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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Mostafa Rachwani and Natasha May (earlier)

Nationals say Labor ‘asleep at the wheel’ as more FMD fragments found – as it happened

Australia Disease Anthony Albanese Murray Watt

What we learned: Thursday 21 July

With that, we will wrap up the blog for the evening. Here are today’s major developments:

Updated

Western Australia Police have provided a short update on the house fire in Port Hedland, saying the mother of the children has been flown to Perth for specialist treatment, and that no charges have been laid:

The mother of the three children who perished in the fire is now being flown to Perth for further specialist treatment.

No charges have been laid, and investigations are continuing.

There is no further comment at this stage.

The former head of the Prime Minister’s Department, Phil Gaetjens, has hit back at claims he was a political actor in his role, saying he was a “public service plant” not a “political plant.”

Gaetjens was giving his valedictory address at an Institute of Public Administration Australia event in Canberra earlier today, and said accusations he had made his role political was one of the biggest misunderstandings of his role:

What I did was try and connect the public service to the treasurers and ministers that I worked with, to achieve that point where when cabinet, the ministry and the public service, do things in sync, the machine of government hums, and you get good outcomes.

I regard myself sometimes as a bit of a public service plant up in Parliament House rather than now a political plant in the public service.

That comment – all of what I said in the speech – is contested. So for those people who know me, those people who want to say something about me, if they think something different, then they can say that and I’m quite happy for them to have that view.

But certainly from the discussions that I’ve had with people who know me and how I work, it’s that understanding of the process that means you can understand the policy inception to delivery, because unless your policy is delivered as government policy or government statute, it doesn’t go anywhere.

Updated

Andrews ‘deserves’ another term as Victorian premier, Albanese says

Prime minister Anthony Albanese has backed Victorian premier Daniel Andrews to go for another term at the upcoming Victorian election, saying he “deserves” to be re-elected.

Speaking to ABC Radio Melbourne this morning, Albanese said Andrews was “someone of integrity”:

Daniel Andrews will be seen to have been taking strong action.

That contrasts with the sort of dragged-out scenarios we’ve seen over serious issues with people on the other side of politics.

I think that Daniel Andrews deserves to be re-elected. He’s someone of integrity ... he’s introduced significant social reform. He’s a mate of mine.

Updated

Plans to fast-track teachers into classrooms

Trainee teachers may be allowed into classrooms earlier, as staff shortages continue to bite across the country.

The idea was raised by federal assistant minister for education, Anthony Chisholm, on the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing, where he said education minister, Jason Clare, was also pushing to speed up visa approvals for teachers who have applied to come to Australia:

Part of it is speeding up the visa process from some of those teachers who have applied to come and he’s undertaken work on that.

He’s scheduled the first ministerial discussion for a couple of weeks’ time, which will be an important part of those discussions federally. Some states are doing some things already and New South Wales has suggested better access for student teachers.

I was talking to the vice chancellor at La Trobe University and they’ve got an access program where teachers can do their study in two years before they’re qualified.

One of the challenges for us is from what I’ve heard from principal and teachers on the ground in some of these schools, is a lot of teachers have been delaying long service leave and things like that.

So the challenge with sickness and long service and so forth means that this is going to be a problem not only now currently but into the years ahead.

Updated

Greens want to keep ‘coal and gas in the ground’, Shoebridge says

Greens senator David Shoebridge was also just on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing, and after an initial chat about senator training and doing politics differently, he was asked what the Greens want from the Labor government on climate.

Shoebridge was direct, saying the party wanted to keep “coal and gas in the ground”:

We want a bill that keeps coal and gas in the ground. That’s what our focus is on. Whatever shape this bill is as it works through parliament, we’re not here to pass a bill and feel good and have some confetti drop from the ceiling.

We’re here to pass legislation that keeps coal and gas in the ground and keeps future generations as safe as we possibly can. And that will be our test for whether or not this bill is working.

Coal is placed in stockpiles at the coal port in Newcastle.
Coal is placed in stockpiles at the coal port in Newcastle. Photograph: Daniel Munoz/Reuters

Updated

I just wanted to return to nationals senator Bridget McKenzie, who had earlier mentioned she would personally cleaning people’s shoes upon their return from Bali.

McKenzie was apparently not joking and expanded her offer to “any and all”:

Updated

Taking a quick break from the news, I wanted to just share this great piece from Caitlin Cassidy about a mysterious pink light in Mildura.

As she writes, was it alien invasion? Season five of Stranger Things? A portal to the timespace continuum?

You will have to read it to find out (and yes I do realise the headline gives it away, but we can also collectively imagine it is a mystery):

Updated

Key event

Urgent clarification on FMD threshold needed, Littleproud says

Shadow agriculture minister David Littleproud was just on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing, and was asked what he thought of measures to prevent the spread of foot-and-mouth disease.

While he stopped short of directly calling for border closures, he also did not actually outline what he thinks should be done, beyond saying the government should have a road map of trigger points towards a border closure with Indonesia.

Here’s what he had to say:

Well, in light of the fact that it’s not contained and it’s increasing the spread across the country, I think if we haven’t hit that trigger point, then what is that trigger point? I think that’s the important thing now. I was shocked that it hadn’t been contained to the extent I thought it had and was led to believe.

So it’s important that we continue to be transparent, with us and the Indonesians, about the threats it poses to us and what are the steps taken, so we are working collaboratively with the Indonesians in trying to isolate this.

But there has to be a threshold question that needs to be answered to us and the Indonesians. And we must be getting dangerously close to that ... if we have not even crossed it.

Updated

Nationals say Labor ‘asleep at the wheel’ as more foot-and-mouth fragments found

The Victorian Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie has said the agriculture minister, Murray Watt, has been “asleep at the wheel” when it comes to dealing with foot-and-mouth disease.

McKenzie added that she believes it was possible to stop the spread of the disease at the border with the use of “the right measures” but failed to actually say what those measures would look like, apart from saying she would clean people’s shoes:

I don’t believe we need to close the border with Indonesia, I believe this government needs to be serious about stopping foot-and-mouth at the border.

Systems at the border need to respond to the crisis as they occur. Decisions needed to be made weeks and months ago.

The fact we have only foot mats going into Darwin and Cairns when you have 16,000 Australian returning from Bali a week, the risk is huge.

If Murray Watt can’t have foot baths for Sydney and Melbourne airport to get the thousands of people coming from Bali waived through by security washed down, not just on their feet but in their backpack, I am very happy to offer my time to hand-wash those shoes myself.

‘Decisions needed to be made weeks and months ago’ ... Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie.
‘Decisions needed to be made weeks and months ago’ ... Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Updated

Lambie calls on Coalition to support climate bill

The Tasmanian independent senator Jacqui Lambie has called on the Coalition to support Labor’s climate bill to ensure the Greens don’t “play” with it in the Senate.

Speaking on Sky News earlier today, Lambie seemed to be referring to the Greens blocking the proposed emissions trading scheme put forward by the Rudd government in 2009.

Here’s what she had to say:

First of all we need to set a target. So if the Greens want to play up like silly little buggers let them go play up.

I can only hope the Liberals come to some sense and actually set a target. We’ve got to be ambitious and we need to set something.

But, once again, you can’t turn coal and gas off overnight. It just doesn’t work like that. Let’s be realists.

Updated

AMA in WA calls for mask mandate as Covid cases surge

The head of the Australian Medical Association in Western Australia has directly called for a mask mandate as Covid cases continue to surge across the country.

Dr Mark Duncan-Smith said the pressure hospitals are under could be eased by mandating masks indoors, adding that relying on people to do the right thing was not enough:

Relying on citizens to just do the right thing [has led to] where we are now.

This is to avoid stricter restrictions down the road. We do need the government to step in and protect society.

We need to control this outbreak rather than [maintain] a ‘let it rip’ approach.

Updated

Good afternoon, and thank you Natasha for another solid shift this morning. Mostafa Rachwani with you this afternoon, with much still to come.

Updated

Thanks to everyone following along with me today, I am handing you over now to my colleague. Take it away, Mostafa Rachwani!

Updated

Monkeypox case identified in the Northern Territory

NT Health has identified one case of monkeypox in the Northern Territory, but says the person presents “no transmission risk to the community”.

The authority says the case is a returned overseas traveller who is currently in isolation in the Top End region.

In their statement NT Health said:

Monkeypox was first reported in Australia on 20 May 2022 and to date 41 cases have been confirmed.

Monkeypox is a viral disease transmitted through very close contact with an infected person or contaminated objects such as bedding, towels or clothes.

Initial symptoms of monkeypox include fever, swollen lymph nodes, headache and body aches. These symptoms are usually followed by a distinctive rash (lesions that look like blisters) that may appear on the face, genitalia, inside the mouth, palms of the hands and soles of the feet.

While the transmission risk of monkeypox in the NT is currently low, it’s important anyone with symptoms seek immediate medical advice.

Updated

DIY celebrations for Miles Franklin winner

With so much disease-related news today, here are some delightful images the winner of the Miles Franklin award winner has shared of her family celebrations.

Jennifer Down’s parents rolled out a DIY red carpet wearing specially printed T-shirts to be sure no one was in doubt of who their daughter was.

Updated

Is Covid changing more rapidly than other viruses? And what is the latest variant?

Guardian Australia’s medical editor Melissa Davey has your coronavirus questions answered.

Government won’t yet close border with Indonesia amid biosecurity fears

The agriculture minister, Murray Watt, says Australia will not yet close the border to Indonesia over foot-and-mouth disease concerns, despite calls from the Coalition opposition for tighter biosecurity controls over the devastating livestock disease.

Fragments of the disease were found in pork products on sale in Melbourne imported from China yesterday, while the Adelaide Advertiser reported that fragments were found in undeclared beef products at Adelaide airport. Guardian Australia has contacted Watt’s office and the agriculture department for comment.

The Coalition’s home affairs spokesperson, Karen Andrews, and the former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce have called on the Labor government to close Australia’s border to Indonesia, which is currently experiencing an outbreak. Watt said on Sky that this was not under consideration at the moment.

Watt, speaking on Sky News, called on travellers to do the right thing.

If we do the right thing I do think we can keep foot-and-mouth out.

Updated

Government to move on closing down tax loopholes ‘as speedily as possible,’ assistant minister says

After the news of Rio Tinto’s tax settlement, the Labor MP Andrew Leigh, the assistant minister for competition and Treasury, has reaffirmed the government’s commitment to ensuring multinationals are paying their fair share of tax on Sky News.

We went to the election with a package of plans to tackle multinational tax avoidance, to implement the OECD/G20 two-pillar agreement as speedily as possible, to move on closing down loopholes around royalty payments and debt deductions.

It is really important for business fairness ... If you’re a local small business going up against a multinational, then you’re fighting with your hands tied behind your back, if they’re routing their tax payments through low or no-tax jurisdictions.

Updated

Government to crack down on offshore tax avoidance, assistant treasurer says

Rio Tinto agreed to one of the biggest settlements in Australian tax history today.

The assistant treasurer, Stephen Jones, said this comes as a “good news for all Australians” and that the government will continue to close the loopholes of tax avoidance, appearing earlier on the ABC:

When a large multinational like Rio Tinto has been avoiding their tax, hasn’t been paying what’s due, it places a greater burden on every other taxpayer in the country and it’s money we don’t have for Medicare, for the NDIS, to pay for our defence force.

A shipping conveyer at the Rio Tinto bauxite mine in Weipa, in far North Queensland.
A shipping conveyer at the Rio Tinto bauxite mine in Weipa, in far North Queensland. Photograph: Jono Searle/AAP

Jones said it’s also “important for the integrity of the system as a whole” because people are more likely to want to cut corners themselves if they think others aren’t paying their fair share.

He also said it’s important for business “that there’s a level playing field”.

He spoke about the government’s commitment to continue to address multinational tax avoidance:

My colleague Andrew [Leigh] is doing a great job working on a project of reforms around multinational tax avoidance to ensure that we can strengthen our rules, strengthen our laws and our enforcement capacity to not only crack down on companies like this one that have reached a settlement after doing the wrong thing, but looking right around our economy to ensure that if businesses are doing their business here, making big profits here, they’re not using sneaky loopholes and accountants tricks to move the economic activity on paper offshore to avoid tax.

Updated

National Covid summary: 89 deaths reported

Here are the latest coronavirus numbers from around Australia today, as the country records at least 89 deaths from Covid-19:

ACT

  • Deaths: 1
  • Cases: 1,407
  • In hospital: 165 (with 3 people in ICU)

NSW

  • Deaths: 25
  • Cases: 13,829
  • In hospital: 2,210 (with 55 people in ICU)

Northern Territory

  • Deaths: 0
  • Cases: 669
  • In hospital: 70 (with 1 person in ICU)

Queensland

  • Deaths: 10
  • Cases: 11,687
  • In hospital: 1,034 (with 21 people in ICU)

South Australia

  • Deaths: 7
  • Cases: 5,054
  • In hospital: 354 (with 12 people in ICU)

Tasmania

  • Deaths: 2
  • Cases: 1,684
  • In hospital: 52 (with 2 people in ICU)

Victoria

  • Deaths: 37
  • Cases: 14,312
  • In hospital: 875 (with 46 people in ICU)

Western Australia

  • Deaths: 7
  • Cases: 6,960
  • In hospital: 459 (with 22 people in ICU)

Second discovery of foot-and-mouth disease fragments: report

More foot-and-mouth disease fragments have reportedly been detected in undeclared beef at Adelaide Airport.

The Adelaide Advertiser is reporting comments today from the agriculture minister, Murray Watt, that viral fragments were picked up “in recent days” through a detection system at Adelaide Airport.

The reported detection comes only a day after Watt revealed that fragments of the disease had been found in imported meat products in Melbourne.

The Guardian is looking into this story and will have more for you soon.

Updated

South Australia records seven Covid deaths and 354 people in hospital

There were 5,054 new cases in the last reporting period, and 12 people are in intensive care.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton has weighed in on the risk of foot-and-mouth disease:

The NSW premier, Dominic Perrottet, has lamented the focus on John Barilaro’s trade appointment amid his current trade trip to Japan.

Speaking from Tokyo, Perrotet said he no longer believes there was “no substantive issue” with the way Barilaro was appointed to the $500,000 job:

I’ve requested a review which is under way and if there are recommendations out of that review around the process, which I expect there will be, I will adopt those.

But I don’t want to give a running commentary because the more commentary I give, the less confidence that provides.

Updated

Senator and state member urge WA government to reconsider moving teenagers to adult prison

Seventeen teenagers were yesterday relocated to a maximum security prison in WA, despite backlash from advocates since the move was announced earlier in the month.

Greens senator Dorinda Cox has just appeared on the ABC saying the move is “absolutely atrocious and appalling and unacceptable in this day and age in contemporary Australia.”

Cox says she and Brad Pettit, the state member for South Metropolitan, have urged the West Australian government to reconsider this and take immediate action and move them to another facility.

Cox says she has “serious concerns about the mental health of these young people, in particular”.

As a mother of two young daughters, the oldest being 10, this is the age that we are seeing children being incarcerated in this country so there is an urgent need for us to raise the age of criminal responsibility across all states and territories.

My theory is that it will only be a matter of time before we see tragic consequences of a child who was incarcerated or in custody in this state in particular.

Cox says she doesn’t take any reassurance from reports that the teenagers are being kept separate from adult prisoners.

Once we put children into an ... institution we are institutionalising them. These are the comments that have been made by the children’s court magistrate; that we are creating, essentially, a life of trauma for these children in the future and we cannot ignore that.

We have a duty of care, as governments, as elected officials in this country, to make sure that we are undertaking to give care and responsibility that we would, even as parents. So the seriousness of continuing to institutionalise or incarcerate children in this country is at endemic proportions and we need to address that. We need to take immediate action.

Updated

Meningococcal identified in South Australia

A case of meningococcal disease has been identified in a twenty-eight-year-old in Adelaide.

Authorities say the person has been admitted to hospital in a stable condition and they have identified the people who have had contact with the case.

Updated

WA records seven Covid deaths and 459 people in hospital

There were 6,960 new cases in the last reporting period, and 22 people are in intensive care.

Authorities noted the seven deaths date back to June 28, but were only reported to WA Health yesterday.

Opposition says border closure with Indonesia should be ‘on the table’ amid biosecurity risk

Some members of the coalition are calling for Australia to close the border with Indonesia, amidst fears a single case of foot-and-mouth disease could halt the export industry overnight.

Opposition MPs Barnaby Joyce and Karen Andrews called on the government to consider shutting the border to Indonesia, one of Australia’s biggest trade partners.

Andrews told Sky News today the government must do whatever it takes to guarantee foot-and-mouth disease does not enter the nation.

Let’s not run the risk of foot-and-mouth disease coming into Australia.

However, the shadow agriculture minister, David Littleproud, says that that’s not the opposition’s stance at the moment. He said during a press conference this morning:

We don’t believe that they should be taking this off the table yet but it should be predicated on science.

... what we’re saying is a need to be transparent about that trigger point ... to close those borders temporarily.

You do appreciate that we are accepting people from countries that have mouth disease like Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines and what they’ve been able to do is demonstrated that they haven’t contained ... Indonesia has been able to do that but if they can’t, what is [the] trigger point.

– via AAP.

Updated

Queensland records 10 Covid deaths and 1,034 people in hospital

There were 11,687 new cases in the last reporting period, and 21 people are in intensive care.

Concerns over lack of mask requirements at Brisbane Airport

Concerned travellers are taking to social media to question Covid-19 protocols in airports, as Border Force staff at Brisbane airport go maskless with passengers required to take theirs off while being processed, according to one Twitter user.

Wearing a mask has not been a requirement throughout Brisbane Airport terminals since mid-June. However, the airport’s website states masks must still be worn on board aircraft, at taxi ranks and ride sharing areas, as well as on Airtrain platforms.

Updated

Nationals leader calls on prime minister to take over handling of the threat of foot-and-mouth disease

Littleproud has criticised the agriculture minister, Murray Watt’s, response to foot-and-mouth disease, saying he’s putting Australia’s $80bn agriculture sector at risk.

They have let the ball slip because of indecision [and] indecisiveness by a minister who doesn’t understand agriculture, and it’s now time for the prime minister to come in and take control.

Once we get this it’s going to be very difficult to get rid of it and this is where leadership is required. In just eight weeks they’ve created [this] security crisis, [put] anxiety and fear right through the Australian agriculture sector and it’s time for someone to take over the reins.

Littlerproud said if the disease enters the country it could impact every Australian, who will be paying more at the checkout due to the need Australia will have to import its animal products.

Updated

Littleproud: ‘this new government has created a biosecurity scandal’

The shadow agriculture minister and leader of the Nationals, David Littleproud, has given a press conference providing a response to the threat of foot-and-mouth disease on behalf of the federal opposition.

This new government has created a biosecurity scandal in terms of not being able to live up to the standards of protecting our borders. And that’s been through ... indecision by minister[s who are] not prepared to make the tough calls when it’s required.

Two weeks ago, we asked for foot mats to be introduced at international airports, it took two weeks to come in and implement those after initially saying it was all absolute crap.

Updated

Childcare workers announce strike

Childcare workers have voted to strike in September after years of poor pay and conditions.

Educators who work at childcare centres will walk off the job on 7 September in protest of the low pay and workload, which the union says leads to workers “leaving the sector in record numbers every week due to burn out”.

Helen Gibbons, Director of Early Education for the United Workers Union, said in a statement:

Centres across the country are having to limit enrolments, close rooms and cancel staff leave. Children and families are suffering due to the strain.

After nearly a decade of inaction on early learning, educators have had enough!

The Union has set out three key priorities for the government:

  • Give us a reason to stay & pay us what we are worth
  • Value early learning as part of the education system, just as important as schools
  • Put children before profit

The date of the strike coincides with Early Childhood Educators Day. Gibbons said morning teas were not enough.

UWU members’ vision is for a sector where educators’ vital work is valued with professional wages and working conditions, and where early education is recognised for its vital role in children’s development.

The only way out of the crisis in early learning is real reform that respects educators.

Updated

Electoral violence leaves 18 dead in PNG

In the middle of Papua New Guinea’s national elections, 18 people have lost their lives due to violence.

The ABC is reporting the deaths comes as a result of a tribal fight near Porgera, in Enga Province, with the two sides taking advantage of a lack of police who are focusing on the country election.

Violence had also plagued the lead-up to the vote. Local media reported that through May and the campaign period, there were 28 election-related deaths, several injuries, an assassination attempt on a possible candidate, the shooting of an election official and burning of five vehicles.

There were fears the violence would continue in the election period itself as the 2017 elections saw more than 200 people died.

You can read more about the situation from Lyanne Togiba in Port Moresby:

Updated

Miles Franklin winner reflects on award-winning book

In case you missed it, the 2022 Miles Franklin award was announced last night, with the award going to Jennifer Down for her novel Bodies of Light.

The judges praised the “ethical precision” of the Melburnian’s second novel, which unpacks the horrors of institutional failure.

Imogen Dewey spoke to the author about her novel:

Updated

Victoria demands urgent plan amid gas shortage

The national market operator needs to implement “immediate measures” that address the state’s gas shortage crisis, according to Victoria’s energy minister, AAP reports.

Lily D’Ambrosio said the Australian Energy Market Operator (Aemo) must establish a viable plan to control gas supply levels at national storage facilities, after it was revealed that the Iona facility near Port Campbell recently dropped to record lows.

We want Aemo to develop a plan to ensure minimal storage levels are maintained at the nationally significant Iona storage facility and other national facilities – providing more transparency for the market and avoiding situations where Aemo intervenes at the last minute.

Aemo has been asked to provide options at the next meeting of energy ministers.

D’Ambrosio said:

Our expectation is that Aemo would be able to implement this plan immediately, while federal and state governments have time to introduce a considered national energy reserve.

Experts have warned that the gas shortage could plunge the electricity market into a fresh power crisis.

Iona supports the eastern states, particularly during winter and is critical to the national market. Gas supply levels at Iona dropped due to high demand amid the state’s price cap, which remains at $40 a gigajoule.

Updated

Frost, mist and snow in Tasmania

NSW MP John Sidoti rejects calls to quit, vowing to fight corruption finding

A day after he was found to have engaged in serious corrupt conduct, John Sidoti is refusing to quit NSW parliament, saying he will take the fight to clear his name, AAP reports.

The NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption made a corruption finding against the former Liberal minister on Wednesday and recommended the Director of Public Prosecutions be consulted about possible criminal charges.

The anti-corruption watchdog investigated the now independent MP for Drummoyne over his lobbying of local councillors to rezone blocks at Five Dock in Sydney, where his family owned property.

Premier Dominic Perrottet phoned his former colleague before flying to Japan on a trade trip on Wednesday night, giving him an ultimatum to resign from parliament – or face an expulsion motion.

Sidoti said his response was brief. He told Sydney radio 2GB today:

It was two words and I can’t mention them on camera..

Sidoti insists he won’t resign, will “absolutely” prove his innocence and has instructed his lawyers to lodge an application in the supreme court.

The reality is I’m innocent, I’m going to fight this ... on principle.

John Sidoti leaves an Independent Commission Against Corruption inquiry in April 2021.
John Sidoti leaves an Independent Commission Against Corruption inquiry in April 2021. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

He criticised Icac, saying it was “a ridiculous system” that needed reform adding he had endured “three years of misery” as the inquiry dragged on.

There have been many innocent people before me who have gone through what I’ve gone through, their reputation is tarnished, their life is trashed.

I’ve done everything I can in the last 11 years to wholeheartedly represent my community.

Icac found Sidoti misused his position as an MP to pressure and threaten City of Canada Bay council Liberal councillors to rezone land to benefit his family’s property interests.

Sidoti said his business interests in Five Dock, where his family owned a function centre, were well known by everyone in the area.

So the idea that somehow they didn’t know or they lost their memory is just unacceptable.

Updated

Storms lashes New Zealand capital Wellington, cancelling flights

All flights in and out of Wellington airport have been cancelled until further notice as the New Zealand capital endures a savage storm, AAP reports.

A roaring southerly wind is battering the city, with gusts of over 150kmph measured at nearby Baring Head.

Some coastal roads have been closed and emergency services are warning of storm surges as the weather worsens into the afternoon and evening, with seven metre swells forecast.

As of noon, the temperature in Wellington was 6.5C, although weather forecasters MetService have predicted possible snow in local hills.

Air New Zealand and Wellington airport have confirmed the flight hold, with an airport spokesman saying “high winds are making it unsafe for baggage handlers to operate”.

In Wellington harbour, the Cook Strait ferry Feronia has been circling as it is too difficult to dock in the high winds.

Other sailings across the treacherous stretch of water have been cancelled today.

Updated

Josh Frydenberg joins investment bank Goldman Sachs

Speculation has been rife about former treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s next move after he lost his seat of Kooyong to independent candidate Monique Ryan.

Now that move has been revealed. The investment bank Goldman Sachs just announced it has hired Frydenberg as its senior regional adviser for Asia Pacific.

Simon Rothery, chief executive officer for Goldman Sachs in Australia and New Zealand, said in a statement:

Our Australian clients will greatly benefit from Josh’s insights and expertise that have been gained from an impressive career which includes experience and perspectives across a range of sectors,.

Frydenberg said:

I am pleased to join Goldman Sachs which is the pre-eminent mergers and acquisitions and capital markets adviser to clients globally. I look forward to joining the team and contributing to the firm’s leadership, its global capability, and its strength of client franchise.

Josh Frydenberg’s first job after politics will be at the US investment bank Goldman Sachs.
Josh Frydenberg’s first job after politics will be at the US investment bank Goldman Sachs. Photograph: James Ross/AAP

Updated

Family violence leave ‘really important’ focus for parliament: Rishworth

The minister for social services, Amanda Rishworth, spoke to ABC News Breakfast today before a meeting tomorrow in Adelaide with federal government ministers responsible for women and women’s safety.

The meeting will aim to table legislation ahead of the new parliament’s first sitting next week. Rishworth was asked what this legislation aims to achieve, and said:

The federal government has made it very clear we would have an intention to bring in family and domestic violence leave in the first sitting period of the parliament. This is a really important piece of legislation that allows people, no matter where they work, to get 10 days of family and domestic violence leave to perhaps attend counselling, perhaps to go to court. It’s a really important piece of legislation because it means that women that may be in these very difficult situations don’t have to choose between their job and leaving a violent relationship.

In addition, I want to talk with my state and territory colleagues about delivering the national plan to end violence against women and children. This is designed to be a 10-year plan in which we really try and address whether it is prevention, early intervention, our response and recovery.

Rishworth says community attitudes towards domestic violence are changing for the better, but its prevalence is increasing.

She says in addition to trying to stop behaviour and violence, “we also need to look at our children... that we are stopping behaviours ever eventuating”.

She says the safety of women in parliament will also be a focus for the new parliament.

I am – along with, I know, all my colleagues – very dedicated to seeing all the recommendations of the Respect@Work [report] implemented, along with the other reports that have been done. But it’s not just an issue for the parliament, it’s gotta be right across our community. Our parliament, though, should be a best-practice exemplar of what Respect@Work looks like.

Updated

Standalone cultural heritage legislation is a ‘firm commitment’: Burney

Let’s circle back to the minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, on ABC radio earlier this morning.

Burney was asked about the government stepping in to block construction threatening sacred rock art and said the government will do its “very, very best” to ensure there’s not a repeat of Juukan Gorge under her watch.

There is also a commitment that we will develop a standalone cultural heritage legislation and that’s a very firm commitment from the Labour party going forward.

Updated

Albanese doesn’t know if a new mattress was brought into the Lodge

Anthony Albanese spoke on Melbourne’s KIIS radio this morning and while it wasn’t exactly a news-breaking interview the prime minister revealed a few tidbits in response to some left-of-centre questions:

  • He joked that it was “rude” for a photographer to snap him on his front doorstep as he collected the newspaper in his pyjamas early one morning after the election and asked: “What sort of weirdo is taking your photo in the morning?”
  • He says he doesn’t know if staff got him a new mattress for the official prime ministerial residences since Scott Morrison moved out;
  • He hasn’t ordered food delivery to the Lodge yet, but anticipates “at some stage, I’ll need a pizza delivered”;
  • And he’s not allowed to drive himself around in his own car, for security reasons.
A cleaning van at the Lodge in May after Albanese’s election win. But was the mattress replaced?
A cleaning van at the Lodge in May after Albanese’s election win. But was the mattress replaced? Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Updated

NSW records 25 Covid deaths with 2,210 people in hospital

New South Wales has reported 25 Covid deaths and 13,829 new cases in the latest reporting period.

The state has 2,210 people with coronavirus in hospital and 55 in intensive care.

Updated

Barilaro asked advisor to help make NY trade job a ministerial appointment, inquiry hears

The former New South Wales deputy premier John Barilaro told a staff member to seek changes that would have made the lucrative $500,000-a-year New York trade job a ministerial appointment, telling him to get it done “ASAP”, an inquiry has heard.

A transcript of evidence given by former advisor Joseph Brayford behind closed doors to the upper house inquiry probing Barilaro’s now-abandoned appointment to the plum posting reveals Barilaro also indicated he would discuss the plan with other ministers in the NSW government.

Brayford told the committee:

I recall having a conversation with the deputy premier and he said to me that he would talk to the other ministers.

Prior to Barilaro’s resignation as deputy premier and trade minister last October, the NSW government passed a motion through cabinet that would have allowed ministers to appoint the senior trade commissioner positions now at the centre of a scandal that has engulfed the government.

The transcript from Brayford’s evidence reveals he was originally asked by Barilaro’s chief of staff in August to contact the head of Investment NSW, Amy Brown, to seek changes allowing the ministerial appointments to go ahead.

What I recall was she called me into her office and asked me to contact Amy Brown and to inquire as to the various methods and arrangements for commissioners overseas.

While that conversation did not directly mention the ministerial appointments, about a month later Brayford was directly told by Barilaro to seek those changes, the inquiry heard.

Brayford said:

He asked me to contact Amy Brown and request a cabinet submission converting the commissioner roles to ministerial appointments.

I believe it said ‘ASAP’.

Brayford said that prior to that his contact with the deputy premier was “infrequent”. Asked during the hearing if he was surprised by the text he replied:

Nothing really surprised me with John.

A parliamentary inquiry is being held into John Barilaro’s now-abandoned appointment to a plum New York posting.
A parliamentary inquiry is being held into John Barilaro’s now-abandoned appointment to a plum New York posting. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP

While the ministerial appointments never went ahead because the incoming minister, Stuart Ayres, decided to keep the positions as public service appointments, the new evidence alleges the deputy premier was directly involved in seeking to change the roles prior to his departure from parliament.

Barilaro has since quit the trade role, saying it was “now not tenable with the amount of media attention this appointment has gained”.

He said he “maintained that I followed the process and look forward to the results of the review”.

Updated

Victoria records 37 Covid deaths with 875 people in hospital

Victoria has recorded 37 Covid deaths and 14,312 new cases in the last reporting period.

There are 875 people with the virus in hospital in the state and 46 people in intensive care.

Updated

‘It’ll destroy us’: Barnaby Joyce calls for Labor to step up foot-and-mouth disease response

The former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce has appeared on Sunrise to discuss the threat posed by foot-and-mouth disease, which is spreading in Indonesia.

Joyce said if the disease enters Australia it won’t only affect regional populations:

For the people in the city who go that’s really bad for Barny in Danglemah, no, it’s really bad for you. No butter, no milk, no cheese, no yoghurt, no beef, lamb ... no mince. Guess what happens to your food bill? It goes through the roof.

Joyce was critical of the Labor for not doing enough, which he says is “terrifying people in country areas”, after viral fragments were found in imported food products.

He was critical of the environment minister Tanya Plibersek for not mentioning it in her National Press Club speech about the state of the environment report.

He is calling for a better baiting program as it can be transmitted through other animals such as foxes.

The part that is in Australia is inert, it’s not live. But it got in.

This is a worry. It’s like finding a dead mouse under the fridge and saying ‘oh that’s the only one’.

No, no that’s the one that’s dead. Let’s look for the one that’s alive.

Joyce is calling for “government has to take the next step” in asking tourists in Bali to drop all their shoes and clothes in the bin upon their return.

The cost to people will be immense ... It’ll destroy us. It’ll send us broke.

Abattoir workers out of a job, farms out of a job, transport operators out of a job, the money that goes into the towns gone.

Updated

Melbourne shivers through coldest morning in four years

Updated

Albanese condemns Morrison's 'astonishing' anti-government sermon

The prime minister Anthony Albanese says he found Scott Morrison’s comments during a church sermon on the weekend “astonishing” and unworthy of someone who led Australia.

Morrison, the former PM, told Margaret Court’s Victory Life Centre in Perth: “We don’t trust in governments. We don’t trust in the United Nations. Thank goodness.”

Albanese was critical of those words, telling ABC Melbourne:

I just thought, wow. This guy was the prime minister of Australia and had that great honour of leading the government. I found it quite astonishing,.

It provides some explanation perhaps of why, in my view, he clearly didn’t lead a government that was worthy of the Australian people – he said he doesn’t believe in government.

The idea that he’s out there and pressing the United Nations button ... I’ve spent two months trying to repair our international relations and that sort of nonsense, throwaway, conspiracy line about the United Nations I think isn’t worthy of someone who led Australia.

Albanese also said the chief medical officer Paul Kelly was not recommending face mask mandates. The Australian Health Protection Principal Committee “haven’t advocated that to me at all”, and that none of the state leaders at national cabinet had either.

Updated

Weather warnings for Queenslanders amid dangerous surf conditions

More wild weather is predicted for parts of Queensland and northern New South Wales, with heavy rain, damaging winds and hazardous surf bringing the risk of coastal erosion.

The Queensland minister for emergency services, Mark Ryan, was on ABC Breakfast earlier this morning speaking about the situation:

There will be possible weather impacts in the next few days as a result of this unseasonal east coast low. Thankfully, as we’ve heard from the bureau, there’s not expected to be intense heavy rain across the region but there are some impacts associated with waves and dangerous surf, coastal erosion and strong winds.

There are predictions that there will be, in some areas, dangerous surf. Maybe if you were thinking of going to the beach in the next few days, reconsider what you might be doing over the next few days. If you were thinking about being out on the water, in those impacted areas, maybe think there’s an alternate instead of being out on the water over the next few days.

But there will also be some rain across South East Queensland. So the message for everyone who might be out and about is drive to the conditions. The roads may be wet. .

Updated

Qantas says plane declared fuel 'mayday' in Perth after being asked to hold

The Qantas plane that landed at Perth airport on Monday declared a fuel mayday but there was no safety issue, the airline’s chief pilot says.

Guardian Australia understands QF 933 from Brisbane was advised by air traffic control to carry an additional 10 minutes worth of fuel for expected holding in Perth, which pilots followed. But on approach into Perth the pilots were advised that holding had extended to 16 minutes.

Qantas chief pilot Captain Dick Tobiano told the Guardian:

Based on the pre-flight conditions, our pilots loaded fuel in accordance with CASA [Civil Aviation Safety Authority] requirements and Qantas’ fuel policy.

On approach into Perth, Air Traffic Control requested the aircraft hold for longer than our pilots had previously been advised, and that to be given priority to land our pilots needed to make a fuel mayday call.

The aircraft landed with 40 minutes of fuel in the tank, which is well above the minimum requirements. Our pilots followed the correct procedures and there was no safety issue with the flight.

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority’s regulations require airlines carry 5% contingency fuel, and Guardian Australia understands Qantas carried 10% contingency fuel on this flight.

The Australian Safety Transport Bureau is investigating the incident.

Updated

Linda Burney says she’s ‘not going to be rushed’ on Indigenous voice referendum

Linda Burney, the minister for Indigenous Australians, is on ABC radio speaking about the enshrinement of the Indigenous voice in the constitution.

Burney says she has been “emboldened by the incredible support out there in the community” and says the voice has to have real live impacts on the lives of first Nations people.

Burney is asked about the warnings from Indigenous academic and co chair of the senior design group on the voice, Marcia Langford, that there is a danger in asking Australians to vote for voice without detail, who wants the legislation to provide an answer.

Burney said she had two responses to that issue:

This is not just symbolic, it is going to have real impacts on the lives of First Nations people.

I am not going to be rushed into timelines. We are going to do this properly.

Linda Burney says the government will seek bipartisanship on the voice to parliament process.
Linda Burney says the government will seek bipartisanship on the voice to parliament process. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAP

Burney says there will be appropriate governance structures to oversee the process but “at the end of the day it is about the Australian people”.

She says bipartisanship on the issue would be “ideal”.

I would find it incredulous for people not to support what is a very generous and gracious ask.

Remember that this is an advisory body only. It is not usurping the sovereignty of the parliament. Is is not a third chamber.

Burney said “no decision has been made on whether the yes and no case will be equally funded”.

Updated

Rio Tinto agrees to pay additional $613m to settle dispute with ATO

Rio Tinto has agreed to pay the Australian taxation office an additional $613m to settle disputes over its financing arrangements and marketing hubs in Singapore, as part of what the ATO claims is one of the biggest tax settlements in Australian history.

The payment is on top of $378m the global mining giant had previously paid over the same dispute,bringing the total to almost $1bn in extra tax revenue. The ATO had been seeking about $1.2bn in tax and penalties.

Updated

Emergency Qantas landing in Perth under investigation

A Qantas plane was forced to make an emergency landing at Perth airport on Monday when it started running out of fuel, sparking an investigation by air safety authorities.

The Australian Safety Transport Bureau reports a Boeing 737 was on its way from Brisbane when the crew declared an emergency on descent over Wave Rock, east of Perth. The bureau, which is investigating the incident, said:

A final report will be released at the conclusion of the investigation.

However, should a critical safety issue be identified during the course of the investigation, the ATSB will immediately notify relevant parties so appropriate safety action can be taken.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports the pilots were forced to declare a “mayday” as they queued with other planes amid airport delays. The Herald reports it arrived with 20 minutes’ worth of fuel, to be told the wait would be 16 minutes, so the crew called a mayday to get priority landing.

The ATSB said the plane landed with “reserves intact”.

Updated

Shadow finance minister says government should tighten spending to fight inflation

Jane Hume, the shadow finance minister, follows Farrell on ABC radio and is calling for Labor to tighten their belts when it comes to government spending to curb inflation.

Asked if the prime minister was right to warn the RBA against overreach when it comes to lifting interest rates, Hume said:

It’s very important that we keep inflation under control because of course inflation erodes your purchasing power. And that is the primary focus of the RBA – make sure that the RBA can maintain price stability. But it isn’t just done through monetary policy. It has to be done through fiscal policy as well.

And that’s where the government needs to step up and make sure that there is some control spending.

Hume refused to answer a question on where she would suggest cutting funding, saying that is not her job.

My job is to judge that the proposed cuts Labor is making is in the national interest.

Updated

Australia closer to final agreement on a free trade deal with EU

Farrell said he is getting “a very positive response” to Australia’s chances of success when talks resume with the European Union on a free trade deal.

Updated

Farrell would ‘love to see’ China lift coal restrictions

Asked about the prospect of getting Chinese restrictions on coal lifted, Farrell said the government would “love to see those restrictions lifted” but it’s a “wait and see issue.”

Updated

Trade minister says he’s offered ‘olive branch’ to China counterpart

Don Farrell, the minister for trade and tourism, is on ABC radio discussing the potential reset with China.

Farrell says he received a congratulatory letter from his Beijing counterpart and plans to write back to him shortly and offer to meet a time convenient to him.

Farrell says the “blockages” to a reset still exist in the form of world trade organisation with barley and wine sanctions, but he is hopeful to get restrictions on Australian sales lifted.

We need to be positive. We need to be constructive ... but there’s a few hurdles along the way.

Farrell has confirmed Australia would be pursuing the resolution of sanctions through the mechanisms the World Trade Organisation has set up.

Under a rules based system, which Australia has signed up to, which China has signed up to, there’s only one way to resolve these issues.

Updated

Agriculture minister urges travellers to be wary of foot-and-mouth disease

Murray Watt, the agriculture minister, was on ABC earlier this morning discussing the threat Australia’s agricultural industry is facing from foot-and-mouth disease, which is the closest it has ever been with it spreading in Bali and throughout Indonesia.

Despite the news that viral fragments were found in food products in Melbourne yesterday, Watt says he remains confident Australia can remain free of the disease.

I feel very confident that Australia’s world-leading biosecurity system stands us in very good stead to resist this outbreak arriving. There is a very serious outbreak of foot and mouth disease in Indonesia at the moment, just as there is in a number of other countries around the world. Malaysia, Vietnam, we have seen it in South Africa, in China, in other countries as well.

But we are certainly working extremely hard in partnership with industry to make sure that we keep it out by taking really strong measures here at home as well as making sure that we are helping our neighbours abroad.

Acid wash mats have been introduced at airports but Watt says:

There is no silver bullet here. What we need to be doing is making sure we are implementing every single measure that can make a difference.

But he says other parties besides the federal government has a role to play, including all travellers:

We also need our state and territory governments being ready if there were to be an outbreak and I had a very productive meeting with state and territory agriculture ministers about this yesterday. But most importantly we also need to see the travelling public do the right thing. We need people to declare when they come back in the country if they have been on a farm, if they have been near livestock. We need people to clean their shoes thoroughly or preferably leave them behind. It doesn’t matter whether you are the minister for agriculture, someone travelling back from Bali, a farmer, we all have a role to play here to make sure we do stay FMD free.

Foot-and-mouth disease, which affects cloven hoofed animals including cattle, could threaten Australia’s livestock industry if detected here.
Foot-and-mouth disease, which affects cloven hoofed animals including cattle, could threaten Australia’s livestock industry if detected here. Photograph: Natasha May/The Guardian

Updated

PM reveals parliament's agenda priorities

Introducing paid family and domestic violence leave will be one of the first priorities of the federal government when the new parliament meets, AAP reports.

The government’s proposed laws will allow any Australian worker to access 10 days paid family and domestic violence leave, after an election promise to ensure work is not a barrier for someone who needs to leave a violent home life.

Aged care reforms and enshrining the government’s 43% emissions reduction target in law are also among the prime minister’s priorities.

Parliament House at sunrise in Canberra.
Parliament House at sunrise in Canberra. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

The 47th parliament will meet for the first time on Tuesday and sit for two weeks. The first sitting week will be about starting to create a better future for Australia, prime minister Anthony Albanese said.

He said in a statement:

Australians voted for change and my government is working hard and delivering,.

These are important first steps towards fixing aged care, protecting vulnerable Australians, addressing the challenges in our economy and working with our friends and allies to confront the challenges and opportunities from our changing climate.

No one held back, no one left behind, and a parliament all Australians can be proud of – that’s what I’ll be focused on when we meet together next week.

While the government has a 77 seat majority required to pass legislation in the lower house, the Senate presents a challenge. The government holds just 26 seats in the upper house, well short of the required majority, and will need to negotiate with the 18-strong crossbench or the opposition to gain 39 votes to pass legislation.

Updated

Good morning!

The government has revealed the parliamentary agenda priorities before the new parliament meets for the first time on Tuesday next week.

Top priorities will be legislating on an emissions reduction target and aged care , as well as introducing paid family and domestic violence leave and a new jobs and skills agency.

As another Covid-19 wave continues to sweep across the country, the prime minister Anthony Albanese has defended his government’s reluctance to introduce stricter measures, citing civil disobedience, vaccinations and mental health as reasons not to.

Australia is stepping up precautions against foot and mouth disease as viral fragments of the disease were detected yesterday in food products arriving from China. The country remains free of the diseases as the live virus was not detected, but new biosecurity measures including disinfectant mats at airports are being introduced in an attempt to protect the agriculture industry.

If you want to get in touch with news you think should be on the blog, you can ping me on Twitter @natasha__may or email natasha.may@theguardian.com.

Let’s jump in!

Updated

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