What happened today, Monday 23 August 2021.
With that, we will close the blog for the day.
Here’s a quick run through of the day’s biggest events:
- New South Wales announced 818 new Covid cases, the third consecutive day above 800 cases. Meanwhile, Covid is spreading rapidly in the majority Aboriginal town of Wilcannia in far western NSW, with at least 39 cases recorded in a week in a community of just 750 people.
- Victorian health authorities announced 71 new Covid cases, while the Australian Capital Territory recorded 16 further cases.
- Scott Morrison has said Australia must “learn to live with” Covid-19. “Once you get to 70% of your eligible population being vaccinated, and 80% ... the plan sets out we have to move forward, the prime minister said, adding that people had to change their mindsets. “Because if not at 70% and 80% then when? Then when?”.
And if you’re a keen follower of the Covid situation in NSW, premier Gladys Berejiklian will be interviewed on A Current Affair on Channel 9 at 7pm, and right after that, on ABC’s 7:30 at, well, 7:30pm.
Have a nice evening, we’ll be back tomorrow.
Updated
Two young children have been abducted in Melbourne after a violent home invasion during which their mother was bound, gagged and assaulted, reports AAP.
Police are searching for a three-year-old boy and five-year-old girl taken from their Blackburn North home while wearing pyjamas by a man who fled in the family’s Mercedes Benz.
Armed Crime Squad Detective Inspector Dean Thomas said the man was armed with a weapon as he entered the home between 8am and 8:30am on Monday.
The children’s 32-year-old mother was assaulted, bound and gagged. Her 34-year-old husband, the children’s father, was at work.
Det Insp Thomas said there were “certain conversations had” between the woman and the offender, but declined to say what they discussed. The man took the children and was last seen driving away in the family’s car.
Det Insp Thomas said the mother was being treated for serious injuries in hospital.
“She’s very upset, as is the father. Both are cooperating fully with us,” he told reporters.
Asked whether the man was related to the family or a stranger, he said “our mind is open to everything because we don’t know at this point”.
“We’re speaking to a number of different people to try and piece this all together,” he said.
He said he was “not aware of” any custody issues and the parents were not known to police.
Det Insp Thomas urged the “person or people responsible for this crime” to return the children.
I implore you, please, to let these children go so that they can be returned to their parents, where they should be.
We’re very concerned. We have not given up hope by any stretch of the imagination. I’m confident we will locate these children and return them to their parents.
At this point in time, we would like assistance from the community with any information they may have, whether it’s about this vehicle, the family or in general.”
The wanted man is described as having dark skin and was wearing a black hoodie and a face mask.
Anyone who sees the black Mercedes Benz C200 sedan, registration BEQ 882, is urged to call triple zero.
Scott Morrison has spoken to 6PR Radio in Perth, opening the interview by clarifying that when he complains about unnamed shadowy figures attempting to “undermine the national plan” to reopen, he is “talking about Anthony Albanese” - not the wildly popular premier of Western Australia, Mark McGowan.
Asked if national cabinet will need to ask the Doherty Institute to redo its modelling, given the 11,000 active Covid cases, Morrison replied the 70/80% vaccination targets to reopen will not need to be redone because professor Jodie McVernon has advised the “ultimate conclusions” are not changed by higher case numbers.
On the aim of living Covid free, Morrison said:
Nowhere in the world is doing that. If you want to engage with the rest of the world and engage with the rest of the country, the virus will be present. New Zealand has run one of the harshest elimination strategies in the world, but is suffering an outbreak in its Pacific community in Auckland.
The question is: do we live in lockdown forever or do we find the safest point to jump off into the Covid world? Because that’s the only way people will see their family again, to go to Bali again, to get the tourism industry to move off the significant economic supports. That is the pandemic world and we have to be able to operate in it – we can’t stay in the cave forever.
Morrison said if a state imposed a lockdown once 80% of the population was vaccinated that would “do economic harm to them” so the federal government wouldn’t want to “incentivise” it (by providing economic supports).
Morrison acknowledged Western Australia’s “great fortune” in being more remote from Covid transmission from the eastern states, but said West Australians also have an “outward gaze” and want to travel and see family.
He warned that a Covid outbreak could occur in WA, citing the fact the ACT had been Covid free for more than a year, but is currently suffering an outbreak.
I get it, in a place that doesn’t see much Covid they can feel like the system is giving ... inoculation – it won’t. Western Australia is not a good enough vaccine, it’s not as good a vaccine as that of AstraZeneca and Pfizer. Those things can inoculate you against Covid-19. Borders and other things like this can’t.
Updated
Earlier today at the New South Wales Covid update, health authorities spoke about how the virus is continuing to spread in the west of the state.
We’re now hearing reports that there are six cases in Orange that are construction workers from greater Sydney.
Orange MP Phil Donato has said the cases were contractors working together at a site in Orange, and that they were contained in one house and had not been admitted to hospital, the Central Western Daily reports.
It is not clear when the workers travelled to Orange.
As a result of these cases, there are now reports that the deputy premier John Barilaro wants his government to consider restricting construction workers from greater Sydney being allowed to travel to regional areas to work.
From the NSW regional covid presser: @JohnBarilaro says the Govt will have to consider restricting construction workers from Greater Sydney from being allowed to travel and work in the regions
— kelly fuller (@kelfuller) August 23, 2021
Mr Barliaro says he is taking the concerns to the crisis cabinet committee.#nswpol
Barilaro has reportedly said he will take his concerns to crisis cabinet.
The potential tightening of rules for construction workers comes after their work was paused while a safe resumption plan for their industry could be formulated by health authorities.
We’re trying to confirm exactly what Barilaro is calling for here. We’ll bring you any updates when we get them.
Updated
Toll truck drivers to strike Friday over job security
Parcel delivery times already under strain could become further delayed in coming days, because of a dispute between truck drivers and delivery company Toll.
Thousands of the company’s truck drivers will strike for 24 hours on Friday to protest what they claim is Toll refusing to provide them with job security.
Unionised workers at Toll had been calling for the company to abandon its plans to use lower paid truck drivers and employ them on contracts that would allow them to work full-time equivalent hours without being eligible for extra pay for any overtime worked.
On Thursday, the Transport Workers Union said in a survey of workers that 94% voted in favour of taking industrial action.
Michael Kaine, TWU national secretary, said Toll workers “have been forced to take the last resort option to go on strike this week because their jobs are being smashed”. He said:
To do nothing would be to wait like sitting ducks for the jobs they’ve skilfully done for decades to be given away to the lowest common denominator. If workers had accepted this today, their jobs could have been contracted out moments after signing on the dotted line.
It is an abomination that billionaire retailers like Amazon are smashing profit records while ripping off transport supply chains and crushing the jobs of the truck drivers who’ve risked the health of their families to deliver parcels and keep shelves stocked.”
Before the strike was confirmed, Toll had accused the TWU of “playing politics with people’s lives and jobs” and claimed the industrial action could affect delivery of medical supplies including Covid vaccines, The Australian reported.
Firing back, Kaine accused Toll of being “hysterically dishonest”, pointing out the union’s policy to exempt delivery of medical supplies from its strikes.
Updated
The Counter Terrorism Legislation Amendment (Sunsetting Review) bill passed the House of Representatives earlier this afternoon.
The bill extends the sunsetting provisions for anti-terrorism powers including to declare areas prohibited; issue control orders (for example to returning foreign fighters) to hold suspects in preventative detention; and allow stop, search and seizure powers.
These were due to expire on 7 September, creating an urgent deadline for extension the government needed to meet by holding parliament this week despite the ACT Covid outbreak.
Labor MP Andrew Giles moved a second reading amendment calling on the government to implement a bipartisan recommendation of the parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security “to allow Australian citizens to request an exemption from the minister for foreign affairs to travel to a declared area for reasons not listed in section 119.2, but which are not otherwise illegitimate under Australian law”.
The government rejected it.
Labor MPs Chris Hayes and Anthony Byrne both spoke in debate confirming that Labor will support it. This guarantees it will also pass the Senate later this week.
Byrne said the powers were used by security agencies in a “judicious and measured way” but criticised the fact the Morrison government had “left it to the last minute” to extend them – questioning what might have happened if it had not been possible to hold parliament this week.
Updated
The New South Wales health minister Brad Hazzard has told a parliamentary inquiry that life in the state would be “pretty damn good” by November as vaccination coverage approaches 80%.
On Monday, the third consecutive day NSW recorded more than 800 cases, Hazzard also said he hoped to sign a public health order by week’s end mandating vaccination for NSW healthcare workers, reports AAP.
More than three quarters of healthcare workers in NSW have had at least one vaccine dose, rising to 89% in metropolitan areas.
But Hazzard said he wanted to be “as collaborative and encouraging as possible” given union concerns.
Earlier on Monday at the state Covid update, premier Gladys Berejiklian said freedoms that double-vaccinated residents will receive once NSW administers six million doses will be announced on Friday.
It’s expected NSW will reach the six million milestone later today.
You can read more about NSW’s Covid situation here, from my colleagues Anne Davies and Michael McGowan.
Updated
Thanks for a mammoth effort taking us through the day Amy.
I’m Elias Visontay, and I’ll be steering the blog for the next few hours. If you see anything you think I should be aware of, send me an email at elias.visontay@theguardian.com.
The wonderful Elias Visontay will take you through the evening updates. The parliament is pretty much planning on wrapping things up by 8pm today, but will be back tomorrow with party room meetings and no doubt the prime minister will have more takes on how to use ‘dawn’, ‘rays of light’ and caves in ‘inspirational’ ways.
A very big thank you to Mike Bowers for making it through the parliamentary day for me and keeping me in the loop of what is going on (social distancing restrictions/lockdowns mean a lot of our blog friends are not in the building, so we are hitting the phones harder than usual to make sure we aren’t missing anything for you) and to Katharine Murphy, Paul Karp, Sarah Martin and Daniel Hurst for keeping us all up to date on the stories behind the blustering.
The whole Guardian brains trust is working overtime at the moment (and from home, mostly) to keep you updated on what is happening across the nation, and from the moderators to the producers, to the journalists and the editors, we couldn’t do it without them.
But as always – the largest thank you goes to you. Thank you again for all your messages and for keeping us company. Elias will guide you through the evening and I’ll be back early tomorrow. Until then, please – take care of you (I mean it).
Updated
A reader has pointed out that people aged 16-39 have been listed as having priority status for mRNA vaccines in Sydney.
Updated
Matt Canavan continues to fall into that ultra-rare category of “adult tantrums over the Wiggles’’ after the child-friendly super group updated its team to include four more people who aren’t Anglo (Yes, I know they haven’t all been Anglo, but for the most part, the Wiggles’ main cast has been male and white).
Here is Canavan speaking to the ABC:
This is too ‘woke’ for the Queensland senator who, for some reason, thinks children should never be introduced to change.
This wokeness, it introduces the division where there is no division. Wokeness actually creates more harm than it tries to solve.
There was no problem here, nobody was accusing the Wiggles of being racist or sexist or misogynist.
And I didn’t even, I thought about it on the weekend after my comments, because I’m not that worked up about it, I thought, that’s right, Jeff, he was an Asian Wiggle but nobody ever commented on it, it was just four people who are great at singing and we leave it for the kids. Why don’t we leave it at that?
Updated
Here is how Mike Bowers saw QT, which was not only depleted in terms of who was in the chamber but was also cut seriously short today.
Updated
We have had a few people ask about this, and as always, our wonderful data team have you covered.
They are also working on some comparative pieces with the data from last year, so you can see exactly where we are (give them time though, they are a mighty but small team and cover a lot of ground, but they are always working on new ways to show you what is happening, visually, using the numbers).
Updated
The United Workers Union has welcomed assistance coming for the childcare sector, but says the government, by not tying the financial assistance to wages, has left open the possibility of ‘jobkeeper’ style loopholes. From the union’s Helen Gibbons:
By not linking funding to wages, the government has failed to close loopholes we’ve all seen exploited by large greedy companies.
Providers across the sector, both profit and not-for-profit, have been crying out for additional funding. Now that it’s here, employers need to stand up and commit to using this new funding to support workers’ income and employment.
This means no cuts to hours or forced taking of leave.
Providers need to publicly commit to using this funding as intended, to maintain educators’ wages. If employers try to do the wrong thing, educators will hold you to account.
United Workers Union calls on the federal government to close the loopholes in their new funding announcement to ensure every employer in the sector does the right thing.
This new funding must be tied to wages to provide real support for the early education sector.
Updated
Mike Bowers gives you Double Dutts.
For when one Dutts is just not enough.
The Senate has passed an order of production for documents moved by Greens senator, Janet Rice, relating to the car park rorts program.
The order calls for the government to produce by 30 August:
- Any email or document setting out the list of ‘top twenty marginal seats’ to be ‘canvassed’ for projects as part of the Urban Congestion Fund (UCF), as referred to by Mr Brian Boyd of the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO).
- Any spreadsheets created by the Department of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development for the purpose of setting out proposed UCF projects,
- Any spreadsheets created by, originating in, or shared between the Prime Minister’s Office and the offices of the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development or the Minister for Urban Infrastructure, setting out proposed UCF projects.
- Any maps and attached schedules referred to by Mr Boyd of the ANAO on page 8 of the Hansard of the committee’s hearing on 19 July 2021, setting out where projected UCF expenditure would take place and the party affiliation of the seats in which that expenditure would occur.
These documents were referred to in the Australian National Audit Office report and by the ANAO at Senate Estimates. So they exist, it’s just a question of whether the government complies and produces them.
Updated
I just saw on social media, in response to a tweet, that a lot of people were unaware Scott Morrison had a brief foray into acting while he was a child.
This is a fact. He was in a Vicks ad.
@PhillipCoorey was actually Vicks cough drops 'vicks'll lick a ticklin' throat'
— Scott Morrison (@ScottMorrisonMP) August 5, 2015
So what happened there is:
Scott Morrison referenced updated Doherty Institute analysis advice in one of his answers.
Anthony Albanese asked him to table it. Morrison said he couldn’t as it was a confidential document.
Albanese asked him another question on that advice. Morrison said the advice had not changed and the Doherty Institute advice was all public.
Albanese then asked him why he said he was quoting from confidential advice. Morrison said he had received advice orally and then (again) accused Albanese of undermining the national plan, turning the answer into an attack on ‘why would you undermine something which could get Australians out of lockdown’ line.
Morrison then ended question time.
Updated
Here is the last question Scott Morrison took before ending question time (there was a dixer after this, but they don’t count).
Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:
(Referring to the new advice.)
Why is it that the prime minister thinks that Australians don’t deserve to see that advice immediately, given that the government is changing its position on the basis of that advice?
Morrison:
Mr Speaker, first of all the government has not changed its position.
The plan as we set out very clearly about...that when we reach 70%, and we reach 80%, we can move through to phase B of that plan, those marks have been set by the Doherty analysis that was undertaken Mr Speaker.
There was further discussion of the Doherty advice over the weekend, that was oral, Mr Speaker, it was orally provided to the government Mr Speaker, and I can ask the minister for health to update further Mr Speaker, now Mr Speaker, it should not come as a great surprise to those opposite that the government, the government Mr Speaker, would be taking oral briefings from its advisors.
Mr Speaker I do that absolutely every single day, as people come to us Mr Speaker and provide us with that advice.
Albanese:
I asked that the prime minister table that advice he was quoting from. The prime minister is now saying there is no updated advice, where previously he said that there was.
Morrison:
Even at a point of order the leader of the opposition again seeks to misrepresent. And he seeks to undermine Mr Speaker. He seeks to undermine, that is been his practice for the last 18 months.
Now Mr Speaker our position is very clear, our position is very clear, the national plan sees Australia starting to break free from a lot of lockdowns when we get to 70% vaccination rates, and 80% vaccination rate. Mr Speaker, why is Labor, seeking to undermine that position? I do not understand Mr Speaker, that the Labor party will be seeking to undermine confidence in a national plan where Australians are saved from lockdown. That is what the leader of the Labor party is doing.
Updated
Anthony Albanese then asks Tony Smith to consider asking government MPs and ministers to attend question time as part of their duties to the parliament.
Again, not a lot the Speaker can do about that, if the MPs don’t take up the virtual option.
Updated
Scott Morrison ends question time early
After just 40 minutes or so of questions (it is usually 1.15 hours) Scott Morrison ends question time.
“Bullshit,” yells someone from Labor.
“BULLSHIT.”
Anthony Albanese gets up – Scott Morrison has already left the chamber.
It goes to the running of the parliament. Today, the government offered us a full question time today [given the Afghanistan motion delayed its start] that was supposed to occur and our question time has been shut down because this prime minister is under pressure.
...Mr Speaker we have been cooperative and we will continue to be in order to allow this parliament to function under the difficult circumstances of restricted numbers et cetera but the cooperation has to go two ways and the government keeping its word would be a nice start.
Tony Smith says the prime minister is able to end question time whenever he likes.
Updated
Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:
Can the prime minister confirm that Australia has had a war footing, a bridge to recovery, are covered up in sunscreen and tickets to freedom. Now on the basis of the Doherty Institute updated advice, he says that rising cases will not stop us reopening. Why won’t the prime minister [release] that advice, don’t Australians suffering under lockdowns have a way to see it?
Morrison:
Thank you Mr Speaker, the leader of the opposition continues to seek to undermine the national plan.
Mr Speaker, his introduction to that question is intended for no other purpose than to undermine the national plan, which has been his practice Mr Speaker that Doherty modelling was released in full, released in full Mr Speaker, after, and had a combo and briefed upon by Professor Meghan voted to the national cabinet, as well as it was briefed to the national security committee of cabinet, those coveted deliberations had been undertaken, and there had been discussion about its findings, and the plan was agreed to Mr Speaker, then the Doherty modelling was released in full, in full.
Mr Speaker the government has been completely transparent when it comes to the modelling that has been provided by the Doherty Institute, and we will continue to be Mr Speaker, with and when further information is presented in that way.
Updated
The response to any question now, asking about the government’s pandemic response, will be “undermining” the national plan, and “negativity”.
It’s a deflection response Scott Morrison has been building on, and embraced wholeheartedly. You’ll hear it in interviews, press conferences, speeches and in parliament. It’s the message he hopes will permeate through to voters, while they are still making up their mind about Anthony Albanese as an alternative prime minister.
As we have reported, there are still a lot of people (at least in the polls) who have not made up their mind either way about Albanese. People don’t dislike him like they did Bill Shorten, to be frank, the focus groups and polls all point to more of a “meh” response. Labor is not unhappy with that – “meh”, is a lot easier to overcome than, “ugh” after all.
But it leaves room for Morrison to try and paint Albanese in voters minds before the next election campaign, and that is what he is trying to do. People have made up their mind about Morrison – they have decided whether they like him or not like him based on the last couple of years. They haven’t seen as much of Albanese, so Morrison wants to try and get ahead, and tell you who he is, before you see enough of him to make up your own mind.
Hence the constant “undermining”, “negativity” and “playing politics” themes you are increasingly hearing here.
Updated
Mark Butler to Scott Morrison:
My question is to the prime minister: does the prime minister stand by his announcement that “When we reach the 70% and 80% thresholds, the findings are clear that we can move forward with our reopening plan, regardless of case numbers?”
Morrison (continuing the ‘undermining’ theme):
Thank you, Mr Speaker. I indeed do. That’s the advice that I have, Mr Speaker. That advice confirmed just over the weekend, as we continued to work with the Doherty Institute, and advice provided by the secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet to the members of the task force that was set up earlier this year.
That taskforce I asked to be set up, led by Secretary Gaetjens, together with the directors general of all the directors general of departments around the country, working together, as well as the advice that came through from all the treasuries at state and federal level that went into formulating the very plan that has been agreed by states and territories in the commonwealth.
Mr Speaker, as we were advised, the starting point does not influence the overall conclusions of the model, is what we learned on the weekend.
The overall conclusions of the model will remain valid. Sensitivity analysis has been done on these issues for many, many months, and we’ll continue to do that. But it’s a very simple question.
And I’d be interested to know when those opposite have the opportunities to make remarks in these and other places, if we’re not to open up at 70% and 80%, then – when? When is that going to happen? At what point?
At what point are we going to continue to have to ensure that Australians suffer under the conditions that have been necessary?
I don’t doubt that they’ve been necessary, Mr Speaker. Not at all. But there comes a time when you have to step out, Mr Speaker. And the national plan sets it out – at 70% and 80%, Mr Speaker.
We must now prepare for those times. Of course, at those times, cases will be higher. Of course they will, as we’re seeing all around the world. But those, Mr Speaker, who think that Australians must remain locked down forever, Mr Speaker, they are not in sync with where the Australian people are at.
Anthony Albanese asks him to table the document he was reading from. Morrison says he was quoting from a confidential document and can’t.
Updated
Josh Frydenberg has caught the ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ analogy bug which is spreading across the government.
There’s also a light at the end of the tunnel for those millions of Australians who are now doing it tough. That light at the end of the tunnel is our plan that was agreed at national cabinet. Australians can’t live in lockdown forever. Indeed, we must learn to live with Covid. The Australian people have to be prepared for what that means.
Updated
Meanwhile, scientists are starting to look at long Covid (which has been the plight of some people who have been stricken with the virus, which has left them debilitated with fatigue, heart and lung problems as well as issues with their nervous system).
It sounds absolutely terrifying (I have friends in the US who have been diagnosed with it, and have gone from healthy, active people in their 30s, to being practically house and bed bound).
So it is not just ‘Covid’ which has scientists worried – it is what can come after it.
Updated
Prime minister Jacinda Ardern has said Scott Morison’s proposal to ‘live with Covid’ once the eligible population reaches 70-80% vaccination is not compatible with a porous border with New Zealand.
Not for the period in which we are vaccinating our people, no. But we’ve always said that we wouldn’t open up and have quarantine-free travel with a place in which there was Covid in wide circulation.”
She said doing so would be “incompatible with our desire to maintain an elimination strategy, work on high rates of vaccination and have as many freedoms as possible without the risk of lockdown.”
Updated
There have been so many plans though. So many.
And it is not as though Delta came as a surprise – the government literally threatened to jail or fine Australians who attempted to return home from India, because of Delta. That wasn’t that long ago. It was a measure put in place, because the government knew the hotel quarantine system was not up to handling the more contagious Delta variant.
It was a whole thing and one of the sorriest chapters in what has been a very long anthology of sorry chapters.
So, Delta was not new. Victoria had an outbreak, warned it was more contagious, and pleaded for a better response.
None of this is new.
And then he does it again, on Covid.
Anthony Albanese:
My question is to the prime minister:
In June, the prime minister congratulated the New South Wales premier for not going into lockdown. In July, he said lockdowns were a tool. In August, he pushed New South Wales to lock down harder and also said for the lockdown to work, the lockdown must work.
Today, he switched again, saying lockdowns must end. When the prime minister’s story changes so often, how can Australians have confidence going forward?
Scott Morrison:
The leader of the opposition is deliberately, Mr Speaker, mischaracterising [what I said].
(He is not, Morrison said all of those things.)
I’ll set it out for the leader of the opposition. The national plan says, right now, we are in the suppression phase – until we reach 70% of the country being vaccinated, then lockdowns are an important part of the suppression tools used by state and territory governments.
That position of lockdowns becoming the more prominent tool was arrived at, Mr Speaker, after the lessons learned in New South Wales as a result of the Delta variant.
It’s that simple, Mr Speaker. The leader of the opposition now wishes to suggest that, Mr Speaker, moving to a point after we reach 70% that we should have lockdowns in that arrangement, Mr Speaker.
The plan is very clear. Right now, the national plan is to suppress the virus as much as we possibly can.
The Delta variant was a changing circumstance which has adjusted the responses that states and territories are making. All through the Covid pandemic, we have sought to adjust our responses to deal with the information that is in front of us.
Mr Speaker, this national plan means that, when we reach 70%, we can begin saying goodbye to those lockdowns because lockdowns, once you hit 70% on the scale we are seeing today, will do more harm than good at that time because, Mr Speaker, that is the medical advice, that is the scientific advice, and that is the economic advice, Mr Speaker. That’s why the national plan is so important.
And so those opposite may seek to undermine the national plan. They may seek to run down the national plan. They may seek to steal the hope of Australians and hope for the worst, Mr Speaker, which is the woo-hoo moment that the leader of the opposition might seek.
But Mr Speaker, we will keep faith with that plan. We will keep faith with the implementation of that plan. So I call on the opposition to support the national plan, Mr Speaker, rather than seeking to undermine it as they have sought to undermine the government every step of the way through the pandemic.
Updated
Scott Morrison again takes a question and turns it into an attack on Australian institutions, a continuation of his “undermining” approach he started, when it came to any questions on his government’s pandemic response.
Now it has spread to his government’s response to Afghanistan and evacuating people. Any questioning of it is turned into an attack on those who are carrying out the work. He has been using this tactic for a while, and he will only be ramping it up.
Brendan O’Connor to Scott Morrison:
The prime minister was repeatedly warned by veterans and by former prime ministers that time was running out to evacuate Afghans that had worked with the Australian Defence Force. The prime minister failed to act early enough and has now been forced to admit people will be left behind. Why won’t the prime minister take responsibility for this failure?
Morrison:
Mr Speaker, I completely and utterly reject the assertion made by the member. Absolutely. And I thank every Australian for these past eight years, and particularly in these past six to eight months, who have been doing the work to actually bring people here to this country. 430 people resettled since April alone – 1,900, Mr Speaker, over these many years.
I must admit, Mr Speaker, I find it disappointing that, on a day such as this when we’re supposed to come together...that, even on this matter, Mr Speaker, politics knows no bounds with those opposite. Knows no bounds, Mr Speaker, in the suggestion that has been made by the member.
This government has been working steadfastly, consistently, and urgently for years, Mr Speaker. For years, to bring people out of Afghanistan. And we continue to do that now. And I reject absolutely any suggestion that the government has not been seeking to do that. And I can only ascribe to that member in putting that forward, Mr Speaker, a motive that is not fitting of this day.
Updated
The government’s first dixer is on Covid and the national plan, so Scott Morrison can repeat what he said in the press conference he called for earlier today.
Updated
Question time begins
It’s 2.50pm, which means QT will most likely go until closer to 4pm or just after.
Peter Khalil to Scott Morrison:
I worked in Iraq as an adviser to Australia for coalition forces. After the US began its withdrawal in 2007, one of our interpreters, Ali, was beheaded by al-Qaeda in Baghdad. His body was dumped on the roadside. Prime minister, how many of the Afghans who helped Australian defence forces will be left behind in Afghanistan?
Morrison (here is the whole answer, because it matters to so many people):
The Australian government will continue to do all within its power to ensure that we’re able to bring out and continue to evacuate those Afghan nationals who have worked with Australians during the time of our service in Afghanistan, as we have been doing for the last eight years.
Some 1,900 Afghans who have worked with Australians as part of our service there, and their families, have already been resettled in Australia.
They are already living here. They are amongst us.
And we welcome them gratefully, Mr Speaker, for their service, together with Australian servicemen and women and the many other roles they undertook. And from April of this year, 430 – before these most terrible events befell Afghanistan that has necessitated the evacuations that are now taking place – 430 had already come to Australia.
Over those months, as we worked steadily – as we have done for many, many years.
Now, I thank the member for his service in Afghanistan, as we’ve acknowledged the service of many members in this place who have performed many roles in Afghanistan – particularly those who’ve served in uniform.
We thank them for their service and we understand that. And that is why our government has continued, year upon year going back to 2013 – indeed, when I was minister for immigration – the number, in the hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of these visas we were able to get processed for those affected at that time, and it has continued.
It was a matter I was able to discuss with prime minister Johnson only last week, who was pleased to learn how much Australia had been doing, particularly as a share of our population compared to so many others who have been involved in that theatre.
And so we will continue to expend every effort we possibly can, as we have been doing these many long years. It is not a simple task. It is not a task that can be done in the past in a way that can overlook the many factors that Australians would expect us to undertake in bringing people to Australia from a place such as Afghanistan.
But we have been about that job for many years. We have been getting people out. And we are getting people out right now. And not just those Afghans with a visa to come to Australia, I hasten to add. We’re also doing that for Afghan nationals who will be going to other places. The United Kingdom. To New Zealand. Potentially to Canada, if they need that assistance.
And we will continue to provide that support as a coalition, as we work together to get as many people as we can from that desperate situation suggested. Mr Speaker, the government will continue to apply itself, as we have done and every year for these many years, and with the utmost of urgency.
Updated
The debate on Afghanistan has been adjourned.
There are a whole bunch of ministers who are not in the room, it doesn’t seem like they will be appearing in QT virtually either – Tony Burke wants to know why those who can make it to their electorate office won’t be appearing for QT.
Burke says the video presence is available and members are trained in how to use it – but he can’t force it.
Barnaby Joyce did not attend virtually when he was in lockdown – so it looks like that has become the standard now – ministers in lockdown, don’t have to appear to answer questions in QT, even if they are able to travel to their electorate office.
Here is how the parliament looks with the new social restrictions in place – thanks to Mike Bowers, who is masked up and socially distanced himself:
Brendan O’Connor, the shadow minister for defence is now speaking for his five minutes.
There are several former serving members of the ADF in the parliament. Passing the floor to them, or reading the contribution from one of the many Australians with Afghan descent might have been nice, given the time restraints on this motion.
We know what politicians think. Sometimes, we need to hear what those actually involved know
Updated
Richard Marles and defence minister, Peter Dutton, pay tribute to the ADF and those who lost their lives.
Dutton reads out each of the 41 names.
Barnaby Joyce used his five minutes to give a history lesson.
And then Anthony Albanese includes a message to the Taliban leadership:
The Taliban have said that they have changed and will be more respectful of human rights, but the violence and chaos around Kabul airport does not augur well.
We must continue to speak up for our values. To the Taliban leadership, and as the alternative prime minister of this country, I would say this – the Afghanistan you now claim to rule is radically different to the one you had enslaved 20 years ago.
If you say there will be no retributions, you will be held to that by the international community. If you say that women and girls will not be treated as second-class citizens, you will be held to that too.
If you say you are somehow different to the Taliban who provided safe haven to Osama bin Laden to conduct the 11 September 2001 attacks that killed Australians, the international community will hold you to that as well. I also say this to the Taliban – if you are claiming you be different, then one simple, practical proof is to create a safe and orderly humanitarian corridor to Kabul airport right now, for anybody who wants to leave, instead of threatening children with guns. We in Australia should demand – should demand – nothing less.
Updated
Anthony Albanese:
I say to our veterans – no one who has served as you have can pretend to feel what you have felt – to know what it is to look back on this world in this familial life but to have part of your life still dwelling in that one.
You have the gratitude of the nation. As a nation, we cannot turn our backs on the truth of what has happened here, no matter how hard.
We’ll work our way through the findings of the Brereton report commissioned by this government and all the lessons to be learnt.
If freedom, democracy and the defeat of terrorism has been our cause, it is a vitally important way to honour those who have fallen in the prosecution of that cause by attending to these values both at home and in the wider world.
What of those brave Afghans who repaid our soldiers’ courage with their own, putting their lives on the line to help us help their compatriots?
They believed in the promise we held of a better future. So many Afghans have risked it all.
They have struggled and sacrificed to create a better country for themselves. Now, we are witnessing scenes where, for some, clinging to the outside of a departing aircraft somehow represents greater hope than staying to face the new reality.
There are many Australians today who are desperate and anxious about their family in Afghanistan, who have been waiting months and in some cases years to get their partner visas or family reunification visas issued, and have their families join them.
MPs have been besieged with hundreds of desperate requests and stories that just break your heart. We need to look beyond the current evacuation to ensure that Australia plays a role in the global and regional humanitarian and refugee response, as well as the ongoing political challenge that has become necessary following the Taliban’s return.
Updated
Anthony Albanese has finished his 10 minute speech. He did address how long it took Australia to act:
While a full and dispassionate reflection on Australia’s experience in Afghanistan needs to come, our focus now must be on the current crisis.
Labor strongly supports the work of the Australian interagency team on the ground in Kabul.
They must be given every form of support they need. They have been presented with an almost impossible task - one made all the harder because this effort was launched far too late.
Providing support to those who supported Australians on the ground is more than just a moral obligation - it is a national security imperative.
I do not understand why a team of the kind that we only recently deployed was not in place in Kabul the day the government announced Australia’s intention to leave nearly three months ago. As we evacuated our own personnel, why didn’t we evacuate Australian nationals at the same time, as well as loyal Afghans who had worked for Australia and whose lives would be in jeopardy as a result?
The confusion over the fate of the 200 embassy security guards who were told on Saturday to contact a migration agent is almost unbelievable in its sheer callousness.
It contrasts starkly with the leadership being exemplified by veterans who served in Afghanistan who have rallied behind their Afghan mates.
It also contrasts with the appeals of community organisations, MPs from both sides, and former prime ministers Howard and Rudd. The very real risk that some will not be able to be reached is something that could and should have been avoided.
I know this is tough for so many – not just veterans, but also the thousands of Australians with family and history in Afghanistan, who are watching two decades crumble before them, with no answers to the safety of their loved ones, and their ancestral home.
I have had a small taste of what that worry is like, and I know it is constant and gnawing and all encompassing. It becomes even harder when the news cycle moves on, but it is your life – meaning you can’t move on.
Our hearts are with you all.
Updated
Scott Morrison finished his 10 minutes with this:
We are proud, too, of our defence personnel and officials working day and night right now to evacuate Australians in Kabul, and the many Afghans who have worked with us. And in keeping with the good and decent country you sought to serve, Australia will resettle thousands upon thousands, as we have already done, of Afghans who courageously stood with us.
So to the living, I say this – we will remember and honour your service. And to our fallen, we say – lest we forget.
Updated
Scott Morrison:
Mr Speaker, it’s been said that memory is a place where our vanished days gather.
And for all our veterans, police officers, diplomats, aid workers and others who have served in our name, and in our cause, there is already a gathering of days.
Today, we recall the cost of this, our longest war.
As the member for Canning might say, looking sacrifice right in the eyes.
And as former prime minister John Howard has reminded us, there is no hierarchy of sacrifice.
And I would add to that amongst those who fall in our name in our uniform, under our flag, standing up for our values.
We honour the sacrifice of the 41 Australians who have died in Afghanistan in the service of our country. And we acknowledge the terrible loss suffered by their families who I know so many in this chamber, as do I know personally, and would have spoken to in these last days especially.
We must acknowledge that, for every name inscribed along the Hall of Memory at the Australian War Memorial, there are thousands more who also paid a terrible price for their service. Painful memories that cannot be shaken.
I know many of you are asking a simple question – “Was it worth it?” Yes, it was. We did the right thing...You did the right thing. As with any war, of course there are errors and miscalculations. And history won’t shy away from that – and neither will we...as a free people.
Yet because of your skill – you, who have served – your fearlessness and your courage – Australia is safer today because of your efforts and your sacrifice. Australia is better because of you. None of us can give a full answer to the questions you are asking yourselves, and each other. And none of us can predict what will lie ahead. But be assured of this – you are not alone. Be assured of this – Australia is proud of your service. I am proud of your service.
Updated
Scott Morrison’s speech was as you would expect it – acknowledging the service of Australian troops and diplomatic services, as well as the Afghan people. There was not, as you could imagine, mention of how late the effort came to evacuate those we had promised to help:
And of course, a repeat of the ‘no visas for queue jumpers’ line – which has once again become part of the government response:
We’re committed to doing the right thing by those who have stood with us, and that’s what we’ve been doing for some period of time.
And we’re doing absolutely everything we can do right now to help them.
I also want to address our humanitarian intake. Australia will welcome an additional humanitarian intake of some 3,000 Afghan nationals by next July as part of our annual program.
I expect that this will increase in the years ahead. I commit our government to continue to increase our intake of Afghan nationals at elevated levels into the years ahead. At this stage, the 3,000 will come from our existing 13,750 annual humanitarian program.
But I want to stress that that 3,000 is a floor, not a ceiling. If we need to increase the size of the overall program to accommodate additional persons, then we will.
We will be resettling people who have legitimate claims through our official humanitarian program. We will not be providing a pathway to anyone who seeks to come here by any other means, or change the status of others who have come by other means.
Updated
The parliamentary chamber is looking a little different today.
There are perspex screens between the prime minister and the opposition leader, as well as the clerks who all sit at the despatch box.
There is only one MP on each seat bench, with benches between them – meaning there are barely any MPs in the chamber.
MPs who are not speaking, have to wear masks.
There are no staffers on the floor.
Updated
Scott Morrison will speak for 10 minutes.
Then Anthony Albanese will speak for 10 minutes.
Then the deputy prime minister, then the deputy Labor leader and then the defence minister will each talk for five minutes.
Updated
Question time is about to begin – but it begins with a motion on Afghanistan.
So standing orders are being suspended for the time being.
Updated
As Eva previewed a little earlier, this shouldn’t come as a surprise:
#BREAKING New Zealand is expected to stay at alert level 4 until midnight Friday. Auckland will stay in lockdown for longer. https://t.co/ARYodp7hyM pic.twitter.com/BcWkCBvZk1
— nzherald (@nzherald) August 23, 2021
A little bit more on that announcement. Payments will be contingent on services:
- expecting attendance below 50%;
- waiving gap fees for all families whose children are not attending;
- maintaining staffing levels;
- agreeing to a fee freeze for the duration of support;
- not accessing other federal government-funded supports.
Streamlined payments will be available to services in about two weeks.
Families in affected areas are not required to do anything.
Updated
Childcare assistance for locked-down areas announced
The minister for education and youth, Alan Tudge, has just made this announcement:
Childcare services in commonwealth-declared hotspots will be eligible for payments of 25 per cent of their pre-lockdown revenue. Outside school hours care (OSHC) services will be eligible for payments of 40%.
This will apply to services seven days after the hotspot is declared, where states have directed families to keep their kids at home.
Where kids are still allowed to attend, the supports will kick in four weeks after the hotspot declaration.
The measure is in addition to the existing commonwealth supports, including gap fee waivers which allow commonwealth child care subsidy to continue even when children are not attending.
The new payments will immediately benefit childcare services in affected areas of Sydney and the ACT, and OSHC services in metropolitan Melbourne.
All other services in metropolitan Melbourne, regional Victoria and regional NSW will become eligible after seven days of lockdown, and payments will be backdated to today.
The supports will also be available for services who meet the criteria in any future extended lockdowns.
Updated
Indi MP Helen Haines has not forgotten the aged care royal commission.
She wants the government to tell her when it is going to start making improvements and “implement the recommendations of the aged care royal commission to improve the supply, diversity and affordability of aged care in rural and regional Australia and to commit to the recommendation to have a registered nurse on site at aged care facilities 24 hours a day and to ensure rural aged care can access those nurses”.
I’m calling on the government to explain when and how it will deliver tangible progress on aged care,” Haines said. “Because while the pandemic rages, millions languish in the same conditions the commissioners described.”
Updated
It has been an intense few hours of information – take a short break if you can, the news isn’t going anywhere.
Updated
Question time is coming up in the next hour.
You are going to be hearing variations of this from Scott Morrison over that hour and a bit:
The national plan we have developed and agreed is our pathway to living with this virus.
That is our goal, to live with this virus, not to live in fear of it. It is a plan based on the best possible scientific, medical and economic advice, I would argue, available to any government in the world.
We have the best people working on these issues, and it’s based on the best evidence that is available to our government. It is a plan that has been developed very carefully.
And, I want to stress, over many, many months. We began this process earlier this year. We’ve been through two iterations of the Doherty modelling to produce the national plan targets that were agreed a month or so ago.
And indeed, as you will recall, the national plan was first agreed without those targets attached to it, understanding what the steps would need to be. And then with the science guiding our decisions about what those targets should be.
Updated
Seems legit.
#BREAKING: Cronulla Sharks player Josh Dugan has been charged with breaching #COVID19 restrictions after being caught more than 150km from his home "going to feed animals".
— 9News Sydney (@9NewsSyd) August 23, 2021
Police allegedly turned him back TWICE in one day.
DETAILS: https://t.co/fR3ycjtCu0#9News pic.twitter.com/h0NdzMKiiJ
Updated
VICTORIA
Calla Wahlquist has more on what Victoria’s Covid response commander, Jeroen Weimar, said about some of the people who have symptoms and haven’t got tested who are very, very ill. This included children.
As Calla reports: It’s pretty confronting. He said:
“We have examples of children collapsing at school and vomiting at school, that is how ill they are. And then we go to the household and we realise a number of people in the household are positive. Very symptomatic.
If you think you have symptoms, someone you care for has got symptoms, encourage them to get tested.”
There is a $450 no-questions-asked payment for getting tested if you have to miss work to isolate waiting for your result, and 99% of tests are being returned within 24 hours.
Weimar said his comment earlier about young men in their 20s and 30s in Newport was a reminder to a specific group who may think they are not the kind of person who gets Covid, because they are young and healthy. He says young, healthy people and healthy kids are getting Covid, so people need to monitor themselves and their kids for symptoms.
“You might think you’re indestructible but we need you to go out and get tested if you have symptoms.”
And that warning isn’t location-specific — cases have turned up in Mansfield and Shepparton, there are cases in Sorrento, it’s popping up all over.
Victorian premier Daniel Andrews said there had been issues of people not getting tested as soon as they had symptoms, and also of people not following health orders.
“People have been asked to isolate. Not 100% of people do that, and there is perhaps a pattern to that age group.”
Updated
Delta, you can sashay away.
COVID-19 Commander Jeroen Weimar says it’s absolutely possible to contain Victoria’s outbreak. “This is a drag race, we will go as hard as we can,” he says.
— Benita Kolovos (@benitakolovos) August 23, 2021
Updated
The “eligible’’ population when it comes to vaccinations does not currently include children (outside of vulnerable children aged 12-15).
No vaccine has been approved for children younger than 12 as yet. And there isn’t enough mRNA supply, at this stage, for the program to be opened up to over-12-year-olds more widely.
Which is what has people worried about “opening up’’ when children aren’t vaccinated:
Weimar says some who test tested are asymptomatic, but adds: "We have examples of children collapsing at school and vomiting at school, that is how ill they are. And then we go to the house of and we realise a number of people in the household are positives. Very symptomatic."
— Calla Wahlquist (@callapilla) August 23, 2021
Updated
ACT
Back to Covid politics, ACT chief minister Andrew Barr says the “common sense’’ approach to the national plan is understanding it in context of what is happening with Covid nationwide:
I think it is very important, as I have been stressing throughout this process, to understand the detail of the national plan and it has been very disappointing that both some senior politicians in Australia and some media outlets have glossed over the detail and I think that has led to a lot of confusion in the community.
I don’t think Australians want to embrace more people getting infected with Covid and more people finding themselves in hospital and intensive care or [dying].
So I wouldn’t have used that language - “embrace more Covid” – I don’t think anyone does that.
But understanding that there needs to be a transition: of course there does. And as I just outlined, I think in quite some detail, the points that I am arguing - and I’m not alone in this, it’s not me versus the world on this, there are many, many people who share my view - all of this for the sake of three to six more weeks of vaccinating would have us in a much stronger position as a nation and would protect more people. I think that’s worth fighting for.
Updated
Over in the House of Representatives, the sunset clauses on the anti-terror bills (the main reason parliament is sitting) are being dealt with.
These clauses aren’t new – they were in the original legislation. They just weren’t put up for debate in time to have them passed in the last sitting, so here we are.
Updated
As flagged this morning, the bill banning import of products produced by forced labour has passed in the Senate. It passed a short time ago, without amendments. However, the government did not support it - a bad sign for its chances of passing in the House of Reps.
Updated
OK, let’s take a look at some political news now.
Updated
Health minister Greg Hunt also says the government anticipates it will receive advice from Atagi on the vaccination of 12- to 15-year-olds by the end of the week.
Updated
'This groundhog day must end': PM
The transcript for the PM’s press conference has just dropped. We didn’t miss much when we went over to the NSW presser, but in case you were in any doubt, Scott Morrison’s mindset is back where it was in May 2020. It’s no longer a doona, it’s a cave. There are rays of light, and dawns, and hastenings to new futures. And it’s all based on 70-80% of the eligible population being vaccinated.
Q: Can I just clarify, in terms of the 70%, are you still happy reopening at 70% if cases at that point are significant enough to make contact tracing less effective? Because the Doherty Report says that if cases are high enough to make contact tracing ineffective, that at 70% prolonged lockdowns may still be necessary. So, what’s your position on that?
Morrison:
Well, [what] the plan talks about are highly targeted and unlikely for lockdowns post 70%, and 80% it goes further than that. And, the advice that we’ve had from Professor McVernon over the course of the weekend that the starting point does not influence the overall conclusions of the model. There is further sensitivity work that’s being done around that. But the point that we’ve also been making is that’s why we’re seeking to constrain as much as possible the number of cases while we’re still in a phase where we are now.
Phase A is still a suppression phase. There is no conflict between me saying to you that lockdowns, you know, once we hit 70 and 80% do more harm than good.
And, the point right now when we’re at our current level, where they remain, are regrettably a necessary part of how we’re seeking to manage our Covid response. There’s no conflict between those two things.
That is based on what is occurring and the health situation at those two different points in time. But, the advice that we have to this point is that, of course, we can go ahead with that, because if not at that point, was it at 70.16?
Obviously, the issue once you reach those marks is how you manage it beyond that point, and you build your capacity to live with the virus.
And the clear point I’m making to Australians today is that is where we’re going.
That is where we all want to go. There will be risk attached to it. But there is also risk by remaining stuck where we are. We have to break this cycle.
The national plan is the way to cut through and for us to emerge from that.
This groundhog day has to end, and it will end when we start getting to 70% and 80%
Updated
There are four people with Covid in Canberra hospitals – two of them, though, are in hospital for non-Covid-related reasons. No one requires oxygen at this point.
Updated
ACT update – 16 new cases
ACT chief minister Andrew Barr says ACT Health is investigating the source of the three cases which are not linked to existing cases.
He then moves on to vaccinations – people over 16 can register with DHR (the ACT health site) their intention to be vaccinated, which will then take them to when they can make an appointment.
This is for mRNA vaccines, which in the ACT are booked out until mid-October. There are currently more than 17,000 bookings for a mRNA vaccine in Canberra, which means there will be nothing available anytime soon, unless supply picks up.
You can talk to a doctor to get the AstraZeneca vaccine if you wish to be vaccinated earlier.
Barr:
At this point in the vaccine rollout it is particularly important for healthcare workers, aged care workers, disability workers to get vaccinated as soon as possible.
We have also put in place special arrangements for 12-15-year-olds with underlying health conditions to receive a Pfizer vaccine at an ACT government clinic.
Of course, the AstraZeneca vaccine is available extensively across the ACT through GPs and pharmacists and thank you to the GPs, pharmacists and nurses who have been running such a strong program across the city.
On all matters vaccination, please visit the ACT COVID-19 website for more information on how you can get vaccinated.
This is a race and we do need more people to come forward and we will do what we can to get you vaccinated as quickly as possible.
Updated
Victorian premier Daniel Andrews said he could not guarantee that localised lockdowns and other restrictions would not be introduced once the state got to 80% vaccination coverage.
If the public health team were to advise that a measure like that was necessary ... well then we would deal with that.
But again, at 80%, I think lockdowns more broadly are not a tool that we would use unless we were advised to. I think it is far less likely.
To get back to this crystal ball thing — I would love to give everyone absolute certainty on this … Could I rule it out? I’d love to be able to rule out lots of things.
But I could get advice and what people know about me is that if I get advice from the doctors to do it, I will do it. I won’t second-guess them and I won’t turn this into a political game. It is a public health matter.
I don’t think I would get that advice but I can’t sit here — look, we are not making stone tablet here, mate…. I can’t rule that out. And it would be wrong if I did, because then you would be here, rightfully, maybe in a few months saying: you said it wouldn’t happen and now it is.”
Updated
So what can we take from all of that?
Gladys Berejiklian is well on board the “normalise’’ Covid train, making it about vaccinations, not case numbers, pretty explicitly now.
Daniel Andrews is still very worried about case numbers, and hoping to contain the Delta outbreak, while still pushing vaccinations.
That pretty much describes the split down the country right now.
Updated
No word on whether Victoria's lockdown will be lifted next week
Victoria’s lockdown is supposed to expire on 2 September. That’s looking increasingly unlikely.
Daniel Andrews said he “can’t predict what settings will be recommended in a week’s time”.
He also said the idea that you could vaccinate your way out of the virus was false, because “we don’t have the supply and Delta will move faster than we can vaccinate people”.
The notion that, well, you know, you could probably hold cases to a lowish number while you did that – so bubbles over here while we vaccinate our way out of it – what Delta has shown us, sadly, this is the greatest challenge we face in many respects, is that the notion of Delta is bubbling is really hard until you got really tough rules on. You start to open up and it won’t be bubbling, it will be raging.
Andrews said the mental health impact of lockdowns was always balanced against the impact of opening up.
When the state got to 80% vaccination, he said, it is “highly unlikely we would have anything like a statewide lockdown”.
But he said there might be localised lockdowns — he used the outbreak in far west NSW as an example.
You might, for instance, for those sorts of reasons, if a community was under-vaccinated or at higher risk, you might have a localised set of rules, but the notion of a statewide set of rules around lockdown getting to 80% means that we can avoid that.
He said 80% was the target because “the less people that are left unvaccinated, the smaller and more manageable the pandemic of the unvaccinated will be”.
Updated
New Zealand Covid update
New Zealand’s coronavirus outbreak has grown by 35 people, increasing the total number of cases to 107.
The country is currently in a nationwide lockdown as it grapples with a Delta variant outbreak that has spread from Auckland to Wellington.
Of the 107 cases, 99 are in Auckland and eight are in Wellington, and 72 are epidemiologically linked, with the remaining still under investigation but likely to be linked.
More than 300 locations are listed for potential exposure, including schools, universities, hospitals, churches, bars, restaurants, airports and a casino. Nearly 10,000 close contacts across the country are being tested.
Genome sequencing has linked the cluster to a returnee from Australia. It is not yet known how the virus was transmitted from the traveller, who was in quarantine, to the community. Health officials are now investigating a walkway near the quarantine facility’s exercise area, which is sectioned off from the public with road cones and a fence.
Another area, an internal thoroughfare within the atrium of that facility – Crowne Plaza – is also being investigated.
Six people have been identified as walking through that thoroughfare, while a positive case was in the lobby. Of those, four have returned a negative test result and two are pending results.
Health officials say there is a possibility of airflow between the lobby and atrium.
Around 35,800 vaccine doses were administered on Sunday, 10,000 more than on the previous Sunday.
The prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, is to update the nation later on Monday over whether the current lockdown settings – in place until midnight Tuesday – will be extended.
Updated
Victorian premier Daniel Andrews was asked whether he would introduce tougher restrictions on Victoria if the case numbers continued to climb.
He replied:
There’s not too many more restrictions that we can put on.
Ultimately the thing that will make the difference in bringing these numbers further is compliance with these current rules.
Andrews said he would not be “critical about people who have got different views”, but added:
I see a lot of people out there what are upset with these rules, like we all are, we’re not happy to have these rules on — but I suppose the questions to those people who are frustrated, perfectly reasonably, there’s every reason to be frustrated, this is a global pandemic, no-one wants to be in this position — but I think it is fair and reasonable to pose a question back, if you’re not happening what’s happening now — none of us are by the way— what’s the alternative?
Let’s get everybody vaccinated. Well, I don’t have supply. I don’t have enough vaccine to vaccinate everyone or even get to 70, 80% next week. It’s going to take time.
I might be upset about that but it doesn’t mean more vaccines turns up because I’m angry that more wasn’t ordered last year or whatever it might be, that doesn’t change it.
Andrews said the other option would be to “just open it up”, but said that means that “thousands of people finish up in hospital”.
I understand people are frustrated, I get that, we all are, but if there was another option, then we would have chosen that. Every single leader in the country from all political persuasions, from all points of view, we would have chosen something different.
So, you know, it’s a bit like the protest on the weekend - terrible scenes, ugly scenes, and today’s Monday and the virus is still here because protests, however agitated, however appalling, however willing, don’t work on this.
Updated
Victoria’s Covid testing commander, Jeroen Weimar, has made a specific callout to young men who live in Newport and Altona North, urging them to get tested.
There are 352 primary close contacts connected to the Newport cluster, three-quarters of whom have returned a negative test.
Weimar said:
Particularly appealing to really younger men in the Newport area, and Altona North area, if you’re active in your communities, in your 20s and 30s, if you’re connected to the footy club, if you’re connected to the gyms, if you’re active in the community, please come forward and get tested.
We really are concerned about this ongoing emergence of cases in the Newport area. We had some very good meetings last night with community leaders in the Altona North and Newport area, but please, we need to double down and really get to the bottom of what’s going on in the Newport area.
He also had a warning for people living in the St Kilda area, saying that while there were no new cases in that area today.
I remain concerned about the number of loose ends we have around the wider St Kilda area.
Just because it doesn’t lead the news doesn’t mean it’s not dangerous for you in your locality.
On the other clusters: a third of the 3,753 primary close contacts in Shepparton have returned a negative test so far. Some 2,500 of those contacts are connected to Greater Shepparton Secondary College.
The Broadmeadows childcare cluster “feels like it’s starting to stabilise”, Weimar says. Eighty-two per cent of the 1,200 primary close contacts have returned a negative result.
Updated
One in five Covid cases in Victoria is aged under 10
Of the 494 active cases, 112 are children under the age of 10, and 100 are children aged 10 to 19. A further 79 are people in their 20s.
Jeroen Weimar said:
It’s a very, very young age profile of people currently active with coronavirus in this state … Nobody in this state is safe or immune from this.
In really sad news, one of the 29 people currently in hospital with Covid in Victoria is an infant.
Twenty-one of the 29 are aged under 50.
Updated
NSW press conference ends
Gladys Berejiklian wraps up the press conference.
So that is 818 new cases.
Three people in their 80s have died in the past 24 hours.
586 people with Covid have been admitted to hospital.
100 of those people are in ICU.
5,951,886 people have received at least one dose of vaccination in NSW.
Covid has been discovered in the Cobar and Bateau Bay sewerage.
New restrictions, including mandatory outside mask wearing (except when exercising), are now in place for identified LGAs in Greater Sydney.
Parents and carers should find out what is happening with school by the end of the week.
The NSW government is working on what “freedoms” can be given to vaccinated people and that should be announced at the end of the week.
Updated
The ACT is opening appointments for 16-to-39-year-olds to receive mRNA vaccines (talk to a doctor for AstraZeneca if you want something nowish).
But Canberra mRNA appointments are booked out, at this stage, until the middle of October.
Updated
ACT reports 16 new cases
Three of the 16 were infectious in the community.
Thirteen of the Covid cases have been linked to previous cases.
It is still touch-and-go for the ACT, as it waits to see how many of the cases it caught in its snap lockdown (the incubation period for that is still ticking over).
Updated
Victorian case breakdown
Let’s go through the breakdown of today’s Covid cases in Victoria.
The 71 cases reported today include:
- 14 new cases linked to Shepparton, bringing that cluster to 36;
- 10 new cases linked to Newport, bringing that cluster to 61;
- Eight cases linked to the My Centre childcare centre in Broadmeadows, bringing that cluster to 50;
- Five cases linked to the Royal Melbourne Hospital, bringing that cluster to 10;
- 12 people who are household contacts of previous cases;
- 22 mystery cases.
That mystery case number is a concern — it’s double the number of mystery cases as yesterday.
Victoria’s Covid-19 response commander, Jeroen Weimar, said:
We’re seeing again a spread into new suburbs in the Melbourne area, suburbs like Essendon West, Camberwell, Thornbury and Fitzroy North, Maidstone and all the way down to Sorrento.
It highlights again the points we have been making over the last few days that we’re now seeing an increasing number of suburbs and LGAs where we have active coronavirus cases.
Of course, there is a lot of work for us to do in those mystery cases over the coming hours and days to understand the linkages. Where we find one case, we’re very likely to find more.
Weimar said it was very important for anyone who had been told to isolate to maintain that isolation for the full 14 days. Daniel Andrews made some comments on this earlier — there were a significant number of day 13 positive tests from the Al-Taqwa cluster, so there is a need to isolate for the full 14 days.
On isolation: there are now 14,000 primary close contacts in isolation across the state, and 9,000 secondary close contacts. There are 613 exposure sites.
Updated
Is there any chance for face-to-face learning in term three?
Gladys Berejiklian:
Obviously by the end of this week we’ll convey what our plans for school is. But we were clear to say that the lockdown in those parts of Greater Sydney was extending to the end of September. So we were very clear about that. But I did say that we would talk about what’s happening in schools towards the end of this week and that remains the case.
Updated
Gladys Berejiklian:
A day doesn’t go by when we don’t think about the stress placed upon individuals and families.
And also appreciate that everybody has an opinion. There are 8 million citizens and I’m sure that everybody has an opinion about how things should happen or what’s occurred and that’s a matter for everybody to assess themselves.
What we do as a government is look around the world, look at what our best experts in New South Wales are advising us. And also, what the national plan says.
... We need to learn from what’s happened overseas. But we’re from a different position. Other countries didn’t have the benefit of having a relatively, especially in New South Wales, having a relatively good 18 months compared to the rest of the world.
And now we are facing what every other jurisdiction has faced and that’s confronting.
But that’s OK. Because every state in Australia is going to have to go through this eventually, because eventually borders are going to have to come down and it’s up to how each premier responds to the national plan. But whenever the borders come down, Delta is going to be part of the community.
Updated
Gladys Berejiklian has 'no issue' with future inquiries
Just not right now.
Gladys Berejiklian:
I have no issue whatsoever with as many inquiries as people would like to have. But can I just say - let us get our job done in this instance.
Let us focus on what we need to do to get the community through these challenging times. And all of us should be held to account.
But also, we need to have realistic expectations. Please point to one nation or state in the world that hasn’t had thousands of cases because of Delta. Please show me the perfect state or the perfect nation.
What we do need to do is make sure that we keep our residents safe and healthy. But also accept that a pandemic means that all of us are impacted and Australia, to this point in time, has done unbelievably well. But we’re not in isolation.
We can’t pretend that we’re different to anywhere else in the world. But we have been, to this point in time, successful in not having the thousands and thousands and thousands of cases a day.
And it is a race against time. We want to make sure that the vaccination rates go up and case numbers stay relatively stable or come down.
Updated
Daniel Andrews urges people to keep their vaccination appointments
Daniel Andrews has urged Victorians not to cancel their vaccine appointment out of the hope of getting Pfizer, off the back of federal government announcements about eligibility.
The premier said:
If you’ve got an appointment, please don’t not show up for that appointment, or cancel that appointment, because of announcements that have been made and supplies that may be here in a week or a month.
There’s no guarantee that you are doing anything other than perhaps joining a waiting list. If you’ve got an appointment, please come forward, go through that consent process, there’s Pfizer and AstraZeneca appointments that are not full as I stand here right now.
Please jump forward. If you’ve got a booking, honour that booking and play your part in protecting yourself, your family and, indeed, every family.
Play your part in making sure that lockdowns are not something that we have to endure for a moment longer than they are the principal and only option available to us. Seventy and 80% will mean we have many more choices, many more options, and they’re all better than the very challenging circumstances that we face now.
Some 186,000 Victorians received a vaccine through state hubs this week – that’s a new weekly record, and doesn’t include shots administered at GP clinics or pharmacies.
Updated
Berejiklian continues:
We’re just going to have to accept it. And it is confronting for us in Australia because until this point in time we didn’t have to deal with large case numbers.
In ... previous strains of Covid we were able to manage. But what is, I think, interesting and telling is that last year when Victoria went through the very difficult period, the death rate was much higher because the vaccine wasn’t available.
And we now see the power of the vaccine, and that’s why I just urge people not to have the rollercoaster of emotions of case numbers every day.
It’s so easy to go up and down, depending on how the case numbers are going. But what is really important for us is to focus on getting the vaccine numbers up...
I also acknowledge that every state is going to have to go through this transition one way or another. Because once you open your border, we can’t live in isolation forever.
We’re one of the few nations in the planet who is still living in isolation.
But once you start opening your border, every state is going to see case numbers and that’s why we just have to get used to the fact that our aim during the pandemic is to keep people safe and healthy and keep them out of hospital, but trying to get to normal life as soon as we can.
Updated
Gladys Berejiklian then moves to people needing to get to a point where they live with the virus:
I was really pleased to hear the prime minister’s comments as well as other leaders, tempering their comments.
Because we do need to live with Delta. And that’s apparent and obvious. Every state will go through this in different stages. Every state will have a different time when they have to transition.
But I just say to everybody across the nation - we are going to go through it ... Each state will go through a difficult time as you transition ... and normalising is a word that’s probably a bit confronting for people.
Just as we tend to talk about the number of people that die from flu, when we have 80% double dose vaccination, that’s how we’ll treat it.
The case numbers will be less relevant. What will be more relevant is how many people are in intensive care and how many people succumb.
Updated
Given Scott Morrison announced (without flagging it with the national cabinet, as Murph has reported) bookings would soon be opening for 16-to-39-year-olds, is Gladys Berejiklian worried people will wait for mRNA vaccines?
No, we’re urging everybody to come forward and get vaccinated. Whatever vaccine you can get your hands on, please come forward and get vaccinated. That’s our strong message now.
And we know that the effects of the jab, the first jab, don’t happen or set in until two to three weeks after you get your first jab.
So we know that when we’re vaccinating hundreds of thousands of people every single week, that within two to three weeks those people would be less transmissible and less likely to end up in hospital and less likely to get Covid.
So we’re just encouraging everybody to come forward and get the jab. But specifically, we are giving priority to people in those 12 local government areas in terms of vaccination. So again, I know we’ve said this a number of times but it is so important to have 16-39-year-olds in those local government areas of concern to come in and get booked. Most will get the jab within days of booking, within days.
And we just urge everybody to do that. It’s so important. So we are providing priority in those local government areas to those younger cohorts but obviously just asking everybody across the state and in the regions and other parts of Sydney to come forward and get the jab.
If you have any issues or concerns, speak to your GP or a medical professional, but it stands to reason that people are coming forward and putting their arms up and we’re so grateful for that.
Updated
Back to NSW, Dr Marianne Gale is asked how many children are sick or in hospital and whether any are in ICU. She says:
I don’t have the exact numbers but I’m happy to provide those to you.
Clearly, in this Delta outbreak, we are seeing increased numbers of children affected, as the premier said. It spreads easily between households. You know, once it’s introduced into a household, that spreads quickly.
We know that particularly in the areas of western Sydney and south-west Sydney, we have large families, and as a result high numbers of children are becoming infected.
As we have spoken about previously, also in early childhood settings, we are seeing transmission occur and that’s why we encourage people, recognising that it is difficult and different people’s circumstances may not allow it.
But to please keep your children home from early childhood settings if you can.
So clearly, we are concerned around the transmission in children. We are seeing children in hospital, but their rates of hospitalisation and their rates of ICU admission are much less than, thankfully, than what we’re seeing in our older population. And I think that is reflected in what we report to you in daily ICU admissions, and sadly the deaths which are still occurring in the main amongst people who are older and who often have underlying co-morbidities.
Updated
Sixteen of Victoria's 71 new cases in isolation during infectious period
Just 16 of the 71 Covid cases reported in Victoria on Monday were in isolation throughout their entire infectious period, premier Daniel Andrews has said.
Some 49 of those cases have been linked to known outbreaks, and 22 are still under investigation.
Andrews said:
Obviously 16 out of 71 is a significant concern to us.
Most of those cases were in Shepparton and “some inner western suburbs of challenge to us”.
There are 29 people in hospital, nine in intensive care and five on ventilators.
Andrews thanked hospital staff and health workers, adding:
So much of this strategy is about preventing a situation where they are given an impossible task, where they are given thousands and thousands of patients to treat when that is simply not possible.
One of the most challenging things, I’m sure, that the New South Wales government and the community in New South Wales are facing at the moment – because we have been there, we were there last year – to have 400, 500, 600 patients admitted is really, really hard.
Updated
NSW police are still looking for a man who tested positive for Covid and has allegedly refused to isolate.
An arrest warrant has been issued for him.
Updated
Anne Davies asks what is going on in Wilcannia:
Q: Wilcannia, one of the most remote settlements in New South Wales. We are hearing that tests have not been sent over the weekend because the contractor didn’t work weekends, so the numbers we are seeing on Wilcannia are very out of date. There are houses with up to 10 people living in them [with] infected cases. Can you tell us what you are doing on the ground there? It sounds like a mess.
John Barilaro takes this one:
They were only three cases in the far west but I already know from 8pm [to] this morning that there are already 15 new cases we are concerned about in the far west, including Wilcannia.
It is the way they are uploaded by the provider, and that is of concern. Again, when you say it is a mess out there, it is not.
It is a very coordinated government approach, including ADF and the Royal Flying Doctor Service over the weekend. We had a case on a shearing station where they were 20-plus people. There was a case on site.
We mobilised, got resources and got in food supplies and removed the mother and child who had Covid, and put them in isolation.
Since then, we have been able to coordinate with that particular shearing station. Everything is in coordination, but to your point it is very remote.
These areas are impacted by the remoteness, and we focus on the whole of government. The issue around testing - those testing numbers come in batches.
Q: Are they out of date?
Barilaro:
No, they are up to date because we also get data since 8 pm. We will continue to know that in Wilcannia it is a concern, which is why I [ask] that if you have visited Wilcannia or you live there, please get tested.
Updated
There is no certainty for kids under 12 at this stage, in terms of either when they go back to school or when they could be eligible for vaccinations.
Updated
Gladys Berejiklian says “freedoms” will be announced by the end of the week for those who are vaccinated:
We plan on giving advice later this week on what we can do at 6 million jabs.
We have always said will provide advice was the end of August and what is possible in September, October.
We will stick to that was not towards the end of the week, people will know, if they are fully vaccinated, what they can do in September, October.
Also, we will give clear guidance on what is likely timing for schools going back.
Please know that our health experts in particular are working with how the HSC can be done safely was not working on what cohorts of children it is safe to go back at particular times. So all of that detail is being worked through, and I think the community prefers advice over speculation.
Updated
New Zealand reports 35 new Covid cases
Things are not looking great in New Zealand
#BREAKING: 35 new COVID-19 cases in the community today - 33 in Auckland, 2 in Wellington https://t.co/hSvMGyvuU9
— Newshub Breaking (@NewshubBreaking) August 23, 2021
Updated
Asked when primary schoolchildren could return to school, Gladys Berejiklian says she hopes to be able to tell parents by the end of the week, and then pivots to the vaccinations of senior students.
Updated
Dr Huong Nguyen:
Our nurses are the backbone of the intensive care system providing care that is compassionate.
They are holding their hands and comforting them because we know that you can’t be there.
This makes it really hard for the community and makes it hard for our nursing and medical staff across the whole hospital.
We are worried about the increasing number of patients who are admitted to the wards, because we know at some stage they will need the intensive care team’s care.
It isn’t a good day when you need to meet that team. We would much prefer to never meet you and your families. Our nurses are coming and our doctors are coming up to work every day, despite knowing how difficult it is. They are leaving children, just like you, at home.
Our call is to please get vaccinated.
An ICU specialist from the Nepean hospital, Dr Huong Nguyen, is also giving an update:
What has worried us over recent weeks as the increasing number of patients admitted to intensive care who are younger.
They are staying an intensive care for longer, and they are needing care that cannot be provided anywhere else on the wards. There are those who are on breathing machines and on heart and lung machines.
What is really worrying is the number of young patients who are coming in. Up to 25% have been less than 40 years old.
Our nurses and doctors provide the best and compassionate care, and we need your help. We know it is difficult at the moment.
We know that it is hard that your families don’t get to come in and see your loved ones and intensive care, so when Dr Gale talks of the patients who are in intensive care units, there are another 400 who are in there for non-Covid-related reasons and their loved ones can’t visit them.
Updated
In terms of how many of those new 818 cases were linked, NSW Health reports:
Forty-seven cases were in isolation throughout their infectious period and 15 were in isolation for part of their infectious period. Forty-two cases were infectious in the community, and the isolation status of 714 cases remains under investigation.
Updated
Covid has been detected in the Bateau Bay and Cobar sewerage systems, prompting people in those areas to come forward for testing.
NSW CHO Dr Kerry Chant is in a parliamentary hearing, so we have Dr Marianne Gale from NSW Health for the update:
Until 8pm last night, 818 locally acquired cases of Covid-19, and no overseas cases reported. The New South Wales population came out in record numbers to be tested.
We had approximately 160,000 tests recorded and a team have been working on clearing the backlog of negative tests. Thanks to all of the people that have come forward for testing.
And also a thank you to our labs, public and private, who have worked so hard to manage that high demand for testing.
There are currently 586 Covid cases admitted to hospital. There are 100 people currently in intensive care, of whom 32 required ventilation. Of the 100 cases in ICU, 87 of those people are not vaccinated, and the remainder have had their first dose of vaccine.
Updated
And the data:
Updated
There are now 100 people in NSW ICUs.
There are 586 people in hospital with Covid.
Updated
Gladys Berejiklian:
In fact, New South Wales is doing better than anticipated [on] vaccination rates, and I’m hoping to get updates to the community when we had a 70% double dose. At this stage we are saying end of October, but we could get there sooner given how quickly people are responding. We are deeply grateful.
Updated
Gladys Berejiklian says it is all about accepting change, and NSW just happened to be the first jurisdiction to go through that:
I know what New South Wales is going through is [life] changing, and I hope we never experienced this in our lifetime again, but every state will have to go through the transition of going back to normality.
While our transition [is] perhaps sooner and more starker than we had envisaged, once you get to 80% double dose, every state will have to live with Covid.
You cannot keep Delta out forever, you cannot assume there will be zero cases, even if you had zero cases today. I urge all of us to work together in New South Wales and across the nation to make sure we provide health and safety to all of our citizens as much as possible, but also we focus on what life looks like in just weeks and months away.
Updated
NSW records 818 new Covid cases, three deaths
Gladys Berejiklian opens up with vaccination numbers, and a plea to stop looking at case numbers:
I want to stress that we are going through the rollercoaster ride of emotions as case numbers go up and down. I don’t want to focus so much on the numbers going up and down. We want to see them go down, no doubt about that, and we’re working so hard to make it possible, but the number we need to focus on is a vaccination rate. When we reached 70% double dose, we will be able to live more freely.
When we get to 80% double dose, essentially, we would have normalised the way we treat Covid. As the Doherty Report says, when you get to 70% double dose vaccination, you start to transition and treat Covid as you would the flu and terms of how you record hospitalisations and the way the community is going. I want to stress that.
She also mentions “freedom”.
Updated
We are moving to the NSW press conference now
Q: You said last week you were shocked at the suggestion someone deployed to Afghanistan could be at all involved in the Brereton inquiry, but there are reports today that someone who was involved in that inquiry has been deployed to Afghanistan. What is your response to that...?
Scott Morrison:
I didn’t make any comment on that.
He did make a comment – he attacked the question. Here he was last Tuesday:
Well, I firstly respond by saying that the suggestion, I find a bit extraordinary in the circumstances. These are 250 Australians answering the call of their government to go and help Australians in need. And you’re questioning their integrity? I find that quite surprising. They’re going there to help their fellow Australians and to help Afghan citizens who will be coming to live here in Australia. They’re going to do their service in our uniform and in our name. I respect it. And I would ask others to respect it also and not to cast slurs against their integrity.
The second point I’d make is this. They have been asked to go there under this operation to support the mission we’re currently engaged in. And that mission involves a situation on the ground in Kabul which is very distressing, very fluid. And of course, should we need Australians to be going in to support the efforts of our mission over, in the days ahead, then, of course, we have that option available to us by people being prepositioned.
But I thank them for their service. Thank you to those 250 that have left from Townsville. I want to thank their families as they farewelled them off to that service. And I can assure you, I honour each and every single one of you.
Which he does here too:
Q: Prime minister, 13 of 17 special forces soldiers have been quietly told that their show-cause notice has been withdrawn. Why wasn’t this in relation to the Brereton inquiry, why wasn’t this publicly announced by government or the Department of Defence given how profile the approach was when they were initially accused?
Morrison:
Well, the points that you make I think are very relevant and it just goes to show that there are people making assumptions about these issues and shouldn’t be making those assumptions. There is a proper process we’ve set up to deal with these matters and that will be followed.
What I do know is there are brave Australians in Kabul right now bringing people to freedom. That’s what they’re doing. They have my total respect and I’m not going to put up with aspersions being cast against their character. I don’t think other Australians will too. I think they will take a very dim view of that approach.
Updated
Scott Morrison is always twirling towards freedom:
I want to stress, I have put no faith in a calendar. There is no freedom day here. That is not what my plan is. A day is not going to change it. 70% is going to change it. 80% is going to change it. That is the day you get to.
That is what actually drives the decision about when you can go to the next step. I am all for freedom and the passage to that is based on clearing those gates of 70% and 80%. What day we will hit that? As soon as we possibly can.
Remember when we had to get out from under the doona?
(That was in May 2020, so I don’t blame you if you don’t remember. It was practically a lifetime ago.)
Well, now Scott Morrison wants us to get out from the cave:
I would envisage that in the time we have between now and when we reach those targets, that there will be the opportunity to reinforce those plans for our state and territories to know that they will be able to deal with this. Because we have to deal with it. Otherwise we stay in the cave forever. That’s not a sustainable solution.
So at some point, and we have nominated what that point is, we must go to the next level.
Updated
He is asked again – will federal assistance stop if states keep locking down past 70-80%?
Again, Scott Morrison doesn’t answer it:
I am committed to the national plan and I think Australians are too. I think even eight out of 10 Australians who have taken the decision to go forward and get vaccinated, endure these lockdowns and do what has been asked of them, they will be expecting that plan to be put in place. I think the voice of Australians on this will be very critical. Let’s see what happens.
So he is asked if he means Queensland and WA. He says:
I wasn’t specifically referring to anybody. I have been around this place a long time and when governments put forward plans to get things done there will be always those that seek to undermine it for their own purposes.
It happens in this place every day. I suspect it will happen later on in question time today.
My point is simply this: there are a number of things we have to overcome as we go forward with the plan. Of course there will be those who will undermine it for political purposes, and there is no great surprise about this and Australians will judge them accordingly.
I think I mentioned one particularly, and there are those who might fear what would happen after 70%. I understand that.
I understand people will be concerned that cases may rise. What will that mean? That leads to the next issue and that is there will be those – will our public health systems be able to deal with that?
Again, a very legitimate issue. So that’s my point. To realise the plan at 70% and 80%, the task is not to walk away, the task is not to delay, the task is not to fear, the task is to embrace, prepare, plan, ensure that we are in a position to do that.
Updated
We move on to questions with Scott Morrison.
He is asked whether if jurisdictions lock down past 70-80% vaccination targets, they will do so without federal financial support (he doesn’t answer the question).
You are putting to me a hypothetical situation. Why wouldn’t people want to open up the country when we hit 70-80%. That is my point. We agreed a national plan on 70%-80% based on the best possible health, scientific and economic advice.
We know clearly that lockdowns, once you move past that level, come at more cost than gain.
It does puzzle me - it puzzles me - why anyone would want to go against a plan that has been so carefully prepared based on that advice. I think the greater concern in that environment would be that lockdowns would be being applied. That is the greater risk to people in that scenario.
Updated
Marise Payne:
I want to acknowledge and thank the many colleagues, senators and members right across the parliament who are advocating for and supporting so many vulnerable people who are attempting to get to the airport in Kabul and inside the airport.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the home affairs and defence tapes are all working to support this effort and to evacuate as many as possible.
We have significant information being shared amongst parliamentarians, with the departments, with my office and that is helpful to us and very helpful to the teams on the ground. It is certainly an absolutely punishing environment and complex environment for those trying to get to Hamid Karzai international airport and to get into the airport and for those helping them. I think it is fair to say, Prime Minister, that we are thinking of them all.
The Victorian press conference will be held at 11.15am.
Updated
Australia 'stands ready' to support extending Afghan withdrawal deadline, PM says
Scott Morrison moves on to Afghanistan, repeating that 470 people were evacuated from Kabul overnight, including people being evacuated to the UK.
Foreign minister Marise Payne then takes over the update:
Our continued focus is on bringing out every Australian and Australian visa holder that we possibly can, and supporting those vulnerable Afghanis as well to move, if we possibly can.
There is a discussion going on about the prospect of the United States extending its withdrawal deadline. We are part of those discussions and if they are to be extended we are absolutely ready to support a continuing operation at Hamid Karzai international airport.
Updated
And here is the main message from Scott Morrison:
So, we have the plan. We are making great progress to achieve the goals of that plan. And that’s what I think gives Australians great hope to endure through what will still be a difficult time in the months ahead.
We need to stay focused. We need to get ready. And we need to move ahead.
Updated
Scott Morrison:
Our goal must be to help people overcome those fears and not give in to them, because this cannot go on forever.
This is not a sustainable way to live in this country, without those freedoms that we all cherish.
We understand, all sensible Australians understand, that there’s had to be restrictions, there’s had to be curtailment of what we can do during the course of a global pandemic.
The virus doesn’t respect ideologies, it doesn’t respect any of these things.
It’s just a virus, and we have to deal with it, and Australians get that. But equally, they also know there has to be a plan out, there is a plan out, and we need to move forward with that plan.
Updated
Scott Morrison:
It is always darkest before the dawn. And I think these lock downs are demonstration of that. But the dawn is not far away. And we are working towards that dawn and we are hastening towards the dawn.
We should not delay it. We should prepare for it. We should not fear it. We should embrace it. And we should move forward together.
“This can not go on forever, this is not a sustainable way to live in this country,” Scott Morrison says.
He is using a lot of “common sense” and “sensible Australians” in this press conference – in that it is common sense to enact the “national plan” and “sensible” Australians understand that.
Updated
We are back to ray-of-light analogies.
“It is always darkest before the dawn,” Scott Morrison says.
“... We should not delay it, we should hasten towards it.”
Updated
Scott Morrison says once those targets are hit, it is not about case numbers any more and people need to change their mindsets
Because if not at 70% and 80%, then when? Then when?
Updated
Scott Morrison press conference
The prime minister has stepped up. He opens with an update on Afghanistan and says there will be a motion moved in the parliament today recognising the situation.
But the main game is getting the states to come back on board to the “national plan” and stick to their agreement to open up when the nation hits 70-80% of the eligible population being vaccinated.
Once you get to 70% of your eligible population being vaccinated, and 80% ... the plan sets out we have to move forward.
Updated
Things are about to get very busy – we have the prime minister at 10.30am and then the Victorian and NSW press conferences.
To cut down on confusion (because I know it can be hard following Covid and politics) I will stick to each press conference for as long as I can, and clearly headline when I am headed somewhere else.
I know some of you are only here for Covid news, so I’ll make it as clear as I can what jurisdiction I am talking about.
We’ll head to more political news at 1-ish, with question time at 2pm.
Updated
The home affairs minister, Karen Andrews, was asked about the confusion over the 100 guards and full-time maintenance staff who were contracted to work at the Australian embassy in Kabul.
Over the weekend they expressed fears about their safety, after they received emails saying they were ineligible for the locally engaged employees program. The letter points to Australia’s commitment to offer 3,000 places under the existing humanitarian scheme to Afghan nationals and encourages them to “consider your options fully”. But the government later scrambled to say they would get another category of visas. You can read all about that in Kate Banville’s story here.
Andrews said the program dealt with people who were direct employees of the Australian before officials.
So we needed to look at what the pathways may well be for those people who are currently in Afghanistan and have provided support to us. And those that guarded the embassy were certainly people that we were very mindful of, that they weren’t eligible to be part of the locally engaged employees program.
We have processed many of those overnight, and there have been a significant number of emails that have been sent out advising people that they have been granted a 449 visa, and that they should make their way to the gate.
Pressed on the numbers involved, Andrews said:
My understanding is that it is all of those people at the embassy. So all of that 100 have been granted 449 visas overnight.
That led to the obvious question: why the last-minute scramble? Andrews did not accept that characterisation:
Well, I don’t accept that it’s a last-minute rush because a lot of this work has been under way. It has certainly escalated because of the significantly deteriorating situation in Afghanistan at the moment. But let’s be clear: work has been under way for many months, and people have been repatriated to Australia over that time.
Updated
Scott Morrison will be holding a press conference at 10.30am
AAP has more on the delay of Zachary Rolfe’s trial:
A Northern Territory policeman’s long-awaited trial for allegedly murdering an Aboriginal teenager during an outback arrest is to be postponed for a third time.
Const Zachary Rolfe, 30, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Kumanjayi Walker, 19, in November 2019.
The teenager was shot three times in the remote community of Yuendumu, about 290km north-west of Alice Springs.
Rolfe was scheduled to stand trial in the NT supreme court in Darwin at 10am (ACST) on Monday.
But 60 minutes before the proceedings were due to start, the high court granted the prosecution’s application for a stay order.
Justice Jacqueline Gleeson granted the stay until 10 September, when an application for special leave to the high court will be heard.
The prosecution seeks to appeal a recent legal decision by a full bench of the NT supreme court related to Rolfe’s defence.
Prosecutor Philip Strickland SC said the decision to allow Rolfe’s legal team to use three separate defences before the jury, including the immunity clause in the NT Police Administration Act, was wrong.
He said it was not consistent with the criminal code, which required a police officer’s actions to be reasonable for immunity to apply. The c code’s reasonableness provision was designed to protect the public from the excessive use of force, he said.
The interpretation of the act is central to Rolfe’s trial.
Justice Gleeson noted it was a “matter of significant public importance, and that the Crown had substantial prospects of obtaining a grant of special leave to appeal, and that there were exceptional circumstances warranting a stay pending the determination of the application”.
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Here’s what the home affairs minister, Karen Andrews, told reporters a short time ago regarding repatriation flights from Afghanistan:
On the 22nd of August – yesterday – four ADF flights uplifted about 472 people from Kabul airport. That includes Australian citizens, permanent residents, UK evacuees, locally engaged employees. So they have already been transported or are on their way to Dubai. And of course, earlier today, we actually had a second flight arrive in Melbourne, where we had passengers arriving from the UAE coming into Australia. So this is a second repatriation flight that has come into Australia.
The situation on the ground in Kabul in particular, but more broadly across Afghanistan, continues to deteriorate and deteriorate very rapidly. So on the ground we have of course our Australian defence forces but they are supported by Dfat [and] home affairs officials. On the ground, they are doing all that they can to uplift as many people as we can who have visas.
(You’ll see the figures include UK evacuees. The UK and Australia have been working closely on the ground, and the second group of Australians who left Kabul last week were on a British flight. We’ve been returning the favour.)
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Anthony Albanese had a chat to ABC Riverina this morning, giving you a hint of where Labor will be going this week on vaccinations:
It is getting better. And that’s a good thing. And people have been desperate, though, to get vaccinated. The issue has been one of supply.
It’s only been in recent times that pharmacies have been used. It’s only been in recent times there’s been any public information campaign to encourage people to be vaccinated. And I think the government should look at every measure at its disposal in order to encourage vaccinations. That’s why we’ve put forward a constructive plan for a $300 cash incentive for people to get vaccinated, but also as a reward for those people who already have.
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Northern Territory police officer Zachary Rolfe, who has been accused of murdering Kumanjayi Walker, 19, in November 2019, has had his murder trial delayed.
The prosecution wanted the trial postponed so it could seek leave from the high court to appeal a recent legal decision by a full bench of the NT supreme court related to Rolfe’s defence.
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Craig Kelly to lead Palmer’s United Australia party
Craig Kelly will lead Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party at the next election.
That’s probably all that announcement deserves. Moving on.
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Daniel Hurst will bring you an update on Afghanistan in just a moment.
Karen Andrews has given a brief press conference on that today.
There has been confusion over what visas some of the security guards and contractors at the embassy were eligible for.
The parliament will officially begin its sitting from 10am.
Victorian police minister Lisa Neville is back in her role today (she had been on medical leave).
Daniel Andrews has released a new statement (thanks, as always, to Calla Wahlquist for being my eyes and ears in the great state of Victoria):
Lisa has shown enormous strength and resilience through her recovery from surgery and treatment for Crohn’s disease, and I know how determined she has been to return to work.
Lisa will continue in her roles as the minister for water, minister for police and coordinating minister of the department of environment, land, water and planning.
She also retains responsibility for Covid-19 Quarantine Victoria (CQV) as it continues to play a significant role in our pandemic response. Preparations are now under way to establish the new quarantine facility at Mickleham which will be run by CQV, reporting through the police portfolio.
But she won’t be travelling as much (when that becomes a thing again).
Attorney general Jaclyn Symes “will take over as minister for emergency services, working with Emergency Management Victoria and our emergency services organisations to continue preparations for the next fire season” and lead the disaster recovery work.
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In an uncertain world, during uncertain times, there is almost something comforting about Bob Katter’s one-person crusade to have north Queensland declared its own state.
But even Katter has to move with the times. So, in his latest call, he has moved on from north Queensland being made a state in its own right.
He now wants TWO states:
Mr Katter proposes that a state of North Queensland be created and that a state combining the northern half of Western Australia and the Northern Territory also be created.
“Except for a 40-kilometre strip on the east coast of Australia and a little dot around Darwin and Perth, there is no one living in Australia,” Katter told a conference in an online address.
Guess where all the coal is? Guess where all the iron ore is? Guess where all the water is? Guess where all the hard rock metals are? Guess where all the uranium is? It’s in the northern half of this country, but we have no one living here.
If you think this situation is going to continue then you believe in the Tooth fairy. Three billion people in Asia see us as a little enclave of white people sitting on a treasure trove, and we haven’t even bothered to populate the continent. A land without people will be taken by a people without land.
This is not my opinion, it’s the opinion of former prime minister and Country party leader John “Black Jack” McEwen, who wrote in his autobiography that ‘it would be unacceptable, in world affairs, if we sought to own and occupy a whole continent with so few people’.
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Queensland LNP senator Amanda Stoker stopped by doors this morning to give her take on the anti-lockdown protests which were held on the weekend.
Stoker hasn’t been a fan of the lockdowns in the past, and was made to apologise for “any offence caused” when she likened a 2020 Queensland lockdown to the Queensland premier having “the knee on the throat of Queensland businesses, stopping them from breathing”.
Stoker’s take on the lockdown protest, which Victorian police said were some of the most violent it had seen in recent memory, is below:
As we’ve seen with some of the protests that happened over the weekend, Australians are eager to get to the resumption of the freedoms they know and love – to get back to enjoying work and study and all of the things that make living in this country great.
The Morrison government has a plan, with four steps to it, that is all about getting us back to normal. And at its core is vaccination.
Every three days, a million Australians get a jab in their arm. Over 17 million jabs so far. While vaccination is voluntary, not mandatory, we’re counting on Australians here to step up and do what’s necessary to protect their families, to protect their loved ones and protect the wider community. Every time we step up and do our little bit by getting a jab in the arm, we get ourselves one step closer to the resumption of the life we know and love in this country.
And so I offer that encouragement to Australians, to keep on going, to do their bit and protect the people they love, by making sure they talk to their GP or go to their pharmacist and get the vaccination that is the key to live as we like to in this great, beautiful country.
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We’re still waiting to find out the isolation status of the Victorian cases. As the caseload increases, that information tends to come a little bit later than we have been used to.
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There were mistakes made during the Victorian second wave and Daniel Andrews wasn’t always happy to answer every question. There were times that was obvious. But he still stood up for 120 press conferences in a row, and they usually went for as long as the journalists had questions.
NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian has her own way of dealing with press conferences. And it doesn’t include staying until all the questions are answered. Now it seems like she is attempting to limit how many questions journalists can ask:
So the NSW Premier has brought in a 'one question at a time rule' for journalists at press conferences. How absurd. Incomplete or outright non answers need follow up. The gallery should ignore this blatant attempt to reduce accountability.
— Tom Connell (@tomwconnell) August 22, 2021
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Labor senator Katy Gallagher will be one of the MPs not physically attending parliament today, despite being an ACT representative. That’s because her 14-year-old daughter has Covid.
If you missed her chat with Murph, you’ll find it here:
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Of those 71 new cases, 49 are linked and 22 are still under investigation.
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Victoria records 71 new cases
Victoria health has sent out its morning update:
Reported yesterday: 71 new local cases and no new cases acquired overseas.
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) August 22, 2021
- 22,191 vaccine doses were administered
- 46,446 test results were received
More later: https://t.co/lIUrl1hf3W#COVID19Vic #COVID19VicData [1/2] pic.twitter.com/pzEdkjiySP
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We’ll bring you all of the Covid pressers live as they happen; stay tuned for what’s going to be a busy few hours from 10ish.
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“Making history” seems difficult though, particularly, if you haven’t done a lot of work on it. As the ABC’s Kath Sullivan reports:
For almost three years, the federal government sought no bureaucratic advice regarding a major policy commitment to introduce a visa for farm workers, despite the National party insisting it was one of its top priorities.
And then this kicker from David Littleproud himself:
But Mr Littleproud said he’d consulted widely with the farm industry about the need for a visa.
I don’t need the department of agriculture to give me advice on what’s needed for an ag visa; I listen to industry – they’re the people I listen to and then I tell the department what to do.
He said ministers should “not get caught up in the bureaucracy and listen to the boffins in Canberra, but actually listen to the people in the machinery sheds around the horticulture industry, in the meat processing plants listening to the owners”.
I’m sure the ag industry has a whole heap of collective knowledge. Not sure visa policy is a specialty, though.
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David Littleproud is so proud of the agriculture visa, he has trumpeted it as ‘the Nationals making history’ in his media release.
I mean, I guess the bar is pretty low at the moment. It’s actually the Nationals doing something the party said it would do for years.
And it won’t be overnight either:
Here's the full release on #agvisa. It says regulations to create the visa in place by end Sept. Fully developed and implemented over 3 yrs #agchatoz #auspol pic.twitter.com/Tlg6YylMC3
— Natalie Kotsios (@NatalieKotsios) August 22, 2021
NSW police also did this:
NSW police issued a dubious fine to grocery distribution worker then mistakenly leaked her sensitive info to a stranger. The kicker? The mistaken recipient had only just won a case at the IPC against the cops for breaching his privacy in the exact same way https://t.co/HVS9EnqgY4
— Christopher Knaus (@knausc) August 22, 2021
NSW police issued 31 fines to a church group in Blacktown yesterday, who met for services.
Police say there was no QR code for the building. They had received reports of a gathering from the public just before 7.30pm.
From police media:
Police arrived and located a group of approximately 60 adults and children inside the building, participating in a sermon.
Additional police attended to assist and the details of those at the location were obtained, before the group were dispersed and directed to return home.
The adults were fined $1000 and the church organisation was fined $5000
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Qantas is pushing ahead with its own incentive scheme to have people vaccinated.
The airline will be mandating vaccines for its staff (except where there are medical reasons) and is now incentivising its passengers to become double vaccinated as well.
From its release:
The Qantas Group is launching its reward campaign for Covid-19 vaccinated Australians to recognise their role in helping the country get out of lockdown.
From tomorrow, fully vaccinated Australian-based Frequent Flyers who are 18 and over will be able to claim their reward through the Qantas App by choosing one of three options:
- 1000 Qantas points
- 15 status credits (which help Frequent Flyers move up between Silver, Gold and Platinum tiers)
- $20 flight discount for Qantas or Jetstar
Members will then be automatically entered into a mega prize draw to win a year’s worth of flights, accommodation and fuel.
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And the long promised agriculture visa looks like finally getting a look in.
It’s been David Littleproud’s personal passion project, has taken years, but he says he is close to delivering it.
A long awaited agricultural visa will be introduced to fill labour shortages in horticulture, meat processing, fisheries and forestry.
— RN Breakfast (@RNBreakfast) August 22, 2021
"It'll be demand driven, so there are no caps on [the number of workers]."
- @D_LittleproudMP, Agriculture Minister
This legislation, as Daniel Hurst reports, has been a very long time coming:
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Spoiler: the Craig Kelly press conference is about exactly what everyone thought it was about:
There is a joint Craig Kelly and United Australia Party press conference at 9:20am at which Kelly says he will announce his federal election intentions...#auspol
— Paul Karp (@Paul_Karp) August 22, 2021
Kelly and Clive Palmer have been spotted together in the parliamentary precinct in the before times, so none of this should come as a surprise.
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Oh, in case you missed it, Hughes MP and former Liberal Craig Kelly sent out a media release alerting the world that he will be announcing his federal election ‘intentions’ at 9.20am.
Stay tuned for that one.
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Good morning
Welcome to the third week of the spring parliamentary sittings, which will be looking a different from how they were originally planned.
The sitting will pretty much only feature those MPs who stayed in Canberra (and have been in lockdown) with most others appearing virtually, given the travel restrictions across the nation.
The parliament is mostly sitting because the government needs to address a sunset clause in some anti-terrorism bills (the sunset clause isn’t new, but the government didn’t bring the legislation up for debate until the last sitting and didn’t leave enough time for it to be properly dealt with).
And so, Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese are both in town, but most of their colleagues won’t be.
Not that parliament is the main game anyway.
NSW is again looking at compliance measures for its lockdown, as case numbers hit the 800s. Vaccinations in NSW are looking good, but it’s not uniform across all the LGAs which has authorities a little worried.
Victoria will start doubling down on its own vaccination push as it struggles to contain the Delta outbreak in its own jurisdiction. The anti-lockdown protests have not helped in that regard. Queensland saw those protests too, despite not being in lockdown. The ACT’s lockdown continues but it has to be said that no one is feeling particularly optimistic it will lift in September, as planned. And meanwhile, the federal government is still pushing for an end to lockdowns come the 70-80% vaccination target, but is already facing resistance from states like Qld, WA and Victoria who won’t open to NSW while case numbers are still high.
We’ll bring you all the Covid news, as well as the Afghanistan situation and parliament, as the day unfolds. You have Katharine Murphy, Sarah Martin, Paul Karp and Daniel Hurst in Canberra with Mike Bowers and Amy Remeikis on the blog.
I’ve had a banana and some fudge for breakfast with my (so far) two and a half coffees, so it’s going to be fun.
Ready?
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