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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Matilda Boseley and Amy Remeikis (earlier)

Gladys Berejiklian reports record cases as Queensland pauses arrivals from hotspots – as it happened

Queensland Police stop cars in Coolangatta
The Queensland government has tightened border restrictions for people travelling into the state from NSW, with essential workers only permitted to enter with proof of at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. Photograph: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

What happened today, Wednesday 26 August 2021

With that, we will close the blog for the day.

Here’s a quick run through of the day’s biggest events:

Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, has spoken to Perth radio station 6PR and was asked many different ways whether he backs the national plan, whether it’s possible to do so and support WA premier, Mark McGowan, and whether McGowan and Scott Morrison are at odds.

Albanese replied:

Mark McGowan signed up. The national plan went through the national cabinet. Be very clear here. The national plan went through the national cabinet process. Every state premier, every chief minister. What Scott Morrison is trying to do though, is to say the national plan is something very different. What Mark McGowan will never do is sign up to not keeping Western Australians safe.

Albanese accused Morrison of wanting “to talk about what’s happening in a few months’ time, he hopes, rather than talking about what’s actually going on the ground” - including 919 new cases today in New South Wales, and five people in his electorate of Grayndler who have died.

Albanese said:

We have a prime minister who congratulated Gladys Berejiklian for not locking down when, quite clearly, that should have happened in June. We had previous outbreaks of the Delta strain. We know how dangerous it is. And that complacency has had real consequences. So we’ve had Scott Morrison try to pick a fight with Western Australia and Queensland in particular. I for the life of me ... can’t see how you provide national leadership by referring to Western Australians as essentially cave dwellers. But then again, this is the bloke who sided with Clive Palmer against Mark McGowan.

Albanese said, essentially, that he supports the national plan, the national plan is consistent with the way McGowan is running the state and Morrison is shifting the goalposts and setting up a fake fight, or as McGowan said a Seinfeld (show about nothing).

Asked if he and Morrison are on a unity ticket on the national plan, Albanese gave an election style pitch:

That’s talking down the track. The problem here is - what’s the road? Who do you trust to keep people safe? Do you trust the party that believes in Medicare, has always been out there supporting proper healthcare? The party that supports workers’ rights and will always stand up for that as we come out of this process? Or do you trust the bloke who said we were at the front of the queue when we were at the back of the queue?

Updated

A government bill to create new police powers to spy on criminal suspects online, disrupt their data and take over their accounts has been passed with the support of Labor.

The identify and disrupt bill passed the Senate on Wednesday, despite concerns about the low bar of who can authorise a warrant, and that the government failed to implement all the safeguards recommended by the bipartisan joint committee on intelligence and security.

The bill creates three new types of warrants to enable the AFP and Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission to modify and delete data, take over accounts and spy on Australians in networks suspected of committing crimes.

Earlier in August, the parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security – (PJCIS) chaired by the Liberal senator James Paterson – made a series of recommendations to improve oversight and safeguards.

You can read the full report below:

Major NSW NDIS provider goes into voluntary administration

A major and long-standing National Disability Insurance Scheme provider in New South Wales has gone into voluntary administration, a development Labor has blamed on government cuts.

In a statement, KPMG confirmed it had today been appointed administrators of Disability Services Australia, which provides support to more than 1,500 people with a disability across NSW.

Leisa Hart, the Disability Services Australia chief executive, said the social enterprise had been facing a “number of financial constraints, which have been further compounded by the impact of Covid”.

Moving into voluntary administration provides our participants with the certainty of continuity of care while the best path forward is determined.

Gayle Dickerson, Restructuring Services Partner, KPMG Australia, said the firm was working to ensure “the quality of care and health and wellbeing of participants is maintained during the administration process”.

DSA’s first priority in administration remains the welfare of its participants. DSA’s management team remains in place. We will work closely with them to ensure that DSA continues to deliver services to its participants as normal while we undertake an immediate assessment.

Bill Shorten, Labor’s NDIS spokesman, claimed there was “no doubt the Morrison Government’s 10% cuts to providers of Supported Independent Living have contributed to DSA becoming insolvent”.

The government outlined plans to cut NDIS Supported Independent Living in 2020, which will now see more service providers like Disability Services Australia go out of business.

The Morrison Government and NDIA must now detail how they will come to the aid of those thousands of Australians with disability facing a looming crisis.

The NDIS minister, Linda Reynolds, was approached for comment.

Updated

The New South Wales deputy premier, John Barilaro, has come under fire for “highly offensive” comments he made on Tuesday comparing a funeral in the western NSW town of Wilcannia – attended by about 300 people in compliance with the health orders at the time – to “the 16 dickheads in Maroubra” who spread Covid after having a party.

The far western Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party MP Roy Butler said Barilaro must apologise.

“His statements are devoid of fact, highly offensive and must be retracted immediately,” Butler said.

The comments were made just days after the NSW health minister, Brad Hazzard, expressed regret for comments that compared the two gatherings.

You can read the full report below:

The treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, has gone on Sky News to argue that “zero Covid forever is not realistic” and explain that Australia will have to get used to illness, death and more cases.

Frydenberg said:

But with 70 and 80% vaccination we can ease restrictions, open up the country where we can travel more freely with an opening up of the borders.

Asked if the federal government could refuse economic supports to states that persist with lockdowns, Frydenberg repeated his very careful formulation that “there should be no expectation on behalf of state and territory leaders that the scale of our economic support would continue in the same way”. So, the federal government may yet blink, Frydenberg just wants to give the impression they’ll be less generous.

Similarly, with borders, Frydenberg said “one off” payments have been given to support the tourism industry while borders are closed, but the federal government hopes borders are open at the 70 and 80% vaccination marks.

If a state premier “seeks to defy that they’re going to have to be accountable to their own electorate, why they can’t be together with their family at Christmas, and the tourism industries continue to be hit”, he said.

Frydenberg said:

The reopening plan underpinned by the Doherty Institute modelling has been agreed at national cabinet. If you’re a small business owner in Victoria or NSW your doors are closed – you need hope, you need to know there is a plan to open up the economy in a Covid safe way. That’s why Australians are rolling up their sleeves, they’re holding up their half of the bargain – now it’s up to premiers and chief ministers to uphold theirs.

Perth will hold AFL grand final if Melbourne can't

The year’s AFL grand final appears set to be played in Perth after the city’s Optus Stadium was confirmed as the official standby venue in the event the MCG is unable to host the premiership decider.

Melbourne is set to miss out on staging the showpiece game for a second straight season amid the Victorian capital’s latest Covid-19 outbreak. Last year the game was moved to the Gabba in Brisbane - the first time the AFL grand final had been played outside Victoria and the first time it was played at night.

This year’s game, scheduled for 25 September, is at risk with Melbourne’s lockdown set to run until at least 2 September. The AFL wants the game to be played in front of crowds, which under current restrictions would be impossible at the MCG.

AFL CEO Gil McLachlan said on Wednesday the league was waiting on updates from the Victorian government before making a firm decision.

Today I had a conversation with the West Australian premier [Mark] McGowan ... where we let them know that Optus Stadium would be the home of the AFL grand final in the event that it is not able to happen at the MCG

Most of this interview was pretty mundane, so we didn’t bring you too many updates, but worth noting this small moment from Liberal senator Andrew Bragg.

Updated

Someone, please tell me, is this a brag about vaccinations or a dunk on Perth for being little?

Here is the full report on the AFL grand final backup plan. (Please don’t tell the Victorian sports minister, I don’t think he is ready to accept that the GF isn’t happening in Melbourne yet).

After voting with the Liberals to support the Beetaloo project, Labor is spending the evening trying to convince us that they are still the good guys (they promise!).

Opposition frontbencher Kristina Keneally is going in hard about how they are going to hold Angus Taylor to account:

Updated

You better believe it’s First Dog on the Moon time!

Today he talking all things “Croods”, check it out below:

So now the truth comes out! Looks like there is a backup AFL stadium plan for the grand final after all.

Updated

Unsurprisingly the Greens aren’t happy about that Beetaloo basin news.

Here is the reaction from party leader Adam Bandt:

In the middle of a climate crisis, Labor is backing the Liberals using public money to open up new gas fields.

Gas is as dirty as coal. Labor’s decision to vote with the Liberals to open up new gas fields makes you wonder if they accept the science of climate change.

Scientists are screaming at us to keep coal, oil and gas in the ground, but Labor and Liberal have just used public money to open up massive gas reserves, lighting the fuse on a giant climate bomb.

This is a climate crime. Public money should go to schools and hospitals, not Liberal and Labor corporate gas donors who are cooking our future...

If Labor had voted with the Greens instead of the Liberals, we would have won. We had the numbers...

It’s not too late for Labor to change their mind and defuse this climate bomb, with a final disallowance vote set for 19 October.

Beetaloo basin disallowance defeated once again

The Senate has once again rejected the Greens disallowance motion to overturn the $50m Beetaloo Cooperative Drilling grant program.

The result was a foregone conclusion because Labor has concerns about a $21m grant to Empire Energy, which it has referred to the auditor general, but has stopped short of junking the entire program.

Labor senator Murray Watt explained that Labor had never taken that position with other grants programs, even in relation to sports rorts or car park rorts, that one questionable grant meant the entire program had to go.

Greens senator, Larissa Waters, urged Labor to stand up to its “mates” in the fossil fuel industry.

Rex Patrick supported the motion and One Nation’s Malcolm Roberts was also in favour of the disallowance. Still, it was defeated.

Updated

Afternoon everyone, it’s Matilda Boseley here ready to see out the day.

Thank you so much for the amazing work by Amy today, truly a god among blog mortals.

With that, let’s dive right back in.

Updated

On that note, I will hand you over to Matilda Boseley to take you through the evening.

I’ll be back early tomorrow for the last sitting day of the week (there is another sitting week scheduled for next week, so don’t get too excited).

A very big thank you to Katharine Murphy, Paul Karp, Sarah Martin and Daniel Hurst for keeping across all the Canberra news, and of course to Mike Bowers, for all that he does to keep the blog ticking over.

And a heartfelt thank you to everyone who followed along with us today. I’ve said this before, but I know it is difficult at times following politics and Covid news, so we appreciate your patience as we navigate both in these sitting weeks. And we hope you are getting enough breaks and taking care of yourself. There is a lot of news, and it can be very fatiguing to take it all in – so make sure you are taking care of you.

See you tomorrow.

Updated

Which country would want to form a travel bubble with Australia, if the NSW case numbers don’t get under control, Patricia Karvelas asks Simon Birmingham?

Plenty, says Birmingham:

Well, it is a thing to remember that Australia’s case numbers, the deaths in Australia, are still way below that of virtually every other country going around.

So, yes, for Australia, these are tough times, especially tough times for New South Wales.

But they are tough times right around the world. We still have high case numbers and hideouts relative to Australia across parts of Europe, the Americas, across much of Asia.

Indeed, the countries who have been comparable to us, or closest to comparable to us, Japan, South Korea, places like Taiwan or indeed New Zealand, they are all dealing with outbreaks, we are all in the same position when it came to, broadly, the receipt of vaccines, that those continents, Europe and North America in particular, that had to be big mRNA vaccine manufacturing facilities and capabilities in place, they also prioritised our population for receipt of the vaccines given the huge Covid waves they have had right through the pandemic the huge death tolls that continue to be in excess of ours.

Whether you are in Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, we are all dealing with the fact that yes, we have managed to suppress it, we have done well in saving lives compared to the rest of the world, and now our vaccine scale, as you can see, is ramping up.

Updated

Optus Stadium in Perth will get the AFL grand final, if it is unable to go ahead at the MCG this year, because of the border restrictions.

Simon Birmingham is asked whether Scott Morrison should apologise for calling Western Australians ‘cave people’.

Birmingham:

No, because that is not what he did yesterday. He used an analogy around the movie, but again, it was an analogy looking forward.

Updated

Meanwhile, another western Sydney hospital is going into emergency measures because of pressure on its system:

Updated

He is asked whether or not there will be financial support in the case of those targeted lockdowns (given that others in the government have been talking about the 70-80% eligible population vaccination target will mean ‘an end to lockdowns’). We might see an end to statewide lockdowns – but not necessarily smaller, targeted ones, if there is a hotspot getting out of control, and the test, trace, isolate and quarantine system begins to fail.

Simon Birmingham:

Where it is consistent with what has been agreed and where the evidence stacks up, we will respond as we always have done.

We have made sure right through this pandemic that we have adapted, whether it be the national emergency days where jobkeeper had to be created, or today, where we provided enormous assistance by way of disaster payments, more targeted, more directed, and more temporarily in the sense we were able to turn them on or off depending on where lockdowns were happening.

We have been able to tailor that assistance in other states and territories, and I hope and trust they do play ball with the national plan to reopen ... by making lockdowns less likely ... about 70 and 80% threshold.

If they occur, they are much more targeted and directed out finite geographic areas or particular groups.

Then, of course, we will work with them

Updated

Simon Birmingham may have actually have read the Doherty modelling before talking about it.

He joins what seems to be a very small government club who has.

He’s speaking to Patricia Karvelas on ABC Afternoon Briefing about whether or not there is a mood shift to start living more freely:

I think you can see from Australians that there is a strong sense of wanting to get to the other side, wanting to know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

And with that, the Doherty institute modelling, scientifically based, independently undertaken, showing that as we hit fully vaccinated targets of 70% and then 80%, we will be able to step down from some of the restrictions that are impeding people’s lives at present.

It won’t be a singular freedom, no one is suggesting that, there will still be a place for targeted restrictions and indeed, perhaps in some circumstances, targeted lockdowns. But critically, it is a plan that can give certainty to Australians, to Australian businesses and to Australian families that they will be able to resume some more aspects of their life that far too many are missing out on now.

Updated

AAP has the Australian government climate latest, which is essentially: no change.

Australia believes in achieving net zero carbon emissions, preferably by 2050, not just talking about it, the foreign minister has told parliament.

Many close allies, including the United Kingdom, the United States and Germany, are urging more ambition on climate action to be pledged at the Glasgow talks in November.

The final official ministerial meeting ahead of the Conference of the Parties, or COP, is in Milan next month.

“We know that we’re on the frontline of climate change impacts,” foreign minister Marise Payne told parliament on Wednesday.

“We intend to reach net zero as soon as possible and preferably by 2050.”

Australia’s leading businesses groups, investors and financiers have already adopted net zero by 2050, along with state and territory governments, and many must adhere to global rules on disclosure of climate risk.

National Australia Bank chief executive, Ross McEwan told an online Australian-British Chamber of Commerce event on Wednesday that climate change is one of the biggest issues facing the bank and the nation.

“It’s everybody’s job, it’s your job, it’s my job, we all need to play our part in it,” McEwan said.

He said 18 of their 20 large corporate customers in the energy sector have plans to get themselves to net zero by 2050, and bankers are also helping other sectors.

“We need to get everybody there. We can’t just wipe out industries here,” he said.

Updated

Over in the Senate, the chamber is debating a motion to disallow (which means veto) the funding for the Beetaloo Basin.

But with Labor not supporting these motions, we know how it will go.

Updated

It is not just the NSW health system which is under pressure.

As AAP reports:

About 350 overseas doctors and nurses will fly into Victoria as the sector faces pressure from growing coronavirus cases sending staff into isolation.

The state government on Wednesday confirmed the recruitments, with about 90% of the new starts being doctors and the remainder made of specialist nurses and midwives.

The majority will start working by October.

“The pandemic has placed enormous pressure on all parts of our health system including our workforce who are testing, vaccinating, and caring for Victorians in record numbers,” a government spokesperson said in a statement.

“Roughly 350 health professionals will take up critical roles in our health system over the next few months, with the first group of arrivals set to work across Melbourne and Bendigo.”

The medicos will be employed across 30 public health services.

Hundreds of staff at Royal Melbourne Hospital have been furloughed after a coronavirus-infected patient went to the hospital for surgery but was not tested for the illness.

More than 150 staff from Goulburn Valley Health are also isolating because of the growing cluster in Shepparton.

Updated

I told you I didn’t make it up:

Members of the Lebanese community in Australia have been raising this issue for some time. Marise Payne has just responded:

A pretty significant bill passed the parliament today (Paul Karp wrote a post on it below and has a story coming on it) which the Law Council has some concerns about:

The Law Council of Australia is concerned that the Surveillance Legislation Amendment (Identify and Disrupt) Bill 2020 as passed today, did not adopt key recommendations of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security (PJCIS) that included the implementation of critical safeguards.

President of the Law Council, Dr Jacoba Brasch QC said, “failing to implement the Committee’s recommendation that there be judicial issuing of the new, extraordinary warrants is particularly disappointing”.

“The Law Council believes the significant breadth and intrusive scope of these warrants demands consideration by judicial officers, as the PJCIS recommended.

“These warrants have the potential to cause significant loss, damage or disruption to lawful computer users who are not suspected of any wrongdoing.

“While the Law Council understands that there is an intention to consider these matters in the longer-term development of new electronic surveillance legislation, the PJCIS’s recommendations were specific to the three new warrant-based powers in this legislation, which are novel, extraordinary and intrusive.

“The Law Council agrees with the views of the PJCIS that all of its recommendations – and especially those directed to judicial issuing of warrants – are crucial to the reasonable and proportionate exercise of the new powers, and public confidence in their exercise at any point in time at which those powers are in force.

“Deferring consideration and implementation for an open-ended period, potentially years, fails to provide a meaningful safeguard or assurance.”

Updated

Here is how Mike Bowers saw question time:

TFW you ask the wrong “question without notice”.

The member for Grey Rowan Ramsey after asking the wrong question during question time in the house of representatives
The member for Grey Rowan Ramsey after asking the wrong question during question time in the house of representatives Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

Meaning even your colleagues make fun of you

The member for Grey Rowan Ramsey
The member for Grey Rowan Ramsey Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian
Opposition leader Anthony Albanese
Opposition leader Anthony Albanese Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian
Health Minister Greg Hunt
Health Minister Greg Hunt Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian
Ed Husic via videolink
Ed Husic via videolink Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian
The Prime Minister Scott Morrison talks to Opposition leader Anthony Albanese through newly installed covid perspex screens during question time
The Prime Minister Scott Morrison talks to Opposition leader Anthony Albanese through newly installed covid perspex screens during question time Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

Updated

On that note, Scott Morrison ends question time, with an announcement of two gold medals in the paralympics.

There is one more question time this week.

Small mercies.

Keith Pitt spouts off some homily in regards to George Christensen, gets pulled up for something the Speaker ruled on just 15 minutes ago (don’t ask the opposition questions, as a minister, in your answer) then when getting a second chance veers so far off course to the actual question that Tony Smith again pulls him up on being relevant before anyone from the opposition stands up.

As a dixer performance, this is not great. Don’t think it is going on any facebook pages, at the very least.

Updated

Again, a question is turned into a “why don’t you support this” in the answer.

Updated

Tony Burke to Scott Morrison:

My question is to the prime minister and refers to the first question asked in question time today by the member for Solomon when the prime minister failed to verify if a report was true or not, according to that report Afghans with valid Australian visas who protected the Australian embassy were left to wait outside Kabul airport, some standing in sewage before being turned away. The prime minister must know whether that report is true, will he tell the Australian people, is that report true?

Morrison:

Thank you Mr Speaker I’m not about to go into operational reports of situations occurring on the ground on Kabul, many of which are very difficult to confirm, those opposite who may have spent time in the national security committee when they were in government will know that there are many reports that come from the field, that come from the field that can’t be verified, and to seek to provide some confirmation of those, when that is not available, would be unwise, it would be extremely unwise.

What I sought to do in answering the member’s question was point out clearly, Australians are doing everything within their power, right now, to bring vulnerable people out of one of the most dangerous situations in the world.

And the fact that almost two and a half thousand have been bought out in the space of a week at great risk to themselves, acting under extreme stress, Mr Speaker, and doing that each and every day, five flights last night, Mr Speaker, almost a thousand people out on those five flights and that included operations we were able to undertake which saw additional people brought to the airport and that have been able to get on planes is a great credit to that operation and how it is being led, both by the ADF but ultimately under the leadership of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and I want to single out not only those in this chamber but the minister for home affairs and the minister for defence for their incredible work, and leading this initiative but also the minister for foreign affairs.

The minister for foreign affairs has done an extraordinary job in coordinating so many of these activities and each day the national security committee which has been going over the details of these operations on a daily basis to make sure we are not only keeping our own people say but connecting up with the other partners and allies we are working with. There are British, Kiwis and others getting on our planes, Afghans who have worked with them and work with us getting on their plans and our planes, we are working together to get this job done in one of the most extreme situations.

I note the interjection from those opposite, and I say I would invite them to support this mission and affirm the great work that is being done by our people to get people out to safety.

Updated

Dan Tehan manages a tiny mention of the international border plan:

When we get to phase B, which is 70% vaccination rate, Australians will have more freedom to see their loved ones and go to sporting events, and that means travel.

And that means dollars and the businesses, the tourism businesses, and it means jobs, and then when we get to phase C, where we see 80% are fully vaccinated, outbound international restrictions will be lifted and travel bubbles will be expanded.

So not only will we have travel bubbles with New Zealand but the Pacific Islands, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, the US, the UK are all possibilities that we will be able to extend our travel bubbles to.

Updated

Dan Tehan decides to sledge his own colleague Rowan Ramsey, by thanking Warren Entsch for “asking the right question”.

This is what happens when beige people attempt “jokes”.

Updated

In the Senate, the foreign minister, Marise Payne, says the situation in Kabul is “highly distressing”.

“There are very difficult scenes outside Hamid Karzai International Airport. People, including women and children, are waiting for days amongst crowds numbering in the thousands. Our officials are using every means possible to assist Australian citizens and visa holders, phoning, emailing directly, as well as providing regular updates on Smartraveller.”

Payne says the cabinet’s national security committee is continuing to meet daily, and officials are “working tirelessly on the evacuation … which is moving hundreds of people from Afghanistan every day”.

She makes clear that the running subtotal of 2650 people who have been flown out on Australian defence force evacuation flights since 18 August includes Australian and New Zealand nationals, visa holders and citizens of other nations with whom Australia is cooperating.

Payne says Al Minhad Air Base in the United Arab Emirates is playing a “vital role” in the Australian evacuations. She says an Australian Medical Assistance Team (known as Ausmat) is due to arrive in the UAE today. The foreign minister says the team has been deployed because officials are conscious of the traumatic experiences and the fear and desperation of many people who are arriving at the base at Al Minhad. Evacuees then travel on to Australia.

Payne says 148 evacuees last night arrived in Perth and Adelaide, bringing to 419 the total number of evacuees who have reached Australia since the start of the evacuation mission last week. Further flights will arrive in Australian capital cities in coming days.

Payne:

“Our thoughts are with them as they deal with the trauma of these experiences and we warmly welcome them to our nation.”

Mike Freelander to Scott Morrison:

Does the government have enough (mRNA) vaccines to get to 12 to 18 year olds to begin soon as our target recommends?

Morrison: (the answer is no, not straight away, but it takes some time to get there)

The short answer, Mr Speaker, as the vaccine supply continues to increase week by week by week. And we will be able to vaccinate those aged between 12 and 15, alongside the rest of the population in weeks and months ahead and that is exactly what we are planning to do. I know this is very important, my own daughters 12 and I had this conversation with her today, they will be looking forward to having their vaccines as soon as that can be arranged.

Morrison then moves to speaking about the Doherty Institute again, which is what he also did this morning and then starts waffling about how great the vaccination effort is.

But the actual answer to the question, is ‘no’, not straight away.

Over in the Senate, the first questions all related to Afghanistan.

Labor’s Senate leader, Penny Wong, asked her counterpart, Simon Birmingham, about the reports of visa holders being turned away at Kabul airport. Birmingham made more of an attempt to get to the substance of the question than Scott Morrison did in the lower house, although he left open the possibility it happened.

Birmimgham:

“I can assure that in terms of people who make contact with Australian officials and have proof of contact, proof of some engagement with Australia, that every effort is being made to not only process them in terms of boarding, to recognise visas that may have been issued, but also to ensure that those who may not have a valid visa are supported through the processes on the spot with emergency contacts being made to seek to provide them with such visas.

Now of course the security situation around Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul is an incredibly challenging one. There are multiple checkpoints that are being enforced by the Taliban, there are then of course clearances to accept the airport perimeter itself. Were there to be instances at any of those, they may not be ones that are entirely known to all of us. But I do assure the Senate and all Australians that Australian officials on the ground are turning around visa applications, visa requests, or even just those without an application, as quickly as they can, to get them out of Kabul and to safety.”

Wong persisted, asking about a reported claim that directions had come from DFAT in relation to needing hard copy visas.

Birmingham said he was “not accepting the assertion that there are directions turning people away”. He said every effort was being made to accommodate people in individual circumstances.

Updated

Catherine King to the industry minister:

I refer to the report in the Australian, the Morrison-Joyce government told CSL it supports mRNA manufacturing as long as it passes the AVB test, and as long as it is anywhere but Victoria.

Is this true?

The industry minister:

The short answer it is not and I was as concerned as the member when I read that article. Whether or not that claim was made by any person to the journalist, I obviously can’t say or verify, but my office and apartment went to some like to speak directly to those people at CSL who would be of knowledge of such a statement because it is a matter of some seriousness if a commonwealth official said such a thing, which they would never do and which we would never expect them to do.

That would be a totally improper and wrong thing to do.

What I can say to the member is that the report about commonwealth officials advising CSL the government had a ABV test is absolutely wrong. It has been verified directly after specific inquiries by my office to my office that it is wrong. What we are doing with our respect to approach to market is looking at all of the options that are in Australia’s long-term best interests in terms of healthcare for mRNA vaccine distribution. CSL has had a brilliant and rich history in Australia and is contributing.

And is indeed manufacturing here.

They have put in an excellent proposal, if I may say. It is being considered seriously alongside the other proposals. I am pleased to tell the member, whether that was said to the journalist I cannot say, but it was never said by any commonwealth official to anyone at CSL, and nor would it ever be.

Updated

LNP backbencher Rowan Ramsey reads out the wrong dixer to Stuart Robert, then tries to read another one, but can’t. So Robert answers ... something?

Who knows. No one is listening to these dixers. Including, apparently, those asking the questions.

Updated

So that was the health minister directly linking a proposed transport strike aimed at Toll Group (as part of an EBA dispute) to vaccine deliveries there.

Tony Burke to Greg Hunt:

The Canberra respiratory clinic run by the federal government is one of the sites referred to in the last answer. The manager of the clinic says he has been forced to borrow vaccines from nearby clinics because his weekly delivery did not show up.

The doctor says he does not know which day doses will arrive. Last week it was Monday, this week it is Thursday. Why is this happening in a Covid hotspot?

Hunt:

I will be pleased to receive the details because we have a vaccine operation centre which ensures that each week we are achieving full national distribution. There are 8000 sites. Those are being delivered on a weekly basis. The advice that I have is that they are being achieved. If there are any issues in relation to this particular site, this has not been drawn to my attention. This is one of the issues we manage on behalf of many members of the house and we have been able to resolve them as they arise. I am not aware that the member has made any representations to myself or operation Covid Shield on this. It doesn’t sound like it ...

Tony Smith:

The way Question Time works is that the ministers get the questions. I discourage interjections. We cannot adopt a practice where you ask a question and expect them to answer, otherwise, and this has happened a couple of times, not just with the minister for health. If this is going to be their practice, I will stop it, and I may do so by allowing an indulgence on the matter from the target of that.

Hunt:

I would be very pleased to receive any information in relation to this particular facility and I would be happy to provide the details of the provision of vaccines. There is no doubt that every facility is receiving vaccines around the country, as I say, over 8000 commonwealth facilities providing support for over 800 state facilities.

If there is any particular evidence and material, we would be pleased to respond immediately, as we have done with other - with other members who have made representations. I would also note that there is one element which may affect distribution over coming days. There is the risk of a transport strike on Friday.

(Stephen Jones loudly interjects)

... And we hope there is no impact on distribution because an impact on the part of the system does have an impact on another part of the system. We will continue to provide the vaccines and I will be pleased to receive the advice and the material, and we will address it immediately.

Updated

Ed Husic to Scott Morrison:

Mount Druitt at the heart of the Chifley electorate has been smashed by Covid-19. Two weeks ago Labor wrote to the prime minister urging him to utilise the 80 set up and run vaccination hubs in western Sydney.

The government said this is unnecessary. Why won’t the government do everything it can to get vulnerable people in my electorate and western Sydney vaccinated?

Greg Hunt takes this one:

... Thank you to the member for Chifley, the presumption on the question is incorrect we had 777 commonwealth vaccination sites across western Sydney, there are 12 LGAs in particular, that covers.

We have over two and half thousand commonwealth vaccination sites across NSW, in particular, I can say for example in regards to Blacktown, I know there are 192 sites over the 10km in the middle of Blacktown, in relation to Fairfield, I know there are 300 sites within 10km of Fairfield.

These are being run by GPs, by pharmacists, and commonwealth vaccination clinic. These are fundamentally critical sites.

There is no impediment to any site ordering more AstraZeneca, they have unkept allocations and at the site already available, 777 commonwealth vaccination sites operating across western Sydney, as we speak.

And I want to thank those people who are doing an extraordinary job, and we think that the way they are operating as saving lives and protect lives, they have been progressively expanding a number, and what we are seeing now is that this has helped NSW achieve globally leading vaccination rates over the last month.

We have seen that, Casey Briggs from the ABC, nobody would accuse him of being anything other than robustly independent, has been doing the analysis and has identified the fact that Australia has been able to vaccinate at rates faster than at any time in the UK over a seven-day period and now the US.

But NSW has been even faster than the nation as a whole and it is these 770 sites across western Sydney which have been at the heart of delivering those outcomes. I respectfully but categorically disagree with the presumption of the question.

Updated

This is good news

Here is the latest Peter Dutton dixer update on the Afghanistan evacuations:

The work of the Australian Defence Force has continued on over a long period of time and we have looked at the situation, there has been a surge of activity since April in particular of this year, over the last eight years Australians would be interested to know we have issued visas to eight and a half thousand Afghan nationals and provided support to those people who resettle in our country.

We have provided support to the interpreters and those who have helped us over the course of the campaign in Afghanistan and in particular since April, we have been bringing people on regular commercial flights at that time, most days to resettle in Australia, that has been a great credit to the staff at the Australian Defence Force but also home affairs and to the other agencies.

Mr Speaker I want to recognise the work of the Royal Australian Air Force, one of the most recognised, capable forces in the world, they have been exceptional in their work on this the hundredth year of service to our country, in Kabul.

We have had five flights overnight, the mid-[air] refuel is providing support to allied partners a valuable asset and great credit to the men and women of the Royal Australian Air Force, I want to pay tribute also to the officers within the special forces, the commandos, SAS, and incredible asset for our country, those men and women who serve in the SAS and family members should be incredibly proud now than ever in the work they are doing in Afghanistan so we have lifted now 2,650 people since Wednesday alone.

This includes as the prime minister pointed out earlier, 955 people on those five flights in the last 24 hours. There is more work to be done, but we know the security threat on the ground continues to increase and take the advice of the CDF as to how long it is possible for us to stay in country to keep our own people safe and help those who have helped us.

Updated

Scott Morrison often cites this figure, claiming it as “lives saved” if not for border closures and restrictions (border closures the states pushed for, hotel quarantine the states pushed for, and lockdowns the states insisted on).

https://twitter.com/murpharoo/status/1430388725360431105?s=20

Updated

Greg Hunt has donned his “reserve grade university debater/statesman” character to talk about the national plan and an international call he was part of overnight, as part of a dixer.

And then he gets bothered.

“Don’t do that, Anthony. Don’t do that,” he says, like a disappointed prefect who has just caught someone not listening to his oration on 12 Rules for Life.

Tony Smith tells him to get on with it.

Updated

Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:

Eight days into the Sydney outbreak the prime minister congratulated the New South Wales premier for not locking down. Two months later, the whole of New South Wales is in an extended lockdown and a record 919 new cases today, and the outbreak has spread to Victoria, the ACT and New South Wales hospitals are at breaking point. Will the prime minister accept his complacency contributed to current circumstances?

Morrison:

On August 23, the leader of the opposition was opposing the national plan, and pretends today he was supporting it.

Tony Smith pulls up Morrison on relevance before Albanese gets to his feet.

Morrison continues:

Those opposite might like to think that Australia is somehow immune to a global pandemic. Perhaps they think that the fault of their being a lot done in New Zealand as the fault of the New Zealand prime minister*. The member for Sullivan. Or in the United Kingdom or in the Netherlands, or other parts of the world is the function of those leaders. What sensible people understand is that what we are going through is a global pandemic.

*The New Zealand outbreak has been linked to the Sydney outbreak

Morrison:

...All premiers, chief ministers, deputies, they have had to make many decisions over this pandemic and collectively these decisions have saved 30,000 lives in this country.

It is something envied around the world and we have an economy that remains incredibly resilient and 1 million people coming back into work after the Covid-19 recession last year.

Those other decisions that governments have been taking and they are the results being achieved.

The Delta variant completely changed everything in terms of our Covid response and the NSW government made decisions and have been making decisions over the course of this pandemic, and on previous occasions have made decisions on where they haven’t locked down, which enable children to still go to school. We enable businesses to remain open and avoid the great hardship of the lockdowns, which caused terrible hurt on people. These lockdowns are hard to enjoy.

The NSW government has sought to avoid those lockdowns over the course of this pandemic.

Those opposite may want to charge in and attack the NSW government for their efforts.

They may seek to do that, I’m not going to do that. What I know is that last year over 800 lives were lost in Victoria. This year in New South Wales, 76 have been lost. We are making great progress and fighting this pandemic.

Updated

The federal government is becoming more comfortable with claiming the national plan as Scott Morrison’s own – this is all part of the whirring election campaign, where the government is hoping that reduced restrictions will mean the missteps of the last year will be forgotten.

Here was Josh Frydenberg:

I say to the house and to the honorable member, if we don’t ease restrictions at 70 and 80%, when do we? When do we see our kids go back to school? When do we see businesses reopen? When can we join with loved ones at funerals or at weddings? And when can we travel more freely across our own country? We need to give people hope, and the planet led by the prime minister, and agreed upon at national cabinet.

Updated

It’s another dixer on sticking to the national plan – this time for Josh Frydenberg.

Bob Katter, from his electorate, has the independent’s question, but the videolink seems to be having trouble with his question.

So it’s not that different from having him in the chamber.

“I’m not quite sure what the question was,” Tony Smith says, but he calls the treasurer, who thinks it might be about superannuation and investments into government securities.

I’ll take his word for it.

Mark Butler to Greg Hunt:

In nearly 600 aged care centres across Australia less than half the workforce have had their first vaccine dose. Given the government announced a mandate for workforce vaccination starts at just over three weeks, can the government guarantee that there will be enough vaccinated aged care workers to care for vulnerable older Australians?

Hunt:

Yes, is the simple answer. The reason is at this stage what we are seeing is a dramatic increase, and aged care workers as a result of the national cabinet decision, it was a difficult and challenging decision and I’m pleased that all of the premiers and chief minister supported the initiative of the prime minister and the AHPCC to support and encourage aged care workers to take up the vaccine.

The answer goes on, but we have heard it all before

Updated

The current deputy prime minister takes a dixer from retiring MP Ken O’Dowd, just so it seems he can speak about O’Dowd’s Irish pub.

Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:

On the day that Queensland’s hotel hotel quarantine system reaches capacity, the government asks the government to commit to dedicated quarantine facilities in Queensland and WA, why has it taken a lot down affecting half of the Australian population, at least 27 breaches in hotel quarantine and a systematic breaking point for the prime minister to accept fit for purpose quarantine facilities have been needed all along?

Morrison (does not answer the question and skims over some history)

The leader of the opposition in framing that question in that way, I think discourages, discourages the great work that has been done by states and territories around the clock, for the last 18 months, because when we came together, in March of last year and we were faced with one of the most urgent crises of people returning to this country who were potentially Covid-19 infected.

All of us together, states, territories and the commonwealth agreed, the most effective way to deal with this crisis was to ensure we put in place a system of hotel quarantine, which all the states and territories signed up for and that has had a success rate, which the rest of the world has envied and I know that because I have discussed it with those leaders, with those leaders and those opposite may wish to pretend that any system of quarantine can operate with 100% effectiveness, but that would be foolish, that would be unrealistic, that would be seeking to simply undermine the effort that had been put into place that have saved 30,000 lives and got a million people back to work.

Our national plan, is going to make sure we can open this country up again, when we do reach those 70 and 80% vaccination rates, that we can live with the virus into the future, something that has been cast doubt upon by those opposite.

Albanese:

The question was about fit for purpose quarantine facilities that were considered by this house today without the usual inquiry of the public works committee and the fact government brought it forward as a matter of urgency, 18 months after what the prime minister...

Tony Smith sits Albanese down and tells Morrison to stay relevant:

In addition, as part of this broad program we have embarked upon over these last 18 months and the highly effective nature of the arrangement states and territories elected to enter into, they did elect, I was at the meeting, the leader of the opposition was not, he was too busy bagging the national cabinet for existing in the first place. That’s what he was doing in the first place. He may have had a road to Maribyrnong conversion this day about the national plan but I don’t think anyone believes him.

Updated

In his first dixer answer, Scott Morrison answers Vince Connolly, who again manages to ask a question like an actual human and not a cut-price automaton (two in a row now!) with some actual nuance about what opening up at 70 and 80% (eligible) population vaccination rates will look like:

Not a huge amount, but a tiny amount of nuance:

It is an honest plan because it understands and acknowledges once we get into phase B and C, there will additional cases, and we will be living with Covid-19 in our communities and doing it safely and working with states and territories to make sure our public health systems are there and able to support the community in the same way, in the same way that they do that with all other infectious diseases.

Updated

Question time begins

It starts off with a question on the Afghanistan evacuation, with Scott Morrison asked:

According to a report Afghans with valid Australian visas who protected the Australian Embassy and their families, up to 1,200 people, were left to wait outside Kabul airport, some standing in sewage before being turned away. Is that report true?

Morrison does not answer the question:

What I can confirm as last night 950 people were evacuated, evacuated from one of the most dangerous places on earth, they were done by the brave men and women serving in our defence forces, supported by officers from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Department of Home Affairs dealing with one of the most difficult situations anyone in this place could imagine. 950 people in one night on five very dangerous flights.

2,650 people in the course of the last 22 flights have now been evacuated from Kabul, and they are already returning home now to Australia, where they, so many of those Afghan nationals and their families who have served and supported Australians over many years, they join in 1,900 who have already come to Australia before this most recent series of events commenced and they will make their home here and become Australians and they will be very, very welcome.

Updated

Industry publication Australian Frequent Flyer is reporting the reduced arrival caps for international arrivals has been extended until October.

You can read their report here

While we wait for question time to start, a reader has sent through some light relief from the Newcastle council meeting live stream.

You will find councillor “Robbo” talking about the tea “Shell” is cooking him here.

Updated

To be clear, everyone who had an entry pass for Queensland today, who was coming from a hotspot and did not arrive before midday received that message.

Queensland has paused its hotel quarantine entry for people coming from hotspots for two weeks, so a lot of people received that message.

Federal MPs have been quarantining at home.

They just have to reapply (and are being a bit dramatic by sending it to a journalist).

Updated

Keith Pitt isn’t in cabinet any longer (after Barnaby Joyce’s reshuffle).

David Littleproud is not in town.

Which I think leaves Peter Dutton, Karen Andrews and Stuart Robert as potentially being locked out of home.

Updated

There aren’t too many federal cabinet ministers from Queensland in the parliament at the moment:

Updated

Western Australia is changing its border entry requirements from midnight for different jurisdictions, including declaring New South Wales an “extreme risk” zone.

Here is how WA premier Mark McGowan explained it on his facebook:

Following improvements in the situations in South Australia and Queensland, and increasing case numbers in New Zealand, Western Australia will make a number of adjustments to our controlled border effective midnight tonight

(12:01am Thursday 26 August).

Under these changes, South Australia will move to “very low risk”, Queensland to “low risk” and New Zealand to “medium risk”.

South Australia - Very Low Risk

Following 34 days with no community cases, South Australia will safely transition from “low risk” to “very low risk”. Under the “very low risk” settings, travellers will no longer be required to self-quarantine on arrival, and safe travel is permitted into WA subject to the following conditions:

• completion of a G2G Pass declaration, stipulating the traveller does not have any COVID-19 symptoms and which jurisdictions they have visited in previous 14 days;

• all Perth Airport arrivals to undergo a health screening and temperature test;

• travellers to be prepared to take a COVID-19 test, if deemed necessary by a health clinician (voluntary asymptomatic testing also available); and

• land arrivals to be met at the border checkpoint for a health screening and to have their G2G Pass declaration checked.

Queensland - Low Risk

Following 17 days with no community cases, Queensland will safely transition from “medium risk” to “low risk”.

This change will mean that travellers will no longer need to meet an exemption category, and travel is permitted from Queensland with the following strict conditions:

• present for a COVID-19 test on arrival (within 48 hours) and on day 12;

• self-quarantine for 14 days in a suitable premise;

• complete a G2G Pass declaration prior to arrival, stipulating they do not have any COVID-19 symptoms and which jurisdictions they have visited in previous 14 days;

• land arrivals to be met at the border checkpoint, for a health screening and to have their G2G Pass declaration checked before proceeding to their self quarantine.

New Zealand - Medium Risk

Following escalating case numbers, New Zealand will be elevated to a “medium risk” jurisdiction.

Under this change, we will return to hard border arrangements with New Zealand.

Travel from New Zealand will no longer be permitted, except for approved travellers under an exemption category.

Approved travellers arriving in WA from NZ must:

• self-quarantine in a suitable premise for 14 days;

• present for an initial COVID-19 test within 48 hours;

• present for a COVID-19 test if any symptoms develop during quarantine; and

• present for a COVID-19 test on day 12 after arrival in WA (if still in WA).

Anyone who arrived in WA before 12.01am Thursday, August 26 and has been to a New Zealand exposure site at the specific times must self-quarantine for 14 days and be tested within 48 hours and at day 12.

It is important that recent travellers from New Zealand familiarise themselves with the latest exposure sites, as contact tracing continues to uncover more sites, by visiting the New Zealand Ministry of Health’s website at https://www.health.govt.nz.

As previously announced, from midnight tonight New South Wales will be elevated to “extreme risk”.

Under the new “extreme risk” category, travel from NSW to WA will not be permitted, with highly limited exemptions, and any approved travellers will be required to undergo hotel quarantine.

Since 14 August – when it was first announced that NSW would move to the “high risk” border control – around 2,000 approved travellers have entered WA safely from NSW.

A further 318 passengers are due to arrive on two separate flights Sydney today, before the border control is further elevated to ‘extreme risk’.

More information on WA’s controlled borders is available at www.wa.gov.au.

Updated

Ok, it is almost time for the third question time of the week.

Don’t expect there to be much change from the last couple of days – we are stuck in this cycle for a while.

Updated

Now for an update on a post we brought you just before the NSW press conference.

The federal government has clarified that no soldiers who were issued with administrative notices over the Brereton inquiry have been deployed by the ADF to join the evacuation efforts from Afghanistan.

It seems we got the wrong impression from the prime minister’s interview with Ray Hadley on 2GB, when he was asked about unconfirmed reports that 13 of 17 individuals who were issued with show-cause termination notices have had those withdrawn.

Hadley contended that “one of these officers is now in Kabul, on our behalf, trying to repatriate people back to this country”.

Hadley had asked Scott Morrison to apologise for the government’s comments last year about the Brereton findings.

In resisting Hadley’s call for an apology, Morrison said:

The comments made about the Brereton report were not made about specific individuals. I want to stress that - they’re not about specific individuals and even those 17 specific individuals, and we don’t want to cause any hurt to our veterans community and, and our defence community. As you say, they are there on the deck at HKIA [Hamid Karzai International Airport] in Kabul right now. We got out of over 1,000 people out last night in our biggest night of operations. We’ve got almost 2,500 people out now over the course of this past week, it’s probably the most dangerous place in the world right now - and Australians are right in the middle of it … and I’m very proud of what they’re doing, including those who have been the subject of some of the allegations. They’re serving … I honour them for that service.”

A spokesperson for Morrison subsequently told Guardian Australia the prime minister “was making a general comment about being proud of all serving and retired ADF members and not referring to individual cases”.

The government pointed to a statement from the Department of Defence, which said: “Defence can confirm no individuals who have received administrative notices in relation to the Afghanistan Inquiry, have been deployed by the ADF to support the Australian Government’s evacuation effort from Afghanistan.”

(There has been previous media reports that an individual is working as a contractor for the United Arab Emirates - again, this is unconfirmed.)

Updated

Work in a Sydney hospital? We'd like to hear from you

We’re hearing more and more about hospitals in Sydney under pressure from the surge in Covid cases.

Health authorities insisted the system is coping fine for the time being, but did not directly answer questions about how the system is placed if daily case numbers continue to grow.

Do you work in the public health system, ambulances or know more about the pressures hospitals are under? If you know something you think should be brought to wider attention, get in touch with me at elias.visontay@theguardian.com.

Andrew Barr was asked about the Merimbula sewerage alert again in that presser, after the NSW deputy premier, John Barilaro fingered someone in the ACT as being responsible for the sample.

(This is actually things raised in press conferences in Australia in 2021. I am not making this up.)

Barr:

Does John know something about the poo that other people don’t?

I don’t know where he is getting that from, if he has scientific evidence that can back it up, that is OK, then OK.

I mean seriously. I am just not interested in having whose poo it was arguments with John Barilaro at the moment.

While we were glued to the Covid pressers, the Coalition and Labor have passed the government’s identify and disrupt bill in the Senate.

The bill creates three new types of warrants to enable the AFP to disrupt data, take over accounts and spy on Australians suspected of committing crimes.

The bipartisan parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security made a series of recommendations to improve oversight and safeguards, some of which the government accepted and some it didn’t.

Labor opted to support the bill, as MP Andrew Giles told the lower house on Tuesday, because:

The cyber-capabilities of criminal networks have expanded, and we know that they are using the dark web and anonymising technology to facilitate serious crime, which is creating significant challenges for law enforcement, in respect of which the parliament must respond.”

In the Senate the Greens and Rex Patrick put up some resistance to the bill, moving amendments to require that magistrates/judges have to sign off on warrants, not just members of the administrative appeals tribunal.

The attorney general, Michaelia Cash, rejected this proposal, arguing it would be a “departure from longstanding government policy”, “likely result in operational delays” and due to a desire for consistency with other warrant powers.

The amendments were defeated, and the bill passed easily due to Labor’s support.

Paul Karp alerted me to a moment of lightness in the ACT press conference before I switched over.

Andrew Barr was asked whether Canberrans were to blame for a Covid sewerage alert in Merimbula (about three hours outside of Canberra). People in that community have been apparently been blaming people from Canberra.

His answer?

I don’t know where the sewerage fragments have come from, there is Covid all over NSW, so it could just as easily be from there.

I don’t think the sewage detection is quite that sophisticated it is able to tell whether it was a Canberran’s poo, or someone else’s

Updated

Yes to Victorian freedoms, not so sure on NSW Victoria border

Victoria’s health minister Martin Foley has said decisions over whether Victorians can expect more freedoms at 70% vaccination will form out of national cabinet:

The national cabinet decision under the four phases of transition out of the pandemic in a Covid-safe world has as a key part, the measures that will kick in at 70% consistent national coverage of double dose vaccines and then 80%. Victoria, Tasmania, the NT and the commonwealth are working through precisely what that looks like. I have to say, the enthusiasm that has come from the private sector, from community organisations and others who want to be a part of that, makes us more certain that strategy is correct. We will work through that process, make sure it is a consistent national process but if there are particular Victorian additions that we can put on to that, we would not rule them out, but we are a key part of making sure to continue consistent national approach.

Foley said given the “deteriorating” situation with Covid in NSW, he could not rule out further measures being taken on the NSW and Victorian border.

He would not say how long he expected the border between the two states to remain closed, even once vaccination rates reach 70 and 80% in both states.

Updated

Victoria summary

Victoria has recorded 45 new cases.

35 of those are linked and nine are still being investigated.

17 were in isolation for their infectious period.

36 people are in hospital. Nine are in ICU and seven are on a ventilator.

31,629 people were vaccinated in state hubs yesterday.

Of the 538 active cases in Victoria, 114 are aged under nine, 101 are aged between 10 and 19 and 89 are in their 20s.

The Victorian vaccination booking site has been overwhelmed, and authorities are working on building capacity (that is after appointments were opened to anyone over 16 this morning)

Victoria is aiming to have its senior students vaccinated before exams begin in October.

Updated

Headed to the ACT now, the main message from Andrew Barr seems to be that the territory will not be coming out of lockdown anytime soon – that there might be a loosening of the restrictions, but not a total release come September 2:

Barr:

The vaccination program is going as fast as it possibly can, but we are still two to three months’ away from the level of community protection that mass vaccination provides. And what we have seen in our own outbreak and what’s playing out around Australia and around the world is just how quickly one positive case turns into hundreds and then thousands in a community.

Particularly when that community is still largely unvaccinated.

And even though we are leading the nation at the moment, we still have more people unvaccinated, as not fully protected by two doses that have been in their arms for at least three weeks past the jab date, and so this remains our number one priority over the coming months to get more people vaccinated more quickly.

Now, today’s case update together with the data that we have from the last 13 days, regrettably means that we are not in a position to end the lockdown early.

The lockdown will not be ending before the 2nd of September.

So with this in mind, the chief health officer is reviewing the public health directions for the week ahead. The two-week checkpoint is tomorrow. Now is not the time to be significantly easing restrictions, however some changes are being considered. And these changes will seek to balance risk across the community. We will announce the settings for next week before the weekend

Victoria will be requesting more vaccines from the federal government in its push to vaccinate Year 12 students by October, and the broader high school population by the end of the year.
Deputy premier James Merlino:

As the premier made it very clear yesterday, we are significantly expanding eligibility. We have the confidence to do that now. But if we’re going to deliver it, and deliver it on the timelines that we have set, then that is dependent on the supply that comes from the commonwealth. So we’ll be asking the commonwealth for additional supplies of the vaccine. We want our Year 12s vaccinated. We want at least one dose for kids 12 and older by the end of the year. But that is going to be subject to supply. And for the younger kids, Atagi advice.


He says he cannot say today when schools will be back to face-to-face learning.

When asked what freedoms are being considered for the fully vaccinated when Victoria reaches 70%, Merlino says it is best directed to the health minister, who was at the press conference earlier but did not then respond.

Updated

To Victoria now:

Of the 45 new cases in Victoria today:

  • 10 are linked to the MyCentre Broadmeadows outbreak
  • Nine are linked to Shepparton and the Royal Melbourne outbreak
  • Four to the Hobsons Bay/Wyndham cluster
  • Two to CBD/North Melbourne
  • One to Glenroy West Primary School
  • Ten are household contacts of unlinked cases previously announced.

The nine unlinked cases today include two in Hobsons Bay and single cases in Hume, Melton, Wyndham, Maribyrnong, Moreland, Monash and Glen Eira.

Of the 45 new cases, 17 have been in isolation for their full infectious period, and there are now 17,400 primary close contacts isolating, and 15,700 secondary close contacts.
Health officials expressed concern that some of the recent unlinked cases haven’t been tested for seven or eight days since developing symptoms, which is why just 17 of the cases were isolating while infectious.

Ten of those were related to the Broadmeadows childcare centre.

Health minister Martin Foley noted concern about the high number of people in Shepparton currently isolating due to being close contacts, and said the government was working through issues in terms of securing staff to work in supermarkets and other services.

Updated

NSW summary

A new daily record of 919 cases were recorded in the past 24 hours.

741 cases are under investigation and the isolation status of 758 people is under investigation.

Two people died, including a woman in her 30s, in her western Sydney home and a man in his 80s in hospital.

The woman’s death has been referred to the coroner. There were no more details given.

More than 125,000 vaccinations were administered.

There are 645 people in hospital being treated for Covid – 113 are in intensive care, 40 of those people need ventilation.

The hospital system is under pressure. As is the contact tracing system.

But anyone who has Covid, and is feeling breathless, is asked to call an ambulance.

Updated

The NSW press conference ends.

Updated

Is NSW CHO Dr Kerry Chant still comfortable with easing restrictions at the end of August, given the case numbers? (This is in response to the “additional freedom” or “treat” double-dosed vaccinated people in NSW will receive, although it is not guaranteed to be open to everyone.)

Chant:

The way I’d defined this is that this will be a journey with the community. We need to maintain those high levels of compliance and get vaccine coverage up as soon as possible. Every day I look at the data around vaccine coverage and at the geographical distribution of that ... I am most interested in seeing vaccine rates come up in those local government areas of concern. Every day we are looking at a large number of data points and we provide advice to government about the situation but my final note: get vaccinated. And for the people of south-western Sydney and western Sydney, go to that website, book in, there are bookings available. We need to do that for yourselves, your loved ones, your community and the broader community.

Updated

NSW police commissioner Gary Warboys was asked about people being fined by police for standing outside and eating.

His response:

I have every confidence in NSW police. Each individual police officer to make a decision around what fits in the public health order and what clearly sits outside it. Every day I come here and talk about hundreds of infringement notices, 537 in the last 44 hours, those notices issued to people that don’t sit in that grey area that clearly sit outside the public health order.

In terms of food, people need to understand that it is takeaway. It is takeaway ... so if you buy food or coffee, take away and consume it.

I’m not aware of individual circumstances but police still have discretion. Let’s be clear that we are in a pandemic, in a situation that we want people to absolutely comply with the public health orders and police will take action where they think that is appropriate.

Updated

No early lockdown end for the ACT

Paul Karp is watching the ACT presser and reports Andrew Barr has ruled out an early lockdown exit for the territory:

We’re still two to three months away from the level of community protection that mass vaccination provides. We still have more unprotected, those who’ve not had two doses for three weeks. Regrettably means we’re not in a position to end the lockdown early [before 2 September].

Updated

Victoria aiming to have year 12 students vaccinated ahead of exams

Victoria is aiming to have all Year 12 students vaccinated by the start of October, when they are due to start their final year exams.

As the state recorded 45 new cases of Covid-19 on Wednesday, deputy premier James Merlino said the GAT would be on 9 September, and school-based assessments on-site can go ahead in small groups if they can’t be done online.

He said year 12 students sitting their exams would be prioritised for vaccinations before their exams:

That is our priority. Everyone 16 and over – but particularly those year 12 students – we want to make sure that they’re vaccinated before their exams start.

For children 12 years old and over, he said they are aiming to have first doses administered by the end of the year but that will depend on Atagi advice and supply.

So there’ll be very strong communication to all students and staff across all our schools in Victoria, but a particular message to our year 12 students, but also VCE staff and staff who will be supervising the VCE exams. We also want them to get vaccinated. So, please get vaccinated as soon as you’re able. Make a booking.

Victoria saw 25,000 bookings for vaccinations made on Wednesday morning after the system opened up vaccination bookings to everyone over 16 and 1.3m people tried to call the booking hotline this morning, and the website is getting 50,000 hits per minute.

There were still 300,000 bookings available between now and 17 September as of earlier this morning.

We are waiting for more detail on today’s cases, but the press conference was delayed because it started raining (it was an outdoor presser).

Updated

ACT records nine new cases

There is better news in the territory:

Deputy premier John Barilaro is asked about one of his MPs apparently announcing the whole state lockdown in NSW will be extended by another six weeks.

(Nationals MPs announced the whole state lockdown over their social media, so people are understandably worried about these reports)

Barilaro:

Thanks for the newsflash. The government and the crisis committee will be considering what happens after Saturday.

We haven’t made any decision around extension of these restrictions of lockdown for regional NSW but, as you can see in the numbers, the central west isn’t getting better, the far west, Hunter and New England, even though under control, still has cases, the Central Coast, Illawarra Shoalhaven, Wollongong ... Shellharbour, in Canberra, which does put pressure on southern NSW and this morning already showing sewage in Merimbula, high surveillance so in one way you’ve got to manage all of that and the reality is, it is about protecting lives and making sure we don’t lose control in regional and rural NSW.

Also the threat that something in regional Victoria, Albury-Wodonga, the NSW-Victorian border, places like Shepparton. We’ll take advice from Dr Chant and her team on the crisis committee will make a decision and will do it sooner rather than later.

Updated

Dr Kerry Chant is asked if there is any more detail on the death of the woman in her 30s in her home in western Sydney and whether she was in contact with health authorities:

I think it’s appropriate to say that the death has been referred to the coroner. The hospital is looking all of the circumstances of it. I know she was offered accommodation at the Sydney help accommodation but I don’t really want to go through any of those issues, it’s best that we thoroughly investigate.

It is important, and I think I can’t stress enough, that if you got any symptoms, regardless if you’ve been in contact with our help teams in the morning or at any other time, it’s critical that you call an ambulance if you have dizziness or any symptoms of breathlessness.

Updated

The federal government is expecting advice from Atagi on vaccinations for 12 to 15-year-olds (more widely than those with underlying conditions) very soon – South Australia’s Kangaroo Island health district has opened up appointments for that cohort (to be administered next month) in anticipation.

Dr Kerry Chant warns though that for NSW it will depend on vaccine supply (she means mRNA) which she describes as “constrained”.

The vaccine used in 12-15 would be Pfizer, that’s been registered for that use for children with underlying health conditions and Aboriginal children currently, if there was an announcement about the 12-15 group, it would be Pfizer. We still have constrained a supply.

Again, if that booking system was opened, children 12-15 would have access. We are still in a constrained supply environment.

Updated

NSW CHO Dr Kerry Chant admits the contact tracing system in NSW is under a lot of pressure. As is the testing system.

I think we have to be very honest that the surge in cases has put stress on both the health system and the public health [tracing] and we’ve instituted a range of measures to support the timely results.

I want to be very clear with the community, the surging cases, and the delay in our testing turnaround times, has meant that people may have been tested three days ago and not got [results].

Part of it is the delay in the testing turnaround and we turned off a lot of the surveillance testing to actually improve that testing turnaround time. Some other messages, if you’re just getting a Covid test for the sake of it, you don’t have symptoms, you not been exposed or are in an area of concern, don’t use those scarce testing resources because we need to get the turnaround times for tests down as soon as possible.

Updated

Back to NSW, Brad Hazzard is then asked, again, if the health system is coping, given the reports we are all hearing from hospital staff:

The hospital system is coping but there are lots of pressures on individual hospitals from time to time. I don’t doubt that individual staff in some wards are finding a lot of stress are on them as a result of a number of patients coming in but I stress that we had a very, very good hospital system across NSW.

He then turns it back on vaccinations:

I have no doubt that individual staff will find it stressful and is why I want to thank them because I talk to staff, doctors are here today. They are a bit frustrated that so many people have chosen to drag the chain with getting vaccinated.

There are others who have tried but haven’t been able to get in because of the age categories that have changed as a result of the federal government advisory body’s advice but now we are vaccinating people from 16-39 and older people as well.

You have a whole range of places you can go and get a vaccine. Not just at state run vaccine centres. Go to pharmacist, GP, and my strong advice of the back of what Morgan has told us if you don’t want to be the person in intensive care where you are struggling to breathe. Go and get your vaccine.

Updated

New Zealand records 63 new cases

New Zealand has announced 63 new cases of Covid-19, bringing its total outbreak to 210 cases. It is the largest single-day jump since the outbreak began last week, and 12 people are hospitalised with the virus.

The country also hit a new record in vaccinations, with 80,000 people receiving doses on Tuesday.

The director-general of health, Ashley Bloomfield, said that while the growth was steady it was not exponential.

“The fact that the rate of increase is not exponential is explicitly because we have a level 4 lockdown in place,” he said.

Updated

Brad Hazzard is asked about reports from doctors that the anti-lockdown protests were a superspreader event, putting the health system under further pressure:

All I’ll say is each of the hospitals are, and have been for some time, building their capacity to deal with the increasing number of Covid patients. Covid positive patients. That is part of what hospital system does. When we have very bad flu seasons, it is a similar work they have done across networks.

I don’t have concerns at this stage that has not been dealt with appropriately.

In regards to the demonstration, I’ll say, you’d have to be reasonably certain that a number of those people have ended up in a hospitals who were at those large demonstrations.

A demonstration is completely wrong when you are in the middle of a pandemic and to think there were people who went along in vast numbers and thought it was OK to go and demonstrate against the sorts of safeguards put in place is just ridiculous.

I have no doubt, no doubt, there are probably some people sitting in a hospital system at the moment requiring our health staff to put their lives at risk to look after them when they thought it was OK to go along to a demonstration.

Updated

Brad Hazzard is then pushed for not answering the question – can the health system cope with those sorts of figures?

The issue is the health system is world-class. The NSW health system is probably the best in the world.

All the information given to me from the doctors and nurses and our public health staff is that the system is coping.

You have to understand that the individual hospitals from time to time will all be under some sort of stress, especially in the epicentre of the breakout which is in western and south-western Sydney. It may move to another area but we hope by people getting their vaccine, we will be able to turn that down.

Updated

Anne Davies asks about whether the hospital system could cope with thousands of cases, which is possible under the models of opening up with 70% of the eligible population vaccinated.

Q: I have seen graphs that show by the time we get to 70%, we could have up to 4,000 people in hospital. Can we cope with that?

Brad Hazzard:

The effective rate according to our own public health advice is about 1.3, at the present time. But it is variable and, like all algorithms, it varies depending on the inputs.

One joy of being health minister is to have all the experts from all different institutes feeding in different data and coming up with what they consider effective.

It is about 1.3 at the moment so for every 10 people to get the virus, they will in fact give it to another 13 people. It will grow but the one way to stop growing and to stop you ending up in intensive care or hospitals is to get the vaccine.

Updated

On western NSW, here are the numbers:

Up to 8pm last night there have been 49 new cases identified in the Western NSW Local Health District.

Thirty-five in Dubbo, seven in Bourke, one in Narromine, five in Orange and one in Walgett.

NSW Health’s ongoing sewage surveillance program has detected fragments of the virus that causes Covid-19 at Gilgandra and Orange sewage treatment plants.

These detections are of particular concern and everyone in these areas is urged to monitor for the onset of symptoms, and if they appear, to immediately be tested and isolate until a negative result is received.

Updated

But given that Westmead went into code yellow – emergency operations – because it was overwhelmed, surely that makes having confidence the health system will hold up difficult.

Gladys Berejiklian says anyone in NSW who needs medical attention will receive it. Brad Hazzard then takes the question:

I want to assure the community that we have been working as a health system on this since January and February last year and ensuring we have stepped up the number of available ICU beds, and staff working in those intensive care units, ventilators, but Westmead hospital is typical of the sorts of pressures you’d expect when you got a major hospital in the middle of the epicentre of the virus outbreak.

Westmead staff are managing about 1,500 patients in the community and about 121 staff are in their wards. There are about 23 currently in ICU.

That is a pressure situation for them. The other aspect is they are now able to work with the private hospitals, something set up last year by working with the federal government, and last Monday this generation was confirmed in New South Wales, particularly in Sydney, that beds would be available in our private hospitals.

Westmead will work with Westmead private and other private hospitals in the local area to ensure some patient are able to be looked after in the private hospital as well.

I’ll stress that it isn’t easy.

Last week, Westmead hospital had 280 patients who came in by ambulance with Covid. So about 40 ambulance deliveries a day with Covid. Each of those patients are being weld well cared for. Talk about the level of care required. I’m confident that we have maybe a system that is under pressure but a system that works.

Updated

But people would be worried seeing 919 cases?

Gladys Berejiklian:

A lot of people would be alarmed. There is no doubt people would be alarmed by rising case numbers but ... our hospitalisation rate is relatively low.

We don’t want to see anybody in ICU and we don’t want Dr Morgan to have more patients she has to look after as a lung specialist.

Vaccines are our best way of doing that. Last year, when there was the outbreak in Victoria, even though they had fewer cases, the death rate was much higher, that is because the vaccine wasn’t around.

That is the measure of how we doing is keeping people out of hospital, stopping people die. That is the most important measure but what is also really important is when you have those high rates of vaccination, that adds protection and allows us to live live more freely and gives us confidence to move forward because every state in the nation is going to have to confront having Delta part of our lives moving forward.

Updated

Gladys Berejiklian then moves on to “moving forward” and repeats she wants people focused on vaccinations, not case numbers:

We have made the point that the most important figure moving forward is the rate of vaccination. That remains the case.

As soon as we had all those milestones, we will have those extra freedoms.

We’re looking forward as a team to announce tomorrow or the day after what for those who are fully vaccinated.

This is an important message that no matter what the case are doing, when you hit those high rates of vaccination, giving everybody protection and reducing the chance of the spread and keeping people out of hospital.

When you get 70% double dose, as the Doherty report states, you start to transition into talking about the rate of hospitalisation, not the number of cases.

The number of cases becomes less relevant.

I don’t want to take away from the situation NSW is in because every day we are working night and day to put downward pressure on those cases.

Don’t get me wrong. Every day we want to see case numbers go down, not up.

Updated

Dr Lucy Morgan says lately the people she is treating for serious Covid infections are young, aged between their 20s and 40s, many of whom have young children.

Not one person that I was caring for with severe respiratory illness over the last few days was fully vaccinated.

But the good news in all of this is that this does not have to be you. You could get a vaccine today and reduce your risk of getting severe respiratory illness from Covid-19 and reduce your chances of ending up in hospital.

Two doses of Covid-19 vaccination will be your suit of armour. It will protect you from getting sick from Covid-19, from needing admission to hospital and from ending up in ICU. Book your vaccine today. Protect your loved ones and protect yourself.

Updated

And this is what leads to the need for intensive care.

Dr Lucy Morgan:

As people become increasingly breathless, the oxygen in their blood starts to drop and they need increasing levels of extra support to keep those oxygen levels are.

That might be oxygen via little nasal prongs that go into the nose but as the things progress and as people get sicker, they need actually a machine to do the reading for them. And that’s the point at which someone who is in a hospital having care for Covid-19 may require intensive care therapy, the sorts of treatments that Dr Nguyen talked about on Monday, a machine to do the reading for you, a machine to possibly support the blood and do the work of organs in your body.

It is anything that we can do to reduce the severity of the illness and reduce the need into intensive care is very, very important. And getting vaccinated is clearly something that we can do to reduce this severe illness.

Dr Lucy Morgan continues with outlining what the virus can be like:

The symptoms of Covid-19 that are affecting many of the patients I’ve been caring for in the last few weeks include a really severe headache, not just a little bit of a headache but a really severe migraine-like headache that makes you sensitive to light, a stiff neck and takes more than just Panadol to relieve it.

It’s really awful. Many of my patients have a terrible cough, the sort of cough that leaves you breathless and they can’t move or speak without the cough becoming really terrible. Lots of patients have diarrhoea. Lots of patients have nausea. They just can’t eat or drink anything.

And people feel so overwhelmingly fatigued, all they can do is lie on the bed. Some of these patients become increasingly breathless. Initially, just breathless walking quickly or making the bed but, as time goes by, they become breathless walking or even talking.

If anybody is at home with symptoms this severe, they need to call an ambulance. Don’t ring up and make a GP appointment, call an ambulance. Because these are the other sorts of symptoms and signs that tell me that the Covid-19 illness is regressing and progressing quickly.

Updated

Dr Lucy Morgan, a lung specialist who works with a Covid specialist team at the Concord and Nepean hospitals, is also at this press conference, urging people to get vaccinated.

She is here to talk about what the illness is like:

Once you’re exposed to virus, most of us have very few symptoms in the early days.

Unfortunately you’ve already caught the virus and you are already passing that virus on.

The first symptoms of Covid-19 virus are very much like any other cold or flu illness.

The often very mild, so mild to often not be noticeable, but they will be the ordinary cold and flu symptoms of headache, a bit of a sore throat, maybe a bit of a cough. Some people have muscle aches and some people have either in those early days. But some people become breathless and dizzy. And these other sorts of symptoms that need urgent medical assistance.

If you have Covid-19 and you feel breathless, you have trouble breathing, and you are feeling dizzy, you need to call an ambulance. An ambulance is free, your medical care will be free, there will be people who can care for you even if English is not your first language.

Updated

There has been more Covid found in the sewage systems that service Bateau Bay, Toukley and Merimbula.

Updated

NSW Health has broken down the cases like this:

Of the 919 locally acquired cases reported to 8pm last night, 387 are from Western Sydney Local Health District (LHD), 247 are from South-Western Sydney LHD, 82 are from Sydney LHD, 71 are from Nepean Blue Mountains LHD.

Forty-nine are from Western NSW LHD, 39 are from South-Eastern Sydney LHD, 12 are from Northern Sydney LHD, seven are from Far West LHD, eight are from Illawarra Shoalhaven LHD, four are from Hunter New England LHD, one is from Central Coast LHD, and 12 cases are yet to be assigned to LHD.

Across the Western NSW Local Health District there have been 49 new cases of Covid-19 reported to 8pm last night. People in the affected areas throughout western NSW need to be extremely vigilant and get tested at the first sign of symptoms.

Updated

The woman who died in her home in western Sydney has had her death referred to the coroner.

The man in his 80s had been vaccinated but had “significant” underlying health conditions, Dr Kerry Chant says.

Updated

Dr Kerry Chant says there are 645 people in NSW hospitals with Covid and, of that, 113 people are in the ICU. Ninety-eight of those people have not been vaccinated.

Updated

Josh Nicholas has the data for you:

Updated

Contact tracers continue to be overwhelmed, with more than 700 of the latest cases still under investigation:

At this point, you would have to say that NSW authorities have decided there is no more they can do to cut down transmissions.

Updated

NSW records 919 Covid cases and two deaths

Gladys Berejiklian says more than 125,000 people came forward for vaccinations and nearly one-third of the population is double dosed.

She then moves on to cases – it is a new record at 919.

There was a woman in her 30s who died in her home (and was previously reported) and a man in his 80s who died in hospital.

Updated

We are just waiting on Gladys Berejiklian to give today’s update.

The Victorian update is coming at 11.10am.

The ACT will give an update at 11.45am.

We’ll separate them but let you know where we are if we have to cross over.

Updated

Meanwhile, it seems like a *very online* person who has previously emailed journalists with their missives (long, bolded words, red ink and links to Sky News stories) has found they can email every single parliamentarian with their views (they never BCC either, so that’s a lot of email addresses to scroll through)

From what we have heard, there has been at least one MP who chose a “reply all” option, to express their own thought in response.

Updated

Daniel Hurst is chasing clarity on what the prime minister meant there – we will keep you updated.

Updated

Scott Morrison appears to have confirmed that some soldiers who were the subject of allegations related to the Brereton inquiry may be involved in Afghanistan evacuation operations.

But the prime minister has not offered any specific detail. His comments came during an interview with 2GB, when the presenter, Ray Hadley, was seeking to extract an apology from the prime minister over the handling of the Brereton inquiry into alleged war crimes.

Hadley was particularly agitated about comments by former defence minister Linda Reynolds in December that “these are all incidents of alleged cold-blooded murder”.

There have been recent reports that 13 of 17 individuals who were issued with show-cause termination notices have had those withdrawn – but there has been no official confirmation of this. Defence has repeatedly declined to explain the outcomes of those 17 termination notices. The particular allegations in those cases have also not been made clear. Morrison has also not previously responded to questions about a claim that one person subject to allegations was involved in some way in the evacuation operations.

Morrison resisted Hadley’s call for an apology, saying Reynolds was not talking about specific individuals:

The comments made about the Brereton report were not made about specific individuals. I want to stress that – they’re not about specific individuals and even those 17 specific individuals, and we don’t want to cause any hurt to our veterans community, and, and our defence community. As you say, they are there on the deck at HKIA [Hamid Karzai international airport] in Kabul right now. We got out of over 1,000 people out last night in our biggest night of operations. We’ve got almost 2,500 people out now over the course of this past week. It’s probably the most dangerous place in the world right now – and Australians are right in the middle of it … and I’m very proud of what they’re doing, including those who have been the subject of some of the allegations. They’re serving … I honour them for that service.

Morrison, when pressed again to apologise, said:

I understand the point you’re making and what I’m going to continue to do is just this process is designed to ensure that these outcomes can be reached, and these matters can be clarified and people can walk forward with honour, and I will work to ensure that it is achieved.

Updated

Scott Morrison then touches on vaccine passports – backing them in:

Living with the virus will be different, I mean it’s not going anywhere.

You can’t eradicate it. So it’s still going to be there and vaccination and the booster shots we’ve already ordered for next year will be part of our part of that life because you make a very good point.

A business under property law has the ability to say ‘no, you can’t come in’ and make it [based on vaccination status] ... a legitimate thing for them to do, and they’re doing that to protect their own workers, they protect their other clients, and it’s just, it’s got nothing to do with ideology, and this, you know, these issues around liberty and so on.

We all believe in freedom, but we also believe in people being healthy.

And the, the sheer fact of it is, if you’re not vaccinated, you represent a greater public health risk to yourself, to your community.

Updated

Scott Morrison then makes the Big Mac comparison again:

And today in Australia, they’re, again there are more places you can go and get vaccinated, there are 8,984 places you can get a vaccine. And that’s about 10 times more than you can get a Big Mac, and there are more petrol stations ... that’s more than there are petrol stations where you can fill up.

Updated

And on the Doherty Institute, Scott Morrison says:

We’re not talking about, you know, just a couple people in some white coats. We’re talking about the best scientists in this area in the world.

And that’s why it’s a safe plan, it’s a smart. It’s a plan that’s going to ensure our economy resoundingly comes back.

Over on Sydney radio 2GB, Ray Hadley is speaking to Scott Morrison, who is again pushing the national plan.

You know the powers of state governments are not more powerful than the Delta strain of the virus and they’re not more powerful than the vaccine.

What is needed for the health and safety of people right across the country, whether they’re in Tasmania, or New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, is getting the population vaccinated, and the national plan provides the incentives, which says you get vaccinated then you’re able to open up the country, people can go back to connecting with each other again all around the country, moving around, our economy growing, people going back to work, not having their hours reduced, and I can go forward with certainty.

And then a state like Queensland, in particular, where you have so much that depends on the tourism industry, both domestically and internationally.

Getting vaccinated, getting the plan going is the best plan to get Queensland moving, and you can’t sort of withdraw from that, you’ve got to move into it.

I get the concerns. I understand that people might be concerned in Queensland listening to us right now. But what happens is there’s cases and that’s what we’ve worked through. This has been a very careful plan, which took months to prepare.

Updated

Annastacia Palaszczuk says Queensland is also being asked by the federal government to accept Afghanistan arrivals, which has added to the pressure on the state’s hotel quarantine system.

There is an extra ADF cohort arriving on the Queensland border today, as part of the Queensland border closure operation with NSW

It doesn’t look like international arrivals will be affected – it is focused on the domestic arrivals, who have a right of entry pass, or are seeking to relocate.

So from noon, if you don’t have a hotel quarantine booking, you won’t get in.

Essentially, outside of exemptions, for the next two weeks, there will be minimal relocations allowed, while hotel quarantine places are reallocated.

The reason seems to be that there are too many people turning up from Covid hotspots and a “scrambling” to find a hotel quarantine place.

Updated

So with the pressure from domestic arrivals, Queensland is hitting the pause button:

Updated

Here is the official announcement:

Updated

Queensland to pause hotel quarantine from noon

As of yesterday, there were 5,114 people in Queensland hotel quarantine. Just over 3,000 were domestic arrivals.

Queensland has 22 hotels in its hotel quarantine program.

Annastacia Palaszczuk says the system is under pressure and, from noon, hotel quarantine will be paused for two weeks.

If you have an exemption, compassionate or specialist, you will still be able to quarantine.

“Queensland is being loved to death,” Palaszczuk says.

You will have to apply for a border pass and have a booking in a hotel quarantine hotel before you arrive. They won’t be finding a place for you.

Updated

After reporting two cases of covid yesterday, Queensland premier Annastacia Palazszcuk says they have been “reclassified” as not being cases.

That was the two truck drivers. So, they are no longer classified as Covid cases.

There were no cases reported today.

Updated

The Greens senator Rachel Siewert will deliver her valedictory speech to the Senate at 5pm. Siewert announced her retirement a little earlier this year.

Party leader Adam Bandt paid an early tribute to Siewert:

For 16 years Rachel has been a force of nature in the Senate and she has made an immeasurable contribution to the community, to the Greens movement and to Australian democracy.

Rachel is recognised across the political spectrum as being one of the most hard-working and dedicated Senators this place has seen.

She is a tireless campaigner and, no matter what is thrown in her way, she will keep fighting for justice for people and the planet. Her time in parliament has been shaped by her belief that when the people in parliament work for their community, we can do powerful things together.

Rachel has been instrumental in fighting for a fairer income support system and has humanised the experiences of people on income support, ensuring their voices are heard.

She has led the campaign to increase Newstart and jobseeker in the parliament.

Rachel has been the leading voice in parliament fighting the punitive measures successive governments have imposed on some of the most vulnerable in our community, including cuts to single parenting payments, the Northern Territory Intervention, income management and the cashless debit card, work for the dole, the community development program and the woefully low rates of income support.

Updated

The NSW press conference will be held at 11am.

Mick Fuller will be appearing at this one.

Updated

You can also receive an AstraZeneca vaccination at selected pharmacies, which you can check here.

Updated

Anthony Albanese came out in strong defence of his western Australian and Queensland colleagues a little earlier this morning, when asked about their concerns with opening up while NSW case numbers are so high (he was speaking to the ABC).

Mark McGowan has kept Western Australians safe. Mark McGowan agreed with the national plan. It does provide for safeguards in that national plan. And I find it quite extraordinary that the prime minister has basically described Western Australians and Queenslanders as somehow being cave people wanting to stay in the cave.

The reason why there are restrictions is because of the prime minister’s failure to secure enough vaccines, including for Western Australians and Queenslanders, and a failure to build purpose-built quarantine.

Premier Palaszczuk proposed the Wellcamp site last October, 10 months ago. We could have had purpose-built quarantine operating for the whole of this year in Queensland at that site. In Western Australia, there were proposals, for example, at Exmouth.

I know that the Western Australian minister, Minister MacTiernan, has spoken to me about the need for quarantine facilities for ag workers and for others. The fact is that the reason why there are restrictions today is because the prime minister failed on those two fundamental jobs – quarantine and vaccines.

Updated

The Victorian vaccination site is still crashing – anyone over 16 can now book an appointment. The only advice at the moment is to keep trying.

You can access AstraZeneca by talking to a doctor.

Anyone with an existing AstraZeneca appointment in a Victorian vaccination hub will be offered Pfizer at their appointment today – you don’t have to change anything, just turn up

Lt General John Frewen, who is in charge of the vaccination rollout, was asked by the ABC this morning whether he shared the prime minister’s optimism the country would be reunited by Christmas (obviously the international border will still be closed, so there will still be a lot of people missing from the table).

He didn’t answer the question:

Look, vaccination is a really important part of our plan out of this thing. We’ve got the supplies, we’ve got the distribution networks. It really is now about people continuing to come forward, so I just really encourage everybody if you haven’t had a dose yet, to get booked and get your jabs. If you have had your jabs, it is fantastic, but start encouraging your other friends and family to get along and get vaccinated. That is how we will get to the high rate this year.

Updated

Here is the latest Victorian data:

Chris Knaus reports a Senate committee wants to look at the awarding of federal gas exploration grants in the Beetaloo Basin:

Empire Energy’s “close financial and personal relationships” with the Liberal party warrant an investigation into the government’s decision to award it $21m in federal gas exploration grants, a Senate inquiry has found.

The finding on Tuesday came as Labor referred the grants to the auditor general, citing the same potential conflicts, but declined to support a move to block money from the $50m Beetaloo Cooperative Drilling grant program going to gas companies for exploratory drilling in the Northern Territory’s Beetaloo Basin.

Updated

The public broadcaster will launch a Covid-19 vaccine campaign today, debunking vaccine myths and encouraging everyone to get vaccinated.

The in-house advertising campaign across TV, radio and online is based on frequently asked questions from ABC audiences which include:

  • Can I get Covid-19 from the vaccines?
  • Will the vaccines work against new Covid-19 variants?
  • Do the vaccines contain animal products?
  • Were the vaccines rushed into circulation?
  • Can I still get Covid-19 after being vaccinated?
  • What is “long Covid”?

Some social media posts will include subtitles in Arabic, Vietnamese and Mandarin to reach those in Covid-19 hotspots in Sydney’s south and west.

Doctors Norman Swan, Preeya Alexander and Karl Kruszelnicki will tackle the myths about Covid-19 and ABC presenters Shaun Micallef, Lisa Millar, Tony Armstrong, Wil Anderson, Nazeem Hussain, Craig Reucassel, Michael Rowland, Sammy J, Jeremy Fernandez, Namila Benson, Jan Fran and Courtney Act will appeal to ABC viewers to make an appointment for the vaccine.

“As the nation’s most trusted media organisation, we are proud to help Australians get the facts about the safety and efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines,” ABC managing director David Anderson said.

“Australians want credible, reliable information to keep themselves and their loved ones safe and well. The ABC’s ‘Vax Facts’ campaign highlights how Covid-19 vaccinations are essential to saving lives and to helping Australians return to our normal ways of life and work.”

The ABC media blitz follows the Arm Yourself campaign launched by the federal government last month. The News Corp papers have also supported the vaccine push, including the Daily Telegraph’s partnership with the NRL.

Updated

Victoria records 45 new cases

Seventeen were in quarantine for their entire infectious period.

Updated

Turns out the treasurer is so impressed at using a microwave and two men washing dishes, he repeated himself on the Seven network, about an hour later

And Josh Frydenberg said he has been enjoying his stay at the Lodge (he is staying in the prime minister’s residence at the moment)

Frydenberg:

We have been, actually, and it is just the two of us, so he has been on the scrubbing brush, I’ve been using the microwave, we’ve both been cooking up our bolognaise and chicken schnitzel. It has been quite entertaining, he has been good company and we are doing that because we can’t live our lives normally with the ACT in lockdown and it has been a good opportunity to to talk a lot of shop as well.

How lovely for them.

And after Mark McGowan got upset at the prime minister’s Croods reference, which the WA premier took to mean Scott Morrison was referring to Western Australians as living in a cave, because of the border lockdown, Josh Frydenberg used the old “it was a joke” defence:

Look, he was making a light-hearted point about what is a serious issue, namely that we need to stick to the plan that was agreed at national cabinet.

Now, that plan, as agreed, is at a 70% and 80% vaccination. We start to see the transmissibility of the virus reduce, the number of people who get serious illness reduce and therefore we can safely reopen.

We’ve heard from the head of the Doherty Institute themselves saying whether you start at 30 cases or 800 cases*, you can reopen safely.

I say to you, if we don’t open up at 70% and 80%, then what is that number?

When do our small businesses reopen? When do our kids go back to school? When do we go to the funerals and weddings of loved ones? When do we move more freely across the country? We need to give people hope and the plan based on the best medical advice possible does give us that hope.

The Doherty Institute does say you can open up with more cases once the vaccination targets are hit – the trade-off, though, is accepting higher hospitalisations and deaths as a result of the transition.

Updated

Twelve to 15-year-olds with underlying health issues are meant to be able to access a vaccination.

But, as Luke Henriques-Gomes reports, it has not been easy (nothing with the vaccination program has been easy, but given the program started in February, surely governments should be on top of it by now).

Updated

Josh Frydenberg was also asked about Sarah Martin and Nick Evershed’s story on aged care staff vaccinations and turned it back on the states, despite aged care being a federal responsibility:

Well, as I understand it, they have been making progress with respect to that particular rollout. I note that only a few states have actually mandated it under their public health orders.

I think South Australia is one, I think Western Australia was another. It is important that all the states take that action, as agreed at National Cabinet to do so, and that will be obviously important, not just for the aged-care workers’ own health, but of course the people that they seek to support

It was only a few weeks ago that NSW health minister Brad Hazzard said they were waiting to see what the federal government wanted in those health orders

The government’s big announcement today is that it is extending the small and medium business loan scheme.

Here was Josh Frydenberg this morning, speaking to the ABC:

We currently have a small and medium-sized business loan scheme and that has already provided more than 70,000 loans worth $6bn, but in order to receive that loan, you had to be on jobkeeper in the March quarter.

We have removed that requirement, and therefore small and medium-sized businesses can get access for loans of up to $5m for up to 10 years with the first two years repayment free.

This will be great for small business and we’ve heard from the Council of Small Business that this will help their members reopen and rebuild. The money can be used for working capital, for expanding, for example, purchasing equipment and re-financing existing loans.

Updated

And still on business and the Committee for Sydney, bosses who employ more than half a million Australians want to see the Morrison government adopt net zero emissions target and introduce legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across different industries at the top of its reform agenda.

The Committee for Sydney, in its annual survey of its member organisations across the hospitality, entertainment, construction and university sectors, found that 201 senior leaders from 131 organisations wanted to see clearer climate objectives on the federal level.

While the businesses surveyed by the think tank employ 240,000 people in Sydney, many have a presence in other states, with the surveyed bosses collectively employing 640,000 people across Australia.

In its survey, climate action was bosses’ top reform priority, with 75% of senior leaders claiming it was “very important” to see the federal government adopting a net zero emissions target and specific legislation to drive greenhouse gas reductions for each sector of the economy, with a further 20% responding this was “somewhat important”.

Reforming Australia’s visa system to make it easier for global talent to work in Australia and have a pathway to residency was the second highest reform priority of the leaders, while increasing funding for higher education for Australians and increasing funding to support university research placing third and fourth respectively. Abolishing payroll tax and replacing it with an increase to the GST received the lowest support from the employers.

A survey of senior bosses at businesses employing about a quarter of a million Sydneysiders found that a majority of organisations are in favour of on-site workplace Covid vaccinations to increase uptake, with similarly high support for encouraging businesses to mandate Covid vaccines for their staff.

The Committee for Sydney, in its annual survey of its member organisations across the hospitality, entertainment, construction and university sectors, found that 201 senior leaders from 131 organisations want to see employers taking an active role in driving up vaccine rates, but at the same time are “waiting” for governments to outline their position.

The businesses surveyed by the Committee collectively employ 240,000 people in Sydney and 640,000 across Australia, and found that 88% of organisations want the government to ask major employers to vaccinate their staff on-site, with 76% support for encouraging employers to mandate vaccination of staff.

Vaccine passports are emerging as a popular tool for businesses planning to reopen, with 96% of bosses surveyed supporting the government introducing immunity passports and 91% supporting a vaccination requirement to enter bars, restaurants, shops, public transport, schools and indoor workplaces.

While there is broad support for vaccination requirements to enter certain venues, business leaders appear split on the idea of a population-wide vaccine mandate, with just 55% of organisational leaders supporting a government-enforced requirement for all eligible people to receive a Covid vaccine.

Regarding Covid financial support, 96% of bosses support continued fiscal stimulus, with 97% support for expanded income support – with a mixed response on cash payments or vouchers.

The survey also shed light on how many workplaces will return following the current lockdown in Sydney and other states. Just 21% of bosses plan to encourage their staff to return to the office full time, however just 2% of bosses expect to be fully remote. About 51% of bosses expect workers to permanently return to work for three days a week, while 23% expect it will be four days a week.

Beyond Covid-lockdown related issues, a vast majority of some of Sydney’s biggest employers found a keenness to see the NSW state government invest in social and affordable housing and new infrastructure projects including new Metro lines, bike lanes across Sydney and fast rail to Newcastle as a recovery initiative.

Gabriel Metcalf, chief executive of the Committee for Sydney, said “one of the strongest messages we’ve heard is business leaders are ready to roll up their sleeves and start vaccinating their staff on-site, and even require it of employees – they’re just waiting for government to say the word”.

Updated

NSW hospitals under pressure

AAP has more on the Westmead hospital code yellow we were talking about earlier:

One of Sydney’s largest hospitals has called a “yellow emergency” as it struggles under the weight of growing Covid-19 cases in the city’s west.

The Western Sydney Local Health District’s executive team sent an email to staff on Tuesday indicating the change in settings at Westmead Hospital.

The email said the hospital was “standing up an emergency operations centre” to grapple with the increase in Covid-19 cases at the facility.

The hospital would immediately reduce ambulance arrivals for Covid-19 patients for a 24-hour period, seek to transfer several critical patients to other Sydney metropolitan hospitals and conduct urgent critical care reviews.

The LHD would also work with private hospitals to open up 100 more beds.

“We acknowledge that we are not longer operating in a business as usual environment and careful assessment and response is required to manage future demand for our services,” the email, seen by AAP, says.

NSW Health data shows almost 4000 COVID-19 cases have been uncovered in the past four weeks in the Western Sydney LHD.

There are currently more than 600 people with COVID-19 in hospital in NSW and 107 in intensive care.

NSW Health says it currently manages about 500 intensive care beds but has a surge capacity of about 2000 when required. The government has repeatedly said the hospital system is coping with the increased workload.

Updated

Anthony Albanese is doing the media rounds this morning, after Scott Morrison blitzed the morning media circuit yesterday.

Asked on the ABC whether it is incumbent on him as the Labor leader to get the Labor states on board with the national plan, Albanese says:

Well, they are on board and they have done a fantastic job.

And I tell you what is incumbent upon national leadership – it’s to bring the whole country forward as a united country and not to try to divide.

And Scott Morrison now is trying to distract from his own problems and his own failures by trying to divide the country, by trying to set state against state, and what the premiers have been doing is keeping their state safe and remember during last year’s Queensland campaign, Scott Morrison visiting Queensland, lecturing Queenslanders saying “Open up the borders”, and, of course, the Queenslanders voted overwhelmingly for Annastacia Palaszczuk and for her government. And remember just months ago here, in June, the prime minister standing up and congratulating Gladys Berejiklian for not taking action, for keeping everything open, and guess what? Months later, NSW is still in lockdown and it’s spread everywhere. The truth is that the action that Gladys Berejiklian didn’t take has had real consequences for people.

Updated

Also critically important is what is happening with aged care staff vaccinations.

As Sarah Martin and Nick Evershed report, it’s not looking great:

Just three weeks before a vaccine mandate for the aged care sector is due to come into force, a Guardian Australia analysis of data released by the federal health department shows just 551 centres – or 19% – of aged care homes have vaccinated more than 90% of their workers with a single dose.

The analysis shows 582 centres have vaccinated less than 50% of their workforce with a single dose, while 60 centres have vaccinated less than 20% of their workforce, including 18 centres with vaccination rates below 10%. A further 25 have reported no data.

Updated

It took Lorena Allam and Nick Evershed a lot longer than it should have to get this information, with the government not too keen on transparency on this issue.

Which is part of the problem. It’s critically important and people need to know what’s happening

From midnight, Western Australia will declare travellers from NSW an “extreme risk”, which is the first time the designation has been used.

It means travel exemptions will be restricted to officials, MPs and diplomats and even they will have to have had least one vaccine shot as well as return a negative test before entering, where they will then go into hotel quarantine.

Specialist workers can apply for an exemption, but the rules have been considerably tightened.

WA residents in NSW were told to return home last week, with the border coming down even harder in response to NSW’s case numbers. But not everyone has got back in time, meaning it’s going to be a long wait for some families and loved ones to be reunited.

Updated

This is probably going to happen for a while. But keep trying, if you can:

Good morning

Happy Wednesday.

We’ve made it to hump day and all it took was a national discourse on The Croods, a prime minister convinced we’ve been living in a cave and a parliamentary sitting that could be happening on Mars for all the attention being paid to it.

The focus is squarely on the east coast and Covid as people wait to hear what the “treat” or additional freedom they may receive in New South Wales for being double vaccinated is, as well as when their children may be going back to school.

It’s also on the healthcare system with confirmation the Westmead hospital went code yellow, meaning it did not have enough internal resources because of Covid. It announced it would reduce ambulance arrivals for Covid patients for at least 24 hours as well as attempt to transfer critical patients to other hospitals.

Gladys Berejiklian and Brad Hazzard have repeatedly said the health system was under pressure but holding up well. The Westmead situation, combined with concerns from doctors in other hospitals warning of cracks emerging because of reduced staff, and increased patient loads, will be one of the issues NSW authorities are asked to address today.

Yesterday, NSW CHO Dr Kerry Chant couldn’t say if NSW had reached its peak of Covid cases. She was more nuanced in her descriptions of life after 70%-80% vaccinations for the eligible population and made the point she wanted to see more equitable vaccinations across the community. Chant said she wanted to see vulnerable communities, which included low socioeconomic communities, vaccinated at higher rates.

There’s no “freedom day” planned for Australia. And the Doherty Institute modelling which forms the basis of Scott Morrison’s national plan also includes increased case numbers, hospitalisations and deaths (depending on the number of cases when opening) during the transition period. It’s all going to be a matter of what people are ready to accept.

In Victoria, Daniel Andrews has warned Melbourne is on the “bubble” of losing control of the Delta outbreak. Vaccinations opened for 16-29 year olds at 7am and the booking systems were immediately swamped. It’s not looking like the lockdown will lift as scheduled in a week, with Andrews still focussed on lowering transmission and case numbers first.

And we should learn more about Australia’s efforts in Afghanistan as the 31 August deadline for evacuations approaches. Peter Dutton confirmed Australia was coming to the end of its operation yesterday.

We’ll bring you all of that and anything else that happens as the day unfolds. You have Mike Bowers in the parliament, with Katharine Murphy, Sarah Martin, Paul Karp and Daniel Hurst in Canberra and Amy Remeikis on the blog. It’s at least a five-coffee day. Maybe needs some fudge too. Nothing counts this year, so why not?

Ready?

Updated

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