What happened Tuesday 14 December 2021
With that, we’ll end our live coverage for today.
Here’s a recap of today’s major news developments:
- The Australian and Victorian governments have announced a deal with Moderna to establish an mRNA vaccine facility in Melbourne by as early as 2024.
- The prime minister, Scott Morrison, says the emergent Omicron variant will not “take us back” to more Covid-19 restrictions, and Australia is now prepared to open up and live with the virus.
- The New South Wales government will push ahead with easing Covid restrictions, including those for unvaccinated people, from Wednesday despite epidemiologists urging caution amid rising case numbers and the Omicron variant.
- Tasmania is set to reopen to all vaccinated Australians on Wednesday. While businesses will welcome the tourists, some are concerned the health system won’t cope.
- Gina Cass-Gottlieb, treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s nomination for chair of the competition watchdog, may have to recuse herself from any decisions relating to one of the regulator’s biggest cases if she is approved for the job.
- A report into the Covidsafe contact-tracing app found it was used just 13 times in the past six months during the Delta outbreaks in NSW and Victoria.
Have a great evening. We’ll be back tomorrow to do it all over again.
Updated
One of Australia’s largest national disability insurance scheme providers has apologised to the residents of two troubled group homes after allegations of violence, abuse and neglect were aired at an inquiry.
The commission also heard on Tuesday that Life Without Barriers charged residents at a Victoria home a substantial proportion of their disability pension for “rent” despite the property being leased on a peppercorn deal of $1 a month.
During hearings in the past week, the disability royal commission has heard violence between residents at the Victoria group home run by the provider was so bad it had become “normal”, while there were also allegations of violence, sexual abuse, and neglect at another home in New South Wales.
In one case aired at the commission last week, a resident in the NSW home was hospitalised with a bowel condition and “nearly died” after staff allegedly did not follow care protocol. The provider did not report the incident to the NDIS watchdog.
In another incident, the commission heard a Life Without Barriers investigation found there was not enough evidence to substantiate claims a support worker pushed a client at the NSW home to the ground, even though the employee admitted doing so.
Read more:
An Indigenous prisoner in NSW has been taken to hospital after concerns were raised that the prison was not adequately managing his care for an infection in his hip.
The 37-year-old’s lawyer, Lisa De Luca, said the man had been sent to hospital after pressure from her and other advocates for authorities to treat his illness as serious.
De Luca said the man, an inmate at Junee correctional centre, 450km west of Sydney, was in a lot of pain, could not walk and had only been offered paracetamol for the infection, she said.
“He’s in a bad way, he rang me yesterday,” De Luca said.
“(The prison) are saying he saw a doctor. The GP said ‘yes you have an infection it’s in your hip replacement’. The client was in distress.”
The lawyer contacted the prison multiple times, which she alleges played down the seriousness of the infection.
Read more:
The Morrison government has announced an $85m financial package to bolster Fiji’s economic recovery.
The support follows a similar commitment last year of $83.5m, and will help the Fijian government finance essential services and support economic growth.
The recovery package will have “a focus on fiscal management, private sector recovery, gender equality and social inclusion”, according to a joint statement.
Fiji’s attorney-general and minister for economy, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, said:
As a result of severe travel restrictions, the Covid-19 pandemic’s economic ramifications have been steep across the Pacific. We appreciate Australia’s confidence in Fiji’s financial management through this direct budgetary support that will help alleviate the socioeconomic burden on Fijian society.
With more than 90% adults in Fiji now fully vaccinated –– owed in significant part to Australian-donated vaccines –– we look forward to a normalisation of trade and tourism that reconnects our region and allows our recovery to begin in earnest.”
Foreign minister Marise Payne said:
No country – big or small – has been immune to the Covid-19 pandemic. Australia is pleased to be supporting our close friend and neighbour, Fiji, as the country continues its economic recovery.”
Forensic teams searching for evidence in relation to the disappearance of William Tyrrell will finish their operation in coming days.
In mid-November, police began a renewed effort to search for evidence at multiple sites in Kendall, the town on the New South Wales mid-north coast where William went missing from the home of his foster grandmother in September 2014.
When announcing the renewed search, police were upfront that they were searching for remains.
Search sites have included the home where William was last seen, a nearby creek and bushland, with subterranean imaging equipment used to detect inconsistencies in soil.
While forensic teams were seen bagging various pieces of cloth throughout the several weeks of searching that was hampered by rain, they are yet to make any announcements in relation the significance of any discoveries made during the dig.
In a statement released on Tuesday afternoon, NSW Police said:
The NSW Police Force advise current inquiries and search operations being undertaken in the Kendall area are expected to be completed in coming days.
The forensic search, which is being conducted under a Coronial Order as part of ongoing investigations into the disappearance of William Tyrrell, has been ongoing since Monday 15 November 2021.
Once the search operation is complete, a team will facilitate a repatriation of the site.
Further, forensic examinations of seized items and a significant quantity of soil remain ongoing.
Deputy State Coroner Harriet Grahame has been appraised, and Strike Force Rosann detectives continue to prepare a brief for the information of Her Honour.
Investigators would like to thank the NSW Rural Fire Service, Salvation Army, and the local community for their hospitality and assistance.
The NSW Police Force remains committed to finding William Tyrrell and investigations by the Homicide Squad’s Strike Force Rosann are ongoing.”
Western Australia’s health minister Roger Cook is speaking about potential Covid exposure in his state.
Two truck drivers from South Australia who were in WA between 9-11 December have tested positive to Covid.
Cook said close contacts will be notified and exposure sites listed later today.
“At this stage we haven’t allocated any contacts as close contacts, they are simply contacts,” Cook said.
Cook said authorities’ main concerns lie with the movements of one of the drivers.
A baby girl is in a critical condition in hospital in Adelaide after contracting invasive meningococcal disease.
The seven-month-old has the W strain of the disease, with seven of her close contacts receiving precautionary antibiotics, reports AAP.
South Australia has reported 11 cases of meningococcal so far this year compared to five at the same time last year.
The Northern Territory has detected four new Covid-19 cases in the community as an outbreak spreads towards the Western Australian border.
One of the infections is linked to a cluster in the town of Katherine, 320km south of Darwin, reports AAP.
The other three cases are unconfirmed, but Health Minister, Natasha Fyles, said they are very likely to be genuine infections due to the close contacts.
Two of those are in remote Timber Creek near the WA border, 225km east of Kununurra, and the other one is in Kalkarindji, 550km south of Darwin.
“Today’s case numbers are nowhere near as high as yesterday but we do expect more cases in the coming days,” Fyles said on Tuesday.
It brings the current outbreak to 88 cases but that is expected to rise to 91 later in the day once the three infections are confirmed.
It started when an infected woman illegally entered the NT in late October.
People in Timber Creek have been ordered to wear a face mask in most public places until 2pm on Friday as a rapid response team prepares to travel to the town.
A lockout in the Aboriginal community of Beswick, 425km southeast of Darwin, will end at 2pm Tuesday but masks will need to be worn until the same time on Friday.
The mask order is also in place in nearby Barunga Aboriginal community, Katherine and the town of Tennant Creek, 990km south of Darwin.
Updated
⚠️ Public Health Alert ⚠️
— Queensland Health (@qldhealth) December 14, 2021
New contact tracing locations exist in:
📍 Goondiwindi
For a full list of venues and advice on what to do if you've been to one, visit ➡️
https://t.co/Aas0CMd7sL pic.twitter.com/EVzVrOz5NU
Earlier this afternoon, my colleague Josh Taylor wrote about how a report into the Covidsafe contact-tracing app found it was used just 13 times in the past six months during the Delta outbreaks in NSW and Victoria.
Nationals senator Matt Canavan, appearing on ABC TV this afternoon, acknowledged the app spearheaded by his government didn’t work, and pointed out he has said this before.
He said:
That app didn’t work. You have to try different things when you have a global pandemic in front of you...It didn’t work but it was worth trying.”
Half of all young people held in detention facilities in Australia are Indigenous and almost two-thirds have yet to be sentenced for a crime, new data shows.
It comes after a commitment by Australian governments to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 12, a move advocates and lawyers say does not go far enough to protect the most vulnerable children from the trauma of being incarcerated.
A report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), released on Tuesday, found that 72% of the more than 800 children and young people held in detention on an average night in the June quarter this year were unsentenced – meaning they were either remanded in custody while awaiting the outcome of a court case or held in custody by police.
It also found 50% of those in youth detention were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, despite Indigenous children making up just 6% of the 10-17 age cohort in the broader population.
Indigenous children were jailed at 20 times the rate of non-Indigenous children as of June 2021 and were also more likely to be jailed without being sentenced and more likely to be under the age of 18 when incarcerated, the report showed.
Read more:
On a picturesque stretch of Tasmania’s east coast, Kate Bradley’s berry farm and cafe has struggled since Covid drastically cut the number of hungry tourists pulling up for her “desserts with a view”.
But as Tasmanians prepare for the border with the rest of the nation to open fully on Wednesday, Bradley shares mixed feelings of anxiety and relief with many in the island state.
“I’m a little bit apprehensive about opening up. One part of me says bring it on as quickly as possible, the other says, how are we going to go?” Bradley says.
“But we need the business and I’m optimistic.
“All my staff are vaccinated and most of our family are too. I’ve got all the cleaning and sanitation gear here and I’m also going to buy for all my staff these rapid antigen tests. I’m as prepared as I can be.”
Tasmanians have enjoyed a relatively restriction-free lifestyle throughout 2021, with no community cases of Covid. Apart from a three-day lockdown when a traveller fled hotel quarantine, there have been no orders to wear masks except in hospitals, airports and at large events.
Read more of Sally Glaetzer’s piece about Tasmania’s preparations ahead of relaxing its border rules from Wednesday:
Updated
See you tomorrow Tassie 😀 pic.twitter.com/zkhTFq3MOl
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) December 14, 2021
South Australia records 12 new Covid cases
Health authorities in South Australia have announced 12 new Covid-19 cases have been detected in the most recent 24-hour reporting period.
Two of the new cases are reported as being aged care health workers.
It comes as a Covid case attended a school assembly in Adelaide, which has prompted hundreds of people in the city’s south report for testing.
South Australian COVID-19 update 14/12/21. 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/szh03Ddswb
— SA Health (@SAHealth) December 14, 2021
Updated
It will come as no surprise but the Covidsafe contact-tracing app has been used just 13 times in the past six months during the Delta outbreaks in NSW and Victoria.
The second report on the operation of the app, released this month, reveals between May and November this year, contact tracers downloaded data from the app just 13 times, with only two potential close contacts identified through the app.
The 13 users who uploaded their data showed 331 exchanges between phones using the app, with nine encounters (where the phones were within 1.5m of each other for a period of time). With just two potential close contacts identified.
It shows a massive decline in not only people using the app, but contact tracers relying on it in the peak of the Delta wave in Australia. Since the launch 2020, there have been 792 people with Covid uploading data from the app, with 2,829 potential close contacts identified.
As previously reported, there are less than two dozen close contacts identified who weren’t found through manual contact tracing. The report says by identifying a previously-unknown exposure date at Mounties in Sydney, two people who were at that venue were found to have tested positive for Covid-19.
The report also reveals the measurement was changed to account for Delta in October. Instead of needing people to be in contact for 15 minutes or more, public health officers can now view encounters of between one minute and 15 minutes, meaning fleeting contacts where Delta could have been transmitted could have been captured by the app, provided people were using it.
The government still refuses to say how many users continue to use the app. The department said in the report that the Sydney outbreak in June led to a doubling of registrations nationally, and numbers increased again after the fourth and fifth lockdowns in Melbourne.
Updated
I’ve been watching the ongoing case against sitting judge Salvatore Vasta, who is being personally sued for his handling of a routine property settlement case in 2018, during which he jailed a man for contempt.
Such proceedings are remarkably rare. Judges like Vasta, who sits on the federal circuit court bench, are generally protected by judicial immunity, shielding them from being sued as a result of errors.
In this case, Vasta has conceded he mistakenly assumed that another judge had previously found the man, known by the pseudonym Mr Stradford, to have breached a court order, making him guilty of contempt. Vasta then sentenced him to 12 months imprisonment, to serve six.
Stradford says he endured a torrid time in prison.
His lawyers are arguing Vasta, as an inferior court judge, exceeded his jurisdiction in jailing Stradford and has therefore lost the protection of judicial immunity.
Jeremy Kirk, SC, acting for Vasta, said in his closing submissions on Tuesday that he accepted Vasta could have found out there had been no hearing on Stradford’s alleged previous contempt prior to jailing him.
Kirk said:
We accept he could have found it out with reasonable inquiries. It was as I said a significant human mistake, but a human mistake nonetheless.
It did have serious consequences, we don’t avoid that conclusion or characterisation either. That being said, many exercises of judicial power can have serious consequences.
But Kirk maintained that Vasta is protected by judicial immunity and should not even be before the court.
The hearing continues before justice Michael Wigney in the federal court.
Commuters in Sydney are being urged to wear masks and socially distance on trains as best they can on Tuesday, as rail employees taking industrial action see the city’s network operate at 25% of its weekday capacity.
Dale Merrick, chief operating officer of New South Wales TrainLink, warned that travellers on some lines would have limited personal space in carriages.
“Customers travelling to the Hunter Valley, into the Blue Mountains and the South Coast, [are] today effectively experiencing a weekend timetable and as I said, [this is] utterly disappointing that we have had to do so today,” Merrick said.
All lines on the Sydney network are affected, with workers refusing to staff foreign-made trains as part of failed enterprise agreement negotiations between the the Rail, Tram and Bus Union and NSW Trains.
Industrial action was also taken last week, and Merrick said he was “greatly disappointed that again today our employees and the union have taken this action”.
Merrick said negotiations with the union are ongoing.
Updated
Two dogs have been rescued from mine shafts by specialist Victorian firefighters in separate incidents in the same week.
The Country Fire Authority’s Bendigo-based Oscar1 Brigade rescued Bruno the bull-Arab on 5 December after he fell down a mine shaft at Castlemaine Diggins National Park, reports AAP.
Less than six days later, the brigade was called to rescue Terry the kelpie-cross from a mine shaft at Woodend.
“The owner said they were camping and the dog just went for a run, but as it was night and you can’t see these mine shafts at the best of times, he just fell down the hole,” Captain Daniel McMahon said.
“It was a 15-metre shaft but we thought it may have been a false floor, meaning there could have been another 10 or 20 metres below if the floor had collapsed.
“Terry was in surprisingly good nick though with no injuries, so we hooked him up to the ropes and Woodend brigade helped pull him up.”
McMahon said he was pleased both incidents ended with a good result.
“Rescuing a dog in a mineshaft is a serious job, but for us, it also doubles as real-world experience in case we are called to a community member in the same unfortunate situation,” he said.
Updated
Scott Morrison says Omicron won't 'take us back' to lockdowns
The prime minister, Scott Morrison, says the emergent Omicron variant will not “take us back” to more Covid-19 restrictions, and Australia is now prepared to open up and live with the virus.
Announcing a deal with Moderna and the Victorian government that will see a new manufacturing facility built in Melbourne by as early as 2024, Morrison said the country’s high vaccination rate meant Australia could “continue to move forward”.
“We’re not letting Omicron take us back,” Morrison said.
“We’ve decided as a country to live with this virus and Australians have worked so hard for that.
“Australia can now open up. This Christmas we’re about to have is a gift Australians have given to themselves by the way they’ve worked together with the settings that we’ve put in place.”
Morrison also conceded the Coalition had made mistakes during the pandemic, including in the early phases of the vaccination rollout, but said these had been overcome.
Read more:
Updated
The New South Wales auditor general has reportedly refused to sign off on the state’s finances, prompting fears public assets could be sold to cover up a $10bn government “accounting sham”, reports AAP.
Margaret Crawford has told Treasury she will not approve the budget, Nine Newspapers report, unless a solution is found to what she described as “significant accounting issues” with the government’s Transport Asset Holding Entity.
The state-owned corporation was set up in 2015 to own NSW’s transport assets but accountants and public servants have since warned it is being used to inflate the NSW budget.
NSW Treasury had miscalculated the benefit of TAHE to the state budget to the tune of $10 billion over the next 10 years, a parliamentary inquiry has heard.
Former transport department secretary Rod Staples has also warned the setup blurs the lines of responsibility for maintenance of the assets and public safety.
The government is scrambling to find a solution, two days before it is due to hand down its half-yearly budget update.
Opposition leader Chris Minns fears Sydney Trains, NSW trains or the entire Transport department could be sold to plug the massive hole in the budget.
If you’re still unclear on what TAHE is, here’s an explainer we prepared earlier.
Updated
Australia’s drugs regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), has tested a number of imported products labelled as ivermectin and found that they are counterfeit.
The products Iversun-12, Covimectin-12, and Ivilife-12 failed laboratory tests. In a statement the TGA said the findings should “serve as a warning against buying ivermectin products from unverified online sellers”.
“Counterfeit products may contain undeclared and hazardous ingredients that could cause a serious adverse reaction. They may also be contaminated because of a lack of manufacturing and testing standards.”
The TGA is working with the Australian Border Force to target counterfeit and unlawful ivermectin entering Australia. Border force will refer suspected counterfeit products to the TGA for further direction.
The TGA has also warned against self-medicating with unproven Covid-19 drugs like ivermectin.
“It is very dangerous to take large doses of ivermectin and there is insufficient evidence to validate its safe and effective use for Covid-19,” the TGA said.
Updated
NSW commits to easing rules for unvaccinated
As Covid cases in New South Wales continue to rise, the state government has committed to its plan to lift restrictions for unvaccinated residents from tomorrow.
On Tuesday, as NSW recorded 804 new cases, the government insisted it had considered all the options but was committed to easing restrictions on Wednesday in order to return the state “back to a full life of normality”, AAP reports.
From Wednesday, unvaccinated people will be allowed back in pubs, cafes, gyms and shops and mask mandates will be eased.
The NSW health minister Brad Hazzard made the comments as health authorities are battling to contain an outbreak of the Omicron variant, with a total of 85 cases now confirmed in the state.
“We’re not about to start backflipping on issues we promised,” Hazzard said.
Hazzard also warned “once the unvaccinated are mixing with the vaccinated, the numbers will increase even further”.
“That’s worrying because that puts pressure on our doctors and nurses and our frontline health system,” he said.
He was scathing about people who refused to get vaccinated, saying they were “very vulnerable to what is a rapidly increasing number of Covid cases”.
Updated
A decade of reforms to save the Murray-Darling basin could be undermined by New South Wales’ plans to license too much flood water harvesting, with insiders warning that NSW’s processes will result in irrigators being licensed to take billions of litres of flows without proper environmental assessment.
Two members of the four-person Healthy Floodplains Review committee, which hears appeals from irrigators about their proposed flood plain water entitlements, say the system is “sloppy”, “flawed” and should be reviewed immediately.
They say over the last 12 months the committee has been swamped with more than 400 appeals, involving 1,300 separate flood plain harvesting structures; the committee is overwhelmed and applications are often accompanied by poor evidence.
Irrigators, they say, are now “consultant shopping” to achieve outcomes many times larger than the initial assessment by the Natural Resources Access Regulator, which conducted an on-the-ground survey of dams and other structures used in flood plain harvesting.
Read more:
With that, I shall pass you over to the always amazing Elias Visontay who will expertly guide you through the rest of the day’s news.
See you tomorrow!
Retail giant Woolworths has endured one of its most challenging trading periods following the emergence of the highly contagious Delta variant of Covid-19, AAP reports.
The supermarket operator said its stock flows and operating rhythm were rocked by the scare in the first six months of fiscal 2022.
Chief executive Brad Banducci said today in a market update:
The first half of F22 has been one of the most challenging halves we have experienced in recent memory due to the far-reaching impact of the Covid Delta strain.
He said the costs of trading in a Covid environment would affect first-half earnings.
Woolworths, which will release its first-half results in late February, expects to see a direct cost hit of $150 million in its Australian Food division in addition to direct costs of between $60 million to $70 million.
Australian Food earnings before interest and tax are forecast to be between $1.19 billion and $1.22 billion, compared with about $1.33 billion in the same period in fiscal 2021.
Banducci said during a call with analysts also saw challenges in Christmas trade, namely sourcing goods due to the supply chain difficulties of the pandemic.
It’s not going to be an easy ride into Christmas.
We’ll have a white knuckle ride – not in demand, but in having the stock there for them to buy.
Consumer electronics and some toys were proving difficult to source for Big W stores.
The retail giant will also book a bonus payment for staff of between $35m and $40m as a way of saying thank you for their efforts during the pandemic.
Shares in Woolworths Group on the ASX were down 8.5% to $37.08 at 11.44 AEDT.
Updated
Brylee and her kids meet their niece/cousin Willow for the first time.
— Josh Ribarich (@josh_ribarich) December 14, 2021
Jess and Mike booked their flight from Melbourne to the Gold Coast as soon as they could once the early border reopening was announced.#7NEWS @7NewsGoldCoast pic.twitter.com/iwCRQFSqsT
I just want to make sure no one has forgotten that THIS was just said at a press conference.
"It's like shake and bake. Meet and beat. And that's what we want to see happen here." pic.twitter.com/iJwW6N0jNr
— Greg Jericho (@GrogsGamut) December 14, 2021
Here is the full statement from the PM’s office about the new agreement with Moderna to produce mRNA vaccines in Australia by 2024.
Joint Media Release PM @ScottMorrisonMP @GregHuntMP @Birmo @AngusTaylorMP: mRNA vaccines to be made in Australia https://t.co/TGL9qLO3Vo pic.twitter.com/YporIUq7XU
— PM&C (@pmc_gov_au) December 14, 2021
Updated
Jam Land, the company part-owned by the energy minister Angus Taylor and his brother Richard, illegally poisoned critically endangered grasslands and should restore native habitat, a ministerial review of the original investigation has concluded.
The decision, published late Friday, follows an 18-month review of the original determination which ordered Jam Land to restore 103 hectares of grasslands on a property in the New South Wales Monaro region.
It comes more than five years after the company poisoned the grasslands, known as the natural temperate grassland of the south-eastern highlands, on a property in Corrowong.
You can read the full report below:
New Zealanders stuck overseas and Kiwi business groups have reacted with despair to Jacinda Ardern’s border rethink, AAP reports.
The change-up was the biggest talking point in New Zealand’s Parliament House on Tuesday, where politicians have returned for the last sitting week of the year.
On Monday, Ardern announced the planned reopening to Australia-based New Zealanders, set for 17 January, would be subject to a last-minute review in early January.
We haven’t changed any decisions at this stage around reconnection ... but I think people understand we need to review the latest details and evidence around Omicron.
The review is in contrast to previous statements from Ardern’s ministers they were “very committed” to the date, and Kiwis should make travel plans for then, knowing they could bypass hotel quarantine for self-isolation.
Covid-19 minister Chris Hipkins insisted on Tuesday:
It’s looking very likely that we’ll proceed.
But we can’t discount the possibility that Omicron could prove to be a spanner in the works.
The border rethink comes amid surging vaccine rates in New Zealand. As of Tuesday, 89% of Kiwis aged 12 or over are fully vaccinated, and 94% have had one dose.
New Zealand’s reticence to reopen contrasts with shifts from hold-out Australian states.
After hitting vaccine targets, Queensland has opened up without self-isolation requirements for fully vaccinated travellers, Tasmania is following suit on Wednesday, and Western Australia will do so from February 5.
Business NZ chief executive Kirk Hope said the NZ government was “overly cautious”.
They’re using an approach that has suited them well. But it’s increasingly frustrating for business, who are going to be at a competitive disadvantage to Australia.
The (border rethink) signal has created quite a lot of uncertainty for business, which had been looking forward to the door opening on the border even just a bit.
The border review – slated for 7 or 8 January – has drawn scorn from opposition parties.
Opposition leader Christopher Luxon – the big winner from polling released on Tuesday that indicated 20% of New Zealanders rated him their preferred prime minister – said the time had come to reopen.
The rest of the world is moving on.
They are finding a way to move forward ... it is about risk management. We have to find a way through to manage risk intelligently.
Separated families are also aghast, given many had put off applying for quarantine places in recent weeks believing the border would be open to them from 17 January.
Updated
Just on that ACCC news from before, here is the treasurer’s tweet on his top pick:
The Morrison Govt has nominated Ms Gina Cass-Gottlieb to be the next Chairperson of the ACCC.
— Josh Frydenberg (@JoshFrydenberg) December 13, 2021
Gina is one of Australia’s preeminent competition lawyers & will be the 1st female Chair of the ACCC. I thank Rod Sims for his outstanding leadership over 10+ yrs as Chair of the ACCC. pic.twitter.com/PBfSzRaMKB
Updated
A-League Men’s and Women’s clubs are expected to receive a cash windfall after an US private equity firm bought a minority share in the body which oversees both competitions.
Technology investment specialist Silver Lake has struck the deal with the Australian Professional Leagues (APL), which is responsible for the operation and commercialisation of the country’s professional football competitions.
It’s understood the deal is for a 30% stake in the body and is worth approximately $130m. The investment will be used to build a digital media platform.
You can read more in the article below:
Updated
Hunter New England Covid-19 cases skyrocket
Just out of the NSW press conference, chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant has confirmed that the cluster which started at a prom-themed event at Newcastle nightclub has ballooned, with 150 of the 650 attendees now testing positive to Covid-19.
Yesterday there were 28 Covid cases in the Hunter New England region, today this jumped to 224.
Of the 804 cases reported to 8pm last night, 224 are from Hunter New England Local Health District (LHD), 123 are from South Western Sydney LHD, 102 are from Western Sydney LHD, 99 are from South Eastern Sydney LHD, 85 are from Sydney LHD, 41 are from Northern Sydney LHD,
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) December 14, 2021
Updated
Mr Dick also annoyed Qld wasn't considered for mRNA vaccine manufacturing.
— @MartySilk (@MartySilkHack) December 14, 2021
"I called on the federal government to do it five years ago, I'm just sorry Qld wasn't given the opportunity to participate in this."
Just back to that question Scott Morrison was asked about Karen Andrews suggesting that Australia would have domestic mRNA manufacturing capacity by October this year:
this is what then-industry minister Karen Andrews said on Insiders in October 2020 on mRNA vaccines, when asked about getting a "production line up and running"
— Josh Butler (@JoshButler) December 14, 2021
"I would hope that we would be able to do it in about the 9 month to 12 month time frame" pic.twitter.com/hgzeR7x5mk
Updated
Queensland vaccine mandate won't expire in the near future
Queensland chief health officer John Gerrard says Queensland won’t be following NSW in removing restrictions for unvaccinated people anytime soon:
We are not even looking at removing the mandate, it’s not even something that’s on the agenda, so that that is not a good plan at all.
Updated
When a reporter reminded the Act Premier that the government flagged December 15 (tomorrow) would see a ease of rules, James Merlino again said Martin Foley would make an announcement “later in the week”@10NewsFirstMelb #springst
— Simon Love (@SimoLove) December 14, 2021
Luckily it seems that this Queensland community case was not infectious while out and about.
Queensland Chief Health Officer John Gerrard says the northern NSW case who tested positive has not been infectious in the community.
— @MartySilk (@MartySilkHack) December 14, 2021
"We've not seen any impact from the opening of the border, it's a little bit early to see something like that, but we're expecting that."
Queensland records one Covid-19 case in the community
Queensland’s Covid-19 graphics are extremely confusing nowadays, as they don’t seem to count infected people from other states who test positive while out and about in Queensland as local cases.
But the long and short of it is that one new case has been detected in the community.
Tuesday 14 December – coronavirus cases in Queensland:
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) December 14, 2021
• 0 new locally acquired cases detected in Queensland overnight
• 3 new interstate acquired cases - 2 detected in home quarantine, 1 detected in the community
• 1 new overseas case detected in hotel quarantine
#covid19 pic.twitter.com/GIOGa3DoRV
Updated
South Australia will find out by the end of the week what restrictions will be eased once the state reaches 90% double vaccination.
Indigenous vaccination rates surpass 83% in Victoria
Vaccination vans which have travelled to Aboriginal communities around Victoria have helped push the vaccine rate of First Nations people in the state up to 83.5%, the Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation has said.
As of this week, the Australian Immunisation Register states that 87.8% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 15 and over in Victoria have received their first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine and 83.5% have received their second dose.
The high vaccine rate reflects a steady climb up from low figures in September, when it was revealed that a record-keeping error meant the actual Indigenous vaccination rate in Victoria was less than half what had previously been reported.
It follows nine weeks of targeted vaccination campaigns in the form of vaccination vans which have travelled to Mildura, Shepparton, Warrnambool, Seymore, Wodonga, Benalla, Morwell, Drouin and Warragul.
VACCHO chief executive Jill Gallagher:
I’m so proud of our community in welcoming the vans with open arms – it has been incredible. We have seen some great outcomes achieved by the ACCO vaccine van. This reflects what trust looks like in the community ...
I have also been particularly pleased to see so many elders coming to visit the vans to have a yarn and get vaccinated.
Aboriginal communities across Australia have been targeted by misinformation campaigns, which have slowed the vaccine rollout.
Updated
Scott Morrison has been pressed on what he meant when he said no government had got everything right during the pandemic.
I mean – and I said this last night at the Sydney Institute – no government has got everything right, but no government can in a pandemic.
To think that that was 100% strike rate on every decision, I think Australians understand and I think the honesty of governments in being able to say that clearly – I know the Victorian government feel the same way .
But what I can tell us is we did make the big calls and we did get the balance right and the proof of that is the fact that we have saved 40,000 lives based on looking at the average amongst the OECD.
Think about that – 40,000 lives saved because of how Australia has responded to this pandemic. One of the strongest advanced economies to come through the pandemic in the world and one of the highest vaccination rates.
That is the proof of the combination of decisions and responses that our government and, work being other governments around the country, have made.
No country gets it all right but I can tell you we got it right a lot more often than so many other places around the world and Australians are safer today and better prepared today for what’s coming next than almost any other country in the world.
Updated
For once the prime minister and the Victorian government seem to be on the same page when it comes to Covid-19. Here is what Victorian deputy premier James Merlino has to say in response to that same question:
In terms of what the settings will be in this week, the minister for health will make an announcement later in the week. It’s based on the latest health advice but what we have done is in line with the national plan and we can do it because Victorians have been so fantastic in getting vaccinated.
But the answer to your question, whether it’s Omicron or Delta or the next variant, it’s vaccines that protects the citizen, protects families and means that we can enjoy the freedoms that we do right now.
Updated
Reporter:
Is lifting the masks going backwards or keeping masks on, say, for a few weeks, in your mind is that going backwards? Or if they said we need to do it that would be OK?
Scott Morrison:
Well, we had a pause on the opening that starts tomorrow and we did that because we were waiting for the picture to emerge a bit more clearly before taking that next step and now we feel confident to take that next step and states and territories are doing exactly the same thing.
You know, over the course of this pandemic, sometimes there has been that need for patience. And I know that can be frustrating.
I welcome, on the issue of patience, Western Australia giving a clear timetable about when it’s opening. Tomorrow, Tasmania opens. Tremendous, just in time for the Tassie Test next month, which I’m thrilled to see happening.
But all of that, I think, goes to the national plan that [Jodie] McVernon from Doherty helped us construct with the premiers. We’re in phase C now and we look forward to getting to phase D, and that’s all about living with the virus.
Updated
Scott Morrison says Covid-19 health decisions can no longer be based just on case numbers:
We’re now in a different phase. Cases are not the issue and I know over a period of time we may have become conditioned to case numbers being the trigger. That’s not the case ...
Now, here in Victoria, as you rightly say, you’ve been having cases of over 1,000 a day for some time and the Victorian public hospital system and health system is coping strongly.
They did the work, they did the planning, New South Wales is the same. So that is the way forward.
Updated
Questions have turned to the NSW situation now, where the state plans to lift a large number of restrictions on unvaccinated people tomorrow despite today being its most infectious day in more than 10 weeks.
Scott Morrison is asked what he thinks of this but the prime minister says we can’t start walking backwards:
We’re taking Omicron incredibly seriously. We had a very long discussion about this in the meeting with premiers and chief ministers last week. We’re not letting Omicron take us back, though.
We’ve decided as a country to live with this virus and Australians have worked so hard for that. When we have vaccination rates about to hit 90%, one of the highest in the world, that means we have choices today that we didn’t have 18 months ago and that means that we can continue to move forward.
Tomorrow, we will begin welcoming students to Australia again, skilled migrants, working holiday-makers, under those visa programs. From tomorrow, Korea, as I announced yesterday with the president, and Japan, also join with Singapore and New Zealand. But we have watched this very closely and made careful decisions and taken the best medical advice on this.
Updated
Reporter:
Last year Karen Andrews promised mRNA manufacturing by October of this year. Is that a failed promise?
Scott Morrison:
No, that’s not what she said. I know that’s been misrepresented, particularly by our opponents in the Labor party who seem to think you can do this by time travel. I’ll ask Angus to comment on that.
Angus Taylor:
That’s not what Karen said. The point she made was the timeline depends on getting access to the intellectual property. We have that now. Getting access to a site. We’re close to having that ... and we’re committed to getting this done as fast as possible.
It’s important to point out there’s been no development of a new mRNA manufacturing facility anywhere else in the world since the pandemic struck and this will be one of the first in the world. We’re in a good situation to get onto this as quickly as possible, and make it as effective as possible, not just for health outcomes but also for jobs, development of a medical technology hub and development of capabilities I talked about.
Updated
NOOOOOOOOOOOO Scott Morrison just added to this accidentally horrific metaphor with “meet and beat”:
Angus and I and Greg like to talk about meeting and beating of targets. It’s like shake and bake. Meet and beat. And that’s what we want to see happen here. We want this on the ground as quickly as possible.
Am I going crazy? Is this satire?
Updated
If I have to hear one more person refer to building a Moderna manufacturing hub as "pitching a tent in Australia" I'm going to YELL. Surely that's more Pfizer areas?
— Matilda Boseley (@MatildaBoseley) December 14, 2021
Does anyone want to tell this Moderna representative what “pitching a tent” actually means?
I want to thank you, prime minister, acting Premier, and other ministers and most importantly the Doherty.
I’m thrilled and proud to be here today, to announce that Moderna will be pitching tent in Australia, upon the finalisation of our agreement.
We have played a critical role during the pandemic, and as we have all learned, pandemics can come at the time we least expect them.
Anyone else weirdly shocked that official army regalia comes in a short sleeve option?
Covid Taskforce Commander Lt Gen John Frewen gets his booster shot at a pharmacy in Canberra #7NEWS #auspol pic.twitter.com/ZYUxt8eBYZ
— Jennifer Bechwati (@jenbechwati) December 13, 2021
The Moderna man at the press conference (apologies to you, but you didn’t say your name at the start) says a definite location has not yet been locked in for the new mRNA manufacturing hub.
Updated
Since all the politicians are speaking from the Doherty Institue, named after Australia Nobel laureate Prof Peter Doherty, I think it’s only fair that I once again share his most iconic tweet. A tweet that I genuinely believe changed Australian culture forever.
Dan Murphy opening hours
— Prof. Peter Doherty (@ProfPCDoherty) April 27, 2020
Updated
Frydenberg backs lawyer for top job at ACCC
Josh Frydenberg has put forward lawyer Gina Cass-Gottlieb as a poacher-turned-gamekeeper candidate to chair the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
If approved by the states and territories, Cass-Gottlieb will replace Rod Sims, who has been in the job for a decade, when his term expires in March.
It’s a big change for Cass-Gottlieb, a partner at law firm Gilbert & Tobin, who has spent much of her career bashing Sims’ ACCC over mergers and acquisitions on behalf of big companies, as well as representing clients under investigation by it and other regulators.
On approval by the states and territories, who haven’t withheld the thumbs-up in living memory, she will become the first woman to chair the ACCC, one of Australia’s most powerful regulators.
Frydenberg thanked Sims for his service:
Mr Sims has made an outstanding contribution to competition, consumer and infrastructure policy in his time at the ACCC, helping to advance world-leading reforms, including most recently with respect to the digital platforms ...
I also acknowledge his wider contribution to public policy during his distinguished public service career which spans more than three decades. I wish him well for the future.
Updated
James Merlino:
This is a huge announcement because this is the first time in the southern hemisphere we’ll have mRNA manufacturing based in this nation.
And 25m vaccines, the ability to ramp up to 100m, and it’s not just in regards to vaccine developments, whether it’s variants of coronavirus right now, pandemics of the future, but beyond, beyond that, treatment of cancer, treatment of rare diseases, this is a massive game-changer and to have that manufacturing capacity, the research capacity, right here in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, is a great thing.
This will create jobs: 1,000 jobs, 500 in construction, 500 ongoing, but beyond that, it saves lives. Whether it’s dealing with a pandemic, treatment of cancer, treatment of rare diseases, this is a major, major announcement.
Updated
Victoria’s deputy premier James Merlino is speaking now (the Moderna deal is a collaboration between the state and federal governments), and seems to have a new slogan: Boston, London, Melbourne.
Merlino:
When you think about medical research and biotechnology, think about Boston, think about London, and you think about Melbourne.
This is the place to be. Boston, London and Melbourne, the three great leading cities when it comes to medical research and biotechnology.
In Melbourne and Victoria, 30,000 jobs in medical research, biotechnology, across our industry, universities, and institutes such as the Doherty.
Forty per cent of the nation’s medical tech and biotech companies are based in Melbourne, and 60% of the nation’s pharmaceutical exports come from Victoria. So this is a great announcement and it’s the logical place to do it.
Updated
Scott Morrison:
We are building our sovereign capability here. Which protects Australia’s national interests. Our sovereign capability to manufacture these vaccines here in Australia.
Up to 100m-a-year* capacity to do this in this arrangement is extraordinary. But we’ve got it right. We’ve spent the time to get it right. This is not an arrangement that you just rush into and do a deal on a coffee shop somewhere.
This is something you do the meticulous work on. We worked with a number of states and we came to the very, I think, sensible conclusion here in the Victoria, we have the strong foundation to continue to build, not just a great research and collaboration infrastructure, but a powerhouse of medical manufacturing, that plays exactly into our economic goals of securing the economic recovery, 1 million Australians are now employed in manufacturing.
*But remember, the first year isn’t until 2024.
Updated
So, obviously when chatting about doing a deal to set up domestic vaccine manufacturing, the elephant in the room is Scott Morrison’s decision last year to do a deal to produce AstraZeneca domestically, which ended up being, well ... not the best move.
The prime minister is going with the “well, everyone got stuff wrong and I promise we are getting it right this time” tactic to explain this:
It was in this country that already we have produced here in Victoria, 25m AstraZeneca vaccines. In August of 2020, we did the deal to ensure that could be done right here in Australia and that provided the workhorse, the backbone of the vaccine program that’s seen us get to where we are today.
But we also know during this pandemic, as we have learned many lessons, no government has got everything right, I’m sure that James [Merlino] would agree with me, we all sought to work together to make the best calls we possibly can.
But the mRNA vaccines have proven to be, I argue, the biggest scientific discovery over the course of this pandemic.
Updated
Scott Morrison's press conference begins
OK, jumping down to Victoria now where the prime minister is speaking from the Doherty Institute in Melbourne.
This morning he is announcing that Australia has made a deal with the pharmaceutical company Moderna to create an mRNA vaccine manufacturing facility in Australia. (It won’t be functional until 2024.)
Scott Morrison seems to be feeling a little poetic and, dare I say, sentimental this morning.
It was in February 2020, I was here with Greg Hunt, and I got to stare in the face of the virus because it was reproduced here for the first time anywhere in the world. Since that day, together, Australians have been staring this virus down.
We have made some big calls. We got the balance right, I believe, working together as a country. Working together with states and territories, working together with our health and medical, science and research community, that is enabled us to achieve incredible things in this country. We have the lowest fatality rate of almost every country in the world, saved more than 30,000 lives.
Updated
A number of flood warnings have just been published for NSW:
⚠️ #Minor to Major Flood Warning issued for the Namoi River at #Narrabri, #Wee Waa (Glencoe), #Bugilbone and #Goangra. See https://t.co/AdztI2rqg1 for details and updates; follow advice from @NSWSES. #NSWFloods pic.twitter.com/Y9GLHNl0lH
— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) December 13, 2021
⚠️ #Minor to Moderate Flood Warning issued for #the Macquarie River at Wellington Bridge and Warren. See https://t.co/AdztI2rqg1 for details and updates; follow advice from @NSWSES. #NSWFloods pic.twitter.com/Lua87gciNg
— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) December 13, 2021
⚠️ #Minor Flood Warning issued for the Bogan River at #Mulgawarrina and #Gongolgon. See https://t.co/AdztI2rqg1 for details and updates; follow advice from @NSWSES. #NSWFloods pic.twitter.com/aRb1SK4oHl
— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) December 13, 2021
⚠️ #Final Flood Warning issued for the Gwydir River at #Yarraman. See https://t.co/AdztI2rqg1 for details and updates; follow advice from @NSWSES. #NSWFloods pic.twitter.com/EI3n5itUI2
— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) December 13, 2021
Brad Hazzard:
The numbers of people in the hospital at the moment are fairly low. There’s only 21 in ICU today.
I think there’s one on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, or Ecmo.
The numbers are slight this morning. But once the unvaccinated are mixing with the vaccinated, the numbers will increase even further. That’s worrying because that puts pressure on our doctors and nurses and our frontline health system.
I said this once before, I will say it again – to the unvaccinated, it’s not fair to health workers that you can be so selfish to think that being unvaccinated is OK. It’s not.
It’s the doctors and nurses in our hospitals who then have to care for you when you come to our hospital. I have no doubt there will be people coming to hospitals because they have been unvaccinated.
Updated
No Newcastle lockdown, despite spike in cases
Brad Hazzard is asked if he is ruling out the possibility that the Newcastle area could go into lockdown after a spike of cases in the area:
New South Wales is not planning on any snap lockdowns. What we’re planning on is making sure the community understand the need to have boosters and being vaccinated.
Updated
Brad Hazzard:
The circumstances of what is occurring right now in the Hunter district, where we are seeing substantial increases in numbers of Covid, is a very telling reminder to all of us, particularly as we open up to the unvaccinated.
My message to the vaccinated, you might be out and about now but you are very vulnerable to what is a rapidly increasing number of Covid cases here in NSW. Go and get vaccinated. Give up on the current views you have and going get vaccinated.*
*Wow! If only there were some legal incentives that would encourage people to go get vaccinated!
Updated
NSW health minister Brad Hazzard is speaking now after the state recorded its most infectious day in 10 weeks.
And yes, there is a brass band playing Feliz Navidad in the background.
Though NSW Health is easing a huge number of restrictions for unvaccinated people tomorrow, Hazzard says he worried about the lack of Covid-19 booster shot take-up:
I am concerned not enough people are actually understanding the benefit of getting the booster. A third shot of vaccine is going to make all the difference.
What we do know, is it does not matter whether you have had AstraZeneca or Pfizer or Moderna, whatever you may have had, it does drop off in terms of the effect on your immunity.
Particularly if over 60, immunity drops off after three to four months and we need to go and get a booster.
Updated
The wild weather that’s been battering the east coast of Australia has led to widespread flooding in multiple states and a surge in insurance claims, reports Jack Gramenz from AAP.
NRMA Insurance says the number of weather-related damage claims during the spring season, which included NSW’s wettest November on record, was 35% above average.
All up, 10,000 homes claimed weather damage from the insurer in Queensland, NSW and the ACT.
NRMA data shows nearly half the claims were for hail damage in the Coffs Harbour region on the NSW north coast in October, and wild weather was responsible for two-thirds of the claims.
The insurer’s natural perils executive manager Mark Leplastrier says it’s been “an ominous start to storm season”.
Spring featured some of the most unpredictable and extreme weather we have seen in many years, and with a La Niña system now declared, we could be in for more wet weather over summer ...
There has been some relief from flooding in NSW at least, with river heights dropping in several areas around the state after persistent wet weather. The Hunter River has receded below minor flood levels, as have the Severn and Hawkesbury rivers.
Minor to moderate flooding is still occurring along the Gwydir, Macquarie, Macintyre, Bogan, Murrumbidgee, Warrego, Paroo and Snowy rivers.
There is still a risk of major flooding on the Namoi, Lachlan, Barwon, and Weir rivers. The Namoi could send Wee Waa back into isolation with a major flood peak predicted on Tuesday night. The river is expected to peak near 7.1 metres.
Lepastrier said climate change impacts could make severe storms more frequent over a wider area, and seven out of 10 people in a survey said they worried natural disasters were increasing in frequency and severity.
Disaster assistance is available in local government areas around NSW.
The clean-up will come too late for many of the state’s farmers, who have had their hopes of a prosperous harvest crushed by weeks of heavy rain and flooding.
A survey of rural confidence by Rabobank released on Tuesday showed confidence was high leading into the harvest season, with 88% of respondents predicting excellent conditions to continue, before flooding devastated crops.
Rabobank central NSW regional manager Toby Mendl said:
A few weeks ago, it was hard to imagine that cropping conditions in NSW could get any better but we now have a situation where some growers, who had been preparing to harvest record-yielding crops, will actually harvest nothing.
Updated
Sea surface temperatures not exactly 'warm' for swimming in #Tasmania, maybe easier to take a dip on Saturday when land temps warm up a bit more, but it will be windy. #slipslopslap pic.twitter.com/WbFYrKTxQi
— Bureau of Meteorology, Tasmania (@BOM_Tas) December 13, 2021
Domestic border restrictions in Australia have eased as local cases of the Omicron variant rise. Overseas, the UK has raised its Covid alert level and reintroduced restrictions amid concerns that Omicron poses a “rapidly increasing risk to the public and healthcare services”.
Here’s what we know so far about Omicron and how worried Australia should be about the new variant of concern.
Get all the most important info in the article below:
A reminder that Triple J’s Hottest 100 is open for voting this morning, and yes, I will be giving every single one of my votes to All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version) (From the Vault).
EXCUSE ME! It's the most exciting time of year - voting for #Hottest100 has opened. I don't know about you, but music has really helped me through the last couple of years, and I'm looking forward to reliving some of the best moments during the countdown: https://t.co/Fc8EXBymEq
— Shalailah Medhora (@shalailah) December 13, 2021
Updated
Just in case you forgot about that other diseases still exist, as I have over the last two years!
Remember to get your flu shot, especially if you are planning an amazing European getaway.
As Australian borders reopen, cases of influenza are expected to increase in Australia. An annual flu shot is recommended to prevent influenza and its complications. pic.twitter.com/23K2x5NwwG
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) December 13, 2021
Updated
We will be hearing from the Tasmanian premier at 11am today AEDT.
There will be a COVID-19 update from Tasmania’s Premier Peter Gutwein at 11am #covid19tas #politas
— Monte Bovill (@MonteBovill) December 13, 2021
Updated
They’re trying to silence me! You can’t swim in the ocean! They changed the 389 Bondi bus timetable! Won’t somebody think of the property developers?
Alan Jones, having lost his low-rating spot on Sky News and his regular rant in Sydney’s Daily Telegraph, is back with a new show called Direct to the People.
Jones began at 8pm on Monday night, thundering about being silenced. “You’re not allowed to have an alternative viewpoint,” he bellowed on YouTube, Facebook and his own website, while spruiking his new morning podcast.
“They won’t silence you or me,” he continued.
Alas, he was silenced.
Find out what happened in the article below:
Firefighters will be able to more accurately predict whims of deadly bushfires thanks to new modelling it is hoped will save lives and properties, reports AAP’s Tiffanie Turnbull.
Australia’s national science agency CSIRO and the NSW Rural Fire Service have developed the country’s most advanced model for predicting the speed and behaviour of eucalypt forest fires.
Eucalypt forests make up more than 70% of Australia’s forests, and have featured in some of its fiercest fires.
The model is a mathematical description of how a fire responds to environmental conditions, and will be rolled out nationally this summer.
CSIRO bushfire behaviour researcher and leader of the project Miguel Cruz said:
This model was built using analysis of the most extensive set of data gathered from observations of large, high-intensity experimental fires and wildfires, collated from around the country over the past 40 years.
Firefighters input forecast weather and wind information from the Bureau of Meteorology, data on the fuel load within the forest from vegetation databases, and patterns of existing behaviour of a fire from fireground reports.
CSIRO bushfire behaviour researcher Andrew Sullivan said the new model would give firefighters an extra advantage in controlling complex and difficult blazes.
Firefighters often have to battle steep terrain and challenging conditions just to reach the fire ...
Critically, this model can accurately predict the speed that a fire front will advance across a landscape, which is essential to enable authorities to efficiently identify threats, issue bushfire warning messages, signal evacuations and plan fire suppression actions.
Updated
COVID-19 HEALTH ALERT 13 December 2021
— SA Health (@SAHealth) December 13, 2021
SA Health has updated the health advice for COVID-19 exposure locations in South Australia.
More information is available at https://t.co/4sJYacZiHu pic.twitter.com/ogD5c72o14
A real estate agency in Queensland has come under fire after it emailed tenants offering them the chance to buy a Christmas gift for their landlords.
Kanik & Co, located near Brisbane, sent out an email to tenants offering to facilitate the purchasing of select gifts, along with any “handwritten notes”, that would be delivered to the owner of the property.
Some of the offered gifts include a $50 “white wine grazing box”, a $55 “festive sweets basket”, a $70 “self care hamper”, a $99 “foodies hamper” and a $115 gift called “all things golden”.
You can read the full report below:
Updated
MELBOURNE - Active Cases By Postcode 🗺️ pic.twitter.com/L4ObqNM3UI
— CovidBaseAU 🦠📊🇦🇺 (@covidbaseau) December 13, 2021
More NSW Covid restrictions to lift on Wednesday
A reminder that this significant jump in Covid-19 cases in NSW comes before a huge range of vaccinated economy restrictions being lifted across the state tomorrow.
From 15 December the following rules apply to everyone, regardless of vaccination status:
- Masks will only be required on public transport and planes, at airports and for indoors front-of-house hospitality staff who are not fully vaccinated
- QR check-in is only required for hospitals, aged and disability care facilities, gyms, places of worship, funerals or memorial services, personal services, pubs, small bars, registered clubs, nightclubs, strip clubs, sex on premises, and indoor music festivals with more than 1,000 people
- No person limit in gyms, indoor recreation and sporting facilities
- Non-critical retail reopens to all
- No person limit for personal services including hairdressers, spas, beauty and nail salons, tattoo and massage parlours
- Employers allow staff to work from home at their discretion
- International travellers who are not fully vaccinated still need to quarantine on arrival for 14 days
- No limit to number of visitors in your home
- No limit to number of people for outdoor public gatherings
- All visitors to residents in aged care facilities and disability homes permitted in line with their policies
- No person limit in hospitality venues
- Singing and dancing is permitted indoors and outdoors for all
- Travel between greater Sydney and regional NSW permitted for all
- Carpooling permitted for all
- Caravan parks and camping grounds open for all
- No person limit for major recreation facilities like stadiums, theme parks and racecourses
- No person limit for entertainment facilities including cinemas and theatres
- No person limit for information and education facilities including art galleries, museums and libraries
- No person limit for outdoor public gatherings and recreation
- Music festivals reopen with 20,000 person limit
- Amusement centres and play centres open to all
- Weddings and funerals permitted with no person limit, eating and drinking allowed while standing and dancing permitted for all
- Singing and dancing indoors permitted by all
- Places of worship open to all
Rules via AAP.
Updated
NSW records 804 new Covid-19 cases and one death
NSW #COVID19 update – Tuesday 14 December 2021
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) December 13, 2021
In the 24-hour reporting period to 8pm last night:
- 94.8% of people aged 16+ have had one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine
- 93.2% of people aged 16+ have had two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine pic.twitter.com/tGlh6AmLId
Victoria records 1,189 new cases a six deaths
We thank everyone who got vaccinated and tested yesterday.
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) December 13, 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/TVUIQnwWv1
The deaths of two Queensland infant twins with special needs is being investigated by child protection police, reports AAP.
Emergency services were called to an apartment block in Bungalow, an inner suburb of Cairns, on Monday morning.
They were unable to revive the two infants, who both had special medical needs.
On Tuesday morning police said the Cairns child protection investigation unit was investigating their deaths.
Updated
Areas of cloud over #SouthAustralia this morning, but plenty of gaps to let some sunshine through. A couple of showers and possible thunderstorms over the far west today but dry over the remainder. Very hot in the far northeast. Latest forecasts at https://t.co/M4pjHgM3Wq pic.twitter.com/WpZW3yde9W
— Bureau of Meteorology, South Australia (@BOM_SA) December 13, 2021
Australia’s eight planned nuclear submarines will cost $70bn at an “absolute minimum” and it’s “highly likely” to be more than that, defence analysts say.
With inflation, the cost could be as high as $171bn, according to a report from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.
The thinktank’s report contains a series of estimates ranging from low to high and concedes that estimating the final cost of the project is necessarily an “extremely assumption-rich activity”.
Under the low range, for a smaller submarine with a more efficient build, the “constant” cost (not including inflation) would be about $70bn. Including inflation (the “out-turned” cost), it would be $116bn.
You can read the full report below:
Updated
The morning may have felt a little chilly but it will be warming up today in #Canberra 🌞 with a top 29 degrees. The warmer temperatures come with a chance of afternoon/evening thunderstorm, but it should be dry for most the day: https://t.co/joZWdwQrr8 pic.twitter.com/W8MpMkQl5c
— Bureau of Meteorology Australian Capital Territory (@BOM_ACT) December 13, 2021
Here is the full statement from the Victorian government on the Moderna manufacturing facility that’s set to be operational by 2024.
Victoria to become home of mRNA vaccine manufacturing #springst pic.twitter.com/2Zl74qFxOw
— Political Alert (@political_alert) December 13, 2021
Updated
Scott Morrison has called on states and territories to ease their last remaining Covid-19 restrictions, as Western Australia announced plans to reopen its hard border to the rest of the nation, reports AAP’s Andrew Brown.
Speaking at the Sydney Institute’s annual dinner on Monday night, Morrison urged jurisdictions to “facilitate, rather than dictate”:
Australians kept their side of the deal, it is time for governments to now keep theirs; to step back and let Australians step forward ...
To put Australians back in charge of their own lives, relying on the connecting points and relationships that exist between the state and the individual.
It comes as West Australian premier Mark McGowan announced the state would relax its border restrictions from 5 February.
The prime minister congratulated WA for making it to the 80% vaccination level and for announcing plans to scrap its hard border:
Australia is going to be connected and together again ...
This will be welcome news for thousands of Western Australians looking forward to reuniting with family and friends after so long apart.
The prime minister also confirmed that a two-week pause on allowing visa holders to enter the country without an exemption would end as scheduled on Wednesday.
Updated
This has not yet been independently confirmed by Guardian Australia but Nine News is reporting that NSW is set to record 804 new Covid-19 cases today, a significant bump up from previous days.
We will have to wait till 9am to find out for sure.
804 new Covid cases will be reported in NSW today, up from 180 two weeks ago. Get boosted. @9NewsSyd @2GB873
— Chris O'Keefe (@cokeefe9) December 13, 2021
Updated
Fresh doubts have emerged over whether Australia can rely on boosting soil carbon to achieve its net zero emissions goals with a NSW government report predicting the land sector will become a significant source of emissions in a warmer climate.
The concerns are raised in a report on soil health trends in NSW forests, published without fanfare by the state’s Natural Resources Commission. It examined soil organic carbon levels in eastern NSW forests and how they may be affected by projected rising temperatures and shifting rainfall patterns.
They found major losses could be expected, particularly for southern forests, suggesting “forest managers will have to implement appropriate soil carbon-enhancing strategies even to just maintain current SOC levels”.
You can read the full report below:
Updated
More people in Newcastle have been forced into isolation after others infected with Covid-19 visited a pub last weekend, reports AAP.
NSW Health is battling to contain several large transmission events and there are now 64 cases of the new Omicron strain on record.
Anyone who was at Newcastle’s Finnegan’s Hotel in Darby Street on Friday between 6.30pm and 2.30am on Saturday, has been advised to get tested and self-isolate for seven days.
NSW Health said on Monday night:
All household contacts of close contacts must also be tested and self-isolate until a negative result is received by everyone in the household ...
It is likely some of these cases have the Omicron variant of concern.
NSW Health is appealing for anyone who didn’t check in using the QR code to also get tested and self-isolate.
The latest alert comes after cases linked to an outbreak that started at Newcastle’s Argyle House nightclub on Wednesday spiked from 24 to 84 on Monday, with a number of the cases also likely to be the Omicron variant.
Nearly 700 people checked into the venue and chief health officer Kerry Chant on Monday said it was “incredibly important” that anyone who was at the venue gets a test, “given the high transmission at this venue”.
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Here is a little blog treat to get you through the morning!
Frankie the wombat.. 😊
— Buitengebieden (@buitengebieden_) December 13, 2021
🎥 FB: Two Songs Sanctuary pic.twitter.com/y8jRd5Q1Gf
Another warm and dry day for most of #NSW today with temperatures warming up even more on Wednesday and the weekend. Keep an eye on the forecast and conditions, particularly in the northern inland where we may see heatwave conditions this weekend: https://t.co/swGZ6BSLY0 pic.twitter.com/ka7BoCly5F
— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) December 13, 2021
Religious Australians will be given greater freedom of speech than non-religious expressions of conscience under the Coalition’s bill, a leading academic has warned.
Prof George Williams raised the issue in a submission to the human rights committee inquiry into the religious discrimination package.
The bill faces an uncertain future with two inquiries running over summer and some religious organisations threatening to withdraw their support over the Morrison government’s deal with four Liberal moderates to strengthen protections for gay students at religious schools at the same time.
You can read the full report here:
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Barnaby Joyce says Julian Assange should not be extradited to the US
Deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce says WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange should not be extradited to the United States to face charges.
Joyce has penned an opinion piece for the Sydney Morning Herald stating that he believes a trial should be held in the UK or Assange should return to Australia, as he wasn’t on American soil at the time the alleged espionage offences occurred:
As an individual, whether you like him or despise him, it is beyond him, given his circumstances, to protect his rights by himself. So we must hope for the British courts to do so, and we will judge its society accordingly.
I have never met him and, from observation, don’t respect him. I presume I would not like him. And I view these facts as a clarion call to be all the more vigilant that he is treated just as one of my most powerful colleagues or dearest friends would be.
Joyce also noted that Assange “was not in breach of any Australian laws at the time of his actions”, urging the UK courts not to cave to pressure from the US to send him over.
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Good morning
Good day everyone and welcome to this glorious Tuesday! It’s Matilda Boseley here and I hope your morning is going better than mine as my phone appears to have died.
Why don’t we jump into the news to try and distract me from my woes!
One of the big headlines today: Australia is getting its own mRNA vaccine manufacturing facility ... but not until 2024.
The factory will be built in Victoria in partnership with vaccine manufacturer Moderna and is expected to produce as many as 100m vaccines each year.
It’s unlikely this factory will make much of an impact on the Covid-19 pandemic, with at least a two-year lead time until jabs start coming of the production line.
Prime minister Scott Morrison, who will make an official announcement later this morning, said it would help the country be prepared should there be another pandemic.
In other news, the NSW rail network is once again being put to the test with the union taking industrial action today.
The Rail, Tram and Bus Union said it would refuse to drive foreign-made trains as part of ongoing enterprise agreement negotiations with NSW Trains, a move that will impact about 75% of trains on the network.
RTBU NSW secretary Alex Claassens said in a statement that he was hopeful the state government would come to the bargaining table.
It’s disappointing that another week has passed, and there’s still no indication [of] the NSW government stepping in and doing the right thing ...
The NSW government has been refusing to commit to providing workers and commuters with basic guarantees around hygiene, safety and privatisation for many months now ...
We’re very aware of the impact this will have on commuters, but we also know that not taking action will leave workers and commuters at risk.
As part of the EBA negotiations, the union wants an end to privatisation, safety standards maintained and a commitment to retaining current hygiene levels while not relying on contractors to provide it.
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