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

SA outbreak traced to traveller – as it happened

South Australia’s chief public health officer, Nicola Spurrier, speaks at a Covid-19 briefing
South Australia’s chief public health officer, Nicola Spurrier, speaks at a Covid-19 briefing. Restrictions on pubs, restaurants and gyms will come into effect from midnight in response to an Adelaide cluster. Photograph: Kelly Barnes/AAP

Summary

We’ll leave our live coverage here for the day. This is where thing stand:

  • The Parafield cluster in Adelaide has now grown to 21 cases, five of which were reported today. Another 14 people, close contacts of known cases, are expected to test positive. We earlier reported it was 17 cases yesterday and four today — the SA government has since confirmed the figures were reported incorrectly at a press conference, and it was 16 cases yesterday and five today.
  • The outbreak has been traced through genomic testing back to a traveller in quarantine at Peppers Hotel in Adelaide. The traveller arrived on 2 November and was tested on 3 November. South Australian premier Steven Marshall said it was believed the virus was transmitted through an infected surface.
  • About 4,000 people in Adelaide are in self-isolation after being identified as close contacts or because they frequented a high-risk transmissions site.
  • About 6,000 people got a Covid-19 test in South Australia today, a daily record for the state. People in the queues reported being told they might have to wait up to eight hours to be seen.
  • The SA cluster includes three staff who work at Brompton Anglicare aged care home. All 40 residents at the home have been tested for Covid-19 and to date none have tested positive.
  • Queensland, Tasmania, Western Australia and the Northern Territory have introduced stricter rules against SA travellers, while Victoria and New South Wales are conducting tests of some travellers from SA who have recently visited known transmission sites. The federal health minister, Greg Hunt, said border closures were not necessary.
  • Hikers from South Australia who were walking on Tasmania’s iconic Three Capes Track were tracked down by Tasmanian authorities and made to go into quarantine. Tasmanian premier Peter Gutwein said SA travellers would be asked to quarantine for at least the next 24 hours, subject to review. From now, anyone who travels from SA to Tasmania will have to quarantine for 14 days.
  • Queensland has closed its border to some South Australian travellers, declaring 20 local government areas in Adelaide to be Covid hotspots. Queensland also eased restrictions for social gatherings.
  • Western Australian premier Mark McGowan took aim at the federal government over its criticism of the Victorian government’s decision to lock down during the second wave outbreak, saying the behaviour of some federal government MP’s was “appalling”.
  • The NSW government has posted the largest deficit in the state’s history in its 2020-2021 budget, and announced a reform to phase out stamp duty in favour of an annual land tax. It also announced $100 entertainment vouchers to encourage people to patronise local venues.
  • Victoria recorded no new cases of Covid-19 for the 18th day in a row. NSW recorded no new locally acquired cases for the 10th day in a row.
  • Prime minister Scott Morrison is in Tokyo for his first meeting with the Japanese prime minister, Yoshihide Suga. It’s Morrison’s first international trip since the pandemic began.
  • And the Moderna vaccine against Covid-19 has reported an efficacy of 94.5% in its phase-3 clinical trials.

Thanks for reading. You can follow our rolling global coverage of the coronavirus here, and we’ll see you in the morning.

Updated

On a similar vein, a South Australian man was caught on CCTV stealing CCTV cameras. I think this is what you’d call an inherent risk.

I am not sure how to introduce this particular story, except to say that that is a lot of hats.

From AAP:

A bandit who allegedly stole thousands of dollars worth of cowboy hats from a store in the NSW Hunter region has been captured by police.

About 5.30am on 27 October, the man allegedly broke into a business in Scone, where he seen stuffing an array of country and cowboy hats into a wheelie bin.

With the hats selling for between $250 and $300 each, the 32-year-old made off with almost $10,000 worth.

Three weeks later police finally tracked down the man in Tamworth, arresting him on Tuesday.

He was charged with breaking and entering, and possessing stolen goods.

Updated

WA premier Mark McGowan is now rocking a distinction average in his approval ratings. Eighty-seven percent is just showing off, mate.

The new Closing the Gap targets will include a revised family violence prevention target and a new target on government accountability and access to information.

And all of the new targets will be publicly tracked when the new agreement comes into force, stakeholders agreed at a meeting today.

In a communique released by federal Indigenous affairs minister Ken Wyatt, the joint council on Closing the Gap said they had agreed to “develop an online, public tracker of the commitment in the National Agreement and that jurisdictional implementation plans will be developed in a consistent format to ensure that all Australians can monitor implementation across the country”.

The joint council also agreed on a strategic plan for funding the development of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community controlled sector, to guide investment in early childhood care and development, housing, health and disability programs.

Updated

Labor and Greens say Morrison government has failed to consider evidence against cashless debit card

Labor and the Greens have lashed the government for refusing to release the official evaluation of the cashless debit card before trying to make the program permanent.

A government-chaired Senate inquiry said in a report handed down on Tuesday that parliament should pass a bill to expand the card into the Northern Territory and make the existing trial sites in WA, SA and Queensland permanent.

But in separate dissenting reports opposing the bill, Labor and the Greens noted the government had failed to release a government-funded evaluation of the scheme by the University of Adelaide.

In a joint statement, Labor senators Malarndirri McCarthy and Patrick Dodson said:

Labor senators note the government did not make the Adelaide University evaluation public in time for it to be considered by this inquiry.

The failure to permit the inquiry to examine this evidence is a very clear indication the government’s pursuit of this bill is ideological.

They said around “68% of the people impacted by the restrictions and controls in this bill are First Nations Australians”.

The Greens senator Rachel Siewert said:

It appears the government is making the decision to entrench the CDC without considering all the available evidence.

The Department of Social Services briefly summarised a draft of the report as having found evidence the card was beneficial. It said last week the final report had not been handed to the government.

Guardian Australia reported this month that the overwhelming majority of submissions were opposed to the bill. A recent quantitative study also found little evidence the card was having an effect on social harms, the stated purpose of the policy.

Chaired by Liberal Wendy Askew, the inquiry report said: “The committee is encouraged by reports from local community members and organisations that the CDC is continuing to have a positive impact and reduce the level of social harm in each trial site.”

The government hopes to have the legislation passed by the end of the year.

Updated

On that issue, Canavan said he disagreed with Barnaby Joyce, who said on Q&A that there should not be a rule against MPs sleeping with an employee.

Canavan said:

I supported the ministerial code of conduct a couple of years ago. I am getting concerned, though, the concern was – I think Julie Bishop put it best – if you put this in place, does it give licence for the media, for anyone, to start pursuing every gossip and rumour that goes around, a bit like what we were talking about before?

We have got to be careful here because I have seen in the last couple of years younger female staffers be the subject of media inquiries when it was absolute rubbish, just complete gossip and innuendo, that their careers have been destroyed because the media are going after a particular piece of gossip on the pretext of maybe there has been a breach of the ministerial code of conduct. That really does hurt innocent people and you end up with a situation where we try to protect those that are put in vulnerable circumstances, we actually end up hurting others. I have a question mark over how that ministerial conduct is in force but as a principal, you shouldn’t have personal relationships in office.

He then added that while he supports the general policy, “we don’t want to set up some kind of inquisition ... people do fall into love and fall into relationships and the important thing is to manage those situations sensibly each time”.

I would add here that possibly the focus should be asking why it is that, if the argument is that workplace relationships happen, rumours of sexual relationships have been allowed to destroy the careers of young female staffers. The code of conduct is intended to penalise ministers for acting inappropriately, not their staff – if staff are being penalised, that’s an issue with the broader workplace culture.

Updated

Canavan then backed the Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, criticising the publication of what is alleged to be a screenshot of an email from one of his staffers, which was shared on Twitter. The email has not been verified and Albanese’s office has disputed its veracity.

Asked if he thought Albanese’s office should be investigated, Canavan said:

I’m going to defend here, perhaps Anthony Albanese, you put me in an uncomfortable position here.

He added:

I don’t think you should put a lot of weight into anonymous claims. This sort of stuff gets thrown around all the time in politics. Someone’s not willing to put their name to it, you have got to question me there could be an agenda here. Given what we saw last week in Canberra with Joel Fitzgibbon, whatever the merit of this particular letter, there is something uneasy with Albanese’s leadership and maybe he is trying to bring Albanese down so he can step up himself.

It’s not often an LNP senator seeks to defend a Labor leader against factional fights.

But, of course, this isn’t just any issue – it has been directly linked back in public discourse at least to the Four Corners story about inappropriate relationships between ministers and staffers, and area that traditionally enjoys very strong bipartisan political support against any kind of media attention.

Updated

If you would like to see senator Matt Canavan backed into voicing support for Annastacia Palaszczuk, I recommend looking up a clip of ABC24 from about 5.12pm to 5.17pm.

Host Patricia Karvelas asks Canavan and Labor’s Amanda Rishworth about their opinions regarding states closing their borders to South Australia.

Rishworth says she supports border closures, even though it means that she, as a person from Adelaide, is directly impacted.

As Matt has clearly said, the buck stops with the states and territories, and the commonwealth government seems to not take any responsibility for any of these things. So, while it’s inconvenient and, you know, it may prove to be necessary or unnecessary in the future, it is the states and territories that are responsible for this and need to take that responsibility. And I’m not going to be on the receiving end now. I’m not going to change my position.

Karvelas then asks Canavan if he agrees with Queensland closing down the border to 20 local government areas it considered to be hotspots in South Australia.

Yes, I always – I 100% agree with Amanda there that the states have the right to impose travel restrictions. I’m a big supporter of states’ rights. Look, I’m not a health officer but I think it makes sense to now put travel restrictions on those coming and going from Adelaide, and I’d say the same thing if an outbreak occurred here where I am in Rockhampton.

So, does that mean he supports the Queensland premier’s border closure?

A long pause, then:

Yeah, I ... Look, I, I see no reason to quibble with the health advice here to do that. I’m not saying that I should be the arbiter of these things because I don’t quite understand the arrangements about them despite reading them for the last few months. But the principle is that when a hot spot occurs, let’s put restrictions on travel to keep the hot spots contained.

Updated

Virgin Australia sale completed

Virgin Australia officially passed into the full control of US private equity group Bain Capital today, marking the end of a sale process that started after the airline fell into administration in April.

The airline was an early business victim of the coronavirus crisis, which grounded airlines as borders closed and states imposed travel restrictions to fight the virus.

It went into the crisis laden with billions in debt and in a far weaker financial position than bigger rival Qantas, and pulled the plug after the Morrison government refused its repeated pleas for a bailout.

A stint in administration has enabled it to shed most of its debt, leaving it financially far fitter than it was last year.

Now it needs to weather the continued fallout from the virus, which continues to crush the travel market, and fight off a cashed-up Qantas.

Updated

On the border between South Australia and Victoria, the Victorian health department says the SA border remains closed, on the SA side, to Victorians, which is limiting cross-border traffic. People in the cross-border region, which is 70km on either side of the border, are allowed to travel within that border corridor.

Victoria’s deputy chief health officer, Prof Allen Cheng, said:

No border restrictions have been imposed at this stage, but we are continuing to monitor the situation in South Australia. All cases in the outbreak in South Australia have known links and are currently within metropolitan Adelaide, so the risk to Victoria’s border communities is low.

People in South Australia who have been at a high-risk location are required to quarantine, and the South Australian border is closed to most travellers from Victoria. We are also putting in place a range of other measures, including screening arrivals at Melbourne Airport, alerting aged care facilities and hospitals and continuing wastewater testing in western Victoria.

Updated

The Victorian government says that every flight landing in Melbourne from Adelaide is being met by “authorised officers” and some travellers from SA are being asked to quarantine.

In a statement, the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services said:

Depending on their risk profile, passengers are being required to quarantine if they attended the high-risk exposure site at the Lyall McEwin hospital or get tested and isolate until a negative result is received if they are from or have been to metropolitan Adelaide. All other South Australian travellers are advised to get tested if symptoms develop.

Two flights from Adelaide arrived at Tullamarine yesterday, with 122 passengers on board and 81 passengers tested for Covid-19. Their contact details were collected. None of those passengers had attended a high-risk location, DHHS said.

Anyone who has been in SA in the last 14 days should check the exposure sites listed on the SA Health website and take the appropriate actions. For instance, if they were in the Lyall McEwin Hospital ED at the specified times, they should quarantine and contact DHHS for advice.

And if they have any symptoms, no matter how mild, they should get tested and self-isolate until the result is available.

Updated

FMG 'regrets' legal letter to Aboriginal heritage body

Looking back to Canberra now, where the federal inquiry into the destruction of a 46,000-year-old Aboriginal heritage site at Juukan Gorge is under way.

Mining giant Fortescue Metals Group has told the inquiry it regrets a letter it sent to the Western Australian government, which threatened legal action if FMG’s application for permission to destroy Eastern Guruma sacred sites was not progressed.

Fortescue’s CEO, Elizabeth Gaines, said the letters related to points of law for consideration by the Aboriginal Cultural Material Committee (ACMC), and “did not reflect Fortescue’s close consultative approach with Aboriginal people”.

The ACMC is the departmental body that assesses applications to disturb or destroy Aboriginal sites, and advises the minister, Ben Wyatt.

FMG’s letter describes Eastern Guruma traditional owners’ concerns about trying to minimise the impact on their sites as “irrelevant” to the progress of the application, because the traditional owners have “no entitlement” to do so under Western Australian law.

Gaines said:

That letter from an external legal adviser does not reflect Fortescue or our views or our conduct. If that letter did cause offence, I regret that.

Eastern Guruma traditional owners in the Pilbara had accused Forterscue of “bullying, dismissive, disrespectful behaviour” as evidenced by the letters, which they said was “inconsistent with their published values and the expected behaviours of an ASX Top Ten company”.

Gaines appeared at the inquiry alongside FMG’s director of community, environment and government, Tim Langmead.

Updated

The epidemiologist Prof Michael Toole from the Burnet Institute in Melbourne has been talking to ABC24 about the South Australian cluster. He says:

Looking at the data today, it strikes me this outbreak in South Australia is kind of a microcosm of the beginning of the second wave in Victoria. And so you’ve got a leak from hotel quarantine, you’ve got a large family cluster, members of that family have worked across at least the north of Adelaide and even further south, and you’ve got an aged care home, you’ve got a hospital, you’ve got many private medical practices, you’ve got about six supermarkets and about six bus routes. That’s a huge challenge to the contact tracers.

Fingers crossed that the trajectory of this outbreak more closely mirrors what happened in Shepparton, rather than what happened in Melbourne.

Toole continues:

... it makes me a little bit annoyed that Victoria got such heat about leaked quarantine – we are one of four major cities where that occurred. We had the bad luck it led to a huge chain of transmission.

We’ve now had hotel quarantine outbreaks in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and Adelaide.

So we have to be absolutely certain that this system that we bring into Melbourne shortly is absolutely watertight.

Toole says it looks like the SA contact tracing system is “on the ball. I can’t see any problems with that”. He says Victoria and New South Wales now have identical contact tracing systems.

Updated

And finally, Marshall and Prof Spurrier were able to clarify the numbers.

There were now 21 cases connected to the Parafield cluster. That’s 17 reported yesterday, and four more reported today. The 21st case was that one which Spurrier said had only just been reported and could not yet be firmly linked to the cluster, because contact tracing interviews were being conducted at the same time as the press conference.

There were 34 active cases in total in SA. All those other than the 21 listed above were in hotel quarantine.

And, as Spurrier said earlier, there were 14 close contacts who Spurrier said were suspected positives. Most of those contacts were children of those who had tested positive.

Updated

And back on how the virus was transmitted from a patient in hotel quarantine to a staff member to the community, Marshall said it’s believed they touched an infected surface.

It’s very likely they did contract this disease through a surface transmission. We think that’s the case.

But obviously our number one priority at the moment is just working as quickly as we can to get on top of this disease. Every single case that we have has an investigation. This one will have a very special investigation because we want to get to the origins of this. Most of our transmissions have been through aerosol droplets or physical contact.

We are very concerned about surface transmission. We read about this. We have seen it in other jurisdictions. But this is probably the first confirmed case that we’ve had in South Australia. But it’s quite possible there’s been other cases in the past, but we’ll be looking very carefully at this case.

Updated

There were a number of attempts by reporters to get either the premier or the police commissioner to criticise other states for imposing border restrictions against South Australian residents and requiring them to quarantine. Marshall is not biting:

We respect the rights of all states to make their own decisions in the best interests of their state. Our obligation is to provide them with detailed data regarding the cases that we have here in South Australia. Ultimately they need to make up their mind with regards to those border restrictions.

Yesterday would’ve been a bit of a shock to many of the [chief health officers] around Australia with 17 cases reported. Some of them took immediate action, some are waiting to see what will occur. We are working night and day, throwing every single resource we have at the problem, and we plan to stop the disease in its tracks.

Updated

What about the cricket? A four-Test series between Australia and India is due to start at Adelaide Oval on 17 December.

Says the premier, Steven Marshall:

We’re still hopeful the cricket will go ahead.

He said he hasn’t spoken to anyone at Cricket Australia about it.

Updated

Does that still mean lifting restrictions in a fortnight?

Says Stevens:

At this stage, it’s too difficult to tell. As Prof Spurrier has highlighted, we simply don’t know what we’re dealing with at the moment. We’re doing a huge amount of work to identify any possible infections. We’ll see where that takes us. And decisions about where we go from there will be based on what we find as we move forward. Everyone, regardless of what role you play in this scenario, or a member of the community, everyone wants the restrictions to be lifted. At the same time, we want to know we’re doing as much we can to contain the virus.

Updated

Stevens was asked how SA would get back to easing restrictions:

We take the swift and decisive action we’ve seen so far, so we know we’re doing as much we can to contain the current cluster. If we’re successful in that regard, sooner rather than later we can restore the level of restrictions back to what they were prior to the weekend.

Updated

Stevens said that police enforcing the new Covid restrictions on businesses have “given more second chances than I think people would appreciate”.

We’ve seen a positive response from that, people are trying to do the right thing and we’re respecting that. If we do see blatant breaches of the directions or a complete disregard for advice given, we’ll take further action.

He has no concerns with how police in other states have enforced borders against South Australians.

What other jurisdictions do in relation to directions or restrictions within their own jurisdictions is entirely up to them. We have no capacity to really influence that. We have a consistent and measured response in South Australia and we’ll continue to do that.

Updated

Talk about timing. South Australia’s schoolies week begins this weekend. The South Australian police commissioner, Grant Stevens, says that people who have already planned and books schoolies resources can still do them – but they have to comply with the new restrictions:

People participating in travel to regional locations on pre-planned activities must remember the number of people they can have in any residence is 10 – if they’re on a house boat, only 10 people, on a caravan site, only 10 people, if they’re in a private gathering, away from a premises, that’s up to 50, but there’s strict conditions on the sort of activities that can be undertaken. We’ll be monitoring the areas where we know that people are attending for schoolies. And we’re supported by national parks and wildlife and other emergency services. We want people to go away and fulfil their intentions to travel, but do so mindfully.

Updated

Spurrier corrected the advice given earlier by the federal health minister, Greg Hunt, who encouraged people without symptoms to get tested. Spurrier said she was not recommending broad asymptomatic testing, unless a person has gone to an area that has been flagged as a potential transmission site:

I am wanting people with symptoms primarily to come forward and get tested. What I don’t want is our public health system, our SA Pathology and our private labs to get clogged with people who are the worried well.

So, for us, in our state, our priority is anybody that has been asked by Public Health to get a test done. Regardless of whether they are symptomatic or asymptomatic.

The next group is anybody that has been to any of the locations listed and developed symptoms. You must get tested straight away.

And then the last group is the whole of South Australia. If you have respiratory symptoms, that fit with Covid, then please get tested.

South Australia’s chief public health officer Nicola Spurrier speaks to the media at a Covid-19 briefing in Adelaide
South Australia’s chief public health officer Nicola Spurrier speaks to the media at a Covid-19 briefing in Adelaide. Photograph: Kelly Barnes/AAP

Updated

Spurrier said she was “going to start more strongly recommending that people wear masks in our state”:

We gave advice yesterday that if you can’t maintain your 1.5-metre distancing, you should be wearing a mask. And that might be on public transport, but it might also be in crowded rooms.

Updated

Spurrier said it was now mandatory for staff in medi-hotels (the SA term for hotel quarantine) to get regular Covid-19 tests:

We have had availability of testing in our medi-hotels for quite some period of time. But the issue is whether we’ve mandated or not. And we have had it as a voluntary – as have many – as have other states. What we have been talking about at AHPPC – I strongly recommend it – is testing is done in every medi-hotel across the country, every seven days, and we have brought that policy in now.

Updated

Spurrier said it was both worrying, and possibly a good sign, that the new cases reported today were mostly asymptomatic.

This coronavirus – novel coronavirus – it is very sneaky. It’s also, some people may, you know, think it is hayfever, they have a runny nose. It is dependent on people being cautious about when they are feeling unwell and some people are more stoic than others. When you’re being interviewed, it is sometimes difficult to remember, particularly if it is mild symptoms. I feel somewhat surprised that we’ve got so many people infected, be with such little symptoms. It may also be because they are in the early stages of the disease. They may get more symptoms as time progresses.

Updated

Returning travellers who are in hotel quarantine at the Peppers hotel in Adelaide have been told it is not safe for them to be released into the community just yet, even if they have finished their 14-day quarantine.

Peppers is the hotel quarantine site linked to the outbreak. Said Spurrier:

There are a significant number of people who have travelled from overseas and have done their quarantine there and are nearing the end of their quarantine time and expecting to be released and to travel back interstate to get on with their lives here in Australia. But, unfortunately, we are still working through whether it is safe for them to do so because obviously they are now in a hotel where we’ve had active cases with the staff.

I absolutely sympathise and understand your frustration. But in terms of our public safety, not just for South Australia, but the whole of Australia, I urge you to be patient and please, you know, we will try and inform you absolutely as the time passes, as to your situation.

Spurrier added that the risk of releasing those in hotel quarantine was not just to South Australia, but to other jurisdictions.

Many of these people – in fact, perhaps the majority of these people – will be travelling interstate on our domestic air flights.

Updated

Five schools have been closed in Adelaide: the Roma Mitchell secondary college; Mawson Lakes primary and preschool; Thomas More college; the Holy Family Catholic school; and Mount Carmel college.

Spurrier said:

We have decided to take a very, very cautious approach, and just get on and have people go into quarantine. So, parents, you need to look at the website at the education department website, and also, of course, your own school’s website to get an update of what this will mean for you.

She also asked anyone who was at the Aquadome swimming centre in Elizabeth between 11am and 1.30pm on 14 November to quarantine for 14 days and get tested immediately.

We think that the exposure was more significant and we want those people to get into quarantine immediately, and get tested. Now, obviously we will be chasing up with the Aquadome to see if we can get direct contact details. This is an early warning. Anybody there with their family and children on Saturday, between those times, get yourselves into quarantine until further notice and get tested.

Updated

South Australia has advised 4,000 people to quarantine

Spurrier said there were now 4,000 people in quarantine as close contacts of known cases.

And these people have been advised to quarantine and they are being contacted on a daily basis for a symptom check. This is a huge amount of work, as you can imagine, to make sure that we are in regular contact with these people.

Updated

South Australia outbreak traced to traveller who arrived on 2 November

Spurrier says the outbreak has been traced back through genomic testing to a traveller who arrived in South Australia on 2 November.

The first reported case was a woman in her 80s. Spurrier said that through genomic testing “we have linked it to somebody in the medi-hotel where her daughter worked”.

And the person who was the traveller arrived in South Australia on 2 November and was tested on 3 November. So, prior to this, prior to 2 November, we did not have Covid in the state, but that’s when it was introduced, this particular strain.

Spurrier said that up until midday today there were 20 cases linked to this cluster, a further 14 people who were suspected cases, and at least one other case which was only recently reported.

There are now 34 active cases in SA.

Updated

South Australia’s chief health officer, Nicola Spurrier, says one of the new cases is associated with the Brompton Anglicare aged care facility.

That person is now in quarantine in a medi-hotel. The other three cases are family members of one of the security guards who is associated with the medi-hotel. And because of that, in fact, we’ve had to give information to the Roma Mitchell College to close down until further notice.

The age of the new cases range from somebody in their teens through to somebody in their 50s. Importantly for South Australians, all of these people have either known symptoms or they are very mildly symptomatic, and they have been picked up early in the course of the disease.

Updated

South Australia reports five new cases

Four of those cases are linked to the Parafield cluster and one was only just reported and is still under investigation.

Updated

SA premier Steven Marshall is giving an update in Adelaide

The South Australian premier, Steven Marshall, is talking now about the Parafield cluster.

He said more than 5,000 people were tested for Covid-19 yesterday and they are on track for more than 6,000 tests today – that’s a record for the state.

This is nothing short of sensational and will be a record for South Australia. My heartfelt thanks to every single South Australian who heeded the calls to go out and get themselves tested and we’re very, very grateful for that.

Steven Marshall speaks to the media at a Covid-19 briefing in Adelaide
Steven Marshall speaks to the media at a Covid-19 briefing in Adelaide. Photograph: David Mariuz/Getty Images

Updated

Scott Morrison has also met with the president of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, in Tokyo. Queensland wants to bid to be the host the Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2032.

The ABC’s Stephen Dziedzic reports there was an awkward moment during a photo opp:

Scott Morrison is in Tokyo talking about carbon capture and storage

An update on what Scott Morrison has been up to in Tokyo, where the prime minister arrived this morning for one day of meetings.

As Japan’s parliament – the Diet – is in session, the meeting between Morrison and the prime minister, Yoshihide Suga is not scheduled until later in the day. Morrison has talked about hydrogen and renewable energy export opportunities at a roundtable event with Japanese business leaders.

The Australian’s Olivia Caisley, who travelled to Tokyo to cover the visit, reports that Morrison declared low-emissions technologies and carbon capture and storage would be “a very big part of our partnership going forward and both Australia and Japan want to achieve lower emissions energy into the future and indeed zero energy emissions”.

Suga recently pledged to make the world’s third-biggest economy carbon-neutral by 2050 – a firm timeframe that Morrison has, to date, not adopted, even as an increasing number of major trading partners commit to the goal.

Morrison told parliament last week that his government had an “aspiration” to get to net zero “as we have already committed to under the Paris accord in the second half of this century”. He has stuck to his position that the government would not make the commitment when he couldn’t quantify the cost of it.

Updated

Let’s just update on all these border restrictions, before we hear from the South Australian premier, Steven Marshall.

Queensland closed its border to travellers from 20 local government areas in South Australia at midnight last night.

That means the Queensland health officer has now declared, as a hotspot, 20 LGAs in South Australia, 32 in Sydney, and the whole of Victoria.

Anyone who has been in a Covid-19 hotspot in the past 14 days will be turned away if they attempt to enter Queensland, unless they are entering for a permitted reason.

But Queensland police have said that people who were in one of the South Australian hotspots before midnight on 8 November, and not since, will be exempt from the new restrictions.

Travellers from those areas who arrived in Queensland before midnight last night have been told to monitor themselves for symptoms and told to quarantine until it is 14 days since they left SA, although that quarantine can be self-regulated and does not have to be in a formal government hotel quarantine scheme.

Updated

We’re expecting the South Australian premier, Steven Marshall, to step up shortly to give an update on the Adelaide Covid outbreak.

Updated

Back to that Submarine Institute of Australia event we mentioned earlier:

Addressing the same conference, the defence minister, Linda Reynolds, said the government was investing in Australia’s submarine capability – and its ability to attack other submarines – “because we must, for our nation’s security, and also for our sovereign interests”.

Reynolds said Australia’s location at the junction of the Indian and the Pacific oceans had been a strategic blessing for decades, “but we now face the most consequential strategic realignment since the end of world war two”.

She characterised the Indo-Pacific region as being the epicentre of this change. She said major powers had become more assertive. Strategic competition between the US and China was “driving dynamics in our region”, with nations across the region “modernising their militaries and also accelerating their preparedness for conflict”.

Without naming any particular country, she said regional military forces were “developing and adopting disruptive technologies at a faster pace than ever before”.

Reynolds said “some nations” were “increasingly employing coercive tactics that seek to compromise sovereignty” including cyber attacks, foreign interference, supply chain disruption and economic pressure.

Against that backdrop, Reynolds said submarines were “an indispensable asset to our nation’s defence”.

She denied submarines would become obsolete, saying while some technological developments may make submarines easier to detect, the government was focused on “a long-term strategy to evolve and adapt to changing technological developments”.

Reynolds said the ongoing importance of submarines was “the view of every significant power in our region: India, China, Russia, South Korea, North Korea, Japan, and, of course, the United States”. Pushing back at the Labor defence spokesman Richard Marles’ line of argument, Reynolds denied there had been any cost blowout in the future submarine program.

Australia’s defence minister Linda Reynolds delivers a virtual speech at the Submarine Institute of Australia conference
Australia’s defence minister Linda Reynolds delivers a virtual speech at the Submarine Institute of Australia conference. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Updated

Let’s go back to the big news of yesterday: the $1.2bn settlement to a class action brought on behalf of 400,000 victims of the robodebt scheme.

Reporter Luke Henriques-Gomes, who has been covering this policy for years and spoken to dozens and dozens of people affected by it, writes that while the settlement may seem like a win, it has allowed the federal government to continue to avoid scrutiny on the issue.

He described an interview the then social services minister Alan Tudge gave to Radio National’s Fran Kelly in 2017, in which he defended the scheme.

When Tudge gave his interview to Kelly in March 2017, the government is said to have already lost four robodebt decisions at the first tier of the administrative appeals tribunal.

Though the claim will now not be tested by the court, Gordon Legal alleged there were at least another 72 tribunal decisions that “set aside” robodebts.

The overwhelming majority took place in 2017, when Tudge was the minister.

These decisions were never made public, and despite the commonwealth’s obligations as a model litigant, not once did the government appeal a case to the tribunal’s second tier to clarify the law. The second tier publishes its judgments.

Despite the legal doubts, the scheme rolled on.

You can read Luke’s full analysis piece here:

Updated

Mark McGowan says the federal government's behaviour to Daniel Andrews was 'appalling'

The Western Australian premier, Mark McGowan, has dismissed criticism from some quarters of South Australia’s decision to reintroduce restrictions to control the outbreak, and said the federal government’s criticism of the Victorian government, which held lockdown for more than 100 days to control the second wave outbreak, was “appalling”.

The South Australian government has done the right thing, they have done the right thing. We know that measures like restricting movement and borders work. They work.

The South Australian government made the right decision in the circumstances. I think what we all learned from Victoria is that these measures work and it is far better to eliminate the virus using these measures, rather than using the American technique which is to let it rip.

What the South Australian premier has done will save lives, it will ensure that, over time, they can eliminate the virus and the entire country will be better off. It was pretty outrageous what the federal government did to the Victorian government, their behaviour was appalling. Some of those ministers, [Josh] Frydenberg and some of those characters, their behaviour was appalling. Daniel Andrews did what he had to do, he did what he had to do. The fact they undermined, criticised, attacked the whole way along during a period of extreme pressure was appalling. Stephen Marshall has done the right thing and I support him in what he is doing. I would urge everyone to support him in what he is doing.

Updated

The Western Australian premier, Mark McGowan, spoke to reporters in Perth a short time ago and said that the 18 days of no community transmission in Victoria, plus 10 days of no community cases in NSW, “bodes well for our controlled and hard interstate border”.

(Cross your fingers for quarantine lifting by Christmas.)

He also said he would monitor the situation in South Australia, saying it takes two weeks to get a full picture of the outbreak.

Full credit to the South Australian government and premier Stephen Marshall for their efforts to try to manage the outbreak and the decision to reimpose restrictions in their state. It would have been a difficult decision but I admire the fact they made that decision. We know that this is the only way you can manage the outbreak and try to limit the spread of the virus.

McGowan said the flow of South Australian visitors to WA has slowed, with 480 people arriving yesterday, including 185 who arrived on flights from Adelaide that landed 90 minutes after the new hard border restrictions to SA were put in place.

All of these arrivals are in self-quarantine for 14 days and all have been tested for Covid-19 and we are currently awaiting those results. They were also required to be tested on day 11 before they come out of quarantine. On our road border at Eucla, so far this morning we have had 71 people processed through. Each of them have been directed to self-quarantine and to get a test within 48 hours. The new exemption rules will come into force at the Eucla check point at 6pm tomorrow night.

We are monitoring the situation in SA and other states and territories very closely. We will only act on health advice just like we have throughout this global pandemic. Today, two flights are scheduled to arrive from Adelaide at Perth airport. Each arrival will need to meet a strict exemption category to be able to enter WA and go into self-quarantine for 14 days. This is an evolving situation and therefore we must take an extra cautious approach. All the way along, WA has been cautious and safe. We won’t change our strategy, we won’t take that risk. We want to make sure – we want to keep WA in the position we are in, as one of the safest places in the entire world.

McGowan said WA recorded no new cases of Covid-19 overnight, and currently has 12 active cases.

Updated

Labor is calling on the auditor general to investigate whether the Coalition government hid “vast cost increases” in major defence projects from the public.

The opposition’s defence spokesperson, Richard Marles, is due to address a conference hosted by the Submarine Institute of Australia this afternoon.

He is expected to focus on the government’s management of the $89bn future submarine program and the $46bn future frigate program.

Deputy leader of the opposition Richard Marles.
Deputy leader of the opposition Richard Marles. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Labor has seized on what it has described as cost blowouts, given the future submarine program acquisition was described in a plan attached to the government’s 2016 defence white paper as costing more than $50bn.

The defence department secretary, Greg Moriarty, told Senate estimates last month the classified version of the integrated investment program at that time included a figure of $78.9bn, but that was “not released due to commercial sensitivities, noting the government was yet to consider the outcomes of the competitive evaluation process and decide the build location”.

The future frigate acquisition, meanwhile, was estimated to cost more than $35bn as of 2017 but the actual estimate was not publicly disclosed at the time to protect the commercial position of the commonwealth in negotiations, the department of finance recently told a Senate committee.

In extracts of his speech distributed to the media in advance, Marles says being upfront and honest with the Australian people about how their money is being spent “is not optional”.

Hiding massive cost increases from taxpayers … is precisely the kind of behaviour that destroys public trust and eats away at the public’s confidence in those elected to represent them.

I have now written to the auditor general to request an investigation into the failure by the government to disclose these vast cost increases. I have also asked the auditor general to examine whether there are other instances of cost increases that have not been publicly disclosed.

Marles argues the government “likes to make much of its national security credentials” but has “failed to live up to its own hype”.

Updated

Let’s go back to the Queensland restrictions. From 4pm today, the following rules apply:

  • Social gatherings will increase from 40 to 50 people.
  • Hospitality venues and other indoor venues will be able to hold twice as many people, with one person per two square metres.
  • Up to 200 people will be able to attend a wedding, and dancing will be allowed.
  • Up to 200 people can attend a funeral.
  • Seated, ticketed indoor venues like theatres, cinemas and indoor sporting venues will be able to be at 100% capacity, provided masks are worn on entry and exit.
  • Outdoor events can have up to 1,500 atteendees.
  • Open air stadiums like football stadiums can be at 100% capacity, with a Covid-safe plan.
  • Dancing at outdoor music festivals, beer gardens etc is now allowed.
  • Students at boarding schools will be allowed to sleep over at a friend’s house on weekends or the holidays.
  • Families and loved ones of people receiving residential mental health care, or at a residential drug and alcohol service, will be able to visit.
Surfers Paradise in Gold Coast, Queensland.
Surfers Paradise in Gold Coast, Queensland. Photograph: Jono Searle/Getty Images

Updated

Gutwein was asked if it was an overreaction to remove South Australian walkers from the Three Capes track.

He says that whether it’s viewed as an overreaction will depend on their Covid-status.

I think at the end of the day, if one of those walkers turns out to be Covid-positive, it would have been a very good response. We take our role very seriously. It was determined that was an appropriate thing to do and so that was done.

Updated

Gutwein said the SA outbreak should not affect an arrangement to have direct flights from New Zealand to Tasmania from January. At least, not from Tasmania’s end – he suggested NZ PM Jacinda Ardern may be “hedging her bets a little bit and potentially pushing that out a little longer”.

He then said that he is not going to make decisions on Tasmania’s border restrictions based on the commonwealth’s definition of what makes a hotspot, which most states seem to think is too high.

In terms of the hotspot definition, that was a definition and I said at the time that we would agree to, in terms of a hot pot being declared for Commonwealth assistance. In terms of borders, they remain our responsibility. I have made that clear right through.

Updated

SA visitors to Tasmania asked to self-isolate for another 24-hours

South Australians in Tasmania, or Tasmanians who have recently returned home for SA, will be asked to quarantine for additional 24-hours before resuming their holiday, Tasmanian premier Peter Gutwein has said.

The rule applies to anyone who arrived in Tasmania on or after 7 November.

Tasmanian premier Peter Gutwein.
Tasmanian premier Peter Gutwein. Photograph: Rob Blakers/AAP

Gutwein said:

As we gain more information on the South Australian circumstances, we will be able to better inform ourselves of the next steps to take with those that have entered the state. Obviously, if any of our visitors have any symptoms, please get tested ... but subject to circumstances continuing favourably, as the advice is from SA, we would hope that, as of tomorrow, that those visitors would be able to return to their normal activities.

Gutwein said South Australians who have a flight booked home in the next 24-hours will be able to return home, and have been sent instructions requiring them to wear a mask in transit to the airport.

In terms of those visitors coming to the state now or yesterday afternoon, we lifted SA to medium risk, put it at a medium alert level. We are going to maintain that in place for the time being. Obviously, at the moment inS A, there are around, I understand, 40 affected premises or locations and as further information is gleaned by the South Australian health officials, in terms of the outbreak in that state, obviously we can be better informed here, in terms of what we do with the medium alert arrangements.

That might pivot to where we put in place geographical restrictions. As I indicated yesterday, obviously this is an outbreak in the northern suburbs of Adelaide. Regional SA maybe able to be treated differently but we will take further advice and noting that some of the locations are up to 30 kilometres outside the centre of the CBD of Adelaide. We’re continuing to take advice there. We will remain on medium alert. I would expect that we will provide updates on a daily basis over coming days but I think for travellers looking to arrive in Tasmania, to be clear, the medium alert arrangements will remain in place, certainly for some geographical locations, at the moment blanketing the entire State until the end of the week.

You can read the full detail of the medium risk rules here, but basically, people who have been in a medium risk location in the 14 days prior to travel are allowed to enter Tasmania but must quarantine for 14 days. South Australia has joined Victoria on the medium risk list.

Gutwein apologised to SA visitors for the disruption to their holiday.

Updated

Hunt was also asked about the Moderna vaccine, which was 95% successful in trials.

Hunt says there are a large number of vaccines at a similar stage of development, and Australia had already secured a supply agreement about an mRNA-based vaccine, which is what the Moderna vaccine is. Australia has secured the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, also mRNA, as well as a protein-based vaccine and a viral vaccine.

The important point here is the evidence and the news from overnight is extremely important and positive for the world. With really welcome it. What it shows is there are likely to be multiple vaccines that are successful and there are two important conclusions: firstly, that Covid vaccines in general are likely to be successful as a class. Not all of them. But it does appear that all of the four that our experts have selected are tracking very, very well with positive developments in there of them in only the last week, the fourth NovaVax is also on track.

But it also means for the world, which will have a massive vaccine requirement, that capacity to provide multiple vaccines in multiple jurisdictions will protect everybody and so with welcome all of the results. We have access to additional vaccines through the vax facility. The advice this we have is that the four principle vaccines that have been contracted are likely to provide for Australia as needs three times over.

Moderna US biotechnology company logo.
Moderna US biotechnology company logo. Photograph: Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/REX/Shutterstock

Updated

Hunt says South Australia has not met the national definition of a coronavirus hotspot. That’s a three-day rolling average of 10 locally acquired cases per day, or 30 cases in over three days.

So, he says, it should not trigger further border closures. WA, Queensland, Tasmania, and the NT have all imposed quarantine requirements on travellers from Adelaide or SA as a whole.

There is a national hotspot definition. South Australia has not reached that.

Hunt said SA is “not out of the woods yet” but was in “an extremely strong position”.

I have to say that South Australia as response is a model of early intervention and both the prime minister and myself have acknowledged that to our respective counterparts. So, our message to the other states is please look at the results in SA. Please make sure that your response is proportionate. And what the Commonwealth has set out its enhanced border screening as an appropriate response, and that is what New South Wales, Victoria and the ACT have said.

Cars queue for the Covid-19 testing facility at Victoria Park in Adelaide, South Australia.
Cars queue for the Covid-19 testing facility at Victoria Park in Adelaide, South Australia. Photograph: Kelly Barnes/Getty Images

Updated

Hunt seems to have different advice on positive tests at Anglicare Brompton aged care facility in SA, than Anglicare put out this morning.

He says the latest advice he has is that four staff have tested positive, two who appear to have been infected by the original family cluster and two more who are also close family contacts.

So the working hypothesis, there is a very good chance that all of those who were infected, were infected outside of the facility. More work is being done.

Anglicare earlier said that one of the two new cases among staff members reported today was a false positive.

Hunt said the federal government was making sure that there was a surge workforce available, through the aged care response centre.

Importantly, he says, none of the 40 residents at the facility has tested positive.

The advice that I have is that all residents have been tested and all have been nothing positive. There will be additional testing, as the week goes on, but very importantly, all residents have been tested and all are negative.

Brompton has 40 residents and 60 staff, and caters to particularly vulnerable people, including people with experience of homelessness and addiction.

Hunt said the SA nursing team which travelled to Victoria to help with the second wave outbreak is also helping with the response.

Two clinical leads of that nursing team are on the ground as with speak. In addition to that, full PPE is in use and there is daily communications with family [members of residents]. We also are stepping up, and there are 10 further facilities that are being tested in the area around the Parafield outbreak and all of those facilities will see testing of all staff and all residents.

So, at this stage, no signs of any additional community transmission.

Hunt said prime minister Scott Morrison spoke to SA premier Steven Marshall about the outbreak this morning.

Hunt’s blood type is A-, and his blood pressure is 117/76, if you were wondering.

It led into this segue:

So we are doing OK. The country is also doing OK, and the country is doing well.

There is, as you know, a direct link between the blood pressure of the health minister and the health of the country. He continues:

I have corresponded this morning with the national incidence centre, with the South Australian Aged Care Response Centre and the South Australian minister for health, Stephen Wade, and last night Professor Paul Kelly, the chief medical officer and myself also spoke with the South Australian chief health officer.

The advice that we have is there are three additional cases today with regard to the family cluster, but there are no cases of community transmission in South Australia outside of that cluster. We have seen widespread testing and South Australians have done a great job in presenting for testing and we encourage them to continue to do so.

Obviously symptomatic [testing]. If you have signs or symptoms of Covid, whether it is temperature, whether it is flu-like symptoms, whether it is something as simple as a runny nose, now is the time to present, but also asymptomatic testing is being encouraged and that means that we are looking for each and every person who might have in any way, shape or form been exposed to come forward.

Over 4,500 tests reported to midday our time in South Australia, but when Stephen Wade or the South Australian government provide additional information later today, those numbers, no doubt, will continue to increase.

Hunt says the federal government have supported 10 respiratory clinics across SA to operate at full capacity, and have established a national incidence centre to support the contact tracing effort. There is also contact tracing support from other states.

Thirdly, they’ve established an aged care response centre similar to that which was stood up in Victoria.

Medical staff taking details from people at the Covid-19 testing facility at Parafield airport in Adelaide, 17 November 2020.
Medical staff taking details from people at the Covid-19 testing facility at Parafield airport in Adelaide, 17 November 2020. Photograph: Kelly Barnes/AAP

Updated

The federal health minister, Greg Hunt, is speaking at the Red Cross blood bank in Canberra alongside the deputy chief medical officer, Prof Michael Kidd.

Hunt says he and Labor frontbencher Chris Bowen are giving blood today in a “bipartisan show of support”.

The Red Cross needs 16,000 people who would not usually give blood to give blood in the next two weeks, particularly A+ and O+.

Updated

As mentioned earlier, Woolworths will not be introducing buying limits in South Australia and is instead appealing to the better nature of shoppers to buy only what they need. A delightful thought, and one that has sent my eyebrows somewhere up near my hairline.

Here’s the comment from their spokesperson:

We experienced higher than usual demand for toilet paper across our South Australian stores yesterday.

We’re sending triple the volume of toilet paper to stores as we did last Tuesday to ensure toilet paper is available for our customers.

Customers are encouraged to buy only what they need, as we’ll continue to receive extra orders of stock in our stores regularly.

We will continue to monitor the situation closely and reassess product limits if needed.

Good afternoon campers. Thank you to Matilda Boseley for taking you through the morning’s news.

I’ll bring you the key details out of the rule changes in Queensland in a moment but, before I do, let’s take a moment to commiserate with those currently stuck in long queues for a Covid-19 test in South Australia. As a Melburnian, I’ve been there, and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.

People queue at a Covid-19 testing site in Adelaide as the state of South Australia experiences an outbreak
People queue at a Covid-19 testing site in Adelaide as the state of South Australia experiences an outbreak. Photograph: Reuters
A queue for a testing site in Adelaide
A queue for a testing site in Adelaide. Photograph: Reuters

Updated

And with that, I will leave you for today, but you shall be in the capable hands for Calla Wahlquist so do not worry! She will take you through the rest of the afternoon’s news.

Updated

Something to look out for, the WA premier, and health minister Roger Cook, will give a Covid-19 update at 11.45am local time, which is 2.45pm AEDT.

Updated

For those who have missed it, here are all the Queensland restrictions that will be easing as of 4pm today.

Key points include a return to 100% capacity for seated ticket events and 100% capacity for stadium events.

Woolworths says they won’t be following Coles in reinstating purchasing limits in South Australia.

Updated

Just on the NSW budget, pandemic support packages will cost the state’s bottom line $29bn, including $1bn to stock protective equipment and $6bn on tax breaks, AAP reports.

Exactly a year after the first case of coronavirus was detected in central China, the 2020/21 NSW budget papers revealed some $4.2 billion spent on support and stimulus packages to June 30, 2020.

Another $7.8 billion will be dished out by the end of June 2021.

Waived and deferred taxes, fees and levies – led by huge cuts to payroll tax – kept more than $6 billion in the pockets of business owners and landlords.

More than $3 billion has been spent on the health response including quadrupling intensive care beds, running testing facilities and employing hotel quarantine.

“What the pandemic has put beyond dispute is that the NSW health system is the best in the nation,” NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet told parliament.

“That is no accident. Year after year our government has built it up, and in our state’s time of need, it was ready to go.”

Updated

NSW budget posts largest deficit in state's history

New South Wales is forecast to record an historic $16bn budget deficit this financial year while the state’s treasurer, Dominic Perrottet, embarks on what he has called “big and bold” tax reform that will see stamp duty phased out in place of an annual land tax.

Perrottet delivered his budget speech in parliament a little while ago, unveiling some eye-watering numbers on the back of the Covid-19 pandemic. At the height of NSW restrictions, Perrottet said, the cost to the state’s economy was estimated to be $1.4bn every week.

“Sometimes big numbers like that hardly feel real,” he told the parliament. “But the impact they have had on our people is very real.”

Treasurer Dominic Perrottet delivers the NSW budget
Treasurer Dominic Perrottet delivers the NSW budget. Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAP

The state’s economy retracted by 8.6% in the June quarter, the worst on record, and almost 270,000 jobs were lost between March and May. In 2019-20, the state recorded a budget deficit of $6.9bn. That is expected to rise to a record $16bn in 2020-21. The state’s net debt is expected to peak at $104bn by June 2024.

But Perrottet sought to strike a positive note too. In the four months to September the state added almost 175,000 jobs, and retail spending was actually up 10% on last year in September.

Some of the big spending items you have already heard about. The government will spend $500m on what it has called an “out and about voucher”, which will give every adult in the state $100 to spend on eating out or visiting cultural attractions in the state.

But Perrottet also announced the government would invest $812m on new social housing in the state, $120m to provide free preschool to about 44,000 three to five-year -olds, $337m to provide tutors for school students who had their learning disrupted during the Covid-19 lockdown and $192 million to implement recommendations from its bushfire inquiry.

The main reform though is Perrottet’s changes to the state’s tax system. Rather than the immediate scrapping of stamp duty on home buyers, the government will begin “seeking feedback” on a proposal that would give home buyers a choice to “axe stamp duty at the point of purchase and choose an annual property charge instead”.

There would be no impact unless you are purchasing a property and you make the choice to change. For everyone else, everything stays the same.

This model would give NSW a realistic pathway to achieving the most important state economic reform of the last half century.

Perrottet, who has long made no secret of his desire to get rid of stamp duty, called it “a relic from a bygone era when you picked one career, started a family, bought a home and basically settled in for life”.

Updated

A third school in South Australia close due to Covid-19

Updated

I don’t want to out myself too much a “basic” when it comes to music but I’m extremely excited about this Billie Eilish news.

My esteemed colleague Stephanie Convery has more:

Billie Eilish will headline this year’s Aria awards, in a coup for organisers made possible by the new normal of live-streamed events.

The singer-songwriter will perform her new single, Therefore I Am, next week at the ceremony for the Australian Recording Industry Association awards, Australia’s answer to the Grammys.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, she will perform from her home town of Los Angeles, and the performance will be streamed to Australian audiences.

Tuesday’s announcement follows news last week that Australian-born Sia would also be performing from Los Angeles for the socially distanced event.

You can read the full story below:

Updated

The Covid-19 shockwave caused by the Parafield cluster has reached the South Australian arts industry it seems.

Coles reinstates buying limits in SA

Just in case you still held out hope for mankind or Australian civil society I have bad news for you.

Coles have had to reinstate buying limits for toilet paper in South Australia after the Covid-19 scare has caused people to begin panic buying again.

A spokesperson confirmed the limits in a statement:

Effective from today, the following limits apply at all Coles supermarkets and Coles Express stores in SA, as well as Coles Online orders for customers in SA.

• Toilet paper - 2 packs

The limits do not currently apply to any other states or products, however we will continue to monitor stock levels and ask that customers purchase only what they need.”

Retail workers union Secretary Josh Peak spoke to ABC radio today about the panic buying.

The community is anxious and stressed out and unfortunately, their lashing out at retail workers who are not only getting the panic buying but are also seeing an increase in customer abuse again.

Our supply chain is very well stocked. We do not need to have rush on products. The only thing that causes a shortage is the rush itself so it’s really important that South Australians remain calm, do their usual shopping and make sure we have plenty on the shelves for all of us to share.

Updated

In March 2017 Alan Tudge, then the human services minister, was under pressure over a different scandal.

Fresh from releasing the personal information of a debt recipient who had written an article critical of the robodebt scheme, and threatening so-called welfare cheats with jail, Tudge told the ABC’s Fran Kelly that critics who believed the program was flawed had a “philosophical objection to widespread compliance checks”.

Despite the bluster, what few aside from those inside Tudge’s department knew was that the government was already receiving warnings about the legality of the Coalition’s chief welfare crackdown measure.

And they went beyond the initial complaints of community campaigners, welfare groups and early critics in the parliament, including the independent MP Andrew Wilkie, the Greens’ Rachel Siewert and Labor’s Murray Watt.

On Monday, on the first day of a class action trial into the robodebt scandal, the saga finally came to its apparent conclusion, as the commonwealth agreed to a $1.2bn settlement with 400,000 victims of the scheme – perhaps one of the biggest and most expensive policy fiascos of a generation.

You can read the full analysis below:

The Adelaide Advertiser is reporting that the Ghan train was turned around at Alice Springs and sent back to Adelaide while on its way to Darwin. Although the NT closed its border to South Australia after the latest cluster, the train had already crossed the border when the restrictions were announced. The 221 passengers on board were given the option of either staying in Alice Springs to quarantine for 14 days or returning to Adelaide.

South Australia's new restrictions

Just a recap for those who missed it yesterday, here are the new restrictions that have been imposed on SA residents following the discovery of the Parafield cluster.

  • Gyms, recreation centres and play cafes will close for two weeks with community sports fixtures and training cancelled.
  • Funerals and family gatherings will be capped at 50 people, and all church gatherings at 100 people.
  • Pubs, clubs and restaurants will be limited to 100 people along with all other public gatherings.
  • All venues or functions must abide by a rule of one person to each four square metres.
  • Masks will be mandatory for workers in personal care businesses and for workers in aged care if physical distancing is not possible.
  • Aged care workers will be limited to just one site.
  • Schools will remain open.

The state government also issued a number of advice measures including urging people to work from home where possible, encouraging vulnerable people to stay home, and the wearing of masks in situations where physical distancing is impossible, such as public transport.

Updated

Mawson Lakes Primary and Preschool will remain closed until next Monday 30 November according to the South Australian department of education.

This comes after a primary school student who is a close contact of the family in the centre of the Parafield cluster tested postive to Covid-19 yesterday.

Quarantine order for Adelaide 'Aquadome' users

SA Health has just released an urgent health alert.

Anyone who visited the Aquadome swimming pool and gym in Elizabeth on Saturday between 11 am and 1.30 pm must immediately go into isolation, seek testing and remain in quarantine for 14 days.

The Aquadome was previously listed on a hotspot location list, with attendees urged to monitor for symptoms, but this warning has since been upgraded.

Updated

For any South Australian readers who are feeling a little sore int he throat or runny in the nose, here is a list of all the testing locations in the state.

Some clinics have experienced long waits, but authorities have urged anyone with even the mildest symptoms to get tested.

Updated

Queensland police have destroyed thousands of dollars worth of hydroponic equipment to warn people off growing cannabis locally due to state border closures, AAP reports.

The $56,000 worth of equipment was seized and destroyed in 18 weekend raids, which led to 17 people being charged with 67 offences, in the Sunshine Coast and Wide Bay-Burnett regions.

Properties in the Glass House Mountains, Nambour, Mount Coolum, Maleny and Glenwood were searched with police confiscating $474,600 worth of drugs, including 156 cannabis plants and 12kg of dried cannabis.

Detective Acting Superintendent Troy Pukallus says the destruction of the hydroponic growing equipment is a warning to people considering growing cannabis locally due to state border closures.

This operation will impact drug availability on the Sunshine Coast and Wide Bay Burnett region, making the community safer ahead of the holiday period.

It also sends a message to those involved in the illicit drug market, who may have turned to locally producing cannabis as a result of supply issues with the border closures of Covid-19: know that police will continue taking every opportunity to target and disrupt your criminal behaviour.

Police also seized a sawn-off .22 bolt action rim fire rifle and crossbow in the weekend raids.

Updated

False positive in aged care staff, Anglicare says.

It seems one of those two new cases from the Anglicare-run aged care home in Brompton was a false positive, according to a media release from the organisation.

One further employee has tested positive to Covid-19. Test results for another employee are being reviewed following a potential false positive result. Contact tracing for these two employees is underway.

All residents have been tested and all have returned negative test results. They will be retested at 72 hours and day 12.

A testing regime of employees continues, with a total now of three confirmed Covid-19-positive employees.

In a previous media release, Anglicare noted that the two employees who were originally diagnosed had not worked at the centre since Friday 13 November, one day before the first case in the cluster was discovered.

Updated

No new locally acquired Covid-19 cases in NSW

NSW has recorded no new locally acquired Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours from 8,588 tests.

The state recorded four cases from overseas travellers in hotel quarantine.

This brings the total number of cases in NSW to 4,313 since the start of the pandemic.

Updated

Coronavirus testing numbers have surged to record levels in Adelaide as thousands of people come forward to be swabbed to head off a possible second wave of infections.

On Monday, people queued at testing stations across Adelaide for more than five hours with some being turned away.

Some centres stayed open late and SA Pathology boss Tom Dodd said that would continue.

Today queues are even longer, with people lining up at drive-through centres from 4am.

Dodd spoke to ABC radio this morning:

Clearly, we need to have all those sites operating for longer hours going forward from today.

I apologise to anyone who queued for a long time and wasn’t able to get a test. We don’t want to have that happening.

We need to ensure we stay open to swab all the people who present.

Premier Steven Marshall said he was sure Monday was a record day for testing numbers and praised South Australians for turning out.

The state’s previous highest number of tests in a single day came in on August 7 when 7,254 people were checked.

Updated

Adelaide, Parafield cluster breakdown

There are lots of numbers flying around this morning about the situation in South Australia, but this is everything. we know so far about the breakdown of this cluster.

  • There are 20 cases likely linked to the cluster, this includes 17 confirmed cases and three children that are being treated as cases although they have not tested positive as of yet.
  • The ages of those infected range from one to two people in their 80’s.
  • The cluster was discovered when a woman in her 80’s was tested at the Lyell McEwin Hospital.
  • The cluster is made up of 17 members of the same family, including a cleaner at the Peppers medi-hotel, two security guards from the same hotel and one close contact of the family.
  • Four staff at an aged care home in Brompton managed by Anglicare South Australia, have been infected. Two of these cases were from a mother and daughter. The facility cares for elderly homeless people, but not residents have so far tested positive.
  • A worker at Yatala prison has also tested positive, sparking concerns about the state’s jail system.
  • The SA government is saying there is “no evidence” that security protocols were breached in their medi-hotel, and that the infected cleaner worked int the “back of house” and may have been infected via surface transmission.
  • Only one case was added overnight, taking the confirmed total to 17 cases.

A number of locations have been shut down as a result of the cluster. These include.

  • Thomas More college, Salisbury Downs.
  • Mawson Lakes primary school and preschool, Mawson Lakes.
  • Hungry Jack’s, Port Adelaide.
  • Lyell McEwin hospital, Elizabeth Vale.
  • Parafield Plaza Supermarket, Parafield Gardens.
  • Yatala labour prison, Northfield.
  • Peppers quarantine medi-hotel, Adelaide CBD.
  • An unidentified aged care home
  • AnglicareSA’s Brompton Aged care home, Brompton.
  • Calvary Hospitals, no visitors
  • Resthaven Aged Care Homes, no visitors

A number of alerts have been put out for possible infection sites. A full list can be found here

Travellers must restart quarantine in infected SA hotel

Returned travellers quarantining in an Adelaide hotel linked to a coronavirus cluster are being told they may have to re-quarantine in a new hotel, regardless of how many days they have already served.

It means some returned travellers may be forced to quarantine for up to 28 days.

The action is being taken out of concern Covid-19 could spread inside the Peppers medi-hotel in Adelaide’s CBD, where three Covid-19 cases in the city’s Parafield cluster – now at 20 – are linked to workers at the hotel.

At about 10pm on Monday night, guests at the medi-hotel – the name used for quarantine hotels in South Australia – received pieces of paper under their room door informing them they would be moved to a new hotel on Tuesday.

The SA government document said: “Your safety is our highest priority and, as a result, we will be transferring all travellers to another medi-hotel within the next 24 hours. We understand that there are guests whose quarantine period is due to end tomorrow, Tuesday 17 November, however to ensure your safety and to minimise the public health risk, this time will be extended, which may be up to 14 days.”

Guests will not have to pay for the additional quarantine period, and are being warned they will have to reschedule any connecting flights they had booked if they were transiting through Adelaide.

Dennis K, who is seven days into quarantining in the Peppers hotel with his partner after arriving from Brussels has a connecting flight booked to Melbourne, where they live. He booked flights into Adelaide as Melbourne is not currently accepting international arrivals.

It’s stressful, because they literally shove a letter under the door, but there was no knock or assistance to explain it to us ... People are due to leave this morning. Imagine being told you had to do it all again, imagine if you missed your flight.

Dennis said he and his partner were unable to sleep as a result of the confusion last night, and that he is concerned moving fellow guests into a bus and to a new hotel will increase the chance of spreading Covid-19. He said they have not yet been told where they are being moved to.

Our room door has been closed since we moved in, nothing has been breached here. Moving us through and putting us on a bus, surely that brings more risk of spreading the virus?

Guardian Australia contacted SA Health for clarification on how many people have been affected.

Updated

Indigenous land closes borders in South Australia

The Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) lands (located in the remote north-west of South Australia) will close their borders to for three weeks as the Covid-19 threat rises in South Australia.

The APY Board of Management closed the borders at midnight and says it will manage its borders via the legislated system of permits.

The board says it’s aware that at any one time there can be up to 200 people including women and children from the APY Lands in Adelaide, shopping and catching up with family. Indigenous people are at greater risk of hospitalisation and death during a virus outbreak.

People currently on the APY Lands can leave but people coming into the APY lands will have to self-isolate for 14 days.

Further planning to ensure the APY lands remain Covid-free will continue with relevant authorities in coming days, the board said.

Updated

For those tracking Scott Morrison’s movements today, our leader has just touched down in Japan ahead of his meeting with prime minister Yoshihide Suga.

They are set to discuss defence force cooperation in the region.

The government services minister, Stuart Robert, has rejected any link between the robodebt program and suicide.

Robert made the comment on Tuesday, a day after the government finalised a class action settlement worth $1.2bn, which includes $112m in additional compensation to about 400,000 people who received unlawful welfare debts between 2015 and 2019.

“Suicide is a very difficult topic and we need to handle it sensibly,” he told Sky News host Laura Jayes.

We reject the premise ... the connectivity between suicide and robodebt cause it is complex.

Robert remained steadfast even when asked about the suicide of Kath Madgwick’s son, Jarrad. Magdwick directly attributes her son’s death to receiving a debt notice.

“Any loss of Australian life is tragic,” Robert said.

Robert also appeared to claim credit for putting an end to the use of ATO “income averaging” to raise welfare debts, the central plank of the robodebt scheme.

I’d only been in the portfolio for a few months before I stood in and stopped it so as soon as I came to the conclusion that I believed there were issues with the sufficiency of how average data was being used by the ATO I stood in and stopped it.

In fact, Robert was sworn in as the responsible minister in May 2019, The government’s decision to end income averaging was prompted by a federal court case brought by Victoria Legal Aid.

Robert also described the class brought by Gordon Legal as a “stunt” as late as September.

Updated

Seven years ago, Rhonda Davis went to a party with her partner. She fell asleep at the wheel on the drive home. He died, and she was sentenced to five years in prison, half of which had to be served as hard time.

The Kamillaroi woman was part of the fastest-growing subset of Australia’s prison population. She is one of six women to write about her experience behind bars for a new series by Guardian Australia.

It comes as a new report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare found that women in prison have experienced disproportionately high rates of homelessness and insecure housing, mental health issues, drug and alcohol addiction, chronic illness, and physical trauma. And just 17% of female prisoners have finished year 12.

You can read the full report below:

I mentioned before the South Australian premier, Steven Marshall, had spoken to the Sunrise program.

His numbers, 18, are slightly different from the 20 reported by his health minister to the ABC, but this may be the difference between the “confirmed” and “probable” cases linked to the cluster.

Here is a bit more of what Marshall had to say:

We are far less stressed this morning than we were yesterday morning. We had a very big surge yesterday up to 17 people in a very short period of time.

We did thousands and thousands of tests yesterday ... and to date, I can only report only one new infection overnight. That is still being processed by SA Health but it looks like it is a close contacted one of the original 15 family members, but there is still a long way to go.

Marshall said he was happy with the states ability to respond to the outbreak.

A lot of exercises were put into effect when we first learnt about this single case on Saturday night and they worked through the night and were working after midnight. In fact, I heard of some people having the interviews at 1.30am because time is of the essence...

Yesterday, with put hundreds and hundreds, if not thousands of people into isolation ... and let’s hope we got on top of this just in time.

Updated

As the morning has gone on, massive lines have developed at pop-up testing sites in Adelaide.

Nine news is reporting these stretch back hundreds of meters and have up to an 11-hour wait time at one location.

Updated

South Australian hikers have been escorted from a famous Tasmanian bushwalking track as the state’s government tries to prevent the Adelaide outbreak from spreading into the state.

A spokeswoman for the Parks and Wildlife Service told the Mercury newspaper that walkers on the Three Capes Track had arrived in Tasmania after 7 November, meaning they are now required by the Tasmanian government to self-isolate.

Ten guests on the Three Capes Track have been escorted from the track to begin their self-isolation or hotel accommodation, as required by the Tasmanian government.

There are currently six known walkers on the Overland Track who have visited South Australia, who will be contacted regarding the need to self-isolate.

Four of the walkers are expected to complete the Overland Track walk on Tuesday, and will be met by PWS staff, and two are expected to complete their walk on Wednesday.

All six walkers have been informed that they are to use their tents, rather than shared hut accommodation and avoid use of common facilities wherever possible until the end of their walk.

Updated

The court of arbitration for sport has halved Australian swimmer Shayna Jack’s four-year doping suspension, saying she did not intentionally ingest the banned anabolic agent Ligandrol.

The 22-year-old freestyle swimmer was withdrawn from last year’s world championships team in June 2019, days before the event started in South Korea, having tested positive for the substance in an out-of-competition test.

Swimming Australia provisionally suspended Jack before the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority said she would be banned for four years staring on 12 July 2019, subject to any procedure she would initiate at Cas.

In handing down its finding, Cas said Jack had not knowingly taken Ligandrol, which is supposed to add muscle mass without the side-effects of steroids.

She has maintained her innocence throughout the lengthy process.

You can read the full story here:

Updated

If you have found yourself a little confused this morning about what this whole Moderna vaccine fuss is about, and why exactly it might better than the Pfizer version, do I have the article for you!

Nicola Davis has broken it all down for us, explaining exactly what this means (or doesn’t mean) for the world.

You can check it out here:

Updated

So, just to get some clarity on some of the numbers coming out of South Australia.

It’s a little bit confusing but, as far as we can tell, last night there were 18 confirmed or probable cases. Overnight one additional confirmed case was added, along with a probable case, bringing the likely total of the Parafield cluster to 20.

It’s unclear at the moment if that 20 includes the two additional aged care workers Anglicare confirmed to Nine’s Today show just a short time ago. We will try to get some clarity on that and let you know.

Updated

Two more SA aged care staff test positive

An aged care home caught up in an outbreak of coronavirus in Adelaide’s north says two more staff members have tested positive to Covid-19, taking the total number of infected workers to four.

The home in Brompton, which is managed by Anglicare South Australia, was locked down on Monday after two nurses – a mother and daughter – tested positive.

Anglicare SA’s chief executive, Peter Sandeman, said while all the residents had so far tested negative, two more staff had subsequently tested positive and were now in quarantine. He spokes to Nine’s Today Show this morning:

This is the worst nightmare any aged care proprietor can face ...

The residents are holding up well, the staff are all caring for the residents and progressively, of course, we will have to replace staff who are assessed as a risk.

Sandeman said staff were being tested as they as they turn up to work and residents of the facility, which houses homeless elderly people, will undergo another round of testing as soon as Wednesday:

If any resident tests positive they will be removed to hospital straight away.

The home has been caught up in an outbreak of coronavirus cases believed to have been sparked by an infected returned traveller in hotel quarantine who passed the virus on to a cleaner, who then infected family members.

SA’s premier, Steven Marshall, told Seven’s Sunrise program it was an extraordinary situation:

This was a back-of-house person working in the hotel that we believe acquired it from coming into surface contact, so they never came into contact with anybody in a room.

Updated

The Canberra Times is reporting that the ACT will screen all travellers from South Australia rather than closing its borders as other states and territories have.

Passengers will be asked to declare symptoms upon arrival at Canberra airport from Adelaide, and those with symptoms will be asked to isolate until a test result is available.

The ACT’s health minister, Rachel Stephen-Smith, told the paper that the situation could change if cases continued to rise in South Australia:

We will continue to monitor cases in South Australia and take appropriate steps to protect the health and safety of Canberrans ...

Movement between the ACT and South Australia remains open and there is no requirement for returning travellers to quarantine unless showing symptoms. There are no current plans to change this arrangement.

Updated

Victoria records its 18th donut day

Right on schedule, the Victorian health department has updated us with the good news.

Another day of double zeros in the (once Covid-19 infested) state! This marks 18 days without an infection or virus-related death. Only three active cases now remain in the state.

Updated

Michael Kidd has been reluctant to accuse states of “overreacting” in quickly shutting their borders to South Australia.

The federal government has been strong in its messages over past months about opening up and taking down domestic borders, and the (Liberal) NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian, has certainly been talking about “leading by example” this week and not imposing any restrictions on South Australian travellers unless things get considerably worse.

But Kidd did not seem to echo this view this morning:

Well, each state and territory is making their own decision about whether to keep their borders open or closed. These are decisions which are being made often with the advice of the chief health officers in the states and territories, by looking to see what needs to be done to protect the population in each of those states and territories.

So, I think at the moment we are waiting to see whether the cases in South Australia have gone beyond the workers and their immediate household contacts and whether we’ve actually seen any community transmission occur. We hope that that hadn’t happened. And we hope that we’ll pick that up and have a much clearer view over the next day or so.

Updated

Australia’s deputy chief health officer Michael Kidd is speaking to the ABC now:

At the moment, we’re seeing the health authorities in South Australia doing a terrific job, identifying people who may have been in contact with someone who’s been diagnosed with Covid-19, arranging to get people tested, arranging for people to go into isolation while they’re waiting for their results.

He encouraged people in Adeliade to wear masks while in public:

When we get outbreaks like we’ve seen in South Australia – and we do expect to get further outbreaks over time as the pandemic continues around the world – there will be times when it will be very wise for people to be wearing masks, and particularly people who are at increased risk if they were to be infected with Covid-19.

So, the recommendation in Adelaide at the moment is for people who are vulnerable to stay at home while this is determined exactly what’s happening with the outbreak – whether there has been any community transmission or not.

Updated

$100 in dining and entertainment vouchers for NSW residents

Just a bit more on those $100 dining and entertainment vouchers every NSW residents can look forwards to:

This scheme is part of a $500m plan to be announced in the state budget today.

The treasurer, Dominic Perrottet, will hand down the 2020-21 budget, which is expected to include a range of measures to boost the economy.

The centrepiece is a plan dubbed Out & About, under which every adult will get four $25 vouchers to spend on eating out, entertainment and cultural events in an attempt to boost industries that have been hardest hit.

Perrottet told the Australian about the plan:

We want to encourage people to shop and spend with businesses multiple times, to get out and about and support their local ­community safely.

The vouchers will be issued by Service NSW for use around the state from early 2021, after a trial of the scheme in the Sydney CBD in December.

Two vouchers can be used to pay for food in restaurants, cafes and clubs and the remaining two are for visits to facilities including art galleries, cinemas, amusement parks, zoos and theatres.

Updated

SA coronavirus cluster grows to 20

South Australia’s health minister, Stephen Wade, has spoken to ABC News Breakfast this morning about the Parafield cluster.

He says the cluster is now made up of 20 cases, some confirmed to be linked and others probably linked. This includes 17 members of one large family unit, including a cleaner at a quarantine hotel site, two security guards at the same site and one close contact of the family.

So, the family obviously both share households and has close contacts with each other. The two security guards worked at the hotel where one of the family members works, and likewise the close contact was also a fellow workmate.

Wade said there was “no evidence” that there were any breaches of protocol at the hotel quarantine site (known in SA as a “medi-hotel”) where it appears this cluster was spawned.

Investigations are continuing. But the family member who worked at the medi-hotel didn’t have direct contact with residents. They were involved in back-of-house. We know that Covid-19 can be transmitted through surface infections.

And as I said, it’s a highly infectious virus. We have seen, even in an acute hospital environment, where highly trained professionals are using full PPE, viruses are still contracted.

The minister said SA was receiving contact tracing help from Western Australia and had accepted the federal government’s offer of additional ADF support.

Updated

Just on that news from Japan:

Scott Morrison and his Japanese counterpart, Yoshihide Suga, will seek to make progress on an agreement to pave the way for greater defence force cooperation when the Australian prime minister arrives in Tokyo later today.

Morrison, who flew out of Australia late last night, is on his way to the Japanese capital for a visit that is also intended to send a signal about increasingly close ties between Australia and Japan.

Morrison is the first foreign leader to meet with Suga in Japan since Shinzo Abe quit the top job for health reasons in September – although Suga met with his Vietnamese and Indonesia counterparts during his own travel abroad last month.

One of the key items on the agenda for their meeting scheduled for this evening, Australia time, is a defence deal known as a reciprocal access agreement.

The RAA is expected to detail arrangements for how Japan’s self-defence forces can operate in and around Australia, and for the Australian defence force to do likewise in Japan, according to the defence analyst Michael Bosack.

Such an agreement – if finalised – would be “epoch-making” because it would be Japan’s first agreement regarding foreign military presence in its sovereign territory since the 1960 status of forces agreement with the US, Bosack wrote in commentary for the Japan Times.

One of the sticking points, according to previous media reports, has been Japan’s use of the death penalty, and whether ADF members would potentially be subject to it for serious criminal breaches committed while on Japanese soil. It is hoped the leaders will make progress on the RAA negotiations tonight.

The leaders are also expected to discuss broader strategic issues, such as the rise of China and the implications of Joe Biden’s incoming administration in the US. The program of events during the one-day visit will also showcase cooperation between Australia and Japan on hydrogen technology.

Given that Suga was the day-to-day face of the Abe administration – through his years of service as chief cabinet secretary – many observers expect continuity in Japan’s foreign relations.

But Suga has made an early mark by committing Japan to achieving net zero emissions by 2050. The Abe administration had previously talked about achieving net zero emissions “as early as possible in the second half of this century”.

Morrison is due to return to Australia on Wednesday, having postponed a trip to Papua New Guinea due to political turmoil there.

Updated

Good Morning

Good morning all, Matilda Boseley here to take you through the day’s news, Covid-19 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.

The big news for today is again this outbreak in South Australia. Last night the Parafield cluster total sat at 17, but SA’s health minister, Stephen Wade, says this number has risen to 20 (both confirmed and probable cases).

  • Wade says authorities don’t believe there was any “breach” in quarantine controls at the “medi-hotel” (quarantine hotel) site that this cluster spawned from. He said the first known case was a cleaner who did not have direct contact with infectious travellers and worked “back of house”. It is possible the cleaner was infected via surface droplets.
  • The emerging cluster has prompted the state government to reimpose a range of coronavirus restrictions. From Tuesday, all gyms, recreation centres and play cafes will close for two weeks, with community sports fixtures and training cancelled. Funerals and family gatherings will be capped at 50 people and church 100. Pubs, clubs, restaurants and public gatherings will be limited to 100 people.
  • Western Australia, Queensland, Tasmania and the Northern Territory have all imposed quarantine requirements on those travelling from either Adelaide or South Australia as a whole. (We may get an update from Tasmania today as to whether its border restrictions will be made more permanent.) Victoria will interview all South Australia travellers but have kept borders open, and NSW says it wants to “lead by example” by not imposing restrictions unless the cluster grows worse.

In news from other states:

  • Every NSW resident is in line for $100 worth of vouchers to spend on dining and entertainment under a $500m plan to be announced in the state budget. The 2020-21 budget, to be handed down by the treasurer, Dominic Perrottet, on Tuesday, is expected to include a range of measures to boost the economy which has been dented by the coronavirus pandemic.
  • Twenty-three-year-old Celeste Manno has been remembered as a “beautiful girl” after her body was discovered at a home in Melbourne’s north-east. A 35-year-old man, believed to be known to Manno, was arrested and taken to hospital after suffering non-life threatening injuries. He was placed under police guard in hospital and a homicide investigation was launched.
  • Labor wants to refer the NSW government’s $53.5m purchase of contaminated land that delivered its previous owners a $15m profit to the Independent Commission Against Corruption. The 2016 deal to buy the land at Camellia near Parramatta in Sydney’s west for the soon-to-be-abandoned stage two of a light rail project has already been referred to the state’s auditor general.
  • More than $1m in cash has been confiscated after being found in a car crossing the South Australian border from NSW. Two men, aged 47 and 51 and both from the state’s mid north region will face court on Tuesday on a raft of money laundering and drug trafficking charges.
  • A landmark set of rules for Japan’s self-defence forces to operate in and around Australia, with the Australian defence force doing the same in Japan, is on the agenda for talks between Scott Morrison and Yoshihide Suga. Morrison will be the first foreign leader to meet with Suga in Japan since he took over from Shinzo Abe as prime minister in September.

Updated

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