What happened today, Wednesday 4 August 2021
We’ll leave there for now. Here are today’s main stories:
- New South Wales recorded 233 new cases and two deaths overnight: a man in his 20s who died at home and a woman in her 80s who died in hospital.
- Gladys Berejiklian, the NSW premier, said it was possible case numbers could deteriorate.
- Queensland recorded 19 new cases, with authorities warning the current lockdown may be extended beyond Sunday. The state government said it would reschedule the Ekka public holiday. Ekka itself is already.
- A mystery case was reported this afternoon in Victoria, forcing more than 2,000 staff and students at Al Taqwa College in Melbourne’s west into isolation.
- South Australia reported a new case, but authorities still intend to further ease restrictions this week.
- Western Australia also recorded one new mystery case in a fly-in, fly-out worker.
We’ll see you tomorrow. Stay safe.
Updated
The Senate is still sitting. A Labor attempt to have the government produce documents related to its use of car park funding to target marginal seats has been defeated.
BREAKING: Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party just voted with the LNP to hide evidence of the Govt’s #CarParkRorts. Labor’s motion defeated. There is no rort Hanson won’t help the LNP protect. #auspol pic.twitter.com/T4go5GfNSW
— Senator Murray Watt (@MurrayWatt) August 4, 2021
The Australian home affairs minister has been ordered into mediation with an Afghan refugee who assisted coalition forces during the Afghanistan conflict and remains in detention in Australia after eight years.
Ben Doherty has more.
Here’s a story I wrote before coming onto the blog:
Centrelink will no longer issue or recover welfare and childcare debts during lockdowns, including in parts of New South Wales and Queensland currently under stay-at-home orders.
⚠️COVID-19 Update
— Queensland Health (@qldhealthnews) August 4, 2021
More than 11,395 people are subject to quarantine orders as a result of the current clusters and people from overseas in hotel quarantine in Queensland. More than 5800 are due to the “Indooroopilly” cluster in south-east Queensland.
https://t.co/rROlz4xxqc
About 2,500 students and staff at a school in Melbourne’s west will need to self-isolate and get tested after a teacher caught Covid-19.
Jeroen Weimar, Victoria’s Covid-19 commander, told ABC Melbourne the Al Taqwa College teacher got tested yesterday and her positive result came back today.
He said the woman is in her 20s and lives in the Hobsons Bay local government area in Melbourne’s west.
Weimar told the ABC that 2,100 students and 300 staff at the school would need to get tested and isolate for 14 days, though some people might be released earlier by authorities following contact tracing.
He said people who live in the same home as a staff member or student would also need to self-isolate for 14 days.
Authorities do not yet know how the woman caught the virus, but Weimar said she had done the right thing by getting tested.
It is believed she may have been infectious in the community since last Wednesday.
He also praised the school as “hugely supportive” and said it had showed “outstanding” leadership. Al Taqwa College was caught up in an outbreak of more than 200 cases during Melbourne’s second wave last year.
It was too early to say whether the new case will impact plans to ease restrictions next week, Weimar said.
Updated
Let’s take a look at the market at the close of play, via AAP.
The ASX200 has closed higher than 7500 points for the first time in its history as traders continue to look beyond coronavirus lockdowns.
The index traded below the milestone figure for most of the day and investors had been unsure whether the ASX would close higher than the mark.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index closed higher by 28.7 points, or 0.38%, to 7503.2.
The index earlier achieved its best level in history of 7509.2.
The All Ordinaries closed up 28.2 points, or 0.36%, to 7778.7.
Market giant BHP rose by more than two per cent and helped the wider category of materials shares climb more than one per cent.
The Australian dollar was buying 73.99 US cents at 1621 AEST, higher from 73.92 US cents at Tuesday’s close.
An interesting story from the ABC’s Alice Springs bureau here, given the national debate about Labor’s $300 cash for jab policy.
The ABC reports: “The Central Land Council (CLC) – which represents Indigenous people in the southern half of the Northern Territory – is offering all of its staff and councillors a $500 cash incentive to get vaccinated against Covid-19.”
The ABC reports that the CLC says 50% of its staff are now fully vaccinated, compared to just 2% five weeks ago, when the incentive was introduced.
Updated
South Australia reports one case
South Australia has reported one new Covid-19 case linked to a local cluster but will push ahead with plans to ease virus restrictions, reports AAP.
The case was revealed on Wednesday, more than two weeks after the outbreak first emerged, and takes the number linked to the cluster to 22.
The chief health officer Nicola Spurrier said the positive test involved a man in his 20s who was the family member of a previously confirmed infection.
He was already in home quarantine with confirmation of his case coming after a relatively long incubation period.
Prof Spurrier said officials remained comfortable with the suggested incubation period of 14 days, but would continue to review the evidence, especially in relation to the Delta strain of the disease.
The new case also came as SA prepares to ease some local virus restrictions from Thursday morning, including relaxing the general density requirement in most venues to one person to every two square metres.
Sports competition can resume with spectator numbers at outdoor venues limited to 1000, but SA will keep mask-wearing in place for high-risk settings, high schools and most public places, including shopping centres.
Family gatherings will continue to be limited to 10 people, and weddings and funerals will stay at 50 people.
Updated
Mystery case linked to Melbourne's Al-Taqwa college
We’ve received a media release from Victoria’s Department of Health confirming the new case in Melbourne is a teacher at Al-Taqwa College in Truganina.
“The acquisition source of this case is currently under investigation and household contacts of the case are being urgently tested,” the department says.
The Department will support the school community in partnership with Western Public Health Unit. Transmission risks at the school are being assessed. In the meantime, the school will close, and all students and staff will be instructed via direct communications to get tested and isolate until further notice.
The case is currently isolating and being interviewed by contact tracers.
Updated
My colleague Katharine Murphy had an interesting story about the Melbourne-based Liberal MP Tim Wilson yesterday.
The Fraser-era immigration minister Ian Macphee has endorsed a local push to replace the incumbent Liberal MP Tim Wilson in his former electorate of Goldstein with an independent at the next federal election.
Wilson has just been asked on the ABC about the development and had a typically combative response, telling Patricia Karvelas:
He previously [Macphee] endorsed a Greens candidate [Julian Burnside] in the federal electorate of Kooyong who was recently engulfed in an anti-Israel sentiment and then had to apologise. I would have thought the electors in Caulfield South, Elsternwick, Glenhuntly and other parts of the electorate [would think] it’s very interesting that he would be endorsed there and it’s not the endorsement I would want.
Is Wilson worried?
Many things keep me up at night including Australia’s relationship in the world, the importance of home ownership, promoting intergenerational equity and justice ... That is not one of them.
Updated
Further to that new case. There is a new exposure site in Victoria.
#UPDATE: The first new exposure site in four days has been added. Coles Supermarket Yarraville on 29 July between the times of 4.30pm and 5.30pm is a Tier 2 site. #9News
— 9News Melbourne (@9NewsMelb) August 4, 2021
3AW is reporting that the positive Covid case in Melbourne is a staff member at Al-Taqwa College in Truganina.
This would be a tough situation for the school, given it was hit by a large outbreak during Victoria’s second wave last year.
BREAKING: @3AW693 Drive with Tom Elliott has been given a letter sent to all parents at Al Taqwa College in Truganina. It says the college will immediately be temporarily closed after a member of the teaching staff has tested positive for COVID-19.
— Julian Virgona 🎧 (@julian_virgona) August 4, 2021
Updated
Hello to you all. Luke Henriques-Gomes here. Thanks to Amy for her stellar work today.
I’ll steer you through to close today.
On that note, I am going to hand the blog over to the wonderful Luke Henriques-Gomes, who will take you through the evening.
A very big thank you to everyone who joined along today. I know it has been a particularly rough day for those in NSW, and we are all thinking of you. It’s trite to say we are all in this together, because those of us not in lockdown can’t understand what 40 days of lockdown feels like. Victorians understand, but it’s still draining. And the daily wait for the numbers brings its own emotional fatigue. So we’re not really all in this together, but you’re also not alone.
Mike Bowers and I will be back tomorrow – keep an eye out for the Canberra team’s stories filling you in on the day’s events and more, and I’ll see you bright and early.
Please – take care of you.
Updated
Marise Payne has vowed to “raise Australia’s grave concerns about the crisis in Myanmar” during a series of regional meetings this week.
The foreign minister said she would also “continue to call on the military regime to cease violence and immediately release all those arbitrarily detained, including Australian professor Sean Turnell”.
Myanmar is a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), but the regional bloc’s proposal to appoint a special envoy on Myanmar has been held up amid disagreements. Myanmar’s military seized power in a coup six months ago, and hundreds have been killed in the months since. Although Australia has suspended defence cooperation, it has not, to date, imposed additional sanctions against military figures.
The situation will be front of mind when Payne participates by videoconference in a series of meetings this week, including the Asean-Australia post-ministerial conference, the East Asia Summit foreign ministers’ meeting, and the Asean Regional Forum.
In a statement issued ahead of the meetings, Payne said she would raise the “evolving humanitarian situation” in Myanmar and would press for the immediate appointment of a special envoy, while calling for “the full and timely implementation of Asean’s five-point consensus”.
More broadly, Payne said she would update Australia’s partners on the support the government was providing to southeast Asia for Covid-19 recovery, including “increasing access to safe and effective” vaccines in the region.
She also plans to discuss “key regional security issues, including the South China Sea, Hong Kong, the Korean Peninsula, counter-terrorism and cyber”.
Updated
Birmingham is asked why Christian Porter was elevated to the role of Speaker of the House, given the concerns raised by women like Australian of the Year Grace Tame, who described the move as a slap in the face. Porter has faced historic rape allegations, which he denies.
Simon Birmingham:
Christian Porter stepped aside from his previous role due to legal matters that he was pursuing. He has continued and continues to be a cabinet minister and him filling in part of the duties as cabinet ministers are often called to do.
(David Gillespie is the deputy leader of the house. No reason has been given as to why he could not take on the role).
Karvelas: “Doesn’t it speak volumes that someone like Grace Tame says there is no way this decision was accidental?” Karvelas quotes Tame: “It is transparently deliberate, definitive statement that reeks of the abuse of power and a blatant disregard of the people”.
Birmingham:
Look, I disagree with that assessment. Getting a cabinet minister to act in the role of another colleague, particularly if they have held that role previously, is quite standard practice.
Q: But the question is she is Australian of the Year. She has been raising these issues about women and these kinds of allegations. Does it not send a signal, minister, to victims that the government does not get it?
Birmingham:
Well, Patricia, it’s important as we have discussed these matters before, those who are tasked with investigating them are the ones who are right and proper to investigate. I don’t think it’s fair to undertake a process that prejudges or predetermines guilt, which in a sense is what that comment insinuates.
The police can not investigate this issue and have said as much, given the complainant has died.
Updated
Simon Birmingham then says he does not believe retailers like the Reject Shop are essential, and he questions why NSW has allowed them to stay open.
(The Reject Shop sells groceries and is very essential to people who can’t afford supermarket dry goods. Your idea of what is essential can absolutely differ depending on your circumstances. It pays to remember that your situation is not the same as everyone else’s).
Birmingham:
I have not heard that question and, yes, and putting it to me, I do question that.
I do question that it is really important that Sydney, in going through the pain and difficulty that so many people are feeling at present, [is] giving themselves the best chance of success.
It is why as a government we offered to make sure that there were defence force personnel to help New South Wales and we are pleased that eventually they accepted that and we want them to make this lockdown a success.
Q: So it does seem strange to you as it does to me that those sorts of retail outlets are still open, right?
Birmingham:
It doesn’t seem like something essential to me.
... These are difficult times for state governments particularly in how you draw the legal boundaries around certain shops and so on but I hope they take a look at that.
Updated
ABC’s Patricia Karvelas: “Politically speaking, we have now spent two days talking about Labor’s proposal. I will be blunt, isn’t that because the government does not have a proposal?
Simon Birmingham:
Labor are the ones who chose to throw this out there.
PK: “Because you have not put anything out there in terms of incentives and getting motivated to get vaccination. You haven’t put anything out there.”
Birmingham:
I completely reject what you are saying there. Right now the complaints I’m hearing from Australians, most often about they want to get an appointment, they want to get a vaccine.
They want us to make sure we are opening up those additional distribution points and they want us to make sure we’re getting the extra supply in the country. The other things we are doing to make sure Australians can get what they want, which is a vaccine.
They would be aghast if the government was distracted by thought bubbles like this, as Labor has been, which I gather Anthony Albanese did not take to a shadow cabinet. It is literally just a thought bubble it seems. They want us to focus on things that will give them the fastest, safest access to vaccines, despite setbacks to the country we’ve had and that’s precisely what we’re doing as a government.
Updated
Simon Birmingham says the Doherty Institute didn’t tell the government to do incentives to increase vaccines.
Which is true. They didn’t.
Because the Doherty Institute wasn’t asked to model incentives.
Simon Birmingham, who kicked off the rubbishing of Labor’s $300 vaccine payment by calling it “insulting’ on Tuesday, is kinda, sorta, walking it back a tiny bit after Lt Gen John Frewen said he was open to it.
Then he tries to walk both sides.
Here is what Birmingham told ABC’s Afternoon Briefing:
If you look at what Lt Gen Frewen was talking about, he was talking about the point possibly much later and the rollout, in terms of the types of things that you might consider to get to small cohorts. And that could be a range of things, including potentially the way in which we go through the different steps and stages of opening up.
It may mean there are some liberties that states or territories or others choose to apply to vaccinated and unvaccinated Australians, such as checking people at attending sporting events, that may act as incentives for certain cohorts.
It is insulting in a sense because you have already got millions of Australians who have turned out – 42% of those over the age of 16 have already had their first jab.
What we are seeing is that Australians want to get vaccinated. The demand is strong, and so Labor is tackling the wrong problem.
Our focus has been on overcoming setbacks of not getting the initial 3.4 million doses from Europe, the setbacks to changes in advice to AstraZeneca, and making sure we have strong supply through the rest of this year.
Updated
WA records new Covid case
The WA premier Mark McGowan’s snap press conference has been called in relation to a fly in, fly out worker testing positive for Covid-19, and potentially being infectious while in the community.
They have a low virus load, so they don’t think the risk is too high, but they want everyone to check the exposure sites, and monitor their symptoms.
The worker has previously had Covid, and may have not been infectious this time around, and wasn’t displaying symptoms. His partner has already tested negative.
JUST IN: InfectedFIFO worker may have been positive in the community. He was at airport and Cloudbreak Mine site between July 20 & 27. He returned a weak positive result. It’s understood he was in Greenwood, Subiaco & Fremantle areas. @9NewsPerth @9NewsAUS
— Tracy Vo (@Tracy_Vo) August 4, 2021
Updated
From Mike Bowers’ lens to your eyeballs:
Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian
Updated
Nothing was “leaked” to the media.
Christensen has now published his speech to the party room on his Facebook page - claims it was "leaked to the media". https://t.co/tG9S1znjE6 pic.twitter.com/hv5UkRI4yX
— courtney gould (@heyycourtt) August 4, 2021
I’ve spoken about this before, but for those who don’t know (and I would expect that’s most of you, because the day-to-day weirdness of parliament sittings is not and should not be your concern), after party room/caucus meetings, a designated member of the party calls a media briefing and runs through the minutes of the meeting – what was discussed, things MPs may have raised, that sort of thing.
It’s why you see so many ‘the prime minister told the party room’ or ‘the opposition told colleagues’ reports.
It’s all done, weirdly enough, on background, so it cannot under practice be directly attributed. I had no idea it happened before I got to Canberra, but it is a longstanding practice.
MPs aren’t named, but it is not too difficult to work out what MP may have gone on about ‘freedom protests’ when their social media is filled with it. So no, it was not “leaked” to the media, it was part of the normal briefing.
Updated
And now the WA premier has called a snap press conference
And from AAP:
Victoria has recorded a new coronavirus case after initially revelling in a day of no infections.
The Department of Health on Wednesday afternoon said it was investigating a confirmed case and would provide more information shortly.
Earlier in the day, authorities had warned Victorians will not get an early rules reprieve despite the state notching its first Covid-19 clean sheet since the fifth lockdown.
Covid-19 commander Jeroen Weimar said it was cause for quiet celebration and satisfaction.
“It’s a symbolic marking of a point where there’s no more Covid cases,” he told reporters.
“It means we’re on track with the strategy that we set three or four weeks ago.”
But it has not inspired health officials to bring forward a review on restrictions and the current batch will remain in place until August 10.
“We still have active cases in our community right here that we know about ... we’ve still got just under 3000 primary close contacts ... and we still have ongoing risks in the rest of the eastern seaboard,” he said.
He noted it was only a week ago that officials were caught off guard by the unlinked case of a Moonee Valley testing site traffic controller.
It remains unclear how the man caught the virus, but Mr Weimar said a review into the source of his infection would ramp up on Wednesday afternoon.
“There’s a strong line of investigation around some movements that he had at work,” he said.
Premier Daniel Andrews similarly cited Sydney’s Delta outbreak as a reason for the state to take “cautious steps” towards greater freedoms.
“I fully acknowledge that there are some rules that are on at the moment that are very difficult, but they are nothing compared to being locked down again,” he said outside parliament.
Updated
One new Covid case in Victoria confirmed
Calla Wahlquist has followed up with Victoria Health on the new Covid case:
The Department of Health is investigating a confirmed case and will provide more information shortly.
Updated
Question time ends
Anyways, question time ends.
Updated
Which is the same excuse as was given for sports rorts.
The minister of the day has authority, because that is how the programs have been set up. And that has led to the politicisation of the programs, because no one is independently reviewing the spend.
Which is not the question – the question is WHY does the minister of the day have the ultimate authority.
Updated
Andrew Giles to Scott Morrison:
“Today the minister who had ministered car park rorts said he was not aware of the top 20 marginals used to target seats. Can the prime minister tell us who put the list together and who used to allocate funding, was at the office of the prime minister?
Tony Smith:
Just before I call the minister I will not rule it out of order because there have been a number of questions on other topics like this, when you are using a turn of phrase, it can really leave it open to the question not being answered. What I would prefer for future questions if you are talking about the program the subject of an audit report, just state what the program is.
Rowan Ramsey:
Point of order, Mr Speaker, I make a point on that question. He didn’t address it to a minister at all, didn’t name the minister.
Smith:
His first line was to the prime minister.
Ramsey:
He addressed to the minister for car parking.
Smith:
No, this first line was ‘my question is to the prime minister’. The prime minister has redirected it to the minister.
Paul Fletcher, who decides the best course of action is to go back to his university debating days and treat this like a game, says:
“I make the point, Mr Speaker, that there is no question that the minister of the day had authority to make decisions in relation to community car parks. There is no question of that, and indeed the auditor general report makes that very clear.
“Under the national land transport act, the minister of the day had authority [and] exercised that authority, consistent with the provisions of the national land transport act. And I also make a point, that money was committed on the basis of advice from the department to the minister of the day, and indeed that is made very clear in the auditor general’s report. I also make the point that we saw from the other side of the House, commitments and the park and ride fund to commuter car parks at Gosford, Woy Woy, Campbelltown ... and Hurstville, all of them from Labor...
Giles:
The question was quite narrow about the list of projects and who was responsible for it.
Smith:
I will say to the member that is what I was alluding to on the first part of his question, it had some politically charged language. If he had just asked it he would have had a point, but the question had an accusation and that allowed the minister to respond to that accusation. I won’t be too precious about the question. The minister has the call.
Fletcher:
My answer to the ambitious previously obscure shadow minister who was desperately trying without conspicuous success to capitalise on what he thought would be his moment in the sun, he is asking who made the decision.
I will tell you who made the decision, the minister of the day made the decision! And the minister of the day had authority. This is the key point the auditor general’s report does not contest, that the minister of the day had authority.
Let me read to you from page 38 of the auditor general’s report. Under the infrastructure arrangement, the Australian government may commit funding to an investment project at any time, for any phase, based on information it deems appropriate.
... There is no question, the minister had authority consistent with the provisions of the national land transport act.
Updated
You might notice some themes the prime minister is trying to build upon over the last couple of days, as he tries to paint Anthony Albanese in the public’s eyes before voters make up their mind about him.
Lately, it is “negative” and “cash splash”.
Before that it was “each way”.
This is only going to become more and more obvious as the election gets closer.
Updated
Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:
My question is to the prime minister. Yesterday he told the House he was talking about the approval of vaccines when he said it’s not a race, on multiple occasions calm, on many occasions in March. Given the TGA approved Pfizer in January and AstraZeneca in February, what vaccine approval was he talking about for March?
Morrison:
I was making reference to the cautious approach the government has taken, when we have been taking advice on rolling up the national vaccine program.
He rightly refers to those comments being made in March, it was a very different situation ... and those comments are not comments I have repeated since that time. There is a reason for that*.
(*The actual reason was the criticism of the ‘it’s not a race’).
We have continued to ramp up the response to the national vaccine program and yesterday we had another record day. And I acknowledge as I have done to the whole country, I acknowledge we have our challenges in the early parts of this national vaccine program, I have said sorry to the country for where we hope to be, we were not able to be at that point.
The leader of the opposition may wish to continue to pursue that. The Australian people know I’ve been very upfront with them about this. Not only did I take responsibility for the problems, I take responsibility for fixing them, which is what have done. And now, as the program rolls out and we roll towards reaching those targets, which I know I can have great confidence that Australians will be able to reach those targets, the leader of the opposition, he has no confidence in the Australian people.
He thinks he needs to splash cash for them to do the right thing by themselves, their families and community.
Tony Smith:
You weren’t asked about that.
Morrison:
I was making a comment about my confidence in the Australian people, and my confidence in the Australian [people] about meeting the targets I’ve set before us to make sure we can live with the virus into the future. We had the plan, we set the targets, we put General Frewen in charge of getting that vaccine program rolling out at the great pace it is now doing. That is how the government addressed the challenges we had in the first part of the year.
Updated
The industry minister delivers some snark in response to a question from Ed Husic.
Updated
Victoria reportedly records one Covid case
It seems Victoria has not had a donut day:
Victoria has recorded a new covid case. The Health Dept says its investigating a confirmed case and will provide more information shortly. @abcnews @abcmelbourne
— Richard Willingham (@rwillingham) August 4, 2021
Updated
Angus Taylor again goes on about how the solar take up across Australian households is proof of the government’s success with renewables.
Once again, those solar policies were largely the product of state governments, which provided mass incentives to people to install solar panels, and has since led to solar power being fed into the grid.
Updated
Julian Hill to Scott Morrison:
“When a Melbourne pub offered freebies for vaccination, the prime minister said to the pub, good on you for getting behind the national effort. Given it is OK for a pub to offer incentives for vaccination, why not a government?”
Morrison:
$6 billion of taxpayers’ money. $6 billion of money would be paid to people who have already had the vaccine*. And Mr Speaker, the leader of the opposition has largely already conceded, we have seen ice cream last longer in the sunshine Mr Speaker [than] this policy. He already acknowledges by implication, Mr Speaker, that more than 75% of people who will go and get this vaccine would have gone and got it otherwise, but he is going to cut a check anyway, Mr Speaker, just like they did last time**.
(*He earlier said this was $2 billion to people who had already had the vaccine)
(**He is talking about the GFC stimulus cheques, which are widely acknowledged to have kept Australia out of recession).
What we have seen from the leader of the opposition, it is very interesting, Mr Speaker, and I will take the interjection ... because he refers to $30 million.
We believe it was a wise investment, Mr Speaker, to ensure that on the other side, on the other side when we came out of those first and second waves, our economy came back and a million people got back into jobs and as we got to the end of March, those opposite, Mr Speaker, they were hoping for the worst of Australians when we came to the end of March. That people would not find themselves in jobs and they could go mad in this place. What did they find?
Australians back into jobs and Australians around the country were smiling. And the Labor party ... through this pandemic, the Labor party has hoped for the worst. That undermined the national effort, the constant negativity of the leader of the Labor party ...
Tony Smith:
The prime minister has now moved beyond the question which was about incentives. Out of the arena and out of the car park.
Morrison:
The incentives put forward by the leader of the Labor Party, what we have seen from this is how they would have done things if they were in government. Ill-disciplined, ill-informed way to approaching policy where they treat taxpayers’ money like it’s confetti, spraying it around without any rules*, paying off money, as a bribe to Australians. That is what it is. So little do they think of Australian sacrifice. They have showed the true policy colours, ill informed, ill discipline...
(*Like jobkeeper, including to companies which didn’t need it).
Updated
Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:
It follows my question previously when I asked about Professor Kelly, the Prime Minister responded to comments from the lieutenant general. Is he aware the lieutenant general said this in reference to cash incentives, “we will look at all alternatives, there is cash, there is the idea of Lotto is, what is resonating as for people to get back to the sort of lifestyle we used to enjoy”.
Is indeed, Lt General Frewen correct?
Morrison:
I can tell you that Lieutenant General Frewen is not recommending paying $2.4 billion to people who have already received the vaccine.
Incentives we speak of in the government of those about the liberties that people can regain when they have the vaccine.
The points of presence to make sure they go and access that vaccine.
We have now reached more than 50% of first doses in the ACT and Tasmania.
Albanese:
The question went to to quote from Lt Gen Frewen has said they are looking at positive alternatives, including cash, idea of lotteries, these things they have discussed, is that correct?
The leader of the house:
The question had on the premise that it had been discussed, may be the leader of opposition had discussed this with a few people over there he wouldn’t be in this problem.
Morrison:
They have not been recommended for cash payments, under the national plan, there is certainly no suggestion of the types of incentives that he refers to in phase a of the plan, and the ACT, and Tasmania, more than 50% have had their first doses, and they didn’t need a cash splash to get there.
The ACT health Minister whose colleague in the Labor Party said this is probably not the most cost-effective way to do incentives, from one of your own people in the ACT administration.
The people of the ACT haven’t needed a cash splash from the Leader of the Opposition, the people of Tasmania, that leads among people getting vaccinated in this country, didn’t need the vote of no-confidence the Labor Party leader wants to put in their ability to get vaccines, Australians know if they get vaccinated, they are less likely to get the virus and pass it on, less likely to be hospitalised with a serious illness and less likely to die.
Australians know that getting vaccinated is in their interest, their families and the community interest and the national interest off they know that.
I have confidence in them. To turn up as we are seeing them do in record numbers, over 200,000 again yesterday, those numbers continue to ramp up, the Leader of the Opposition does not believe that the Australian people will turn out and do what is in the health interest, family’s interest, and community interest.
He has issued a vote of no-confidence in the of Australia, a vote of absolute no-confidence. On the side of the House, we have great confidence in the Australian people, great thanks for the sacrifices they have gone through.
The leader of opposition, the Leader of the Labor Party, thinks that Australians need the cash to get vaccinated, but I think a lot more highly of the Australian people than he does.
Morrison calls vaccine cash incentive idea 'ill-considered' and 'ill-disciplined'
Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:
“I refer to the statement from the commonwealth chief medical officer Prof Paul Kelly in May this year. ‘I think we really do need to look for incentives as many incentives as we can for people to become vaccinated’. Was the chief medical officer correct?”
Morrison:
Being very familiar with the views of the chief medical officer because I meet with him regularly, I understand that the leader of the opposition has had one meeting that he sought, Mr Speaker, already this year with those running the health advice into this country.
I’m pleased to fill him in on the views of the chief medical officer. And what the chief medical officer said and what General Frewen has made very clear, he says, General Frewen as if it is some kind of mocking title.
Tony Burke:
It’s one thing when people attempt to put words in someone else’s mouth in this place. When they do it with regards to an esteemed member of the defence force it should be beneath this parliament. If nothing is beneath you, then that’s on you.
Morrison:
The advice that has come forward from whether it is the chief medical officer or General Frewen is that cash payment, cash payments, for jabs, a cash splash for jabs, Mr Speaker, is not their advice.
Mr Speaker, it is not the advice that is being given to us, that we should be spending $6 billion – splashing cash, Mr Speaker, to those who have already received the vaccine. At least at this point they would be paying out $2 billion to people who have already had the vaccine.
This is a policy that has been put forward by the Leader of the opposition, which is ill-considered, which is ill-informed. That is ill-disciplined. This is a policy that he has not sought to consult on, not sought to take proper advice on. He hasn’t even had the opportunity to sit down those responsible for delivering the national vaccine plan and be informed of that before his gone off with this idea. I note that those opposite, to quote them, referred to this as ‘Anthony’s idea’. That’s how they referred to it.
Tony Smith:
It doesn’t matter what you are quoting you need to refer to members by the correct titles for you will find it bouncing back on you pretty quickly.
Morrison:
They are crab walking away from this one pretty quickly ... splashing cash just like they did when they were last time in government, just like they did last time. They know this will not move the dial because 75% of Australians, according to the bureau of statistics, say they want to go and get it.
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Then we get this ridiculous dixer:
Will the treasurer please remind the House on why only the Morrison government can be relied upon to cut taxes and to ensure businesses, workers and families keep more of their hard-earned money? And is the treasurer aware of any constructive proposals being put forward that would be an alternative to the government’s tax policies?
Which leads to Josh Frydenberg saying this:
I am asked about those opposite, they have opposed our tax cuts every step of the way (which is not true, because Labor voted to pass the whole tax package).
And leads to Tony Smith telling him to get back in his box.
There is a general belief that Coalition governments are lower taxing, but in case facts matter to anyone though, it’s also not true as a general premise.
On a tax to GDP ratio, Coalition governments happen to be higher taxing than Labor governments, stretching back over decades.
Putting aside the vagaries of the economic cycle, and if we just start at the beginning of the Howard government in 1996, my quick calculations show the Howard Coalition tax-to-GDP ratio averaged 23.4% and Rudd-Gillard Labor governments averaged 20.8%.
This government’s average tax-to-GDP ratio is currently 22% – and is forecast to rise.
(This current government is also the highest spending in the modern era – but there has been a pandemic, and it would just be snarky to bring up fiscal responses to save economies in major economic shocks *cough*).
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Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:
“It is reported that a nurse who infected residents at the aged care centre in Summer Hill in my electorate worked across multiple sites leading to the hospitalisation of these residents and to lockdowns in aged care centres across Sydney. Months after aged care workers and residents were meant to be fully vaccinated and a year after this risk was identified, does the prime minister accept responsibility for this failure?”
Morrison:
The government continues to roll out the national vaccination plan and, Mr Speaker, I am pleased that when this Covid pandemic outbreak hit New South Wales in my home city as well as that of the leader of the opposition that right across New South Wales, right across Sydney, more than 80% of those in aged care facilities had double-dose vaccinations ... And the comparison between what happened this year in Sydney and Victoria last year could not be more stark.
The priority of the government - the priority of the government was to ensure that the residents of aged care facilities.
Albanese:
Yes, Mr Speaker. On relevance, the question is about aged care workers working across multiple sites, something that was identified as a problem that occurred in aged care more than a year ago, they’re still not fully vaccinated.
Morrison:
As of today 56.1% of aged care workers have had their first dose of the vaccination. The declaration of a commonwealth hot spot activates the supports that goes into the state governments to ensure that they have the support and the aged care facilities, have the support to prevent, wherever possible, those working across sites.
They are the rules that have been put in place – that there are the financial supports and other mechanisms that go into place where these commonwealth hot spots are declared. But I make this very important point, the contrast between the outbreak that has occurred in Sydney this year compared to what occurred in Victoria last year in terms of the rate of fatality that we have seen in aged care facilities, could not be more stark and that is because the government ensured that we, Mr Speaker, moved to put the vaccines into aged care facilities and double dose those residents with more than 80% having double dose vaccinations in those facilities.
Last year there was not a vaccination and we were able to constrain as much as possible in an unvaccinated population the impact of an extraordinary outbreak across Melbourne.
This year with vaccines in place over 80% of those in aged care facilities double dose vaccinated and that has provided them with very important protection in the midst of this very significant outbreak but the minister for health may wish to add.
Greg Hunt does, but there is not enough time left for him to get much out.
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For example:
Will the treasurer inform the House how the Morrison government’s fiscal discipline and careful approach to policy making is enabling us to continue providing substantial economic support as our economy meets the ongoing challenges of Covid-19?
Or this one:
Will the prime minister please inform the House about the importance of the Morrison government’s considered and disciplined approach to governing Australia through the pandemic and through our recovery?
Updated
After a brief reprieve, the government is back to treating dixers as three-minute excuses for back-patting and self-congratulating.
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Adam Bandt to Scott Morrison:
“From Victoria to Queensland to New South Wales, large numbers of school students have been infected with Covid, but your vaccination targets do not include children which means your 80% target is actually a lower 65% target for the whole population.
“According to Grattan Institute modelling such a target would result in many thousands of deaths if restrictions are lifted. Given this risk and given the growing prevalence of infection in children, will you extend vaccination coverage to children over 12 and include them in your national vaccination target?”
Morrison:
The minister for health may wish to add to my answer. The member would be aware from the Doherty modelling that the vaccination targets, it was the recommendation of Prof McVernon that came through the Doherty modelling, that including those under 16 in the overall vaccination target was not recommended.
That does not mean to say that there [isn’t] a role for the vaccination of those under 16 but in terms of the epidemiology, in terms of hitting the vaccination targets of those over 16 and the impact it has on transmission, then that is not necessary for that purpose of the vaccination targets. But the vaccination of children is a matter that has been carefully considered right now.
We are also awaiting the advice from the Atagi group on where those priorities have been because there has been differing practices around the world in terms of the vaccination of children so it is something the government is taking extremely seriously.
... The issue of vaccinating children is very important and we will wait the further medical advice on the best way to approach that task to ensure both their safety and to give piece of mind, particularly to their parents and families but also of course to those children. But to ensure that we also are enabled to continue the process of rolling out the national vaccination plan. Prof McVernon made a very important point yesterday and that is one of the primary ways you can prevent this Covid virus getting to children is the vaccination of their parents, the vaccination of their parents. That is a key factor that has been taken up in the national vaccination plan as a result of the Doherty process that I commissioned.
Greg Hunt:
Just very briefly in relation to approvals for children, the Therapeutic Goods Administration has given an approval on the application from Pfizer for that vaccine to be applied to 12-15-year-olds. The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation has provided its first piece of advice which the government has accepted to open that up initially for immunocompromised children, children in remote communities and children of Indigenous heritage.
That will commence as of next week and then they will provide subsequent advice in relation to the general population if that is to extend to it the general 12-15-year-old groups. The government has agreed that we will accept that and that planning is already under way with all states and territories to administer.
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Apartment complex in Sydney's south-west locked down after Covid cases
A unit complex in Campbeltown, in Sydney’s south-west, has been locked down after a number of residents tested positive.
NSW Health have confirmed to me that nine cases were identified at the complex, with the exact number of household impacted currently under investigation.
In a statement, they said all the residents have been found to be close contacts and must undergo repeat testing and isolate for 14 days.
“South Western Sydney Local Health District have worked with the residents and building management to assess the situation and, in collaboration with other agencies, are implementing measures to address infection control and the health and welfare of residents.”
They also confirmed that NSW Police and private security are “ensuring the safety” of the building.
Much like with the buildings in Blacktown and Bondi that have previously been put into lockdown, NSW Health is ensuring food and support is provided to the residents.
At today’s press conference, NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian urged people to be weary of the chances of transmission in apartment complexes.
“The Delta strain is very contagious as it is but clearly in apartment complexes it adds an extra layer op complexity and caution.”
“Please take note not to congregate in communal areas, not to stay or stand around in areas outside of our actual home, not to share lifts with other people, not to use any facilities that may have been in touch with other people or any other human contacts.”
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You may remember how Josh Frydenberg spoke about the cost of the Victorian lockdowns (which was not that long ago) and the difference in tone there.
That’s because – lo and behold – locking down quickly leads to significantly less economic damage in the long run. I don’t have an economics degree, and I’m not the treasurer, but even I could tell you that’s not exactly a difficult concept to grasp.
But the Doherty Institute modelling confirmed it, so now Frydenberg has to choke out that quick lockdowns are the superior standard.
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Jim Chalmers to Josh Frydenberg:
“How many billions of dollars per week are being lost from the national economy because the Prime Minister failed to do his two jobs, rolling out the vaccine effectively and creating a safe national vaccine system?”
Frydenberg:
I can tell the member that as a result of our policies, we are providing important income and business support to the members – to the people across the states of New South Wales and Queensland that are in lockdown.
Now, as I have said publicly before, the costs of the lockdown are immense. In the case of New South Wales it is around $180 million a day.
In the case of when Victoria was in lockdown it is around $100 million a day.
In the case of South Australia when they were in lockdown, it was more like $30 million. The reality is that lockdowns cost the economy significantly.
They have an impact obviously on the labour market, they have an impact on economic activity and an impact on people’s wellbeing.
That is why we are providing an unprecedented amount of economic support to those people in need. Today I have joined hundred of businesses on a series of phone calls to remind them and to provide them where details of the economic support that is flowing.
But people across Australia, particularly those who are in lockdown right now, need to understand that the fundamentals of the Australian economy are strong, they need to understand that the Australian economy is resilient and that they need to understand that as we get out we bounce back from the lockdowns ... the economy comes back very, very strongly.
Our economic performance throughout this pandemic has been ahead of other advanced economies around the world and the honourable member knows that going into these most recent lockdowns that we have seen in New South Wales and elsewhere, the unemployment rate fell to 4.9%, a 10-year low, and that 160,000 more people have been in work today than before this pandemic began, and that our economy is bigger today than before this pandemic began and programs like jobkeeper have been absolutely essential to the rebound across the Australian economy.
So while those opposite like to talk down the economy, we on this side talk up the economy and we point to its resilience and we point to its strength and most importantly we point to the confidence of the Australian people.
Updated
I would also just like to point out that while Scott Morrison speaks about there being “freedom of speech in this country” his government is working to gag charities from speaking out on issues it deems political, or face financial consequences.
Barnaby Joyce begins screeching in response to a dixer. His words run on faster than Bob Katter chasing a crocodile, so no one really knows what he is screeching about (standard).
Anthony Albanese makes a point of order on “weirdness” but is told to sit down.
Then Joyce gets too weird for even the speaker and is told to be relevant.
This is too much for a Wednesday.
Updated
Scott Morrison is cranky today
Mike Freelander to Scott Morrison:
“According to the Department of Health figures, the member for Dawson’s electorate has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country. Why has the prime minister failed to condemn the member for Dawson’s irresponsible undermining of public health measures designed to stop the spread of Covid, including his support of civil disobedience. For example George Christensen says a Covid mask mandate is an insanity.”
Morrison:
“I refer to the comments I made from the Lodge when I conducted a press conference on these issues the other day. Members of this parliament are accountable for their own actions and their own decisions.
“They are accountable for their own actions and their own decisions.
“I note the member for Dawson has made his own decisions about the next election but if these are the matters the opposition wish to raise why have they selected a candidate for the Labor party in Higgins which talks down AstraZeneca vaccines and how – if that is the standard they wish to raise it is them that is setting this standard. If they want to have a candidate in Higgins unlike the great member for Higgins we have in this chamber, a great medical doctor who has tremendous experience and has been a key source of advice.
Freelander: “Surely, this is nothing to do with the member for Dawson?”
Tony Smith:
I think if the member for Macarthur reflects on my earlier rulings and all the material in his question you will find that the prime minister is indeed in order. The prime minister has the call.
Morrison:
So I would encourage the leader of the Labor party to follow the example of the member for Maribyrnong (Bill Shorten) in supporting those AstraZeneca vaccines and going and encourage...
(George Christensen has removed his mask).
Tony Burke:
On the proper conduct of the Chamber, if the Prime Minister won’t call him into line I ask that you ask the Member for Dawson to wear a mask like other members of the Chamber are doing when they are not participating in debate.
Smith:
I remind the member for Dawson of the statement I made yesterday. It couldn’t have been clearer. We are asking all members who are not participating in the debate to wear a mask here in the chamber and in other areas in the building.
Morrison:
I don’t share the views of the member for Dawson on that matter, I don’t.
I have been very clear about that but I tell you what, in this country people have a right to free speech. They do*.
They do have a right to free speech in this country and that is not something that the government is seeking to clamp down on but it is important that people get the right information and it is important that members of this chamber get the right information to people in their electorates.
That is something that I strongly support and I encourage all members of the government to do that, to do exactly that. And I would invite the leader of the Labor party, given he is inviting me to make these comments, he should say the same thing about his Labor candidate who is the candidate for Higgins. He is happy to have one of them talking down AstraZeneca vaccines. The leader of the Labor party should take the example of the former leader of the Labor party who’s happy to get to out there and support the CSL workers who are out there making those AstraZeneca vaccines that is leader of the Labor party seems to be crab walking away from.
Christensen:
I would not seek to undermine your ruling. I was preparing to get up and ask this question so that is why I removed the mask.
(It was about a minute and a half early and he did not have the call).
*There is an implied freedom of speech right in Australia, but it is not set down in the constitution. There is no right to freedom of speech in this nation.
Updated
Question time begins
We are straight into it:
Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:
My question is addressed to the prime minister. The government promised that aged care workers would be fully vaccinated by Easter. Does the prime minister take any responsibility for the fact that this still hasn’t happened?
Morrison:
We do take responsibility for the vaccination program right across the country and the challenges that we’ve had in the vaccination program and overcoming them as well.
I can say that I’m greatly relieved that during the course of this most recent Covid outbreak in New South Wales the work that is being done to protect the most vulnerable people in our aged care facilities speaks for itself.
It speaks for itself, Mr Speaker, in comparison to the absolute terrible result that that was there last year when we were dealing with the outbreaks in Victoria.
We continue to make strong progress in relation to the vaccination of aged care workers, over 50% of them now vaccinated. But in addition over 80% of those who are in aged care facilities have had two does of the vaccination. Two doses.
That is what is protecting the lives of those aged care residents right now. Right now in Sydney. Sadly, we have seen – sadly we have seen deaths in New South Wales as a result of this most recent outbreak and the terrible death that was announced today of the young person who fell victim to Covid so quickly.
This is a virus that works right across the community and the Delta variant is a complete game changer. But, Mr Speaker, as we went into this outbreak in New South Wales ... where we had over 80% of those in aged care facilities double-dose vaccinated, they have been well protected.
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Labor’s Andrew Giles, one of the opposition MPs who has taken the lead on the car park scandal, had a quick press conference in response to Alan Tudge’s testy presser earlier today in the midst of all of that.
Here is some of what Giles said:
Minister Tudge as he ran away said two things. He maintained the lie that projects have been selected on the basis of need.
He knows this is untrue because he designed the program, he designed it so that there were no criteria to assess need. It’s just a complete joke and a farce that he can maintain this even now, but he also said something even more concerning.
He said that he knew nothing about the list of the 20 most marginal seats that we heard in evidence in the Senate committee last week or the week before last, I should say, that determined the initial project selection.
If he didn’t know about this list, there is only one person who could have known – Mr Morrison, the prime minister, because we know that through secret spreadsheets exchanged between the minister’s office and the prime minister’s office. I note the involvement included one of the staff involved in the sports rorts saga. We know that if minister Tudge wasn’t aware of this, only one person could have been.
It’s time for Mr Morrison to come clean and explain exactly what he knew about this rort ... Australians deserve nothing less.
Updated
OK, now we are on the downhill slide to QT.
It’s been another busy morning, so take a few minutes before the next mess.
Updated
Frewen says 70% vaccination target possible by end of year but public willingness key
So can we get to 70% by the end of the year?
Lt Geg John Frewen:
Mathematically, we can get there. I think we will have the supply and distribution, but it really is about people in Australia coming forward and coming forward with some urgency to get vaccinated so really. I think we will have everything in place to be able to get to those sorts of numbers by the end of the year, and public willingness to come forward is key and all of us need to keep encouraging everybody to get their vaccinations booked and get vaccinated.
Updated
On AstraZeneca, Lt General John Frewen says:
There’s been an active advertising campaign in Sydney around AstraZeneca alone, both to not only reassure the public that it is very safe and very effective but that they can access it through multiple pathways now.
The pharmacies are now on board. We are seeing the pharmacists into action very quickly in getting AstraZeneca out there. The guidance to GPs has been reinforced that this vaccine does need to be provided to those people and informed consent, and we are following up on cases where that is not the case. But again I’d encourage every Australian to make an informed choice now about whether they want to get vaccinated with what’s available right now or whether they wish to wait.
Q: But if they wait, when will they get Pfizer, under 40s?
Frewen:
The plan foreshadows is the 30-39 will open up towards the end of this month or early next month for mRNA. We are constantly working with the drug companies and looking for opportunities to bring forward additional mRNA vaccines and as soon as we get those, we will make decisions to open up as quickly as we can.
Q: I think we are about to get a million doses a week at this stage?
Frewen:
We are now enjoying that bring forward that we talked about... and that is now why we are seeing the 1.2 million coming forward, but at the moment we are still working on seeking whatever bring forwards that we can.
Updated
Sarah Martin then asks about whether or not Lt General John Frewen is worried about his role becoming politicised.
Q: Yesterday in parliament there were suggestions by the prime minister that Anthony Albanese hadn’t taken up the opportunity to have a meeting with you. How concerned are you about your role becoming politicised in that way, and particularly given you say in the plan that this needs to stay very positive and you want to ensure that the vaccine rollout is seen positively by people – are you concerned about your role being politicised?
Frewen:
I have served the government of the day and have for almost four decades now. Yesterday I was due to have a meeting with Mr Albanese. I understand the busy schedules of parliamentarians. I am scheduled to meet with him on Thursday now and I’ll look forward to the opportunity.
Updated
How set in stone is this latest roadmap?
Lt Gen Frewen:
The way this campaign plan is designed is it will be responsive to shifts in strategy.
You have heard yesterday as a result of the Doherty Institute modelling we have moved nationally from going just for the most vulnerable to going through the most vulnerable and highest transmissibility groups ... This plan adapts to that perfectly.
This plan [adapts to] numerous potential hotspot rates .... With the states and territories [we] looked at major disruptions to supply, major setbacks to public confidence, even say Atagi shifts and guidance, so this plan is inherently flexible.
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It like Queensland will gets its 150,000 AstraZeneca doses faster than next week, according to Frewen:
The supplies we have of AstraZeneca at the moment are not constrained, so we can provide as much AstraZeneca as people request right now. In relation to the pharmacies, the normal ordering process for bringing on a pharmacy is about 2-3 weeks but we have made available the urgent orders that’s been available to GPs, and pharmacies now, and we will get AstraZeneca to any pharmacy that needs it within usually 24-48 hours.
Updated
'I will make sure everybody gets a dose by Christmas': Frewen
How far are we from 80% of the eligible population getting vaccinated?
Lt General Frewen:
I will make sure that everybody gets a dose by Christmas, will make sure that we put everything we can to get to 70% as soon as possible and once we get there we will work on getting to 80%.
Q: What are your expectations in terms of supply for that vaccine?
Frewen:
There is 10 million doses of Moderna that will come into play through the course of the year as well. What we have done at the moment is to say, for pure simplicity of logistics, that that will go to the pharmacists in the first instance. But we have prepared the pharmacies now, and we’ve got almost 1,000 pharmacies who [are] on board now. We have to have another 1,000 pharmacists on board every week for the next few weeks. We’re preparing them to do both AstraZeneca now and then ... either Pfizer or Moderna when it becomes available. So it will be just another vaccine but it will come into the mix and we will make sure that it comes into play as quickly as we can.
Updated
When vaccine supplies match demand, how will distribution work for businesses and mass vaccination hubs?
Lt Gen Frewen:
It will be done in a number of ways. The way the distribution hubs are developed – I am working with states and territories. Some prefer particular styles of things.
In Sydney you are seeing mass vaccination hubs in particular. The plan also talks to the potential things like drive-through clinics, pop-up clinics and things like that. We work through with states and territories and federally decide what is best.
When it comes to the distribution, I will make recommendations now where major new arrivals and vaccines might go but ultimately this is a matter for government.
Q: Do you think the state and federal government [will] decide, for example, if you have a national employer who employs more in certain states, will they be given allocation above the average?
Frewen:
The vaccines go through the federal hub and into state allocation, which the states are managing. We can see which is working best and we can allocate inside the state or territory to make the best use and we are putting that into place.
As we put in workplace vaccinations, we will have discussions whether that will happen within sending allocations or whether we can allow allocations.
The CBA initiative done by CBA and Westpac around workplace vaccinations is being done with AstraZeneca and we have been able to provide extra AstraZeneca.
Updated
There is no plan to open the Pfizer vaccine program to under 30s earlier, despite the Doherty Institute reporting they are a critical group for vaccinations in its modelling (at this stage). So if you are under 40 (not all states have opened Pfizer to under 40s yet) and you want to get vaccinated, talk to a doctor about AstraZeneca.
Frewen:
All age groups can access AstraZeneca ... The main reason for not opening up all cohorts to mRNA is expectation, filling up booking systems and not realistically being able to access the stuff.
The idea for 30-39 [is] we will open mRNA towards the end of this month, early next month. [That] means that when people are told they can access the vaccine they can do it in a reasonable period of time.
AstraZeneca is available right now under informed consent. People need to make a decision whether they want the available vaccine now or whether they wait.
Updated
Rollout program head open to looking at cash incentives for vaccine
Lt General John Frewen is not ruling out cash incentives to encourage people to get a Covid-19 vaccine – but he says demand is still outstripping supply, so now is not the time to look at it.
That’s a pretty big difference from the prime minister who called the Labor idea of a $300 cash incentive for those getting the vaccine “an insult” and a “bubble without a thought” yesterday.
Frewen says he’ll look at everything:
We will look at all positive alternatives. There is cash, there is the ideas of lotteries, all these things are being discussed. What has resonated with people right now really is being able to get back to the sort of lifestyle we used to enjoy – international travel, not having to do quarantine, not having to go into lockdown and those sorts of things. Getting vaccinated is the right thing to do for individuals and for the nation.
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Good news if you are looking to get vaccinated in Victoria.
60,000 appointments for Pfizer are available thru state gov centres in Vic. 200,000 already booked in over coming weeks. Extension from 3 to 6 weeks has made more spots available
— Richard Willingham (@rwillingham) August 4, 2021
Updated
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young, who headed up a Senate inquiry into the circumstances around Christine Holgate’s departure from Australia Post, has released a statement in response to the news Australia Post and Holgate have come to a mediation settlement:
The Morrison Government’s and Australia Post’s poor treatment and public bullying of Christine Holgate has cost taxpayer more than $1million.
Today’s settlement between the former CEO and Australia Post is vindication that Ms Holgate was mistreated and her departure was badly mismanaged.
The Prime Minister’s over-the-top and aggressive reaction to Ms Holgate on the floor of the nation’s parliament plunged the leadership of Australia Post into crisis, and now taxpayers are covering the clean up bill. The Prime Minister should walk into Parliament today and publicly apologise for his behaviour. A simple ‘sorry’ shouldn’t be that hard.
Ms Holgate’s treatment has exposed the sexism and hypocrisy in the corridors of power here in Parliament.
Despite all the public bullying and berating it is clear Ms Holgate was an ‘effective CEO’ and made an ‘outstanding contribution’.
The Chair of Australia Post should be held accountable for his role in this sorry saga too. It is clear the Board did not follow proper process and it has now cost the organisation an ‘outstanding and strong leader’. The political interference and poor decision making should not be tolerated. The Chairman should now stand down. He should go.
Ms Holgate has stood up to the bully boys in the Liberal Party and I commend her for doing so. The gendered double standards displayed by the Morrison Government have been well and truly on show.
Ms Holgate was treated appallingly while men who behave badly in Morrison’s own ranks not only suffer zero consequences, they get promoted. This should be a memo to the PM and all the bully boys that the women of Australia have had enough.
I call on the Government to implement all of the 25 recommendations made by the Senate Inquiry.
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In the midst of the morning press conference-palooza, you may have remembered a post of Mike Bowers telling us of a tetchy Alan Tudge not impressed with being asked questions about the car park rorts.
Tudge ended up leaving Ken Wyatt to the press conference (it was on Indigenous pre-school).
Here’s a cranky minister:
And here’s a cranky minister leaving a press conference:
It was one of the first opportunities journalists had to ask Tudge questions about the auditor-general report into the $660m commuter carpark program announced during the last election campaign – Tudge was urban infrastructure minister at the time and therefore the minister in charge.
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The high court has handed labour hire company Workpac a unanimous 7-0 victory on the question of whether casual employees could be owed extra entitlements if they in fact work regular ongoing hours.
This was a highly anticipated appeal that employers warned could cost them $39bn if the full federal court decision were not overturned.
But much of the heat was taken out of the case when parliament passed a slimmed-down version of the Coalition’s industrial relations bill in March.
That bill defined casual employment by reference to what the employer and employee agreed at the start of the contract – that there is “no firm advance commitment to ongoing work with an agreed pattern of work”.
From now on, employers can also deduct the casual loading already paid to misclassified casuals from the bill they might need to pay for other entitlements. But the bill did not wipe out the rights of existing claimants, so the case continued.
On Wednesday the high court held that a “casual employee” is an employee who has no firm advance commitment from the employer as to the duration of the employee’s employment or the days (or hours) they will work. Where parties have a written contract, the firm advance commitment must be in the binding contract – a mere expectation of continuing employment on a regular and systematic basis is not sufficient.
So, although the case was decided on the old law, the high court has delivered the verdict the Coalition and employers had been calling for all along. Firm advance commitments of permanent work count, but casuals can still be casual even with regular rosters.
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Yesterday, I asked the Morrison government if it planned to pause Centrelink debt raising and recovery activities following reports of people in locked-down areas receiving childcare subsidy debts.
The government had paused this for most of the pandemic, but Centrelink began reissuing debts and recovering money in February.
In locked-down Sydney, some families have reported receiving debts worth thousands of dollars, according to various media stories. Guardian Australia has also received similar reports.
In a statement late on Tuesday, the government services minister, Linda Reynolds, confirmed the government would pause all Centrelink debt raising and new debt recovery in locked-down local government areas in New South Wales and Queensland.
Reynolds says this will also apply for all future lockdowns.
What this means is that Centrelink will not send out new debt letters to people in these areas, nor will it require people to pay back their debts during the pause.
Reynolds said in a statement:
We understand people are still doing it tough and that the pandemic continues to have an impact on family budgets.
That’s why Services Australia is pausing debt raising and recovery for the period of the current New South Wales and Queensland lockdowns, and for any future lockdowns across the country.
Services Australia is working as quickly as possible to implement this pause.
If you’re in lockdown and receive a debt letter, you don’t need to take any action.
Existing repayment options will remain in place unless people would like to amend them. Options include pausing repayments for up to three months or reducing repayments to a level that meets their needs.
The easiest way to change existing repayment options is online through Services Australia’s Money You Owe tool.
Services Australia also has a range of other supports and specialist staff such as social workers who can provide short term counselling, information and referrals to other services for Australians in need.
Updated
Josh Nicholas from our data team (who are all way smarter than me) have updated the NSW charts:
Updated
NSW summary
It’s a very tough day for NSW and all the officials – Gladys Berejiklian, Brad Hazzard and Dr Kerry Chant all looked shaken. This is exceptionally tough, NSW – and I’m thinking of you.
Let’s recap that hour:
- It’s the third worst day for case numbers, with 233 new cases of community transmission recorded; 103 cases were linked to a known cluster.
- Just 92 of the 233 people diagnosed with Covid had been in isolation for their whole infectious period; 21 were in isolation for part of the period they could pass it on, 47 were in the community for the whole time and 73 cases are still under investigation.
- Two people diagnosed with Covid died. A woman in her 80s died in hospital. A man in his 20s died at home. Seventeen people have died in NSW during this outbreak.
- The man in his 20s had been monitored by his health service and had complained of fatigue. His condition went rapidly downhill on the 13th day of his infection. The coroner has been asked to investigate his death.
- 286 people are in hospital; 53 people are in intensive care.
- Berejiklian does not believe case numbers have peaked yet.
- HSC students will not all be returning to face-to-face learning or exams. It will be decided on health advice, and depend on factors including community spread and vaccination.
- Victoria’s health minister has been in touch with Brad Hazzard to discuss Victoria’s lockdowns. Victoria has seen its Delta transmissions go to zero both times it has tackled a Delta outbreak.
Updated
The press conference ends, with all the officials looking a little frazzled.
Updated
Gladys Berejiklian says modelling she has seen shows NSW would be recording 500 cases today without lockdowns.
On her comment that NSW may not have yet reached its peak as yet, the premier says:
Can I just say, I’m not a medical expert, that is my humble guess given everyday we follow the number of people infectious in the community and the way in which the virus moves through communities. I hope we have, but my instinct ,and I’m not a medical expert, I’m only telling you what I, given the numbers I see everyday and the way we follow the way the virus goes, it’s difficult to know whether or not we have reached the peak.
We will turn the corner. It’s a question of when. The settings will allow us to turn the corner. It’s a question of when. But I know that life will look differently on August 29 if we get those vaccination rates up and if we get the case numbers down and that’s what we are looking forward to.
Updated
Q: Victoria was actually able to reduce their mobility more in one week than New South Wales was able to do in a month in these two equivalent lockdowns happening at the same time. More in a week than we have been able to do in a month. That’s not really a positive reflection of the mobility data, is it?
Gladys Berejiklian:
I can’t – I don’t know those figures you refer to, but remember Melbourne got up to 700-800 cases a day without the Delta strain. So the fact we have kept it at bay should give people comfort. So the fact that we’re only a couple hundred a day which is serious in itself shows, demonstrates how much work we have taken to keep the virus at bay. The challenge for us is we need to do better than keep the virus at bay.
We need to get those numbers down and the lower the numbers get, and the higher our vaccination rate by the end of August, gives us options as to what life looks like on 29 August.
That’s why we’re asking everybody to, please, respect the health orders that are in place, not assume that this virus strain, because many communities all of us who lived through lockdown can’t assume this is the same as other types of Covid that we have seen.
The Delta strain is very, very different. The Delta strain moves in different ways.
We have tried to explain everyday the types of settings where it continually is more contagious than other settings. So we ask everybody to, please, stick to the settings that are in place. They’re there for a reason. And you need to also look at the various challenges we have in certain communities as well.
But, please, know – had we not taken the action today, today’s numbers would be in the thousands. I know it’s little consolation, we still don’t have the numbers where we like them to be, but we ask communities to keep working with us, keep doing the right thing.
Updated
Gladys Berejiklian 'expects case numbers to get worse'
The NSW premier is looking very much under pressure here.
Q: Premier, if the measures in the lockdown aren’t enough and if contact tracers are on top of this situation, how do you explain why the numbers or why do you think the numbers aren’t moving?
Gladys Berejiklian:
Look, it’s obviously best answered by the health experts, but clearly what we have seen is unfortunately just takes a small number of people, not to get tested before they need to, not to stay home before they need to see various spreading issues occur.
We still don’t know the impact of some potential super spreading events that occurred a week ago or a week or so ago. So it’s a number of factors.
That’s why we’ urging everybody if you have the mildest of symptoms, don’t go to work, don’t leave the house unless you’re getting tested. And isolate. That’s important.
We know from the Delta strain overseas jurisdictions the size of New South Wales that started off with the same number of cases we did are now having daily rates in their thousands.
Now, I’m not suggesting we are in a position we want to be, but, please, know that had it taken the measures we had, that our case numbers would have been in their thousands.
Now, I’m not going to rule out case numbers won’t get worse, I actually think they will get worse if you look at the number of people infectious in the community, it indicates that perhaps we haven’t reached our peak.
But the other issue I want to say is that in relation to mobility, we did release some data a few days ago demonstrating that in many local government areas, mobility is down – further down than what it was in Melbourne during their worst lockdown. I just want to stress that the vast majority of people are doing the right thing. But because of how contagious this is ...
It’s really difficult to make comparisons because the Delta strain is so contagious, different cities have different pockets of concentration and challenge, and that’s why it’s really important to let our, to give time for our settings to take effect. We know that had we not put those settings in place, the case numbers stay in New South Wales would undoubtedly have been in their thousands.
Updated
Q: The Victorian health minister has said that he has passed on to New South Wales, they do lockdowns, they got to zero twice, the number here isn’t shifting. Was the health minister directly to you, did you pass that on to the premier? What do you know that’s different about their lockdowns ...
Brad Hazzard:
Our lockdowns here are based on our health advice and that includes the public health team and the broader health team. And they are extremely strong lockdowns. You can’t compare one state to another even one area to another. And I appreciate your epidemiological expertise but I can assure you that we are taking that. In fact, when you asked me do I speak to Martin Foley, I was literally a moment distracted from these questions while I was taking a text message from Martin Foley. I talked to Martin Foley probably a lot ...
Q: Needs to go harder, doesn’t he?
Hazzard:
As I just said, Martin and I talk about all sorts of issues, and I’m sure that I’ll listen to him rather than you.
Q: Why isn’t the number going down? You’re the health minister.
Hazzard:
That’s not what has been discussed. I’m sure that’s not what’s been discussed. You can determine whatever you want.
Updated
Is enough happening in multicultural communities? Should community leaders be invited to the press conferences?
Brad Hazzard:
We have actually been doing a lot of work … There’s a lot of other media that operates in the multicultural community.
I had a meeting with I think it was Dr Chant last week and we spoke to the multicultural media on Zoom.
Obviously at times the premier has also had more obvious mainstream media exposure but in the end the media that operates and there’s many of them who speak in 150 different languages are reaching out to their community and we are making sure that we are talking to them.
We also have community leaders that we have reached out to regularly, almost daily in many cases, and they are working with their communities and sending the messages.
What perhaps isn’t well understood is that messages have to be given the right way and heard the right way* and so that’s a challenge that we are taking advice from all the multicultural experts, the leaders, and they’re telling us how in each different community we can reach out.
We’re doing a lot of that and if they advise us again that we would have them with us, we would do that, but also they would have to be speaking in all likelihood in language and that may or may not be the appropriate forum here for that.
*Which is why the “arm yourself” campaign the federal government launched was problematic – there is not a matching saying in many languages.
Updated
Is phase 1, 2 etc just out the window now? Is it a get-vaccinated-if-you-can scenario?
Brad Hazzard:
I think the federal government set down the priorities by working in the national cabinet and there was agreement that obviously health workers, quarantine workers, people at the ports, whole range of people, should be given priority.
I think the challenge has been that we don’t have enough Pfizer vaccine, but what we do know is we now have much more AstraZeneca and this has been said many, many times, and Dr Chant just said it again, that individuals, 18 and over, based on the specialist advice that is given to the federal government should certainly consider with their medical practitioners or their pharmacist whether or not they should have it.
I think – I can’t – how many times have we said that the premier, myself, and Dr Chant, have all had the AstraZeneca.
It is a vaccine that is available. It’s a safe vaccine, of course, like anything in health if you – if you’re going into an operation, you – if you listen to the advice that’s given you’ll be told there’s a risk.
The world is not a perfect place. And nor is medicine. But I think we’re very lucky to have a vaccine.
Very lucky to have a number of vaccines, so my strong encouragement to young people, to older people, is of the vaccine. Go and get it.
And sadly we just heard one young person, in his 20s, has passed away which I think emphasises what we have been saying now for quite some time about two-thirds of all of our cases are currently under 40 years old. It’s a very serious issue.
Updated
NSW health minister Brad Hazzard is asked about the ruling to allow pregnant people to have a support partner with them, and whether all hospitals should take it onboard:
Look, the challenge obviously is, as Dr Chant has just outlined, and I’m sure you’re all aware, we are in a very challenging period. We have a very significant transmissible variant of the Covid virus.
So what is happening is that the health ministry is trying to give to work with the various hospitals to make sure that the mums, the dads, the babies, are kept safe and so there’s a balancing act here and I think it depends on the particular area that the hospital is working in.
Obviously in south-west Sydney there’s some particular challenges.
So I have confidence that the advice that the health team are giving to their hospitals is in the best interest of their patients.
Having said that, I understand that it’s not what we want. I mean, in this day and age, usually partners want to be with their, with the mum, the biological mum, giving birth and it’s a challenging time.
But we got to give the health authorities in each hospital enough confidence to be able to make decisions that strike the balance between that and also keep other mums and dads and babies safe if those birthing units.
Updated
Q: Dr Chant, given the tragedy over night of the death of a man in his 20s, do you think young people should give up on waiting for Pfizer? The website says they should take up AstraZeneca if they wish to. Should that language be stronger?
Chant:
Look, all through this outbreak, I have deferred to expert advice and the experts that I draw on is the ATAGI advice, that’s an Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation which advises the Commonwealth government. That’s set of experts that have looked at the situation and at the moment their advice is anyone in the context of this outbreak should be consider - strongly considering if you’re 18 and over.
I have continually urged all age groups to strongly consider vaccination and talk to your immunisation provider. We need to - but we also need to protect the elderly and I’m really concerned that we still have a number of people in their 90s, 80s, 70s, 60s that are unprotected from COVID and we need to get them vaccinated.
Updated
Does Dr Kerry Chant think NSW can actually get to zero cases?
I think it is too soon to talk about living with Covid. Our vaccine coverage levels are not high enough.
As the premier has said, we need to get those vaccine coverage levels up at 80-odd per cent before we can have that discussion.
We need to the all we can to drive these numbers down and we all have a part to play.
Rather than looking for loopholes of what you can do in the public health orders, can I just ask everyone in the community and business to really reflect.
I’m also asking business to take those decisions, you are required under the public health orders to work from home if it is at all practical. I think that many of those business can do more. I’m really pleased for the partnership with business but it is a shared responsibility in tackling this very, very difficult situation.
Updated
Why are NSW case numbers still so high?
Dr Kerry Chant:
The numbers are going up because we have a number of people infectious in the community. The numbers are going up because we are still having mixing with households.
We are still having a small number of people that are not isolating effectively and are not isolating after a positive test.
These are some of the drivers for it and that requires a whole-of-government approach through the emergency management structures to actually up compliance.
This is not going to be, this challenge is one of the most great challenges we’ve got.
We have to get work on multiple fronts. If there was a silver bullet for this it wouldn’t be so hard.
Basically we need to make sure we sustain those high testing rates.
We need to work with the community that they are following those guidance in relation to staying isolated. We need to support them to be isolated.
We need to also make sure that there is no disincentives, which is part of the financial support in place to make sure that people don’t think, “I have a cough but I’m not going to get tested because I don’t want to know I have Covid.”
There are many complex reasons and this is around working with the community at a very grassroots level to try to stop transmission.
Updated
Are NSW contact tracers keeping up?
Dr Kerry Chant:
Well, contact tracers are using technology and the QR system to get those texts out.
It is pleasing to hear that you have received or your colleagues have received those text messages for people to act on. We are scaling that but obviously with the Delta variant we realise that some of the environments where we wouldn’t normally see transmission, we are occasionally seeing transmission.
Now many of those sites, I’ve got to say, in terms of large supermarkets or large spaces, are not actually driving transmission.
We’ve, as I’ve indicated before, occasionally we’ve had a handful of transmission events in supermarkets.
But I can’t stress enough that every time you are out and about, please do your part by minimising the number of stores that you enter.
Please do your part by being, by shopping with purpose. I mean, we’ve got non-essential retail closed, a very limited list of retail that is open, a very limited list of authorised workers, a very fine list. But we also need to acknowledge that challenges that many critical workers live in south-western Sydney and western Sydney and that mobility that’s necessary to provide the care and services our community needs. So we are working on many fronts to look at any opportunity to decrease exposure points or to decrease mobility.
Updated
NSW CHO Dr Kerry Chant, who looks more shaken than I have seen her, then pleads with people to stop leaving their home and going to multiple retailers:
I think the most important message, can I just emphasise this, is we are dealing with one of the most challenging times we have ever experienced as a nation. I would ask everyone to do their bit. This is not the time for going into five or six shops. The last thing our contact tracers want is that people have gone to this bakery, to this bread shop, to this butcher to this thing. I know obviously if we could just minimise the episodes ...
Dr Chant is interrupted with this question:
You keep calling it a [non-essential], every other state who has done this sort of lockdown don’t have Reject Shop or Bunnings open – often they have curfews. Queensland doesn’t have Bunnings open, is it your health advice to have these open or is it a political decision by Gladys Berejiklian to have these open?
A visibly uncomfortable Chant responds:
This is one of the most tight lockdowns we have ever had. Can I just say the mobility data is showing that we are getting down to what Victoria did in the stage 4 lockdown. So the data we have got confirms this is a tight lockdown.
Q: How far above the Victorian level is it?
Chant:
The data suggesting that for most of the indexes, and obviously it varies by some suburbs which are outliers that we have got to those levels. Obviously from a public health perspective, I can’t be clearer, please do not go out and about. Please minimise. If you can go shopping every three days, if you are able to do that, please do.
Updated
Will students be back to face to face by the end of the year?
Gladys Berejiklian won’t say:
I don’t want to make any of those comments until we have further information. Let’s take a week at a time.
We know what is happening in the month of August.
There will be some level of face-to-face but the extent of that will be determined by the health advice. We also hear all the time principals and parents would like as much information as possible.
So clearly we know what the virus is doing in some parts of Sydney but in other areas like the Central Coast and Shellharbour and Wollongong we have seen a very, very low to zero number of cases but in other parts of Greater Sydney, especially the eight local government areas there is obviously a high viral load.
So it won’t be uniform. Can I stress that? There will be approaches depending on what is experienced in those communities. It is important for us to prepare for every student to sit the HSC in October to make sure that is a safe way to proceed and that is why it is really important for us to vaccinate those HSC students in the eight local government areas of concern so there will be no doubt they will be able to sit for their exams and get their qualification and move forward.
Was it premature to say face to face teaching/exams would return for HSC students?
Gladys Berejiklian:
That was definitely our intention. Our intention still is where that is necessary that will occur but exactly how often that occurs and in what context is being determined this week and so I do want to foreshadow that given where the case numbers are at, especially in those eight local government areas and students won’t be vaccinated until the week of 9 August, that we need to make sure we adjust our policies according to what’s happening.
I want to make that very clear and I also want to stress the following - place know if you are a clear 12 student or a family member supporting a year 12 student all year 12 students will get their HSC.
The path to get there may be different to what they hope it would be and we will make sure that where face-to-face is required that will be done safely and whether the settings will be different across different parts of Greater Sydney.
As we have seen, it is both one silver lining but also a negative that obviously some parts of Greater Sydney are far more impacted thank others and some parts of Greater Sydney have zero to no cases so therefore it is likely we won’t have a uniform policy but one that reflects what is happening in their communities.
So not all students will be going back then?
Gladys Berejiklian:
Health and education have been in constant discussion about what face-to-face might look like in certain areas.
We know in greater Sydney, there are some including Shellharbour and Wollongong, and the Central Coast, there are some areas with no to low virus cases and others with very high numbers of virus cases.
We are looking through those to provide opportunities and alternatives as best we can.
We are keen to make sure especially when it comes to oral exams or where children need to have some sort of face-to-face contact it is done safely.
Every student will have the opportunity to sit their exams in October. That is why it is critical for us to vaccinate the 18-year-olds in those areas of concern.
When it comes time for them to turn up for face-to-face, oral or major works, we want them and the community to be protected. As Dr Chant said a few days ago that age group is quite mobile and susceptible to getting the virus and taking it home to their families, so making sure we vaccinate that cohort of year 12 students will make sure we reduce the chance of spread of the virus but also increase the vaccination rates in that critical part of western Sydney and hopefully they will be able to encourage their families to come forward and get vaccinated.
Updated
NSW shifts position on HSC students
It seems that not all HSC students will be going back to face-to-face learning after all.
It’s a slight shift from last week. Face-to-face is now “some level of face-to-face”, to be determined by the health advice.
Gladys Berejiklian:
Can I make the following point about year 12 and that is our commitment and the outcome remains that every year 12 student who is a candidate for the HSC, we’ll make sure they get their qualification.
Of course we announced that from 16 August there will be some opportunity for some level of face-to-face but we will have more to say about that.
There is no doubt that we won’t want children or students moving around those eight local government areas of concern in particular, which is why we are having them vaccinated from 9 August, but obviously it takes a few weeks for the vaccine to take effect.
So we will provide confirmation of our plans for year 12 moving forward later this week or early next week and I want to make it clear that we will not support any initiative that will worsen the situation or become a health risk but at the same time I want to assure year 12 students that they will be able to sit their exams in October, they will be able to get their HSC.
It might be a bit different to what they anticipated in terms of the journey to get the HSC and they are the issues we are going through at the moment. The health team and education team are meeting daily to discuss all those issues and challenges.
I want to stress to year 12 students and their family, as difficult as it is each and every one of you will be fairly assessed to obtain your HSC.
There is a requirement for public exams to be sat in October, which obviously will take place. Between now and then we need to provide certainty as to what level of face-to-face will exist from 16 August.
Updated
And the data:
Trend in NSW Covid cases active in community or under investigation still rising https://t.co/SQ268Tpj0u pic.twitter.com/KfWccYfsYv
— Josh Nicholas (@joshcnicholas) August 4, 2021
Updated
NSW authorities are looking at tightening the exemptions over mask wearing.
A stat dec signed by a JP may not be enough.
Police deputy commissioner Gary Worboys:
This has been a topic of discussion for some time now. I said right at the start that every single police officer is an investigator. They will deal with every single circumstance on its merits. In terms of a stat dec or whatever else is produced by a person for not wearing a mask, the police officer will take that into account and make inquiries and conduct an investigation to see whether an infringement notice should be issued and that will continue to be the case …
If a person had a medical certificate from a doctor, from their own general practitioner, that would be unequivocal evidence to a police officer if they could match that to their identity to make no further inquiries, but what we have seen right throughout this pandemic is people want to find a loophole, people want to go outside the public health orders and then try to justify it. What I’m saying is police officers will investigate that and they will take action where they think it is necessary and appropriate.
Updated
Gladys Berejiklian becomes very annoyed at questions about what is open in NSW at the moment:
Obviously the lockdown rules we have in New South Wales are some of the harshest our nation has seen. We need people to remember every time they leave the house that they could have the virus or someone they come into contact with could have the virus.
The list, for example of critical workers, we have is very small, it is very short but even then we are seeing rates of transmission.
Q: Why is the Reject Shop open?
Berejiklian:
Those non-critical retail are not supposed to be open. If there are historic situations where health has listed a site, it may be a historic situation where people are asked to come forward and get tested?
Q: Why is Bunnings open – it is not open in Queensland?
Berejiklian:
Next question.
Q: Why is Bunnings open?
She moves on to the next question.
Updated
Twenty-one people were in the community for at least part of their infectious period as well.
Forty-seven were infectious in the community, and the isolation status of 73 cases remains under investigation.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) August 4, 2021
Updated
Dr Kerry Chant gives a little more detail on the man in his 20s who died overnight. They are not aware of any underlying conditions he may have had:
In terms of this gentleman, I think this is why I understand it’s been referred to the coroner, but I will need to confirm that with the local health district, that he was being checked daily and he did complain of feeling a little fatigued but the deterioration happened suddenly, is my understanding.
So I think that is important that we understand.
We are aware that with Covid you can get sudden deaths and I think that is important to understand that your health status can deteriorate and you can have sudden death with Covid infection but obviously the correct course of action will occur …
Can I just express my incredible condolences to his family. It is a tragic time …
He was with another person. You can imagine the trauma for that other person who has now been hospitalised. That person also had Covid and that person has been hospitalised and offered all care. You can imagine how traumatic such an event was.
Updated
Understandably, everyone seems a bit shaken today about the news of two NSW deaths, including a man in his 20s.
It’s an absolute tragedy.
CHO Dr Kerry Chant is urging people to get vaccinated as soon as possible:
It is really very concerning that so many elderly people are still unprotected.
I do look at the data every day to look at how many people are vaccinated across all age groups and whilst we want everyone to –over 18, the Atagi advice is to strongly consider vaccination in the context of the current outbreak in New South Wales.
It is just really tragic when I see that people in their 70s, 80s and 90s are yet to be vaccinated. We know vaccines work, vaccine protect you – even one dose.
I urge people to come forward for their second dose promptly and not delay and also I urge people of all age groups over 18, consistent with the Atagi advice, to consider vaccination, talk to your immunisation provider and immunisation access is increasing particularly in south-western and western Sydney, and it is important that everyone takes that onboard.
Updated
Authorities have also found a strong reading of Covid remnants in the Hunter/Newcastle sewage, which they are worried about.
There have been low levels found in Coffs Harbour as well.
Updated
Two deaths overnight in Sydney
NSW CHO Dr Kerry Chant says there were two deaths in Sydney overnight:
A woman in her 80s from the inner west died at Royal Prince Alfred hospital yesterday and she tested positive for Covid on July 27th and was being cared for in the Royal Prince Alfred hospital since then. She was not vaccinated.
There was a man in his 20s from south-western Sydney, he died at his home yesterday and he was confirmed case of Covid and was isolating at home.
He was being cared for by south-western Sydney local health district during his isolation period and he’d reached the day 13, he was being followed up daily by nursing staff and suddenly deteriorated. That death is also being referred to the coroner, as I understand it.
Updated
Gladys Berejiklian:
Very sadly, a male in his 20s passed away at home from Covid in south-western Sydney overnight.
Obviously our deepest condolences to his family and loved ones. But it demonstrates again how this disease is lethal, how it affects people of all ages.
Unfortunately the gentleman wasn’t vaccinated, hadn’t had any dose of the vaccine. As we understand the death happened quite suddenly. I will ask Dr Chant to provide any further details on that.
Updated
A man in his 20s has died in Sydney Covid outbreak
A man in his 20s in south-western Sydney who had been diagnosed with Covid died in his home overnight.
Updated
NSW records 233 new local Covid cases
Some 105,000 tests in NSW found 233 community cases.
Gladys Berejiklian again provides the number of people who were in the community for their entire infectious period – which was 47 – we are waiting to hear the partially infectious period number.
Updated
The Environmental Defenders Office has launched legal action in the federal court against a NSW regional forestry agreement.
The legal firm, on behalf of the North East Forest Alliance, is challenging the north-east RFA, which covers logging between Sydney and the Queensland border.
Under Australian law, logging that is covered by a regional forestry agreement is exempt from the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.
The north0east RFA was signed in 2000 and in 2018 was renewed for 20 years.
The North East Forest Alliance is asking the court to determine whether the exemption from federal environmental laws is valid.
EDO chief executive David Morris said:
We are challenging the Federal Government over its failure to assess how another 20-plus years of logging, against a background of a changing climate, will impact our forest ecosystems, endangered species and old growth forests.
The Commonwealth didn’t want to incur the costs of conducting a proper assessment, waving through a 20-year extension of native forest logging without proper scrutiny.
Updated
Unemployment in New Zealand has dropped and wages have risen, solidifying a better-than-projected economic recovery from Covid-19.
New figures from Stats NZ show the unemployment rate fell to 4% in the June quarter, down from 4.6%, and marking a return to pre-Covid levels. Treasury had forecasted an unemployment rate of 5.2%.
The low unemployment rate was coupled with an increase in wages slightly ahead of inflation. The country’s average hourly wage rose to $34.76, up 4% compared with 3.3% inflation.
Finance minister Grant Robertson said in a statement that “the ongoing impact of the pandemic is likely to see unemployment move around a bit,” but “New Zealand has performed favourably against the countries we measure ourselves against”.
He noted unemployment was lower in New Zealand than Australia, the US, Canada and the OECD average. “Our focus remains on accelerating the recovery,” he said.
Updated
There is about 10 minutes before we get to the NSW update.
There were about 175 new exposure sites listed on the NSW Health website overnight.
We’ll let you know the numbers as soon as we have them.
Updated
Queensland wrap-up
Let’s go through that 45 minutes:
- There are 17 new locally acquired cases in Queensland; 16 are linked to the inner-west cluster.
- One person is a ship pilot in Cairns, not linked to that cluster. He had been vaccinated and has low levels of the virus, but people in the far north are being asked to be on the look-out.
- A record 51,479 people turned out for a Covid test yesterday (well done).
- CHO Dr Jeannette Young has laid out the groundwork for the lockdown being extended beyond Sunday. It is not set in stone, but she said Queensland would need “something special” to happen before then.
- It’s up to people to decide what is essential shopping or not – but authorities are asking people to cool it on the online shopping and click and collect if it is not urgent.
- Sun loungers were specifically mentioned as not being essential.
- Queensland’s health minister wants the commonwealth government to send the extra 150,000 AstraZeneca doses it offered before next week; 224 pharmacies have been approved to administer the vaccines. Queensland originally found out about the offer through the media.
- The Ekka People’s Day public holiday (which was next Wednesday) has been cancelled (along with the show) and will be rescheduled for a special long weekend sometime after August (as it was last year).
Updated
What is an essential business and what is not?
Yvette D’Ath says it’s not difficult for people to work this out:
The retailers have provided us a list but the problem is that it is very, very difficult to have a definitive list of what can and can’t open.
We have always, since the start of the pandemic, concentrated on non-essential business being those that we know are the greatest risk, so our cafes and restaurants, licensed venues where people are sitting for prolonged time and circulating and we know we have seen a lot of transmission in those areas.
When it comes to retail stores, the fact is that a number of those retail stores still sell essential items within those stores.
It might be nappies, it might be baby formula, it may be electronics, computers so that people can do work at home or their children can study at home.
So it is very hard to have a definitive, absolute list of what should and shouldn’t open. But the message cannot be clearer, it is up to you.
Is it essential for do you walk out that door and go to that shop?
Do you really need that item in the next five days? Is it worth risking getting the virus open spreading it back in our household? Is it worth an extended lockdown just to get that extra item? If the answer’s no, stay home. It is that simple.
Updated
Asked why the take-up of vaccines in Logan and Ipswich (cities just outside of Brisbane) have been lower, Yvette D’Ath says:
We will continue – we do a lot of consumer advocacy and reach out to find out why it is that we, you know, have a vaccine hesitancy or why we would not be coming forward.
We need to break down the data as to whether it is AstraZeneca or Pfizer, the age groups.
We have seen pretty consistent sort of numbers across the state in Pfizer and vaccine but we want to look at those numbers a little bit closer.
We needed to look at language issues. We have been really, really strong, and I think led the country, and Dr Young has said this to me, led the country in the way that we have embraced and engaged with our multicultural communities so we want to do that not just in testing and messaging around staying at home but also about vaccinations.
So we will continue to work with all sectors of the community and to get that message out to come forward. Of course we’ve got to have the vaccine so we have been concentrating our messaging on 60-plus because that is where we have the vaccine.
We don’t have spare Pfizer. There is no point me racing out into these communities, “Quick, go get Pfizer” – it’s not there. If you have a booking or you are getting a second dose or you are frontline, that is our priority areas for Pfizer.
As soon as the commonwealth says they can get more into this country then we are ready. We are setting up the clinics, we are ready to expand.
We cannot wait to get this vaccine into this state and ramp up into very significant numbers to get as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible.
Updated
Yvette D’Ath on the AstraZeneca supply offered by the commonwealth:
I’ll be honest, I found out about the 150,000 offer of AstraZeneca through the media.
I will be writing to Greg Hunt today to ask that the 150,000 goes directly to the pharmacies and not come to us to distribute so that it can get to them quicker.
I have only just found out overnight that the orders that have been put in by the pharmacists, what they have got back is information that the consumables and the vaccine will arrive next week some time.
So they don’t even have a date, just next week some time. If Greg Hunt says they have 150,000 now, which I have no doubt they do of AstraZeneca, then it should be on trucks today. It should be getting on trucks today.
Two hundred and twenty-four pharmacists were approved yesterday to start putting needles in arms. So the trucks should be on their way today with the consumables and the vaccine.
In the meantime we will look at any supply we’ve got in south-east Queensland that we can redirect to those pharmacists and our supplies as well but we need to make sure that we have adequate supplies for our own vaccination centres as the vaccines ramp up over the coming weeks.
We’ve also written to the commonwealth to see if we can bring any of our August supply forward. So we are due to get about 84,000 Pfizer a week, each week of August, and we want it brought forward if it is available. It should already be here so can we bring it forward and start using it now in our vaccination clinics.
Updated
Reading between the lines of this press conference, it is on a knife edge at the moment whether or not south east Queensland will come out of lockdown on Sunday, as scheduled.
Dr Jeannette Young wants to see testing rates stay where they are at the moment – more than 50,000 – to make sure that all cases are being caught and that there is no unlinked community transmission.
Updated
Here is the breakdown of Queensland’s cases:
Wednesday 4 August – coronavirus cases in Queensland:
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) August 4, 2021
17 new locally acquired cases.
2 new overseas acquired cases.#covid19 pic.twitter.com/1dXvTGeJ72
Updated
Dr Jeannette Young says it is entirely possible authorities will never find the missing link case that led to the outbreak (or at least was a very early infection).
Updated
Queensland CHO Dr Jeannette Young says the fact she is worried about discretionary shopping this time around, when previously she had allowed it, should show how worried she is about this outbreak.
Young:
I’m confident that if Queenslanders continue what they have been doing and just ramp it up a little bit, that we can get this under control by Sunday. So the amount of testing is very, very reassuring. Please continue doing that.
And the fact is that most people are staying at home. The data about car movements, about public transport, looking around at our communities suggests most people are staying at home.
I’d just like people to reflect a little bit more about – is it essential? Because last year I didn’t have any problems with Bunnings being open and people going and buying pot plants and doing some gardening, but that was with previous variants. We just need to ramp it up. This is Delta.
It’s so much more contagious that really we have just got to, as I say, ramp it up and really for the next five days think, “Do I really need to leave the house?”
Updated
Queensland’s deputy premier is really obsessed with sun loungers today (I can see those Ekka westerlies are blowing – no one would want to lay on a sun lounger in Brisbane today):
Steven Miles:
The rules are pretty strict and they require individuals to consider before they leave home whether they are leaving for one of those essential reasons and that’s the only reason you can continue to be out of the home.
So you can’t go out because you need milk but stop to look at EB Games or JB Hi-Fi. So the requirements are there.
The police are checking people. For the first time those RBT-style interceptions, we just urge everyone to really just for a few more days, we hope, do the right thing, five more days do the right thing and next week you can buy all the sun loungers that you need.
Updated
Queensland police issued 48 fines yesterday, 34 for “general non-compliance” and seven for not wearing masks. Four people were arrested for breaking into property at Heritage Park*.
And 150 cars were stopped as part of a RBT-style police operation checking people are within the 10km radius. All were fine.
So, yup, we will continue to police our way through a pandemic.
*I missed the ‘Heritage’ in the original post
Updated
Two hundred and twenty-four of Queensland’s 500 or so pharmacies have been given commonwealth approvals to distribute the vaccines.
Queensland health minister Yvette D’Ath says the commonwealth has said the extra 150,000 vaccines it has offered (and “consumables”, which is things like syringes and wipes to administer the doses) won’t be coming until sometime next week.
D’Ath wants them sooner:
I have been advised that they have been told that the supplies they need, the consumables, the syringes and so forth, and the vaccine itself will be coming next week.
Now, I will be doing everything possible to fast-track that. The commonwealth has got these vaccines already.
They offered them a couple of days ago, so we would hope that that 150,000 vaccines can arrive earlier than next week. And we will look at our own AZ supply and if we can redirect that to those 224 pharmacies that have approval now and our consumables, we will do that as well.
But I don’t think it’s acceptable that they have to wait until next week to wait for the commonwealth to deliver those vaccines and those consumables when they have got it in supply now and we ask them to be delivered as soon as possible because the sooner we start getting these vaccines in people’s arms, the safer those individuals become and the safer our community becomes.
Updated
Dr Jeannette Young is also asking Queenslanders to cool it on the online shopping:
Please, when you open your front door, just think for a moment –- do you really need to go out?
And also – and I’m a great online shopper – could you think about whether you need to do online shopping this week?
Do you need those people out in the community delivering packages and things? Maybe just leave them for a week.
And click and collect – do you really need that furniture that I know you can go and click and collect which is safer, absolutely, than going into the store, but it still means you’re putting someone else at risk?
So, please, everyone, just think what you could do to just stay at home for the next few days until Sunday because it would be really good if we could lift it.
That’s a big challenge, though, when I look at other states and how long it’s taken before they could lift their restrictions.
If we don’t do something really, really, really special in Queensland, we’ll be extending the lockdown. So, please, I ask of all of you – try your absolute hardest to stay at home if you possibly can. Of course, if you need food, go out and buy it, of course, and our supermarkets are brilliant and have systems in place and check-in, do all of those things.
So this is not about – go out for essential goods, of course, go out for essential goods – but if it doesn’t matter genuinely, you can wait to buy that thing until next week, just leave it and let’s see where we are on Sunday and make some more decisions then about the necessity of whatever it is.
Updated
All the new cases have been linked and all but one were in quarantine for their entire infectious period (one was in the community, but this was during lockdown and they don’t think the person came into contact with anyone).
Queensland CHO Dr Jeannette Young says one of the cases, a ship pilot, was fully vaccinated with Pfizer in March but still contracted Delta (which is normal – you can still get Covid while vaccinated but it is much less likely to be serious, require hospitalisation or lead to death).
Young:
All of our pilots who go on to vessels that they pilot into our waters here in Queensland have been vaccinated.
Maritime Safety Queensland did a superb job doing that because we know they’re all high-risk and this proves it. So he has acquired the Delta variant, most likely from one of those ships. So I just this morning got the whole genome sequence result back from him. It’s confirmed Delta.
It is not the Delta strain that is circulating in Brisbane and it hasn’t clustered with any other known case of Delta in Queensland.
So now those whole genome sequence experts will go and see whether it clusters with any other case in Australia or overseas.
But it’s highly likely he’s acquired this infection while he’s been about his work piloting one of those ships.
So he has very high CT values, extremely high. So that means very little virus. His family members who live in the same household as him, his partner and child, are negative, but he did take his child to a childcare centre, so that’s why the childcare centre his child attends has been closed while they clean it and assess the risk there and we have stood up a lot of additional clinics in that Cairns area and I ask anyone who lives anywhere in that Cairns area to, please, look online for exposure sites and if you have any symptoms at all, please immediately come forward and get tested.
That is critical because although I believe the risk is low, it is not zero.
There is still risk there that he could have transmitted the infection. But he is fully vaccinated and the CT values on the tests that have been done are high, so there’s only a small amount of virus there.
But there was enough virus to sequence. So there is enough virus there to infect someone. So that’s very important.
Updated
Steven Miles also wants Queenslanders to stop buying outdoor furniture if they are under lockdown:
We are still seeing some people going out to shop or to browse for non-essential reasons and while there is an exemption to allow people to leave their homes to get essential groceries and medicines that does not extend to other discretionary items.
It has to be essential and the onus is on the individual to have a reason to leave their home, not on retailers or businesses.
Now is not the time to buy outdoor furniture. There will be time before summer to get sun loungers.
And I just remind everyone that the law – the health directions and the law set a minimum requirement but like most things, we expect people to operate at a level above what is the bare minimum legal requirement.
I urge everyone again to consider whether the reason they’re leaving their home is absolutely essential and if it’s not, please put it off. We hope that this the just five more days, but every time someone leaves their home they increase the risk that this lockdown may need to go on longer.
Updated
Queensland to reschedule public holiday
The Ekka (the Queensland show) is cancelled already – now so too is People’s Day.
Steven Miles:
With the Ekka cancelled and the likelihood that we will still see some restrictions in Brisbane next week, we have made the decision to cancel the Brisbane Ekka public holiday on Wednesday.
It will be rescheduled to some time later in the year. We have not yet determined when. Last year, when we delayed the public holiday to create a new special long weekend, we saw Queenslanders flock to tourist destinations, spending money in our hospitality businesses, and so we’d hope to create a similar opportunity again for Queenslanders to support our local tourism operators and local hospitality businesses.
We’ll have more to say about that as that decision is being made.
We can cancel the holiday by regulation so we have gone ahead and done that. To create the new rescheduled holiday we need to go to parliament and pass legislation. That won’t be able to happen until the end of August at the earliest.
Updated
Breaking into the Queensland press conference for some breaking news – Australia Post will pay Christine Holgate $1m, plus $100,000 for legal costs, as part of a mediation settlement.
From its statement:
Australia Post and Ms Holgate participated in a mediation on Friday 23 July 2021 before the Hon. Peter Jacobson QC, a former Justice of the Federal Court of Australia.
The parties have reached a settlement and Australia Post has agreed to pay $1,000,000 to Ms Holgate to be taxed as an employment termination payment.
Australia Post also agreed to pay $100,000 of Ms Holgate’s legal costs.
To finalise the matter so that both parties can move on, Ms Holgate has released Australia Post from all legal claims and Australia Post is making the payment without any admission of liability.
Australia Post acknowledges that it has lost an effective CEO following the events on the morning of 22 October 2020.
Australia Post regrets the difficult circumstances surrounding Ms Holgate’s departure from her role as CEO.
Australia Post recognises and thanks Ms Holgate for her outstanding contribution and strong leadership during her employment as CEO of Australia Post.
Australia Post wishes Ms Holgate the best in her future endeavours.
Ms Holgate wishes the employees, partners and licensees of Australia Post her best wishes as they strive every day to provide a vital and affordable service to all Australians no matter where they reside.
Updated
The number of close contacts in quarantine is increasing:
Steven Miles:
We have 5,844 people, at least 5,844 people, subject to home quarantine directions; 5,598 people in total in quarantine and we expect those numbers are actually higher.
Updated
Queensland deputy premier Steven Miles says there were 51,479 tests yesterday – which is the highest daily total Queensland has seen in the pandemic. The goal was to reach 40,000 tests, so authorities are thrilled that how many people turned out.
Updated
Queensland records 19 new cases
In less than a week, this has become Queensland’s biggest outbreak since the first wave last year.
Sixteen of the 17 locally acquired cases are linked to the western suburbs outbreak; two cases are in hotel quarantine.
Updated
Bob Katter has responded to the news Queensland’s saltwater crocodile population is on the comeback:
Bob Katter, has slammed a Queensland Government report released late last week which claims the crocodile population has survived “near extinction” and has only grown by 2 percent annually, a figure Mr Katter dismisses as being an offence to the intellect of the people that live in crocodile country.
“These people, they don’t have any intellectual respect, they shot that to pieces long ago,” Mr Katter said.
“Their value systems are positively scary; they want all creatures protected except a species called Homo sapiens.
“If you know crocs, then you know that an average crocodile lays around 55 eggs a year. But when you remove all the predators, those numbers are logically going to explode.
“I’ve seen the late Eddie Holroyd, a proud First Australian, raid a crocodile nest and it was unbelievable to watch him take the 50 eggs, holding the mother at bay while he was doing it.
“If you’re going to start fooling around with nature, you better know what you are doing. You removed all the predators because by far and away, the biggest predator was man – not only the First Australians raiding the nests, but later the crocodile hunters who were seen to be doing a great service.
“So now you’ve taken the predators out and you have unbalanced nature. What would be peculiar is if the numbers weren’t exploding, especially if the number of babies a crocodile can have each year is over 50.”
Mr Katter said many northern fishermen are telling him anecdotes that the gropers are all but gone as they’ve been eaten by the crocs.
“There are the people who know the sea and the reef intimately up here, and they are saying the gropers ate the box jellyfish and Irukandji and so because the crocs have eaten all the gropers, the increase in those dangerous jellyfish has exploded as well.”
Mr Katter said, “They keep quoting a figure that only eight people have been taken in 36 years. Well no, this relates to only eight people that were “seen” to be taken, but how many people have vanished in the last 40-50 years – I say well over 100. And whilst not all are attributed to crocodile attacks, a lot of them would be.
“These people have nothing but contempt for their science. They made the very bad mistake of publishing the report on dugong where they claimed in the public arena and got international publicity that the numbers had dropped in half on the Great Barrier Reef. But when you read the report properly, it said the lower reef numbers had dropped, but the upper reef numbers had doubled. They were flagrantly misrepresenting the figures.
“So you don’t need to be Albert Einstein to figure out that if the average female crocodile can have more than 50 babies the numbers will grow and to tell me that there has been a 2 per cent growth in numbers is just insulting my intelligence on a massive scale.
“I will ram it down the throats of the Lilypad Lefties and ringbarking rights, you will have respect for life or you will be condemned as evil.
“They are happy to kill thousands of babies before they are born, they are now killing old people before they die – it’s just another manifestation of the lack of respect for human life and now it’s getting scary.
“The contempt for human life is scaring the hell out of me. This is just pure evil.”
Updated
The press conferences are almost upon us – there is about 20 minutes or so until the Queensland update kicks it all off.
Mike Bowers tells me that Alan Tudge joined Ken Wyatt for a press conference this morning (presumably on an Indigenous preschool program the government is announcing today – can’t say for sure, as I have somehow fallen off a lot of the minister’s email lists) but quickly left Wyatt to take questions on his own, after he was hammered with questions about the carpark rorts.
Parliament is about to begin.
Woohoo.
Updated
Tony Abbott has made it to India:
Indeed a pleasure to host @HonTonyAbbott, @AusHCIndia Barry O'Farrell and @AusCG_Mumbai Peter Truswell - the best of Aussie wit in full flow over lunch. While we battle it out in cricket & hockey, our strategic alignment in business and national interests has never been stronger! pic.twitter.com/Ivzk2TtDON
— Gautam Adani (@gautam_adani) August 3, 2021
You can catch up on why with Daniel Hurst, here:
The Australian govt will spend about $19,000 on travel costs to send former PM Tony Abbott on a five-day trade mission to India. Abbott - who has an ongoing role as a trade adviser to the British government - has signed a conflict of interest declaration https://t.co/j4WGhCvwQl
— Daniel Hurst (@danielhurstbne) August 1, 2021
Hursty is also looking into whether or not Abbott, who is also a trade adviser for the UK, is free to advocate for the UK while on this unpaid mission for Australia.
Updated
We are expecting the Queensland update about 10am then NSW, as normal, at 11am.
Updated
Given what south-west and western Sydney are going through, and the vulnerabilities of those communities, as well as the language barriers, and until recently, bungled attempts to reach them, this is perhaps an example of “not reading the room”:
Good to see Sydney’s eastern suburbs in the top 10 most vaccinated regions within Australia 👇🏼.
— Dave Sharma (@DaveSharma) August 3, 2021
Let’s keep it up … go and get vaccinated! 💪🏻💉 pic.twitter.com/AJWOr55qny
Updated
Both houses will sit at 9.30 today.
It’s been a bit more of a sedate morning after the flurry we saw yesterday – the government just wants to focus on the vaccination program, which it is hoping to rebrand as as success, and Labor wants to try to remind everyone of how much of a failure it has been.
In between, some legislation may be passed.
Updated
Someone is happy today at least:
https://t.co/SNLvEydECB pic.twitter.com/1KOeP5M8vI
— Chief Health Officer, Victoria (@VictorianCHO) August 3, 2021
Updated
There are so many new exposure sites in NSW that NSW Health couldn’t fit them all into one email. It looks to be more than 100.
That comes after reports that contact tracers are being overwhelmed by the number of infections, and where they have been. There have been delays in listing exposure sites on the website, as contact tracers do their best to work out where people have been, which has not been helped by reports of late alerts being sent out that someone may have been to an exposure site, meaning there is a reliance on people checking the lists themselves.
Updated
There’s been some movement on an issue we covered back in March – illegal online casinos that operate from offshore and target Australian gamblers.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority has powers to block these websites but, as we reported, hasn’t really succeeded in getting them offline, let alone prosecuting the people behind them.
Now, Acma is going after websites that promote these types of casinos – including one, Aussie Casino Hex, that we featured in our reporting in March.
Acma says it will ask internet service providers to block Aussie Casino Hex and six other sites that it claims drive traffic towards allegedly illegal casino services: Australia OK Casinos, Aussie Online Pokies, Pokies, Australian Casino Club, Australian Gambling and True Blue Casinos.
You can read our earlier report here:
Updated
Back to Lt General John Frewen: ABC Breakfast host Michael Rowland gives an apt demonstration of the danger of politicians politicising ADF figures by making the general squirm.
Rowland:
While you are here I have to ask you about this report by Rick Morton in the Saturday Paper. He said in the recent national cabinet meeting you launched a savage broadside against New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian when she asked for more vaccine doses to be transferred from GP clinics to some of those local government areas. Did that happen?
Frewen (looking as uncomfortable as a general can look):
We don’t talk about what happens in cabinet but that is not my style. We have firm discussions around options but it didn’t happen as described.
Rowland: So you didn’t get cranky with her at all?
Frewen:
It is not my place to be cranky. It is my place to get the vaccine rollout done, Michael.
Rowland: Finally, I found myself watching question time, don’t judge me. I was bored. Your name was thrown around between the prime minister and the opposition leader. Apparently Anthony Albanese cancelled a scheduled meeting with you yesterday. Did that happen?
Frewen:
I was due to brief Mr Albanese yesterday and that meeting was rescheduled to Thursday. That is normal.
Rowland: He said tomorrow was the first opportunity to sit down with you.
Frewen:
It was originally Monday and it was moved to Thursday. That to me is routine business.
When PM keeps invoking Gen Frewen, one is reminded of the dangers for the military finding themselves caught up in the politics.
— Michelle Grattan (@michellegrattan) August 3, 2021
Updated
Victoria records no new cases
It is a donut day in Victoria.
Reported yesterday: 0 new local cases and no new cases acquired overseas.
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) August 3, 2021
- 17,612 vaccine doses were administered
- 30,117 test results were received
More later: https://t.co/lIUrl0ZEco pic.twitter.com/cHBUKbso0V
When are businesses coming onboard (they had a meeting with key business stakeholders a few weeks ago, as part of the next phase, to try to reach more people more quickly once supplies kick in):
Frewen:
We are looking to bring in every possible place of vaccination that we can. The GPs have been doing great work. We have got the pharmacies coming into play now. The state hubs have been very busy. We have been engaged in industry over the last few weeks.
I have run activities with a range of industry sectors. As you have said I am pleased, led by the CBA and Westpac, they will do a workplace vaccination trial with AstraZeneca, but there are a number of industry sectors now who are making preparations, so as soon as we have got the mRNA vaccines available as well, then they will get in workplace vaccination, probably in September at some stage, maybe late September but definitely early October.
And drive-by vaccination centres? (Like we have seen overseas):
Frewen:
Yes, well, that is another option. So, we have looked at all of the options. Drive-throughs is one potential option. The plan that we released yesterday also talks about pop-up hubs. What I would really like to see as we get late in the year is the maximum convenience available for people in Australia to get vaccinated.
So we are intending to keep looking at all of these sort of alternatives and then getting arrangements in place to get them going, but of course the jurisdictions will decide what they think is best for them and then we will work with the states and territories to facilitate that.
Updated
So does that mean we’ll reach 80% vaccination of the eligible population by November?
Lt Gen John Frewen isn’t saying:
I am not going to tie myself to particular numbers because it really is about the willingness of the public to get vaccinated, but I think we have got a really good opportunity to get to 70% this year.
But as we have seen from international experience, getting above 70% does require concerted effort, so we will work hard to get to 70% this year and if we can get further than that, that will be great.
Updated
The man in charge of the vaccination program (and Scott Morrison’s favourite go-to to deflect criticism of the way his government has handled the vaccine program) Lt Gen John Frewen is doing the media rounds this morning, talking up the plan to have 80% of eligible adults vaccinated by November.
That would be everyone who wants the vaccine and is over 16 getting at least one dose by the end of the year (remember the eligible population is over 16 – not the total population, despite how the government likes to frame it).
Frewen told the ABC:
We are still seeking to have the opportunity for every person in Australia who wants to have a vaccine to be able to do so this year, but if all goes well, we have got the supply coming, we have got the distribution mode set up. If people keep coming forward, then we would hope to got high levels of vaccination achieved by the end of the year …
I am very confident that everyone who wants a first dose will be able to get a dose, but with the supply that we have and the distribution network we are setting up, if people in Australia keep coming forward for vaccination as they are then I think we can get a good portion of the population fully vaccinated this year.
Updated
Meanwhile, Christopher Knaus has an interesting story:
The health department is refusing to say how much it is paying a public relations firm to email a copy of the Covid-19 vaccination data displayed on its website to media outlets each day.
The department, which has its own media and communications team, has contracted PR firm Cox Inall Communications to take a copy of its daily PDF of vaccination data, attach it to an email, and send it to media outlets.
The PR firm does not provide any additional detail on the vaccine rollout or present the data in a less rigid format than PDF, which often frustrates researchers and data analysts.
The NSW government will livestream its daily press conference on TikTok from today, through its NSW Health account (@NSWhealth).
Updated
In case you missed it (it was a busy day) here is Murph’s take on yesterday:
Updated
Labor senator Katy Gallagher says the opposition will introduce an “anti-rorting” bill in parliament today:
This bill will force ministers who approve grants rejected by their departments or who award grants in their own electorates to report the decision to the Finance Minister within 30 days and cause those reports to be tabled in the Parliament within five sitting days.
This will dramatically reduce the time ministers are able to hide their dodgy decisions from the Australian community from up to 16 months down to just a couple of months.
Scott Morrison’s behaviour over the past eight long years has left Labor with no choice but to introduce this Bill.
Updated
I’ve lost count of what version of the plan we are up to, but Sarah Martin has you covered:
Australia could fully vaccinate 80% of its adult population by December under a “vision” outlined by Operation Covid Shield, with the federal government calling for an unprecedented level of collaboration across the country to accelerate the rollout.
An update to the national vaccine campaign program being spearheaded by Lt Gen John Frewen, released on Tuesday, states that 80% of the eligible population could “potentially” have received both doses of a vaccine by December, with a 70% vaccination rate achieved by November.
Updated
Good morning
Happy Wednesday! Fun fact: there are only about 22 or so left this year.
Allegedly. Given that it seems 2020 never really ended, who knows.
There are reports that an apartment block in Campbelltown has been placed into hard lockdown after several residents were diagnosed with Covid.
A hard lockdown in that sense means police were called to “secure” the building, which is the third time this has happened this outbreak. Apartment complexes in Bondi Junction and Blacktown had previously been locked down.
This comes after Gladys Berejiklian admitted on Tuesday that she couldn’t say whether the Sydney cases had peaked as yet. She still has no idea whether the city is over the worst of it. For people who have been locked down for more than a month, that’s pretty disheartening.
Meanwhile, Queensland reported a mystery case in Cairns, which is not in lockdown. Brisbane is closer to Sydney than it is to Cairns so authorities are trying to work out how Covid could have spread there, given that the state’s south-east has been in lockdown since Saturday.
We’ll bring you all the Covid updates, as well as what’s happening in parliament as we enter our second day of the spring session.
So far, it hasn’t exactly been about legislation. Yesterday was all about the Doherty Institute modelling, which was presented in the most convoluted way possible, because why on earth would you want information when you could have politics?
Seventy per cent of the eligible population fully vaccinated is the goal, but the most important cohort in a world of Delta (under-30s) won’t be eligible for the vaccine until September/October. And the under-40s, who until recently were told to wait for Pfizer are only now being given relatively easy access to vaccine bookings (although the booking system remains a mess).
So of course the government focused on completely dismissing any idea of a financial incentive for receiving the vaccine, as an “insult”. Good times.
You have Mike Bowers at your disposal today, as always, with Katharine Murphy, Daniel Hurst and Sarah Martin. Amy Remeikis will take you through the blogging day. I hope everyone has had their Weeties.
Ready?
Updated
