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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Caitlin Cassidy and Natasha May (earlier)

More than 700 aged care Covid outbreaks – as it happened

Australia United States Sydney Anthony Albanese Pacific Islands Forum
Rapid Covid tests advertised
A pharmacy in Adelaide advertising the availability of rapid antigen tests to detect Covid. The federal government is urging people to work from home amid rising infections as 57 coronavirus deaths were reported on Wednesday. Photograph: Amer Ghazzal/Rex/Shutterstock

What we learned: Wednesday 13 July

With that, we will wrap up the blog for the evening. If you’re a rugby league fan, enjoy your evening. If you’re not, I don’t blame you.

Here were today’s major developments:

  • The prime minister has spent today in Suva at the Pacific Islands Forum. He called a face-to-face meeting with Solomon Islands leader Manasseh Sogavare in which the two embraced “positive”, in a step forward for bilateral relations between the nations.
  • Health minister Mark Butler has warned “millions” of Australians will be infected with Covid in coming weeks, urging for a take-up in boosters as the government winds down other Covid supports. Concession card holders have been recommended to “stock up” on RATs before the government subsidy is halted.
  • It comes as Paul Sadler, the interim chief executive of the Aged and Community Care Providers Association, told the ABC that there are 737 Covid-19 outbreaks in aged care facilities across the country. There were 57 deaths from Covid-19 today.
  • In other virus news, there are fears the highly contagious foot-and-mouth disease could infiltrate Australia and decimate the $80bn cattle industry unless all travellers returning from Indonesia undergo stringent screening.
  • And new data has estimated that Australia’s national gender pay gap sits at $51.8bn per year – that is a gap of almost $966m per week.

Updated

New maritime centre to host Fiji navy headquarters and play role in ‘protecting fisheries’, Albanese announces

The prime minister has announced he and his Fijian counterpart Frank Bainimarama have launched construction of a new Maritime Essential Services Centre, which will host the Fiji navy’s headquarters and will “play a key role in protecting fisheries and improving responses to natural disasters”.

Albanese:

Australia and Fiji are great friends and fellow members of our Pacific family. I look forward to working together to deepen our bonds.

Updated

‘Millions’ of Australians will be infected with Covid in coming weeks, health minister says

The Australian health minister, Mark Butler, has warned “millions” of people will be infected by Covid in coming weeks, urging Australians to take boosters even as the government winds down other Covid supports:

We have 250,000 to 300,000 people today who are infected on official data. The real number’s probably twice that, or maybe even more, according to what we understand about this variant.

Read Paul Karp’s story here:

Updated

Foreign affairs minister Penny Wong has praised the heritage of our First Nations community on show at this year’s Pacific Islands Forum.

Our foreign policy should express the full measure of who we are.

Updated

Albanese said that during their meeting, which lasted about 15 minutes and was one of four bilateral meetings held by Australia on Wednesday afternoon, the leaders had discussed “our common interests that we have of climate change, dealing with the challenge but also regional security issues and other issues that we’ve been able to discuss.”

Read the full story from Pacific editor Kate Lyons here:

Albanese says meeting with Solomon Islands PM 'positive'

The prime minister has called his face-to-face meeting with Manasseh Sogavare a “positive” one in a step forward for bilateral relations following the Solomon Islands controversial deal with China.

Updated

The treasurer reminding rugby fans he is a Greensland – sorry, Queensland supporter.

Updated

Fire weather warning for parts of the Northern Territory

The Bureau says dry and windy conditions are expected across parts of Darwin and Adelaide River tomorrow due to a surge in southeasterly winds for a period in the morning.

A severe fire danger is forecast.

Updated

Labor v Nationals on the Pacific

Labor frontbencher Tim Ayres and Nationals MP Darren Chester, who is standing by a body of water in Lakes Entrance looking very cold, are up on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing.

Chester vehemently rejects Ayers’s suggestion the previous government dropped the ball in relation to “our Pacific Island friends”.

I am really quite uncomfortable with this commentary that seems to be taking hold in Australia of ... talking us down amongst our neighbours when foreign affairs should really be above domestic politics, it should be able what we can do with our near neighbours to support them in our development goals.

Greg Jennett points out Labor is being received more warmly because of their stronger climate ambitions.

Yes, there have been bonds of friendship in the past but there appeared to be some resentment around that [the previous government’s climate target].

Chester says the bonds are deeper than a mere friendship:

Greg, Greg, Greg, to suggest this is about simply bonds of friendship is to really underplay what has been one of the deepest, most ongoing relationships between Australia and any foreign countries. When you think about Australia providing in the order of 60% of the overseas development assistance to Pacific Island nations we have been doing our share of the heavy lifting to support our Pacific Island friends and I simply reject the suggestion that we haven’t been.

Updated

Quad energy ministers’ meeting

Meanwhile, the minister for climate change and energy has been meeting with counterparts in Sydney. It will be interesting to see how he responds to Bandt’s comments.

Updated

Bandt: ‘Will we get everything we want? Maybe not’

Asked why the Greens would push the government over its 43% target when this was the mandate they brought to the election, Bandt reminds viewers Labor doesn’t hold a majority in the Senate.

They might have a mandate to get their legislation through the lower house but in the Senate we’re going to need to work together ... you saw Labor’s vote go backwards [in the election], the Greens’ vote go up, independents who want climate action go up ... people want more ambitious climate action than is on offer from Labor or Liberal.

Bandt also points to Pacific Island leaders pushing for greater climate action, including the ceasing of new coal and gas.

It’s one of the big concerns that we’ve got - the Labor government’s desire to open up new coal and gas projects. We don’t want to be in a situation where parliament passes a law on a Monday to cut pollution and on Tuesday Labor goes and opens up the Scarborough gas project or the Beetaloo gas basin that aren’t included in the government’s modelling or figures and that lifts Australia’s pollution.

We are willing to negotiate. We are willing to talk with the government. We understand that we are in the Senate, but we don’t have a majority in the Senate either. We are in balance of power in the Senate. And it’s going to require Labor and the Greens and the crossbenchers to work together to get things through. Will we get everything we want? Maybe not. Will the government get everything it wants? Maybe not. Will we end up with good legislation that puts us on the road to tackling the climate crisis? I think we can.

Updated

Bandt: ‘ultimatum approach seems to be emanating from government’

Bandt is asked if he’s had any “in-depth” conversation with the prime minister about how the Greens and Labor may fit together in this parliament.

He says the Greens have had “short discussions” with ministers including the PM since the election.

Certainly amongst some of the people we’ve spoken to, there is a desire for an understanding that, to get things done in this parliament - especially to get things through the Senate - the Greens are going to be needed.

And I welcome that. As we start to see the details of the government’s agenda - and they announce their priorities - I hope that, when parliament resumes, that we can choose cooperation rather than the ultimatum approach that seems to be emanating from the government at the moment. And if we do, I think this could be a really good parliament and we could get a lot done.

Updated

Adam Bandt: Labor has to ‘choose whether it wants cooperation or confrontation’

Greens leader Adam Bandt is appearing on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing following the issuing of a “really thunderous” statement today, calling on the government to choose “cooperation over confrontation” on climate change.

Bandt says it was “more than disappointing” to hear the prime minister issuing “ultimatums” about climate legislation yesterday that the Greens “have got to learn lessons from history” regarding implementing Labor’s 43% emissions reductions target.

We’re going to a parliament that is really rife with opportunity. I mean, this could be one of the great reforming parliaments of our time. We’ve got the old government turfed out and third voices - including the Greens - elected in record numbers. And I think there’s a real opportunity to take action on a lot of the issues that are affecting people in this country - issues like climate, issues like integrity.

I think at this point in the political cycle ... the government has to choose whether it wants cooperation or confrontation. And for our part, for the Greens’ part, we’re willing to work together with the government. And we’ve done that in the past and seen some really good results.

Although it might have a narrow majority in the House, it doesn’t have a majority in the Senate. We’re in an environment where less than one in three people voted for the government. In fact, Labor’s vote went backwards at the election. There is a strong desire from people across the country - for people including the government - to drop this kind of hairy-chested take-it-or-leave-it, ‘it’s my way or the highway’ approach and, instead, work across the aisle - especially on critical issues like climate.

Updated

Housing construction down – but not because of lower demand

Australia’s housing construction boom lost momentum in the March quarter as the Omicron outbreak spread, but there were still a record number of homes being built across the country, AAP reports.

Total dwelling unit commencements fell 6.5% to 49,017 in the March quarter, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported today, with commencements on private sector houses down 11.6% to 29,672.

Housing Industry Association economist Tom Devitt said the slowing in commencements wasn’t due to slowing demand.

Home building activity in the first quarter of 2022 was held back by staff shortages associated with the Omicron outbreak and the higher than usual uptake of holiday leave.

Overall there were a record high 240,065 dwellings under construction in March, up 2.9% from the record high set in December. Most of the increase comes from work on new detached houses, with 101,240 under construction in the first quarter.

The volume of detached work under construction is 80% higher than its pre-pandemic levels, driven, Devitt says, by the combination of the homebuilder grant and record low interest rates.

Updated

‘Worst possible time’ to end RAT subsidy, Greens senator says

The Greens have joined peak medical bodies in calling for the federal government to extend subsidies for concession-card holders to access free rapid antigen tests.

Senator Janet Rice said it was the “worst possible time” for the government to end the subsidy amid the rise in Covid cases and the cost of living crisis.

As much as we’d all like it to be, the pandemic isn’t over. The government must extend this scheme beyond July to keep people safe.

We are in a cost-of-living crisis. Everyday items like food and fuel cost more now, and people on Centrelink are already on payments well below the poverty line. How is someone trying to survive on $46 a day supposed to afford an $8 RAT test? It’s absurd.

Those that can access free RATs now are the same people who are at higher risk of contracting and spreading Covid. People on jobseeker are forced to attend interviews, job services provider appointments and other face-to-face activities, or risk having their payments cut off. Most people in minimum wage jobs and low-income casual workers don’t have the luxury to work from home.

Updated

NSW inquiry hears about crowded Sydney public school with 18 demountables

A south-west Sydney public school with 18 demountable classrooms has become too crowded to allow students to take lunch breaks together, AAP reports.

Parents have told a NSW parliamentary inquiry some carers arrive an hour early for school pick-up and many park long distances away from Gledswood Hills public school.

“At the moment we have 18 demountables on site ... and there’s not much room left for the kids to play,” Kate Laney, a parent from the school told the inquiry into the delivery and planning of education infrastructure:

They’ve also separated the break times ... because there is not enough room for the kids to play at the same time.

Parents arrive up to an hour before the bell rings to try and get a close parking spot, parent Hanna Braga said. Braga and Laney said poor road planning and construction works nearby meant B-double trucks often barrelled down the road, and many parents found it unsafe.

Planned construction works due to begin at nearby Gregory Hills public school was to open next year, however an update from the government last month said it was too early to say when it would be completed. A final design has not been delivered and a contractor is yet to be appointed.

Mark Green, a former deputy principal, told the inquiry the first stage lacked vital infrastructure including a school hall, open play area, and had a temporary basketball court as its only sport facility.

Labor’s education spokeswoman, Prue Car, said the government had fallen short on its 2021-22 budget promises for 113 school infrastructure projects, an underspend of $1.26 billion.

The education minister, Sarah Mitchell, dismissed the comments as “the latest chapter in Labor’s ongoing efforts to distract from the record school building program currently under way in NSW”.

The government was investing $17.7 bn to deliver new and upgraded schools, she said.

Updated

‘I need a hug’

Albanese and Sogavare hug it out in Suva. Nothing a nice, firm embrace won’t fix in international diplomacy.

Updated

Oh no ... looks like someone’s going to have to change!

Australian journalists try to question Solomon Islands PM

Manasseh Sogavare has been filmed by Australian journalists en route to his bilateral with prime minister Anthony Albanese in Suva, and was not too keen to stop for a chinwag.

Prior to Australia’s federal election, Sogavare said Solomon Islands was charting a course “as an independent sovereign nation” and should not be seen as “tucked away in the backyard of some countries” following backlash towards the nation’s controversial security agreement with China.

Updated

BCA’s Jennifer Westacott: move to clean energy ‘biggest skills transfer in history’

In the final panel of Sydney’s international Energy Forum, Jennifer Westacott AO of the Business Council of Australia says building a workforce for development and deployment of clean technology is going to be the “biggest skill transfer in the history of the world”.

This transition is about new jobs, more jobs, adaptation of existing jobs. We have to be unambiguously optimistic. The emphasis is ... not job destruction.

Westacott urges a “mindset change”.

We get bogged down by qualifications ... [but] what is a job? What is a skill? People have attributes, skills, capabilities that can be re-equipped ... We need to think about energy workers, not fossil fuel workers.

An estimated 30 million jobs are expected to be created in the energy transition, Westacott explains. “These jobs will be right across the supply chain,” and the focus is on “reprioritisation” and “overlapping skills”.

On Australia’s tertiary education system addressing skills shortages and reprioritisation, Westacott says:

We need to blow this system up. We’ve got to think about life long skills ... We’ve got to blend in vocation skills ... We need to change accreditation ... We have to start now. It takes five years to get an engineer trained. We don’t have five years. We need to remove friction. Because this is the biggest skill transfer in the history of the world.

Updated

The challenge of clean energy in shipping

Professor Lynn Loo, of the Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation, warns of the challenges that come with supporting clean energy in shipping transport and infrastructure.

We can’t talk about supply chains without talking about shipping.

With 90% of goods transported globally via shipping, Loo says “you can’t decarbonise without [shipping] decarbonising”.

“Shipping contributes about 3% to global carbon emissions,” with those emissions coming from burning fuel to propel ships forward, Loo explains.

Supporting clean energy in shipping is therefore a challenge, and means “thinking about liquified natural gas ... and about carbon capture,” Loo says.

Replacing burning fuel with the likes of hydrogen is difficult, because “hydrogenics requirements are very high”.

You need a third of the energy equivalent to the hydrogen you’re carrying to cool the hydrogen being carried itself ... And let’s not forget hydrogen [production] is a fossil fuel in itself.

Burning ammonia, though “substantially cheaper” to refrigerate, won’t be available until 2024, Loo says.

Updated

Meanwhile, at the Pacific Islands Forum ...

The prime minister appears to be colour-matching with his Samoan counterpart at the Pacific Islands Forum alongside foreign minister Penny Wong.

His emphasis today has been on listening, having “two ears, and one mouth” for a reason, as Katharine Murphy pointed to.

If you missed it:

Updated

Many thanks to the lovely Natasha May for guiding us through hump day. I’ll be with you for the rest of the afternoon.

With the good news of that elevator rescue I am handing you over to the one and only Caitlin Cassidy who will be with you into the evening.

Updated

Sydney lift technician freed from elevator in Abbotsford after head stuck

Fire and Rescue NSW has released a person trapped in a domestic lift in a residential complex in Abbotsford. The authorities say:

Firefighters arrived at the scene of the incident in Walton Crescent at 12.15pm and found a lift technician with his head stuck between the lift carriage and the lift shaft.

Crews quickly secured the lift with acrow props and isolated the electricity before opening the doors. This was to ensure the lift carriage could not fall any further and injure the man.

NSW Ambulance and a specialist retrieval trauma doctor stabilised the man before firefighters extricated him from the lift shaft.

The man walked free from the incident but was transported to hospital for observation.

Updated

More than 700 Covid outbreaks in aged care, with more expected

Paul Sadler, the interim chief executive of the Aged and Community Care Providers Association, told the ABC earlier today that there are 737 Covid-19 outbreaks in aged care facilities across the country.

Sadler said that number had gone up by 110 in one week.

We are very concerned now that, with projections for widespread community transmission of Omicron BA.5 and BA.4, we will see a substantial impact on aged care in the coming weeks.

Updated

Self-administered RATs for cruise passengers ‘the standard agreed with NSW Health’

Fitzgerald is asked about the passengers who have said nobody checked the result of their RAT upon disembarking.

She has responded “that is the protocol agreed with NSW Health; it’s a self-administered RAT.”

She said that self-administered RATs are the “community standard” happening every day in Australia.

Updated

More Coral Princess cruise ship guests Covid-positive

Marguerite Fitzgerald, the president of Carnival Australia, which represents the Coral Princess cruise ship that has experienced the Covid outbreak, is fronting the media.

Fitzgerald says more guests have tested positive as the ship leaves Sydney for Brisbane later tonight.

The numbers are similar to what they were yesterday, so about 110 to 115 crew and we had more guests test positive today as they’ve exited the ship.

And they – we believe, and the health authorities have also said – that most of those guests probably brought Covid when they boarded in Brisbane.

Fitzgerald says it’s still predominantly crew that are positive but approximately 10 more guests have tested positive.

Updated

Foot-and-mouth disease ‘closest it’s ever been to Australia’

There are fears the highly contagious foot-and-mouth disease could infiltrate Australia and decimate the $80 billion cattle industry unless all travellers returning from Indonesia undergo stringent screening.

The livestock disease that affects pigs, cattle, sheep and goats was detected in Indonesia in May and spread to Bali last week.

The NSW agriculture minister, Dugald Saunders, said that with 103 flights each week from Australia to Bali, “FMD is the closest it has ever been to our country”.

As Australian travellers return to the holiday destination in droves, NSW deputy premier, Paul Toole, has warned of the threat to the cattle industry and the livelihoods of thousands of farmers across NSW.

Nobody wants to be the person who brings in a disease that would devastate our livestock industry, cost the economy $80bn, and shatter regional communities for years to come.

We want to make sure that 100% of passengers returning are being screened.

“I don’t care if it takes an extra two hours for a passenger getting off a plane”, Toole told reporters at Sydney airport’s international terminal. “It’s better to be safe than sorry.”

Around 1.3 million Australians visited Bali in 2019, before the pandemic. The government is advising that when entering the country travellers must ensure their clothes and shoes are clean and free from soil and manure, otherwise it’s best to leave them in Indonesia. Australians should also stay away from livestock for a week after their return.

Toole said discussions with the federal government and other states had taken place about implementing stringent controls for returning holiday-makers.

– with AAP

Updated

National Covid update

Here are the latest coronavirus case numbers from around Australia on Wednesday, as the country records at least 57 deaths from Covid-19:

ACT

  • Deaths: 0
  • Cases: 1,345
  • In hospital: 142 (with 4 people in ICU)

NSW

  • Deaths: 15
  • Cases: 10,622
  • In hospital: 2,023 (with 61 people in ICU)

Northern Territory

  • Deaths: 0
  • Cases: 455
  • In hospital: 43 (with 2 people in ICU)

Queensland

  • Deaths: 12
  • Cases: 7,517
  • In hospital: 859 (with 14 people in ICU)

South Australia

  • Deaths: 2
  • Cases: 4,408
  • In hospital: 245 (with 6 people in ICU)

Tasmania

  • Deaths: 2
  • Cases: 1,780
  • In hospital: 106 (with 4 people in ICU)

Victoria

  • Deaths: 20
  • Cases: 11,176
  • In hospital: 739 (with 36 people in ICU)

Western Australia

  • Deaths: 6
  • Cases: 6,880
  • In hospital: 320 (with 10 people in ICU)

Updated

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese shares these words of wisdom in Fiji at the Pacific Island Forum.

WA records six Covid deaths and 320 people in hospital

There were 6,880 new cases in the last reporting period, and 10 people are in intensive care.

Minor flooding warning for parts of NSW coast

The flooding could occur due to high spring tides, the Bureau of Meteorology warns.

Updated

Northern Territory records no Covid deaths and 43 people in hospital

There were 455 new cases in the last reporting period, and two people are in intensive care.

KPMG estimates gender pay gap is $1bn per week

New data has estimated that Australia’s national gender pay gap sits at $51.8bn per year – that is a gap of almost $966m per week.

The report, released today by KPMG, Diversity Council Australia and the Workplace Gender Equality Agency, accounts for labour force participation rates as well as incomes.

The hourly pay gap is $2.56, according to the report. It has not improved since 2017.

The report points to key drivers of the gap: gender discrimination, caring for family and workforce participation, and the type of job and industry sector employment.

KPMG’s chairman, Alison Kitchen, said:

This report shows that gender discrimination continues to be the single largest contributor to the gender pay gap. It also shows a worrying trend in the rise of industry and occupation segregation. We must collectively increase our efforts to build a better and fairer Australia.

Updated

Tasmania records two Covid deaths and 106 people in hospital

There were 1,780 new cases in the last reporting period, and four people are in intensive care.

Climate 200: ‘not our mandate’ to fill independents’ staffing shortages

Byron Fay is asked whether Climate 200 will establish an Independents Centre to provide support to independents, after the Albanese government cut their staffing allocation from eight staff each to five.

Fay says:

Climate 200 is not a thinktank; we are designed to support community campaigns, to support community leaders nominated by their communities to get elected ... To be clear on the staffing question, not a single independent MP we supported has asked us for support to help them deal with their staffing and it is not our mandate. We are focused on supporting community campaigns when they arise and we hope to do that as we go forward.

Fay has had to pull up two questioners for referring to “Climate 200 candidates” and to the elected MPs as “your people”, reminding both that they are community candidates supported but not selected by Climate 200.

Asked if Climate 200 is a flash in the pan and the major parties might strike back in future, Fay says:

The fact that major party primaries are at all-time lows is saying something. ... voters did not give their vote to major parties; [they were] looking for a different way of doing politics and political representation, and as the community profile grows we will see more people running.

Fay also sounds an alarm about Labor’s plan to legislate a spending cap, revealed by Guardian Australia on Sunday.

Fay says he is “very open” to the idea, but it needs to be part of a “root and branch review” of the benefits of the incumbency, such as $750,000 that incumbent MPs can spend on communications. Reforms have to “make sure we are not disadvantaging future community groups that want to put up community leaders in a way that stops them from doing that”.

Updated

Climate 200’s Byron Fay: Labor’s 43% emissions target ‘stepping stone to greater ambitions’

Asked at the National Press Club whether parliamentarians should respect Labor’s mandate for a 43% emissions reduction by 2030, Climate 200 executive director, Byron Fay, hedges his answer but seems to say something is better than nothing.

Fay says:

The first thing to say about the 43% that the government has taken and enshrined in our nationally determined contribution is that it is a step in the right direction. Really encouragingly, they have said it is a floor and not a ceiling and there is always room as we move through the decade, as the science and economics and technology become more apparent, to hopefully increase that.

We would see that as a stepping stone to greater ambitions and in terms of what the now elected members of parliament and senator want to do, that is entirely up to them ...

I think many in Australia want to see progress. They want to see us stepping forward. The fact [that] this target is an increase to what the previous government had is an encouraging sign and the fact it is a floor and not a ceiling is encouraging and people want to see parliamentary action on this issue and they will be encouraging that.

Updated

Ms Vaishali Nigam Sinha of ReNew Power says a commitment to taking risks in decarbonising is not “a choice anymore,” at the Sydney Energy Forum today.

What gives us confidences to take risks? We need to protect our next generation ... and clean energy is at the heart of that.

She urges prioritising “justness and inclusivity”.

Disadvantaged segments exist in the markets ... people, women, communities at the heart of this transition who are really suffering the most.

I don’t think its a choice anymore ... We are committed to taking risks because we believe building and facilitating renewable energy is a must for every country.

Sinha says the transition will not be unilateral.

We are looking to bring costs down, we are looking to use digital opportunities which exist ... we are looking to increase productivity, making new ideas viable. It’s about research, technology, partnerships, collaboration ... It’s a question of stakeholders coming together.

Without that, can we grow at the pace we are required to grow?

Mr Tatsuo Yasunaga, Chair Mitsui & Co, urges the importance of growing stableliquified natural gas markets at the Sydney Energy Forum today:

It is very important to create flexible and resilient markets for new energy resources including hydrogen, ammonia or methanol.

We know methanol and ammonia have become globally tradable commodities. And hydrogen can be locally used in any part of the world ... Local consumption can be aggregated and, possibly, we can introduce more commercial-sized ... trading of hydrogen.

State of Origin banter continues ...

Updated

Climate 200 executive director says ‘party stranglehold on Australian politics has been shattered’

Climate 200 executive director, Byron Fay, is addressing the National Press Club, explaining the body’s support for community independents and future ambitions.

By corralling 11,200 donors, Climate 200 was pivotal in helping independents win previously safe seats including Wentworth, North Sydney, Mackellar, Goldstein, Kooyong and Curtin, as well as David Pocock’s Senate seat for the ACT.

Fay said:

The party stranglehold on Australian politics has been shattered ... Well-organised community, with the right support, can take on the party machines and women [can] win against former and would-be future prime ministers. The result was a launchpad for the community independence movement, not a landing zone.

Now, the real work begins. The uncomfortable truth is the world is still on track for catastrophic levels of warming ... Climate 200’s vision is for every government in Australia to adopt a science-based response to the climate crisis.

We are still miles away from that ... Neither major party’s 2030 targets are consistent with keeping warming to safe levels, the LNP with 3 degrees, and the ALP at 2 degrees.

Fay credited Climate 200 for contributing these to the campaign:

  • Fundraising, raising $13m to compete with the “Goliaths” of the two major parties. He explained the body’s fundraising model involved big donors matching contributions of community donors.
  • “Sophisticated and high quality content”, including videos, podcasts and social media ads, including a video launch recorded by Lime Cordiale.
  • Analytics – polling that would give the group “the confidence to make hard decisions, and for the campaigns, the information they needed to run effective and efficient races”.

Updated

South Australia records two Covid deaths

South Australia has released today’s Covid update. There have been 4,408 new cases reported and two deaths.

There are 245 people being treated in hospital with the virus including six in ICU.

Updated

Pacific Islander permanent migration program already announced, PM says

Albanese is being asked about his election promises for more migration to be permanent, not temporary.

He is asked if the faster pathway to citizenship for New Zealanders announced last week could be extended to the Pacific nations.

Albanese says the government already had a specific Pacific Islander migration program announced at the election and reaffirms his commitment to the importance of opportunities for citizenship.

We have it with the Pacific. We announced in the election campaign a specific Pacific Islander migration program on a permanent basis, the first one that Australia has ever had.

I think with the announcements we made or discussions with our New Zealand brothers and sisters, it was well received because the idea that people should just be temporary migrants for a long period of time is something in my view not in the interests of individuals but also not of our nation.

I want people in Australia to have that sense of ownership. I want them to be citizens, to be able to participate in all forms of Australian life. Australia – with the exception, the notable exception, of our First Nations people who have been there for 65,000 years, a source of great pride – are a nation of migrants.

Updated

PM says Australia welcomes increased US engagement in Pacific region

Asked about what assurances Albanese will be seeking from the leader of Solomon Islands when they meet, he says he will make it clear Australia is concerned about the permanent presence of a Chinese base in the Solomons so close to Australia.

Asked about US vice president Kamala Harris’s comments about the US not having played a strong enough role in the Pacific region in recent times, Albanese says the comment is “a critique I believe that you may have heard myself and the foreign minister make”.

We quite clearly said that we had a Pacific step-up. I described what occurred this year as a Pacific stuff-up – we had not paid enough attention. I know that the Biden administration said that.

He said the increased engagement of the US is consistent with discussions had at the Quad summit in Tokyo:

I welcome the increased engagement of the United States in the region to a significant support package that they’ve announced, increased diplomatic presence, increased support in the form of aid, increased support in the form of infrastructure development here and it’s consistent with the decisions that we made at the Quad leaders’ summit in Tokyo a short time ago.

When we met in Tokyo, the leaders of the United States, Australia, Japan and India launched an economic presence in the region and that is important. The United States is an important partner of the region. Australia welcomes their renewed commitment.

Albanese did not comment on whether the US step-up is a result of Scott Morrison and Donald Trump’s failures.

Updated

Anthony Albanese speaking in Fiji

Anthony Albanese is giving an address after his arrival in Fiji for the Pacific Islands Forum.

He is giving a number of details about his activities at the forum:

I will have a number of bilaterals today, first of all with the prime minister of Samoa, then with the president of the Federated States of Micronesia, then with Prime Minister Sogavare, and then with Prime Minister Marama, our host at this conference, as well as then going to a dinner, hosted by the PIF secretary general.

We have some real challenges in this region. There is no challenge more important than climate change, and the new Australian government, of course, has adopted our nationally determined contribution of 43% by 2030. We also have engagement with the region, including increased funding and support for climate change infrastructure.

Updated

Hailstorm leaves Byron Bay blanketed in white

Byron Bay has been covered in a blanket of hail after a storm early last night.

Karen Haupt Anderson captured these images and we will be bringing you more on the storm later.

A hail storm hit Byron Bay on Tuesday 12th July 2022. NSW. Australia
A hail storm hit Byron Bay on Tuesday 12th July 2022. NSW. Australia Photograph: Karen Haupt Anderson

Updated

‘We only have so much time’, India’s largest renewable energy company warns

Vaishali Nigam Sinha of ReNew Power warns that “we only have so much time” to make net zero targets at the Sydney Energy Forum today.

You need capital ... You need policymakers to have the agility to pivot and accelerate because we only have so much time. There’s a huge amount of ecosystem management that goes into it.

If entrepreneurs like us are not able to grow business models at a fast pace, we are not going to be able to make it ... to 1.5C. In India, we are [doing] about a third of what we should be doing to meet [net zero targets].

Updated

Energy Fiji pleads to international finance organisations

More from Hasmukh Patel of Energy Fiji at the Sydney Energy Forum, who asks international finance organisations to “seriously consider whether they are prepared to help ... save our Pacific Island nations”.

As a result of Covid, Fiji and other island nations ... have been badly affected. All equipment used in production of electricity comes from abroad. Demand has started to increase ... so what do we do? We still have to go for fossil fuels.

Renewable hydrogen and solar projects are “going to take more time”, he says.

You can’t quickly jump overnight to renewables. The technology, the people, the equipment takes time and requires funding.

It is very important the international financial organisations seriously consider whether they are prepared to help ... so we can help save our Pacific Island nations.

Updated

Fiji urges scaling up renewables for island nation’s clean energy transition

In the first panel of day 2 at the Sydney Energy Forum, Hasmukh Patel of Energy Fiji outlines the challenges in mobilising financial investors to support the clean energy transition of a small island nation that is facing climate change risk.

There is not a single year we don’t get a cyclone. Some are very damaging.

It is a challenge ... We pray that we get a lot of rain but not the winds.

It is important for Fiji to scale up the renewable energy ladder.

Fiji has a decarbonisation target of 100% renewables by 2036.

“There is a potential for hydrogen and solar development in Fiji,” Patel says, pointing to feasibility studies on at least three hydrogen projects, alongside solar projects.

He says funding is urgently needed, estimating costs at US$1.3bn over five years to enable scaling up renewables.

Our options are either government increasing subsidies, or we get loans on very attractive conditions.

Updated

Two Chinese defence attaches kicked out of Pacific Islands Forum meeting

Two Chinese defence attaches have been kicked out by Fijian police from a Pacific Islands Forum meeting where the US vice president, Kamala Harris, was giving a virtual address.

The men were sitting in on a session of the forum’s fisheries agency at which Harris announced the step-up of US engagement in the region, believed to be in response to China’s growing influence.

Updated

Adam Bandt calls for PM to choose between cooperation and confrontation on climate

Greens leader, Adam Bandt, has warned that the prime minister risks misreading the national mood for cooperation on climate.

Bandt said the Greens are willing to work constructively with Labor, but says the government’s approach seems to be “take it or leave it”.

Bandt highlighted that Labor’s vote went backwards at the election while the Greens have an increased mandate in the Senate.

He says the government risks creating three years of conflict:

The government should choose cooperation over confrontation.

Let me be clear. The Greens are willing to negotiate on climate. But it seems Labor isn’t.

The Greens want to see a stop to new coal and gas projects, as do the Pacific Islanders, the UN, the International Energy Agency and the world’s scientists.

Even Labor’s weak climate targets will be blown if they proceed with new gas projects like the Beetaloo Basin, which will lift greenhouse pollution by up to 13%.

The government needs to work constructively with the Senate this term if it wants to get things done. This could be one of the great reforming parliaments of all time, and I’m sure there are ministers that want to get a lot done during their term, but that will involve working with the Greens in the Senate.

Updated

Prime minister anticipates climate change and security discussions at Pacific Islands Forum

Anthony Albanese touched down in Fiji minutes ago. He had these brief comments about his agenda at the Pacific Islands Forum:

It’s dealing with climate change and of national security here in the Pacific. The plan going out to 2050, having one-on-one meetings as well as collectively, having discussions about our common interests for those of us who live in this wonderful Pacific neighbourhood.

Updated

Record bonuses for CEOs, survey reveals

The Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI) today published the results of its annual survey of chief executive pay for the 2021 financial year, showing it was a bumper year for CEO bonuses.

The average chief executive bonus hit a record of $2.31m.

Brynn O’Brien, the executive director of the Australasian Centre for Corporate Response, told the ABC earlier this morning that the disparity between CEO and worker pay will be of concern to investors.

You can read more from Ben Butler, Guardian Australia’s senior business reporter.

Updated

Sydney Energy Forum hears about opportunity to ‘de-risk’ energy system

“The future energy system will be more complex, more interconnected, more distributed,” Claudio Facchin, chief executive of Hitachi energy, told the Sydney Energy Forum today.

Facchin said he sees this as “an opportunity to de-risk the system”.

“The concentration of sources in the current system will have to change,” he says, following discussions on Chinese and Russian monopoly over solar, gas and oil supplies putting the current international energy supply chain at risk.

If we see the future of energy systems being clean, renewable, electrified and on demand, this will require cross-stakeholder engagement ... and engagement across geographies.

The energy system transformation will require change across technology, business models and government policy, Facchin explained.

All of that will demand a much higher level of engagement, collaboration and cooperation across the sectors.

We cannot afford to derail the goals that are ambitious to get to carbon neutrality. There is a need to make this work ... we have to get there together.

Updated

Two cases of monkeypox in the ACT

ACT Health has identified two cases of monkeypox in ACT residents, but says the transmission risk to the community remains low.

The authority says the affected people travelled to Europe and recently returned to the ACT, where they have reported mild symptoms and are isolating at home.

ACT Health is continuing contact tracing but says no high-risk contacts have been identified so far.

Kerryn Coleman, the ACT chief health officer, said it is important to remember that monkeypox is rare and not easily spread between people, usually requiring direct skin-to-skin or prolonged face-to-face contact.

Illness associated with the monkeypox virus is usually mild, although complications can occur.

Symptoms may initially include fever, chills, muscle aches, backache, and swollen lymph nodes.

Following these symptoms, a rash usually develops, that spreads to other parts of the body. The rash changes and goes through stages, like chickenpox, before finally becoming a scab.

Updates from Day 2 of Sydney Energy Forum

Top of the morning to you! Reporter Rafqa Touma here, back with more updates from day 2 of the Sydney Energy forum, where leaders in government and industry from around the world are gathering to discuss clean energy supply, sustainability and security in the Indo-Pacific region.

Dr Jörg Kukies, state secretary for the German ministry of finance, brings energy security to the forefront of discussion amid war in Ukraine cutting off much of Russia’s international export of gas and oil.

We have subjected ourself to the risk of sourcing energy from one undiversified source.

In what Kukies calls a “sidestep towards renewables,” he urges “acceleration of infrastructure”.

Going from fossil fuels including Russia, to fossil fuels excluding Russia, to renewables.

In a few weeks, we will be off Russian coal.

Our oil used to be 40% from Russia ... [soon] it will be zero.

Updated

Ice on Tasmanian roads

Drivers are being warned about ice on the roads of most districts in the state.

Updated

Timorese advocates call for pardon of Witness K after Australia’s decision not to prosecute Bernard Collaery

Civil society groups in Timor-Leste have welcomed the Australian government’s decision to drop its pursuit of Bernard Collaery, but have warned the “overdue decision cannot undo the shameful history of Australia’s bugging Timor-Leste’s government palace in 2004”.

The attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, announced on Thursday he had directed commonwealth prosecutors to no-bill the prosecution of Collaery, an intervention thought to be unprecedented in Australian legal history.

The decision prompted widespread relief and praise in Australia, including from Collaery’s supporters, leaders in Timor-Leste, and human rights advocates and lawyers.

La’o Hamutuk, or the Timor-Leste Institute for Development Monitoring and Analysis, issued a statement on Wednesday morning welcoming the decision. But it said much more was needed to rebuild the damaged relationship between the two countries, including the issuing of a pardon for Witness K.

To rebuild good neighbourly relations between Australia and Timor-Leste, the Australian government should recognise that it has blatantly violated Timor-Leste’s sovereignty, and return to policies of mutual respect between the two nations. Healthy diplomacy needs to address past transgressions, and Australia should return more than $5 billion it took in from oil and gas fields that it now agrees are in Timor-Leste’s territory.

We also think that mutual respect as neighbours means supporting each other as partners, not taking advantage of Timor-Leste’s weaker economy, less experienced administration, and limited human resources to obtain benefits for Australia at the expense of Timor-Leste’s people. This should be reflected by cancelling some future projects, including the planned Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) at Bayu-Undan which would exploit Timor-Leste’s vulnerability to enable the carbon-intensive Barossa project in Australia, further damaging the global and local climate.

In addition, we suggest that Australia should pardon “Witness K”, who was pressured into pleading guilty to a crime he did not commit. “Witness K” used proper channels to report an inappropriate action he was ordered to carry out, and should be unconditionally exonerated. Both he and Bernard Collaery have been good and honourable friends to Timor-Leste, and Australia should compensate them for the harm that unjust prosecution has already inflicted on them.

Collaery, a lawyer, and Witness K, an intelligence officer, were prosecuted for their efforts to expose a 2004 bugging operation mounted against Timor-Leste, an impoverished ally of Australia, during talks to carve up oil and gas resources in the Timor Sea.

Updated

Treasurer says rapid tests ‘cost much less’ now than at beginning of free rapid test program

Speaking earlier, Jim Chalmers also justified the decision to end free rapid tests for concession card holders by saying that rapid tests are no longer as expensive as they were at the beginning of the year.

The RATs program was an important program which recognised that around the beginning of this year, it was almost impossible to find a rapid test, and if you could, it cost something like $30 a test. We fought for some access and some affordable access for Australians, particularly vulnerable Australians to make sure that they could access those tests. The reality is that the situation has changed in welcome ways, such that a test costs much less than that now and is much easier to find.

Chalmers reiterated the advice given by Anthony Albanese earlier this morning to concession card holders to stock up before the support ends.

My advice to pensioners and people with the relevant card is that this program doesn’t end until the end of the month, and if you can access those 10 additional tests, you should do so for a lot of people that will last them sometime after the end of the program.

NASA has released more astounding images from the James Webb space telescope.

The telescope is the most powerful ever put into space and the new images continue to reveal deep space in greater detail than ever seen.

This image here shows a star birth in the Carina Nebula.

This image shows the edge of a nearby, young, star-forming region NGC 3324 in the Carina Nebula. Captured on the James Webb Space Telescope, this image reveals previously obscured areas of star birth, according to NASA.
This image shows the edge of a nearby, young, star-forming region NGC 3324 in the Carina Nebula. Captured on the James Webb Space Telescope, it reveals previously obscured areas of star birth, according to NASA. Photograph: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI/AP

Updated

Deakin University targeted in data breach

Deakin University has informed 94,980 past and present students that their personal information has been compromised after a hacker downloaded student data using a third-party company staffer’s login.

The university informed students that the downloaded details include student names, ID numbers, mobile numbers, Deakin email addresses, and special comments – including recent unit results. The company hacked had previously been used by Deakin to communicate with students via SMS.

The information was then used to send a scam SMS to 9,997 students telling them a parcel had arrived, and directing them to a link to provide credit card information.

The breach has been reported to the Victorian information commissioner, and the university has advised students to be vigilant for further spam attacks.

Updated

Treasurer says budget cannot accommodate restarting Covid support payments

The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, is speaking, addressing the decision to end Covid support payments:

The Covid support payments were designed by our predecessors to end at a certain point, and to restart them would cost a considerable amount of money. What we have tried to be is upfront about the challenges that we face in the Budget. Unfortunately, there is not room in the budget for every good idea or to extend every program, even good ones, indefinitely.

Chalmers said a number of initiatives were designed by the Morrison government to end around this time and said the new government “inherited a budget which is heaving with a trillion dollars in Liberal party debt”.

The paid pandemic leave ... was something like $60 million a week in its most recent iteration. Combine that with the support at the petrol bowser, a whole range of programs which were designed by the former government to end around this time – it is not possible to extend all of these programs.

Updated

Train derails at Bendigo after collision with a truck

A truck and a train have collided near Bendigo, causing the train to derail.

Victoria police have released a statement to say they are investigating the incident which occurred in Goornong this morning.

Emergency services were called to the collision on the Midland Highway, near Bendigo-Murchison Road just after 8am on 13 July.

It is believed the collision has caused the train to derail.

The truck driver, a man believed to be in his 50s, sustained non-life-threatening injuries and is being treated paramedics at the scene.

It is believed there are no physical injuries to passengers on the train.

Updated

Victoria records 20 Covid deaths and 11,176 new cases

There are 739 people in hospital and 36 people are in intensive care.

Updated

Increased awareness a contributor to rising number of people diagnosed with diabetes, educator says

Anne Bush, a diabetes educator, is on the ABC discussing the new data that the number of people with diabetes is rising.

Bush says there are a number of different factors behind the increase of the number of Australians with diabetes.

One is that we are more aware of diabetes now. A lot more people are being checked for diabetes and therefore diagnosed with diabetes. If we look back maybe 20 years ago, a lot of people didn’t know they had diabetes until they had a significant health event. They were living with diabetes for a long time untreated until they had a significant health event and then they were told they had diabetes whilst in hospital. Our diagnosis is a lot better and maybe the community awareness is becoming better as well.

Bush also welcomed a new subsidy introduced by the government at the beginning of this month giving continuous access to glucose monitoring systems for people with type one diabetes:

As of 1 July, the Australian diabetes educators association is pleased that the Albanese government has mandated that everyone with type one diabetes can access continuous glucose monitoring systems, which means they don’t have to finger prick anymore.

They can use a device that is able to check their glucose levels continuously, 24/7 without doing finger pricks. They are getting that real time data of what their blood glucose levels are doing.

Updated

Number of Australians living with diabetes tripled from 2000 to 2020: report

One in 20 Australians were living with diabetes in 2020, according to a new study.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report says the number of people living with diabetes tripled between 2000 and 2020 with numbers stabilising in the last decade.

It comes as the AAP is also reporting that new data shows people living with diabetes had an increased risk of complication and death during the Covid-19 pandemic.

More than 40% of Covid-related hospitalisations in 2020-21 had one or more diagnosed comorbid conditions, such as type 2 diabetes or cardiovascular disease.

This was a significant increase from 25% the year prior, according to a new report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

Updated

Albanese arrives in Fiji to attend Pacific Islands Forum

Pat Conroy, the minister for international development and the Pacific, has shared images from the Pacific Islands Forum.

Prime minister, Anthony Albanese, told the ABC this morning that as he arrives in Fiji this morning he and the foreign minister, Penny Wong, will be “doing a tag team, with Penny returning to Australia”.

Albanese said Conroy will remain with him in Fiji over today and tomorrow.

If you want to know more about the forum, Kate Lyons, Guardian Australia’s Pacific editor, is in Fiji:

Updated

Deakin University investigating data security breach

Deakin University in Victoria revealed last night that it was targeted in a data security breach on Sunday and is still investigating the incident.

The university released a statement to say it “became aware of an incident in which a staff member’s username and password was hacked and used by an unauthorised person to access information held by a third-party provider”.

Updated

Infrastructure minister Catherine King says some Coalition projects will be scrapped

The infrastructure minister, Catherine King, has claimed some projects pledged by the former Coalition government will be impossible to deliver, saying her predecessor, Barnaby Joyce, left behind a “substantial mess” after showering Nationals seats in taxpayer-funded “largesse”.

In an interview with Guardian Australia, King said her priorities in the portfolio included continuing the inland rail and building infrastructure around the 2026 Melbourne Commonwealth Games and 2032 Brisbane Olympics, but said some projects commissioned under the last government would be scrapped.

“To be honest, I’m a bit shocked at what I’m finding, in terms of the way in which the previous government used this portfolio,” she said.

Updated

NSW records 15 Covid deaths and 10,622 new cases

There are 2,023 people in hospital and 61 people are in intensive care.

Updated

A foggy start for Brisbane this morning.

More on the Covid-19 infected cruise ship which has now docked in Sydney

The Coral Princess cruise ship with more than 100 people who have tested positive to Covid-19 has docked in Sydney, and restrictions will aim to limit transmission.

After departing Eden on the NSW south coast, the Coral Princess, with more than 2,300 on board, berthed at Circular Quay just before dawn on Wednesday. It will remain there for a day before returning to its home port of Brisbane.

The outbreak aboard the ship mostly involves infected crew members, with 114 in isolation on Tuesday.

The crew are required to remain on board and passengers will have to record a negative rapid test result before disembarking.

Four passengers were also isolating after positive results, and 24 earlier disembarked in Brisbane, Queensland’s chief health officer, Dr John Gerrard, said.

– with AAP

Updated

Twitter sues Elon Musk

Twitter has sued Elon Musk to force a US court to complete his $44bn takeover of the social media giant after a dramatic few weeks of speculation that the deal was falling apart. The lawsuit says:

Musk entered into a binding merger agreement with Twitter, promising to use his best efforts to get the deal done. Now, less than three months later, Musk refuses to honor his obligations to Twitter and its stockholders because the deal he signed no longer serves his personal interests.

The Tesla CEO and richest man on Earth had reached a deal to buy Twitter on 25 April, with Musk offering to buy all of the company’s shares for $54.20 each.

Updated

Cockroach alert at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane

As the Maroons and Blues prepare to face off in the State of Origin final decider tonight, another showdown is occurring between the SES and the “influx” of cockroaches in the stadium where the final will take place.

Updated

PM urges concession card-holders to stock up on free RATs while they can

As Covid-19 cases surge, pharmacists and GP groups have condemned the decision to end access to free home testing kits for seniors and concession card holders at the end of the month.

Anthony Albanese was asked on ABC Radio this morning why this measure was ending amid the spike.

He responded that he’d inherited the position from the former government and urged eligible people to stock up on rapid antigen tests while they could:

To be very clear, my government has not made this decision, this is a decision that was inherited from the former government and state governments.

I’d encourage concession cardholders to go and get the 10 free rapid antigen tests that they’re eligible for by the end of this month. There’s still a lot of time to go and do that. Of course, on top of that, there are free rapid antigen tests available in aged care facilities, across a range of areas as well in addition to that.

Prof Sharon Lewin, the director of the Doherty Institute, followed Albanese on ABC radio saying that governments have to be flexible – a call that has been echoed by other elected representatives, including Queensland senator Penny Allman-Payne.

Updated

Australia braces for 5,000 hospital cases a day

Australia’s three most populous states are facing shortfalls of more than 6,500 hospital and healthcare staff as the nation’s health system braces for Covid hospitalisations to rise to more than 5,000 cases a day.

This comes amid a turbulent start to the flu season that has also led to more than 1,300 admissions to a group of major hospitals across the nation so far this year.

On Tuesday the federal health minister, Mark Butler, said modelling suggested the peak of the current Covid wave was yet to come and it could take as long as six weeks until case numbers and hospitalisations fell.

Hospitalisations, driven by the highly infectious Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants, could rise by 25% to just over 5,000 a day across Australia, he said, similar to the January peak of almost 5,400, according to modelling based on data from the commonwealth and the states and territories.

Updated

‘Australia is back re-engaged with the Pacific’

The Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is travelling to the Pacific Islands Forum today to spruik Australia’s new emissions reduction target (43% by 2030) and the step-up by the US and Australia in the region.

Albanese told Radio National:

My message will be that Australia is back re-engaged with the Pacific, that we have a suite of measures of support from maritime security and protecting their fishing stocks to action on climate change and infrastructure, our $520m additional development assistance, as well as our position on climate change which is really an entrée to get through the door of credibility with our Pacific Island neighbours because, for them, it is a threat to their very existence.

Albanese hailed the new era after the “intransigence” of the Morrison government, and also drew a contrast with China by noting Australia’s support “doesn’t come with strings attached”.

He welcomed the US’s announcement that it will step up with an increased diplomatic presence in the region, ambition on climate change and infrastructure development.

Albanese said he had raised the Pacific step-up with Joe Biden at the Quad and New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern last week. He noted that the Pacific is an area of “strategic competition”, evident from Solomon Islands’ security agreement with China.

We want to make sure that our Pacific friends understand we want to remain the security partner of choice.

Albanese also spruiked his government’s bid to host a Cop climate conference in Australia. Asked if Australia will have to lift its target to host a future PIF meeting, Albanese noted Labor has “a mandate for our position” but 43% is a “floor not a ceiling”.

He said there “hasn’t been any immediate change” to China’s sanctions on Australia’s goods after foreign minister Penny Wong met her counterpart Wang Yi last week.

Albanese batted away concerns that free rapid antigen tests won’t be provided by the federal government to concession card holders beyond 31 July, noting Labor “inherited” the decision from the Coalition along with “$1tn of debt”.

Updated

Climate 200’s formula for success

Climate 200 says it is fielding calls internationally after its success at the 2022 Australian federal election, with groups in the UK, US, France and Liberia wanting to know exactly how the Australian outfit did it.

The climate-focused group, supported by Simon Holmes à Court, used crowdfunding in the May election to help community groups fund local campaigns for independent candidates, resulting in six new independents winning seats in the House of Representatives, mostly against established blue-ribbon Liberal MPs.

Before an address at the National Press Club today, Climate 200 executive director Byron Fay gave the majority of credit to the community campaigns and the 11,200 donors:

Climate 200 was just one small part of this success, but we are keen to share our knowledge of the role that Climate 200’s donors played in levelling the playing field for climate-ambitious community independents.

Updated

China sanctions

China’s trade sanctions on Australian goods was an issue foreign affairs minister Penny Wong brought up in her meeting last week with her Beijing counterpart.

Anthony Albanese was asked on ABC Radio this morning if the meeting had brought about any change in the sanctions.

He said there had been no immediate change since Wong’s meeting but that China needed to acknowledge there was no justification for the measures.

He emphasised that he wants to see more cooperation with China but Australia will stand up for its national interests.

Updated

Bowen says climate change will hit Australian islands too

Chris Bowen is asked if the consideration of 100 coal and gas projects for approval undermines the government’s message of a strong climate stance it is taking to Pacific Islands Forum.

Bowen says there isn’t yet a guarantee all projects will go ahead:

There is a long long way to go.

He said his visit to the Torres Strait Islands had gone well, that he had reassured people there that they had not been forgotten.

He says Australia has to recognise the effects of climate on our own islands, not only foreign islands.

Updated

Renewables deal

Chris Bowen, the energy minister, is on ABC Radio discussing the new renewable technology deal brokered with the US on the sidelines of yesterday’s Sydney Energy Forum.

Bowen says the agreement is the start of the process, and a recognition of each country’s expertise.

For any country to have 80% solar cells in three years “that is a massive concentration and risk to supply chains”.

Japan has asked to boost LNG production but Bowen says it hasn’t been raised with him directly. But he says Japan’s minister for industrial competitiveness Kōichi Hagiuda is coming to Australia today.

He says it shows how important the meeting is that he didn’t pull out despite the death of Shinzo Abe.

Updated

‘We have reached out to all our Pacific friends’

More from Anthony Albanese’s interview this morning with ABC Radio, when he discussed his agenda at the Pacific Islands Forum.

Albanese said his key message was one of re-engagement and that Australia’s position on climate was an “entrée to get through the door” with Pacific nations.

He said he will be meeting with Manasseh Sogavare, the leader of Solomon Islands.

Albanese wants to emphasise there is a “new era of cooperation” between Australia and Pacific Island nations after what he calls the “intransigence” of the previous government. He said relationships had been hampered by the Coalition’s position on climate change.

He welcomed new US investments in the Pacific, saying they come as confirmation of Joe Biden’s announcement he wants to re-engage with the region.

After Kiribati’s departure from the forum, Albanese was asked whether he had reached out to its leader:

We have reached out, as we have reached out to all our Pacific friends.

He believed Pacific nations would also welcome Australia’s bid to host a Cop summit in partnership with them before 2024.

Updated

Good morning!

As hospitalisations rise across the country, health authorities say the current Omicron wave is due to peak in coming weeks.

Mark Butler, the health minister, said modelling suggested the peak was yet to come and hospitalisations could rise by 25% to just over 5,000 a day across Australia, driven by the highly infectious Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants.

Prime minister Anthony Albanese has this morning boarded a plane to Fiji where he will attend the key leaders meeting at the Pacific Islands Forum, including a virtual address from Kamala Harris, the US vice-president.

Before Albanese boarded that flight he told ABC Radio that his key message at the forum will be that Australia is re-engaged with Pacific and welcomed the new US commitments in the region.

Meanwhile, the Coral Princess cruise ship has docked in Sydney carrying scores of people who have tested positive for Covid-19. Authorities say the outbreak has mostly infected crew, who will not be allowed to disembark.

I’m Natasha May and, if you’d like to get in touch with news you think should be on the blog, my messages are open on Twitter @natasha__may or email natasha.may@theguardian.com.

Let’s get stuck in.

Updated

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