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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Elias Visontay and Amy Remeikis

NSW-Victoria border to reopen, as China trade fears grow – as it happened

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What we learned, Wednesday 4 November

That’s it for tonight, thanks for reading. To recap today’s developments:

  • New South Wales will reopen its border with Victoria on 23 November, with premier Gladys Berejiklian acknowledging the move is a “cautious” and “calculated” risk.
  • Penny Wong, the opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman, has responded to US president Donald Trump declaring he will go to the supreme court because “we want all voting to stop”. With Trump appearing to falsely claim victory despite no clear winner emerging, Wong stated that Americans “deserve to have their voices heard” and that “the democratic process must be respected”.
  • Victoria recorded its fifth consecutive day of zero coronavirus cases, while NSW reported three new cases of community transmission - all linked to the known Hoxton Park cluster, which has grown to 10 cases.
  • Counsel assisting the inquiry into Crown Resorts has recommended that the casino behemoth be found no longer suitable to hold a casino licence in NSW because of the influence of its largest shareholder, the billionaire James Packer, and his private company over its operations. Crown’s casino at Barangaroo in Sydney is due to open next month.
  • The Morrison government has called on China to come clean on whether a range of Australian export sectors
    worth billions of dollars a year will face new curbs from Friday amid increasing tensions between the two countries. On Wednesday, it was reported that China’s domestic drinks industry is lobbying for Australian wine to be subject to retrospective tariffs.

Penny Wong says Americans should have their voices heard

Penny Wong, the opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman, has responded to the unclear outcome of the US election, saying Americans “deserve to have their voices heard”.

The comments come after US president Donald Trump told a crowd at the White House in the early hours of Wednesday morning (DC time) that “we will be going to the US supreme court” and that “we want all voting to stop”.

The results of the election remain unclear, with counting in some states pauses for the evening.

Wong tweeted:

Americans have voted in historic numbers in this election.

They deserve to have their voices heard.

The democratic process must be respected, even when it takes time.

It’s in Australia’s interest that America remains a credible, stable democracy.”

Meanwhile, Greens foreign affairs spokeswoman Janet Rice has called on Scott Morrison to condemn Trump for falsely declaring victory despite no clear result emerging.

“Trump declaring victory prematurely is an assault on democracy.”

Scott Morrison is yet to respond to the US election.

Updated

State of Origin game 1 is set to get underway at 8:10pm (AEDT) tonight.

My colleague Emma Kemp is live blogging the build up, and the game itself, over here:

The Democrats Abroad event in Adelaide erupts into a chorus of boos as Donald Trump appears on the big screen.

The wave of abuse hurled at Trump is the most animated the room has been all day, after the muted silence for Biden.

Their anger escalates as Trump baselessly claims that an undefined group of people are trying to “disenfranchise” Republican voters.

Someone puts the television on mute.

As a result most stop watching by the time Trump declares a fraud has been committed upon the American people. “Go cough on someone else,” mutters one attendee.

With the tension continuing to rise at the Democrats Abroad event in Adelaide as the results tighten and attendees await Trump’s speech, the adage ‘every vote counts’ has never looked more true.

Adelaide-based chef Michelle Toratani, who left the US 13 years ago, nearly didn’t get to cast her vote at all. Having moved house shortly before the election, her ballot only arrived yesterday evening.

She was able to email her vote to the Federal Voting Assistance Program, who then faxed it on to the polling station. The next morning, she awoke to an email confirming her vote made it in time.

“It was so nerve wracking,” she says, repeatedly pounding the table for emphasis. “It doesn’t get more last minute than that!”

Updated

China's wine industry calls for retrospective tariffs on Australian wine

Treasury Wine Estates revealed late today that China’s domestic drinks industry is lobbying for Australian wine to be subject to retrospective tariffs.

In a statement to the Australian stock exchange, the maker of Penfolds said the request was associated with the ongoing anti-dumping investigation launched by China’s commerce ministry in August.

But the company said it was unclear whether the authorities would end up imposing tariffs and if so whether they would be applied retrospectively – and therefore the financial impact remains unclear. The investigation is meant to take up to 12 months.

Treasury Wine Estates also told the market it was aware of speculation about a potential embargo on imports of wine but the company had “not had any advice or notification from the Chinese authorities in relation to this”.

For more on the latter issue, see our story from earlier today:

Updated

The planned reopening of the border between New South Wales and Victoria should “set the standard” for other states such as Queensland to reopen, according to Simon Birmingham.

The federal minister for trade, tourism and investment welcomed the plan to reopen on 23 November as “a great move by Gladys Berejiklian and her government”.

Birmingham - who is wearing quite a few hats these days, given he recently took over from Mathias Cormann as minister for finance and leader of the government in the Senate - commented on the issue in an interview with 2GB this afternoon.

Reconnecting the two biggest Australian states is great news for travel, for tourism, for many Australians in terms of reconnecting with loved ones near Christmas as well.”

Birmingham was asked about Queensland, which for the time being still defines 32 greater Sydney local government areas and all of Victoria as Covid-19 hotspots. (Queensland is closed to people who have been in those areas in the last 14 days.)

He did not directly name Queensland - where Annastacia Palaszczuk won re-election last weekend - but appeared to be sending the state a message when he said:

I hope it does set a standard again for the other states and territories. We’ve seen other leaders, such as Michael Gunner in the Northern Territory or Steven Marshall in South Australia, again, showing strong leadership in these regards, following the health advice in cautious, careful ways, but not holding back unnecessarily for political or other motivations.

It’s crucial that we do have those reconnections of our country and that can help sustain and support so many different jobs that are currently threatened as a result of these different shutdowns.”

A hush descends on the Democrats Abroad event in Adelaide as their candidate Joe Biden appears on the big screen live from Delaware.

There are no cheers throughout the speech, nor when he finishes.

A momentary pause follows, before someone suggests “he’s trying to stop Trump stealing the election.”

“Trump just tweeted that was Biden trying to steal the election,” another attendee claims.

“Well he can fuck off,” responds a third.

Democrats Abroad Australia chair Kent Getsinger says that it seems no result will be known tonight, and one might not be evident for days.

“I am hoping every vote is counted, still hopeful for some of those swing states - Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, ideally Texas,” he says.

“Overall we need massive systemic change in the US. So many social, cultural and economic factors have split people apart that this is the result we have.

“We’re faced with either another four years of this guy [Trump], versus someone who could potentially create the space to begin the change we so desperately need.”

Life expectancy for Australian women rises to 85 years and men to 80.9 years

In some undeniably good news, life expectancy in Australia continues to increase.

According to new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, a boy born today is expected to live to 80.9 years and a girl to 85 years.

“Male life expectancy has increased by 0.2 years since 2016-2018, and by 1.6 years in the past 10 years. Female life expectancy has increased by 0.1 years since 2016-2018, and by 1.1 years in the past decade,” ABS demography director Lauren Ford said.

The ABS also said life expectancy for males has improved at a faster rate than that for females. In 1988, life expectancy at birth in Australia was 73.1 years for males and 79.5 years for females, a gap of 6.4 years. The gap has now narrowed to 4.1 years in 2017-2019.

“Australians have a higher life expectancy than comparable countries, such as New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the USA,” Ford said.

Today an Australian male aged 50 years can expect to live another 32.9 years, and a female another 36.3 years. (This is longer than life expectancies at birth, as 50-year-olds have successfully made it through the first several decades of life).

Updated

A few beers in at the Democrats Abroad event in Adelaide, Sara Lemanski decides to lift the room’s increasingly apprehensive mood with a divisive rendition of Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the USA.

“The bartender dared me, as it is a bit of a Republican anthem, ‘stirring the pot’ – as you Aussies like to do,” she says.

Shortly after, a decorative string of miniature American flags ominously detaches from the ceiling, which Lemanski sets about trying to stick back into place.

Her lung-busting performance fell flat, but Lemanski wins her audience back by announcing to the room that Fox News has (controversially) called the crucial swing state of Arizona for Biden. Cautious cheering ensues.

Updated

There’s a bit of teeth chattering happening now at the Democratic election watch party in Sydney.

Dave Kennedy, co-chair of the Asia Pacific Leadership Committee for the Biden Victory Fund, has his eyes glued to the screen, telling me he thinks Biden will have to carry Arizona to win now.

Carmela Polce, his fellow co-chair, nervously bounces on the spot.

They can neither look away, nor stop watching.

Ohio has just been called for Trump by CNN, and an air of resignation is descending on to proceedings. There isn’t even energy for the booing anymore.

David Bayless tells me it’s been tiring and confusing trying to keep up with all the information.

“Could be a pretty severe hangover tomorrow. I just keep checking the odds and cross-referencing with news sites, and they’re all telling me something different.”

David, along with Catherine Davis, tells me it’s frustrating to know that things won’t be very clear by the end of the day.

As more information trickles in on how the swing states are voting, people have begun packing up and moving on, disappointed at the party that never was.

Updated

From Kate Thwaites MP, Labor MP for Jagajaga in Melbourne

South Australia reports one new case of Covid in quarantine

South Australia has reported one new case of Covid-19, in a returned traveller in hotel quarantine.

The new case is a man in his 60s who returned from overseas and tested positive in hotel quarantine, according to SA Health.

There are currently 12 active cases of Covid-19 in SA.

SA Health is also advising anyone who has arrived in the state from New South Wales, who has been to any of the locations of concern, to seek testing and self isolate immediately.

Updated

Western Australia records one case of Covid-19

Western Australia has reported one new case of Covid-19, in a returned traveller in hotel quarantine.

The confirmed case is a male traveller in his 30s who returned to Perth from overseas, according to WA Health.

Updated

Just unpacking some of today’s Australian Bureau of Statistics further.

Bjorn Jarvis, head of labour statistics at the ABS, speaking about the 4.4% drop in payroll jobs since mid-March, said:

“The accommodation and food services and arts and recreation services industries have suffered the largest losses in payroll jobs during the Covid-19 period. By 17 October, these industries remained 18% and 15% per cent lower than mid-March,” he said.

“The Northern Territory has the lowest payroll job losses since mid-March (1.3%), closely followed by Western Australia (1.4%). Payroll job losses continued to be greatest in Victoria (8.0%),” Jarvis said.

ABS figures also show retail turnover fell 1.1% in September – led by falls in household goods and food products, while turnover at cafes, restaurants and takeaway food, and department stores have risen.

Updated

ABS figures show fall in jobs

Labor’s treasury spokesman, Jim Chalmers, and its employment spokesman, Brendan O’Connor, have blamed the government’s changes to jobkeeper as being responsible for a decrease in jobs.

Australian Bureau of Statistics figures released today show payroll jobs decreased by 0.8% in the fortnight ending 17 October, and by 4.4% since mid-March.

Total wages paid also decreased by 2.1% in the same fortnight period.

Chalmers and O’Connor’s joint statement said:

The latest ABS figures released today show a fall in jobs and wages in every state and territory in the first full fortnight after the Morrison Government cut JobKeeper prematurely.

30,000 jobs were lost in the fortnight to 17 October, 470,000 jobs have been lost since the virus outbreak began and 160,000 more Australians are expected to join the unemployment queues by Christmas.

The jobs crisis is getting worse but Scott Morrison and the Liberals are withdrawing support from the economy.”

Updated

Anxious is the word of the hour as results from key swing states begin to trickle in here at the Democratic watch party in Sydney.

People are getting into their lunches and quietly discussing different possibilities and pathways for Biden to the presidency.

But there is a growing unease about how close it’s all gotten.

“How is there any question that Biden should win this? Trump has let a quarter of a million Americans die, people are concerned for their health and jobs, it’s crazy,” so says Krista Collard, watching from a booth.

Does she still think Biden will win?

“Yeah,” she sighs “I do, but I think the Republicans have an inherent advantage with the electoral college. If the pollsters learned from last time, he should win.

“I don’t feel less surprised about how tonight is going, we’ve seen lots of voter suppression across the country, and we’re all still jaded from the last election.”

There’s also a growing sense that a result is probably not going to come tonight, especially as numbers come in showing the two candidates neck and neck.

“We have to brace ourselves that it’s just not going to come tonight.”

Updated

Good afternoon, I’m Elias Visontay. I’ll be bringing you all the latest Australian news over the next few hours.

But I can’t promise an escape from US politics! We have reporters providing updates from Democrat and Republican election functions in different cities across Australia.

Updated

I’m going to hand the blog over to Elias Visontay for the afternoon – although it is all US at the moment.

I leave you with Donald Trump looking good for another term. Yes, there are early votes to count, but it doesn’t look like being enough. It is going to be a long night with those postal votes to be counted – but if you are not a fan of Trump (and if you are reading this blog chances are you are not) brace yourself.

I’ll be back tomorrow morning with the wash-up. Take care of you.

Updated

Unable to visit relatives back in coronavirus-stricken California for the first time since she moved 18 years ago, IT consultant Stephanie Jeuken has never felt more disconnected from America.

That feeling prompted Jeuken to attend her first-ever political event at the Democrats Abroad function in her adopted home of Adelaide.

Stephanie Jeuken pictured at the Democrats Abroad function in Adelaide.
Stephanie Jeuken pictured at the Democrats Abroad function in Adelaide. Photograph: Max Opray

Jeuken is bonding with fellow Americans over their shared hope that the man she blames for her inability to return home is booted from office.

As indicated by her “I voted from Freakin’ Australia!” badge, she successfully lodged her ballot via fax, although has been careful not to mention it to the folks back home.

“I try not to advertise it – people back in the US don’t appreciate overseas voters as we don’t live there anymore, but I still file taxes and should have a say,” she says.

One relative she hopes to be able to visit once restrictions ease is her octogenarian aunt, who voted for the race-baiting Trump despite personally experiencing confinement in an internment camp for Japanese Americans in World War Two.

“She has changed her mind now over the Covid situation,” Jeuken says. “She found his leadership lacking.”

Jeuken lets out a panicked laugh when asked about the current state of play as the votes come in. “We were ahead against Bush, we were ahead against Trump last time. I’m not confident yet.”

Updated

Malcolm Turnbull is still hitting that retweet button hard

He has retweeted this now

Christian Porter defends integrity commission model

Christian Porter was speaking to his local radio station, Perth radio 6PR about the national integrity commission that everyone hates:

So, there’s two divisions. One half of it, if you like, we’ll look into and investigate corruption and integrity issues into law enforcement agencies at a Commonwealth level, of which there are many. The other half of that will look at the public sector. So that is all the full-time employees under the Public Sector Management Act, of which there are about 150,000 and will include people in universities, contractors in many instances. And yes, politicians are a part of that.

On that side of the body, the determination has been that it is an investigative body that it will be able to conduct hearings, but they’ll be private hearings, which is obviously in the nature of an investigation. But people can be compelled and there’ll be enormously strong powers with respect to both those private hearings but also the investigative capacity.

But we take a view, as the matter of principle, that it’s up to courts to hold public hearings that make determinations of guilt and innocence; and that having public hearings that result in a determination in a report is a system which, at a state level, has gone wrong so many times, and so well documented to have gone wrong so many times that it represents an approach which isn’t properly consistent with the rule of law and providing protections to civil servants, public servants, politicians, whoever it might be, providing protections that we all enjoy, presumption of innocence, right to a fair hearing, full disclosure of adverse evidence that might be alleged against you.

So, this is a question of principle, but I think it’s a very sound one.

Attorney general Christian Porter.
Attorney general Christian Porter. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Updated

Victoria Health has released its official update (wash your hands and wear your mask).

Victoria has recorded no new cases of coronavirus since yesterday, with the total number of cases now at 20,345.

There have been no new deaths from Covid-19 reported since yesterday. To date, 819 people have died from coronavirus in Victoria.

This is the fifth straight day where Victoria has recorded zero daily new cases or deaths.

The average number of cases diagnosed in the last 14 days (21 October – 3 November 2020) for metropolitan Melbourne is 1.7 and regional Victoria is zero. The rolling daily average case number is calculated by averaging out the number of new cases over the past 14 days.

The total number of cases from an unknown source in the last 14 days (19 October – 1 November 2020) is two for metropolitan Melbourne and zero from regional Victoria. The 14-day period for the source of acquisition data ends 48 hours earlier than the 14-day period used to calculate the new case average due to the time required to fully investigate a case and assign its mode of acquisition.

The Department of Health and Human Services continues its work to contain an outbreak of coronavirus in Melbourne’s northern suburbs with more than 41,000 tests processed from that area since Tuesday 20 October.

A total of 2386 test results were processed yesterday and a further 335 tests were processed this morning from northern suburbs testing sites in the local government areas of Banyule, Darebin, Hume, Moreland and Nillumbik.

In Victoria at the current time:

      • 4277 cases may indicate community transmission – no change since yesterday.
      • 30 cases are currently active in Victoria.
      • 2 cases of coronavirus are in hospital, there are no cases in intensive care
      • 19,496 people have recovered from the virus
      • A total of 3,233,373 test results have been received which is an increase of 17,357 since yesterday.

Updated

The crowd here is getting very excited about the results coming out of the US.

Andrew Cooper, the event organiser, got on stage a little while ago to tell the crowd that Donald Trump is now paying $1.36 on the betting sites.

Then, Craig Kelly, the federal MP, gets on stage and begins reading out the New York Times predicting wins for Donald Trump in Florida, Georgia and North Carolina.

Kelly, who is here to talk about “Trump Derangement Syndrome” tells the crowd that if it wasn’t for Covid-19, CPAC would have “filled the SCG with people to cheer on president Donald Trump today”.

Then, completely unsurprising if you’ve listened to Craig Kelly speak in the last six months, he pivots to the drug hydroxychloroquine.

Updated

The Queensland election may be over, but that doesn’t mean the border wars have ended.

As AAP reports:

The Queensland government is coming under increasing pressure from business leaders and other states to loosen its border restrictions.

The Sunshine State has reopened its borders to regional NSW residents for the first time in almost four months, but Sydneysiders are still banned from entering.

The hardline stance is looking increasingly untenable now the border between NSW and Victoria is set to open in three weeks.

The border wall will come down on 23 November.

“NSW will be the only jurisdiction in Australia that will be welcoming residents of all states, of all jurisdictions,” premier Gladys Berejiklian said on Wednesday.

Berejiklian challenged Queensland premier Annastacia Pałaszczuk to follow suit.

Qantas boss Alan Joyce also criticised the Queensland government for keeping its borders closed to Sydneysiders, saying the decision was driven by politics and populism.

“This is ridiculous. Australia will be living with this virus for a long time and Sydney is probably a world leader in managing it,” Joyce told business leaders.

“We were ready to add over 1000 flights between Sydney and Queensland for the month of November, but this remains on hold due to a policy that makes no sense.

“That will cost the Queensland economy hundreds of millions of dollars a week.”

From Wednesday, Victorians living within 70km of the South Australian border will not need to have been tested for coronavirus within the last seven days in order to enter the state.

Tasmania has also made a major change to its restrictions, scheduling its reopening to NSW residents on Friday.

It is hoped Victorians will be able to visit from 1 December if the state’s case numbers remain low.

Western Australia has flagged reopening its borders to all states and territories from 14 November, although some restrictions will remain for people from NSW and Victoria.

Queensland recorded two new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, both returned travellers in hotel quarantine.

NSW reported three locally transmitted infections and another six cases in hotel quarantine.

All three local cases were household contacts of people already in isolation.

Victoria recorded no new cases of coronavirus and no deaths for a fifth consecutive day.

The last time Victoria recorded so many consecutive days of zero cases was in February.

There are now just 30 active coronavirus cases in Victoria, the lowest number since the state government started recording figures in March.

However, premier Daniel Andrews warned the disease was “still lurking” and encouraged anyone with symptoms to get tested.



Updated

It’s like the whole of Australia – in terms of politics – has stopped right now.

It’s all about the US.

Patrons at a Canberra pub watch the US election results come in.
Patrons at a Canberra pub watch the US election results come in. Photograph: Lukas Coch/EPA

It’s very, very close at this point of the count. There is no ‘blue wave’ at this stage, in case you were wondering

Updated

Birmingham on China trade impasse

Asked about reports of lobsters sitting on the tarmac in China for tests of metal content levels, Simon Birmingham said some shipments had clearly experienced delays.

The trade minister told 2GB that because of the delays, “there is some product loss that has occurred in that sector,” given it was a premium product that had a short shelf life. However, he said some lobster shipments had also cleared customs. He said the industry had “quite rightly” sought clarification from Chinese authorities about whether they should expect longer testing in future.

Birmingham indicated his door remained open for talks with his Chinese ministerial counterpart, but he indicated there had been no change on the freeze in high-level contact.

Two other issues from his 2GB interview:

  • US election: Birmingham said the democratic process should play its course and who the US elects “is their business” but the alliance and strength of relationship between Australia and America will remain no matter who wins. The Australian government had been able to form a close working relationship with the Trump administration, as it had been able to do with administrations of both sides in the past.
  • RBA move: Birmingham, the new finance minister, denied the Reserve Bank of Australia’s announcements yesterday amounted to a vote of no confidence in the adequacy of the Morrison government’s fiscal stimulus. Birmingham said the announcement would help the economy and the RBA governor, Philip Lowe, had been “crystal clear” that the move was complementary to the government’s measures.

Updated

A relative quiet has come down as results hit a bit of a plateau.

Attendees have their eyes glued to swing states as numbers from safe states satiate them for now.

In that time, the co-chairs in Australia of the Asia Pacific Leadership Committee for the Biden Victory Fund tell me about their record breaking fundraising.

Dr Dave Kennedy say they raised $800,000 USD for the Biden campaign, a roaring success.

“We were blown away.”

“This is the first time Australia and the other Asia Pacific countries have come together, and that’s been fantastic for the Biden headquarters, and because fundraising is a very difficult job. We’ve help to pick each other up.”

They also worked together to get out the vote amongst Americans living in Australia.

They tell me they organised to have around 10,000 people vote from Australia, enough to change a race.

They said interest in voting this year “exploded”, with votes from abroad increasing in the wake of Trump’s win in the last election.

“We’re hoping for a much different outcome to 2016; it’s a much different election.” Carmela Polce says.

“It’s very hard to feel optimistic when there’s so much uncertainty. We certainly fell hard in 2016, so it’s hard to know for sure. We’ve done everything we could do.”

A roaring boo goes up as Mitch McConnell is announced to have retained his senate seat.

Polite claps all round for other Democratic senate winners though, but the real battles are still to come.

Updated

For Democrats Abroad Australia chair Kent Getsinger, US president Donald Trump’s attempt to undermine confidence in the validity of mail-in voting isn’t just an affront to democracy – it is an affront to months of work the Kentucky native has put in to encourage his fellow Australia-based US citizens to vote from abroad.

Democrats Abroad Australia chair Kent Getsinger in Adelaide.
Democrats Abroad Australia chair Kent Getsinger in Adelaide. Photograph: Max Opray

Wearing a vibrant blue “Unidos con Bernie” t-shirt to represent the progressive candidate he backed in the primaries, Getsinger has nevertheless gone all-in on getting the more moderate nominee in former vice president Joe Biden elected.

Nervously watching on from the election event he organised at the Gilbert Street Hotel in Adelaide, Getsinger and his team helped voters navigate the byzantine absentee ballot systems of American states.

“We’ve hit the phones hard since August, somewhere between 15,000 to 20,000 calls.

“It is hard enough to vote from overseas as it is even without Trump’s attacks, with some states using mail, some email, and others still using fax machines.

“[If Biden wins] we are hoping for voting reform, absentee votes could be so much easier.”

Updated

Marise Payne had a chat in Parramatta

The trade minister, Simon Birmingham, has popped up on 2GB.

On the reports that a range of Australian export industries will be targeted with new curbs on China’s customs clearance processes from this Friday onwards, Birmingham pointed to official denials by the Chinese government.

“There are lots of different rumours and stories at present,” he said, adding it was hard to discern which is true and which is “inflated”.

He said if the denials were accurate, the Chinese government should give urgent certainty to Australian exporters about the matter. He said this would also allow Chinese importers to “also plan with confidence” because the issue was causing disruption on both sides.

Updated

As you could imagine, most of the Guardian office is glued to the US election count at the moment.

I just caution everyone to listen to my Oma and not tempt demons.

It is way too early to call anything.

An electric energy has started to flow through the election watch party in Sydney, as results begin to stream in.

A huge cheer at the democratic watch party went up when a series of states were called for Biden, including Delaware and New York, but there is still a general anxiety about the result.

For Raul Brens, a Floridian who’s lived in Australia for 10 years, it’s going to be a nervous election day.

“It’s been very chaotic. I suspected Trump would win in 2016, people underestimated him. But tides have changed, and Biden has a good chance of winning.”

He told me lots of Americans are fed up with Trump, who can no longer claim to be an outsider in politics. “He can’t claim that dynamic any more.”

Dr Dave Kennedy, co-chair in Australia of the Asia Pacific Leadership Committee for the Biden Victory Fund, told me victory was possible, but depended on some states Hilary Clinton lost in 2016.

“I think the Clinton people assumed too much, and Trump went there and campaigned hard.”

A huge boo then goes up as CNN announces Trump taking Arkansas, but a woman cuts through the noise.

“Don’t boo, vote!”

Updated

A mistake to accept OAM, says Bettina Arndt

Bettina Arndt is talking about the anger after she was awarded an OAM last year.

It was a mistake to accept the award, she says, because until then she’d “gotten away with challenging the feminist narrative because I’m self-employed”.

The award gave those various actors “the excuse they needed to take me out”.

She accuses various individuals and organisations, including the ABC, “two attorneys general and most of our government Senate” of seeking to “cancel” her.

It showed, she said, “the grip of feminism on all our major institutions”.

But she’s not discouraged, and is “gathering a small army” to defend the rights of men on university campuses.

Right now, she says, her group is helping a man accused of “a minor incident of sexual touching” which, she says, involved “a whole lot of alcohol and not much else”.

So, you know, that’s something that’s happening.

Bettina Arndt.
Bettina Arndt. Photograph: Fairfax Media/Fairfax Media via Getty Images

Updated

Next on the speakers program is Bettina Arndt, OAM. While everyone eats their lunch she’s accusing the left in the US of having “manufactured a campus rape crisis”.

Joe Biden was intimately involved in this “blatant social engineering”, we’re told.

I’m struggling to put this into any coherent context because the honest truth is that I have no idea what she is talking about.

If anyone else in the crowd is also struggling, Arndt encourages them to read her book, #MENTOO. I am probably not going to do that.

Updated

Approximately 16,800 kilometres from Washington DC, a few dozen Biden voters are clustered around televisions watching the results come in at an official Democrats Abroad event at The Gilbert Street Hotel in Adelaide, South Australia.

Among them is 42-year-old British-American Jonathan Morgan, who became a US citizen after marrying into a strongly pro-Republican family who live in his wife’s home state of Missouri.

The couple have spent the election campaign working the phones to persuade their relatives to switch to Biden.

“Not sure if it made a difference, it feels like no matter what, they only listen to Trump,” he says.

“Some family members are still questioning whether coronavirus is even real, which it seems self evidently it is. We know people that have gotten sick and died.

“There’s a lot of tension right now, we hope Trump doesn’t get back in.”

Updated

Adam Bandt has responded to Michael McCormack’s latest McCormacking:

Adam Bandt and Michael McCormack in parliament
Adam Bandt and Michael McCormack enjoying a friendly chat in parliament late last year. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Responding to calls from the Deputy Prime Minister that he should resign for calling for a phase-out of coal, Greens Leader, Adam Bandt, has said that Michael McCormack is a threat to the Australian way of life, that his love of coal is a direct threat to Australia and that he should stand-down for putting Australians’ lives at risk.Michael McCormack is a direct threat to Australia’s farmers, our workers and our way of life,” said Mr Bandt.

Michael McCormack is putting Australians’ safety at risk and he should stand down.

“Michael McCormack and Scott Morrison are failing in their first duty to keep Australians safe.

“This McCormack/Morrison coal-hugging threatens millions of Australian lives and jobs.

“Coal is a threat to Australia.

“The next time a bushfire or cyclone hits, Australians should remember that the Deputy Prime Minister actively pushed for more coal to make the climate emergency worse. He will bear some responsibility.

“The Bureau of Meteorology has just said Australia is on track to warm by 4.4 degrees by the end of the century, yet the Deputy Prime Minister wants to make it even worse.

“The only way to protect Australia is to take strong action on climate and phase out coal.

“Scott Morrison and Michael McCormack are climate change Chamberlains when we desperately need Churchills.

Updated

Marise Payne is holding a doorstop today – which is noteworthy in itself, because Payne hates fronting the media (always has).

It’s in Parramatta.

Updated

It seems that for certain sections of conservative Australia, the “culture wars” are the longest-running conflict the world has ever seen.

Updated

After a brief break, CPAC is now hearing from Alan Jones (again) in discussion with three Liberal party senators, Eric Abetz, Jim Molan and Alex Antic.

The conversation is swirling around a little bit. We begin with what Abetz calls the “Chinese dictatorship”, pivot to what Jones calls “that renewable crap” and then settle into the culture wars.

“The left are running the show everywhere,” Jones says on a panel of conservative government MPs. There is a “significant indoctrination of our schools” occurring. The left, Jones says, “are on the march”. “At the moment we’re only being hit by a bus [but] there’s a concrete truck coming down the road,” he tells us.

The scene outside CPAC on Wednesday morning.
The scene outside CPAC on Wednesday morning. Photograph: Brook Mitchell/Getty Images

Antic agrees but says the silent majority “agree that it is not reasonable to run around tearing statues down”. People want to be able to watch Chris Lilley’s entire catalogue on various streaming services, he says.

“If we lose the culture war arguments we lose the whole lot,” Antic tells us.

Abetz tells us the Liberal party “need to remain strong, and be strong, and be willing to advocate for the beliefs that motivate us”. He tells the crowd that he carries around a copy of Robert Menzies’ “We Believe” statement, which apparently sets out the party’s core principles.

But, he says, when he tries to tell some of his Liberal party colleagues, they don’t seem to care about what he is talking about.

Then Abetz tells the crowd that it’s Tony Abbott’s birthday. He’s apparently in hotel isolation after returning from overseas. In case he’s watching, Abetz wishes him happy birthday. Big cheer from the crowd.

Updated

And storm season hasn’t even started yet …

Updated

Reports of China wine ban 'really confusing'

Australian wine producers say the reported looming disruption to trade with China is concerning but confusing and the timing is odd.

The chief executive of Australian Grape & Wine, Tony Battaglene, told Guardian Australia he had received calls from between 10 and 20 Australian wine exporters who had heard concerning reports from their import partners in China.

The word was that “no product will be cleared through customs from Friday, so please don’t send any more shipments until this matter is cleared up”.

Australian wine exports to China are worth about $1.2bn a year.

Battaglene said while these were anecdotal reports, he was not sure whether the instructions had been issued to all wine importers in China or just some of them. There had not been any official confirmation from either Beijing or Canberra.

“It’s a really confused situation … we have no firm facts around it,” he said, adding that wine exporters will know for sure whether or not it’s true after Friday’s reported cutoff date.

Battaglene said the reports were concerning but “also odd”, because China’s commerce ministry had only recently begun 12-month-long investigations into dumping and subsidy allegations against Australian wine (announced in August).

He said the Australian industry was cooperating with that investigation, and the questionnaires are due to be returned in mid-November.

“It seems a bit surprising that we’re not going through these channels and this particular issue has been raised. This makes us concerned about the accuracy of these reports and whether importers are jumping at shadows or it’s real.”

Despite the ongoing investigations, which could pave the way to tariffs next year, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported a 150% increase in red wine exports to China in September compared with August.

Battaglene confirmed there had been an increase in Australian wine exports to China in September, but he said there was always an increase at this time of the year. “Yes, we had a boost and we’ve got to remember exports were down for most of the year due to Covid.”

Battaglene’s association represents grape and wine producers in Australia.

Updated

Hello all, here’s my first blogpost from the election watch parties:

I’m in Sydney for the two election watch parties that have become sister parties, at Cheers and Three Wise Monkeys, and it is a sombre and anxious mood here.
Democrats Abroad, the official country committee for US Democrats living in Australia, has organised the watch party here at Three Wise Monkeys, and people are slowly filing in and preparing for a long day.

2016 looms large over the gathering, with people telling me they’re not very confident about Biden’s chances of winning.

Zach Harrison, a former Republican voter, tells me he thinks this is the most divisive election in history. “It’s been more divisive than 2016, absolutely. Mainly because of the outcome from 2016, but the virus has made it worse.”

Catherine Davis, a member of Democrats Abroad since 2016, said she’s dreading a potential Trump victory. “You know the feeling when you’re watching sports and the shitty feeling you get when your team loses? I’ll be feeling that for four years.”

Neither of them believe the result will be finalised today, but they’re hoping to, at the very least, get a clear picture of who might be the next US president.

Updated

Anthony Albanese had a chat to Triple M in central Queensland, where he was asked about the US election:

Look, we will wait and see. It’s an important election for the world. The US plays a leadership role. And it is up to them to decide, of course, not up to me to tell them what way to go. But I do hope that people, I’m somewhat concerned about some of the comments questioning whether the democratic outcome will be supported. One of the good things about democracy is people put forward their views. On Saturday night I thought the premier gave a fantastic speech, but I also think Deb Frecklington gave a good concession speech as well, immediately accepting the result. That’s what you do in a democracy. You accept an outcome. And it isn’t quite like a footy game where you can complain about the ref.

Updated

Queensland has recorded two new Covid cases – both people are in hotel quarantine.

Updated

NSW records three new locally acquired Covid cases

NSW has also recorded three locally transmitted cases – but all were linked to known clusters and were in isolation.

Updated

Here is the announcement:

Updated

NSW-Victoria border to open 23 November

This is excellent news.

Updated

The Australian government is still trying to verify reports that Chinese authorities have quietly flagged new curbs on shipments of Australian wine, lobster, sugar, coal, timber, wool, barley and copper.

It’s understood the government is seeking clarity and assurances from Beijing regarding the reported moves, which would represent a major escalation in the trade tensions between the two countries. Industry groups are understandably worried about it.

It’s worth noting the official denials or efforts to play down the reports that have come from the Chinese side, to date.

The Australian newspaper quoted China’s commerce ministry as playing down the “rumours” and saying it had not held a meeting at which it had reportedly said barley, wine, timber, coal, lobster, sugar, copper and refined copper ore would not be allowed to be imported from Australia.

The South China Morning Post, which first reported the moves, said those products would not expected to be allowed to leave ports from this Friday onwards, and it also reported speculation that Australian wheat could be targeted at a later date.

Yesterday the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Wang Wenbin, was asked directly about reports of Chinese importers of Australian products being ordered to suspend imports of certain products and he said Chinese authorities “take inspection and quarantine measures on imported products in accordance with laws and regulations”.

Wang added that China hoped Australia “can do more to enhance mutual trust and bilateral cooperation … and bring the bilateral relations back to the right track as early as possible”.

In a sign of the confusion surrounding what precisely is occurring, Australian lobster exporters reported on Monday that shipments were starting to clear customs after earlier delays – progress that they had initially interpreted as a positive development.

We expect to hear more from Australia’s trade minister, Simon Birmingham, who is scheduled to do a radio interview on the issue around lunchtime.

Updated

Counsel assisting recommends Crown no longer suitable to hold casino licence

Counsel assisting the inquiry into Crown Resorts has recommended that the casino behemoth be found no longer suitable to hold a casino licence in NSW because of the influence of its largest shareholder, the billionaire James Packer, and his private company over its operations.

The inquiry, chaired by the former supreme court judge Patricia Bergin SC, will make recommendations to the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority by 1 February. It is the authority that makes the final determination,

But the recommendations of counsel assisting are usually followed by the commissioner, and the submissions of Adam Bell SC left no doubt that Crown Resorts will need to make radical changes to its board and management, and that Packer will probably need to divest his shares in order to hang on to the Sydney licence.

“The conduct of Crown cannot be separated from the conduct of CPH [Consolidated Press Holdings] and the Crown board, which have shaped and continue to shape the conduct of the company,” Bell said.

He’s now going through the evidence before the inquiry to back up his submissions, including the 2016 arrests in China, and a key controlling shareholder protocol which gave Packer extraordinary access to management and information on Crown’s operations.

The submissions will run for several days, before Crown and CPH respond.

Updated

(Your semi-regular reminder that Alan Jones broadcast from his southern highlands home at the peak of the Covid outbreak in Australia, to protect his health.)

Updated

At CPAC, the former shock-jock turned Sky News broadcaster Alan Jones has been speaking for a while about Covid-19, why it isn’t worse than influenza and why our governments should be listening to “the real experts” and not chief medical officers whom he doesn’t seem to like very much.

The “real experts” here being a collection of epidemiologists who seem to agree with Jones that Covid-19 isn’t a big deal.

He’s running through a long grab bag of reasons why he doesn’t like the government’s response to the virus. Then the crowd, which has been a little quiet as they absorb the lecture, gives him a big cheer when he turns to Donald Trump.

The distinction, Jones says, between “who has died with it as opposed to who has died from it” has “never been made”.

“There is only one person in the world who has ever said exactly what the statistics mean, and that person is about to be re-elected president of the United States of America,” he says.

He moves on to masks for a while, mocking Joe Biden for wearing one.

It goes on. And on.

Updated

The Chaser were suspended by Twitter, and had their blue tick removed (not that blue ticks mean anything) for impersonating Donald Trump and tweeting: “Don’t vote for me, I’m a massive idiot.”

The account is back, albeit with a few changes.

“We understand why twitter would do this,” said the Chaser’s website editor, Cam Smith.

“After all, it would not be out of the ordinary for Trump to tweet something so outlandish. If anything this would have been one of his more reasonable tweets, so we could see how people might get mixed up.

“It’s impressive that twitter only took 20 minutes to unverify our tweet – given it took them almost four years to start fact checking the actual President. I guess that’s to be expected though, we all know comedians words are much more dangerous than those of the guy who controls 50% of the world’s nukes.”

Updated

Helen Sullivan has the global coronavirus live blog up and running.

Updated

I regret to inform you that Michael McCormack is at it again.

There is no limit to the amount of McCormacking he can do. It would be admirable, if he wasn’t actually – you know, a leader.

His statement (rebuking the Greens leader, Adam Bandt, for wanting action on emissions reduction) includes this line:

Adam Bandt is Australia’s modern-day Benedict Arnold – with the same initials (albeit the other way around) – this is treacherous behaviour.

Updated

That first CPAC panel ended with some pretty calm and chill rhetoric. Ross Cameron talks for a while about how the “the mainstream media, the bureaucracy, the academia, the NGOs” are all speaking “in perfect unison” about Covid-19.

Teena McQueen, the vice president of the Liberal party, pushes back on that.

“There’s many of us [in the Liberal party] that have pushed back on the Covid thing as well. I mean, myself and others ... we’ve all said it’s the flu.”

Then Rowan Dean asks Cameron whether a “Trump landslide” or “Trumpslide” will inspire a new conservatism in Australia. Cameron doesn’t seem confident.

“If we are brutally honest with each other, we would say our culture is in decline,” he tells the crowd. “We would probably say our culture is in terminal decline. If we look at the birthrates. we’re now down to 1.5 ... I would give Australia about a 5% chance.”

Dean asks John Ruddick what would happen to Australia in the case of a Biden victory.

“Well the prime minister has a very good relationship with Trump, Biden has a very good relationship with China ... if Biden gets elected it looks like, you know, China is going to be very, very happy about it and they are flexing their muscles.”

McQueen interjects to say Biden’s climate policy “really does scare me”.

“He can’t win,” she says. “We need Trump to come home.”

Cameron gets the last word, and talks for a while about the battle of Jericho.

“I still give Australia 5% chance,” he says. “I still think it’s possible.

“As they marched around Jericho seven times, when they went around the sixth time I guarantee you everyone in Jericho was laughing at them. But they went around the seventh time, they blew the trumpet, and the walls came tumbling down ... I would rather be in the army marching around then on the side of the deep state.”

He gets a big round of applause.

Updated

The Commonwealth Bank has become the first of the big four to pass on the RBA’s rate cut – to fixed loans.

Today CBA is announcing:

  • 100 bps reduction to 1.99% p.a. on new four year Fixed Rate home loans for Owner Occupiers paying Principal and Interest in the Wealth Package. This is CBA’s lowest ever advertised home loan rate;
  • 15 bps reduction to 2.14% p.a. on new two and three year Fixed Rate home loans for Owner Occupiers paying Principal and Interest in the Wealth Package;
  • 10 bps reduction to 2.19% p.a. on new one year Fixed Rate home loans for Owner Occupiers paying Principal and Interest in the Wealth Package.
  • 2.99% p.a. secured and 3.99% p.a. unsecured business loans rates through the Government’s SME loan guarantee scheme, a reduction of up to 51 bps;
  • 2.49% p.a. rates on new three, four and five year fully secured BetterBusiness loans, a reduction of approximately 50 bps.

Updated

Annastacia Palaszczuk is apparently not returning Gladys Berejiklian’s messages.

I mean, I have no insight into their personal relationship – but it couldn’t be because of the constant and widespread attacks over borders during the Queensland election campaign could it?

Anyways, here is AAP on that issue:

There’s widespread speculation that the border between NSW and Victoria could open in three weeks as Premier Gladys Berejiklian admits her relationship with Annastacia Pałaszczuk remains frosty.

The NSW premier says her text sent on Sunday congratulating the Queensland premier on her election victory remains unacknowledged.

“I just congratulated her, I said ‘especially during a pandemic congratulations on your win and I would love to talk borders with you’,” Ms Berejiklian told Sydney radio Nova on Wednesday.

“I haven’t heard back yet ... [but] I’ve had bigger disappointments in my life,” she said.

“But our Blues will reply tonight when we win against the Maroons,” she added, in reference to the State of Origin match.

Updated

We are still grocery shopping like demons, apparently.

Via AAP:

Woolworths food sales jumped almost 13 per cent in the first quarter of this financial year, a result the supermarket giant says bodes well for the Christmas season.

Australian food sales totalled $12 billion, a rise of 12.9 per cent on the same 14 weeks in 2019/20, for in-store, online and other sales categories.

The lion’s share, about $10 billion, was driven by its supermarket network, but online sales were also very strong – up by 100 per cent as more people ordered over the internet from home.

“For the rest of the calendar year, we expect elevated sales ... to continue as customers spend more time at home, and continue to embrace eCommerce,” chief executive Brad Banducci said on Wednesday.

The group’s cost of implementing in-store COVID safety measures, such as cleaning, personal protective equipment, COVID marshals and security, totalled $147 million in the quarter.

This excluded discretionary payments – such as employee discounts and incentive or recognition payments – and equated to about one per cent of sales.

But average prices during the quarter increased by 1.2 per cent, albeit less than the rise of 2.4 per cent in the final quarter of the last financial year.

First quarter sales for the entire Woolworths group, which also includes its New Zealand business, 179 Big W stores and Dan Murphy’s, jumped by more than 12 per cent to $17.9 billion.

Updated

Daniel Andrews will hold a press conference today – it’s at a zoo.

Updated

There is a lot to unpack in Michael’s latest dispatch.

I’ll just leave it at freedom of speech was not the reason the LNP lost the Queensland election – how does that even make sense? – and I refuse to believe Teena McQueen is a real person.

Updated

I’m getting my fill of Sky News early this morning. The first panel here at CPAC is under way. It’s Rowan Dean, Ross Cameron, the Liberal party vice-president, Teena McQueen, and John Ruddick.

Dean, the host of Outsiders, begins by talking about a sign he saw at the beach telling him to “swim at your own risk”, which he took exception to for reasons which mostly went over my head but which, the conclusion seems to be, shows why it’s important that Donald Trump is re-elected in the US.

“He understands the significance of the culture wars,” Dean says.

Then we hear why the panellists believe Trump will be re-elected today.

“I’m going to keep it simple,” McQueen tells us. “Trump will win because the African American vote is not turning out for Biden.”

“And a lot of them are voting for Trump,” Dean agrees.

“Candace Owens has been tweeting the same thing.”

We pivot back to freedom and Australia for a while. Scott Morrison does not seem to be a popular figure with this crowd and gets a few boos when Dean quotes him as saying in 2017: “Free speech doesn’t create one job.”

McQueen says that while she isn’t criticising the prime minister, her lesson from the Queensland election is that the Liberal party needs to talk about free speech more.

Cameron tells us he can’t tell the difference between Morrison and the Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, and that Mark Latham is “pound for pound” the best MP in Australia.

Updated

I’m in Pyrmont at the Conservative Political Action Conference, where I’m spending election day.

The pandemic has meant this year’s event isn’t quite the size of the inaugural conference in Sydney last year, but its organiser, Andrew Cooper, has still managed to fill a ballroom.

After spending a good 20 minutes wandering around the wharf looking for the entrance with a bunch of other lost souls including Ross Cameron, I got here and grabbed my “fake news” media pass.

I got inside just in time to hear Cooper talking about his troubles with the Attorney General’s Department, and then a pre-recorded address from the head of the American Conservative Union, Matt Schlapp.

He notes that the crowd is smaller than it otherwise would have been because of “neurosis and panic over a Chinese coronavirus”.

We’ve already heard a bunch of big cheers for Donald Trump.

It’s going to be a interesting day.

Updated

For those watching the US election, the Florida polls close at midday (eastern daylight savings time) so you should start to see some of those results flow through shortly after.

South Australia indicated it would be open to opening its border with NSW in about two weeks – although Victorians would have to quarantine for a further fortnight once in the state (this can be done in a private home).

We should hear NSW’s plans soon.

Updated

This from Paul Karp is quite interesting:

More than 80% of workers want to continue working from home in some capacity, but unions believe more protections will be required to facilitate it without discrimination or loss of pay and conditions.

Those are the results of a survey of 10,000 Australian employees conducted by unions, which found that 40% are working longer hours and 90% are not being paid overtime or penalty rates for extra hours worked.

The Australian Council of Trade Unions released the survey on Wednesday before an executive meeting to adopt a charter of rights around working from home.

Updated

Well, we know Malcolm Turnbull’s feelings on the US election – his account just retweeted this.

You may remember the former PM was subjected to a particularly awkward first phone call with Donald Trump, over the refugee deal Turnbull’s government struck with the Obama administration. (Turnbull didn’t budge though and the deal held.)

Updated

No new cases of Covid in Victoria and no lives lost

Five in a row, bbs!

If ever there was a day to drink in the morning and have it be totally acceptable, this is it.

As my colleague Alyx Gorman has pointed out, each has at least three shots of alcohol.

Updated

Here is what Anthony Albanese had to say about this yesterday, as reported by Katharine Murphy:

With Americans braced for civil unrest on election eve, the Australian Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, has warned that democratic processes should be respected in the looming presidential vote in the US.

Albanese did not criticise Donald Trump explicitly and he said the outcome of the election between the Republican incumbent and the former vice-president Joe Biden was “in the hands of the American people”.

But with Trump intensifying demands for the vote count in the battleground state of Pennsylvania to end on election night in a tweet that foreshadowed “violence on the streets”, the Australian Labor leader said no leader should undermine democratic values.

“I say this, that democratic processes should be respected,” Albanese said on Tuesday in Australia. “Our partnership between the United States is an alliance between our peoples based upon our common democratic values, and I am concerned of any questioning that occurs about democratic values and democratic processes.

“They are precious. They should not be undermined by any leader, and I await the result tomorrow.”

Updated

The most dangerous aspect of Donald Trump’s rhetoric lately (apart from all the winks and nods to white supremacists) has been his insistence that the results of the election be known on election night – ie, that not all the ballots should be counted.

Trump has falsely asserted “that’s the way it’s been and that’s the way it should be” and he has taken aim at a supreme court decision that will allow election officials in Pennsylvania to count absentee ballots which arrive after election day, as long as the postmark is 3 November. (There is an end time to that – the ballots have to arrive by Friday.)

That’s not even touching on his false claims calling into question the legitimacy of absentee ballots – postal votes.

It’s led to a lot of hand-wringing over what to do if Trump decides to claim victory while votes are still being counted.

Updated

Good morning

Although, is it?

My dreams were filled with smoke and red slashes and enough shadowy figures to make even Jung raise an eyebrow, so it’s not exactly great.

And it seems many of you feel the same way – there were so many people on the site this morning, looking for Trump news, it almost crashed.

Be reassured that we feel the same way, and will keep you updated across a whole range of stories and blogs, including this one. My sleep-addled brain is on full flight-or-fight response, and I imagine many of you woke with a shot of adrenaline (I did) so we will bring you as much information as we can.

In the meantime, if you are stressed, could I recommend taking a quick walk outside? Staring at, or even touching, a tree? It sounds trite, but there is nothing you can do but try to break the feedback loop in your brain if it gets really bad. There’s also biting into a lemon or licking salt – both can stop circular thoughts (your brain can’t concentrate on more than one thing when it has an overload of sensory stimulus).

First, to Australia, where the government is being slammed by all quarters (except its own, obviously) for its proposed national integrity commission. And rightly so – it’s less of an integrity commission and more of a “we’ll look at some things behind closed doors and you’ll never know, and we’ll decide what is corrupt or not” commission. The government has given itself six months for “consultation” but it is pretty clear that the results are already in: without some serious changes, it will struggle to get this through the parliament. It may – if certain members follow through with declarations of crossing the floor – struggle to get it through the House. At the end of the day, the Morrison government holds a two-seat majority, so it’s not impossible. Of course, that would mean people like Llew O’Brien still feeling strongly enough about the issue that they cross, so we’ll see.

We’ll also have Covid and everything else happening in Australia. Polls are still open in the US, so there is not a lot to bring you right now, but we will keep you updated on that – and the Australian reaction – when we can.

You have Amy Remeikis with you. OK. Ready? At the end of the day, as one particularly dangerous narcissist said, it is what it is.

(Trump. It was Trump who said that. About people dying from Covid.)

Updated

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