What happened today, Sunday 7 November
We’re going to wrap things up for the day. Here are the day’s main events:
- Twin four-year-old girls died in a house fire west of Byron Bay. Investigations are under way but police said initial reports suggest a candle may have been left burning inside the home
- NSW recorded 244 new Covid-19 cases as the state prepared for further easing of restrictions for fully vaccinated people from Monday
- Victoria recorded 1,173 Covid-19 cases and the state government announced a $44m package to revitalise Melbourne’s CBD, including a plan to allow diners to claim 30% off their bills between Monday and Thursday each week
- The ACT became the first Australian jurisdiction to fully vaccinate 95% of its population
- The Northern Territory government announced the lockdown of Katherine would end at 3pm NT time and switch to a lockout for people who are not fully vaccinated. The Darwin lockout was extended to midnight tomorrow night, when the Katherine lockout is also scheduled to end.
- NSW woman Joanne Zhu was announced the winner of the Million Dollar Vax campaign
- Researchers in NSW have discovered a new species of frog in the Gondwana rainforests world heritage area.
Thank you for joining us. We’ll see you again tomorrow.
The Bureau of Meteorology has updated its thunderstorm warnings for NSW.
There’s a severe thunderstorm warning for several parts of the state, including the Hunter, Illawarra, North West Slopes and Plains and parts of the Northern Rivers and the Mid North Coast.
The earlier warning for the Blue Mountains, Hawkesbury and Sydney areas has been cancelled but the Bom says it will continue to monitor the situation.
Severe thunderstorm warning has been updated. Heavy rain, damaging winds and large hail are all a risk. See here for more information: https://t.co/Ss766eSCrL pic.twitter.com/rbw0Yvq4RU
— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) November 7, 2021
Updated
And a little more from the foreign minister, Marise Payne’s, visit to Malaysia:
The Malaysian foreign minister, Dato’ Saifuddin Abdullah, said the pair had agreed to collaborate on a range of issues, including Covid-19 vaccines and health. He also flagged closer cooperation on cyber security, adding: “I think we both agree that cyber security is now the leading non-traditional threat of the world including our region.”
On international borders, he said he and Payne were “pro-opening the borders as quickly as possible” although this had to be done in a staged manner.
Payne said:
“Australia, like Malaysia, has had very strict controls in place both domestically and in terms of our borders - they are gradually being opened up … We are enthusiastic, for example, to see the return of international students to Australia and particularly Malaysian international students. We know how much they value the opportunity, but we are also very welcoming of Malaysian students to Australia, so it’s not too far off. But we need to work through, as the Minister said, the various stages of both of our systems around vaccinations, around our health systems and take those steps, but hopefully not too far away.”
Australia’s foreign minister, Marise Payne, has said during a visit to Malaysia that she hopes it won’t be long before Malaysian students can return to Australia.
Payne flew out of Australia on Friday for a week-long trip to four countries in south-east Asia - with Malaysia being the first stop. One element of the trip is an attempt to reassure the region about the Aukus nuclear-propelled submarines plan, as we covered in our story yesterday.
After meeting with her Malaysian counterpart, Payne reaffirmed that message of reassurance: “As our region goes through profound changes with strategic competition increasing, Australia’s Indo-Pacific vision remains consistent. We support an Indo-Pacific that is open, secure, resilient and prosperous … We’ll continue to work with our friends here in Malaysia and all of our partners to realise that vision and to ensure the security and the prosperity of our region as we recover together from the impacts of Covid-19 and look to a very positive future.”
And with that, I will hand you over to Lisa Cox for the remainder of Sunday’s live blogging.
Neighbours have left flowers at the entrance to a northern NSW property where twin girls died following a house fire thought to have started after a candle was left burning, AAP reports.
Police and ambulance paramedics performed CPR on the four-year-old sisters but they were unable to be revived.
Emergency services were called to the single-storey residence on Mafeking Road in the hamlet of Goonengerry, west of Byron Bay, just after 4am on Sunday after reports two children were suffering from smoke inhalation.
Chief inspector Mick Dempsey said the girls had been asleep as the fire started.
“They were found to be unresponsive,” he told Seven News.
“CPR was performed by police and ambulance personnel but unfortunately the two children could not be revived and they have since passed away.”
A woman was also being treated for shock.
Dempsey said a number of adults were outside the premises, in the vicinity of the house, as the drama unfolded.
There was limited damage to the structure of the premises. However there was some evidence of smoke having filled the bedroom, he added.
The building is part of a multiple-occupancy community, police say.
A bouquet of flowers was left outside the entrance to the property on Sunday afternoon with a note that read: “No words mourning with you.”
Detectives will work with fire investigators to determine the cause of the blaze but say initial reports suggest to them that a candle may have been left burning inside the home.
Updated
No new cases in SA today.
South Australian COVID-19 update 7/11/21. For more information, go to https://t.co/mYnZsGpayo or contact the South Australia COVID-19 Information Line on 1800 253 787. pic.twitter.com/XxCvRTzBYq
— SA Health (@SAHealth) November 7, 2021
NSW restrictions to ease further from tomorrow for fully vaccinated
Just a reminder that tomorrow restrictions will ease in NSW further for those who are vaccinated against Covid-19. Here’s a useful summary via AAP.
Under the previously flagged changes, there will be no limit on home visitors and as many as 1000 people can gather outdoors.
Hospitality venue density limits move to one person per two square metres, while stadiums, racecourses, theme parks, zoos, cinemas and theatres can operate at 100% of their fixed-seated capacity.
Unvaccinated NSW residents, meanwhile, have to wait until 15 December or when the state reaches a 95% double-vaccination rate to enjoy roadmap freedoms.
NSW is on the brink of hitting 90 % full vaccination of people aged 16 and over, with 89.7% now double-dosed.
It’s still a couple more weeks for Victoria until we get similar easing.
Updated
Yesterday was World Numbat Day, FYI.
No better way to spend #WorldNumbatDay than hanging out with this gorgeous #numbat. #WildOz #MammalWatching #EndangeredSpecies pic.twitter.com/DXq2YFpWTS
— Christine Cooper (@CECooperEcophys) November 7, 2021
A stone valued at $100,000 has been stolen from a small museum in northern NSW, AAP reports.
An unknown number of people entered the museum in Tingha at about 1am on Saturday, police have been told.
The intruders then stole the stone which is estimated to weigh around 80 kilograms.
The rock is described as being a dark brown smoky quartz grass stone.
A crime scene has been established and police are appealing for anyone with information to come forward.
A new frog species, one of only two in Australia known to carry its tadpoles on its body, has been discovered in the Gondwana rainforests world heritage area in northern New South Wales.
The tiny frog measures 16mm and is found on one mountain in the Wollumbin national park.
Angus Taylor says his time in Glasgow is done - half way through the #COP26 talks (which run for another full week). https://t.co/92giUz095k
— Michael Mazengarb (@MichaelM_ACT) November 7, 2021
Severe thunderstorm warnings for parts of the Blue Mountains, with heavy rain.
Detailed severe thunderstorm warning has been updated. Heavy rain is a risk. See here for more information: https://t.co/Ss766eSCrL pic.twitter.com/mBOaO9Pob9
— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) November 7, 2021
There has also been another anti-vaccination protest out in Parramatta, in Sydney’s west today.
Worth noting, NSW’s full vaccination rate for people over the age of 16 is 89.7% as of the end of Friday.
For those aged between 12 and 15, it is currently 80.1% single dose, and 68.6% double dose.
Updated
People are leaving flowers outside the home where twin four-year-old girls died following a house fire in Goonengerry, west of Byron Bay on the far-north coast of NSW.
Updated
Victorian opposition leader Matthew Guy has welcomed Liberal MP Tim Smith’s decision not to contest the next election, following his drink-driving crash last weekend.
Opposition Leader Matthew Guy: pic.twitter.com/PWtf1uobtJ
— Sharnelle Vella (@SharnelleVella) November 7, 2021
Gunner mentions there are new exposure sites in Katherine at Cotton On, Harvest Pressed Juice, Delaney’s Country and Western Stall and Coles Mitchell St in Darwin, Tab Bar in Darwin, Mendel Beach Casino, Shenanigans and Monthlies night club.
Jetstar flight JQ 920 from Cairns to Darwin on 29 October is now an exposure site. There are eight exposure contacts with five still in the territory. There are 123 close contacts and 119 isolating.
Updated
Greater Darwin lockout extended, Katherine to switch to lockout
The lockdown in Katherine will end at 3pm NT time today, and switch to a lockout for people who are unvaccinated. It means people who are unvaccinated are effectively in lockdown and can only leave home for five reasons.
The greater Darwin lockout has been extended and will end at midnight tomorrow night, when the Katherine lockout will end, too.
Updated
NT chief minister Michael Gunner is holding a press conference on the three cases that caused a lockdown in Katherine and lockout in Darwin.
Gunner says the third case in the outbreak was determined to be the index case of the outbreak, after she allegedly lied in her border entry form and had spent time in Melbourne, after flying from Cairns to Adelaide and driving to Victoria for four days last month before flying back to Cairns and then onto Darwin.
The woman has been fined and will pay for her time in Howard Springs quarantine.
Gunner said:
These actions have put the territory at risk. They forced Katherine into lockdown and forced Katherine businesses to shot. While there were compassionate reasons for her decision to visit Victoria, there were not compassionate reasons to lie entering the territory from a hotspot.
There are no new cases to report today.
Updated
Tasmanian police are investigating how a shooter got the gun he used to kill a man and wound a woman before turning it on himself.
Police were called to a house on William St in Devonport, north-west Tasmania, just before 1am on Saturday after reports of shots being fired.
Two men aged in their 30s – one of whom police believe was the gunman – were found dead inside the house.
A 38-year-old woman, who suffered a gunshot wound to her abdomen, went to her neighbours’ house to raise alarm. She remains in hospital in a stable condition.
A 10-year-old, who police said was one of two child witnesses, was not physically injured but saw “a fair portion of what occurred”.
Police say the shooter, named as Paul Carey, a 35-year-old man from Burnie, acquired the Winchester shotgun in the past three months.
The gun was not registered and the man did not have a firearms licence.
“We would like to hear from anyone who has information about how the offender acquired the firearm,” detective inspector Kim Steven said on Sunday.
“The person who assisted the offender in sourcing the firearm is encouraged to contact detectives, without fear of prosecution.
“It is important we establish the sequence of events which led up to the incident.”
It’s believed the gun was imported legally in the 1970s, prior to the Firearms Act in 1996 and was never registered.
Police said the shooter knew the victims, but their relationship with each other would be a matter for the coroner.
Police also named Christopher Walters as his victim on Sunday, following permission from Walters’ family.
Lifeline 13 11 14.
beyondblue 1300 22 4636.
Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800 (for people aged 5 to 25).
Updated
A little more detail on Covid-19 cases and vaccination rates in Victoria.
Yesterday, 13,913 vaccine doses were administered by Victoria’s state-commissioned services. The total number of doses administered through state-run services is 4,695,721.
93 per cent of Victorians aged 16 and over have now had at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine and 84.7 per cent have had two doses.
92.6 per cent of Victorians aged 12 and over have now had at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine and 83.6 per cent have had two doses. This excludes the most recent commonwealth data.
There are 568 Covid-19 cases in hospital in Victoria. 96 of those cases are in intensive care, with 63 cases on a ventilator.
Victoria was notified of 1,173 new cases of Covid-19 yesterday. All cases were locally acquired. The ten local government areas with the highest number of new cases are Casey, Wyndham, Brimbank, Hume, Greater Dandenong, Moreland, Latrobe, Whittlesea, Melton and Greater Shepparton.
Updated
And with that, I’m just going to hand over to my colleague Lisa Cox for a little while.
Big Bird tweeted overnight about being vaccinated against Covid and the quote tweet response is about as bad as you’d expect it to be.
I got the COVID-19 vaccine today! My wing is feeling a little sore, but it'll give my body an extra protective boost that keeps me and others healthy.
— Big Bird (@BigBird) November 6, 2021
Ms. @EricaRHill even said I’ve been getting vaccines since I was a little bird. I had no idea!
More storms in Victoria. They seem to have passed Melbourne for now.
⚡ Thunderstorm forecast for SUNDAY. Storms are possible over northeastern #Victoria this afternoon. There is a risk of severe storms producing heavy rainfall, large hail & damaging winds in the far northeast. Stay alert & monitor for warnings.https://t.co/f55C1vOHFj #VicWeather pic.twitter.com/YBdD2qUwOU
— Bureau of Meteorology, Victoria (@BOM_Vic) November 7, 2021
The search is underway for the 57-year-old man who went missing after a suspected shark attack at Port Beach in WA yesterday.
WA fisheries minister Don Punch said police have deployed a number of vessels to the area.
“I’d like to extend our heartfelt thoughts to the family of this man at this very difficult time,” he said.
“This is a terribly sad and distressing situation.”
#UPDATE Beaches between North Mole and North Cottesloe will remain closed through to at least midday today in line with the latest Fisheries Advice. Lifesavers will conduct patrols to support the closure. #myPortBeach #myLeightonBeach #myCottesloeBeach #myNorthCottesloeBeach
— Surf Life Saving WA (@SLSWA) November 6, 2021
ACT records 13 new cases
The ACT has recorded 13 new cases overnight, bringing the total active cases in the capital to 135, and the total in this outbreak to 1,729.
There is one person in hospital, who is also in intensive care and being ventilated.
Updated
Queensland records no new cases
Queensland has recorded zero new local cases. One case from someone arriving from interstate who is in quarantine, and two cases in international arrivals, who are also in quarantine, premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has said.
The two people from overseas were infectious on the flight, and normal contact tracing is underway.
The woman who tested positive yesterday was not in the community while infectious. Similar for the woman who tested positive in the NT after being in Queensland.
Updated
Premier on Tim Smith’s decision to quit politics at the next election, “I haven’t got time to talk about him. I haven’t got time to think about him” @7NewsMelbourne pic.twitter.com/IXXZLEF9FA
— Jodi Lee (@jodilee_7) November 6, 2021
Victorian premier Daniel Andrews has rejected comparisons between outgoing Liberal MP Tim Smith not contesting the next election after crashing his car with a blood alcohol level of 0.131 to Burwood MP Will Fowles, who Smith previously called to resign after he kicked in a hotel door during an alcohol-fuelled argument with staff.
Asked whether Fowles should also resign, Andrews said the two incidents were not the same.
He’ll be a candidate next time and it’ll be up to the people of his electorate, as it will be for all of us, to fundamentally decide who they want.
I don’t see any comparison. The only comparisons that have been drawn are rather self-serving comparisons from somebody today who has announced he’s not standing.
There you go – I’ve said more than I intended to about [Smith]. It’s just not my business.
Updated
A break down of the 244 NSW cases today, from NSW Health:
- 77 are from Hunter New England Local Health District (LHD).
- 37 are from South Western Sydney LHD.
- 22 are from South Eastern Sydney.
- 20 are from Mid North Coast LHD.
- 17 are from Murrumbidgee LHD.
- 15 are from Sydney LHD.
- 13 are from Western Sydney LHD.
- nine are from Western NSW LHD.
- nine are from Northern NSW LHD.
- eight are from Northern Sydney LHD.
- four are from Central Coast LHD.
- three are from Southern NSW LHD.
- two are from Nepean Blue Mountains LHD.
- one is from Illawarra Shoalhaven LHD.
- one is in a correctional setting and six are unassigned to a LHD.
NSW Health has also warned that viral fragments have been detected in sewerage in Bermagui, Moruya, Young in southern NSW and Gulargambone and Cobar in western NSW, where there are no known cases.
Updated
NSW is opening a Granville vaccination centre on Monday, and the Qudos Bank Arena vaccination centre will shut down tomorrow, returning the arena to sporting and entertainment functions.
NSW health minister Brad Hazzard said there were 2,700 health and support staff at Qudos when it was open, with 26 vaccine doses per minute being administered at the peak of its operation:
What NSW Health staff achieved not only at Qudos Bank Arena Vaccination Centre but across the state during the Delta outbreak has been extraordinary.
They helped lift vaccination rates in western and south-western Sydney to the highest levels across the state but even if we surpass our new goals we must remain vigilant.
Updated
If you’re confused by the news about CBA getting into crypto, my colleague Ben Butler has this explainer.
Victorian government announces $44m package for Melbourne CBD
Victorians dining in Melbourne will be able to claim up to 30% of their bills for meals between Monday and Thursday every week, AAP reports.
A $44m package has been unveiled to revitalise Melbourne’s CBD as workers and visitors return after the city’s sixth lockdown.
The Victorian government and City of Melbourne will jointly fund a number of initiatives to bring the city centre back to life, including a $5m midweek dining rebate scheme.
From 15 November, diners will be able to claim 30% off their bills – up to $150 – between Monday and Thursday each week.
The more than 200,000 rebates will be up for grabs at restaurants, cafes and bars in the CBD, Lygon Street, North Melbourne, Southbank, South Wharf and Docklands.
The package also includes $10.4m to help businesses trade outdoors and at night, $15.7m to boost the city’s events calendar, $14m to revitalise public areas and $3.6m to provide an enhanced business concierge service.
“This is about getting people back to the CBD,” Premier Daniel Andrews told reporters at Italian restaurant Becco in Melbourne’s CBD.
Having people not only visiting but spending – and that’s all about jobs.
Lord Mayor Sally Capp said the cash injection was the first tranche of a $200m fund to revitalise Melbourne.
Updated
The cost to Australian taxpayers to hold a single refugee on Nauru has escalated tenfold to more than $350,000 every month – or $4.3m a year – as the government refuses to reveal where nearly $400m spent on offshore processing on the island has gone.
Australia currently pays about $40m a month to run its offshore processing regime on Nauru, an amount almost identical to 2016 when there were nearly 10 times as many people held on the island.
No refugees and asylum seekers have been sent to Nauru since 2014, and with numbers of refugees held there dwindling – through resettlement to the US, transfer to Australia for acute medical care, abandonment of a protection claim, or death – the cost to Australia to hold each person has increased dramatically.
Meanwhile on Sky News, minister for emissions reduction, Angus Taylor won’t say if the UN climate change conference in Glasgow will achieve a deal to limit warming to 1.5C.
AAP reports Taylor said it is a very difficult outcome to achieve and that everyone understood that from the start.
I’m not going to predict the final outcome at the political level of this conference.
What I am going to say is this conference is recognising, and the world is recognising that the way to actually achieve the best possible outcomes is by deploying technologies with good projects.
Chinese president Xi Jinping has been criticised for not attending the Glasgow conference, particularly as his country accounts for one-third of the world’s emissions, but Taylor believes China is still being constructive.
What is very clear, the Chinese focus on technologies on bringing down emissions in a way which reconciles economic growth with emissions reduction.
They are not going to sacrifice economic growth for emissions reduction. That’s not just true of China, it’s India, it’s Southeast Asia.
Updated
Labor says Morrison is 'impacting national security' in submarine row with France
Asked about the ongoing dispute with France over the submarines contract, Bowen said prime minister Scott Morrison’s alleged lies are “now impacting national security”.
Now we’ve seen the most inept foreign trip since Billy McMahon made a fool of himself in Washington 50 years ago this week and we’ve seen the prime minister’s fundamental dishonesty on display to the world.
We know Scott Morrison is a liar. He lies in parliament about briefings for Anthony Albanese on Covid. He lies about whether he’s called EVs ‘weekend wrecking’.
He lied about whether he used the term Shanghai Sam. He lies about Christian Porter’s disclosure. This guy is a liar and it’s now impacting on our national security.
You’ve talked about the leaking of the text exchange with Emmanuel Macron, which was reckless and extraordinary and damages our credibility internationally but also the leaking of a classified national security committee document which also damages our relationship with the United States.
How would anybody trust this bloke as prime minister of Australia?
He says Morrison should have been open and transparent with the French.
He has doubled down on his lack of integrity in his response. Emmanuel Macron did not attack Australia and he has just underlined his lack of honesty by asserting he did.
We are not privy to all the details of the arrangements between France and Australia. We have not received all that information but I do know the government ministers have been for years getting up and saying how well the deal is going.
I know the foreign and defence ministers said in a communique how well the deal was coming along. It’s understandable that world leaders are scratching their heads at Scott Morrison’s inept handling of this matter.
Updated
Bowen is asked about the use of carbon credits to meet targets. Bowen says they will play a role, but it cannot be an excuse to avoid real action.
Of course there will continue to be some emissions with the best will in the world and carbon credits can play a role, properly and carefully designed with proper verification and it’s an economic opportunity for Australia again with the right policy settings which this government is simply going to fail to deliver.
He said there will, however, be no emissions trading scheme or carbon price under Labor.
Part of how a Labor government would meet the target would be through the rewiring the nation policy to upgrade the energy grid to cope with renewable energy projects.
He wouldn’t say whether Labor would expand the safeguards mechanism, and wouldn’t say what the 2030 target would be.
We said we’ll have more to say post Glasgow. We’ve now got the Government’s alleged plan, in inverted commas. We don’t have their modelling. You don’t release a budget reply until you see the budget. ...We’re waiting on more detail from the modelling.
Bowen also refused to say whether Australia should sign on to a pledge to phase out coal. He repeated that Labor would not fund new coal-fired power stations, but asked directly about supporting the pledge, he said policy interventions matter more than pledges.
Asked whether he supports funding for carbon capture and storage, Bowen says Labor opposes using Arena and CEFC to fund carbon capture and storage, because it diverts money away from renewable energy projects:
The government puts too much store in carbon capture and storage. They use it as an excuse to avoid reducing emissions in other ways. If it can play a role practically – and not just capture and storage, but capture and use – a wonderful entrepreneur won a prize in Glasgow for carbon capture and use.
Updated
Labor’s shadow minister for climate change, Chris Bowen is on ABC’s Insiders program.
He was asked why Labor hadn’t supported the announcement of other nations out of the Glasgow climate conference to reduce methane emissions by 30% in 2030.
He said Labor wants to see government work with agriculture to develop a plan:
What I want is a government that takes methane seriously, that has plans in place to reduce methane emissions, working cooperatively with industry and agriculture. That’s not about signing the pledge. It’s about dealing with the issue.
Now, agriculture is responsible for 50% of Australia’s methane emissions. We are the 12th largest emitter of methane in the world and we want to see concrete plans to work with farmers and farmers want to work with government. During the week, I said that Australian governments could back Australian scientists who have done wonderful work in developing seaweed for example which reduces methane emissions dramatically.
Barnaby Joyce ran out and said no, that’s outrageous. The only way to reduce methane is to shoot all our cows. That’s as patently ridiculous as everything else he says. It shows the government knows the cost of everything when it comes to climate change but the value of nothing when it comes to concrete plans working with agricultural.
Farmers want to work with government to reduce emissions. It’s a great opportunity for them. Farm profits are down. Farm productives is down due to climate change and they want to work with a government that cares about climate change to get concrete results.
He said the implications of the pledge need to be worked through before signing. He says Labor is promising no new coal-fired power stations, and Labor doesn’t support new gas-fired power stations.
NSW woman wins $1m vaccination campaign
A fully vaccinated woman in NSW has become an instant millionaire after winning the Million Dollar Vax campaign, AAP reports.
Joanne Zhu was announced the winner of the major prize, collecting $1m just for getting her Covid-19 vaccinations.
She was one of 2,744,974 Australians who registered for their chance to win.
“Am I dreaming, is this real? I cannot believe it,” Zhu said, adding that she planned to spend a portion of her winnings on her family.
I want to fly my family out from China first class and put them up in a five-star hotel for Chinese New Year if the borders are open.
I will buy presents for my family and invest the rest of the money so I can make more money in the future.
The Million Dollar Vax campaign was created by the Million Dollar Vax Alliance – a group of philanthropists and corporations with the aim to increase Australian Covid-19 vaccination rates above 80% nationally.
The 80% milestone was reached on Saturday.
Alliance spokesman Craig Winkler said hearing Zhu’s reaction to winning was priceless.
All of us behind the campaign are incredibly proud of what it has achieved; it’s excellent to finally announce the winner.
We have collectively shown what can happen when Australians get on board. Let’s finish the job.
Updated
Labor will create a national anti-scam centre and double funding for services helping aggrieved Australians get stolen IDs back to counter scammers if it wins government, AAP reports.
Forcing companies to take down fraudulent ads faster, a review of the current penalties in place for scammers and a new ministerial portfolio for the issue will be introduced under its “scambuster” plan.
The party’s cybersecurity policy also includes a new industry code for banks, telcos, social media giants and government agencies.
These companies will need to clearly define how they will protect customers and businesses online and will be responsible for kicking scammers off their platform under the threat of heavy penalties if they fail to do so.
Shadow assistant treasurer Stephen Jones said the government did not properly protect Australians from scammers and cyber criminals after online crimes cost the economy $33bn last year.
Families and small businesses will be safer online ... with the creation of a new cop on the beat to fight scams and online fraud.
Australia’s prudential and regulatory system is second to none but improvements can always be made.
Cryptocurrency scams on social media, fraudulent text messages about deliveries and fake invoices to small businesses continue to hit hip pockets as more Australians head online.
Scams in Australia have doubled each year for the past two years.
Updated
Victoria records 1,173 new cases and nine deaths
Victoria has reported 1,173 new cases of Covid-19 and nine more deaths. There are 568 in hospital, 96 in intensive care, and 63 being ventilated.
We thank everyone who got vaccinated and tested yesterday.
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) November 6, 2021
Our thoughts are with those in hospital, and the families of people who have lost their lives.
More data soon: https://t.co/OCCFTAtS1P#COVID19Vic #COVID19VicData pic.twitter.com/dDq8xa4rpX
NSW reports 244 new cases and one death
New South Wales has recorded 244 new Covid-19 cases overnight, and one more death.
There are 269 people in hospital, including 52 in intensive care.
NSW COVID-19 update – Sunday 7 November 2021
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) November 6, 2021
In the 24-hour reporting period to 8pm last night:
- 93.9% of people aged 16+ have had one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine
- 89.7% of people aged 16+ have had two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine
- 70,276 tests pic.twitter.com/sHLxF7F0Ya
Concerns continue over the number of new Covid-19 cases being detected in regional NSW, AAP reports.
The state added 270 locally acquired infections to its caseload on Saturday, while a further three deaths were recorded.
Some 270 patients also remain in NSW hospitals, 55 of them in ICU and 27 needing ventilation.
Health officials say neither a woman in her 30s from Sydney’s west nor a Wollongong man in his 60s who died had been vaccinated. A western Sydney man in his 50s had received one dose.
There were more than 72,000 tests conducted across NSW in the 24 hours to 8pm on Friday, while just on 90 per cent of NSW residents aged 16 or older are now fully vaccinated.
However new cases beyond Sydney remain stubbornly high, sparking worry over Indigenous communities, and especially as travel around NSW resumes.
Some 73 of the latest infections were detected in the Hunter New England health district, 37 were reported on the mid north coast, 21 were from Murrumbidgee and 10 in western NSW.
The Central Coast had six cases and there were five in both the Illawarra and Blue Mountains.
Ongoing sewage surveillance also found virus fragments in samples collected from Uralla and Byron Bay in northern NSW and at Dungog and Denman in the Hunter Valley.
There are no known cases in any of these areas.
This weekend marks the first since restrictions lifted on travel from greater Sydney to regional areas for the fully vaccinated.
Updated
Twin four-year-old girls die in house fire
Twin girls have died after a house fire west of Byron Bay on Sunday morning.
NSW police report emergency services were called out to the property on Mafeking Rd, Goonengerry after 4am, with reports two children were suffering from smoke inhalation.
CPR was performed, however, the four-year-old girls were unable to be revived. A woman was also treated for shock.
Detectives are working with fire investigators to determine the cause of the fire, but initial reports suggest a candle may have been left burning in the home.
Updated
Good morning
Hello, and welcome to the live blog for Sunday, 7 November. I’m Josh Taylor and I’ll be bringing you all the news this morning.
Yesterday, the prime minister, Scott Morrison, said Australia is on track to “have one of the highest vaccination rates in the world”, after the vaccination rate for people aged 16 years and over reached 80% across the country.
The ACT is the highest at 94.8%, followed by NSW at 89.7%, and Victoria at 84%.
WA is at 66.2%, the NT is at 66.3%, Queensland is at 66.9%, South Australia is at 69.9%, and Tasmania is at 77.9%.
From Monday, people who received their second dose more than six months ago are eligible for booster shots. NSW Health has been offering booster shots since the start of the month but it will be extended to the rest of the country.
In other news, the NT town of Katherine will learn if its three-day lockdown will end today, and the lockout of non-vaccinated people in greater Darwin will also end after three cases have been detected in the community.
Embattled Victorian Liberal MP Tim Smith also announced in a midnight email to party members in the seat of Kew that he will not contest the next election.
The 38-year-old returned a breath test reading of 0.131 – almost three times the legal blood alcohol limit – after he crashed into a car and a Hawthorn home on the night of 30 October, narrowly avoiding a child’s bedroom.
And in Western Australia, the search will resume at first light for a 57-year-old man reported missing at Port Beach in North Fremantle where it’s feared he may have been attacked by multiple sharks.
All beaches in the area have been closed.
Let’s get into it.
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