What we learned today, Friday 15 January
With that, we’ll be closing the blog for today. Here’s a recap of the day’s headlines:
- Police suspect a Melbourne woman killed her three children before taking her own life in the city’s outer north on Thursday. The bodies of a 42-year-old woman, a seven-year-old girl, a five-year-old girl and a three-year-old boy were found inside a Tullamarine house about 12.20pm. A 48-year-old man, who also lived at the Burgess Street house, assisted the police investigation and was released without charge on Thursday night, Victoria police confirmed in a statement.
- The Morrison government is appealing to China to rule out discriminating against Australian coal, with the resources minister, Keith Pitt, raising fears with Guardian Australia about the “human cost” of the standoff as seafarers are stuck aboard more than 70 ships waiting to unload the product.
- Health experts have cautiously endorsed the Victorian government’s decision to push ahead with hosting the Australian Open, saying the positive Covid-19 test recorded by former world number one Andy Murray before arriving at the tournament showed the protocols were working.
- For the second consecutive day Australia has recorded zero community transmission – on a day when more than 750,000 cases were recorded around the world.
- Australia’s Department of Agriculture is making inquiries after the American Pigeon Racing Union claimed that Joe, a pigeon that was thought to have travelled to Australia from the US, is actually a fraud – a revelation that may well save his life.
- Google has refused to answer questions on its secret trial of removing news sites from search results in Australia, with the treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, saying the company should focus on paying for news, not blocking it. Google blindsided news consumers and media outlets this week with a trial that removed Australian media outlets such as the ABC, Nine, the Guardian and others from its search results.
- South Australia will lift its coronavirus travel restrictions with greater Brisbane from Sunday. The change means people travelling to SA from Brisbane will no longer need to spend 14 days in quarantine. However, they will still be asked to be tested for coronavirus three times – on days one, five and 12.
- The world’s only known natural stand of Wollemi pines has become the first site in New South Wales to be given special protected status to try to ensure its survival for future generations.
Updated
Emergency warnings have been issued for separate bushfires threatening lives in Perth’s eastern foothills and the Wheatbelt region, AAP reports.
Firefighters are battling to contain an out-of-control blaze in High Wycombe, near the Perth Hills.
Residents in the suburb’s north-east are warned they are in danger and need to act immediately to survive.
An emergency alert has also been issued for parts of Daliak in the Shire of York, about 96km east of Perth, which has forced the closure of the Great Southern Highway.
Affected residents should leave now if there is a clear path or prepare to actively defend their home, the Department of Fire and Emergency Services said on Friday.
Those who remain should close all doors and windows and turn off evaporative air conditioners but keep water running through the system if possible.
Updated
Health experts have cautiously endorsed the Victorian government’s decision to push ahead with hosting the Australian Open, saying the positive Covid-19 test recorded by former world number one Andy Murray before arriving at the tournament showed the protocols were working.
As Victoria recorded no new cases of the virus for the ninth day in a row on Friday, the health minister, Martin Foley, confirmed that both Murray and American Madison Keys had returned positive coronavirus tests and would be unable to travel to Melbourne without first returning a negative test.
“Mr Murray and the other 1,240 people as part of the program, need to demonstrate that if they’re coming to Melbourne they have returned a negative test,” he said.
“Should Mr Murray arrive, and I have no indication that he will, he will be subject to those same rigorous arrangements as everyone else.”
Read more:
Updated
Australia’s Department of Agriculture is making inquiries after the American Pigeon Racing Union claimed that Joe, a pigeon that was thought to have travelled to Australia from the US, is actually a fraud – a revelation that may well save his life.
The public rallied to the defence of Joe after Australian agricultural authorities said he would be euthanised to prevent the risk of diseases from the US being transmitted to Australian native birds.
The racing pigeon was believed to have survived a 15,000km Pacific Ocean crossing from the United States to Australia after Melbourne local Kevin Celli-Bird discovered the exhausted bird in his backyard on Boxing Day. Some speculated the bird may have hitched a ride aboard a cargo ship, rather than flying the entire distance.
It was originally believed that the pigeon’s blue tag was evidence that he had disappeared from a race in the US state of Oregon on 29 October, but this assertion has now been thrown into doubt.
The American Racing Pigeon Union posted a statement on Facebook saying the tag on the bird was not a genuine American Union band.
Read more:
South Australia drops travel rules for Brisbane
South Australia will lift its coronavirus travel restrictions with greater Brisbane from Sunday, AAP reports.
The change means people travelling to SA from Brisbane will no longer need to spend 14 days in quarantine.
However, they will still be asked to be tested for coronavirus three times – on days one, five and 12.
SA’s chief health officer, Nicola Spurrier, says the easing of measures reflects the latest information from Queensland health authorities on the progress containing a cluster of cases there.
No changes are planned for people travelling from NSW.
Under present arrangements, people from regional NSW can enter SA but must have the three virus tests.
The hard border arrangements for the greater Sydney, Central Coast, Blue Mountains and Wollongong regions will remain.
People from those areas are not allowed to enter SA unless they are an essential worker or have an exemption.
SA reported one new Covid-19 case on Friday in a recently returned traveller from overseas.
The state has 10 active infections, all acquired overseas and in hotel quarantine.
Updated
Police suspect a Melbourne woman killed her three children before taking her own life in the city’s outer-north on Thursday.
The bodies of a 42-year-old woman, a seven-year-old girl, a five-year-old girl and a three-year-old boy were found inside a Tullamarine house about 12.20pm.
My colleague Nino Bucci with the full report:
Victoria police believe mother responsible for Tullamarine deaths
Police investigating the deaths of three children and their mother at a home in Melbourne’s Tullamarine on Thursday do not believe the family’s father was involved.
In a statement released shortly after 3pm on Friday, Victoria police said they believe the 42-year-old mother was responsible for all four deaths.
Police said:
Police located the bodies of a 42-year-old woman, a seven-year-old girl, a five-year-old girl and a three-year-old boy inside the address.
All were residents of that property.
A 48-year-old man, who also resided at the house, assisted police and last night was released without charge.
Detectives have also spoken to a large number of people, including the family, friends and neighbours of the deceased.
An extensive forensic examination of the scene has also been conducted.
Investigators do not believe the 48-year-old man was involved in the incident and police are not looking for anyone further in relation to the matter.
Homicide squad investigators have formed the preliminary view that the 42-year-old woman is responsible for all four deaths and on completion of their investigation, a report will be provided for consideration of the coroner.
• In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14.
For more on Thursday’s events:
Updated
🏏 Great to be at the Test seeing so many people enjoying themselves and everyone doing the right thing #AUSvIND #GabbaTest pic.twitter.com/qGZrqrAjdJ
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) January 15, 2021
You can follow day one of the fourth Test between Australia and India over on Guardian Australia’s liveblog:
Updated
Fears about 'human cost' of China coal standoff
The Morrison government is appealing to China to rule out discriminating against Australian coal, with the resources minister raising fears about the “human cost” of the standoff as seafarers are stuck aboard more than 70 ships waiting to unload the product.
In an interview with Guardian Australia, Keith Pitt said the cost of coal had increased as a result of the impasse but Canberra was “yet to hear anything through official channels” about any change in Beijing’s treatment of the Australian commodity.
Like other Australian ministers, Pitt has been unable to secure a call with his Chinese counterpart amid ongoing tensions in the relationship between the two countries, but he said he remained hopeful of dialogue: “My door’s always open.”
The comments came after the opposition said Australian exporters faced another grim year driven by tensions with China.
Labor raised fears of “a humanitarian crisis brewing off the coast of China” with about 1,500 seafarers believed to be aboard the 73 ships.
Beijing has told the owners of nearly 8m tonnes of Australian coal to find new buyers because the cargo will not be unloaded in China, according to the Australian newspaper, but China’s embassy in Canberra has yet to respond to Guardian Australia’s request for confirmation.
Pitt said there were about 70 ships “in what’s called the stack, waiting to unload” Australian coal. The resources minister said this coal had already been purchased and paid for by the Chinese buyers, but raised concern about the welfare of the seafarers.
“Clearly, there’s a human cost to these delays,” Pitt, a Queensland Nationals MP, said in a phone interview on Friday.
Read more:
Zero community transmission across Australia
For the second day in a row, there are no new locally-acquired Covid-19 cases in Australia in the most recent reporting day.
Advice from the Nat Incident Centre is there are likely 0 cases of community transmission in Aust today
— Greg Hunt (@GregHuntMP) January 15, 2021
There is 1 case under investigation in Qld, likely to be a historical case. Pls cont to test if any symptoms
Sadly there have been 750k+ cases & 15k lives lost globally today
Updated
The federal opposition leader, Anthony Albanese, and his health spokesman, Chris Bowen, are renewing their accusation the Morrison government is shifting responsibility for quarantining international arrivals onto states.
The criticisms come amid questions about how Covid-19 spread in a Brisbane hotel being used to quarantine international arrivals, and the Victorian government’s efforts to bring international students to the state and international tennis players to the Australian Open in Melbourne.
Albanese said:
The federal government wants you to think they’re not in charge of quarantine. They want to push responsibility onto the states. That’s not leadership.
The Federal Government wants you to think they're not in charge of quarantine. They want to push responsibility onto the states. That's not leadership.
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) January 15, 2021
Quarantine is a federal responsibility. It's right there, in our Constitution, in black and white. pic.twitter.com/cgeDRVtnmU
Bowen also tweeted:
As state premiers grapple with how to deal with contagious strains of the virus, the Morrison government is missing in action.
This week, a Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokeswoman told Guardian Australia there are 37,000 Australian citizens and permanent residents registered as being overseas and unable to return home.
The number of stranded is expected to increase after Queensland, New South Wales and Western Australia halved their quarantine intake for at least a month.
Email from @dfat that luckily I read. If you don’t log in to your account they “may” remove you from the list! #strandedAussies check your email and keep an eye on your registration. @removethecaps @KKeneally @SenatorWong pic.twitter.com/Yj0jUK14lW
— Kylie (@myLDNlife) January 12, 2021
Stranded Australians have accused Dfat of attempting to remove some of those registered from its tally of those stuck overseas.
Dfat has previously denied taking this measure in December. Guardian Australia contacted Dfat for comment.
Updated
Today we learnt that someone has purchased the domain https://t.co/E3snA8JKIH and redirected it to our site. We had no knowledge of, or involvement with, this, however, we welcome the off chance that Senator Hanson has changed her mind on refugee policy! 🤞🤞🤞
— Refugee Council of Australia (@OzRefugeeCounc) January 14, 2021
The federal agriculture minister, David Littleproud, has lashed the Victorian premier Dan Andrews’ reported plan to introduce a quota within its hotel quarantine capacity specifically to bring international students into Victoria.
Littleproud said the plan ignores chronic shortages of farm workers – a result of Australia’s international border closure – that has plagued the fresh produce industry during critical harvest periods.
He wants Andrews to create space in his quarantine system for some of the 25,000 pre-vetted Pacific seasonal workers.
Littleproud said:
In October last year, the Australian Fresh Produce Alliance presented the Andrews government with a quarantine plan developed by Aspen Medical however so far Dan Andrews has failed to respond to the plan or discuss any alternative options with industry.
Dan Andrews has already done a special deal for tennis players from Covid hotspots and now wants a special deal to bring in international students, but he is stubbornly refusing to help his own farmers.
Since we reopened the Pacific and Seasonal labour schemes in August last year, farmers in Western Australia, New South Wales, Tasmania, Queensland and the Northern Territory have safely recruited over 2,000 workers yet Victoria is yet to even develop a quarantine protocol.
If Dan Andrews doesn’t act soon, all Australians will feel the pain through massive crop losses and higher grocery prices.
You can read more about Australia’s current shortage of farm workers here:
Updated
Thanks for bringing us all the news this morning Matilda.
I’m Elias Visontay, and I’ll be taking you through the next part of the afternoon.
If you see anything you think I should be aware of, you can contact me via email at elias.visontay@theguardian.com or via Twitter @EliasVisontay.
This is officially too much excitement for me so I’m passing over to Elias Visontay who will keep you updated on all the news of today (pigeon or otherwise).
American Racing Pigeon Union says the bird 'Joe' is a fraud
I cannot believe that this is my third post in a row about a single pigeon, but here we are.
In a shocking twist, the American Racing Pigeon Union is claiming that Joe was never from the US and is in fact a fraud.
But if this is true it might mean that he has escaped death row after all.
BREAKING NEWS: Joe may not actually be from the US after all. I have pigeon whiplash! What is the truth! Does this mean Joe could be saved? pic.twitter.com/7Svh6qoMaP
— Matilda Boseley (@MatildaBoseley) January 15, 2021
Updated
In case you were worried that Joe the pigeon (named after Joe Biden) was without supporters, never fear.
Victorian Animal Justice party MP Andy Meddick wants the federal government to put the bird in quarantine rather than kill it.
Should the federal government allow Joe to live, I am happy to seek assurances that he is not a flight risk.
My message to the federal government is this: take Joe off death row.
Victoria’s health minister Martin Foley is also in the “save Joe” camp.
I would urge the commonwealth quarantine officials to show a little bit of compassion to Joe.
The minister was then immediately asked whether the state government was showing compassion to Victorians stranded in NSW because of border closures.
I’m pretty sure we’re not planning to euthanise the people from Victoria who are in New South Wales, so I will take great exception to that.
The agriculture department said the pigeon was not permitted to remain in the country because it could compromise Australia’s food security and wild bird populations.
Updated
The world’s only known natural stand of Wollemi pines has become the first site in New South Wales to be given special protected status to try to ensure its survival for future generations.
The environment minister, Matt Kean, will declare the so-called “dinosaur trees” an asset of intergenerational significance after heroic efforts by remote area firefighters in the Blue Mountains world heritage area saved the pines during the 2019-20 bushfire disaster.
The state parliament amended the National Parks and Wildlife Act last year to give the environment minister powers to make such a declaration for environmental or cultural assets whose preservation is important for future generations.
The minister chose the Wollemi pines first because only a few hundred are known to remain in the wild.
Fossil records show Wollemi pines existed up to 200 million years ago.
They were thought to be extinct until the site in the Blue Mountains, the precise location of which is kept secret, was discovered about 30 years ago.
You can read the full story below:
Will Joe the pigeon, who travelled from the US to a Melbourne backyard, be saved from death row? It’s the question that has plagued all of us today (much like the agriculture department says Joe’s dirty US viruses could plague our native bird populations).
But in a terrible blow, it seems that – unlike Craig Kelly and George Christensen – Joe doesn’t have acting prime minister Michael McCormack on his side.
When asked if the National leader would step in to save Joe from execution, he said he was “happy to look into it” but seemed doubtful that the bird would be spared.
I’m not aware of Joe’s plight or flight or future. I’m happy to look into it and get back to you. Good luck Joe.
But if Joe has come in a way that has not met our strict biosecurity measures then bad luck Joe. Either fly home or face the consequences.
Acting Prime Minister, Michael McCormack, on Joe the pigeon. @10NewsFirst pic.twitter.com/jcZjvmx4nx
— Chloe Bouras (@ChloeBouras) January 15, 2021
Updated
Police officers allegedly assaulted over masks
Two men in western Sydney have allegedly assaulted two police officers who requested they wear a mask while in a shopping centre.
The men were at the Wetherill Park shopping centre on Thursday night when they were approached by officers and told to wear a mask. Police allege the pair became aggressive, argued with the officers, and resisted arrest.
One officer sustained minor injuries.
The men, aged 51 and 39, were arrested and charged with assaulting a police officer, resisting arrest and failing to follow NSW public health orders.
Health minister Brad Hazzard was asked about the alleged assault at a press conference today.
If you don’t have a medical reason to not wear a mask, not wearing a mask is arrogant, selfish, and actually dopey. And so I hope the full force of the law is thrown at those people.
In a separate incident earlier in the week, a 25-year-old man allegedly assaulted a Windsor shopping centre security guard and stabbed a member of the public after an associate was asked to wear a mask. He remains before the courts.
Updated
It seems Australians have continued to show confidence in the economy by taking out a swathe of home loans during the final stages of 2020, building on the record high set in October, reports the AAP.
Monthly lending figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Friday showed a 5.6 per cent increase in November.
The value of new home loans for owner-occupiers rose by 5.5 per cent to $18.3 billion, to be more than 31 per cent higher than a year earlier.
The ABS said federal and state government incentives and ongoing low interest rates contributed to the growth.
The Australian competition watchdog is considering taking Google to court after the company finalised its acquisition of fitness tracking company Fitbit prior to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission finishing its public review of the acquisition.
Google announced overnight the merger had been completed, telling Fitbit customers it had agreed with regulators around the world to keep people’s health and fitness data - such as sleep patterns, heart rate, and exercise routes - separate from Google’s ad data. The company also said it would still allow third party providers to connect to Fitbit services.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission still has concerns about the acquisition both, and chair Rod Sims said the ACCC would now consider taking the matter to court.
Google’s decision to complete its acquisition of Fitbit before we completed our merger review means we are now conducting an enforcement investigation. As a result, and depending on the results of our investigation, we will consider whether to take legal action on this matter.
The court could potentially find the acquisition should not go ahead, but it is not clear what that would potentially mean for Google and Fitbit’s operations in Australia.
The US Department of Justice is also continuing its investigation of the acquisition.
Health minister Brad Hazzard has been asked about a story of a woman from the northern beaches who was allegedly asked to wait in the carpark at a medical centre over infection fears.
Hazzard said this was a mistake on the part of the staff:
It would appear that there was an error in terms of the health staff’s assessment ...
Nobody in New South Wales should be treated any differently when they go to a hospital. We have the appropriate protocols in place. If there were a likely Covid case... That person did not warrant being left in a carpark for any time at all and I think the staff there now understand it.
Updated
There has been a lot of chatter in the last few days about if the coronavirus (especially this new UK variant) can travel through air-conditioning systems.
Chant has been asked about this at the NSW press conference:
So clearly, there are certain circumstances where Covid can have an airborne component to its spread and that is where you have large numbers of people, and we are doing things to people to generate lots of aerosols and we often do that in health settings ...
So clearly there is an issue that air movement in a very, in unique circumstances, can lead to transmission events. I think that is an element. But I think it is getting ahead of ourselves in speculating about the attribution of how the transmission event happened in Queensland.
I’ve got the utmost confidence [in] Queensland Health, and we are briefed on the investigation.
Updated
Berejiklian has given a bit more details on the testing rates the state will need in order to ease restrictions:
Dr Chant has said we would like to see the number two in front or even higher. That has been the target but as high as possible. We don’t expect to have those really high numbers we had prior to Christmas but would like to see a two in front of that number.
So that means 20,000 tests per day or above.
Chant highlights several communities she particularly wants to come forward if at all symptomatic:
At the moment I’m particularly interested in the testing data around those areas where we have had those unlinked cases and, obviously, we have had an unlinked case and that patient that presented to Mount Druitt, so in those areas of south-western and western Sydney, [I’m] particularly interested in making sure there is no unrecognised chains of transmission.
Updated
Just back to that point about the possibility of moving hotel quarantine sites to the outback. Berejiklian has confirmed that NSW will not be considering it:
We know the virus spreads more readily in transporting people, when you have people travelling for long periods of time you are more likely to spread the virus than where the trips are shorter.
All you would be doing is moving the challenges to a different location and the challenges already there and staff always have to go home to their loved ones. So we believe what we need to do is make sure we have the tightest quarantine system we have, the New South Wales system has proven to be effective to date.
But as they have always said, you can’t guarantee that 100% of the time 100% of people, intentionally or unintentionally, are doing the right thing, but having said that, if there are opportunities for us to tighten things, to make things stricter and better, of course we will.
Updated
Berejiklian has been asked what restrictions could potentially be eased in NSW in the coming weeks.
I didn’t really want to specify the range of restrictions we’re looking at, but the ones given are just examples.
We want to provide certainty for the community, certainty for business. So we would much rather have a [big] change in restrictions rather than doing little in pieces.
We’re looking at a range of things. That will depend very much on two factors – firstly the case numbers, but also, obviously, the testing rates. It doesn’t mean you have to have zero every day for weeks on end.
But what it does mean is our health experts have confidence that there aren’t undetected chains of transmission still bubbling along in the community and that is what we are always worried about.
Updated
NSW records no locally acquired cases
A doughnut day for NSW. Hazzah!
The state only recorded two cases from returned travellers in hotel quarantine and no cases acquired in the community.
But chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant says this achievement is slightly tempered by low testing numbers, with only 16,070 people coming forward.
It is a plea to the community to please come out for testing regardless of how minimal those symptoms, don’t delay, get a test.
And I am urging every family to prompt their love ones to come forward for testing and not delay.
Updated
NSW won't relax restriction until more people get tested
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian is speaking now, she says the state won’t be able to relax restrictions unless testing numbers rise:
I do want to say to the community of New South Wales, in particular, to greater Sydney, that we are very much, in the next few days, considering what restrictions we can ease.
But that will depend on obviously having low case numbers and also having higher rates of testing. So we are really pleading with the community, please come forward and get tested if you have the mildest of symptoms.
Updated
Queensland leaders are laying down the law today about these rumoured breaches of quarantine procedures at the Grand Chancellor hotel.
Police commissioner Katarina Carroll says both the father and daughter who left the hotel to go to hospital were wearing PPE and transported by ambulance:
I can tell you, from extensive independent inquiries, the daughter was wearing full PPE at all times. She was transported by QAS, not a taxi or Uber, from the hospital back to the hotel and was then escorted by two police officers back to her room. Please, if you hear anything about that, just make sure that we do get the right story out there ...
Young has defended the decision not to inform the public that people who later tested positive to the highly contagious UK variant of Covid-19 had spent time at the Royal Brisbane hospital.
It is not unexpected that people leave the hotels to access healthcare. That has been going on for a long time. Of course it has. We have always required them to leave in an ambulance, wearing PPE, so they are treated as if they are positive. When they get to the hospital, the hospital treats them as if they’re positive ...
He was taken there because he had some health issues, which were probably early symptoms of his Covid, in retrospect. We didn’t get a positive result on him until the next day but it doesn’t matter because he went via ambulance to the hospital, was assessed there, was treated as if he was positive, was kept because he needed to for the symptoms that he had. His English is not great, so the daughter went with him. She was treated as if she was positive.
Updated
Mystery Cairns sewage test results explained
If you remember in the last few weeks Queensland authorities warned several times of postive sewage tests returning from north Cairns suggesting there was someone in the area with the virus.
They couldn’t find a source, but it seems the historical Covid-19 case discovered today might explain it.
Chief health officer Jeannette Young went into details.
A gentleman in his 40s who returned from the Congo in September and he was in hotel quarantine then, tested negative but he had to have a test done prior to returning to work, so an employment requirement, and he’s tested positive.
He’s totally well, asymptomatic, so we think that is most likely a persistent shedding. We know you can shed for up to nine months after you’re positive and it probably explains why we have continued to have all of those positive sewerage results in north Cairns.
If you remember we have had quite a few of those and we have not been able to explain them. He lives in north Cairns. That is the most likely explanation there.
Now we are going to do additional testing, just to confirm all of that but I am very confident that that will be a historical case and not infectious at the moment.
Palaszcuk has given an update of those who were re-quarantined and tested from the troublesome Grand Chancellor hotel.
In relation to the Grand Chancellor group, the 129 that were transferred, I have been advised that all have tested negative. That is good news. That was our high-risk group that we were looking at.
The 147 people who left since 30 December, the ones that were in Queensland, have all been tested and have tested negative. Once again, good news. Of the 226 staff, all have been contacted and some of them have been tested. We are still working through that. Out of the 502 in total, the Queenslanders have been contacted and the vast majority are negative.
We are very happy with that.
Updated
One historical case recorded in Queensland.
The Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is speaking now.
I am happy to report there have been three new cases. We’re not worried about them. Two were acquired overseas and are in hotel quarantine and none of them are from the guests at the Grand Chancellor. There is one case that has been reported in Cairns but that is an historical case.
As more than a thousand tennis players and support staff arrive on 15 chartered flights in Melbourne, many have questions why so many have been allowed into the state from high contagious counties while many Victorians are trapped above the border in NSW.
When deputy premier James Merlino when asked about this perceived double standard at his press conference today he said he makes “no apology for keeping Victoria safe”, and stated that risk from the tennis players was different.
Martin Foley asked if he can understand anger/frustration of Vics who can’t come home while watching tennis players jet in: “I understand and have great sympathy for the situation a number of Victorians have found themselves in” “but I make no apology for keeping Victoria safe”.
— Heidi Murphy (@heidimur) January 14, 2021
Summary
The Refugee Council of Australia has responded to the news overnight that the domain paulinehanson.com.au has been purchased and redirected to their website’s home page.
Today we learnt that someone has purchased the domain https://t.co/E3snA8JKIH and redirected it to our site. We had no knowledge of, or involvement with, this, however, we welcome the off chance that Senator Hanson has changed her mind on refugee policy! 🤞🤞🤞
— Refugee Council of Australia (@OzRefugeeCounc) January 14, 2021
As funny as the prank it is it doesn’t seem that this was the One Nation senator’s primary political website, and it’s unclear if it was even active prior to the domain being purchased by the tricksters.
Updated
Madison Keys contracts Covid-19, drops out of Australian Open
Oooft! Another big name tennis player has been forced to drop out of the Australian Open after contracting Covid-19.
— Madison Keys (@Madison_Keys) January 14, 2021
Bad news for tennis star Andy Murray who has just contracted Covid-19 ahead of flying to Melbourne for the Australian Open.
He is currently isolating in his London apartment.
Min Foley says Andy Murray will have to test negative before he can get on a plane, and will need to quarantine for 2 wks here as part of Oz Open and Vic rules.
— Heidi Murphy (@heidimur) January 14, 2021
Qld coronavirus update now expected 10.30AEDT .. 930 Qld time
— Joe O'Brien (@JoeABCNews) January 14, 2021
So the Victorian press conference seems to be less about Covid-19 and more about a new high school being constructed in the rapidly growing Melbourne suburb of Fisherman’s Bend.
The verticle campus school will open in 2022 starting with Year 7 and working their way up to VCE over the next 6 years.
Deputy premier and education miniter James Merlino is speaking now:
Before the Andrews government came to office, vertical schools were a figment of people’s imagination, but we were making it a reality to cater for the significant enrollment growth population growth in inner-city Melbourne.
The live stream for the Victorian press conference has finally begun so hopefully that will be starting soon (only 28 minutes late, but who’s counting).
Controversial celebrity chef Pete Evans seems to be up to something, posting the logo for the Great Australia Party on his Instagram and teasing a big announcement next week.
The former Western Australian One Nation senator Rod Culleton, who created the political party, has been associated with Evans previously appearing on his podcast last year.
Haha omg Pete Evans just teased an announcement and posted the logo of the Great Australia Party, the outfit run by former senator Rod Culleton & is essentially a sovereign citizen group. pic.twitter.com/RGZoikjiYv
— CAMERONWILSON (@cameronwilson) January 14, 2021
Just a heads up we have a couple of press conferences coming up.
Victorian health minister Martin Foley and the deputy premier James Merlino are meant to speak at 9.30am (but as far as I can tell they haven’t started yet).
Queensland’s press conference is set for 10am AEDT (9am Queensland time), and usually we hear from NSW around 11 am.
Updated
Greenhouse gas emissions from Chevron’s Gorgon LNG facility have increased because the company’s carbon capture system is not working properly, meaning more carbon dioxide is being vented into the atmosphere.
Environment groups have blasted the Western Australian government for not imposing penalties on the energy company after documents revealed sand was clogging the injection system designed to bury up to 4m tonnes of carbon dioxide a year under Barrow Island.
The Conservation Council of WA said Chevron should be forced to shut the plant down until it can demonstrate its carbon capture and storage (CCS) was working.
The council’s director, Piers Verstegen, said the project had been “a disaster from the beginning” and should concern the Morrison government which has championed gas developments and the deployment of CCS technology.
You can read the full story below:
The Australian defence force will dump a trouble-prone fleet of armed helicopters in the coming years, replacing them with more a reliable American aircraft.
The Tiger armed reconnaissance helicopters have been an issue for the army for years, plagued by design flaws and facing issues with reliability.
Defence minister Linda Reynolds says she approved the purchase of 29 Apache Guardians to replace the choppers from 2025.
The Apache Guardian is the most lethal, most survivable and lowest risk option, meeting all of Defence’s capability, through-life support, security, and certification requirements.
By pursuing a proven and low-risk system offered by the Apache, Defence will avoid the ongoing cost and schedule risk typically associated with developmental platforms.
Updated
The mother of a child with special needs has won a two-year battle against Services Australia after the agency demanded she pay back more than $27,000 in carer’s payments.
In a judgment published this week, the top tier of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal found mistakes by Centrelink had put Cassandra Clark under “additional strain” and “impacted on her mental health”.
In November 2018, Clark was issued a $27,000 welfare debt over alleged overpayments between September 2013 and October 2018.
After Clark challenged the decision, the AAT found in January 2019 that the overpayment was the result of Services Australia’s own mistakes, known as “sole administrative error”.
Services Australia had set her rate of carer payment without taking into account details of Clark’s partner’s income as a sole trader, which she had provided to the agency.
You can read the full story below:
Here is a little bit more information on the situation in Queensland via the AAP:
Queensland authorities have refuted reports of a possible Covid-19 protocol breach after a woman infected with the highly infectious UK strain left quarantine to accompany her father to hospital.
According to the Courier-Mail, the alleged incident involved a woman staying in Brisbane’s Grand Chancellor hotel after arriving from Lebanon with her father on New Year’s Day.
The pair had been quarantining at the facility, where the worrying new strain has been detected in six people, forcing the transfer of 129 guests on Wednesday.
But Queensland Health has issued a statement denying any breach occurred.
The suggestion the person caught a ride-share back to the hotel is untrue. Full and proper Covid-19 PPE protocols were followed while these guests were in the hospital.
Updated
Police in southern NSW are appealing to the community after a toddler was found walking the streets of Albury at 4am.
No doubt a bit of a shock for the child’s parents to wake up to.
Police are searching for the family of a toddler found wandering the streets of West #Albury alone at around 4am this morning. The boy is in the care of officers who are hoping to reunite him with his parents.
— Mikaela Ortolan (@mikaelaortolann) January 14, 2021
Do you know this boy? Toddler found alone in West Albury at 4.30am https://t.co/pF55mw2gZj via @bordermail pic.twitter.com/xRYTdG3uYW
— VoiceOfRealAustralia (@ACMVora) January 14, 2021
Nine days without locally acquired cases in Victoria
And just when I was starting to think that we would never know Victoria’s number today.
But never fear he DHHS has pulled through and good news, it’s double doughnuts!
This marks nine days in a row with no locally acquired cases in the state. Good stuff indeed.
Yesterday there were 0 new locally acquired cases reported and 2 new cases in hotel quarantine. Thanks to all who were tested – 15,010 results were received. #EveryTestHelps #StaySafeStayOpen More later: https://t.co/2vKbgKHFvv #COVID19VicData pic.twitter.com/OvBAPRljtB
— VicGovDHHS (@VicGovDHHS) January 14, 2021
Small earthquake in south-west Victoria
Social media posts describe houses shaking in the regional city of Ararat after a 3.6 magnitude earthquake hit the town.
BREAKING: A 3.6 magnitude earthquake has hit the Stawell and Ararat area. The epicentre has been located near Glenorchy.
— Jack Ward (@JACKTWARD_) January 14, 2021
Updated
Just a bit more from the Hazzard interview.
The NSW health minister was asked about the controversy surrounding the AstraZeneca vaccine:
The major concern that I have is that the anti-vaxxers are out there trying to convince people not to use the vaccine.
The vaccines, there’s a range of them, and they’re still going through the processes, particularly with our federal independent body, the Therapeutic Goods Administration.
What I can say to your viewers, any vaccine that’s approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration will be to the benefit of this country. And I’m absolutely certain that as as soon as those vaccines become available, we should be taking them.
The numbers for NSW have not been released yet and although Hazzard couldn’t be tempted to announce them ahead of the daily press conference he left us with this somewhat cryptic but encouraging message.
I will finish this interview with a smile ... Feeling relaxed.
Updated
Premier Daniel Andrews says he hopes to scale back its NSW red zones soon, allowing more people to travel home quicker. Under the state’s current permit system, thousands of Victorians are trapped in NSW because they are in areas designated as red zones and can only return with a special exemption.
Andrews said he hopes to make an announcement soon about reducing the red zones.
I just want to assure all Victorians, and particularly those that want to come home but can’t because it’s not safe right now, you will be in this circumstance for not a moment longer than the public health experts tell me you have to be.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklians has been quick state at any media event that technically nowhere in NSW has enough cases to be considered a “hotspot” according to the definition established at national cabinet.
Reports to child protection services dropped during the coronavirus pandemic, a report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare found.
The report analyses child protection data from March to September 2020 (the coronavirus period) and compares it to 2019 figures. In 2019, one in 33 children in Australia were subject to some degree of child protection services.
AIHW said child protection notifications dropped nationwide in April, at the start of the first nationwide lockdown, and began to increase in May and June as the lockdown was lifted. They dropped again in Victoria in July. This makes sense, as one of the main sources of child protection notifications are schools, and the dips coincide with periods of remote learning. So it doesn’t necessarily mean a drop in child abuse or neglect, but it was “potentially limiting opportunities for child abuse and neglect to be detected and reported”.
However, the report said that the pandemic worsened other stressors that often correlated with increased child abuse or neglect:
The Covid-19 pandemic may have made some more vulnerable. While this does not necessarily mean a child will be harmed, these factors may have some effect on the likelihood of child abuse and neglect occurring
Those factors include financial stress (one in five Australians reported being unemployed or underemployed in April), increased alcohol and drug use (of Australians who drink alcohol, one in five said their drinking increased in 2020); parental mental health (Lifeline experienced record calls in April and August 2020); and increased family and domestic violence.
An online survey of 15,000 women found that from February to May last year, four per cent of respondents experienced physical or sexual violence from a co-habitating partner, and in 65% of cases it was the first incidence of violence or a worsening of violence.
Google searches for family and domestic violence health services also increased 75% during the pandemic, contacts to 1800RESPECT grew by 32%, and calls to Mensline grew by 26%.
Rates at which notifications to child protection were substantiated, and rates of out of home care, remained stable on the same upwards trajectory they have been on for the past few years.
It is worth remembering that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are overrepresented in child protection figures and are removed from their families and placed in out of home care at 9.7 times the rate of non-Indigenous tragedy, often for flimsy reasons.
Updated
Pauline Hanson's website replaced with link to Refugee Council website
In some funny news this morning, it seems anti-immigration politician Pauline Hanson’s website has been allowed to expire and has been replaced with a page that redirects users to the website of the Refugee Council of Australia.
Just a PSA that One Nation Senator Pauline Hanson's domain name expired and has been... repurposed. https://t.co/uRjMN7c53b
— Isobel Roe (@isobelroe) January 14, 2021
Although from my very minimal research in the last five minutes it seems like Hanson actually primarily uses the domain name senatorhanson.com.au, so perhaps not as groundbreaking as the infamous “Scotty Doesn’t Know” incident.
Updated
Aboriginal flags should be flown at half-mast on 26 January in the same way, and for the same reason, that Australian flags are flown at half-mast on Anzac Day – in remembrance of those who were lost.
The idea is being pushed by Victorian senator Lidia Thorpe who says it would mark a formal adoption of 26 January as a day of mourning.
The proposal harkens back to the first marking of 26 January as a day of mourning by the Aborigines Progressive Association in Sydney in 1938. It builds on another Anzac Day style tradition which Thorpe began in Melbourne in 2019, a dawn service remembering first peoples killed in massacres in Victoria.
The Djabwurrung, Gunnai, and Gunditjamara woman said:
For First Nations people across this country, January is a hard month. The colonial flag-waving, the heightened racism, the collective amnesia and the celebration of violent occupation. After more than 200 years of colonisation, too many Australians still think 26 January is a day of celebration.
As with Anzac Day, we ask that all Australians join us in acknowledging 26 January as a day of respectful reflection and mourning for those who died fighting for country.
A day of mourning is not a new idea, but it is an important one.
On this day, the Aboriginal flag can be flown at half-mast, as befits a day of grief and remembrance. I’m inviting communities, councils and organisations across Australia to do just that. Those attending Invasion Day dawn services should also consider wearing black, to symbolise mourning.
On 26 January, we’re asking all Australians to turn up for us. To stand with us – to turn this day of mourning into a day of healing so we can move forward together as a nation.”
The Melbourne dawn service will be held at the Kings Domain Resting Place from 5.30am on 26 January.
The City of Melbourne said it was supporting the event, which is being run by Naidoc Victoria, but the Facebook page lists the organiser as the Pay The Rent grassroots collective.
The City of Melbourne said its support goes to making it Covid-safe, “including assistance with contact tracing, portable bathrooms and hand sanitiser”.
A Covid-Safe checklist for the dawn service and community breakfast has been provided to the Victorian government as per their requirements.
Details for the Invasion Day rally were also released late yesterday and can be found here.
Updated
NSW health minister Brad Hazzard has just spoken to ABC News Breakfast.
Yesterday the Queensland premier announced the state would consider quarantining people in regional mining communities to try and reduce the risk of the highly contagious UK variant of Covid-19 entering the community. But NSW has come out to say they wouldn’t consider doing the same.
Hazzard was asked about this, and true to form did not miss the opportunity to point out how much of the heavy lifting NSW has done when it comes to returned travellers.
Look, we’re not rejecting what Queensland has to do for Queensland. That’s their decision. I would never tell WA what to do.
But I would say this, that New South Wales has taken by far the majority of people coming back in through our hotel quarantine system, 43% off all the people we actually take come from other states. They do their quarantine and we return them to their home states. We have 3,500 staff. So it would be very challenging to find a regional area that could cope with that.
Secondly, our public health officials, and our chief health officer, Dr Chant, indicated it would create further risks for us, particularly in transporting people on buses. Secondly from the point of view that some of these people can become very sick very quickly. We have major tertiary hospitals close by.
There’s a whole host of factors we think it won’t work for such a big system.
Updated
Good morning all, Matilda Boseley here, bringing you all of the news on Friday morning.
If you see anything in your area or online that you think I should be aware of, make sure you send it through to me on Twitter @MatildaBoseley or by email on matilda.boseley@theguardian.com.
It’s been a big week and we are ending it with what’s shaping up to be a big news day.
No breach at Queensland quarantine
Yesterday the Courier Mail reported that a father and daughter infected with the highly contagious UK variant of Covid-19 attended the Royal Brisbane hospital before being diagnosed and then the woman was left unattended at the hospital and travelled back to the hotel in either a taxi or ride-share.
But Queensland Health has since released a statement stating that “early reporting has misrepresented this situation” and “that it’s important people understand the facts.”
Queensland Health says the woman was wearing full PPE and was transported to and from the hospital by Queensland Ambulance Service.
All protocols were followed in this case ... The suggestion the person caught a ride-share back to the hotel is untrue. Full and proper Covid-19 PPE protocols were followed while these guests were in the hospital.
We have successfully managed the quarantine of over 100,000 people in Queensland, and have not had a single case because of the movement of these people.
Andy Murray tests positive
In tennis news, thousands of player and staff are landing in Melbourne and South Australia over the coming days to quarantine ahead of the Melbourne Open. But one of the biggest names in the sport won’t be flying just yet.
The five-time Australian Open finalist and former world No 1 Andy Murray has tested positive to Covid-19 and isolating at home near London. Murray skipped the Delray Beach tournament in the US to reduce his chances of contracting the virus.
He is isolating at his home in London but still hopes to travel to Australia if he recovers in time.
Melbourne deaths
And now to Melbourne, where Tullamarine residents in the city’s north have been shaken by the discovery of four bodies in a home on Burgess Street.
Murder-suicide is among several lines of inquiry being followed by police after discovering the bodies of a mother and her three young children inside a Melbourne home.
A 48-year-old man, believed to be the father and husband of the four found dead at the Tullamarine home, was expected to be formally interviewed by homicide detectives on Thursday night.
He provided an initial version of events after police arrived at the Burgess Street property and discovered the bodies of a 42-year-old woman, two girls – aged seven and five – and a three-year-old boy.
It is understood the uninjured man made the call to emergency services.
Acting deputy commissioner Robert Hill acknowledged the man was a person of interest, but warned against people jumping to conclusions.
We have a long way to go before we can actually understand and appreciate what occurred.
Updated
