What we learned, Tuesday 19 January
That’s where I’m going to leave you for today. Thanks as always for reading along.
Here’s what we learned today:
- There were zero cases of community transmission of Covid-19 reported in Australia on Tuesday.
- Three of four cases recorded in Victorian hotel quarantine today were linked to the Australian Open. The Victorian chief health officer, Brett Sutton, later revealed that two of those were players.
- Australia’s chief medical officer, Paul Kelly, said that even when the coronavirus vaccine is rolled out “international borders will be one of the last things to change”. He was echoing previous comments made by the federal health secretary, Brendan Murphy. The prime minister, though, was not as declarative. Scott Morrison said the government would “see how things play out over the course of the year”.
- Morrison also confirmed he had spoken to the outgoing US vice-president, Mike Pence, and secretary of state, Mike Pompeo. But Morrison said he had “no plans” to speak to the president, Donald Trump, before he left the White House.
- Cyclone Kimi was downgraded in Queensland, but warnings about driving through floodwaters remain, and NSW lifesavers urge caution on beaches for the next two days.
- The West Australian premier, Mark McGowan, hit out at his counterparts in NSW, telling them to “stop carping” after criticism of his tough border control measures during the pandemic.
Updated
Fragments of Covid-19 have been detected in sewage at three sites in Queensland, the state’s health department has said.
Queensland’s chief health officer, Dr Jeannette Young, said in a statement released just now that viral fragments of the virus had been detected at wastewater treatment plants after samples were collected last week. The positive results were detected at three locations:
- Merrimac (Gold Coast)
- Cairns North
- Cannonvale (Airlie Beach area)
Young said:
While this does not mean we have new cases of Covid-19 in these communities, we are treating these detections seriously.
A positive sewage result means that someone who has been infected was shedding the virus. Infected people can shed viral fragments and that shedding can happen for several weeks after the person is no longer infectious.
If there is a case we are not yet aware of, it is critical we detect it through our testing mechanisms as quickly as possible to contain any potential spread.
Updated
Two players among new Australian Open infections
The Victorian chief health officer, Brett Sutton, has confirmed that two of the three new cases linked to the Australian Open are players.
Victoria reported four new cases on Tuesday – all in hotel quarantine. Three of those were Australian Open participants.
Sutton said the three Australian Open cases were a female in her 20s and two males in their 30s. Two of them are players, Sutton said.
Sutton also confirmed two cases linked to the grand slam had been “reclassified due to evidence of previous infection”.
“The reclassified cases are one male in their 30s and one male in their 50s. Further investigations are ongoing to determine any other cases of prior infection which can be safely reclassified,” Sutton said in a statement.
“While two cases of viral shedding were confirmed yesterday, this does not change broader assessment of the player group in hotel quarantine. As yet, none of the three affected flights have been cleared as a result of the two reclassified cases.”
Updated
Tennis Australia boss Craig Tiley has denied that world number one Novak Djokovic issued a list of demands over the hotel quarantine rules for Australian Open players, saying they were merely “suggestions”.
Speaking to Nine on Tuesday, Tiley confirmed he had hosted a phone hookup with players on Monday night and insisted the “vast majority are happy to be here”.
“In the case of Novak, he wrote a note, these weren’t demands, they were suggestions, but he is understanding what two weeks of lockdown means,” Tiley told Nine.
“I think the reports we’re seeing and things we are seeing doesn’t represent the entire playing group. For the most part, they have been really good.”
Updated
My colleague Melissa Davey reports that Australian Open tennis players under the strictest quarantine conditions may have their restrictions eased after the Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, said the positive Covid-19 test results that sparked the hard lockdown may be reclassified as cases of viral shedding.
Eagle-eyed reader Caroline has pointed out that both the health minister, Greg Hunt, and chief medical officer, Paul Kelly, have perhaps erred in saying that Australia has recorded zero cases of Covid-19 in four of the past five days.
NSW reported one new case on Saturday, and six new cases on Sunday. The one case reported on Saturday would have been recorded on Friday, but that still puts it within the past five days.
Updated
WA premier takes aim at NSW criticism of border closures
The Western Australian premier, Mark McGowan, has taken a shot at the New South Wales government for criticising his hardline stance on borders, saying the “constant criticism and carping is getting tiresome”.
They need to leave it alone [and] let us act on the best interests of the health of West Australians. A few months ago, maybe six weeks ago, the Melbourne outbreak came about because a Covid-positive person travelled from Sydney to Melbourne. That’s why it happened. So, borders are important.
Updated
And that’s all from the chief medical officer.
Kelly says Australia is “definitely open” to more international travel bubbles, and says he would “welcome New Zealanders to look at our epidemiological situation and have something more reciprocal than what we have got”.
Kelly says Australia will publish “frequent reports” about any adverse vaccine effects once they begin to be rolled out.
Australia's chief medical officer says international travel unlikely in 2021
Kelly seems to back Brendan Murphy’s comment yesterday that international borders are unlikely to reopen in 2021.
On travel, we have to be very careful and we have said this on many occasions, I have said it, the first vaccinations, as they roll out in a few weeks in Australia, will not change everything back to normal.
There will be a process through 2021 of returning to some sort of normal ... unfortunately, international borders changes will be one of the last things to change rather than the first.
Updated
Kelly says the Pfizer vaccine “will most likely be the first to get approval” in Australia.
Kelly makes the point that health officials “do not know how long” the new vaccines work for “because they are so new”.
“So whether we need to do a booster at some point remains to be seen,” he says.
Updated
Kelly also says the Therapeutic Goods Administration is in “direct conversation” with its counterparts in Norway and other parts of Europe after Norwegian authorities assessed 13 deaths of frail, elderly people as being potentially associated with Covid-19 vaccination.
We know that Norway is looking into those issues very directly and very specifically for each of those cases. At the moment they do point out, and this is publicly available information as well, that in Norway in a normal week 400 people do pass away in their aged care facilities.
So this has to be put in the context of what has happened after people have received vaccines, that needs to be looked at very carefully, and the TGA will take that information into account in their assessment in the coming days and weeks.
Kelly says:
This is exactly the reason why, because of the good situation we are in in Australia on the epidemiology of the disease, we can wait, and had waited to do a full assessment, to get all the information that is coming from other countries that are rolling out the Pfizer vaccine, the AstraZeneca vaccine, the Moderna vaccine and others.
Updated
No Covid hotspots in Australia, says CMO
The chief medical officer, Paul Kelly, is giving an update from Canberra.
He notes Australia has recorded zero cases of community transmission in four of the past five days* and compares it with the rest of the world.
“In that same period of time in the last five days there have been a 300,000 cases and 50,000 deaths internationally,” he says.
It’s also noteworthy that Kelly says “there is no hotspots in Australia, at least from the commonwealth perspective”.
“Indeed, by any way of looking at hotspots there just are not any,” he says.
That will be interesting news to states such as Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia, which are still classifying parts of Sydney as so-called Covid-19 travel red zones.
*Kelly’s statement appears to be incorrect: NSW recorded six new cases of community transmission on Sunday and one on Saturday
Updated
The former world number one and two-time Australian Open winner Victoria Azarenka has released this (very good, in my humble opinion) statement from hotel quarantine in Melbourne.
The Belarusian asks her tennis playing colleagues for “cooperation, understanding and empathy” with the Melbourne community, and in turn asks the media “to please have consciousness on the impact and influence you bring to this situation and to the community”.
📝 💭 pic.twitter.com/BWTqubGMR3
— victoria azarenka (@vika7) January 19, 2021
Updated
The Australian government has added its voice to calls for Russian authorities to release opposition leader Alexei Navalny, after he was arrested this week on his return to Russia.
Overnight a judge in Moscow ordered that Navalny be held in custody for 30 days until a parole review that could imprison him for years. Navalny returned to Russia five months after barely surviving a suspected FSB poisoning attempt on his life.
Australia’s foreign affairs minister, Marise Payne, posted on Twitter that Australia was concerned by the arrest and stood with its international partners “in calling on Russian authorities to release Mr Navalny immediately”.
Australia is concerned by the arrest of Alexei @Navalny upon his return to Russia. We stand with partners in calling on Russian authorities to release Mr Navalny immediately.
— Marise Payne (@MarisePayne) January 19, 2021
Updated
[Sunglasses emoji].
One the way back from Bunginderry Station to Quilpie, I caught up with NZ PM Jacinda Ardern - swapping notes on #COVID19 management and vaccines. pic.twitter.com/0yfWR51aNz
— Scott Morrison (@ScottMorrisonMP) January 19, 2021
In news that I’m sure will be greeted calmly and normally, the independent federal Warringah MP, Zali Steggall, has called for local councils to hold a minute’s silence during Australia Day / Invasion Day celebrations on 26 January “in recognition of the Indigenous Australians’ lives that have been lost since that day”.
Steggall said she had written to the Australian Local Government Association and the three mayors of the councils covering her electorate – North Sydney, Mosman and the Northern Beaches – asking them to consider including the one minute’s silence as part of their acknowledgement of country at the ceremony.
There should be a formal recognition of the loss, hurt and sorrow felt by our Indigenous community on 26 January.
Councils provide an important leadership role in commemorating this day by hosting numerous formal and informal ceremonies and activities for their communities.
Updated
In sad news for Wagga, the town’s local paper, the Daily Advertiser, is reporting that its annual Mardis Gras parade has been cancelled for the second year in a row.
The event’s organiser, Holly Conroy, told the Advertiser the logistics of the event had proven too difficult due to Covid-19 restrictions.
It really is disappointing, I tried my hardest to make the event happen, but there’s just so much uncertainty around the restrictions at the moment and all the new strains.
Even with the parade cancelled and having just a party in the gardens, there would only be 3,000 people maximum, including staff, volunteers and patrons, and then people would have to stay in groups on 500 so it would be so difficult to manage logistically.
Updated
Two sheds have been destroyed in a fire that is burning out of control at Graytown, about 140km north of Melbourne.
The Country Fire Authority were called to the paddock fire just before midday today, and it has already burned through 170 hectares. Twenty-two local fire crews have responded, as well as water-bombing aircraft and additional firefighters.
A spokesperson for the CFA said crews have managed to save a number of houses but a machinery shed and a hay shed have been lost. There is a watch-and-act warning in place for Graytown and Moormbool West. The fire has crossed the Mt Camel Graytown Road and is moving in a northerly direction.
Updated
And that’s all from the prime minister.
The agriculture minister, David Littleproud, who was with Morrison at the press conference, had previously criticised the Victorian state government for holding the Australian Open tournament despite, in his eyes, having failed to help farmers attract seasonal workers.
Morrison doesn’t join that criticism when he’s asked about it. He says we should be able to “manage a tennis open and pick fruit”.
It doesn’t have to be a choice between the two. We’re a clever country. And we can manage many things at once. And, you know, I think we can manage a tennis open and pick fruit. We should be able to do that.
Updated
Back on the US, Morrison has asked whether he intends to speak to outgoing president Donald Trump. He does not.
No. I have no plans to do that.
Updated
The prime minister is then asked about the Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk’s, proposal to move hotel quarantine for returned travellers to regional areas.
Morrison says he’s open to it, and notes that those arrangements have been put in place in the Northern Territory in order to charter 20 additional flights to Australia.
“I’m very open to these sorts of ideas and I look forward to seeing the proposal and we will go from there,” he said.
Updated
Morrison confirmed what we reported earlier: that he spoke to the US vice-president, Mike Pence, and the secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, on a call yesterday. He’s asked whether Australia’s relationship with China was discussed on the call, but didn’t respond.
Instead, he said it was “an opportunity to thank both Secretary Pompeo and Vice-President Pence for the very constructive way they have supported that relationship [between Australia and the US]”.
I welcome the fact that despite all the terrible things we’ve seen happen [in the US], there has been that positive engagement between them and those who are coming in after them. There is a handover. One of the things that will be handed over from the current administration to the new one this week is the stewardship of that very important relationship between Australia and the United States.
As prime minister, I have the privilege to steward that from Australia’s perspective and the incoming president, President-elect Joe Biden, will join me in that stewardship. It’s incredibly important for our region, it’s incredibly important for Australia’s interests. And I say it’s very important for the United States’ interests as well.
Updated
Morrison didn’t bite when asked whether the government would consider regional support packages to help towns like those in North Queensland who have been particularly harmed by the tourism slowdown.
He said:
I’m not going to pre-empt or fly kites on these things. I don’t think that’s fair to people. We have been always upfront with people about what we’re going to do, when we’re going to do it, and how we’re going to do it. And I think that has given the nation a lot of confidence. And so it’s not for me to speculate.
Updated
PM: decision on international travel 'over the course of the year'
The prime minister, Scott Morrison, spoke to the media from Queensland a little while ago alongside the deputy prime minister, Michael McCormack.
On Brendan Murphy’s comments yesterday that he didn’t believe international travel would resume this year, Morrison said decisions about opening borders would be made on health advice.
“At the moment, that is the secretary of health’s assessment. [We will] see how things play out over the course of the year,” he said.
McCormack added the government wanted “to see our international flights resume as soon as possible”.
“We also want to make sure that we continue to have the health outcomes here in Australia that we’ve had,” he said.
McCormack said he’d spoken to the chief executive of Qantas, Alan Joyce, yesterday and that the air carrier boss was “obviously concerned” about international travel.
Of course, they are keen to see international flights resume as soon as possible. As are we. As are we. But we have the vaccine coming out, rolling out, from next month. We will assess these situations as they occur from week by week.
Updated
The federal health minister, Greg Hunt, on today’s case numbers:
A 4th day with zero community cases nationwide out of the last 5. At the same time the world has agonisingly had approximately 3m new cases of Covid &50,000 lives have been lost. Although the challenge is great for so many here-the contrast gives us perspective on our progress.
— Greg Hunt (@GregHuntMP) January 19, 2021
Note: Greg Hunt’s statement appears to be incorrect: NSW recorded six new cases of community transmission on Sunday and one on Saturday
Updated
A day after the head of the federal health department, Brendan Murphy, warned that it was unlikely that international travel would resume in 2021, the Australian tourism industry is sounding the alarm about the impact of border closures on the local economies that rely on overseas tourists.
Earlier today Margy Osmond, the chief executive of the Tourism and Transport Forum, told the ABC many of Australia’s major tourist attractions rely on international visitors for about 70% of their revenue. She said the industry needed those visitors in order to “be viable”. She also said the closures of state borders had a huge impact on local economies.
In terms of domestic tourism – don’t discount what has happened with the closure, the snap closures of state borders. You go down to the south coast of New South Wales, places like Merimbula and Eden, who, for the second year in a row – bushfires first and now Victorian border closures – have lost just about all of their revenue for the most sensitive, seasonal, most important time of the year over Christmas as people had to go back into Victoria.
She called for an extension of jobkeeper payments “at the very least”.
We’re very keen to talk to government about that. But I do think that there is a larger issue to do with the strategic survival of the industry. You step ... outside the capital cities and you will be seeing real pain in the industry and in the centres of the CBDs, which largely died. Go to far north Queensland and it’s a tragedy what’s happening there in terms of their industry. So we are going to need a much more strategic approach.
Updated
Good afternoon. For those watching the weather in Queensland, the Bureau of Meteorology has updated its advice to say ex-Tropical Cyclone Kimi has weakened to a tropical low off north Queensland.
But emergency services are warning people the storm is still packing very strong winds and could bring flooding.
I’m off, dear readers. Here is Michael McGowan.
Updated
This is just in from my colleague Christopher Knaus about Facebook arguing it does not do any business in Australia:
A recap of the news today so far
- No new cases of Covid-19 detected locally in New South Wales, Victoria or Queensland;
- Three of four cases recorded in Victorian hotel quarantine today are linked to the Australian Open;
- Cyclone Kimi downgraded in Queensland, but warnings about driving through floodwaters remain, and NSW lifesavers urge caution on beaches for the next two days; and
- Prime minister Scott Morrison has spoken to outgoing US vice-president Mike Pence, but has no plans to speak to president Donald Trump
Updated
Victorian Liberal MP Dr Katie Allen has urged people not to seek health advice on Facebook, amid ongoing controversy over her NSW colleague Craig Kelly’s posts on Covid-19 treatments, vaccines and face masks.
In an interview on Sky News, Allen said science was a contest of ideas but Australians should rely on official government websites. The former doctor of paediatrics at the Royal Children’s hospital in Melbourne added: “In my view, people shouldn’t be looking to Facebook for their health advice.”
Updated
Here is another tennis player complaining about their treatment in Melbourne ahead of next month’s Australian Open.
This time, it’s world number 13 Roberto Bautista Agut. He is fine with Tennis Australia, not so fine with Victorian health authorities.
Exclusive: world number 13 @BautistaAgut rips the authorities in Australia ahead of AUSTRALIAN OPEN. "It's like a jail here" pic.twitter.com/PWwQL7ngES
— Sport5 (@sport5il) January 18, 2021
We have an update to a story from the weekend about an internal Department of Home Affairs investigation into alleged “cash for visas” claims.
The department finalised its investigation within 15 days of interviewing the complainant and receiving a recording of a phone conversation in which a detainee said he was considering paying $50,000 to secure his release.
The law enforcement watchdog, the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity (Aclei), received a complaint in May regarding the Home Affairs investigation from Nauroze Anees, a former detainee who first reported his corruption concerns in 2019.
Aclei confirmed earlier today that Jaala Hinchcliffe, the integrity commissioner, was awaiting a response from Home Affairs regarding its investigation into the matter.
“ACLEI considered the points raised by Mr Anees in his correspondence on 13 May 2020 which related to the investigation being undertaken by the Department of Home Affairs. ACLEI has continued to oversee the ongoing investigation conducted by the Department of Home Affairs in relation to these issues,” qn Aclei spokesperson told Guardian Australia.
“The integrity commissioner is awaiting information from the Department of Home Affairs in relation to the outcome of these additional enquiries.”
Updated
The NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian, spoke earlier about testing rates, saying numbers had to stay high if restrictions were to ease. Here’s some of her comments:
But really for us to have confidence to ease restrictions, we need to have significant opportunity to see those testing rates go up, so we have confidence that we haven’t missed any cases of strains of the virus undetected in the community.
So I do urge anybody with the mildest of symptoms, no matter where you live, to come forward and get tested so we can ensure with confidence that when we are looking at easing of restrictions, not only do we look at the low to no case numbers, but we also look at the testing rates and that’s really important.
Updated
NSW lifesavers are urging caution at beaches during the next two days, with hazardous weather forecast.
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a hazardous surf warning and a marine wind warning for the NSW coast from the Eden coast to the Coffs coast for today and tomorrow.
NSW lifesavers said in a statement that conditions would be hazardous for rock fishing, boating, surfing and swimming.
“A low-pressure system is making its way north up the NSW coastline and is producing high winds and large surf. It’s creating hazardous conditions for swimmers, surfers, rock fishers and boaters,” the Surf Life Saving NSW chief executive, Steven Pearce, said.
“We are urging members of the public not to engage in coastal activities that might put them at risk as surf conditions intensify. Please only swim at a patrolled location and if beaches are closed and the flags are down, don’t take the risk.”
Updated
Australia has approved at least 14 permits for the export of military goods to Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates over the last year and a half, despite their involvement in the Yemen conflict.
Updated
Tourism operators are calling for more assistance, as it becomes clear that widespread Covid-19 vaccination will not be the solution to reopening international borders this year.
This is part of a report just in from AAP:
Tourism operators faced with indefinite international border restrictions are appealing for more support from the federal government.
Australians are being warned that international travel is unlikely to resume until next year, even as coronavirus vaccines are rolled out.
The Tourism and Transport Forum chief executive, Margy Osmond, says the sector cannot survive on domestic travel alone, particularly if state borders keep closing.
“There is no way that domestic tourism can fill the gap that will be left by inbound international travel,” she told the ABC on Tuesday.
“Essentially your average Chinese visitor to Australia probably spends $8,500 while they’re here. Your average Aussie who heads off for a holiday is probably spending about $1,500.
“Make no mistake, while international borders remain closed, we have no hope of recovery.”
Osmond is calling for nationally consistent protocols around state border restrictions, after snap shutdowns caused chaos over the Christmas period.
She is also urging the federal government to provide more payroll support once the jobkeeper wage subsidy scheme ends in March.
“The government is going to have to think very seriously how it supports this industry for the next couple of years, not just the next couple of months, if it wants to have a tourism industry when we actually reopen our international borders,” Osmond said.
The treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, has consistently stated the jobkeeper scheme will not be extended beyond the end of March.
But there are growing expectations he could announce new, targeted support packages for the hardest-hit sectors such as tourism, hospitality and major events.
Updated
A British teenager who was linked to an Australian terror plot has been released from prison.
We are talking a lot about Covid-19 vaccines ahead of Australia moving ahead with its vaccination program next month, so I think it is worth reflecting on the global perspective (outside of those Norway deaths, which we have heard a lot about this week):
The ACT is removing travel restrictions on people from Sydney’s northern beaches from 3pm today. It says 75 people in quarantine will be released.
There are 10 other local government areas still on the restrictions list, mostly in the inner west related to the Berala cluster. It is unlikely there will be changes to these this week, but an update will be released on Friday ahead of the Australia Day long weekend.
NSW health again urged people to get tested, but the numbers recorded yesterday were better than those for Sunday (10,621 tests compared with the 8,773).
Updated
No new Covid community transmission cases in NSW
NSW Health have confirmed there were no new locally acquired cases of Covid-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.
There were two cases recorded in returned travellers.
Updated
Just back on the Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, and the Australian Open: he made mention that some of the positive tests recorded earlier this week have been reclassified as “shedding” of the virus.
This could mean that if the flights those people were on are now declared safe, some players could be released from isolation, allowing them to train outside and have contact with a coach/trainer. We’re expecting more detail on these reclassified cases later.
Updated
Scott Morrison has begun his tour of Queensland today, and will visit Bunginderry station in Quilpie.
From Longreach, Morrison spoke to the outgoing US vice-president, Mike Pence – they thanked each other for Australia and the US’s partnership particularly in the Indo-Pacific, and agreed there was no more important time for a strong alliance.
Guardian Australia understands Morrison has not spoken to Donald Trump since before the election and has no plans to.
Updated
We are also back on tennis, unsurprisingly. It is a rally, if you will, between reporters asking about the criticisms of players and Andrews standing at the net just firmly knocking them back (in much the same way as yesterday, and the day before that): they knew what the rules were, the public health team set the rules, most players are happy with it, etc.
Andrews says that some of the positive cases recorded in the past few days in hotel quarantine have been reclassified as “shedding”, rather than positive cases. He said more details would be released by the health department.
Andrews says that of the 10 local government areas in NSW that remain red zones, the restrictions will change at different times, depending on the public health advice.
He said it was also hoped that the parts of NSW and Queensland that remain orange zones could be changed to green in coming weeks.
Updated
Three of four Covid cases in Victorian hotel quarantine linked to Australian Open
Victoria’s premier, Daniel Andrews, has confirmed that three of four Covid-19 cases found in hotel quarantine in the past 24 hours were linked to the Australian Open.
It now means that seven of eight cases recorded in the past two days are linked to the tournament.
On Monday, all four cases recorded in quarantine were linked to the grand slam, including a player.
There were no new community transmitted cases in the past 24 hours, the 13th day of zero cases in a row.
Updated
The Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, has also been speaking in Melbourne. He announced that a walkway to the MCG will be renamed Daniher’s Way in honour of Neale Daniher, who has motor neurone disease and has raised millions of dollars to research the condition and support those who contract it.
Updated
Queensland’s chief health officer, Dr Jeannette Young, says that mask restrictions will ease from Friday, and they will no longer be mandatory other than in airports and on flights.
Part of the reason for this is that Young is comfortable people will wear masks again at short notice if the situation changes.
Young says she would like people to wear masks at shopping centres or on public transport if they can’t socially distance, but it won’t be mandatory.
I would like to see people wearing masks a bit more when they can’t socially distance.
It’s not going to be mandatory, and the reason for that is that I think the response to asking people to wear masks was absolutely fantastic.
So I’m not worried in the future that if I were to come out and ask people to wear masks, that people would do it. So therefore, I don’t think that we need an ongoing requirement.
Updated
There were 42 people turned around at the border in the past 24 hours by Queensland police who were attempting to enter the state from declared hot spots
No new community cases in Queensland, restrictions expected to be lifted on Friday
There have been no new cases of community acquired Covid-19 in Queensland, but three more detected in hotel quarantine.
Two of the cases relate to international flight crew.
Restrictions are set to be lifted on Friday morning, the premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, says.
Updated
There have been 15 “swift water rescues” in the past 24 hours, says Greg Leach, the Queensland fire and emergency services commissioner.
Updated
We have the Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, giving a press conference now. She is speaking mostly about cyclones/weather, rather than Covid-19 at this point. There is a risk of more cyclones next week, she says.
Good news that Cyclone Kimi has been downgraded, but people should not drive on flooded roads.
“If it’s flooded, forget it,” Palaszczuk says.
Updated
The Northern Territory government is confirming that mask restrictions announced by national cabinet for airports and flights will come into effect there tomorrow.
Masks must be worn when inside the Darwin, Alice Springs, Yulara, Gove and Groote Eylandt airports and when on the airfield, according to a statement from the NT chief health officer, Dr Hugh Heggie.
Updated
The New Zealand government will make pre-departure testing for Covid-19 mandatory for international arrivals except for those travellers coming from Australia, Antarctica and most Pacific Islands.
The Covid-19 response minister, Chris Hipkins, said that while all travellers would still have to complete mandatory 14-day quarantine, with tests on the third and 12th day, pre-departure testing would help keep New Zealand community-transmission free.
“As we signalled last week, given the high rates of infection in many countries, most global air routes are of critical concern for the foreseeable future,” Hipkins said in a statement.
“New Zealand is currently in a good position with no community cases, but we continue to take action with very specific steps to further strengthen our borders in response to what we’re seeing overseas.
“New Zealand already has some of the most stringent border protection measures in the world. Today’s amendments further strengthen that position in line with the government’s overall elimination strategy, and more measures can be added as necessary.”
He said that after four days of flights arriving with travellers from the US and UK, the government was “seeing extremely high levels of compliance”.
From 8 February, all passengers arriving in New Zealand except those from exempted countries without evidence of a negative approved test or medical certificate can be fined as much as $1,000.
Updated
The United States says Australia should ditch its plan to make Google and Facebook pay for news, saying it could be contrary to the free-trade agreement. This from Calla Wahlquist:
Updated
Cyclone Kimi is just a tropical low now, but the bureau of meteorology and emergency services is warning she could still cause some trouble in far north Queensland.
Cyclone Kimi is tracking south. The bureau is warning of strong winds and very heavy rain. https://t.co/urb2OsuV5g #CycloneKimi pic.twitter.com/RNqYFgl4bh
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) January 18, 2021
This is just in from AAP:
Cyclone Kimi has weakened to a tropical low off north Queensland, but emergency services are warning people the storm is still packing very strong winds and could bring flooding.
Coastal residents have been spared the worst after the cyclone weakened from a category two system to a storm, sitting 135km north of Townsville, on Tuesday morning.
The Bureau of Meteorology says the system still has wind gusts of up to 95km/h and will bring heavy downpours to the region between Innisfail and Bowen on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Queensland Fire and Emergency Services Commissioner John Bolger says ex-tropical cyclone Kimi still poses a risk and people should remain vigilant.
“Ex-TC Kimmy is now a tropical low sitting just off Townsville, so while our coastal crossing is highly unlikely near, we’re still well within a severe weather event - very strong winds, and a lot of heavy rain - so that flash flooding and general flooding warning remains in place,” he told Seven’s Sunrise program.
“So we ask people to remain vigilant and can I just please stress to people that if it’s flooded, forget it.”
“We still have emergency response crews in place, south from Cairns and north from Townsville, so the emergency still exists, while we’re not dealing with a tropical cyclone we’re still in a very dangerous weather pattern.”
Mr Bolger said swift water rescue crews, helicopters and flood boats were standing by to deal with any flood rescues.
A flood watch has been issued for waterways including the Mulgrave, Russell, Johnstone , Tully, Murray, Herbert, Black, Haughton, Ross and Bohle rivers.
“I know we’re Queenslanders, I know we go through cyclones every single year but please do not be complacent,” Queensland Police Minister Mark Ryan said on Monday.
“So if you’re in those areas you need to prepare... if it’s flooded forget it, have a plan about where you’ll be travelling, bear in mind where those river catchments are, be aware that during this event you could have flash flooding.”
Updated
Labor frontbencher Andrew Leigh has been on Sydney radio, keeping up the pressure on companies that have done well out of the jobkeeper subsidy to hand back the loot.
In Leigh’s sights is retail billionaire Solomon Lew’s Premier Investments, which owns a bunch of retailers including fancy stationery chain Smiggle and clothes retailers including Just Jeans and Peter Alexander.
Toyota has handed back $18m and the Super Retail Group, which owns Rebel Sports, Supercheap Auto and camping supplies chain BCF, says it will also return some $1.7m it didn’t need.
Leigh said that when parliament comes back in March, “we’ll be pushing strongly for some of the other firms to step up and do the sort of thing that Super Retail Group and Toyota have done”.
“I’m thinking particularly of Premier Investments, which operates Smiggle and Dotti, Portmans and Just Jeans,” he said.
“They’re a firm that’s gotten many millions of dollars of jobkeeper. They’ve paid their CEO a bonus, they paid their billionaire shareholder a good dividend, and yet they’re refusing to pay money back to the taxpayer – despite enjoying a very big increase in profits.”
The CEO to whom Leigh refers, Mark McInnes, yesterday told Lew and the rest of the Premier board he’s quitting “for personal reasons”. McInnes has a 12-month notice period to serve out and Lew said it was “business as usual” in the meantime.
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The agriculture minister, David Littleproud, says changes in society mean it is difficult to convince young people to work on farms, but the impact of the pandemic has made the challenge far greater.
“When I grew up, my mum wouldn’t let me stay at home on school holidays, I had to go and pick rockmelons and watermelons and I graduated to being a cotton chipper,” Littleproud told ABC radio this morning, according to AAP.
“Now they graduate to going to work in cafes and being baristas on the school and university holidays, and we’ve got to understand society has changed, but that doesn’t help farmers.
“They don’t have the luxury to sit around and wait. When their crop is ripe, they need to get it from the paddock to your plate.”
AAP reports that Littleproud is piling pressure on state governments to allow foreign workers in to harvest crops.
The federal government has an incentive program that pays $6,000 relocation bonuses to local workers who take up picking jobs.
But only about 350 people have signed up to the scheme.
Littleproud concedes many Australians simply don’t want to work on farms.
“We’ve got to be honest, even before Covid we were struggling, farmers were struggling to try and incentivise workers to go and come out from Australia to do this.
“We’ve also incentivised young Australians, saying it’s an accelerated pathway to austudy and abstudy if you go and work in agriculture.”
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We are expecting the Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, to hold his press conference at 10am today, so expect a little more tennis news then.
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Here is a full story about the Djokovic-Kyrgios brouhaha:
And in case you missed it, Australia’s Nick Kyrgios has a bit to say about world number one Novak Djokovic and his hotel quarantine demands. Oh and he doesn’t miss Vanessa Sierra, the girlfriend of compatriot Bernard Tomic, either:
Djokovic is a tool. I don’t mind Bernie but his Mrs obviously has no perspective, ridiculous scenes 🤦🏽♂️ https://t.co/MMgeriH2GJ
— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) January 18, 2021
Scott Morrison has held a phone hook-up with world leaders including the prime minister of Norway to discuss coronavirus and the vaccine rollout.
Norway’s officials have sought to allay concerns about the Pfizer vaccine, explaining there is no evidence of a direct link between the jab and the unfortunate deaths of the elderly patients who took it and had underlying conditions.
In a Facebook post, Morrison said:
Tonight I had another productive discussion with leaders from Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, Israel and Norway on our fight against #COVID19.
It was timely to review the challenges we face in the months ahead, especially around the vaccine rollout and the emergence of new strains.
Particularly good to hear from Prime Minister Erna Solberg of Norway on their vaccine rollout.These meetings continue to be incredibly important to share experiences and swap notes on the challenges of responding to this terrible virus and how we can work together to beat it and prepare for the next pandemic. Thank you Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz for hosting what was another invaluable meeting.
The Australian singer Missy Higgins has spoken about her dad being one of the first people in the country to contract Covid-19, and the political backlash that followed.
Her father, Melbourne GP Dr Chris Higgins, was called “irresponsible” by then Victorian health minister, Jenny Mikakos, and it was wrongly reported that he had worked while having “flu-like symptoms”.
Speaking in the Herald-Sun, it is clear the ordeal has left Missy Higgins with a scar (sorry, I’ll see myself out). She said her dad was thrown under the bus, adding:
He was one of the first people in Victoria to have it, it was wrongly reported that he was irresponsible going to work while he had it. He had no symptoms, he had no idea he had it, his cold had gone so he didn’t get tested. He only really got symptoms in the second week, so he got tested.
He didn’t infect anyone, he was lucky, it was a mild case, which is probably why he didn’t pass it on to anyone. It was right at the beginning when everyone was super-paranoid, he wore the brunt of that in a way.
But he got back to work and there was a pile of letters from people telling him he had their full support and how amazing he is as a doctor. The one good thing that came out of it was he told me he didn’t realise he had so many friends after seeing all the support that came in.
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The New York Times’ tennis writer reckons the tone of Australian Open quarantine coverage is worth noting:
The tone of the coverage down under... #AusOpenpic.twitter.com/vDrHKaGw2K
— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) January 18, 2021
Australia’s richest man, Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest, contracted Covid-19 while travelling the world looking for renewable energy projects, according to this quite wild story from the Australian Financial Review (paywalled).
Apparently he had to spend a few days in a Swiss hospital receiving “high-level” care.
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Bill Shorten, the shadow government services minister, reckons jobkeeper should be extended for travel agents, after comments from the head of Australia’s health department that international borders would remain “substantially” closed this year, despite Covid-19 vaccination rates.
Shorten also said on Channel Nine that state and federal governments should use local travel agents rather than “overseas-based platforms” to book travel.
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Also you really must check out the Childhood in Custody series, which includes wonderful work from Laura Murphy-Oates and Lorena Allam. Here’s the latest piece in that series:
I can recommend to you this piece by my colleague Ben Butler on the banking royal commission, complete with snazzy graphics.
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Victoria reports zero locally acquired cases for 13th day straight
And that’s a baker’s dozen of donuts in Victoria: zero locally acquired cases for 13 days straight. But it will be interesting to see the breakdown of the four hotel quarantine cases – yesterday all of them were linked to the Australian Open.
Yesterday there were 0 new locally acquired cases reported and 4 new cases in hotel quarantine. Thanks to all who were tested – 15,574 results were received.
— VicGovDHHS (@VicGovDHHS) January 18, 2021
More information will be provided later: https://t.co/lIUrl0ZEco#EveryTestHelps #StaySafeStayOpen #COVID19VicData pic.twitter.com/GT9nwNqkag
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Just to catch you up on a little more Covid-19 news that is hanging about, my colleague Paul Karp has filed a story on the settings in which it may be compulsory to have the vaccine.
The NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian, said yesterday that her government may give businesses the power to prevent entry to those who weren’t vaccinated.
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Good morning
Victorians stranded in Sydney can look forward to returning home after border restrictions were eased for most parts of Sydney, the Blue Mountains and Wollongong. Travel into Victoria from those local government areas was allowed from 6pm last night, providing you had a permit. But the tourism sector is calling for help, after it became clear that even if Covid-19 vaccination became widespread, international borders would remain “substantially” closed this year.
It has been almost two years since Kenneth Hayne, the banking royal commissioner, handed his final report to the treasurer, yet more than half of the recommendations from the inquiry have been abandoned or delayed. Analysis by Guardian Australia of all 76 of Hayne’s recommendations shows that 44 recommendations have yet to be implemented and five have been abandoned, despite the treasurer’s claims that more than 70% of the recommendations had been implemented. Ben Butler’s analysis says Josh Frydenberg has linked the dumping of key recommendations to stimulating the economy as consumer advocates fear lessons from royal commission have been lost.
The Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, is standing firm on quarantine for Australian Open players. “There’s no special treatment here, because the virus doesn’t treat you specially. So neither do we,” Andrews told the players. Andrews isn’t the only one standing firm against tennis players seeking special treatment: Nick Kyrgios called Novak Djokovic “a tool” on Twitter after the world number one reportedly wrote to Australian Open organisers asking them to ease quarantine restrictions for players.
Meanwhile, health authorities in Norway say there’s no evidence of a direct link between the recent string of deaths among elderly people inoculated against Covid-19 and the vaccine they received.
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