What we learned, Monday 12 October
That’s where we will leave the live blog for Monday.
Naaman will be back in the morning to bring you more of the latest in Covid-19 news, but here’s what we learned today:
- Victoria recorded 15 new cases overnight, and no deaths. The state premier Daniel Andrews has said the roadmap is likely to be redrawn and announced on Sunday, with some restrictions around socialising to be eased.
- The head of the Victorian Department of Premier and Cabinet, Chris Eccles, resigned on Monday after the hotel quarantine inquiry requests his call records. He discovered he had called former police commissioner Graham Ashton at a crucial point in time on 27 March, the day the program was announced, contradicting what he had previously told the inquiry. Eccles has denied he conveyed to Ashton that a decision had been made to use security guards in the program.
- Australian scientists have discovered that the virus that causes Covid-19 can survive for up to 28 days on surfaces such as the glass on mobile phones, stainless steel, vinyl and paper banknotes.
- NSW reported two new cases of Covid-19 in doctors who had been working at the A to Z medical clinic in Lakemba. The two doctors are linked to a previously reported case in a patient who attended Lakemba Radiology. All staff at the medical clinic are currently isolating, and people are being asked to monitor symptoms if they attended the clinic on Thursday 1 October from 2.30pm to 3.30pm, Friday 9 October from 3pm to 4.30pm, and Saturday 10 October all day.
- Western Australia reported one case of Covid-19 in hotel quarantine, and has now reported seven cases of Covid-19 associated with an iron ore vessel off the coast of Port Hedland.
Until tomorrow, take care.
Updated
AAP has some information on this proposed high court challenge of Victoria’s lockdown.
Lawyers for Mornington Peninsula resident and Sorrento restaurant owner Julian Gerner filed the challenge on Monday afternoon.
His barristers, Bret Walker SC and Michael Wyles QC, want an expedited court hearing.
They’re arguing the lockdown is in breach of implied freedoms in the constitution, which allow people to move freely within their state.
Victoria’s lockdown restrictions “have no legitimate purpose that is compatible with the constitutionally prescribed system of federation”, they wrote.
Gerner says he wants the court to grant a declaration confirming his rights to freedom, setting aside the “disproportionate and unreasonable responses and restrictions imposed by the Victorian government”.
Gerner singled out a number of restrictions, including the rule that Melbourne residents cannot travel more than five kilometres from home.
“This is not what we signed up for and is inconsistent with a free society, representative democratic government and civilised living,” he said in a statement on Monday.
“Aggressive and heavy-handed enforcement of these restrictions has also alarmed most fair-minded people.”
Updated
Just some more on the WA case numbers. Seven crew members out of 20 on the Vega Dream iron ore vessel have tested positive for Covid-19.
All but one of the crew remain on board, and WA health minister Roger Cook says there is no risk to the Port Hedland community.
A man was removed from the ship on Saturday and taken to Hedland Hospital’s isolation ward after becoming symptomatic.
Authorities have since verified his positive test.
He will be transferred by the Royal Flying Doctor Service to a hotel in Perth to serve the remainder of his quarantine.
Another six crew have tested positive but remain in their quarters on the ship and are said to be in good spirits.
It’s the second outbreak on a ship off the coast of Port Hedland in just over a fortnight, after the Patricia Oldendorff bulk carrier had 18 of 21 crew test positive.
Updated
Former Greens senator Scott Ludlam and 12 others have had the charges against them over a climate change rally dropped, AAP reports.
The group of 13 was charged with failing to comply with a police direction regarding a road closure during an Extinction Rebellion march in October 2019.
Broadway – one of Sydney’s busiest roads – had been temporarily closed for the authorised march when protesters stopped shortly after moving past Central railway station.
Each of the 13 either sat or laid down on the road surface, were told to move by police and then were arrested for preventing the road from being reopened.
“They weren’t preventing anything,” magistrate Vivien Swain said on Monday.
“I’m not satisfied there’s a prima facie case because the persons were already on the road.”
It was beside the point that the protesters’ stopping on the road may have meant it went outside the confinements of the authorisation, she said.
Swain refused an application for police to pay the protesters’ legal costs.
Updated
Staff and student 👩🎓 unions at the University of Melbourne say they’re passing a vote of no confidence in their Vice-Chancellor on Wed. Demanding end to systemic underpayment, casualisation, no job cuts + pathway to secure work #auspol #highered
— Conor Duffy (@conorduffynews) October 12, 2020
Western Australia has reported two new cases of Covid-19 overnight.
One is a man in his 50s who is in hotel quarantine in Perth after arriving from Indonesia. The second is a man in his 30s, who is a crewman on the Vega Dream. He is in isolation at the Hedland Health Campus and will be transferred to a quarantine hotel in Perth.
Of the remaining 19 crew members on board the Vega Dream, six have today returned positive Covid-19 tests.
Updated
NSW Health has sent out some more information on those A2Z Medical Clinic cases.
All staff at the clinic are isolating now.
The patient connected to the two doctors also attended Isra Medical practice, 102A Haldon Street Lakemba, and anyone who attended at Monday, 5 October, 7.15pm to 7.40pm is considered a casual contact and should monitor for symptoms.
A new pop-up testing clinic has been established at Lakemba Uniting Church, corner Haldon Street and The Boulevard, Lakemba.
Updated
Two Covid-19 cases are doctors in Lakemba GP clinic
On the daily Covid cases in New South Wales, health minister Brad Hazzard says there are two cases in two doctors, linked to the A to Z Medical Clinic in Lakemba.
“The two new cases are linked to a previously reported case in a patient who attended Lakemba Radiology. New South Wales Health is in the process of contacting everyone considered to be a close contact of these cases, and I stress obviously as the GP is in a practice, we expect there’ll be quite a number of people who may have been in close contact with them,” he said.
“These close contacts should be tested immediately and isolate for a full 14 days from exposure, regardless of the results of any tests. Casual contacts of these two
GPs, these cases, must monitor for symptoms and then get tested and isolate immediately if they develop any symptoms.”
He says people should monitor for symptoms if they were there on Thursday 1 October from 2.30pm to 3.30pm, Friday 9 October from 3pm to 4.30pm, and Saturday 10 October all day.
Updated
You can follow more of the Gladys press conference on our ICAC live blog here.
Sounds like Berejiklian will not be resigning today, following the revelations at ICAC:
And I look forward to maintaining my focus to keep everybody safe, to keep jobs going during a very difficult time for the state. But I want to state at the outset that, had I known then what I know now, clearly I would not have made those personal decisions that I did. I trusted someone that I’d known for a long time, and I feel really, really let down. I trusted him for a long time. We were colleagues for 15 years. And I’m not going to take away from the fact that I made a mistake in my personal life, but I have to say that there is huge separation between a personal life and public office. And I can’t stress enough that, everyday that I’ve been in this job, I have held myself accountable to the highest standards, and I’ve held my colleagues to the highest standards.
Updated
NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian is speaking now.
She says she is an “extremely private person” and she is “very upset at what has transpired”.
But I want to make this assurance to the people of New SouthWales – I have always put the public first. I have always made sure the public interest is first and foremost paramount in every single thing that I do. The integrity of the role I have – the office that I hold – is the greatest privilege of my life. And while I have made this mistake in my personal life, I intend to serve the people of NSW to the best of my ability. That’s what I’ve always done. I’ve sacrificed my life to public office, and I’m proud of that.
Updated
Victorian Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie tells the ABC she believes the Victorian roadmap needs to be revisited.
“This failed strategy of the premier that even the [chief health officer] of our state has acknowledged doesn’t even think he’ll get to the KPI he set himself. The people who developed this model out of Melbourne Uni have gone public around how the assumptions have been put in place and the implementation of it. It’s time to revisit the plan. It’s not working.”
Victorian premier Daniel Andrews has said today the roadmap will be reworked, with some restrictions relaxed, particularly around socialising.
Labor MP Josh Burns points out that Victoria doesn’t have its border closed – it’s other states closing their borders to Victoria.
Updated
While we wait for the NSW premier, here is an update on the La Nina, via AAP:
Australia is likely to be hit with increased severe weather over the next six months with more cyclones and flooding forecast.
The current La Nina may also bring drought-easing rain to some areas, with this year’s northern wet season expected to arrive early, the Bureau of Meteorology said on Monday.
Climatologist Greg Browning said the La Nina was also likely to result in a rise in the number of cyclones forming between October and April.
“On average Australia sees nine to 11 tropical cyclones each year, with four crossing the coast,” he said.
“With La Nina this year we are expecting to see slightly more tropical cyclones than average.”
Bureau modelling suggests there’s an increased risk of widespread flooding in Queensland, NSW, Victoria, Tasmania and northern Western Australia.
Higher-than-average rainfall is also predicted across much of the country, which is likely to increase humidity levels.
This could result in fewer severe heatwaves and extreme heat days in southern areas but they may last longer and be more sticky.
More rain also means there’s also likely to be fewer catastrophic blazes this bushfire season.
Updated
NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian press conference scheduled for 4.30pm. She will be joined by treasurer Dominic Perrottet and health minister Brad Hazzard.
Updated
Here’s the latest from South Australia, no new cases.
South Australian COVID-19 update 12/10/20. For more information go to https://t.co/mYnZsG7zGQ or contact the South Australian COVID-19 Information Line on 1800 253 787. pic.twitter.com/GVQ10yCkjl
— SA Health (@SAHealth) October 12, 2020
NSW Labor to move a motion of no confidence against Berejiklian
McKay says Labor will move a motion of no confidence against Berejiklian in New South Wales parliament tomorrow.
When asked what evidence she has that the premier was not telling the truth at Icac, McKay says that is her (McKay’s) view of the evidence.
I think her political judgement has been poor, her behaviour has been reckless. She’s shown very poor judgement but I think this goes to the heart of the type of leader you want in NSW.
Updated
New South Wales Labor leader Jodi McKay is responding to the Icac revelations, she says the NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian still being in contact with Daryl Maguire a month ago shows recklessness.
McKay says doesn’t believe the premier when she says she does not remember the discussions with Maguire.
McKay says Berejiklian has “no choice” but to resign.
She cannot possibly stay as the premier of this state given the extraordinary evidence [before Icac] today.
This is about integrity... I’ve been in that witness box...it comes down to the type of person you are and the evidence you give. Her evidence was evasive, and I do not believe she was telling the truth.
Updated
While some schools in Melbourne began having students return, the Nazareth College in Noble Park was closed after a year 12 student who sat an exam tested positive, AAP reports.
Nazareth College principal Sam Cosentino said the boy was not sitting among the main group during the assessment.
“The affected student took their GAT separately for educational reasons as they kept away from the main testing site,” he told AAP.
“The student had no, or extremely limited, contact with any other student.” The school was contacted at 7.30pm on Sunday night about the positive case and quickly alerted parents.
Department of Health and Human Services officials visited the site on Monday, with precautionary cleaning in impacted areas.
Cosentino said the school is likely to reopen on Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest.
Despite the hiccup, education minister James Merlino said the transition back to face-to-face learning for 584,000 primary, secondary and specialist school students had gone well.
“It’s been a terrific day,” he told reporters on Monday.
“Excited kids, excited teachers and staff to get the kids back at school and, I think, a massive sigh of relief for parents as well.”
Primary school, year seven, VCE and special school students returned to Melbourne classrooms on Monday after almost 10 weeks of remote learning.
Year 10 students enrolled in VCE or VCAL programs are also able to attend on-site for those classes.
Students in years eight to 10 are set to return in another two weeks.
Updated
Kevin Rudd’s petition to hold a royal commission into the Murdoch media has reached 100,000 signatures.
It was at 80,000 signatures earlier today. According to the House of Representatives official Twitter account, the site saw a 500% spike in traffic since the petition was launched, and some people trying to sign it were flagged as robots.
Thank you Australians for supporting #MurdochRoyalCommission! And thank you all for persevering despite the Parliament House technology failures. They’ve said their system hasn’t been able to cope with the sheer volume of the public response.
— Kevin Rudd (@MrKRudd) October 12, 2020
Sign here: https://t.co/zKBy461tPn https://t.co/3ZcL9heorA pic.twitter.com/2W8ftDyzWV
Here’s the latest on the Victoria Covid-19 numbers from the Department of Health and Human Services press release:
Ten of today’s 15 new cases are linked to known outbreaks and complex cases including:
- Four linked to a family cluster in Melbourne’s south-east.
- Two linked to a family cluster in Melbourne’s north.
- Two are household contacts of a case linked to Box Hill hospital.
- One is a household contact of an existing case.
Five are still under investigation.
Four cases are in Monash, three are in Banyule and Hume, and there are single cases in Casey, Darebin, Melton, Moreland, and Stonnington.
None of the new cases were linked to the Chadstone or Oddfellows cafe outbreaks.
There are 191 active cases in Victoria, 21 in hospital and none in intensive care. 186 are in metropolitan Melbourne and five are in regional Victoria.
There are 17 active cases among healthcare workers and 31 active cases connected to aged care.
Updated
Hi there, Josh Taylor here taking over the live blog for the rest of today. Thanks to Naaman for all his work on a very busy day in state politics.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian has just concluded her testimony in front of Icac. She has now been excused, with counsel assisting saying it is unlikely that she will be back to testify again.
AAP also has this report from the NSW casino inquiry, where a director of Crown Resorts, Andrew Demetriou, is testifying.
The former AFL boss appeared to be reading from notes outside shot when asked what he understood the role of an independent director was, as he gave evidence by video-link.
The inquiry is looking into Crown’s suitability to operate a new casino at Sydney’s Barangaroo, prompted by allegations its casinos were used for money laundering and organised crime.
Counsel assisting the inquiry, Scott Aspinall asked: “Do you think it’s appropriate for a witness to bring notes into a witness box without disclosing it to the examiner?”
“I haven’t thought about it, Mr Aspinall,” Demetriou replied.
He told the inquiry he had written the notes himself and had about half a dozen pages. Inquiry commissioner Patricia Bergin adjourned briefly on Monday afternoon so that Demetriou’s counsel could ascertain what notes he had used while giving evidence.
The inquiry is scheduled to continue all week, with other directors including Crown chair and former Australian senator Helen Coonan scheduled to appear.
Updated
In South Australia, an investigation into the bungled handling of Covid-19 travel exemptions for family members of AFL players has found issues with SA Health’s processes including a lack of proper record keeping.
The review has made 13 recommendations which premier Steven Marshall says will all be implemented, AAP report.
But it stops short of singling out any one person responsible, instead highlighting issues such as the need for more training, the problem with records and the questionable use of electronic signatures.
“There are no documented reasons as to why the footballer family applications were approved,” the report said.
“Nor is there any record of approval by the deputy chief public health officer (Evan Everest), only his electronic signature applied by others.”
The report said the head of SA Health’s exemptions team recalled a conversation with Dr Everest during which she understood he had approved the Port Adelaide footballers’ family exemptions and authorised use of his electronic signature.
But it said Everest did not recall any specific conversation about the applications and believed it would have been out of character for him to grant the exemptions after similar requests from other high-profile sportspeople were refused.
Marshall said the review was about approving SA Health’s processes and not about “lynching an individual”.
An error was made, it was owned up to, we are going to put these recommendations in place.
We’ve accepted responsibility from day one and this is something that SA Health can be commended for.
They identified that an error of judgment was made, they owned up to it and I’ve apologised for it.
The review was sparked after 11 people related to Port players were wrongly given permission to travel from Victoria to South Australia in September.
Once the mistake became known, chief public health officer Nicola Spurrier cancelled the “inappropriate” exemptions but not before five of the people had already arrived in Adelaide and were in hotel quarantine.
There was no suggestion of wrongdoing by any of the Port players, their families or the club.
Updated
Meanwhile some pretty extraordinary scenes coming out of the inquiry into Crown casino.
This is excruciating. Crown Resorts director Andrew Demetriou is being taken to task about having a cheat sheet in front of him while giving evidence after being caught reading from them when asked about what his directors duties entail. #CrownInquiry
— Sarah Danckert (@sdanck) October 12, 2020
Scott Morrison 'surprised' by Berejiklian's relationship with disgraced MP
Scott Morrison says it is a “surprise” to him that the New South Wales premier Gladys Berejiklian had a relationship with disgraced former state MP Daryl Maguire, who is being investigated by Icac.
I think the news came today, which was a surprise to many people, that has been revealed today, I have no knowledge of these matters. It is a matter before that commission and a matter for the NSW government.
These are very new revelations that obviously came as some news to me...but the work that the premier has done in NSW managing the Covid-19 crisis has been exemplary.
Updated
Prime minister Scott Morrison is speaking now and taking questions. He is in Brisbane today announcing a waste processing plant, as he helps the LNP campaign in the Queensland state election.
In federal politics, Labor will reject the superannuation reforms in last week’s budget unless changes are made, according to the shadow assistant treasurer Stephen Jones.
Jones said the policy had a “massive design fault” that needed to be changed.
Paul Karp has the story:
And here is our full story on the resignation of Chris Eccles earlier today.
Eccles, Victoria’s top public servant, had earlier told the inquiry into hotel quarantine that he did not remember talking to the police commissioner on the day the decision was made to use private security guards.
However, his own call records later showed that he did in fact speak to commissioner Graham Ashton.
Updated
And at the end of his press conference, premier Daniel Andrews said he would not comment on anonymous quotes from Victorian Labor MPs who supposedly said his position as premier was untenable.
Andrews said that he would only respond to quotes from MPs who would go on record with their names.
Updated
The ABC’s Raf Epstein asks Andrews a question that he says he has been meaning to ask this entire time – “Why did you make the decision to answer every single question?”
Andrews says:
I don’t run from challenges.
It’s an important part of the job that I have got. Will it last forever, the turning up every day? We will wait and see, hopefully we can get to a point where we make some changes and my good friend the deputy premier can fill in, for a few days at least.
Updated
China reportedly tells some factories to stop importing Australian coal
China’s customs authorities have reportedly told some of its state-owned utilities and steel mills to stop importing Australian thermal and coking coal.
The move – which comes amid ongoing tensions in the relationship between China and Australia – has been reported by trade publications including S&P Global Platts, which monitors developments in energy and commodities markets.
S&P Global Platts cited several unnamed sources as saying last week that Chinese state-owned utilities and steel mills had received the verbal notice to cease the imports with immediate effect.
The report said recipients of the notice had included Huaneng Power International, Datang International Power Generation Company, Huadian Power International and Zhejiang Electric Power Co Ltd. The timeline for the coal ban remains unclear.
Argus Media has also reported that the order applied to some of China’s state-owned steelmakers and power plants – although it also quoted a Singapore-based trader as speculating that this “might be a case of tightening import quotas rather than a complete ban”.
China has taken several actions against Australian exporters this year, including imposing prohibitive tariffs on barley, suspending imports from five red meat processing plants and launching two trade investigations into wine.
We’re chasing this story and hope to share more details and reaction later today.
Updated
Another question from Peta Credlin, who says that she has experience of Andrews’s press conference preparation in her former role as Tony Abbott’s chief of staff.
“You just said you thought very deeply on that day of the 27 of March,” Credlin says.
“I have been in a room where you have been briefed, in joint press conferences with a former prime minister...You are one of the most meticulous press conference preparers I have seen in a senior politician.
“Why when you had your press conference of 27 March and announced there would be private security...why would you say that private security would be used if you hadn’t made the decision, or were not aware of who made the decision?”
Andrews says he in fact did not announce that decision on that day.
You have again selectively quoted and reinterpreted what I said at the press conference.
I made no such announcement. I said that no decision had been made. I made no announcement and said I would do so the following day.
Updated
Andrews says his own phone records, and that of his staff will also be accessed and given to the inquiry in the next few days.
Former top bureaucrat Chris Eccles resigned earlier today after his phone record was released showing a phone call that he said he did not know if he had made.
Andrews says that his phone records will take a bit longer, but he is confident that he remembers his communications, and testified accurately at the time.
I have had a good long hard think about that day...I do not know who made that decision.
Updated
Andrews is asked if he has a “plan B” if the current strategy doesn’t work.
He emphasises again that he is willing to open up the state in future, even if the virus is still circulating at levels higher than the roadmap initially allowed for.
We are constantly monitoring what is achievable. We are constantly monitoring and evaluating what is the most proportionate response to the risk that we face.
I am trying to be clear with people – I am not announcing that everything is coming off on Sunday or the following Sunday. But there may be a time when the stubbornness of this thing is confirmed for us. and you have to make a decision...
Yes there is an increased risk, but the cost of keeping this lockdown for longer is greater than that risk.
Updated
Prime Minister Scott Morrison at UQ this morning bundled away in the back of a police wagon pic.twitter.com/4M0Qw1IlCZ
— Drew Pavlou 柏乐志 (@DrewPavlou) October 12, 2020
'I don’t need to know about that bit,' Berejiklian told Maguire about business deal
For those looking for continuing updates on NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian appearing at Icac today, we have started a separate liveblog dedicated to her testimony.
The inquiry has just been played a taped phone conversation where Berejiklian told Maguire, “I don’t need to know about that bit” as they discussed a potential business deal of his.
For further updates from Icac, click though here:
Updated
Andrews is asked about comments from the World Health Organisation that encouraged governments not to use lockdown as the “primary” source of suppressing Covid-19.
The premier says that the proof of Victoria’s lockdown is in the case numbers.
“We will make announcements about easing on Sunday and at points in time after that,” he says.
The proof positive is we started on 725 and are now at 15 cases and have a daily average of 9.9 cases in metro Melbourne.
I know people are genuinely sick and tired of this year – I’m one of them – but I can’t let my frustration get the better of me, neither than Victorians. I can’t stand here and pretend it is over because I desperately, desperately want it to be. That’s not leadership.
You’d be popular for five minutes and then the hospitals will be overrun and all the people calling for us to open up, including some members of the federal government I might add, I don’t think they will be standing beside me having to explain why our hospital system is completely overrun. You won’t see them for dust. So that’s not leadership. Being popular or political, has never been less important to me.
Updated
Andrews is asked about lockdown fatigue and whether people are not sticking to restrictions.
A reporter tells him that anecdotally he would estimate 10% mask compliance among younger people.
I’m not for a moment denying that people are getting increasingly tired of these rules, we all are.
I’m not critical of anybody for feeling that way. That’s just a natural result of being in the tenth month of one of the worst years we’ve ever had.
Updated
Victoria could ease restrictions despite higher numbers – Andrews
Andrews says the government is open to changing the threshold for easing restrictions, potentially allowing them to be lifted even with higher levels of transmission than the original roadmap to restrictions laid out.
It may be at a point where we have to call it, where we have to say that this is as good as it will get.
I think we might reconsider some of the numbers...but the other thing that we buy definition will have to reconsider is the different steps.
It’s that stubborn tail, those last few cases, one or two outbreaks and all of a sudden your rolling average becomes, it gets very tough, very tough for us to get where we had hoped to be.
He says of the original roadmap:
They are a series of targets that are based on assumptions, and as I have said many times, data always trumps the assumptions that we have fed into any model.
Updated
Andrews is asked about a text message sent from his private office to the department of premier and cabinet, at 1.19pm that day.
Today, Eccles confirmed he spoke to police commissioner Graham Ashton at 1.17pm for two minutes.
Sky News host, and former Liberal chief of staff, Peta Credlin is asking Andrews whether this means Andrews’s evidence to the inquiry was misleading.
Credlin says:
Clearly Graham Ashton was told by Mr Eccles something of substance for Mr Ashton to then be telling Reece Kershaw and the Australian Federal Police in a following text message at 1:22, ‘We will not be involved, we will not be involved in hotel security’. And Reece Kershaw says, ‘That’s new’. And he says, ‘This is a deal done with our DPC’.
That would seem that your evidence to the inquiry in relation to your staff’s knowledge at 1:19 and the text message from your private office is at odds with a 1:17 call from your now former head of premiers to the police chief.
Andrews responds saying that he does not agree with that logic.
The text message from one of my staff...It was a question – the mere fact that a question had to be asked I would have thought put beyond doubt the answer was not known.
Updated
Andrews says it was “appropriate” that Chris Eccles resigned.
“He had indicated to the inquiry that he had not received a call. It is clear that he has,” Andrews says.
He said he did not instruct Eccles to resign, and Eccles made the decision himself.
I didn’t need to have a conversation to urge him to do something he was going to do.
There is a central fact here that can’t be ignored, which is that a phone call was made.
Andrews said he doesn’t know what was said on the call, or how significant it was, and he hadn’t spoken to Eccles about any “substantive” matters about the call.
I was shocked when I was informed last night that this call had been made.
Updated
Daniel Andrews says that the state is still on track for more eased restrictions this Sunday, despite the 14-day average in Melbourne going up.
He says that the 15 new cases today are “obviously higher than we would like”.
But he says if mystery cases continue to go down, the state will still open up in social restrictions, but not yet economic.
Despite these numbers, provided we continue to see a trend where there are not a huge number of additional mystery cases, while we continue to see this trend flow through the rest of this week, then there will be some further easing that we can announce on Sunday.
That will be broadly in the social space rather than economic easing, but we may be able to do more on that front in regional Victoria.
Updated
Victorian premier Daniel Andrews is about to speak now.
In the meantime, his office has just put out this statement about the resignation of top public official Chris Eccles.
“Until last night, I had understood that Mr Eccles did not know if he telephoned Mr Ashton at that time”, he said.
Premier’s statement re Chris Eccles. @10NewsFirstMelb #springst pic.twitter.com/IxL5lPREl0
— Simon Love (@SimoLove) October 12, 2020
They’re about to have a private session to listen to a ICAC intercept phone call @GladysB hasn’t heard yet 😐 essentially around this call is too private
— Samantha Maiden (@samanthamaiden) October 12, 2020
Morrison ushered away from pro-refugee protesters in Brisbane
Scott Morrison has been ushered away in a police car in Brisbane after he was surprised by refugee protesters at the University of Queensland.
Protesters managed to throw red paint over the PM’s car, and protested against the government’s continued detention of refugees.
Refugee protestors at UQ put red paint on the Prime Minister’s car pic.twitter.com/hKPrjyUZFF
— Drew Pavlou 柏乐志 (@DrewPavlou) October 11, 2020
#BREAKING: Protesters have ambushed the Prime Minister in Brisbane during a visit to the University of Queensland. @heinkealex #9News pic.twitter.com/1FIJYsDmbQ
— 9News Australia (@9NewsAUS) October 12, 2020
Not one to be outdone, the PM has been huddled into a police car to escape refugee activists who threw red paint on his car at the Uni of Queensland.
— Ahron Young (@AhronYoung) October 12, 2020
Updated
Queensland’s premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, is speaking now.
There have been no new Covid-19 cases in Queensland over the past 24 hours.
In the lead-up to the state election, Palaszczuk is on Bribie Island announcing seven “satellite community hospitals” to help the state’s health system. She says this is an “Australian first”.
Updated
ICAC is now playing TAPES of @GladysB private phone calls with Daryl Maguire 👀👀👀👀
— Samantha Maiden (@samanthamaiden) October 12, 2020
Daniel Andrews will speak at 12pm today.
The 14-day average for new cases in Melbourne went up today for the first time in two months.
Updated
NSW records one new local case
NSW has reported only one new case of locally transmitted Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, to 8pm last night.
Six cases in total were diagnosed, including five cases in overseas travellers.
“The locally acquired case is a household contact of a case reported yesterday,” NSW Health said. “These cases are linked to another two previously reported cases, the source of which remains under investigation.”
NSW Health said testing numbers had dropped, which was a concern.
There were 7,391 tests reported to 8pm last night, compared with 12,823 in the previous 24 hours.
“NSW Health is appealing to the community to come forward for testing right away if you have even the mildest of symptoms like a runny nose or scratchy throat, cough, fever or other symptoms that could be Covid-19.
“This is important throughout the state, and particularly the Western and South Western Sydney areas.”
Updated
In the NSW Icac, the premier, Gladys Berejiklian, is being pressed about what she knew about Daryl Maguire’s outside business dealings.
“Were you aware of any instance in which Mr Maguire sought or obtained a commission or other payment?” she’s asked by the counsel assisting Scott Robertson.
“I wasn’t aware of any specific details but I was aware he had those arrangements and I assumed he disclosed them at the appropriate time,” Berejiklian replied.
We previously heard Bereiklian was in “a close personal relationship” with Maguire in the lead-up to and during his resignation from parliament in 2018.
Robertson has suggested to Berejiklian that she had “on more than one occasion” sought to “discourage Mr Maguire from giving you details on his outside interests?”
She rejected that.
“I would never ever, never ever, turn a blind eye from any responsibility [or] any wrongdoing I saw, or any activity not in keeping with what a parliamentarian should be doing – I want to make that very clear.”
Berejiklian has also said Maguire was “a big talker” who was “obsessed” with his financial position but denied she had been interested in his financial position.
“I didn’t care,” she told the inquiry.
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Kevin Rudd’s petition to hold a royal commission into the Murdoch media – which he spoke about earlier this morning – is so popular that it has caused the parliament website to (occasionally) crash.
According to Rudd, some people trying to sign it were flagged as robots.
The official House of Representatives Twitter account says it is working to resolve the issues.
Here’s our full story on the petition:
Good morning folks. Over the weekend, we’ve seen a huge number of people visiting our website to sign a new e-petition launched by former prime minister @MrKRudd. This traffic spike has caused some issues, which we are working to resolve. https://t.co/hOrG8ZYZKw
— Australian House of Representatives (@AboutTheHouse) October 11, 2020
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Chris Eccles, who has just resigned as Victoria’s top public servant, previously held similar roles as the top bureaucrat in South Australia and New South Wales.
He conceded in a statement released on Monday that he had spoken to the former Victoria police chief commissioner Graham Ashton on the phone the day the decision was made to use private security firms to staff quarantine hotels.
He had previously given evidence to the inquiry investigating failures in hotel quarantine that he did not recall speaking to Ashton.
The discussion between the two men occurred in a critical six-minute window in which, according to Ashton’s texts released to the inquiry, the decision was made for security, rather than police, to guard the hotels. Eccles said he did not have his phone records at the time he gave evidence but that those records indicated the men had spoken on 27 March.
In the statement, Eccles reiterated that, despite speaking to Ashton that day, he had not made the decision to install private security guards at quarantine hotels. It means that the key question of who made the decision, described as a “creeping assumption” by counsel assisting the inquiry, remains unanswered.
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Gladys Berejiklian was in 'close personal relationship' with former MP being investigated by Icac
The New South Wales premier, Gladys Berejiklian, has told the Independent Commission Against Corruption that she was in “a close personal relationship” with the former Wagga Wagga MP Daryl Maguire when he was forced to resign from parliament in 2018.
Maguire is subject to an Icac investigation for allegedly misusing his public office in the pursuit of his own financial interests, in particular a company called G8way International Pty Ltd.
Berejiklian was forced to appear after it emerged Maguire had given out her direct email address to the racing heir and property developer Louise Raedler Waterhouse.
But in the opening salvos of this hearing we’ve heard that Maguire and Berejiklian were involved in a “close personal relationship” before he was forced to resign. The relationship was kept private from parliamentary colleagues, she has told Icac, because she is “a very private person” and “didn’t feel the relationship had sufficient substance to be made public”.
“We were close,” she said.
Berejiklian said she stayed in contact with Maguire after he was forced to resign. “He was someone in a very bad state [and] after having known him for 15 years I felt I should check on his welfare,” she said.
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More from Chris Eccles’s statement. The public servant says he is “emphatic” that neither he nor the premier’s department made the decision to use private security in hotel quarantine.
But he admits that he in fact called the police commissioner, Graham Ashton – something that was in dispute and that he was questioned about during the inquiry.
Eccles said:
It is also with clarity that I reaffirm the evidence I provided to the Covid-19 hotel quarantine board of inquiry and the department’s closing submission to the Board.
My evidence is emphatic that neither myself nor the Department of Premier and Cabinet made a decision to use private security as part of the hotel quarantine program.
I gave evidence that while I did not recall whether I telephoned former chief commissioner Graham Ashton in response to a text message he sent me at 1:16pm on 27 March 2020, I may have. Further, I gave evidence that although I did not recall telephoning Mr Ashton at that particular time, it was my normal practice to get back to the then chief commissioner when he contacted me.
Under cross-examination I provided an answer to a related question that was inconsistent with the totality of my evidence and the meaning I was intending to convey. This was not my intention, as I believe was made very clear by my written statement and further oral evidence. At the time I gave evidence I did not have in my possession my full telephone records.
Following a request by the board of inquiry on Saturday 10 October 2020, I requested detailed telephone records from my telecommunications carrier. These records show I called Mr Ashton at 1:17pm and that I spoke with him for just over two minutes. At no time prior to 10 October 2020 had the Board requested access to these telephone records, and they had not previously been in my possession.
The telephone records do not in any way demonstrate that I, or indeed anyone else in DPC made a decision that private security be used in the hotel quarantine program.
I am absolutely certain I did not convey to Mr Ashton any decision regarding the use of private security as I was unaware any such decision had been made, and I most certainly had not made such a decision myself.
...
There has been much commentary and speculation about whether I or anyone else at DPC spoke to Mr Ashton during that narrow timeframe on 27 March. It is now evident I did.”
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Head of Victoria's Department of Premier and Cabinet resigns
Some big news out of Victoria. Chris Eccles, who is the secretary of the state’s Department of Premier and Cabinet, has just resigned.
In a statement he said his remaining in the position would “be a significant distraction” to the state’s ongoing containment effort of Covid-19.
Department of Prwmier and Cabinet Secretary Chris Eccles has resigned @abcmelbourne #springst pic.twitter.com/JVHRnvEjcj
— Bridget Rollason (@bridgerollo) October 11, 2020
#BREAKING Secretary of the Department of Premier and Cabinet Chris Eccles has resigned, effective immediately. More via @AAPNewswire
— Benita Kolovos 🐯 (@benitakolovos) October 11, 2020
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Demand at food banks surged 47% during Covid-19 – mostly driven by casual workers and international students.
The statistics are from a new report released today tracking the months between April and September. This was despite the doubling of the jobseeker payment and the introduction of the jobkeeper subsidy, with international students ineligible for both.
Luke Henriques-Gomes has the story:
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Barnaby Joyce has blasted his own Coalition government for what he calls a “deal” with Pauline Hanson after the One Nation leader was allowed to announce a $23m grant for a stadium in Rockhampton – complete with a cheque emblazoned with her face.
Joyce told Guardian Australia: “I suspect it was a deal – obviously it must be for a form of support for another issue … and this is a payment for it.”
“It was a program that was brought about by the Nationals, not One Nation,” Joyce said.
My colleague Paul Karp has the full story:
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Students are returning to school in Melbourne today – much to the delight of parents.
The kids are in the gates and the sun is shining. My friend and I punched the air. 😂💃🏻Best day ever in Melbourne for months! #COVID19Victoria #backtoschool pic.twitter.com/9SrDEX4Kjt
— Lucie Morris-Marr (@luciemorrismarr) October 11, 2020
Virus can last 28 days on phones and banknotes
Australian scientists have discovered that the virus that causes Covid-19 can survive for up to 28 days on surfaces such as the glass on mobile phones, stainless steel, vinyl and paper banknotes.
The virus survived longer on paper banknotes than on plastic banknotes and lasted longer on smooth surfaces rather than porous surfaces such as cotton.
Read the full story here:
Today is the first day in more than two months that Victoria's statewide 14 day average has increased
— casey briggs (@CaseyBriggs) October 11, 2020
Victorian restaurateur launches high court challenge to lockdown
A Victorian restaurateur is launching a high court challenge against the Victorian government’s lockdown, arguing that it is unconstitutional.
Julian Gerner, who owns a restaurant and bar in Sorrento, is being represented by Brett Walker SC and Michael Wyles QC, and will argue that the lockdown was disproportionate and breached an implied right in the constitution of freedom of movement within states, according to the Age.
There is an express right in the constitution of freedom of trade and commerce between states, but any right to that freedom within a state would have to be successfully argued as “implied” by Gerner’s legal team.
In a statement, Gerner said that restrictions such as the 5km radius were “not what we signed up for and is inconsistent with a free society, representative democratic government and civilised living.
“Aggressive and heavy-handed enforcement of these restrictions has also alarmed most fair-minded people.”
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Kevin Rudd: 'It’s time we stood up against the bullies and Murdoch'
The former prime minister Kevin Rudd is on the ABC right now, speaking about his petition calling for a royal commission into Rupert Murdoch’s Australian media empire.
He says people all over Australia are “scratching their heads” because Murdoch-owned media “no longer provide anything approaching balance to news reporting”:
There’s just one side of the story being told. Murdoch controls 70% of the print media and here in Queensland owns virtually every single newspaper. The whole Queensland coast is Murdoch-owned.
When you have got James Murdoch today who has gone on the record in the New York Times saying his reason for leaving News Corporation and the board was because News Corporation was legitimising disinformation. His words, not mine.
Why isn’t that coverage in today’s Murdoch media? Why are we running away from that as a central news story? It’s mind-blowing.
Rudd says people in politics and journalism are “scared” of the Murdoch empire, and of being blacklisted by it.
“That is why we need the dispassionate analysis of a royal commission about what is going wrong with the concentration of media power in Australia,” he says.
“It’s time we stood up against the bullies and Murdoch and Michael Miller, Ben English, the editor of the Daily Telegraph, Chris Dore, the editor of the Australian, and all the other assistant Voldemorts who run the operation; instead people are frightened and part of the petition is to cause people not to be frightened of them.”
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Victoria reports 15 new Covid cases
Victoria has recorded 15 new cases of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, with thankfully no new deaths.
But those new cases are still in the double digits, and it means the 14-day rolling average has now increased in metro Melbourne.
Yesterday there were 15 new cases reported. No lives were lost. The 14 day rolling average has slightly increased in Metro Melbourne but remains steady in Regional Victoria. More data will be available later today.
— VicGovDHHS (@VicGovDHHS) October 11, 2020
Info: https://t.co/pcll7ySEgz#COVID19Vic #COVID19VicData pic.twitter.com/F1Ztgt9UFZ
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NSW issues alerts for venues in western Sydney
NSW Health has issued alerts for five new venues in western and south western Sydney.
They are:
- Big W, Carnes Hill – 4 October, 3pm-4.30pm
- Aldi, Edmondson Park – 4 October, 6.30pm-7pm
- Chemist Warehouse, Casula – 6 October, 12.30pm-1pm
- Bunnings, Crossroads – 7 October, 2pm-3pm
- Costco, Casula – 9 October, 3pm-3.30pm
Anyone who attended is considered a casual contact and must monitor for symptoms and get tested immediately if they develop. After testing, they must remain in isolation until a negative test result is received.
Yesterday the state recorded three new cases of local transmission, with today’s numbers due at 11am.
NSW Health also said: “Testing numbers have dropped recently, which is a concern.”
“We are appealing to the community to come forward for testing right away if you have even the mildest of symptoms like a runny nose or scratchy throat, cough, fever or other symptoms that could be Covid-19.”
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Good morning
Hello everyone, and welcome back to the blog. It’s Monday and it’s Naaman Zhou here.
The blog captain extraordinaire Amy Remeikis is taking a few days off the blog this week – returning to the only slightly less stressful job of political reporting in Canberra. She’ll be back on the blog next week.
Today primary and VCE students in Melbourne will return to school in person for the first time in 10 weeks. At the weekend the Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, delivered his 100th consecutive daily press conference, the state recorded 12 new cases on Sunday, and all eyes on will be on today’s numbers to see if they can crack into single digits.
Meanwhile, a legal challenge to the state’s lockdown is due to be filed with the high court this morning. The restaurateur Julian Gerner is arguing that the lockdown was unconstitutional as it was “heavy-handed” and infringed on a right to “freedom of movement” and commerce between states.
In NSW, the premier, Gladys Berejiklian, will appear as a witness at the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption today as she testifies about her former colleague Daryl Maguire.
NSW Health have also released more locations of potential Covid exposure in western and south-western Sydney.
Scott Morrison will be in Queensland today as he helps the Liberal National party campaign before the Queensland state election on 31 October.
We’ll be bringing you all news as it happens. Stick with us.
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