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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Calla Wahlquist and Matilda Boseley (earlier)

New national hotel quarantine worker testing rules announced – as it happened

Prof Nicola Spurrier, South Australia’s chief health officer, on Wednesday
Prof Nicola Spurrier, South Australia’s chief health officer, on Wednesday. Photograph: Kelly Barnes/Getty Images

We will leave our live coverage there for the day. This is where things stand:

You can continue to follow our rolling global coverage of the coronavirus crisis here. Take care, if you’re in South Australia choose your place of six-day habitation wisely and know that we’re all backing you. We’ll see you in the morning.

Updated

Horse racing is also cancelled in South Australia for the next six days.

You may think this was a given with this level of restrictions, but the racing industry has kept going through other lockdowns so it’s good to clarify.

Nick Redin, the chief executive of Thoroughbred Racing South Australia (TRSA), said:

We are able to confirm the following directives as they apply to the thoroughbred racing industry in South Australia for the next six days, which includes the cessation of all horse racing and racing activities.

In particular: race meetings will NOT be going ahead for the next six days, including all race days scheduled at metropolitan, provincial and country tracks including Naracoorte (20/11), Morphettville (21/11) and Clare (22/11).

All trials and jump outs, including club and approval, are cancelled for the next six days.

TRSA are working closely with the government to allow training to continue to ensure there are no ongoing equine welfare issues.

At this point in time track work at all South Australian racing clubs is cancelled until such time as we receive advice from the government as to whether they will allow training to continue or otherwise.

We are hopeful to have an outcome from the government following on from our submission later today.

Updated

South Australians appear to have clear priorities.

WA Aboriginal heritage laws will not be introduced to parliament before 2021 poll

Western Australia’s long-awaited Aboriginal heritage reforms will not be put before parliament until after the state election in March next year, Aboriginal affairs minister Ben Wyatt has said.

Wyatt is set to retire from politics at the next election, meaning he will not be involved in the passage of the reform. He began campaigning for the outdated laws to be reformed while in opposition, but opposed the changes proposed by the former Liberal government. The Liberal government’s proposed bill was also put off until after the 2017 state election, and then spiked when Labor won.

He said the new draft Aboriginal cultural heritage bill was the result of three years of “extensive” community consultation, including more than 100 workshops attended by more than 1,400 people; 150 stakeholder meetings; and more than 380 submissions. The draft will be finalised and put before the next parliament.

He described it as “co-designed law-making by Aboriginal people, land users and the broader community” and said it aligned with the native title system.

The National Native Title Council has flagged concerns with basing a heritage system off the native title model, saying the native title act is flawed and relies on a system with a “lack of equal bargaining power” between traditional owners and mining companies, which is “entrenched by a legal framework that renders traditional owners reliant on the benevolence of industry standards and practice”.

Wyatt said:

There has been widespread recognition for almost three decades that the 1972 Aboriginal Heritage Act is not in keeping with modern values.

The first attempt at reform was undertaken by the Lawrence government in 1992 but failed due to a lack of consensus. The same fate has befallen many similar attempts by subsequent governments.

On this occasion, I am confident that we have a path forward to introduce historic reform that reflect modern values.

I have been enormously pleased with the constructive approach taken by Aboriginal people and the resources industry through all consultation phases.

I am confident that the effort undertaken to reach broad consensus on these reforms will allow the best possible chance for a bill to be supported by the 41st parliament.

While I will not be a member of that parliament, I will continue to follow with interest this important reform.

The Aboriginal flag
Ben Wyatt says Western Australia’s draft Aboriginal cultural heritage bill is ‘co-designed law-making by Aboriginal people, land users and the broader community’. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Updated

The president of the Australian Funeral Directors Association has criticised the South Australian government for placing a six-day ban on funerals, saying it is “a step entirely too far”.

Funerals are banned during the six-day pause announced by SA premier Steven Marshall today, which will begin at midnight tonight.

AFDA president Andrew Pinder said:

We cannot comprehend why the South Australian Government has made such a drastic and never before experienced total ban on funerals. We are not unsympathetic to the present Covid-19 outbreak in the state and the Government’s responsibility to its people, but denying even limited, socially distant funerals is a step entirely too far.

We are calling on the South Australian Government to show compassion to its people and follow the examples set in other states, including Victoria, and implement safe and small funerals for families to respectfully pay their respects.

Pinder said cancelling funerals at the last minute could create logistical problems.

Storage space for bodies is not unlimited and if funerals are banned for more than six days plans for emergency storage will need to be implemented. Similarly, if coffin manufacturing is not allowed to keep pace with the number of deaths there will be further delays in funerals, not to mention the obvious health and general hygiene consequences.

Insurers have to pay out businesses who shut their doors due to coronavirus lockdown, court finds

Insurance companies have lost a crucial test case on whether they have to pay businesses that shut their doors due to the coronavirus pandemic under business interruption policies.

The NSW court of appeal says they do, and has thrown out arguments from insurers that coronavirus is excluded from policies.

It’s a decision with potentially huge ramifications – the size of the potential claims affected is unknown, but is estimated to run into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Some in the industry fear it could lead some insurers to pack up and leave Australia.

The Insurance Council, which bankrolled the cases, is considering an appeal.

Updated

Meanwhile, a huge chunk of Darwin and surrounds is experiencing a blackout, with the temperature expected to climb to 35C.

The affected suburbs include Anula, Fannie Bay, Marrara, Millner, Nightcliff, Parap, and Stuart Park in Darwin; and Durack, Gunn, and Rosebery in Palmerston. Full list of outages here.

It turns out some federal Liberal MPs are unhappy with South Australia’s response to the outbreak.

Backbencher Tony Pasin MP has told Sky News the six-day pause/circuit-breaker/hard lockdown, chose your preferred term, is not “the nuanced response that we need”.

Pasin said:

Obviously, the outbreak is of concern, but I woke up this morning fairly confident in the view we were pursuing a suppression strategy. Unfortunately, it seems to have morphed into an elimination strategy.

I’ve got constituents … who are 5,000km away from this outbreak and now they’ll be subject to exactly the same quarantine arrangements as people living in Adelaide. I don’t think that’s the nuanced response that we need if we’re going to learn to live with this disease.

Updated

Tasmania to South Australians: 'don't come'

South Australian travellers who were put back into quarantine in Tasmania on Tuesday after the Parafield outbreak was uncovered have been told they will have to stay in quarantine for a full 14 days, despite Tasmanian premier Peter Gutwein earlier suggesting they may have to be quarantined for only 24 hours.

About 1,200 people from SA arrived in Tasmania after 7 November and are now in quarantine.

According to AAP, Gutwein told reporters in Hobart:

The South Australian premier has asked South Australians to stay home and to keep safe.

My message to South Australians thinking of travelling to the state is: don’t come.

Anyone in Tasmania who was at a pizza bar in Adelaide where a worker tested positive to Covid-19, or the Aquadome swimming pool in Adelaide, has been asked to contact Tasmanian public health officials.

The state’s public health director, Mark Veitch, said it was unlikely anyone currently in Tasmania had been at any of those high-risk venues.

Gutwein said his government was speaking to Cricket Tasmania about whether the SA outbreak would impact the island’s ability to host a Big Bash League hub beginning early December.

Updated

The Adelaide Festival Centre is the latest to announce that all coming performances and functions are cancelled, effective until 25 November. Anyone who has bought tickets will be notified via SMS and will receive a refund in full; patrons are being asked to remain patient during this process.

Feast festival’s Picnic in the Park — the closing event of the annual LGBTIQ+ queer arts festival — has also been cancelled. The picnic, scheduled for Sunday 29 November, was hoping to attract more than 3,500 people “in a vibrant celebration of inclusivity and diversity”, said CEO Helen Sheldon. The Covid resurgence was “devastating news”.

Earlier today, the State Theatre Company of South Australia announced it has cancelled all coming performances of Ripcord until 28 November. The show was set to open tonight. Executive director Julian Hobba said:

We feel for the artists involved in Ripcord who were gearing up to open a funny, heartfelt production tonight, and for our audience, for whom the show would have been a great treat at the end of a difficult year.

We remain hopeful to resume performances in the week commencing 30 November, but will have more information as we respond to further government updates over coming days.

All ticket holders for cancelled performances of Ripcord will be contacted as soon as possible.

Adelaide festival, meanwhile, was due to announce its program for 2021 on Thursday; this announcement has been postponed indefinitely.

The Adelaide Festival Centre has cancelled all performances until 25 November.
The Adelaide Festival Centre has cancelled all performances until 25 November. Photograph: Lemaire Stephane/hemis.fr/Getty Images

Updated

Back in Victoria, the Department of Health and Human Services says that although the state has recorded no new cases for the 19th day in a row, it has received a notification of a repeat positive swab in a person previously diagnosed with Covid-19.

This test result is considered a case of persistent shedding and not a new infection.

Additional investigations and the re-testing of samples are underway. The case is asymptomatic and is in hospital with an unrelated condition. The case is in isolation out of an abundance of caution.

The expert review panel will meet today to further examine this case, who was originally diagnosed with Covid-19 in early October and was cleared of the virus in late October.

Updated

If you would like to balance out the sense of sensible collegiality brought by the SA opposition leader, all the premiers and the federal government supporting South Australia’s lockdown measures, never fear – Cory Bernardi is here.

Updated

One important part of that SA police statement, which I should highlight, is that bottle shops will remain open.

A tale of two oppositions.

This is what SA opposition leader Peter Malinauskas said in response to the six-day hard lockdown:

I understand that people around South Australia are right now concerned about what is happening in our state, and wondering how we got into this position. But South Australians should be under no misapprehension that, here in our home, we’re going to take on this challenge the South Australian way.

As other parts of the country have gone through trying times with Covid — now it’s our turn.

Doing this the South Australian way means we’re going to look after each other as much as we look after ourselves. We’re going to fight for each other, not against each other.

Which means, as far as I’m concerned, unlike in Victoria, as opposition leader I’m here to support the government, not undermine it.

That starts with having complete faith in our public health officials. We’re going to back in their judgement, and never doubt their motives. We’re going to comply with their requests, not because it’s easy, but because it’s right. We’re going to remain calm, steadfast and resolute in tackling this challenge in a way that only South Australians can.

This is going to be a tough period — none of us have confronted anything like this before. But all of us in South Australia have an obligation to show the nation that we can tackle this challenge with grit and kindness in the same measure.

Peter Malinauskas
Peter Malinauskas: ‘We’re going to fight for each other, not against each other.’ Photograph: Kelly Barnes/AAP

Updated

Police in South Australia have issued a press release about the restrictions that will apply from midnight tonight. It does not contain any more information than was already announced today. They said the full directions would be published later this evening.

At this stage, the restrictions do not list providing care as a legitimate reason to leave your home. That was one of the four reasons to leave your home in the national lockdown in March, and the Victorian second wave lockdown.

The police release says:

People will only be able to leave the house for the following reasons:

  • To go to work as an emergency services worker or to worker providing essential services;
  • For agricultural work;
  • To receive medical care including seeking Covid-19 testing;
  • To obtain medical supplies;
  • One person from the household once a day to attend supermarkets to obtain essential supplies;
  • Organised end-of-life visits;
  • In an emergency situation.

***NOTE YOU CAN NOT LEAVE YOUR HOUSE TO EXERCISE.

And for the many who I have seen asking this question: while the release does not specifically mention walking dogs, it would follow that “you cannot leave your house to exercise” includes “even if your dog is climbing the walls”.

If we get any clarity on that, I will let you know.

Updated

South Australian Liberal senator Simon Birmingham has backed the South Australian government’s decision to implement a six-day pause.

Asked by ABC24 host Patricia Karvelas why Morrison government ministers had been supportive of South Australia’s decision to implement much stricter lockdown rules — harsher than those ever introduced in Victoria — and yet critical of Victoria, Birmingham said:

It is always about horses for courses and ideally, the test, trace, isolate description is the model. Obviously, health authorities here have drawn the conclusion that with the pace of movement, the number of different contact points that those identified, they have put thousands in isolation, there is a short, sharp policy in slowdown that’s important.

I hope it is short and sharp and I hope the method succeeds and indeed that what we see in South Australia, that is different from Melbourne and Victoria’s experience, and that the early action also pays early dividends in terms of us being able to resume a high degree of normality relatively quickly, and hopefully just in the space of a few weeks.

Of course, the horse in SA is Liberal while Victoria has a Labor government.

Birmingham said he hoped the lockdown in SA would be short-lived, but if the six-day pause doesn’t work and it needed a longer lockdown, like that seen in Victoria, the federal government would support that just as it supported the Victorian lockdown.

(The federal government did support Victoria in terms of resources, supplies and personnel, while publicly criticising the state government.)

Birmingham said:

If South Australia deteriorate significantly, then, just as we supported the full quarantining of Victoria and deployed the Australian Defence Force to help New South Wales and South Australia with those border operations, the same thing would have to occur in relation to South Australia.

But I think here, the action is being taken earlier, more decisively, in a manner to try to avoid getting to that stage.

Updated

Victorian premier Daniel Andrews has visited his mum while in the state’s north-east.

Updated

A man who allegedly hit a police horse with a pole at an anti-lockdown rally in Melbourne last month has been charged with animal cruelty.

More from AAP:

Footage of the attack during the at-times violent “Freedom day” rally at the Shrine of Remembrance on 23 October was widely condemned.

In the vision, a demonstrator — wearing a black head covering and denim jacket — repeatedly tries to hit advancing police horses in the head with his flag pole and connects on his final strike.

While doing so, the man or another member from the crowd yells:

You’re racist. Your horse is racist. Your horse is racist. Get away from me, you racist horse.

Police released a still image of the culprit in the aftermath of the attack and confirmed they’d arrested a 40-year-old man on Wednesday during a raid at Narre Warren South.

Victoria Police said in a statement:

The man has been charged with animal cruelty and a number of other offences including affray, reckless conduct, possessing a prohibited weapon and the storing of unauthorised explosives.

He has been released on bail but will face Melbourne magistrates court in June next year.

There were 16 people arrested during the hours-long stand-off, with hundreds of protesters rallying against Victoria’s Covid-19 restrictions.

A 29-year-old Werribee woman who allegedly kicked a horse, and a 24-year-old Bentleigh man allegedly responsible for smashing a police car mirror, were also arrested and charged four days later.

Updated

More on that Crown casinos story from Ben Butler and Anne Davies.

The chair of the NSW liquor and gaming authority, Philip Crawford, is addressing reporters in Sydney about the decision to ask Crown Resorts to delay the planned opening of its Barangaroo casino until the findings of an inquiry can be handed down in February.

It was aiming to open on 14 December. Crawford said they had initially discussed allowing Crown to have a limited opening – so restaurants and bars open but not gaming – but Crown “didn’t take us up”. He says Crown wanted to have a graduated opening that included gaming, but “we are not comfortable with that”.

Asked what the authority’s biggest concern was, he said:

Biggest concern is quite frankly around money laundering. One of the things, one of our concerns this morning was late last night, around 11 o’clock, it was further evidence from the Bergin inquiry ... they’ve had some analysis done, and it looks like there is the possibility that money-laundering transactions have been identified.

That new evidence was a submission made by Crown to the inquiry. Crawford said the authority had “no notice” that this submission was coming.

The Bergin inquiry or council assisting weren’t aware of it and it has come at the 11th hour, literally, 11 o’clock last night. That is a concern.

Crawford said the authority was “greatly concerned” with any possible case of money laundering.

Asked why he thought Crown had not voluntarily delayed the opening of the casino, Crawford said:

I ... think they are not picking up the vibe, there is a lot of serious stuff going around, the inquiry was delayed because of a Covid-19 break and that was appropriate, that was three months or we would have finished by now. We haven’t, and I think it’s appropriate we will wait and see what Justice Bergin finds, and we have time to look at it.

Updated

Crown asked to delay opening its Sydney casino until February

Crown has been asked by the NSW government to delay opening its new casino in Sydney until after an inquiry hands down its findings in February.

This is not looking good. A woman has collapsed outside a shopping centre in Adelaide.

It is 32C in the city at the moment. Not great weather to be standing in long queues with no shade.

Are there any lessons to be drawn from this outbreak, particularly around management of hotel quarantine?

A reminder that the full report into Victoria’s hotel quarantine isn’t due to be handed down until 21 December.

Kelly says that “hotel quarantine is our main game... for our risk”.

And finally, he was asked if he agreed with the decision of SA authorities to not allow anyone to leave their home to exercise during the six-day hard lockdown. He is not getting involved.

All of the things that were announced by the South Australian government today, and it is their decision as they are able to do within their own jurisdiction, they are the elected government.

None of them are outside of the realm of what we talked about earlier this year in terms of the 3-step plan for reopening or indeed, the steps to decreasing activities, and so they are all in that range of measures that were discussed at that time. The AHPPC was not involved in that decision-making today, that was a matter for the South Australian government which they told us about today.

Kelly says there is no evidence so far that this is a new, more dangerous, more infectious strain of the virus, despite SA premier Steven Marshall describing it as being particularly difficult.

Says Kelly:

There are a range of options as to why that may be the case but at the moment we don’t have any evidence that the virus has changed in anyway to become more infectious or more dangerous.

This is the same virus we have been dealing with, in fact, the coronavirus since it started virtually a year ago now, the first cases have now been understood to have happened, it has remained quite stable in relation to those sort of issues, in relation to the virus, how transmittable it is from person to person, how quickly it can cause disease, how serious that disease might be. The good news so far for those cases and Adelaide, there is only the two cases that are in hospital, both elderly residents of Adelaide.

Why were people working in hotel quarantine not required to get weekly tests before now?

Says Kelly:

So, there has been some testing, of course anyone who is symptomatic is under strict instructions not to come to work and to get tested and isolate, as would be the case anywhere, particularly those who may have been in contact with a person with Covid-19.

I know that in New South Wales they have been testing, not as frequently as this, and there has been some testing being done and other places but we decided to make that recommendation which has been accepted, for that to be a routine thing. And in fact, it was a test of the security guard who was also working in the pizza parlour, even though he was asymptomatic, that led to the latest information.

Has the federal medical advice on border closures changed in the wake of the SA outbreak?

Kelly says that’s a moot point.

Essentially it is a moot point because with these new measures that come into force at midnight, all South Australians will be staying at home, they won’t be going across any borders.

He says SA has not yet met the commonwealth’s definition of a hot spot, which is an average of 10 community transmission cases per day over 10 days. SA has accrued 22 cases in three days.

But he says he is “confident with my definition” of a hot spot.

The reality is, for public health, one needs to make decisions without all of the information in front of them. It is very easy to make a decision a week after you needed to make it. South Australia have made the decision today on the basis that they don’t want to be thinking, in a week, I should have done something else and gone harder and gone faster. They have gone hard and fast, gone broad, both in their public health response as well as the other measures that were announced today, and that will give them the best chance of getting on top of the outbreak.

Updated

A reporter has pointed out that NSW took a very different approach to SA, when it had the Crossroads hotel outbreak. Does Kelly think SA’s approach is proportionate?

He says yes.

It is hard and fast, South Australia has made the decision on the basis of the information that they have at hand, they know their system, they know their people, that is the decision they have made and we back them in terms of that decision.

Is there anything else SA should have been doing before this outbreak to be better prepared, such as using QR codes to track people in restaurants and pubs?

Says Kelly:

South Australia has had a great run in terms of the epidemic. They had cases, like everywhere had, early on in January, February and into March, but since then, they have done a marvellous job of making sure that there were no community transmission cases. They have continued to have cases in hotel quarantine. They have had some outbreaks like this in the past and they went hard and fast on those too and got them under control very quickly. One at the airport, another one in the Barossa Valley, so they know what they are doing, they are very well prepared.

In terms of the other mechanisms for contact tracing, they are doing very well. They are getting onto the cases they have found so far very quickly, large numbers of people turning up for testing, the testing is being done very quickly in laboratory, they do need to increase their ability [for people] to get tested and they are certainly getting onto that today and ADF resources will be thrown in to assist.

Updated

Mandatory weekly testing for hotel quarantine workers

Anyone working in a hotel quarantine facility will now be tested for Covid-19 at least weekly, Kelly says.

Previously, testing was optional. Prof Nicola Spurrier told reporters yesterday that she had advocated for mandatory weekly testing at the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC), and Kelly said the AHPPC has now made that recommendation.

Prime minister Scott Morrison has accepted the AHPPC’s advice, Kelly says.

The other thing announced overnight is that the AHPPC gave advice and it has been accepted by the prime minister to increase our surveillance at the quarantine hotels, so from now, all states and territories have agreed that anyone with quarantine facilities, anyone working in those quarantine facilities will be tested at least weekly to make sure that we increase that surveillance in that area. That is our major risk now of reintroduction of Covid-19 into Australia, as we have seen inAdelaide over recent days.

I’ve just got off the phone with the prime minister who has flown back from Japan, discussed these matters, I know that Minister Hunt has also been discussing with his counterpart, so we are very closely aligned, we are there to assist where necessary.

In terms of other federal support, staff of the chief medical officer’s office are manning the phones doing contact tracing interviews, as are public health staff in NSW and Western Australia. This is part of the recommendations from the Finkel review.

The ADF is also flying in more resources to assist SA.

Updated

Kelly says South Australia has gone “fast and hard” with their coronavirus response, and he approves.

The news today really is that as the South Australian authorities have done, with their public health response, they have gone fast and gone hard, they have gone broad.

A lot of testing, record testing over the last couple of days, 11,000 test from the South Australian authorities have happened and we have seen people turning up in great numbers to be tested. They have also decided to go harder as well with what they are calling a 6-day pause, with a range of measures essentially to decrease the movement around Adelaide and around all of South Australia, to decrease that opportunity of the virus spreading.

As we know the virus spreads generally with people, and so while they are doing that very clear and constant public health response of testing, contact tracing and isolation, they also want to give that the best chance of working over this short period, so there6-day pause is coming into effect tonight.

Kelly said he was in “constant community” with South Australia’s chief health officer, Prof Nicola Spurrier.

Prof Paul Kelly is giving the national coronavirus update

The acting chief medical officer, Prof Paul Kelly, is giving the national coronavirus update in Canberra.

His focus is the Parafield outbreak in Adelaide, which is now 22 cases strong. The good news, he says, is that all those cases are linked to the one outbreak tied to hotel quarantine. (The bad news is that hotel quarantine has sparked another outbreak.)

Every one of those 22 cases are linked in some way now, either through the genomic testing or epidemiologically, that’s the good news.

Updated

Australia’s privacy commissioner, Angelene Falk, will report on her office’s first privacy audit of the beleaguered Covidsafe contact tracing app before the end of the year, she has announced today.

The audit will look at the whole lifecycle of data collection from the app, to how state and territory health authorities use the data, to destruction, Falk said.

Our assessment program is examining the handling of personal information as it travels through the Covidsafe app system, from notification, collection and storage, to access and deletion, including when the National Covidsafe Data Store is deleted at the end of the pandemic.

After the first report, the audit will be conducted again every six months. For as long as Australians are using the app.

The $5m app has only found less than two dozen close contacts not already identified through manual contact tracing, and all of them located in NSW, at last reporting.

Updated

The supermarkets in Adelaide appear to be full to the gills, as people try to stock up before the six-day lockdown.

Supermarkets will continue to be open and people will be able to go out once a day to get food – but the panic buying today is not at all surprising. It’s human nature to do this, as we have learned many, many times this year.

Updated

Crown Resorts goes into trading halt ahead of Barangaroo announcement

Crown Resorts has gone into a trading halt ahead of an announcement at 3.30pm by NSW authorities about its new Sydney casino, which it has planned to open on 14 December.

The company, which an inquiry has heard is not fit to hold a casino license, told the ASX it has received a letter from the NSW Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority — but not what was in it.

“Crown intends to make an announcement following consideration of the letter from ILGA and ILGA’s press conference,” the company said.

Chances of the casino opening as planned now appear more remote than those of winning the jackpot on one of Crown’s poker machines, but all will become clear within the hour.

Updated

It’s good to see the most famous Adelaidians are wearing their masks.

Let’s go back now to something that was announced this morning: the $200 travel voucher to encourage Victorians to travel in regional Victoria.

It’s part of a $465m Victorian tourism recovery package, which will be part of next week’s budget.

So, when does it start? Well, we’re not quite sure. According to a government press release, “the scheme is expected to be up and running in December, ensuring the benefits are felt this summer”.

Once the scheme is running, Victorians will be allowed to apply for a $400 voucher so long as they are spending at least $400 on accomodation. There will be up to 120,000 vouchers available. It’s not clear if it’s retrospective, an important detail for all those organised enough to have already booked their Christmas holiday.

The rest of the tourism package is:

  • $150m regional tourism investment fund to fund nature-based, First Nations, arts and culture, and food and wine tourism projects.
  • $1.6m directly for Aboriginal-run tourism businesses.
  • $58m marketing boost for state tourism body Visit Victoria.
  • $149m to build new visitor accomodation, improve tourist trails and so on.
  • $47.5m to build visitor infrastructure on the Great Ocean Road, including a coastal walking trail from Fairhaven to Grey River and a new suspension bridge. That funding also includes $2m to build new campsites along Surf Coast.
  • $18.5m for a Gippsland tourism recovery package, to build new accomodation, upgrade the East Gippsland rail trail and improve other infrastructure. This is the area affected by last summer’s bushfires. The funding includes $3.5m to build 10 eco-pods at Cape Contran Coastal Park, $2m to build more campsites, $3.85m on access to Point Hicks lighthouse and $2.5m to fund the Metung Hot Springs and Nunduck spa eco-resort.
  • $15m to upgrade the alpine crossing hiking trail from Mt Hotham to Falls Creek.
  • $13m for trail heads on the Grampians peak trail and upgrades at Mackenzie Falls.
  • $4.3m for the Prosecco Road winery district, including accomodation at Dal Zotto wines.

Updated

In important Collins Street falcon news, one of the Peregrine falcon fledglings, which left the nest for the first time on Friday, was spotted today sitting on the pavement at the front of a shoe shop in Collins Street.

She has been taken to a specialist wildlife vet.

All three fledglings left the nest last week, but the sad reality of life as a peregrine falcon is only one in 10 fledglings lives long enough to have their own chicks.

Fate of Crown's Barangaroo opening to be announced at 3.30pm

The NSW casino regulator will hold a press conference at 3.30pm in Sydney to make an announcement about whether Crown’s new $2bn Barangaroo venue will be permitted to open on 14 December.

The Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority has been meeting this morning to consider a number of outstanding matters, including Crown’s liquor licences, minimum bet limits and arrangements of VIP membership.

But it has also had “other business”, including a submission by Crown for a limited opening of its new gambling mecca.

The problem facing Crown is that it will not have a recommendation from the inquiry examining its suitability by that date. Patricia Bergin SC, the commissioner hearing the allegations, has been told by her counsel assisting that Crown is no longer suitable on a number of grounds, and Crown has yet to complete its submissions on whether it has made sufficient changes to again become suitable.

It seems a fair bet there will be a delay, either voluntary or imposed.

The Crown casino and hotel development at Barangaroo in Sydney
The Crown casino and hotel development at Barangaroo in Sydney. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAP

Updated

Thanks to Matilda Boseley for taking you through that very long, very complex press conference.

Business SA chief executive Martin Haese has just been talking to ABC24. He said the six-day “circuit-breaker” had “sent a shockwave through the South Australia business community”.

But he said they supported it — on the expectation that it will work.

Businesses in SA bear the brunt of this type of thing and we will feel it as immediately as of tomorrow morning. Nonetheless, it is a short-term period. Hopefully this interruption, this disruption, will basically circuit break the outbreak in South Australia and by next Wednesday we will be back in business, so fingers crossed.

Haese said he was waiting to see what restrictions would apply after the six-day shutdown. Premier Steven Marshall said they would introduce eight days of stepped-down restrictions after the full lockdown, but the details of those have not been announced. Haese said:

I presume that the state would be monitoring that very closely over the next 24 to 48 hours, but at this point in time we hope that this is a six-day ordeal the business community will basically endure so that we can get on top of it. But we will be looking for clarity, obviously, with regards to whether this will be a long-term time period.

Haese said business confidence in SA was actually higher, recently, than it had been before the pandemic. That would dance around a bit now, he said.

But changes to the jobkeeper payment, including the requirement that businesses re-qualify every quarter, would impact businesses now forced to shut down, he said.

We are also a little worried that as a result of that increased business confidence over recent months in South Australia, that has translated to some relatively good economic activity, so we have a growing number of members who actually no longer are eligible for jobkeeper, based upon their performance over recent months. So they are now having to close their doors tomorrow.

Updated

To recap, from midnight tonight the following restrictions apply in South Australia:

  • All South Australians will have to stay put in their house for six days. Wherever they are at midnight tonight, that’s where they have to remain.
  • All schools will be shut except for children of essential workers and vulnerable children;
  • Childcare will be open only to essential workers, and shut to everyone else;
  • People will not be permitted to leave their home to exercise.
  • Takeaway food will be shut;
  • Universities will be closed;
  • Pubs, cafes, food courts and other food venues will be closed;
  • Elective surgery will be closed, except for urgent operations;
  • Real estate inspections will be closed;
  • All outdoor sport and physical activity will not be permitted.
  • Regional travel is not approved. Holiday houses are closed. Schoolies, which police commissioner Grant Stevens said yesterday was still on, is now off;
  • Aged care and residential disability care is in lockdown;
  • Factories other than for food and medical products are closed, apart from essential maintenance;
  • The construction industry is closed;
  • Weddings and funerals will be banned for six days;
  • Face masks are required when outside the home, although it’s just encouraged, not mandatory, as many in SA do not yet have masks;
  • Families with joint custody arrangements have been asked to find an arrangement that works for the next six days, without moving between houses.

Remaining open:

  • Supermarkets will remain open for one visit from one person per household a day;
  • Critical infrastructure — power, telecommunications — will remain open;
  • Medical services including mental health services will remain open;
  • Public transport will remain open;
  • Airport and freight services will remain open;
  • Petrol stations will remain open;
  • Banks and financial institutions will remain open;
  • Post offices will remain open;
  • Mining, smelting, and large factories will be allowed to continue to operate at a level required to ensure continuity of service delivery or to prevent damage, but not for anything else;
  • Veterinary surgeons will remain open;
  • Agriculture workers will be able to move around to ensure the safety, welfare and processing of animals and animal products, such as dairy.

Updated

And as that marathon press conference ends, I will hand you over to the wonderful Calla Wahlquist, who will walk you through this mammoth news day for the rest of the afternoon.

Updated

By the way, this lockdown comes into effect from midnight tonight.

Police commissioner Grant Stevens has (arguably futilely) urged South Australians not to panic buy.

This afternoon will be particularly challenging for retail outlets. Supermarkets are going to be open beyond today. There is no need for people to rush to supermarkets, and if you do go shopping this afternoon, you should expect that you will be managed by staff at the supermarkets. And we will have police officers on standby to attend if we see any civil disorder and we would take action. This is completely unacceptable.

No need for panic buying! ... I don’t think people will listen and I do think people will flood the supermarkets. If you are going shopping, think about other people, treat each other with respect and kindness.

We are all in the same boat, and think of those who are working on the supermarkets, doing it tough – they will be inundated over the next few days. And if we have to take action to protect those people, then we will do so.

If you do see panic buying, let me know on Twitter at @MatildaBoseley.

Updated

Former federal SA politician Cory Bernadi is taking this news... as expected.

In slightly different news, NAB has just put out this tweet. Unclear what this is about just yet.

Updated

The question of why a medi-hotel worker was allowed to work across multiple workplaces has also been asked of police commissioner Grant Stevens.

[Those rules] are difficult to impose because we are relying heavily on the security industry in a supporting after a substantial level to ensure they are maintaining a safe environment in the medi-hotel but we don’t have other restrictions on other people working on those facilities and we cannot quarantine those people when they are not at work.

They can participate in normal activities and whether that participating in sport or taking on another part-time job, the level of engagement with the community in terms of how they do that is irrelevant.

We cannot quarantine people simply because they are assisting us in working in quarantine hotel.

Law Council president Pauline Wright has been asked about the breaking news of South Australia’s six-day lockdown.

Wright, addressing the National Press Club in Canberra on the need for a federal bill of rights, said there was no doubt that such measures were a restriction on rights, “but the question is: is it a proportionate restriction on their movement given the threat of this pandemic?”

Up to now, Wright said, the majority of Australians probably felt lockdowns had been proportionate, but that sentiment could potentially break down if people started to think the measures were overreach.

This pandemic has shown itself to be deadly and we do expect from our government’s protection of our health and lives, and most people are going to be satisfied that it is a reasonable restriction, as long as it’s temporary, doesn’t last too long and it’s proportionate to the threat that is still at large.

Pauline Wright at the press club on Wednesday
Pauline Wright at the press club on Wednesday. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Updated

CALL OUT: If you are in a supermarket or shopping centre in South Australia right now, please tweet me photos or videos using @MatildaBoseley and #SALockdown.

Updated

More from this SA Covid-19 update:

Reporter: How is a security guard at a medi-hotel allowed to then go and work at a public pizza place? Are there new rules that are going to be restricted on the jobs and those kinds of hotels?

Spurrier:

We say in medicine, it is very clear with the retrospect-o-scope – you look back and you think you could have done XYZ. But for me today I am looking forward about what we have to do here and now to get on top of it.

Updated

Nicola Spurrier:

We are really at the beginning of this in SA and I need everybody to basically find as safe place to be the next six days and stay there as much as possible. Whether this is a Netflix blitz for some people, and I know it is going to be really difficult for many people, but we all need to be doing it and it is quite a different situation to that post earlier.

The chief health officer has urged all South Australians to stay inside the state for the next 14 days.

I do not want to be taking this virus or be responsible for taking this virus to other states. I know people may have made travel plans but there are restrictions to entry to many of the other states in Australia ... I would like to see very limited movement between states at this point.

Updated

Chief health officer Nicola Spurrier says South Australia will be moving to 24-hour testing.

We have had a significant number of people put their heads together this morning and we are also looking at bringing in resources from interstate because we are very good without lab capacity. But it is actually getting through and doing the testing and we need more people, but you need to be trained to do it and need to know how to use PPE, so we will be putting further information out today about extended testing.

Updated

Two new cases linked to Parafield cluster

South Australia’s chief health officer, Nicola Spurrier, has given details about these new cases and why they are of such concern.

You are possibly expecting me to give you a very large number of cases but I am not going to, I’m going to give you a small number of cases. It is small but critical. Today we have two new cases ...

There are also an additional seven people who are either awaiting test results or we had an initial test that was negative but we are highly suspicious and treating them as infectious. Due to the high risk of onward transmission and the community, all of those suspected cases are going to be treated as infectious.

Spurrier says people are becoming infectious as soon as one day after exposure.

We also know, because of that characteristic, that what we call a generation is only about three days, and a generation is when one case is passing it on to the next level, and then that level, so if they pass it onto two people, they will pass it onto a lot of people, and that is your third generation.

At the moment in SA we have done contact tracing to the fourth generation but the fifth generation is out there in our community and at the moment we contact tracing to get onto that generation and that is the Woodville pizza bar ...

Spurrier outlined the link between the pizza bar and a second medi-hotel case.

The one case that we received information about yesterday midday was of a young man who works at one of our many hotels, not the Peppers Waymouth, where the other two cases have been.

It was at the Stanford and this person was not a security guard, was not a nurse or police officer but worked in the kitchen, and that made us very concerned because we could not work out how on earth that person became infected. How were those two medi-hotels linked?

We made the link last night where we had a close contact of one of our security guards who was actively working part-time at the pizza bar ... at the same time as the person who was at the Stamford went and got a pizza.

We are absolutely certain without history taking that is what happened. That means to me, it cemented my fears that this virus is spreading very, very rapidly. You have a short incubation period and you have three days as those generations move on.

Updated

Police commissioner Grant Stevens has outlined more restrictions for the six-day lockdown:

If you are in a location at the commencement of these restrictions you will be required to stay there.

Aged care and disability residential care will be in lockdown. Factories other than food and medical products will be closed, except for where it is necessary for them to remain open to prevent damage to machinery.

The construction industry will be closed for six days.

Holiday homes will not be available for lease or rental ... weddings and funerals will be banned for six days.

Outdoor sport is not permitted.

Masks will be required in all areas outside the home.

Some of the areas that will remain open, which will be considered as essential: critical infrastructure including water,power and telecommunications will be able to function.

Supermarkets will remain open to provide access to food and essential product. There will be limitations in terms of access, and providing specific access to vulnerable members of our community to ensure that they can access goods and services.

Medical including mental health, supplies, access to services will be available. Public transport will be open.

The airport and freight services, including career services, will be able to operate. Petrol stations, access to financial institutions and post offices will be able to be accessed.

Mining, smelting and large factories will also be able to remain open, but only those parts of the facilities that will need to operate to ensure continuity of service delivery or to prevent damage to the plant.

Childcare will be available only for families of essential workers, and the minimum operations of government including local government will be permitted to operate.

Veterinary surgeons will be able to remain open.

People will be restricted from going out of their house for a six-day period. The message is stay at home unless you are accessing essential services or you are essential – [you] will not be permitted outside of the home for a six-day period.

Food purchases will be available – you will be able to leave, one person per household once a day to access groceries.

Agriculture will be able to move about to ensure the safety and welfare and processing of animals, and the production of dairy and other agricultural services.

End-of-life visit also be available through organised arrangements.

That is the list as it stands at this point, but I’ve stressed we are still working on the final list in terms of what those restrictions will be and what will be allowed to operate and we will be updating further into the afternoon and evening as that list becomes available.

Updated

This “circuit breaker” will include a six-day lockdown and a further eight days of lesser restrictions in the state.

Closures in the first six days include:

  • All schools except for children of essential workers and vulnerable children
  • Universities
  • Takeaway food
  • Pubs, cafes, coffee shops and food courts
  • Elective surgery except for urgent operations and cancer treatment
  • Open inspections and auctions for real estate
  • Outdoor sport and physical activity. You CAN NOT leave your home for exercise
  • Regional travel

More to come...

Updated

Six day 'pause' for South Australia

Premier Steven Marshall:

We need a circuit breaker to stay ahead of this. We need breathing space for contact tracing to protect the elderly, to protect the vulnerable, to protect our entire community. That is why, today, I am asking you to rise to the challenge again.

As of midnight tonight we need our community to pause for six days. A series of wide-ranging restrictions will be implemented to significantly reduce mobility in the community to stop the spread, to stamp out this virus.

The police commissioner will outline these shortly. I acknowledge that these restrictions will be challenging for South Australia but we can and we must follow the expert health advice to keep South Australia safe and strong.

Updated

SA premier Steven Marshall gives Covid update

No numbers yet but here is what Marshall is saying:

I have long said that Covid has challenged us but not beaten us. We continue to face our biggest test to date.

We must rise to this challenge – and we are stopping, each and every one of us, united with a common purpose to beat this silent enemy. Record testing rates, proud South Australians in line for hours to be tested, knowing that the effort of each and of us collectively makes a big difference on how we get through this.

Updated

You can watch the South Australian premier’s update live stream here.

Updated

We are playing the waiting game now for SA premier Steven Marshall to provide an update on the situation on the Parafield cluster.

There has been a lot of talk around that the time for this update being repeatedly pushed back is heralding bad news, but we shall wait and see.

That should be starting in about five minutes.

Updated

Western Australian premier Mark McGowan has provided an update on the state’s response to South Australia’s outbreak.

He has confirmed a hard border will be in place with South Australia from 6pm WA time tonight.

We don’t know how many people are out on the Nullarbor when we announced that. Many of them may not even know, but we have just put in place a measure to protect the state.

I expect most of them will be West Australians returning home, so clearly the police will deal with that as of 6 o’clock tonight...

[If] Steven Marshall goes further into lockdown, I will support him. It is the right thing to do. If that is the medical advice and the judgement of the officials, I will support him.

Obviously, the criticism that Dan Andrews received from federal Liberal ministers was disgraceful, and it will be a test for them – will they criticise Steven Marshall the same way? I suspect not.

Updated

Victoria may soon be able to smell the fresh air again, with the premier set to make changes to the state’s mandatory mask policies this Sunday.

Updated

CFMEU 'co-operating' with AFP during raids

The construction workers’ union is cooperating with police after its inner Sydney headquarters and other “private premises” were raided as federal officers executed a search warrant, reports Australian Associated Press.

Australian federal police and NSW police kicked off the raids at the NSW branch of the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union in Pyrmont early on Wednesday.

The CFMEU national construction secretary, Dave Noonan, said the warrant related to an investigation under the federal Fair Work Act and “related matters”. He said:

The CFMEU confirms that AFP and NSW police have served a search warrant at the NSW branch office in Pyrmont and at private premises...

The union is co-operating to the extent required by law.

The AFP said earlier that the raids related to an ongoing investigation by the trade union taskforce.

Noonan noted the raids followed similar occurrences at other CFMEU offices across the country.

The AFP have been taking an increasingly active role in industrial relations matters, and have previously raided CFMEU offices in Canberra and Brisbane.

Neither of those raids resulted in any charges being laid against any union official.

The AFP said the raids were ongoing and it could provide no further information at this time.

The national union represents about 180,000 workers. The NSW branch is currently preparing for the election of officials, including its state president, with a ballot due to open in January.

In 2014, the Australian government established a joint police task force to investigate conduct uncovered by the royal commission into trade union governance and corruption.

The taskforce is co-ordinated by the AFP in conjunction with state police teams.

The AFP is executing multiple search warrants in Sydney targeting CFMEU officials
The AFP is executing multiple search warrants in Sydney targeting CFMEU officials. Photograph: Carly Earl/The Guardian

Updated

I mentioned this earlier but just in case you missed it, NSW has now clocked 11 straight days with no community transmission.

Seven cases were reported in overseas travellers in hotel quarantine in the state.

Victoria has also now recorded 19 Covid-free days.

Updated

Just in case anyone was wondering what the Woodville Pizza Bar looks like.

Anyone who visited or got takeaway from or received a delivery from the Woodville Pizza Bar at 58 Woodville Road, Woodville, from 6 to 16 November is asked to immediately quarantine yourself and all those who live with you for 14 days and seek testing.

SA Health has issued this warning:

People who visited across this period should seek testing as soon as possible. They must go directly to the testing location, wear a mask and alert the staff that they have visited the pizza bar.

Updated

Nine Adelaide is reporting that a “significant escalation” is expected to be announced at the South Australian premier’s update (which is now expected at 12.30pm ADCT, 1pm ADET).

Steven Marshall previously foreshadowed a “slight” rise on local radio this morning, but this update had been hit by delay after delay, suggesting the situation in the state may be developing quickly (although we still don’t know if this is for better or worse).

For reference, this 12.30pm update is still significantly earlier than usual for the state, in case people were trying to apply the old “the later the press conference, the worse the news” logic from Melbourne’s second wave.

Updated

$200 travel vouchers for Victorians

Huzzah! Victorians are being encouraged to travel inside the state this summer with $200 vouchers available if you spend at least $400 dollars on attractions or accommodation in regional Victoria.

This will form part of the state budget, set to be unveiled next week.

Personally, as someone with a holiday weekend booked in soon, I want to know when the scheme starts. (Fingers crossed for before 10 December).

Updated

Auditor general Grant Hehir has been giving evidence to a parliamentary committee over about $190,000 in payments the Australian Securities and Investments Commission made to its chair and deputy chair that fell outside of remuneration rules, and it’s safe to say he isn’t happy with the regulator’s response to the issue.

Asic chair James Shipton stood aside and deputy chair and enforcement boss Dan Crennan resigned after the payments – $118,000 to Shipton for tax advice and $70,000 to Crennan for rent – were revealed. The payments are being investigated by Treasury.

Hehir asked questions of Asi about the payment to Shipton before last year’s audit, but by the time this year’s rolled around the problem still hadn’t been resolved.

“It felt to me we weren’t getting enough traction with management given the significance of the issue,” Hehir told the parliamentary joint committee charged with oversight of Asic this morning.

He said Asic also failed to explain to him why the issue of whether or not the payments fell within remuneration rules hadn’t been resolved a year later.

They described the action they had taken, which was to draft some correspondence internally and I think seek some legal advice.

Asked by Victorian Liberal senator James Paterson, who chairs the parliamentary committee, whether Asic’s procedures were inadequate, Hehir said

The issues hadn’t been resolved. I felt that issues related to payments to senior management personnel should be deal with quickly.

Asic will appear later today.

The organisation is under attack from the very top of the Morrison government: treasurer Josh Frydenberg has today used an appearance at a conference organised by a financial tabloid to declare open war on the regulator, proposing to strip it of policymaking powers.

It is understood one model under consideration by the government would see Asic restricted to enforcing the law, with its ability to issue regulatory guidance taken away and given to Treasury.

Frydenberg again attacked Asic over its pursuit of responsible-lending rules, which he blames for slowing the flow of credit into the economy – something for which there is no hard evidence.

Following a big lobbying push by the banks, Frydenberg has proposed watering down the rules.

Updated

We can bring you a bit more now on Scott Morrison’s Japan trip, now that the transcript of his late-night doorstop has lobbed.

As you will see from the following exchange, the prime minister has been unable to clarify exactly what the two sides have agreed in order to get around a major sticking point in years of negotiations on the defence agreement: whether Australian Defence Force members may potentially face the death penalty if convicted of serious crimes such as murder while in Japan.

(Australia and Japan have agreed to a mechanism to resolve the issue on a case-by-case basis, the ABC reported. But precisely how this mechanism will operate has not yet been disclosed.)

JOURNALIST: Prime minister, under the Reciprocal Access Agreement, the in-principle agreement signed today, will Australian troops be subject to the death penalty in Japan?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, what we’ve been able to achieve is that Australia will meet all of its obligations under its international agreements in relation to that matter.

JOURNALIST: It’s a yes or no question – what’s the answer, sorry, I’m just not clear. That’s always been the hurdle in this over the death penalty.

PRIME MINISTER: No, we’ve been able to resolve it by ensuring that Australia could satisfy all of our international obligations in relation to that matter. And that has been a key factor for us as we work through this issue. And we’re pleased that that was able to be worked through with the Japanese government. And I thank both prime minister Suga and his predecessor, prime minister Abe, for getting to that point.

JOURNALIST: So there has been progress over the issue of the death penalty?

PRIME MINISTER: The progress of ensuring that Australia is able to meet its commitments under its international obligations, yes.

JOURNALIST: Can you just explain what that is?

PRIME MINISTER: That’s exactly what I just explained to you.

JOURNALIST: I’m not clear how the document sets that out?

PRIME MINISTER: It is satisfied in the series of documents which are now finalised as we move to the conclusion of the agreement, which we hope to be able to put in place next year.

JOURNALIST: So Australians won’t face the death penalty?

PRIME MINISTER: Australia will comply with all of their obligations in relation to the death penalty.

Updated

Northern Territory chief health minister Natasha Fyles has also detailed some of the problems with hotel quarantine capacity that I mentioned earlier in the morning:

What we saw at the last 36 hours with hundreds of people flooding into Alice Springs and we had a number of plans – two contingency plans – if we were to see the main quarantine facility reaching capacity and we put the plans in place and we still had demand.

We then had a situation where we were chartering a flight from Darwin to Alice Springs to bring people to the Howard Springs facility which has plenty of capacity. We had a bird strike to the plane which stopped the planes ...

We had hotel rooms we thought we could count on suddenly not becoming available but the frontline health staff and staff down there did an amazing job, ensuring those individuals – although it may not have been ideal sitting in the airport into the night – were clinically cared for and now in a safe location quarantining.

Updated

NT limits border restrictions to Adelaide

Northern Territory chief health minister Natasha Fyles says the hotspot declaration on South Australia has been reduced to the greater Adelaide region:

I’ve just come out of a cabinet meeting with the chief health officer and based on advice from AHPPC and South Australia, we have reduced the hot spot declaration that was made for the whole of South Australia, down to Adelaide and surrounding suburbs.

It’s important to note that most of these cases and South Australia [are] people have had no symptoms. It is only when they have been tested that they have tested positive and become aware they have Covid-19 so based on the early information, we went hard, we went wide, but we are now – based on more clinical information – we are able to reduce the hot spot declaration.

She said that details of the 20 Adelaide hotspot local government areas would be released shortly but encompassed Adelaide city and “surrounding suburbs right into the hills”.

Updated

This is from the Advertiser in Adelaide – for context, the Parafield Plaza Supermarket was shut down on Monday after it appears one of the first clusters of infected people went shopping in the centre while infected. A number of stores in the plaza have been listed as potential hotspots, and people who have been there are urged to monitor for symptoms.

Updated

Here are some more images from the CFMEU headquarters in Prymont where AFP raids are being carried out this morning.

Today’s operation is part of an ongoing trade union taskforce investigation, the AFP says.

A number of search warrants are being executed on properties linked to the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union.

The CFMEU headquarters at Pyrmont was searched by police. Raid. AFP. Police. Miller Street Pyrmont.
The CFMEU headquarters at Pyrmont was searched by police. Raid. AFP. Police. Miller Street Pyrmont.
The CFMEU headquarters at Pyrmont was searched by police. Raid. AFP. Police. Miller Street Pyrmont.
The CFMEU headquarters at Pyrmont was searched by police. Raid. AFP. Police. Miller Street Pyrmont.
The CFMEU headquarters at Pyrmont was searched by police. Raid. AFP. Police. Miller Street Pyrmont.

Updated

Looks like we are going to have to wait a little longer for an update on those South Australia cluster numbers.

The premier’s press conference has been pushed back to later in the morning.

Updated

Continued from the previous post:

Tony Kairouz, general manager and owner of abattoir Cedar Meats, where there was a significant cluster of more than 100 cases in May, gave evidence to the inquiry after Dr Alan Finkel.

He said it was difficult being one of the first businesses in the second wave affected by a large cluster. On 27 April, he received phone calls from the Department of Health alerting him that two staff had tested positive.

One of those staff members had been absent from work since 17 April, Kairouz told the inquiry, because he had been feeling unwell. He had gone to the doctor twice to ask for a Covid test, but was refused as he did not have enough symptoms. He went to the doctor for a third time and demanded a test that turned out to be positive.

Kairouz said he knew many staff spoke English as a second language and that the best course of action would have been to test all staff on site, rather than communicating with them all that they had to go to different testing centres.

We knew how difficult it would be to communicate with 350 people with diverse backgrounds and language barriers once they have left the business, so testing them on site would have ensured a more controlled environment to capture and contain the outbreak ...

Time was of the essence, and we as a business could have provided critical support to DHHS [the Department of Health and Human Services] in relation to their testing and isolation process in their efforts to contain the virus.

This would have also ensured that detailed and more accurate information was obtained from our staff. Senior managers and interpreters work with our staff on a daily basis.

Unfortunately, DHHS could not organise this here and instead staff had to attend a multitude of test sites, which made it all the more complex and inefficient to contain the outbreak. There was a lot of confusion, and a lot of problems getting our staff tested, and there’s been a lot of scrutiny of our ability to produce contact details for all our staff.

While we were able to hand over records of all mobile phone numbers as soon as they were requested, some of our staff, despite procedures in place that state staff must keep contact details up to date, there were a small number of staff phone numbers at that time were therefore wrong.

He said Cedar Meats had adopted Covid-safe procedures as outlined by the Department of Health from February, and that since the outbreak more than $1m had been invested in further health and safety procedures. He said despite this, he and his family had been “hounded by the media”.

“I said to the Department of Health that I’m submitting ourselves completely to you guys, you guys are here to handle this situation. We’re not equipped. We’re not experienced in this field which is your area of expertise, and we want the health and welfare to be the priority, and we want to get our business back on track, so we’re in your hands.”

Updated

An update from the parliamentary inquiry into Victoria’s contact tracing system:

Australia’s chief scientist Dr Alan Finkel said that at the beginning of Victoria’s second wave of Covid-19, as cases began to grow, the state’s contact tracing system struggled.

“If Victoria in the past had had better systems in place, they might not have gotten to the point where it was being tested to the breakdown limit,” Finkel told Victoria’s parliamentary inquiry into contact tracing on Wednesday. As a result, he heard that some positive cases had been “lost,” in the system but could not say how many.

However, Finkel said the system had been reformed and was now responsive and a system that other states and territories could learn from. Finkel delivered his national contact tracing review to parliament earlier this month, which said:

Victoria has recently moved to a decentralised approach for regional cases, establishing six regional public health units, and is in the process of establishing suburban units in metropolitan Melbourne”.

The system was now more responsive, Finkel said, and could handle contact tracing up to 350 cases per day. He said his focus was on the current system, and so he could not comment comprehensively on the issues previously.

But he did say that as the system struggled to cope with growing cases, “there were just numerous people trying to help. And as often helps in those circumstances. They would effectively be making overlapping decisions and, you know, things can struggle in those circumstances.”

Updated

Speaking of tensions between the federal and state governments over borders, WA’s health minister and deputy premier, Roger Cook has spoken to ABC about the newly reimposed hard border with South Australia:

[South Australia] have done a terrific job, getting on the front foot, being decisive but we think it’s best to take a cautious approach and we have recently moved from hard borders to controlled borders to the vast majority of states, so we thought it was proportionate action just while we see how the situation unfolds.

I noticed that Greg Hunt and Josh Frydenberg criticise [the] Victorian government, who have done a terrific job getting the situation under control in Victoria. Perhaps its time for the federal government to stop criticising from the sidelines.

We know what is best in Western Australia and the focus is on keeping Western Australia safe because it has allowed us to open up the economy anywhere better than in the country and as a result.

Updated

The deputy prime minister, Michael McCormack, has been making the rounds of the TV stations this morning and has used his time on Nine to rail against border closures to South Australia.

The Northern Territory, Tasmania and WA have slammed the gates shut on SA, and Queensland has mandated hotel quarantine for those from Adelaide.

NSW is telling people to delay travel to the state, while Victoria and the ACT have asked for South Australians to cancel all non-essential travel, but all have left their borders open.

McCormack said there was no need for internal border restrictions with families looking to reunite over Christmas.

What we need now is we do need businesses to reopen ...

We do need Australians to get back to work and we do need those borders to be open.

Border closures have been a thorn in federal-state relations throughout the pandemic, with the commonwealth urging states to open up faster and more broadly.

Updated

The South Australian opposition says testing stations should remain open around the clock and more should be opened in Adelaide’s north to handle a surge in demand because of the growing Covid-19 cluster.

The opposition leader, Peter Malinauskas, has also called on SA Health to create a dedicated clinic for people being asked to get tested urgently because they may have links to the Parafield outbreak.

It has been outstanding to see so many South Australians do the right thing and seek to get a COVID-19 test ...

But it has been disturbing to see people, many of them unwell, forced to wait for more than 10 hours, with many turned away.

It’s understandable there would be long queues in the immediate hours following news of this cluster, but it’s now been three days.

Malinauskas said the urgency of the situation was even greater with Adelaide forecast to have a top temperature of 34C on Wednesday, meaning many people would spend hours in the heat waiting for a test.

About 5,000 people were tested on Monday and more than 6,000 on Tuesday with some people forced to wait in line for up to 12 hours and others turned away when centres closed.

Updated

Important update on a kangaroo that tried to go shopping in the outer suburbs of Melbourne.

Tasmania, don’t think I have forgotten you.

Here is possibly the most worrying police update that has ever landed in my inbox – a neighbourhood dispute, turned car crash, turned violent chainsaw attack.

Presented to you here in full:

Police are investigating a serious assault at a Middleton residence [south of Hobart] last night where a man was injured by a chainsaw.

Around 10.20pm police were called to a dispute between neighbours on Wards Court.

A woman and man had attended a neighbouring property, the woman allegedly crashed a vehicle into the neighbour’s shed, and the man allegedly injured the neighbour with a chainsaw.

The 59-year-old male neighbour received significant wounds to his arms and was transported to the Royal Hobart hospital in a serious condition.

A 52-year-old woman and 60-year-old man are in police custody assisting with enquiries. It is anticipated charges will be laid later today.

Police remain at the scene in Wards Court where further physical examinations will be undertaken.

Police would like to reassure the community this was an isolated incident linked to an ongoing dispute between people known to each other.

Updated

The ACT records one new Covid-19 case

A diplomat has been diagnosed with Covid-19 In the ACT after flying back to Australia through Sydney International airport and travelled to Canberra by private vehicle.

In a statement, ACT Health confirmed the man in his 30s was in isolation.

He has been in quarantine since his arrival and has followed all quarantine measures for returning overseas travellers.

ACT Health has identified two close contacts of the diplomat through contact tracing, in accordance with national guidelines.

All contacts are following the advice of our public health officers. The diplomat and the contacts are being supported by ACT Health.

The circumstances of this case demonstrate that our quarantine system here in the ACT is working well to protect the Canberra community from COVID-19.

ACT authorities also noted that “all non-essential travel between the ACT and South Australia is discouraged at this time.”

All flights from Adelaide into Canberra airport will continue to be met by ACT Health public health response teams to provide travellers with information on COVID-19 symptoms and locations in the ACT where they can undergo testing if they develop symptoms while in the ACT.

Testing will also remain available at the Airport for anyone travelling from South Australia with COVID-19 symptoms to facilitate quick and easy testing.

Updated

Australian news update

For those just joining us here is a bit of a rundown of everything that has happened so for today

  • The AFP is executing raids on CFMEU locations across Sydney. The federal police force has provided limited details but say the searches are part of an ongoing trade union taskforce investigation.
  • South Australia’s Parafield cluster had grown to 20 confirmed cases and 14 suspected cases. This is set to rise again today.
  • The 255 people completing quarantine in the Peppers medi-hotel in the Adelaide CBD will be required to restart their 14 days of quarantine after infection control problems in the facility led to the Parafield cluster.
  • SA Health has released its broadest isolation order yet, stating that anyone who visited, got takeaway, or received deliveries from the Woodville Pizza Bar in Woodville between 6 and 16 November must isolate immediately, get tested and quarantine for 14 days.
  • NSW and Queensland are set to go head to head in the State of Origin decider tonight. The Suncorp Stadium will be at 100% capacity following the easing of restrictions in the Sunshine State yesterday, making it one of the largest crowds at a sporting event anywhere in the world at the moment.
  • Morrison met with his Japanese counterpart, Yoshihide Suga, in Tokyo on Tuesday, where the pair signed a reciprocal access agreement that streamlines each country’s use of the other’s military bases. The agreement still needs to be ratified by parliament.

Coming up:

  • 10.55 am ACDT (11.25 AEDT): SA premier Steven Marshall will provide an update on the numbers in the Parafield cluster. He may also usher in further restrictions for the state.
  • 11 am AEDT: Victorian premier Daniel Andrews is set to make an announcement, possibly to do with regional travel around Victoria over Christmas time.

Updated

The lord works hard, but Steven Marshall’s social media graphics team works harder.

A full Instagram tile design to herald the SA premier’s upcoming press conference at 10.55 am.

I’ll bring you all the updates from that when it begins.

We have some images of those AFP raids under way across Sydney.

It appears the raids are targeting officials from the powerful union body, CFMEU. The federal police have said the searches are part of an ongoing trade union taskforce investigation.

AFP officers stand outside a building
The AFP is executing multiple search warrants in Sydney targeting officials of the powerful CFMEU. Photograph: Carly Earl/The Guardian

One raid location appears to be 63 Miller St, the NSW head office of the CFMEU

CFMEU NSW head office.
The CFMEU office at Pyrmont is one of the raid locations this morning. Photograph: Carly Earl/The Guardian

Updated

Victoria will keep its South Australian border open as a coronavirus testing site is to be set up for interstate truck drivers, reports the AAP.

The Victorian Department of Health and Human Services also has asked South Australians to cancel all non-essential travel to Victoria.

Victorian health minister Martin Foley told Channel Nine on Wednesday morning that the SA border status was being reviewed hourly.

We have no plans to close our borders, but we are monitoring literally on an hourly basis the situation in SA.

Of course, we reserve the right to take further measures if the advice changes.

A testing site will be set up in Nhill, near the SA border, and will start on Thursday.

The SA government has asked us to assist when it comes to testing, particularly of interstate truck movements.

A screening process has been instituted for every SA arrival at Melbourne and Mildura airports.

Names and details of 122 passengers aboard two flights to Tullamarine on Monday were recorded and 81 of those tested, with more planes expected to land on Wednesday.

Updated

Seems like there have been some hiccups in the NT when it comes hotel quarantine for SA.

ABC is reporting that a plane full of Adelaide travellers have been sent back from Darwin to Alice Springs after the capital’s facilities reached capacity.

Victoria reports 19th consecutive day without new Covid cases or deaths

Ding ding ding! Right on time, some much needed good news from Victoria. The state has now gone 19 days without any new Covid-19 infections or virus-related deaths.

The state still has those three stubborn active cases, but I won’t let that tamper my Melbourne glee. And 17,300 tests, not too shabby.

Updated

In Queensland police are investigating the death of a man outside a home at Labrador this morning.

About 5.40am authorities were called after a middle-aged man was found collapsed outside a house at Whiting Street. Emergency services attended but the man died at the scene.

Police say a 48-year-old man is assisting police with their inquiries and investigations are ongoing.

Updated

Here’s a bit more information about how NSW is dealing with the Parafield cluster.

Passengers newly arrived from SA on flights and trains are being contacted and having their temperature checked, and asked if they visited any areas of concern.

The health minister, Brad Hazzard, told Seven’s Sunrise program the advice had come from the chief health officer, Kerry Chant, who had been in contact with SA authorities:

We have no intention at the present time of closing the border ... What we do want is people to minimise their travel. We don’t want families to be separated unnecessarily and we don’t want business to stop.

The premier, Gladys Berejiklian, also said she had no indication from Queensland about whether the outbreak in SA and the NSW response would affect its border with her state:

If I did speak to them I don’t think I’d get any sense ... tonight they’re having 100% capacity and no social distancing for their State of Origin match.

Despite that, Queensland authorities had refused permission for the NSW team to go to the state a few days earlier to acclimatise, she said:

I don’t think it’s based on any science.

Updated

Something for my fellow Victorians to keep an eye out for: Daniel Andrews is set to make some announcements at 11am.

From that lineup, it looks as though we might get some news about Christmas travel in regional Victoria, but we shall have to wait and see.

Updated

SA pizza shop customers urged to isolate

SA Health has released its broadest isolation order yet, stating that anyone who visited, got takeaway, or received deliveries from the Woodville Pizza Bar in Woodville between 6 and 16 November must isolate immediately, get tested and quarantine for 14 days.

Usually, these alerts cover several hours across one day at specific locations but this is a 10-day period that could potentially include hundreds of households, given that delivery is included.

Hopefully we can get some more information on this when the premier speaks later today.

Updated

AFP raids targeting CFMEU officials under way

It appears that a number of Australian federal police raids are occurring across Syndey.

The Daily Telegraph is reporting the raids are targeting officials of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union.

The raids starting early in the morning and are still under way.

An AFP spokesman told the newspaper that the warrants and searches were the results of a trade union taskforce investigation:

As this remains an ongoing investigation, no further information can be provided at this time.

Updated

Just on NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian’s comments I mentioned before, here’s what she said:

We are confident that South Australia has it under control. We’re just saying to our community – yes, the borders are completely open, but if you can delay it for a few days unless you have to go there, please do so.

But, of course, essential travel is still allowed and the borders are completely open.

Note: Berejiklian sounded a bit worse for wear this morning with a hoarse throat, but said she has been Covid-19 tested and it’s come back negative.

Updated

SA premier foreshadows rise in cases today

Steven Marshall has spoken to local radio in Adelaide, suggesting there will be a rise in cases today.

SA authorities have been ramping up advice for all residents to wear face masks in public settings where social distancing cannot be observed, such as public transport.

The premier noted that there may be more restrictions brought in for the sate.

Updated

NSW residents urged to delay travel to South Australia

Gladys Berejiklian has spoken this morning, urging NSW residents to delay or revise non-essential travel to South Australia as the cluster in Adelaide grows to 20, with 14 more suspected infections.

The premier has been outspoken about “setting an example” by not closing the border to South Australia unless the cluster continues to grow.

I’ll bring you more information as soon as I can.

Updated

Michael McCormack also discussed what Joe Biden’s victory in the US means for international relations in the Indo-Pacific region:

It is on recovering from Covid, and making sure we have the trade arrangements in place and the opportunities there that that is going to create.

So there was the 15 -ation agreement, Australia is part of that, of course, Australia and America are great friends. You only have to go to the top end during the season when the Marines arrive to see not only the military benefits it brings but also obviously the economic benefits that brings to the Northern Territory.

I know my senator is always delighted to see those Americans in Darwin and I know that certainly, the Joe Biden administration and the Scott Morrison administration are going to be working very closely with economic ties, to boost our region here in the Indo-Pacific.

Updated

Just a bit more on this Japan deal:

The Morrison government has played down the potential for closer defence ties between Australia and Japan to inflame tensions with China.

Scott Morrison and the Japanese prime minister, Yoshihide Suga, said in Tokyo last night they had reached broad agreement on a defence pact that would allow their forces to train in each other’s territory, paving the way for increased defence cooperation and joint exercises between Japan and Australia.

Once it is finalised and then approved by Japan’s parliament, the agreement will mark the first time in 60 years that Tokyo has approved a deal permitting foreign troops to operate on its soil. Suga is expected to visit Australia to finalise it next year.

In a press release overnight, Morrison argued the significance of the reciprocal access agreement “cannot be understated” and would “form a key plank of Australia’s and Japan’s response to an increasingly challenging security environment in our region amid more uncertain strategic circumstances”.

The Australian’s Olivia Caisley, who travelled to Tokyo to cover the visit, reports that Morrison last night maintained China should not worry about the signing of the new defence pact:

This is a significant evolution of this relationship, but there is no reason for that to cause any concern elsewhere in the region ... I think it adds to the stability of the region, which is a good thing.

Simon Birmingham, the trade minister, interviewed on ABC’s Radio National this morning, welcomed Australian “closer and clearer” relationships in defence, including through joint exercises humanitarian and disaster relief work. “This should have no bearing” on the Australia-China relationship, Birmingham said.

Morrison is on his way back to Australia today but you can read our full story of last night’s announcements in Tokyo here:

Updated

The deputy prime minister, Michael McCormack, is speaking to ABC now about the landmark deal Scott Morrison signed with Japan yesterday:

One of the main sticking points stopping the deal previously was Japan’s use of the death penalty, which could technically be applied to Australian ADF members if they committed serious crimes while training in the country. While an agreement was reached on this issue it was slightly unclear where the two nations landed. But McCormack did not seem to want to get into specifics:

I don’t think we should get stuck on this one issue. I think the important thing is that we have signed this arrangement with Japan’s military, and of course, we always place our military people and their cases as No 1 priority and that is why we invest so heavily in defence. That is why we invest way beyond what the Labor government did when it had six years of opportunity in government to invest in defence. We have an incredible amount of money on the defence industry to give our troops, our soldiers, airmen and soldiers and sailors and airwomen too, the best possible opportunity going forward.

Updated

Malcolm Turnbull continued his ‘it’s really time to listen on climate, guys” tour, with a conversation with Tim Flannery, hosted by GetUp (over Zoom).

Most of the chat was important but things we have heard before.

Then we got to what is happening in the Hunter. The former PM – ousted after a rebellion against his energy policy – pointed out that the Nationals state MP for the Upper Hunter, Michael Johnsen, is pushing for the area to be a renewable energy zone, and the state Liberal energy minister, Matt Kean, is quite receptive.

Turnbull pointed out that it is the Labor federal MP, Joel Fitzgibbon, who is stuck on coal:

So, you know, far be it for me to suggest how Joel Fitzgibbon should to do his job...

But, you know, you would think that the federal member for Hunter would be saying the coal exercises are going to come to an end, regardless of what you’re saying in Australia because the export markets are going to, you know, fizzle out.

I mean, all of our trading partners are going to net zero – they cannot do anything but.

So we’ve got to have the plan for the next stage, and clearly the Hunter for example, it’s got all of the transmission infrastructure. It’s got a huge amount of skills, it’s got energy-intensive industries, it has got potential for pumped hydro storage which is going to be important.

So, a renewable energy zone in the Hunter is absolutely compelling.

Turnbull said it was up to community leaders *cough Fitzgibbon cough* to come together and start selling Hunter communities the future:

What we need to be the delivering is not a sort of message of transition and that’s not a bad word but it has some bad connotations [but that] this is essentially, you know, the next big opportunity that this is going to be bigger and better than coal.

And, and, you know, leaving environmental questions aside, if you want to have an aluminium industry in Australia, the only way to have that is through abundant cheap renewable energy.

So you guys should be at the barricade saying, ‘Come on get on with it, because we know how to generate cheap electricity, with renewables with storage, with the right planning.’

And the sooner we can bring it on, the better for people whose jobs do depend on cheap power.

Updated

Peppers guests must restart 14 day quarantine

Health authorities in Adelaide have reversed a decision to move 255 returned travellers quarantining in a hotel linked to the city’s emerging coronavirus cluster. All guests will now be required to restart their 14-day quarantine.

The confirmation that all guests in the Peppers medi-hotel will have to quarantine for a further 14 days inside their rooms was delivered via a loudspeaker announcement on Tuesday night, almost 24 hours after they were told to pack their belongings in anticipation of moving to a different medi-hotel in Adelaide.

While guests were warned they may need to quarantine for up to 14 additional days in the initial announcement on Monday, Tuesday night’s confirmation of the 14-day extension for all guests means some people who had been ready to finish hotel quarantine on Tuesday will ultimately serve 28 days of quarantine in the same room.

The action is being taken out of concern Covid-19 has spread inside the Peppers medi-hotel in Adelaide’s CBD, after the South Australian premier, Steven Marshall, on Tuesday said authorities believed a cleaner and other hotel staff had contracted the virus by surface transmission. The cluster grew to 20 cases on Tuesday, with more cases expected.

Guests will not have to pay for the additional quarantine period, and have been warned they will have to reschedule any connecting flights. Adelaide has become a common transit point for international returnees while Melbourne remains closed to international arrivals.

Guardian Australia has seen the emergency management direction document for the additional quarantine, signed off by the SA police commissioner, Grant Stevens. It is believed about 255 guests are affected.

Dennis K, who is eight days into quarantining in the Peppers hotel with his partner after arriving from Brussels, will now miss his connecting flight to Melbourne, where he lives.

On Tuesday, before the initial plan to move them to a new hotel, Dennis told Guardian Australia he was concerned about the risk of being on a bus with fellow guests.

He said he had his bags packed and was ready to leave for most of Tuesday, but suspected the plans had changed as he watched health workers in hazmat suits deep cleaning hallways through his room’s peephole.

“Everyone is upset, there isn’t guidance from a single person,” Dennis said. “There are only police onsite, but nobody from SA Health.”

“The whole day we had to wait for this announcement. [Our] luggage was already packed … [now we] can unpack them again.”

Dennis said he and his partner found the prospect of an ultimate 21 days of quarantining mentally daunting. “There is zero respect for us in here,” he said.

Updated

Welcome to Wednesday

Good morning, Matilda Boseley here to take you through all the day’s news in Australia, whether that be Covid-19 related or otherwise.

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.

Once again the biggest news of the day comes from South Australia. (Who could have imagined this just a week ago?) The 255 people completing quarantine in the Peppers medi-hotel in the Adelaide CBD will be required to restart their 14 days of quarantine after infection control problems in the facility led to the Parafield cluster.

  • The Parafield cluster now sits at a total of 20 confirmed cases and 14 probable cases (people who have symptoms and are close contacts of the confirmed cases, but have not yet been confirmed). Hopefully we will get some of the test results back from those 14 today.
  • Greg Hunt has praised South Australians for getting tested, encouraging people without symptoms to also be checked for coronavirus. The federal health minister said there were 100 Australian defence force troops on the ground in SA, with authorities meeting to map out how much extra support is needed.
  • Queensland, the Northern Territory, Tasmania and WA have slammed the gates shut on South Australia (Queensland is only restricting Adelaide travellers). Victoria has increase screenings but has kept the border open and NSW and the ACT have not imposed travel restrictions.

In non-SA related news (if there is still such a thing) prime minister Scott Morrison has been trying to calm China’s concerns about a landmark defence treaty between Australia and Japan, saying the regional giant shouldn’t fear the move.

  • Morrison met with his Japanese counterpart, Yoshihide Suga, in Tokyo on Tuesday, where the pair signed a reciprocal access agreement that streamlines each country’s use of the other’s military bases. The agreement still needs to be ratified by parliament.
  • The NSW treasurer, Dominic Perrottet, will spend $98.1bn in the 2020-21 budget, leading to a deficit of $16bn as the state props up the coronavirus-battered economy while maintaining its ambitious infrastructure plan. There will no doubt be more fallout from this budget today.
  • The grief-stricken family of Celeste Manno claims the system failed to protect her after her alleged murder at the hands of an infatuated former co-worker. Manno, 23, was found dead in a home at Mernda, in Melbourne’s north-east, about 4.10am on Monday. A 35-year-old man, believed to be known to her, was arrested and taken to hospital where he remains under police guard.
  • Two Sydney men have been charged after being accused of transferring $2.3m offshore as part of an international money-laundering operation.
    NSW police searched homes and seized more than $170,000 in cash, 64kg of silver bullion worth an estimated $55,000, and two ounces of gold bullion worth an estimated $5,000.

Updated

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