidate Mat Morgan for Eastern Victoria.

For more on how the party is looking to make integrity and corruption a priority at the next election, read the full story by the Guardian’s Victoria state correspondent Benita Kolovos.

-with AAP

Updated

Paul Keating comments about Greens leader ‘disappointing’ and ‘disgusting’, Faruqi says

There’s a question about the stoush between Greens leader Adam Bandt and former Labor prime minister Paul Keating.

For those who missed it, Bandt accused Keating and Labor being a “neoliberal party” and Keating shot back at the Greens leader.

Here’s Faruqi on that exchange:

What Paul Keating said this week about Adam, I think was pretty disappointing and pretty disgusting. Neoliberalism and the Labor party for the last 30, I think, years have been inextricably linked. It was in the Keating era that the Commonwealth Bank and Qantas were privatised – neoliberalism 101. We saw free education go, more privatisation, so I think these debates can be robust, but they should not descend, as Mr Keating descended, into basically those really terrible and disgusting comments about the character of Adam.

Updated

Fight to stop new coal and gas continues, Faruqi says

Faruqi says it is still “thoroughly disappointing that Labor will still back coal and gas mines.”

We know we can’t address the climate crisis without addressing coal and gas, and so our fight to stop new coal and gas continues. We will make sure that there is no new coal and gas. We are in existential crisis.

Asked about the decision to block Clive Palmer’s proposal to build a coal mine on the edge of the Great Barrier Reef, Faruqi says it is a “big step forward”.

One down and 113 of the 114 coal and gas mines in the pipeline to go. We will make sure it happens.

Updated

Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi on passing the climate bill

Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi is speaking to the ABC this morning on the passing of the climate bill in parliament this week. The first question is: why did the Greens support the bill?

Faruqi:

The Greens always went into discussions with the Labor party on this, hoping to improve this weak bill, and we have done that. We have secured improvements to the bill and they come in the form of Dutton proofing the bill, so it has a floor and you know, we can ratchet up the target as well, over time. It can’t go backwards, it can be ratcheted up. The Climate Change Authority is strengthened, more accountability and transparency and for the first time ever government organisations which previously have funded coal and gas projects l have to consider the targets.

It’s worth a reminder that Green’s leader Adam Bandt has spent the weeks leading up to this moment saying the party’s position is to “improve and pass the bill”.

Updated

NSW records 30 new Covid deaths

Thirty people with Covid-19 have died in New South Wales overnight, with the state recording 11,998 new cases on Saturday morning, 2,187 people in hospital, and 57 in ICU.

Updated

Buybacks and land swaps recommended for NSW flood victims

An inquiry into the New South Wales flood response has recommended the state government buy back or perform a land swap for victims living in flood-prone areas.

New South Wales premier Dominic Perrottet has been handed the report which also called for the natural disaster agency Resilience NSW be dismantled and its head, Shane Fitzsimmons, be made redundant.

The scheme would form part of a $3bn response to the deadly Northern Rivers floods in February and March which killed 13 people and destroyed more than 4,000 homes.

Perrottet has promised to make the report by former police commissioner Mick Fuller and chief scientist Mary O’Kane public, but is yet to do so.

– with AAP

Updated

Good morning

And welcome to the Saturday morning Guardian live blog.

Defence minister Richard Marles has called for an end to the live-fire military operations after China fired 11 ballistic missiles during exercises around the island of Taiwan, including directly over the capital of Taipei. Marles said the exercises, which began in response to a visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, violated the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Foreign minister Penny Wong has also expressed Australia’s concern about rising tensions with her counterpart, Wang Yi during a meeting of the East Asia Summit in Cambodia. Wong said in a statement that Australia is “deeply concerned about the launch. of ballistic missiles by China into waters around Taiwan’s coastline”.

An independent review into the New South Wales flood response has recommended the state government buyback homes that have been built in flood-prone areas or perform a land swap. The scheme will form a $3bn response to the Northern Rivers floods in February and March that killed 13 people and destroyed more than 4,000 homes.

Authorities have also told people who attended Splendour in the Grass to be on alert for symptom of meningococcal disease after a man in his 40s who attended has since died. Two cases of meningococcal have been confirmed in people who attended the music festival in Byron Bay, including the man in his 40s who died this week. The much anticipated festival fell into crisis last month when torrential rain turned the field into a mud bath.

I’m Royce Kurmelovs, taking the blog through the day. With so much going on out there, it’s easy to miss stuff, so if you spot something happening in Australia and think it should be on the blog, you can find me on Twitter at @RoyceRk2 where my DMs are open.

With that, let’s get started ...

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Latinos are the group that most consumes marijuana regularly; where do they do it?
This is the case for more than 10% of respondents in a Gallup poll. These are the other main takeaways
Latin Times
Latin Times
Kim Kardashian Takes a Page From Rihanna's Playbook by Modeling Her New SKIMS Swimwear
Kardashian took over modeling duties appearing in the smoldering swim ads captured by Nick Knight and styled by Carine Roitfeld.
Fashion Times
Fashion Times
How to store half a lemon – and 17 other ways to keep leftover food fresh
What should you do with opened tins, cut avocados and egg yolks that weren’t required in your recipe? Chefs and food experts tell all
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Brian Cox: "Napoleon" star "terrible"
“I would have played it a lot better," Cox says
Salon
Salon
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare review – Guy Ritchie’s fun wartime romp
Henry Cavill leads a ragtag group on an unlikely mission in this shaggy, exaggerated account of Operation Postmaster
The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Family Guy Creator Seth Macfarlane Confirms Show's Future Plans
Explore the future of Family Guy as Seth MacFarlane hints at continuing the series based on audience engagement and popularity.
Top News
Top News
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