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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Stephanie Convery (now) and Matilda Boseley (earlier)

Nation records highest death toll for the pandemic following grim two weeks of rising numbers – as it happened

Australia New South Wales Mark McGowan Covid-19 United Kingdom Victoria Queensland Western Australia United States Scott Morrison

That’s all for us today, folks. It’s been another awful day in the pandemic, with Australia recording its highest death toll for the pandemic so far, following a grim two weeks of escalating numbers. That included an infant who died with Covid in NSW, and Tasmania’s first casualty of the disease for nearly two years – a woman in her 90s. You can find all the daily Covid statistics in the summary post pinned at the top of the blog.

Other things that rounded off this week of news:

• Queensland has reduced its booster interval from four to three months, following NSW, Victoria, ACT and South Australia.

• The Australian federal police have launched an investigation into price gouging of rapid antigen tests.

• Western Australia announced that its border would stay closed, but had to fend off concerns that its hospital system wasn’t ready for a Covid surge despite a long preparation time.

• Peter Dutton has said there will be more visits from UK and US submarines as part of the defence deals being discussed in the annual AUKMIN talks in Sydney this week.

• The federal government announced 15,000 humanitarian visas would be provided for Afghan nationals, after a senate inquiry delivered a scathing report into Australia’s treatment of former Afghan interpreters and other colleagues left behind after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. The announcement has also come under fire for not actually adding any new places to the humanitarian visa program.

• Health experts have warned that delaying elective surgeries in Victoria will see blown-out waiting lists spiral into a “massive healthcare crisis”.

• Australian naval ship HMAS Adelaide loaded with critical humanitarian supplies departed for Tonga as part of disaster relief efforts in the Pacific island nation following the devastating volcano eruption and tsunami, but an Australian aid flight was turned back from the Covid-free nation after a positive case was detected on board.

Thanks for coming along for the ride this week. I hope you have a lovely weekend, stay cool and hydrated, wear sunscreen, and I’ll see you again soon!

Updated

Tonga has turned back an aid flight from Australia due to a positive Covid case on board, despite assurances from the Morrison government that humanitarian relief from the volcanic eruption and tsunami could be offered in a Covid-safe way.

Tonga is Covid-free and has a strict border control policy, requiring contactless delivery of aid that began arriving by plane on Thursday.

The Australian aid flight left Brisbane on Thursday afternoon but was turned around mid-flight after being notified of the positive Covid case, an Australian defence spokesperson said.

All crew had returned negative rapid antigen tests before departure, but PCR tests later showed the positive result. The supplies were moved to another flight that took off on Friday.

Read more:

Updated

Health minister Greg Hunt and home affairs minister Karen Andrews have released their official statement on the changes that mean negative rapid antigen tests will now be accepted for international arrivals, saying the changes will provide more flexibility.

Interestingly, they’ve also reduced wait times between receiving a positive Covid diagnosis and being cleared to travel here.

Here’s what the release says:

Under the Biosecurity Act 2015 the Government will change the requirements for a pre-departure test of any nucleic acid amplification test (such as PCR tests) within three days, to allow the flexibility for passengers to instead show a negative test result through a rapid antigen test (RAT) within 24 hours of the flight departure time.

These changes will come into effect from 1am Sunday 23 January 2022.

While PCR tests remain the gold standard test, a RAT within 24 hours is an acceptable indicator of whether a traveller has COVID-19 before flying to Australia.

This is consistent with moves within Australia to accept RATs for diagnostic purposes.

In addition to this, the time between receiving a positive test result and being able to be cleared for travel to Australia will be reduced from 14 to seven days. This will reduce wait times for travellers who contract COVID-19 overseas to return to Australia in line with the new domestic isolation requirements.

The pre-departure testing requirements will continue to be reviewed regularly, taking into account the domestic and international epidemiology.

Travellers to Australia must still wear a mask during their flight and follow the directions of state and territory governments regarding quarantine and on-arrival testing.

Updated

And from the SA Metro fire brigade:

Victorian CFA chief officer, Jason Heffernan, has offered his solidarity and condolences to SA firefighters on behalf of Victoria:

CFA is devastated by the tragic death of a South Australian Country Fire Service (CFS) firefighter and injury to another CFS member on the Coles fireground.

We extend our deepest condolences and sympathies to the family, friends and colleagues of the firefighters.

Five CFA strike teams are assisting firefighting efforts in South Australia. No CFA members were injured in the incident.

Firefighting is an inherently dangerous activity and I am grateful and proud of the commitment and sacrifices that Australian firefighters make every day.

CFA stands with our CFS colleagues on the fireground, and in grief.

Updated

A firefighter has died and another injured fighting a bushfire in South Australia

A volunteer firefighter has died and another was seriously injured when a tree fell on a truck on the fireground at Coles in South Australia. The injured firefighter was taken to hospital.

The incident occurred near Lucindale, where the blaze is running uncontrolled through blue gum plantations, scrub and grassland, a Country Fire Service (CFS) spokesperson confirmed to AAP.

In a statement, the CFS said:

Family and other personnel have been informed and are being offered support at this time.

The safety and wellbeing of our people is our highest priority and our thoughts are with our CFS family at this time.

We are obtaining more information and will provide another update shortly.

Updated

TikTok wrote to Australian political parties in November last year warning them against attempting to pay influencers or engage in any other sort of advertising on its platform, Guardian Australia can reveal.

Just months out from the next federal election, the letters were sent after Crikey reported a US-based marketing agency had emailed a campaign brief to a TikTok user offering $300 for the user to make and post a video on the theme of “Scott Morrison is too slow and always late”.

When the Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, was asked on Thursday about the November report, he told radio station 6PR he wasn’t familiar with it.

“Well, it is the first I’ve heard of it. But it wouldn’t be too hard for people to post TikTok videos along that theme. Because that is a theme that is characterised by this government. That is what we hear back,” he said.

Read the full story here:

Pivoting to federal politics again for a minute: Julian Hill, a Labor MP and a member of the joint standing committee on migration, has blasted the government’s Afghan visa announcement today:

Hill said:

As of today Scott Morrison has processed zero out of 3,000 visa promised, yet is trying to trick people with another rubbish announcement.

5,000 of the 15,000 places announced today are simply family visas in the existing program. Afghan-Australians have been waiting for years as the government has actively discriminated against them, failing to process their family visas. These people have never met their own children, or [have] missed their kids growing up, yet are supposed to be grateful that Scott Morrison now says he might give them the same rights as every other Australian.

Not one extra refugee place has been allocated to the program. Afghans will comprise just 18% of the refugee program over 4 years – while the Taliban are hunting people down right now. Australia was more generous to Syria and Iraq, countries with which we have relatively little relationship.

The government’s announcement on Afghanistan is insulting and offensive to Afghan Australians who have been here since 1860, to Afghans who risked their lives for our country who’ve been abandoned, and for Aussie veterans.

Updated

For context:

On the decision to retain the hard border, and the dismay from many that they won’t be able to return due to the quarantine requirements and other restrictions on who can enter, McGowan says that he did it to “protect our state from the worst excesses of what is going on in the eastern states”:

And what is going on over there with massive death rates, huge hospitalisations, massive economic dislocation, businesses and all sorts of trouble, people staying home from work, kids not going to school, the army being called out, is pretty serious. Now here, we are not going through that. So what we’re trying to do is put in place the measures that will protect us as we can from that when the virus eventually has community spread here.

Updated

Reporter:

You say the hospital system is as ready as it can be. But not all the hospital beds will be ready until October. That point, it will be as ready. Right now you’re still playing catch-up.

McGowan:

We’ve had 300 additional beds we put in place. Obviously more roll out. Putting in place the equivalent of a new tertiary hospital in the course of 18 months is a big exercise. Normally a new hospital takes about 10 years to build.

I want to go back to WA for a moment because there are prevailing concerns about the preparedness of the state’s hospitals, and McGowan is being pressed again on it from reporters on the floor.

Reporter:

You’ve changed quite dramatically from when it was all about ... we were facing a pandemic and we had to have our hospital system ready. You kept repeating that mantra, ‘getting us time’, ‘sorry about this’, ‘it won’t be for forever’, ‘we need to get our hospitals ready and our health system ready’. Here we are in the third year, sure, with another variant, but it’s still sending a message to the public that we’re not ready.

McGowan:

Our hospitals are as ready as they can be ... Last year we announced $3.2bn of additional spends on beds, doctors, nurses, and the like. But the hospital system has to deal with the staffing issues. Getting people in. I mean, a lot of our recruitment is overseas and always has been. That’s been difficult because all countries around the world are trying to do the same thing. There’s all sorts of restrictions on people coming and all those sort of things.

We’re putting in place 520 additional beds. We’re having all the arrangements ready so at a certain point in time, we start to wind down elective surgery to cater for the growth in Covid cases in hospitals. That’s what every state has done. Every state is doing similar things to cope with the growth in numbers.

... it won’t be perfect. Nothing is perfect. We don’t have like in Yes Minister, hospitals sitting there with no patients, just waiting.

Updated

Australia to accept negative rapid antigen tests for international arrivals

Just to take you away from WA for a minute: Australia will now accept negative rapid antigen tests instead of PCR tests for arrivals to Australia, according to new instruments made by the health minister, Greg Hunt, under the Biosecurity Act on Friday.

According to the new rules, incoming passengers can meet entry requirements with:

a certificate provided by a medical practitioner that ... the person was tested for the coronavirus known as Covid‑19 using a rapid antigen test ... and ... the result of the test was negative.

The test will have to be conducted under the supervision of a medical practitioner. The certificate must state:

  • the date and time of the test
  • the name of the person tested
  • the type of test conducted
  • the brand and make of the test
  • that the specimen for the test was collected, and the test was carried out, by or under the supervision of a medical practitioner
  • the result of the test
  • the signature of the medical practitioner providing the certificate.

The determination states that providing misleading information could be an offence or breach a civil penalty provision of the Act.

Updated

On rapid antigen tests, the argument from McGowan seems to be that a large supply of RATs is something that was required for Omicron but not for Delta, thanks to PCR being the gold standard for Delta testing:

Omicron arrived in Australia on December 8. [Note: this is not correct – it was November.] Prior to that, it was the Delta strain. The Delta strain testing arrangements required PCR testing, which is the swab up the nose, and it’s highly accurate.

The advice with Delta was that you didn’t want to use rapid antigen testing because it’s less accurate. And PCR testing could manage the transmission rates and the number of people acquiring Delta and that was the best way of having very accurate results with Delta with low rates of transmission, comparably.

When Omicron arrived – and it didn’t exist, really, before that – we had to reconsider, because the transmissibility rates of Omicron are so much higher than Delta. That’s where rapid antigen testing comes in.

This all seems a bit roundabout to me, frankly – rapid antigen tests have been widely available in other countries for a long time, well before Omicron emerged, and were worked into systems as a way of managing Covid in a circumstance of limited restrictions.

Updated

Reporter:

Aside from pushing the third dose vaccination, what is your government going to do with this extra time to avoid the catastrophe, as you describe it, that we have seen in the eastern states? What will you do in this extra time?

McGowan:

As time goes on, we’ll get children vaccinated. It’s the third dose for over 18s but also ... children have only have the opportunity to get vaccinated from 10 December. I’ve been contacted with lots of parents who want the opportunity to get their kids vaccinated. Our clinics are very full. The state is bearing most of the load of the vaccination rollout in Western Australia, contrary to other states. That provides that opportunity as well. As time passes, we’ll have more rapid antigen tests come in, more hospital beds roll out.

Reporter:

Shouldn’t we have those things in place already, and do you admit vaccination isn’t enough?

McGowan:

Vaccination is very important. In terms of hospital beds, as you know, we made significant commitments last year to roll them out, including some modular beds at four hospitals. The advice I have is the hospital system is ready ... all of those things make a difference.

It feels like he’s staying two things simultaneously here – that they need more time for hospital beds to roll out, but also the hospital system is ready. Those things can’t both be true, surely.

Updated

McGowan says that they are reviewing “what is going on over east” so he can’t give a timeline on the border reopening.

Reporter:

A lot of people did what they were told. They went and got vaccinated. They have become eligible for their third dose more recently. The announcement yesterday ... they are concerned if the border doesn’t open for months their immunity will be weakened. What kind of assurance can you give that the borders will open at any point this year?

McGowan:

We will have a review and obviously Western Australia will open at some point in time subject to the results of that review. As I said yesterday, it is not fair for a bunch of people who are not eligible for the third dose if we open on 5 February when they are not eligible. To be frank with you, I have been contacted by many people who are very happy with the announcement we have made, I mean many people, because it gives them the opportunity to get vaccinated and it gives them the opportunity to protect the health of themselves and their loved ones.

When we made the announcement in December, I said ... that it would open on 5 February unless there was an emergency or catastrophe. And deliberately seeding thousands of cases here in the first day or week, into Western Australia, would mean we just follow the exact same route of New South Wales.

Updated

The WA premier is taking questions now, and he’s being asked if there will be a policy to allow overseas students in?

McGowan:

Not at this point in time. The unfortunate reality is we are trying to limit the spread of the virus into Western Australia. We are providing compassionate entry points for returning Western Australia, for people who are coming to visit sick relatives and the like. We will have a range of categories and ways for people to return home, subject to quarantine. All that involves some risk but we are doing our best [to allow relatives of WA residents and WA residents themselves to come back].

I know there has been a lot of commentary over the course of the last couple of days, perhaps, that we have been locked out or people have been locked up for two years. That is not actually true. Over the course of the last two years, as you will all remember, at various points in time all of the borders across Australia were open and people had the opportunity to come to Western Australia.

McGowan says the state has had 151 cases of Omicron. He also goes through some of the national covid numbers – hard not to feel like he is pointing to these numbers like this by way of supporting his decision to keep the border closed:

There are currently 5,147 Australians in hospital today with Covid. Fortunately none of those people are in Western Australia. There are 424 Australians in intensive care with Covid. Thankfully, none of those people are in Western Australia. And sadly, today, Australia has reported 88 deaths across the country, including 46 in New South Wales alone.

This is absolutely devastating news for so many families across the country. Our thoughts are with them, it is a heartbreaking time. For some perspective, Omicron is dangerous and serious. We need to take every precaution we can and we know the third dose vaccination is key to all of this.

Updated

Western Australia records 10 new Covid cases

WA premier Mark McGowan is speaking now. As usual, WA are distinguishing between “local” cases and “travel-related” cases: the total includes 7 new local cases and 3 travel cases.

There are no Covid patients in hospital in WA.

Updated

Australia will export its first load of liquefied hydrogen made from coal in an engineering milestone which researchers say could also lock in a new fossil fuel industry and increase the country’s carbon emissions.

Under the $500m Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain (HESC) pilot project, hydrogen will be made in Victoria’s LaTrobe valley from brown coal and transported aboard a purpose-built ship to Japan, where it will be burned in coal-fired power plants.

Carbon capture and storage will be used in an attempt to reduce the carbon emissions associated with making the hydrogen and supercooling the gas until it forms a liquid before it is loaded aboard the Suiso Frontier vessel. The first shipment is due to depart from Hastings in the coming days.

Read the full story here:

While we wait for WA premier Mark McGowan to give us the state’s Covid update after his bombshell border announcement last night, let’s take a look at the record-breaking heatwave currently sweeping that state:

The heatwave has days to run before it shifts eastwards, Peter Hannam reports, combining with moisture leftover from ex-tropical cyclone Tiffany to create some clammy days and nights for southern cities.

Perth on Friday reached 40C for a fourth consecutive day, matching the record sequence reached in the WA capital on only three previous occasions, including around last Christmas. The Bureau of Meteorology was predicting a fifth 40C-day for Saturday.

Thursday’s top of 40.5C was the eighth day above 40C this summer, beating the previous record of seven for the season in Perth and with more days like it likely, said a senior meteorologist at Weatherzone, Ben Domensino. Just after noon, local time, the temperature hit 40C for the ninth time this summer.

“It could get to 10 [days] by the end of this week, and then we’re staring down the barrel of another five weeks of summer,” said Domensino.

Read the full story here:

Updated

Some reaction to that announcement from the federal government about Afghanistan: Greens senator Nick McKim is saying it’s “smoke and mirrors” – and won’t create a single new place in the humanitarian visa program:

Australia has a moral responsibility to do far more than this given our culpability in the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan.

Of course more people from Afghanistan need protection, but this announcement means that for every person from Afghanistan who is granted a humanitarian visa, someone from elsewhere who desperately needs protection misses out.

This government has drastically cut Australia’s humanitarian intake in recent years. Failing to create additional places for Afghan nationals simply adds insult to injury.

The minister has left open the door for further increases and we urge him to offer at least 20,000 places to people from Afghanistan in addition to our annual humanitarian intake.

The minister should also confirm that everyone from Afghanistan who was issued a 449 visa during and after the evacuation of Kabul will be granted permanent protection in Australia.

Updated

We’re still waiting for the WA Covid update this afternoon but hearing that the premier, Mark McGowan, is going to pop up to give it himself very soon. We’ll keep you posted.

It’s important to note that this announcement about an increase in the allocation of our humanitarian visas to Afghan nationals has been made after a damning Senate report was tabled in parliament, which found that former Afghan interpreters and other colleagues left behind by the Australian government after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan now face a high risk of brutal reprisals.

As my colleague Daniel Hurst reported earlier today, the damning new consensus report said Australia had asked Afghan nationals to “stand in harm’s way with Australian personnel” but had “left them standing in harm’s way”.

“It is dishonourable,” said the inquiry’s interim report, which was written by the Labor chair, Kimberley Kitching, and not opposed by government members of the committee.

Australia’s last-ditch evacuation mission – launched on 18 August days after Kabul fell to the Taliban – lifted 4,168 people out of the Afghan capital over the course of nine days. Those carried on the 32 Australian flights included 167 Australian citizens and 2,984 Afghans with approved visas.

Read more about the report here:

Updated

The government says they will give priority in the humanitarian program to:

  • former Locally Engaged Employees (LEE) and their immediate family members;
  • subclass 449 holders (current and former) and their immediate family members;
  • those with enduring links to Australia, such as Afghans who were employed by Australian non-government organisations or who worked on Australian Government funded projects, and Coalition partner LEE and their immediate family; and
  • Women and girls, ethnic minorities, LGBTQI+ and other identified minority groups.

Hawke says:

These priorities recognise the dangerous and volatile nature of the situation in Afghanistan, acknowledge those at greatest risk, and recognise the unique and exceptional contributions made by individuals and their families to the Australian and Coalition missions in Afghanistan.

I have directed the Department of Home Affairs to give priority processing to the Afghan cohort in the Humanitarian Program and to give priority processing to all Afghan nationals within the Family Program.

It also says that the Hawke will conduct a series of roundtables with the Afghan-Australian community in the coming weeks.

Government announces 15,000 humanitarian visas to be provided for Afghan nationals

OK, I’ve got the media release from immigration minister Alex Hawke on the increase to Australia’s humanitarian visas for Afghan nationals now.

The details: Australia will provide at least 15,000 places for Afghan nationals through the Humanitarian and Family Visa Program over four years. This increased allocation includes 10,000 places for Afghan nationals within Australia’s existing Humanitarian Program and at least 5,000 visas within the Family stream. It follows the initial allocation of 3,000 places in August 2021.

Hawke said the statement:

The War in Afghanistan was Australia’s longest, and a humanitarian intake of this size reflects this. Our commitment to Afghan refugees will be second only in scale to our humanitarian intake from Syria and Iraq.

Today’s announcement of 15,000 places follows our initial allocation of 3,000 places to Afghanistan in August 2021, which as we indicated then, was a floor and not a ceiling. This continues to be the case. The Government will continue to monitor processing numbers and reserves the right to increase the program in future years.

Since evacuations commenced from Kabul in August, more than 4,300 Afghan evacuees have been brought to Australia and are in the process of securing permanent visas over coming months, as they establish their lives in their new home.

There has been an unprecedented level of visa applications from Afghanistan for our Humanitarian and Migration visa programs. In recognition of this demand, and in support of this specific visa commitment, dedicated teams within the Department of Home Affairs have been established to undertake priority processing.

Not to put too fine a point on it though – the Department of Home Affairs says it has received more than 32,500 applications for the Humanitarian program from Afghan nationals, on behalf of more than 145,000 individuals.

Updated

Some important context to that humanitarian visa allocation increase:

The Northern Territory government is under fire after a group of people taken into quarantine 10 days ago from a remote Aboriginal community were sent home on Sunday “unexpectedly” and subsequently tested positive for Covid-19.

The remote central Australian community of Yuendumu has asked NT Health to explain why the community members – who had been evacuated to the Alice Springs quarantine facility as close contacts – were flown home on 16 January and sent back to their homes without being tested on arrival, with local authorities saying they had not been informed of their return. A number of the group were Covid-positive when later tested by local health workers in the following two days.

Johanna Ward, the CEO of the Warlpiri Youth Development Aboriginal Corporation (WYDAC), said:

The people got off the plane and were able to go to their respective homes, and then tested positive once the emergency response team realised they were here ... There were a number of people who were positive. We haven’t been provided with that number. So the community is very angry.

Read the full story here:

ACT records 2 Covid deaths, 826 new cases

There are 62 people in hospital, with two in intensive care and one ventilated.

South Australia records 6 Covid deaths and 3,023 new cases

Premier Steven Marshall has been giving a press conference in Adelaide. He says there are 298 people in hospital. 33 people are in intensive care and 7 are on ventilators.

Updated

Twitter apologises to politicians who experienced abuse on the platform

Twitter officials apologised to politicians who have experienced abuse on its platform, and said more was being done to prevent female politicians and journalists from being subject to abuse on the service in a hearing on social media and online safety on Friday.

Committee chair, Liberal MP Lucy Wicks, asked Twitter officials how the company’s hateful content policy aligned with her own experience on Twitter and that experienced by ABC journalist Leigh Sales:

On the one hand, I think this is wonderful that you have got a hateful content policy. But then I look at some of the tweets that are directed at me that don’t get taken down or I look at some of the other tweets that I’m going to read out to you that I know have been the subject of very public conversation. And I guess I wonder how hateful content and your hateful content policy is actually policed and managed. And what’s the words that regulators moderated? Given that so much harmful content seems to remain on Twitter and stay on for the directed individuals?

Twitter’s director of public policy in Australia, Kara Hinesley, apologised to Wicks for “any harm that might have come across Twitter that might still be there”:

I know that it can be horrific and having worked with a lot of victims of abuse, or victims survivors in my time here at Twitter, it’s something that we care very deeply about. And I understand that this is something that is a lived experience for you. And so I appreciate you sharing this information with us and helping us think through where we need to continue to make strides in terms of abuse.

Hinesley pointed to recent changes to Twitter, including allowing users to limit who can reply to tweets and a new safety mode currently in a beta trial, as ways the company had been responding to people being abused on the site.

When taken to specific tweets, including several about Sales, Hinesley said she couldn’t comment on the individual tweets, but was aware that female journalists and politicians had been specifically targeted:

I wouldn’t be able to comment on the specifics at this stage. But I would assure you that our teams would be reviewing this against our terms of service and the Twitter rules and we’d be taking enforcement actions that would be consistent with what they find violative. You had mentioned Leigh Sales and we’ve worked with the ABC in a number of regards being very cognisant and aware and alive to the fact that we are seeing trends that are attacking both female journalists but also female politicians.

We know that this is something that is quite complex and we have dedicated teams that are working on how these interactions with individual targeting or again scale targeting, how it can be managed and how we can ensure that we’re taking action to actually look at the behaviours that would cause harm in the short term and the long term – so in acute and chronic settings.

I just want to reassure you that this is something that we are getting better at with the scaled enforcement and we’re working very hard to also ensure that we’re alive to any situations that come up, especially around current events.

Updated

The rogue National MP, George Christensen, has confirmed that although he is exiting parliament at the next election he will still be involved in politics – as a journalist.

Christensen, speaking at online event Prayer and Pushback, said:

I’m not leaving politics – I’m leaving parliament – we’re all involved in politics as citizens. I’m going to be in the fray. I was a journalist before I was in politics … I’ll probably step back into that in the future, in some way, shape or form.

Christensen continued his crusade against the children’s Covid-19 vaccination program, arguing that “one death” from adverse reactions is too many (although he conceded his evidence of this in Australia is “anecdotal and not verified”). “Healthy children don’t die of Covid-19,” he said.

He said:

Labor are saying I should be booted out of parliament, for expressing a view about safety. They’re not going to see the end of me.

Updated

Northern Territory records 432 new Covid cases

62 people are in hospital, five currently requiring oxygen. There are two patients in critical condition in ICU. Gunner says they are both unvaccinated.

Updated

Phew, OK, so while we were over at submarines in the Indo-Pacific, the Northern Territory chief minister Michael Gunner was giving a presser on their Covid numbers and back-to-school plans.

Updated

Dutton, though, aims straight for China:

The United Kingdom has, as I said before, a proud history and heritage of standing up for good against bad and if you look at what is happening between China and Lithuania at the moment, or between China and Thailand, between China and India, between China and Australia, other countries, where there has been economic coercion or activities otherwise ... it takes, I think, many countries to come together to call out that behaviour. And I think the principal of sunlight or sunshine and exposing the conduct and being frank about where red lines are and where conduct is unacceptable is the only way in which we can address such behaviour.

Nobody, as I’ve said repeatedly, nobody in our country, in our region, across the world wants to see conflict of any nature. The Chinese government has been very clear about their intent with Taiwan and they’ve been on a course of conduct with other countries, as I say, including Lithuania. It is all well documented and it is all freely spoken about now, and it should be, because they have the questions to answer and they should answer them. I think there is nothing strange at all, and in fact I think it is to be applauded, that the United Kingdom has fought for and continues to fight for freedom in the Indo-Pacific, that’s their history and I think it will continue to be their future.

Updated

There’s a question about what the UK would contribute to security in the Indo-Pacific in the face of pressure from China, and whether Australia would be expected to offer concrete support to European security in return. Almost everyone had a go at answering this in some form, but these comments from Truss are quite pointed:

We are seeing increased economic coercion from China, we are seeing increased aggression from Russia, we are seeing Iran in danger of obtaining nuclear capability and we need to work with all of our friends and partners around the world, and Australia is an absolutely crucial ally and friend.

Whether it is in trade – and I believe trade and investment are very, very important – between allies to build up capability and reduce strategic dependence on countries like China, and whether it is on defensive support, which we are achieving through the AUKUS agreement, as well as through other agreements we have ...

Updated

Truss takes a question on Boris Johnson’s leadership, which has been on the rocks since the revelations of parties at Downing St during widespread lockdowns. Truss has been tipped as a frontrunner for the leadership if he goes down.

Reporter:

Foreign Secretary, you’re here in Australia at a very challenging time back home, especially with the leadership crisis of Boris Johnson. Does he have your 100% support without reservation? In your view, is his leadership tenable?

Truss:

The Prime Minister has my 100% support. He is doing an excellent job. Britain was one of the first countries to roll out the Covid vaccine. We’ve had a very successful booster program. We’re now able to open up our economy again in Britain and we’ve got one of the fastest-growing economies in the G7.

And the reason that we are here in Australia is working with our very close partners, to advance freedom and democracy around the world, and to protect our country. I want the Prime Minister to continue as long as possible in his job. He is doing a fantastic job. There is no leadership election.

Updated

Reporter:

On Ukraine, and in particular to Minister Payne, can you give us a sense ... of what assistance Australia is willing to contemplate giving to Ukraine?

Payne:

In relation to the Ukraine, I had a very good conversation with the Ukranian foreign minister on 19 January, so a day-and-a-half ago, and very clearly reaffirmed Australia’s support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. I indicated that Australia would be prepared to consider requests in areas in which we could assist to Ukraine and no formal requests have been made.

To be clear, that is not about direct military support. That is not on the table from Australia’s perspective. But we will work closely with Ukraine in the coming days and weeks in terms of challenges that they are deal with and continue to affirm our views on their... sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Updated

More visits from US and UK nuclear subs

Reporter:

Can I ask, have you discussed UK submarines or other assets either making more regular visits to Australia, or potentially temporary basing arrangements for those assets in Australia – any light you can shed on that from discussions today would be appreciated.

Dutton:

We’ve been able to work incredibly well together. So in terms of additional visits, yes, that’s been part of that working group discussion but also part of the discussion we’ve had hear in Sydney as well and we will see greater rotations, as we’ve already seen from the strike carrier group and from the nuclear sub visit out of the UK. We will see more, not just from the UK, but from the United States.

We’re seeing greater interest, of course, from even the Germans and other European nations, more people that understand what is happening in terms of the coercion and bullying taking place within the Indo-Pacific. There are many countries who have that interest in making sure that they have a presence and that they express their own view about freedom and the continuation of what we know in the Indo-Pacific at the moment.

Updated

Wallace continues, with direct reference – not for the first time in this press conference – to Russia:

If globalisation has been a reality for the economy, it’s also been a realisation for threat and with the internet comes a turbo boost that means young men in Sydney can be and radicalised by people from Syria. It means that nations can interrupt and corrupt our democratic and free and open societies from as far away as countries such as Russia and therefore we have to work together to strengthen those alliances.

There’s a phrase in English and I’m sure it’s the same in Australia which is ‘by your friends, will be judged’. I’m proud that Australia is our closest friend.

Updated

UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace takes the mic. He invokes the second world war, too:

81 years ago to the day, the men of the Australian 6th Division and the British 7th Division captured Tobruk from the Nazis, on this day. We fought side by side then against authoritarian and totalitarian regimes and we won not just because of the bravery of those men, who died, many of them, for the sake of freedom, but because we have an alliance and we are alliances.

Our strength is through alliances and that’s why AUKMIN is such an important tool for us to stand up the values that we believe in. The stronger we are together, the stronger our values will be protected around the world. And it was great to have a comprehensive meeting today where we covered all the subjects that was mentioned - cybersecurity, misinformation, better, deeper military coordination and exercising and a recognition that today’s world, unlike 1941, is more global than ever.

Updated

More from Dutton:

As we demonstrated in Kabul only a few months ago, Australia was able to bring out over 4,000 people but only because of the assistance of the United Kingdom and the UK, United States. And the security overlay they provided, the integration with our own Defence Force personnel on the ground, resulted in a positive, significant, tangible outcome for us and we’re seeing at the moment in the Indo-Pacific with the greater presence of the strike carrier group, of the recent visit from the Astute and many more visits that will follow as a result of the agreement under AUKUS, a strengthening and a necessary strengthening of the relationship between the United Kingdom and Australia ...

AUKUS represents an enormous opportunity for us, not just in relation to the acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines but also, rightly, as Marise point out, other capabilities which will deter acts of aggression.

Basically, again to state the bleeding obvious, we need the defence support of the UK and the US in the case of “acts of aggression”.

Updated

Now we’re hearing from defence minister Peter Dutton:

We know as a world today that we would be in a very different situation if, during the 1930s and 1940s the United Kingdom had not stood up to malign forces and had not represented the values that they adhere to even to this very day. And we have a lot in common with the United Kingdom, a shared heritage, a shared set of values, and they must endure into the future.

And the Prime Minister and I and others have spoken about this period in the Indo-Pacific being not dissimilar to the 1930s. And so it is incredibly important that countries that share values like the United Kingdom and Australia stand up once again and we will work together in the Indo-Pacific and right around the world to deliver on those values, to give them meaning.

Let’s just state the absolute obvious here so this doesn’t get lost: the 1930s led up to devastating world war. This is not a benign, throwaway comment.

Updated

Truss:

Thirdly, we’re strengthening our security ties. We’re proud to work together in the Five Eyes and on the five power defence arrangements.

I’m looking forward to travelling to Adelaide tomorrow to see the Hunter class frigates being built. Our carrier strike group exercised with Australia and other partners last year.

AUKUS will help make our defence and security ties even stronger by helping Australia acquire nuclear-powered submarine capability. It will also deepen our cooperation on advanced capabilities like cyber, AI and quantum. This will help protect trade routes and the widest ability of the Indo-Pacific.

Updated

Truss moves on to the cyber and technology partnership:

Secondly, we’re boosting our cooperation on technology. Technology has enabled incredible freedoms, but it is also being used to promote fear, and we can’t allow the technologies of the future to be exploited for malign ends. Global tech standards must be shaped by the free world, not by authoritarian regimes, and that is why yesterday Marise and I signed a new cyber and critical technology partnership focused on tackling malign actors.

Truss continues:

Today, we’ve agreed to work even more closely in our response together with our friends and allies around the world, focusing on three key areas - first of all, strengthening our economic security. We’re deepening economic ties to strengthen our supply chains and reduce strategic dependence.

Our new trade agreement will completely remove tariffs between our two nations and it will pave the way for the UK to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership, reinforcing that reliability of supply. We’re working together on joint infrastructure investment into the Pacific region.

Updated

We’re now hearing from UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss:

We have no better friends than Australia and it has been an incredibly productive day of talks. We are modernising our partnership for a new age. The reality is that threats are rising across the world. Russia is threatening Ukraine, amassing troops on the border. Iran is striving for a nuclear weapon and China is using its economic muscle against Australia and other allies like Lithuania.

What we have shown today is that we are completely united in our response. We’re standing shoulder to shoulder in defence of freedom and democracy, and we’re determined to face down these growing threats.

Updated

Payne:

I think it’s important to emphasise the inclusiveness of our approach. The UK and Australia have a vital relationship. We’re forming new structures of cooperation through arrangements such as AUKUS with the United States. All of these promote peace and contribute to the resilience of nations in the Indo-Pacific, but there is strong value in flexibility. The quad grouping between Australia, India, Japan and the United States for example aligns well with UK priorities in the Indo-Pacific.

Updated

Payne:

Secretary Truss and I share a strong appreciation for the importance of developing the infrastructure in the Pacific that is sustainable and climate-adapted, that drives economic growth and achieves genuine development goals.

Yesterday we signed an infrastructure investment MoU [memorandum of understanding] and a cyber and technology partnership, perfect examples of cementing that practical cooperation. We have today also discussed at length dangerous disinformation. And how we can work more closely together in countering the narratives of authoritarian actors who seek to undermine our efforts to promote openness and stability.

Updated

Payne:

We have agreed today that the way we meet such an array of challenges is by working more closely together. Even more closely together. As liberal democracies, we are natural partners in countering the influence of malign authoritarianism, in standing up for human rights, in maintaining the international rules-based order. Certainly our values accommodate working with different political systems, for all of whom, though, the sovereignty of their own country is fundamental, but they don’t allow for assertiveness or aggression by authoritarian states who would deny others that sovereignty or their own strategic choices.

That’s not something that can be tolerated by democracies looking to maintain an international system that is open and stable and prosperous, by standing clearly on our values, our interests and sovereignty, we can give confidence to others, which is a matter Australia considers to be very important and something we have discussed today. We’ve talked about how we achieve this practically. In particular we can support the resilience of those countries in fields in which they might be vulnerable to malign influence or coercion, areas such as cybersecurity and technical infrastructure, trade, economics and defence.

Payne is beginning with the usual kind of preamble – thanking lots of people etc. She also says:

It’s fitting that the first two plus two ministerial meeting in person in Australia since COVID began has been with such close and long-standing partners. It’s also been invaluable, coming at a time when we all face numerous strategic challenges. Whether that is the rising assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific, or whether it is Russian aggression on the Ukraine border.

At the same time, as governments, we are also managing the ongoing Covid pandemic. Here in the Pacific, we are responding to unforeseen disasters, such as the volcanic eruption and tsunami that has devastated Tonga, with whom Australia is supporting, in cooperation with others, including the United Kingdom. And I do want to take a moment here to acknowledge the Tongan Government’s efforts in the face of this catastrophic event and the devastation that it has caused.

Updated

Foreign Minister Marise Payne is speaking live now from Sydney on the AUKMIN (Australia-United Kingdom Ministerial Consultations) talks.

Updated

You can also get a free icecream if you get your booster at state run clinics in Victoria on the weekend. Pallas says the cost of this is “a drop in the ocean” of what the state has spent on pandemic measures to date and it’s important everyone keep cool while getting vaccinated on this forthcoming hot weekend.

The Victorian treasurer Tim Pallas and health officials are speaking at the moment in Melbourne, and they’ve just announced that they’ll give paid time off to public sector workers to get their third dose of the Covid vaccine:

Today we are also taking another important step to supporting our public sector workforce by providing paid time off for workers to be vaccinated with a third dose of the Covid vaccine. We are doing this because the health and safety of our public service and public sector employees and the whole community is vitally important to us.

We recognise that, as an employer, we have a duty of care to our public servants. They also have a responsibility to the community at large to make sure that they are not a source of infection in those interactions. That is why, as an employer, we are taking this vital step.

The change, in conjunction with the vaccination blitz at sites like this, makes getting your third dose earlier and easier than ever before. Our expanded policy will take effect immediately to help encourage and support Victorian workers to do the right thing, by themselves, by their family and their community and get the third vaccine as quickly as possible.

Updated

The state environmental approval for a controversial uranium project that received the green light from the federal government on the eve of the 2019 election has expired.

Canadian company Cameco planned to develop its Yeelirrie uranium mine 500km north of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia.

It was approved by the Barnett government in 2017 and received its federal environmental approval from the Morrison government the day before the 2019 federal election was called, despite the risk the project posed to 12 stygofauna, which are tiny groundwater species.

Under the conditions of its state approval, the company had five years to demonstrate the project had substantially commenced or its environmental authority would expire.

That deadline was reached on Thursday and a spokesperson for WA’s environment minister, Reece Whitby, has confirmed the project had not substantially commenced.

He said Cameco had applied for an extension of its approval and the government was waiting for advice from the department of water and environmental regulation.

The Conservation Council of Western Australia and the Australian Conservation Foundation welcomed news the Yeelirrie mine’s deadline had not been met.

Dave Sweeney of the ACF said it was “increasingly clear” there was no economic case for uranium mining in WA.

The organisations said rather than granting an extension, they hoped the government would choose to permanently protect the site.

Mia Pepper from the CCWA said:

After 50 years of tireless campaigning to protect Yeelirrie we are now looking forward to the introduction of lasting protections against uranium mining in WA.

It is not the first approval for a uranium mine that has lapsed in recent times.

Toro Energy’s approval for a proposed uranium mine at Wiluna in the northern Goldfields expired earlier this month and Whitby’s spokesman said the company had not sought an extension.

The approval for another Cameco project at Kintyre in the eastern Pilbara expired in March 2020 and an application for an extension was rejected.

The McGowan government was elected on a platform of opposing uranium mining but had said it would honour projects that were already under way.

Updated

Health experts warn delaying elective surgeries in Victoria, including gender affirmation procedures, will see blown-out waiting lists spiral into a “massive healthcare crisis”.

On 5 January, the Victorian government announced elective surgery – except for “emergency and urgent” procedures – would be temporarily suspended to ease pressure on public and private hospitals amid the Omicron wave.

The changes came into effect from 6 January across Melbourne and major regional cities for a three-month period to help hospitals manage record Covid-19 patients.

But on Thursday, IVF procedures were exempted from the restrictions following a social media backlash, with hospitals scaling up to resume procedures from 25 January.

But it’s not just IVF that falls under this banner – the current national definition for elective surgery is care that can be delayed for at least 24 hours – used to distinguish between emergency care which requires action within that timeframe.

The banner includes a wide range of procedures from cataract extractions and endometrial procedures to coronary artery bypass grafts, full hip and knee replacements and some cancer procedures.

Read more:

Updated

Happy Friday, all! Thanks Matilda Boseley for all your work. I’ll be with you for the rest of the afternoon, bringing you all the end-of-the-week madness as it comes to hand.

Updated

Okay all, that’s it for this week. The inimitable Stephanie Convery is taking over and will be with you for the rest of the afternoon.

See you all bright and early on Monday.

More than a year after a December 2020 deadline, 30% of major irrigators in the northern basin of NSW are yet to install accurate water meters and connect them to government monitoring via telecommunications networks.

But the Natural Resources Access Regulator chief executive, Grant Barnes, says he is heartened that 90% overall have now installed modern pumps, with the main problem being black spots that limit the final stage of connecting to the government network.

In 2017 Four Corners aired allegations of substantial water theft and meter tampering in the Barwon Darling region, prompting a major overhaul of NSW water rules.

Unlike Victorian irrigators, who had been using pumps that used telemetry to report real-time water use, many major NSW cotton farms were running outdated meters on pumps that were able to take large quantities of water.

But progress has been glacially slow in getting new meters installed in northern NSW.

Independent NSW MP Justin Field said it was time for the NSW water minister, Kevin Anderson, to take action against corporate irrigators who continued to flout NSW water metering rules.

It is unacceptable that after the Four Corners report into water theft and Icac findings of systemic failures in water management in NSW, we are still in a situation where over 30% of the biggest water users are still breaking the rules.

Barnes said that NRAR would soon start prosecuting non-compliant operators unless they had sought an exemption from the minister.

Updated

When the La Trobe University lecturer Dr Yves Rees was told their gender affirmation surgery would be cancelled, they were devastated. “It was impossible to contemplate,” they said.

Rees’ procedure was scheduled for November, during the Delta wave, and was later reinstated when elective surgery was reintroduced in Victoria. But at the time, Rees was told there would be an eight-month wait for the procedure.

“There can be a perception gender affirmation surgeries are a choice, something people would prefer to do rather than not,” they said.

“That’s not correct; the reality is these are very much medically necessary surgeries …this can be the difference between a life of constant gender dysphoria and acute stress and anxiety, and a life of feeling good.”

You can read the full report below:

Pauline Hanson calls for royal commission into Covid response

The One Nation leader, Pauline Hanson, has revealed her party will stand on a platform of demanding a royal commission into the Covid response, claiming that Australians have been “lied to” about the number of deaths from Covid.

Hanson confirmed that the Senate strike will continue when parliament resumes, telling Prayer and Pushback:

“[Liberal senators] Alex Antic and Gerard Rennick stood their ground against their party’s politics – they’re still continuing with that stance as I am and Malcolm Roberts – we’re not going to vote for government legislation until they deal with the states, the way they’re dealing with Covid and keeping families apart.”

Hanson said Novak Djokovic should have been let into Australia if he tested negative to Covid, labelling it a “weak excuse” to claim his presence would help spread anti-vax views.

To kick someone out because they don’t believe in the vaccine – it’s pathetic.

Earlier, Antic spoke about voting with One Nation against vaccine mandates:

The One Nation bill was similar to one Craig Kelly had put when he was a government member. It related to discrimination, to people having a choice. People should have a choice over their own medical autonomy ...We had to make a stand on this issue ...

It’s not easy – I don’t relish crossing the floor against my own party. Many shared the same view, there were five of us: me, Gerard Rennick, Matt Canavan, Sam McMahon and Concetta Fierravanti-Wells. It’s an important issue, a real line in the sand.

Updated

Queensland records 16,031 Covid cases and 13 deaths

Apologies, the Queensland premier said there were 6,031 new Covid-19 cases today in the state, but it seems she maybe have misspoken as Queensland health now says it is in fact 16,031.

Interestingly, this means that Queensland is now getting close to overtaking Victoria in terms of daily cases.

Updated

The Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, says she does not regret opening up the state’s borders despite the surge of Omicron cases now sweeping the state.

No, I don’t, because I said very clearly at the time that the federal government had all the information in relation to the Omicron variant, and they said it was safe to do so.

Updated

Queensland’s chief health officer, Dr John Gerrard, has gone through the details of the state’s Covid deaths.

Sadly today, we have 13 deaths to report, two people in their 60s, five in their 70s, five in their 80s, one person in their 90s.

Of those, two were unvaccinated, one received a single dose of vaccine, eight received two doses and one had received a booster, and we don’t have a confirmation on one of those patients.

Our thoughts are very much with their families today. We have a total of 855 people in hospital with Covid-19, that’s up by a small amount from yesterday from 850.

That includes 54 patients in hospital intensive care units, 22 of whom were are ventilated. That’s a bit up from 48 yesterday.

Updated

Palaszczuk has spoken a bit more about her plans to bring rapid antigen test manufacturing to Australia after she raised the idea at national cabinet yesterday.

She says the federal government is happy to help the state fast track this process to get a manufacturer approved by the TGA.

I want to talk briefly about rapid antigen tests ... We’ve got 2 million that are coming over the next couple of weeks, and these are going out, of course, to our health services and our health testing centres for the public and for our staff.

We’ve also got a new distribution centre ... which is under construction and [there are a] couple of companies that we hope to get approval soon so we can do local manufacturing right here in Queensland.

At national cabinet yesterday, I raised this issue, and can I thank the prime minister, he said that the TGA will work closely with the state government to iron out any issues that those companies may have to facilitate their accreditation as quickly as possible and to go through the normal processes.

... If there’s any issues that either party needs [resolved] then we will fast-track those issues and work with the federal government to really accelerate the approvals of those companies and I thank them for that.

Updated

OK, we will be hearing from the Victorian leaders at 1pm AEDT today.

Updated

One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts, is speaking at the Prayer and Pushback online conference – which is a jamboree of anti-lockdown anti-vaccination sentiment.
Roberts said:

Pauline Hanson and I will continue to oppose government legislation the moment parliament resumes in February – we will continue until we get our freedoms back ... We will be opposing every piece of government legislation until the government wakes up to itself.


In November One Nation did side with the government in some procedural votes, but its refusal to vote for government legislation until the Coalition overturns state-based vaccine mandates has been a major headache.

Roberts accused Scott Morrison of a “lie” for saying there are “no injection mandates” in Australia. He urged voters to put the major parties last: the Greens last, Labor second last and the Coalition third last. That means, despite all the bluster, One Nation voters would be helping to re-elect the Morrison government if they followed this suggestion.

Roberts claimed that Covid-19 vaccines are “plummeting in effectiveness” and “can kill [people] and is killing them”. In fact, after 43m doses given since the start of the rollout the TGA has found that just 11 deaths were linked to the vaccine.
The TGA said:

Vaccination against Covid-19 is the most effective way to reduce deaths and severe illness from infection. The protective benefits of vaccination continue to far outweigh the potential risks.

Roberts made an unsubstantiated claim that the government’s digital identity legislation was drawn in part from “World Economic Forum documents ... under UN direction”.

Updated

Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has also confirmed that Queensland will reduce the time period between people’s second and third vaccine shots to three months.

This will come into effect from Monday 24 January.

Updated

Australia records its deadliest day of the pandemic with 80 deaths, 13 from QLD

Queensland has recorded another 13 Covid deaths, taking the national death toll on Friday to 80, beating the grim record of 77 set on Tuesday.

Queensland has also recorded an additional 16,031 cases in the latest reporting period, a significant dip from the rest of the week’s infection numbers.

Updated

National Covid summary

Australia has again recorded its deadliest day of the pandemic with 88 deaths on Friday. Here is a summary of the daily numbers so far:

NSW
Deaths – 46
Cases – 25,168
Hospitalisations – 2,743 (209 in ICU)

Victoria
Deaths – 20
Cases – 18,167
Hospitalisations – 1,096 (121 in ICU)

Queensland
Deaths – 13
Cases – 16,031
Hospitalisations – 855 (54 in ICU)

Tasmania
Deaths – 1
Cases – 866
Hospitalisations – 31 (three in ICU)

South Australia
Deaths – 6
Cases – 3,023
Hospitalisations – 298 (33 in ICU)

ACT
Deaths – 2
Cases – 826
Hospitalisations – 62 (2 in ICU)

Northern Territory
Deaths – 0
Cases – 432
Hospitalisations – 62 (2 in ICU)

Western Australia
Deaths – 0
Cases – 10
Hospitalisations – 0

Updated

We should be hearing from the Queensland premier and health minister soon when they step up and confirm the state’s death toll and case numbers.

Australia has already recorded 67 Covid-19 deaths today. Tuesday was our deadliest ever day so far, with 77 deaths overall.

Updated

I’ve been speaking with holders of bridging visas who are still effectively barred from entering the country, trapping people in, and out of, Australia.

Bridging visa holders have watched as the federal government announced eased travel restrictions for the vast majority of other temporary visa holders, including this week when the government called for working holidaymakers and students to come to Australia to fill the workforce shortage.

Many of those on bridging visas are skilled migrants and graduates waiting on permanent residency or a decision on their more substantive visa. Processing times for making those decisions have blown out massively.

That has left many, including skilled migrants waiting for permanent residency, in despair. Unable to see their families for years and with no end in sight, many are considering leaving Australia permanently.

Muhammad, who was raised in the United Arab Emirates, was invited to Australia on the promise of a regional work visa as an engineer in the construction sector.

He has not seen his family for three-and-a-half years, and was meant to get married abroad this year, but has been separated from his fiancee by the border restrictions.

The very first reason why my parents moved to Australia … is they were moving to a better place for their family. But it’s not a better place if you are not even getting your basic rights to see your family.

Emma Cochrane, originally from the United Kingdom, has been separated from her family for years. She is still trapped due to her bridging visa, and has applied for a travel exemption 14 times. Each application was denied.

We’re literally stuck in this limbo-land.

Updated

Man arrested following an explosion in Perth CBD

Police in WA are investigating what they suspect was a homemade explosive device that detonated in Newcastle St in Leederville, Perth yesterday, with one man taken into custody.

They were called to the vicinity of two restaurants on the busy inner-city street after the device exploded, causing shrapnel and debris to spray out around 10 meters in every direction.

WA police say no one was injured.

The item appeared to be a homemade, makeshift device that had been ignited. The remnants of the device were seized by police for forensic examination.

Later that night they got a call about someone allegedly in possession of a second, similar device.

About 10.20pm last night police were called to a location near the intersection of Wellington Street and King Street, Perth after a person reported they were in possession of a similar improvised explosive device.

They had [allegedly] taken the device from a vehicle belonging to a person known to them.

Police and emergency services cordoned off the area while the tactical response group’s bomb response unit attended and “rendered the item safe”.

The item was confirmed to be a homemade, makeshift device similar to the one detonated in Leederville earlier in the day.

As a result of investigations, Perth Detectives attended a residence in Lansing Street, Queens Park in the early hours of this morning and executed a search warrant with the assistance of the Tactical Response Group. A 29-year-old man was taken into custody without incident and is assisting detectives with the investigation.

Updated

The opposition leader, Anthony Albanese, has thrown his support behind Western Australian premier, Mark McGowan’s, decision to indefinitely enforce hardline border measures.

Albanese said while some may have been disappointed by the border decision, the WA premier made the right call, reports AAP.

I told [Mark McGowan on Thursday night] I respected and supported the decision ... People were keen to visit loved ones, but the first priority of Mark McGowan has been to keep WA safe. People in WA enjoy life almost as normal, certainly compared with NSW.

McGowan said the border delay would allow for more people to receive booster doses and for children to get fully vaccinated against Covid.

He initially said the state would reopen the border at 90% fully vaccinated. WA is now at 89%.

Albanese said the booster rollout would be critical to providing Covid protection.

Mark McGowan has done the right thing by WA which is keeping their health OK, which is a precondition for keeping their economy OK.

The border decision has meant neither the opposition leader nor the prime minister, Scott Morrison, has been able to get into WA for campaigning ahead of the federal election, due to be held by 21 May at the latest.

Updated

The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras have been forced to cancel their 2022 “Party” event as Covid cases surge in NSW.

The Party is one of the central events of the LGBTQ+ festival, when 10,000 or more people gather at the Hordern Pavilion to dance to live music and DJ sets.

Luckily, the parade and other events in the festival are going ahead, however.

Here is what the festival organisers had to say in a statement this morning:

This phase of the pandemic remains volatile, and the health and safety of our community will always remain our top priority. The nature of this event being mostly indoors with dancing, plus with an attendance of more than 10,000 people means it is high risk for Covid transmission.

Although March 5th is still several weeks away, due to Party’s large scale, sadly we have had to make the very tough call now, not only for the sustainability of the event in future years but also for the organisation, and so that artists and partygoers can make alternate plans.

There will be other opportunities for us to come together this Mardi Gras Festival. We have approved Covid-Safe plans and procedures in place to ensure other key events, including community favourites Fair Day and Parade, can still go ahead as planned. Most of our events are outdoor and/or seated, meaning they fit under the Health Order and are deemed lower risk.

Updated

Tasmania record 866 new cases of Covid-19 and one death

Okay, let’s jump back to Tasmania where the premier, Peter Gutwein, is speaking after the state recorded its first Covid-19 death in nearly two years.

This brings the state’s total death toll since the start of the pandemic to 14.

[There are] 31 people in hospital with Covid. Of these 31 patients, 13 of these people in hospital with Covid are been treated specifically for Covid. Of these 13 patients being treated for Covid, three are being cared for in the ICU with two of these people being ventilated.

Gutwein says the death of the 90-year-old woman, who passed away with Covid-19 on 17 January, is being investigated by a coroner to establish how much of an impact the infection had.

Today, however, sadly, I do need to speak about our first death associated with Covid since 2020. The person deceased is a 90-year-old woman who was a resident at [a] nursing home in Newtown, Hobart. And our thoughts are with her family and friends at this difficult time.

I understand that she had a range of medical issues, she was diagnosed as part of the initial testing that took place across that facility which was undertaken on Wednesday this week, following an outbreak of Covid which was first identified with the facility on Monday, 17 January.

Her death was not recorded on the death certificate as being directly from Covid ... In the 24 hours prior, although asymptomatic, she tested positive for Covid and therefore Covid cannot be ruled out as a contributing factor to this death. In the interest of transparency, we are reporting it.

Updated

NSW Health deputy secretary, Susan Pearce, has taken a bit of a hose to hopes that elective surgeries will restart in the state in the middle of February, telling reporters it will very much be a wait-and-see situation.

Obviously, it is highly dependent on ... hospitalisations, so the next week or two will be critical in terms of making a decision. Clearly, as I said at the time, it is never the thing we want to do, to suspend surgery and make people wait.

We have demonstrated before, after we’ve come through these waves, that we get back into it and do the best we can to catch up as fast as we can ...

I will make the point that for urgent surgery, and during the Delta wave, 100% of surgery was complete on time and we continue to operate on people each and every day, and the thing we’ve kept going is day surgery procedures.

There is a balance there, but we will absolutely be turning surgery back on as soon as we possibly can ... we can’t make a call on that yet.

Updated

Perrottet says NSW views rapid antigen tests as playing a “short term role” in the return to school process, rather than becoming a staple of the education system during Omicron.

We have made very clear that we expect rapid antigen tests to play a role, and I understand health’s view in relation to that, but you are balancing a number of things here: the educational outcome and the health outcome, and we want to provide confidence to parents and two teachers.

We are working closely with the teacher’s federation to provide comfort to teachers, and we want to provide comfort to parents – and as a parent I know that many mums and dads across our state are anxious about the return to school and therefore we want to provide as much confidence as possible.

We don’t see rapid antigen tests playing a long-term role, we see them playing a short-term role in instilling confidence in our parents and in our teachers to get kids back in the classroom on day one.

Updated

Okay, no return to school plan for NSW to be announced today, Perrottet says.

He says the announcement will be made in the coming days (which is starting to cut it quite close to the start of the school year!).

Well, this is ... interesting. Perrottet now seems to argue that NSW actually had tighter Covid-19 restrictions than other states, including Victoria.

We actually had higher restrictions in place than Victoria. For one week we moved from highly recommending masks to mandating masks, and the majority of people, right across the state, followed that recommendation, just like they are following the recommendation today to minimise household gatherings, and to have most of the activities that you undergo outside rather than inside.

That’s the efforts that people have made, the social distancing, continuing to hand sanitise, those types of efforts have been the ones that have got us through.

New South Wales actually led the other states when it’s come to imposing certain restrictions. We were the ones that put in [the] two square metres [rule] first, Victoria followed. We were the ones that – even though it was an unpopular decision – to stop singing and dancing. Victoria then followed. There are no dancing limits in Queensland.

The approach that we have taken is in line with the national plan to open up once we have a fully vaccinated population and that is exactly what we have done.

Updated

Perrottet has been asked if he has any regrets about his handling of the pandemic, given today’s record-high death toll:

I think if you look right here across the country, we have all taken this approach and there are different approaches obviously, [such as] in Western Australia, but we have taken the approach that ... we learn to live alongside the virus and the challenges will come our way.

Ultimately the key is being vaccinated and being boosted. We have to live in the world as it is, not as we want it to be, and that creates difficulties in a global pandemic, but over the last two years our people have stood strong.

The alternative is lockdown and that is not the right approach. It is not the right approach at all for where we sit currently in this pandemic.

That doesn’t mean it is an easy road. It is a hard road, a difficult and challenging one. But it is the right road as we move through this next phase.

Updated

Chant has given additional information about the types of underlying health conditions that several of those who died from Covid-19 had.

We’ve looked at the underlying health conditions of those 28 [people under 65 who died between 15 and 21 January] and I would like to say that many had multiple health conditions.

Four of the 28 did not have significant underlying health conditions and three of those were unvaccinated and one had had two doses, so again confirming very much the importance of vaccination.

But of the 24 that had underlying health conditions, 10 had significant heart or valvular disease, six had obesity, six had chronic lung disease, seven had diabetes, six had significant kidney disease, two had significant rheumatological diseases, three had other autoimmune diseases, four had severe liver disease, four had cancer, five were significantly immunocompromised.

One had a significant mental health illness. Four had chronic neurological disorders and one was on a palliative care pathway pre-Covid diagnosis.

So my key message is this data and all available scientific evidence that I have seen – and new data emerges every day – confirms the critical importance of a booster dose and getting that booster quickly and promptly to afford the maximum protection against the Omicron.

Updated

Chant:

So if we now go to the 46 people who we are reporting have died in this 24-hour reporting period, or as I said, those coronial investigations where the deaths related to the period 29 December through 13 January.

There was one person aged in their 30s, one was in their 40s, four were in their 50s, eight people were in their 60s, 12 people were in their 70s and 13 people were in their 80s and seven people were in their 90s.

One person had received three doses of the Covid vaccine. Twenty-nine had received two doses ... two people had received one dose and 14 were not vaccinated.

And of the seven people who died under the age of 65, all were men. Two had received two doses of the Covid vaccine and five men were not vaccinated including the men in their 30s and 40s. And both of the men who were vaccinated had significant underlying health conditions and three of the five men who were not vaccinated also had significant underlying health conditions.

Updated

Infant dies while infected with Covid-19 in NSW

Chant has confirmed that an infant in the Hunter-New England area has died while infected with Covid-19. A coronial inquest is now underway to establish if Covid contributed to the child’s death.

You will have noted in the media today that the media has reported on the death of an infant in Hunter New England. Can I also take a moment to express my condolences to that family for their loss.

... That infant had Covid, and the cause of death has been referred to the coroner.

I have spoken with the family and the family are very keen for their privacy to be protected. You can imagine that this is one of the most difficult times a family could ever go through, and they just ask the media to respect the privacy of this family.

The coroner and the forensic pathologist that has supported the coroner are working very hard to get the answers that most importantly, the family wants... in terms of this child and the contribution that Covid may or may not have made to its death.

Clearly, there is strong public interest in this and we are very committed to sharing, to making known the outcome of the coronial [inquest], but can I just be clear, our priority will be that the process will be that the coroner will inform the family, the family will have the time to talk to the clinicians about the implications of the findings and then we will release it publicly.

Updated

Chant says deaths will continue to rise, despite cases potentially having already peaked in NSW.

There is a significant lag between cases being identified to when we see them get hospitalised, and then also flow through tragically, a small number, into deaths. That is the cycle and therefore in this outbreak as in previous outbreaks, we expect to see a lag of two or three weeks.

So unfortunately, the death numbers will likely remain high, but my message is that we can turn that around by boosting, and getting that booster in with a real sense of urgency.

Updated

Chant has confirmed that seven of NSW’s 46 deaths recorded today are historical cases that have been added to the death toll following a coronial investigation.

The NSW chief health officer, Dr Kerry Chant, says there are multiple signs that the spread of Covid-19 is slowing in the NSW community.

It is pleasing to see that a variety of indicators demonstrate that the spread of Covid is slowing in the community. One single indicator doesn’t tell the whole. We look at the hospitalisations, the, staff furloughing, staff absenteeism. Data from industry, our testing data, our case positivity.

That all gives us a sense that the spread of Covid is slowing and it is pleasing to see, and we want to thank the community and acknowledge the actions of everyone in contributing to that.

Updated

Okay, jumping back to NSW and Perrottet is urging people to get their booster vaccine doses.

I note the change we made very recently ... of moving the interval between your second dose vaccination and your booster shot vaccination from four months to three months. That has ensured that many people across New South Wales are now eligible for their booster shot.

We have 40 centres right around New South Wales in addition to the GPs and pharmacists where you can get that booster shot.

Updated

Tasmania records first Covid death in nearly two years

I’ll get some more information on this for you soon, but we have just heard that Tasmania has recorded its first Covid-19 death since April 2020.

The woman was a 90-year-old aged care resident from Hobart who was not vaccinated. There has been an outbreak at her facility with 18 residents and five staff infected.

Updated

The NSW premier, Dominic Perrottet, is speaking now, as the state records its deadliest ever day of the pandemic.

Sadly today, we are reporting the deaths of 46 people in New South Wales who have died with Covid.

On behalf of people right across New South Wales, can I extend our deepest condolences to all the families, and our thoughts and prayers and hearts are with you at this difficult time.

Updated

I’m obsessed with the mystery of this notice going around Twitter this morning. Do you ever see a sign that raises so many more questions than it answers?

Today is NSW’s deadliest day of the pandemic so far, and, as such, we will be hearing from the leaders of the state at 10am.

Naval ship departs for Tonga relief effort

An Australian naval ship loaded with critical humanitarian supplies has departed for Tonga as part of disaster relief efforts in the Pacific island nation following the devastating tsunami, reports AAP.

HMAS Adelaide left Brisbane just after midnight on Friday, and will take five days to reach Tonga.

It has been loaded with humanitarian and disaster relief supplies, along with critical equipment to help with recovery efforts, including three Chinook helicopters.

The HMAS Adelaide will serve as a base for relief work in Tonga in the wake of the underwater volcanic eruption and following tsunami.

The defence minister, Peter Dutton, said Australia would be sending more planes to help with recovery efforts.

“We are working closely with the Tongan government to understand their needs,” he told the Seven network on Friday.

They need support on the ground to help them rebuild as quickly as possible, in particular their communication system which has been done. That is a real problem.

An Australian C-17 plane landed in Tonga on Thursday afternoon with shelters, hygiene kits, along with water containers.

Air supplies had been delayed in getting into the country due to large amounts of volcanic ash being on the runway.

A New Zealand plane also landed in the country on Thursday.

The foreign minister, Marise Payne, said she spoke to her Tongan counterpart and indicated further financial aid would be on its way.

Australia had initially offered $1m in aid in the wake of the tsunami, but Payne said it was likely to increase.

“There was $1m for emergency supplies in the immediate aftermath, and there are further commitments to be made,” she told ABC radio.

It’s very difficult to estimate (the future cost) before those assessments are made by engineers and by the Tongan government itself in terms of what is needed.

Payne said Australia would be standing with Tonga and providing as much support as needed.

Updated

Armadas of alien-like sea creatures have been washing up on Australian beaches thanks to the warm weather but experts warn people should look but not touch.

Jellyfish expert Dr Lisa-ann Gershwin said bluebottles had been washing up on beaches across New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania in “gobsmacking numbers” over the last few months thanks to the warmer weather.

“They’re having a really fun time this year and they’re definitely terrorising us this year,” Gershwin said. “They’re really strange alien creatures. There’s no two ways about it.

“It doesn’t have any equal to people, or animals, or corals, or things we understand intuitively. It’s just their own brand of weirdness in such a cool way.”

You can read the full report below:

We shall be hearing from the Tasmanian premier at 10am (AEDT).

Victoria records 20 Covid deaths and 18,167 new cases

Victoria’s numbers are out and the state has recorded a significant drop in hospitalisation, from 1,206 to 1,096, with ICU cases also going down from 122 to 121.

Sadly 20 Covid positive people died in Victoria in the last 24 hours and 18,167 new infections were recorded.

Updated

NSW has once again recorded a small drop in hospitalisations, with 2,743 today compared to 2,781 yesterday.

Unfortunately, it’s possible that the deaths recorded this morning account for some of that drop.

Updated

NSW records 46 Covid deaths and 25,168 new cases on deadliest pandemic day

NSW has recorded its deadliest day of the Covid-19 with 46 people sadly dying in the latest reporting period.

The state also recorded 25,168 new coronavirus infections.

Updated

By the way, we are just standing by now for the NSW and Victorian Covid-19 numbers to come through at 9am.

Climate change could soon force baby sharks out of their shallow coastal nurseries in what could prove to be a profound threat to the apex predators, reports AAP.

Scientists who have been studying such nurseries in French Polynesia have suggested baby sharks are right at the edge of what they can tolerate.

Mangroves and other protected habitats baby sharks rely on to grow and learn to hunt have always been extreme places, says James Cook University marine biologist Jodie Rummer.

Because they are shallow, baby sharks have always had to cope with the strain of high temperatures.

But with climate change driving up sea temperatures and fuelling heatwaves that are more frequent, severe and longer lasting, Dr Rummer says things are about to get worse.

“Adaptation - changes in DNA over generations to accommodate new conditions - may not be possible,” she says.

This is because sharks are slow to reach sexual maturity compared to most other fishes and do not reproduce as often or have as many babies.

Therefore, not enough generations can go by fast enough to keep pace with the rate at which we humans are changing their habitats.

Rummer says studies of nurseries in French Polynesia since 2013 indicate baby sharks are getting by, for now, but could ultimately face an adapt, move or die scenario.

“They are able to cope with the conditions they are experiencing right now, but they are very much at their limits.”

baby shark
Scientists have suggested baby sharks are right at the edge of what they can tolerate. Photograph: Patrice Lapoirie/EPA

It’s possible newborns might move to cooler nursery-like areas but it’s also possible that some shark populations would disappear.

“This is a real risk. We know sharks are tolerating a lot already. The oceans, their habitats, are getting warmer, lower in oxygen, and lower in pH with climate change” Dr Rummer says.

She says limiting other threats, such as habitat loss, will be crucial in the face of climate change. But like so many other species, the real answer is dumping fossil fuels as quickly as possible.

Even if we try to protect habitat, yep the water is still warming. Even if we protect the sharks from fishing, yep the water is still warming.

“Even if we watch the agricultural runoff, and make sure the chemicals aren’t going into the water, yep the water is still warming.

We can keep putting those bandaids on, but at the end of the day we have to do the surgery and reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and move towards 100 per cent renewables.

Updated

The Omicron outbreak of Covid cases appears to have peaked in New South Wales, Victoria and other parts of Australia, epidemiologists believe.

Prof Adrian Esterman, an epidemiologist and biostatistician at the University of South Australia, said the Omicron wave had “absolutely certainly” peaked in NSW and Victoria.

The Reff – the effective reproduction number, which measures how many other people someone with Covid will infect, on average – had dropped below 1 in both states, Esterman said.

“We know that the peak has been reached when the Reff gets below 1.”

On Thursday, Esterman calculated the Reff to be 0.83 in NSW and 0.8 in Victoria.

You can read the full report from Donna Lu and Nick Evershed below:

The West Australian paper certainly isn’t mincing words with their views on the indefinite border closure this morning.

AFP begins investigations into RAT price gouging

The Australian federal police have launched an investigation into price gouging rapid antigen tests, warning people that re-selling them for “more than 20 per cent of the original retail purchase price” is a crime punishable with up to five years in prison.

Here is what they had to say:

Two investigations have begun in Queensland and NSW after referrals from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

More referrals are expected and will be coordinated under the AFP’s Taskforce LOTUS, which was established in 2021 as a targeted and scalable response to potential criminal threats to the COVID-19 vaccine rollout.

Taskforce LOTUS will refer allegations of RAT price gouging to Australia-wide AFP strike teams, which have access to the AFP’s world-leading technical and forensic capabilities.

The strike teams have the powers to force individuals or businesses engaged in price gouging to surrender the RATs, which will be sent to the National Medical Stockpile.

To date, the AFP has not seized or surrendered any RATs, PPE or other relevant medical supplies to the National Medical Stockpile.

You can read their full statement below:

Updated

Former coalition treasurer Joe Hockey has slammed as “absurd” the Morrison government’s failure to take up an offer by Brisbane-based company Ellume to supply rapid antigen tests.

Hockey told 2GB’s Ben Fordham this morning:

It’s very frustrating for Australia because Ellume are now are exporting 100,000 tests every day to the United States because the US government backed them and the Australian government didn’t.

Hockey, who was appointed Australia’s ambassador to the US and has lately become a business consultant, said Ellume first approached him in August 2020 saying they had a rapid test for the flu that could send results to the digital cloud within 15 minutes.

He said they should test for Covid, knowing that, for instance, the US navy wouldn’t send a ship to sea if there was a case on board and so there would be demand for such a quick resulting test.

“The US government gave emergency approval to Ellume ... and then backed it up with more than $US260m (A$360m),” Hockey said, with a plant built in the US state of Maryland producing 500,000 tests a day.

“I felt it was absurd. It was the Department of Industry, not the Department of Health or TGA, but the Department of Industry that wasn’t prepared to back Ellume at that time but the United States government did.

“When you have an incredible technology in an emergency situation, you’ve got to do what is in the best interest of the country and that there was a process and the Department of Industry basically walked away.”

Former treasurer Joe Hockey.
Former treasurer Joe Hockey. Photograph: Daniel Munoz/Getty Images

It’s a little hard to keep up with which minister was responsible for industry in the past few years of turmoil in that portfolio, but in mid-2020 it looks like Karen Andrews held the reins. And where does that leave Australia?

Fundamentally, the supply chain relies almost entirely on China to Australia now, which is a risky issue if China suddenly decides that it needs to domesticate all of its testing because of an outbreak there.

Or perhaps some bright spark within the Morrison government thinks now is a good time to poke China because that might play out well in a “khaki election” (although it should be those naval camos of blue, white and grey). Better stockpile those RATs now, I suppose.

Updated

Energy minister Angus Taylor was primarily chatting on the radio this morning about hydrogen, specifically about how “clean” it is and Australia’s plans to export its first shipment of liquefied hydrogen to Japan.

It’s very significant and not just for Australia. It’s significant globally.

The beginning of a trade which will be crucial for the world in bringing down emissions ... We can create green energy in many different places in Australia, including the La Trobe Valley, but we can also use sequestration to produce ‘blue hydrogen’.

We’re not going to get ideological about it – we want clean hydrogen.

The debate can get very ideological. People like one sort of energy and dislike another sort.

Updated

Well, it seems “if not now, when” is a popular phrase among federal ministers this morning when it comes to WA, with Angus Taylor busting it out when speaking to ABC RN just a second ago.

Well, WA has done well to keep Australians safe and keep the economy moving... I can understand why Western Australians would be disappointed with the situation. I think it’s reasonable to ask, if not now, when?

I can understand the frustration of Western Australians on this but we’ll continue to support them to open up as the rest of the country is doing and to get ourselves back to where we need to be as quickly as possible.

Updated

'If not now, when?': Frydenberg on WA border remaining closed

Now the federal coalition government has gone slightly harder in criticising WA’s decision to keep their borders closed indefinitely, although they are still somewhat reserved on the topic.

Here is treasurer Josh Frydenberg speaking to Sunrise on the topic:

This is a decision that the Western Australian government themselves have taken and one for them to explain. But obviously many people in Western Australia would be disappointed with the decision. And they will be asking if not now, when?

It’s not a federal-state issue, this one. It’s a decision of the Western Australia government and the Western Australia people have been fantastic through this whole pandemic and the Morrison government has provided them with an unprecedented amount of economic support. It’s really pleasing to see the double-dose vaccination rate now in WA approach 90% but as you know we are in a new phase of the virus.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says many people in WA would be ‘disappointed’ the border reopening has been delayed.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says many people in WA would be ‘disappointed’ the border reopening has been delayed. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Updated

Hundreds of childcare centres closed across Australia amid Covid

Hundreds of Australia’s early education centres are closed as the Omicron variant of Covid-19 washes over the country, and there are calls for more financial support for the struggling sector, AAP reports.

Some 286 centres were on Thursday closed temporarily due to a health emergency, according to data published by the Australian Children’s Education & Care Quality Authority.

Those numbers were even higher a week ago. On Thursday last week, 295 centres were temporarily closed in NSW, with 93 closed in Victoria and 51 in South Australia.

Lisa Bryant, a consultant in the early education and care sector, told AAP that Covid-19 is “ripping through” childcare centres.

She says the sector feels overlooked and needs more financial support to survive.

While centres that close due to Covid-19 are allowed to waive families’ gap fees and continue to receive the government subsidy, “that isn’t enough money to keep those services operating,” Ms Bryant says.

New government data reveals more than 100 centres closed their doors permanently over four months during the Delta wave in 2021.

Between July 1 and November 1 2021, 104 centres closed permanently, the senate estimates data reveals. That’s almost one per day.

Some 1,405 centres closed temporarily due to Covid-19 in that time, on average for nine days.

Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi says the data shows the need for more financial support.

I’m really worried that without adequate support for early learning during the Omicron wave, more centres will close their doors permanently, just as they did during Delta.

Time and again, the government has been too slow to support early childhood education and care.

Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi has called for more federal support for childcare centres.
Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi has called for more federal support for childcare centres. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/EPA

Under new rules agreed by national cabinet last week, educators who are close contacts can now continue to go to work as long as they’re asymptomatic.

A spokesperson for the federal education department said the change was enabling more services to stay open.

But Bryant says it’s putting people at risk, with workers’ fears heightened because small children aren’t eligible for vaccination.

Prime minister Scott Morrison on Thursday announced that the federal government would split the costs of rapid tests with states and territories that decide to do surveillance testing in early learning centres, though it’s not clear which jurisdictions those are.



Updated

Chalmers is dedicated to somehow finding a way to make the WA situation Scott Morrison’s fault.

Presenter:

The AMA have been scathing in their immediate assessment, saying this is not necessarily the right move and also in an economic sense businesses and the tourism sector are upset by it. If you were Mark McGowan, would you have made the same move?

Chalmers:

We haven’t been second-guessing premiers of either political persuasion if they have taken difficult decisions based on health advice.

I want to pick up something you said about the economy. In the last few weeks, we have seen there are economic consequences to opening up before the federal government’s done its job on things like rapid testing and boosters.

We shouldn’t assume that opening up is necessarily on its own good for the economy, versus the alternative. We have seen, with our empty supermarket shelves, we have seen with the Hunger Games* in the pharmacies, we have seen people unable to get back to work safely because of this rapid testing debacle.

We all want the economy to recover. We all want Australia to open up when it is responsible to do that. In order for that to happen, we need the prime minister to do his job for once because we have seen the economic carnage when he fails to take responsibility.

*What is it with politicians not understanding what the Hunger Games is! Has no one in all of Australian politics actually read this book?

Updated

Now, the WA premier’s decision not to open the border has no doubt put federal Labor in a bit of an awkward position, so let’s see how the shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers handled being asked about the decision on ABC News Breakfast.

This is a big decision, a difficult decision that premier McGowan has had to take. Clearly, he has looked east and seen what are the costs and consequences to the economy and to communities when the virus is running rampant, without the prime minister having done his job on rapid tests and boosters and all the rest of it.

That is what played out here. What we have tried to do throughout this pandemic is, when premiers of either political persuasion have taken difficult decisions, based on health advice, is to not second guess that advice.

The most important thing we need to see is for Scott Morrison to fix the mess that he’s made of rapid testing and boosters, to take responsibility for that failure, so the whole country can open up safely when it is responsible to do that.

Updated

Good morning

Good morning everyone and welcome to Friday (finally!). It’s Matilda Boseley here with you again this morning and of course, we are going to kick off the day talking about Western Australia.

WA premier Mark McGowan has abandoned his state’s reopening date of 5 February, claiming it would be “reckless and irresponsible” to bring down the borders then given the surge in Omicron Covid-19 cases across the country.

The premier originally stated that borders would reopen once the state’s double-dose vaccination rate reached 90%. It is currently at 89%.

McGowan stated that there would be an increased “focus on both safety and compassion” when it comes to border exemptions after 5 February.

Unfortunately, the world changed in December, Omicron arrived.

It would be irresponsible and reckless for the state government to ignore the facts and ignore the reality of the situation playing out on the east coast.

Allowing hundreds or thousands of Omicron-infected people to fly straight into Perth from 5 February with no testing, no quarantine and no public health measures would cause a flood of Covid across our state. It would cause a surge in cases, a surge in hospitalisations, and result in thousands of people not being able to work or go to school. We know that bad health outcomes lead to economic pain.

The premier did not give a new reopening date, instead suggesting that the state’s health authorities would watch the eastern states closely over the next few weeks, waiting to see how their respective peaks play out.

There will no doubt be plenty of updates on this – and other things, such states announcing their return to school plans – this morning, and I will bring you all the updates here on the blog.

So let’s jump into the day!

Updated

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