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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Caitlin Cassidy (now) and Calla Wahlquist (earlier)

At least 98 deaths on nation’s deadliest day – as it happened

Australia New South Wales Victoria Scott Morrison Queensland Covid-19 Melbourne Mark McGowan Alexey Pavlovsky Russia

What we learned: Friday, 28 January

With that, I will send the blog on its merry way. To all those battling floods/heat/hailstones, stay safe and dry.

Here were today’s major developments:

  • Australia has recorded a record number of Covid deaths, with 98 fatalities nationwide and 39 in Victoria alone.
  • To say it mildly, there are a lot of storms about. There has been flash flooding in Victoria, SA and New South Wales; winds as strong as category two cyclones in Victoria; and power outages in SA as Melbourne was hit with the brunt of rain and hail this afternoon. A number of warnings remain in place on the Bureau of Meteorology’s website.
  • Pfizer booster shots have been approved for Australians aged 16 and 17. Teenagers will not be able to book in right away, that will come with Atagi advice.
  • Human rights advocates and union leaders have urged the Australian government to impose targeted sanctions against Myanmar’s military leaders as the first anniversary of the coup looms.
  • The Australian Olympic Committee has partnered with Gina Rinehart’s mining company, Hancock Prospecting.
  • Russia’s ambassador to Australia Alexey Pavlovsky held a rare press conference in Canberra in which he hit out at media “propaganda” and said a buildup of more than 100,000 troops near the border of Ukraine was not a sign of aggression.
  • WA has announced changes to close contact requirements that will come into effect when Covid-19 cases rise in the state. They are similar to those in place in SA.
  • Speaking of which, SA has loosened some Covid restrictions including QR mandates for retail and increasing indoor hospitality caps to 50%. More changes may be made in the coming weeks if cases continue to fall.
  • And prime minister Scott Morrison rebuffed Grace Tame’s smile snub at the Lodge by retorting he and Jenny “always greet guests with a smile” at their home. Note: Grace Tame was not visiting the PMs personal residence, and she was there for a formal event.

Updated

Back in Victoria:

Updated

Canberrans – be careful this mushrooming season:

Updated

McGowan has repeatedly emphasised the record numbers of Covid deaths in Australia in the past week as justification for keeping definitions for close contact and isolation rules in WA tighter than the rest of the nation when it does open up to the virus.

He says the rules are closely modelled off SA.

Updated

Interesting stat:

Before McGowan announced the reopening of the border (and then backflipped), this has probably been the most significant acknowledgment that it is not a matter of if Covid arrives in greater numbers in WA, but when.

The changes will only be introduced when (and the terminology in this presser has been “when”) WA records high daily case numbers, but – though stricter than the national definition of close contacts – it will be a huge game changer for how the state has been managing Covid cases thus far.

Updated

The last thing to change in WA “in the event of a very high caseload environment” is a re-definition of close contacts for critical workers – similar to what we’ve seen in the rest of Australia.

Critical workers, if asymptomatic, will be able to continue to work if they are designated as a close contact.

McGowan:

This is a measure of last resort to ensure we keep our state running. The worker must be asymptomatic and cannot undertake their role from home and either performs a role that is critical to the Covid-19 response, a continuation of critical services that prevent significant harm ... or performs a role that is necessary for the safe continuation of services or has a role in transport, food beverages, pharmaceutical supplies, agriculture, critical resources, power utilities and waste management services, corrective and judicial services, police and emergency services, schools and childcare, healthcare services, social assistance at residential care, veterinary services, funeral, crematorium and cemetery services and defence and defence-related industries.

So a fair string of industries.

Updated

The third condition to change in WA is new testing and isolation protocols for positive cases and close contacts.

Confirmed positive cases will need to self-isolate for a minimum of seven days instead of 14. McGowan says if symptoms are still present, they must keep isolating until they recover. Otherwise, they’re free to leave isolation after a week.

If you are a symptomatic close contact, you’re required to isolate for seven days from date of contact with a positive case, and to take a PCR or rapid antigen test as soon as possible. If positive, you must stay in isolation and take another RAT in 24 hours.

If the test is negative or you are asymptomatic, you’re required to take a final RAT on day seven before leaving isolation.

McGowan:

If you are designated a close contact but you do not have any cold or flu-like symptoms, self-isolate for seven days from date of contact with the positive case. If symptoms develop prior to day seven, take a PCR or RAT test. If still asymptomatic, you can have a RAT test and if not positive you can leave isolation.

For any close contact it is important to remember: even after leaving isolation after seven days, it is important you monitor for symptoms for the next seven days as an extra precaution.

Updated

Close contact requirements to change in WA

McGowan says the Omicron variant is “impossible to eliminate and spreads fast”. In light of this fact, new settings will be brought in regarding the definition of a close contact when/if case numbers rise. For the moment, though, current isolation and close contact requirements still apply.

At some point in the future, we will inevitably be in a higher caseload environment ... To strike the right balance between suppressing the virus and allowing society to function as smoothly as possible, there are two things tonight.

WA is not currently in the environment that requires these new settings. Right now the virus is still at manageable levels ... Today, we can detail the future settings to give the community, businesses and industries the opportunity to plan and prepare for our transition to managing higher levels of data cases.

When settings change, casual contacts will no longer be considered, so being at an exposure site at the same time as a positive case won’t be a reason for testing and isolation. Check-ins will continue despite this so people can monitor for symptoms.

The definition of a close contact will change to a household member or intimate partner, or someone who has had “close personal interaction” with a confirmed case during their infectious period - which means 15 minutes of face-to-face contact where no masks were present, or more than two hours in a small room where masks had at least partially been removed. Close contacts must get tested and isolate for 14 days.

McGowan:

I think most would agree that the WA definition is better for limiting the spread of the virus in the community and ensuring people are incentivised to do the right thing while also ensuring that things can continue safely to operate.

Updated

WA records nine Covid cases, all linked

The WA premier, Mark McGowan, is speaking now in Perth. He says there have been nine local Covid-19 cases detected overnight – all linked to the current Omicron outbreak.

McGowan:

Several of today’s cases have been infectious while in the community. Contact tracers are working with these cases to determine potential public exposure sites and these will be uploaded to the Health WA website when confirmed. WA Health is also reporting one case who is an interstate traveller. There are currently 114 confirmed active cases in WA.

McGowan says yesterday was the deadliest day of the pandemic in Australia so far – a “hard, unavoidable and very uncomfortable fact”.

Given the ongoing outbreak in WA, McGowan convened a state of disaster meeting to finalise “several issues” following how the outbreak has played out in eastern states.

This all relates to WA’s future high caseload settings for those contacts, testing and isolation protocols and critical worker guidelines. Everyone has seen what has happened on the east coast for the past two months ... Omicron is a game changer. It is so infectious and it has overwhelmed systems that were set up for Delta.

Western Australia premier, Mark McGowan
Western Australia premier, Mark McGowan, convened a state of disaster meeting after Australia’s deadliest day of the pandemic. Photograph: Matt Jelonek/Getty Images

Updated

First cases of BA.2 descendent of Omicron recorded in NSW

Australia has recorded its deadliest day ever of the Covid pandemic, with 98 deaths recorded, as the first cases of the BA.2 descendant of the Omicron variant have been recorded in NSW.

There are now 35 cases of BA.2 in Australia overall including in Tasmania, ACT, Queensland, WA and Victoria.

Of the new deaths, 39 were recorded in Victoria, 35 in NSW, 18 in Queensland, and one in the ACT. The previous one-day high was on 21 January, when 88 deaths were recorded.

While overall cases are plateauing, the country’s chief nursing and midwifery officer, Prof Alison McMillan, said death rates were set to remain high for some time:

As we have seen during the two years of the pandemic, the number of deaths associated with those cases stay higher for a longer period. There is a delay in the number of deaths. Sadly, we have seen quite a number of deaths.

Updated

A reminder – motorists and passengers are “urged to be vigilant” amid the storms. As in, stay off the road if it’s flooding.

Updated

In Queensland, ordinary commissioner of the Queensland Crime and Corruption Commission, Bruce Barbour, has been appointed acting chair.

The state’s attorney general, Shannon Fentiman, lauded Barbour’s track record in law and risk assessment.

Barbour has extensive experience in administrative law and conducting investigations, and held the highly-respected position of NSW Ombudsman for 15 years.

He has the capability and skills to lead the CCC in the interim and has a thorough understanding of its operations since being appointed as an Ordinary Commissioner in 2021 with the bi-partisan support of the Parliamentary Crime and Corruption Committee (PCCC).

Barbour has been a senior member of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, a member of the NSW Casino Control Authority, chair of the NSW Public Interest Disclosures Steering Committee, a member of the NSW Institute of Criminology Advisory Committee, regional vice-president of the International Ombudsman Institute and Convenor of the NSW Child Death Review team.

The position for a permanent chair will be advertised nationally in accordance with the Crime and Corruption Act 2001.

Barbour will begin his role as acting chair today.

Updated

Hail, heavy rain and thunderstorms have lashed Greater Melbourne as the cool change sweeps across Victoria.

The Bureau of Meteorology issued a severe thunderstorm warning for Gisborne and Melton in Victoria’s east and Belgrave in the state’s west.

Pakenham, Sunbury, Williamstown, Craigieburn, Footscray and St Alban are also forecast to be hit by heavy rainfall and hail this afternoon that could lead to flash flooding.

The BoM reported that Bullengarook in Victoria’s west recorded 21.8mm of rain in 30 minutes while Springvale in the state’s south-east was drenched with 35mm of rain in half an hour.

Meanwhile motorists and passengers are “urged to be vigilant” with the severe thunderstorm warning and heavy rain moving across Melbourne.

Victoria’s State Emergency Service has issued a watch and act thunderstorm alert for Greater Melbourne including Paekenham, Sunbury and Williamstown.

The emergency agency also issued a flash food watch and act alert for Elwood Creek and Castlemaine, with residents urged to stay indoors.

Some of the greatest impacted areas include:

  • Bell Street, Preston is closed eastbound between Albert Street and Chifley Drive, due to fallen power lines. Use Murray and Southern roads instead.
  • Outbound traffic is reduced to one lane on the Princes Highway, Berwick between Clyde Road and Wheeler Street, due to a fallen tree. There are heavy delays in the area.
  • There are areas of flooding on the Monash Freeway, particularly around Kooyong and Glen Iris. The inbound entry from High Street is closed.
  • Buses will replace trains on the Mernda and Hurstbridge lines between Parliament and Clifton Hill, due to equipment damage caused by the weather.
  • Coaches are replacing V/Line trains between Geelong and Waurn Ponds, due to an equipment fault near South Geelong.
  • There are areas of flooding on Springvale Road, Glen Waverley as well at the Princes Highway through Mulgrave.
  • There are delays of 30 minutes for the Cranbourne and Pakenham lines, and of 40 minutes for the Frankston Line, due to flooding on the tracks.
  • There are several tram services diverting or operating in sections due to flooding or debris on the tracks.

Updated

The Bureau of Meteorology says severe thunderstorms continue to hit large parts of greater Melbourne. There is an ongoing forecast for heavy rainfall, damaging winds and large hailstones for northern greater Melbourne and parts of the inner east, inner and outer east areas:

At 3.50pm, severe thunderstorms were detected on the weather radar near Craigieburn, Woodend, the area west of Woodend, Mt Macedon and Warburton.

These thunderstorms are moving towards the east to southeast. They are forecast to affect Broadmeadows, Greensborough and Whittlesea by 4.20pm and Croydon, Lilydale and Yarra Glen by 4.50pm.

Heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding, damaging winds and large hailstones are likely.

Some 3cm hail was observed in Melbourne’s inner east. Bullengarook recorded 21.8mm of rain in 30 minutes. Springvale recorded 35mm of rain in 30 minutes.

Updated

Heavy rain, thunder and flash flooding in Victoria continues:

A lightning strike during a large thunderstorm at 3:10pm today at Silvan, Victoria.
A lightning strike during a large thunderstorm at 3:10pm today at Silvan, Victoria. Photograph: Ari Evans

In case you missed it, here is a summary of Russian ambassador to Australia Alexey Pavlovksy’s media appearance from AAP.

Pavlovsky used the rare media conference in Canberra to warn Australian support for Ukraine risked leading to war:

When the western countries now, including Australia, are expressing their support, either verbally or in material terms, or by sending arms to Ukraine, they embolden Kyiv to continue their line of sabotage.

We think that such expressions of support are very dangerous because they lead to provocations, they lead to war.

Pavlovsky also claimed Russia was not being aggressive by massing troops on the border with Ukraine:

Our troops are not a threat. They are a warning to Ukraine not to try any reckless military adventures, not to interpret the support they have from the West as carte blanche to do such crazy things.

The ambassador attacked defence minister Peter Dutton’s earlier description of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, as an increasingly irrational and ageing dictator:

If such is the level of analysis informing Australian policy, then it is definitely a worrying sign. Australians definitely are entitled to more meaningful understanding of the situation than comic book-style propaganda like Batman versus Joker.

Australia earlier this week evacuated some diplomatic staff and their families from Ukraine and upgraded its advice to “do not travel”. Pavlovsky accused the Morrison government of “fanning hysteria” from thousands of miles away.

Federal authorities also suggested Australia could look to help supply gas to Europe should Russia decide to cut supplies. Pavlovsky wished Australia “good luck” in entering the European gas market.

The last time a Russian ambassador to Australia held a press conference was in 2018.

Updated

Talk about a man on a mission:

Former media personality Andrew O’Keefe has been refused bail.

Catch up on the story here:

This is insane:

St Kilda Junction right now:

So, to recap the SA press conference:

  • Indoor dining will increase to 50% capacity for the hospitality sector from midnight. Seated consumption will still be required, and there is no change to outdoor settings.
  • QR codes will no longer be required for the retail sector. They will remain mandatory in hospitality and in “high risk” settings.
  • Also from midnight, paediatric elective surgery for children will be able to resume.

Marshall said further changes may be made in the coming weeks, as active cases (hopefully) continue to fall:

Hopefully, as we continue to deal with this Omicron outbreak, we can make further restrictions that will improve outcomes in hospitality and other sectors as well.

We will be looking very carefully to add some other sectors in the next round, certainly the fitness sector is one that we are looking at very closely, we will look at those limits again and how many people are coming back into the CBD.

Updated

The Melbourne storm is looking as wild as was predicted:

Broken Hill:

From midnight, 50% density limits will be reinstated for the hospitality sector in South Australia as part of a string of eased restrictions for the state.

On 26 December we were facing a very uncertain future with the rise and rise of Omicron, not just here in South Australia but right around the country, right around the world. True to form, South Australians responded exactly and precisely to the requests that were made by the government, by SA health, by the state coordinator, to reduce movement

... We now find ourselves in a much, much improved situation, certainly within our hospitals’ capacity to respond to the numbers that we have at the moment. That has given us confidence to be able to gradually reduce restrictions in South Australia.

What I can announce effective at one minute past midnight tonight is that we will restore 50% density for hospitality in South Australia ... Effective at 12.01am tonight, we will go back to 50% density ... still seated consumption indoors, no change to outdoor densities.

I can also let you know that elective surgery, paediatric elective surgery for children in South Australia will also be permitted as a 12.01am tonight. We appreciate that elective surgery will not be able to be scheduled until next week – we are giving you advance notice that as of 12.01am tonight that will be available.

Updated

QR codes will no longer be mandatory in retail settings across South Australia.

They will still be required for hospitality and “high risk” locations.

Active Covid cases falling in SA

Marshall says 1,846 new cases has been the lowest number reported in SA all year.

Some 1,336 cases were detected from PCR tests, and 510 from RATs.

What I can let you know is there were 2,969 recoveries in the past 24 hours. That is a very positive number against the number of new cases at 1,846. We have a total number of active cases in South Australia continuing to fall, now at 24,612.

That takes our seven day average down to 2,047 – certainly the lowest number we have had for a very, very long period of time. We have also had a fall in the number of people in hospital, down to 285, the lowest we have had for several days.

Updated

South Australia’s premier, Steven Marshall, is providing detail of the state’s 1,846 new Covid cases and flags a further easing of restrictions.

Before he does though, Marshall announces that as of this morning, a further emergency declaration was made in response to the “continued issues” associated with extreme weather in recent days.

This will provide a state coordinator – who is of course the police commissioner in South Australia – with the additional responsibilities and, if you like, the powers to do with issues associated with heavy vehicle movements, to do with food security, and also to deal with supporting very remote and isolated communities.

It is fair to say that we are now understanding the full magnitude of the issues associated with extreme weather in South Australia. A major emergency declaration has been declared. That will be in place for 14 days.

Updated

SA records five more deaths

South Australia has recorded five more Covid-19 deaths – all over the age of 80.

There are 285 people being treated with Covid in hospital, including 24 people requiring intensive care and four on ventilators.

Updated

Downward drinking trends pre-Covid are continuing to reverse according to a new survey from the Alcohol and Drug Foundation.

The latest data showed 25% of Australians are drinking more now than they were before the pandemic.

Chief executive of the ADF, Dr Erin Lalor, warned alcohol use as a “coping mechanism” was threatening to become culturally entrenched even as states emerged from lockdown restrictions:

Australians have been using drugs and alcohol as coping strategies to deal with ongoing restrictions and Covid-induced unemployment, anxiety, mental health problems and loss of social connectedness.

Although restrictions have eased, the repercussions of another tough year are still being felt so we urge people to leave behind unhealthy drinking habits as we move towards a ‘new normal’.

If this spike in alcohol and other drug use isn’t addressed quickly, we’re likely to see corresponding adverse effects on these social issues that are of most concern to everyday Australians.

Updated

Here is a quirky little media release from MP Bob Katter to keep you going this Friday afternoon.

Katter says the federal government is throwing money at the Great Barrier Reef instead of addressing “immediate and real problems” such as “feral pigs causing erosion in river systems or raw sewage seeping out at Cardwell”.

Katter says he’s been lobbying Cardwell’s (a town south of Cairns) case for the past two years:

There is no sewage system for the town and nearly the entire population lives 150 metres from the ocean. I can’t imagine a worse situation. What we need is a further $23m to the money that’s already been allocated to properly fix it up.

They’ve already spent $1b on the reef without addressing the sewage at Cardwell. Ayr has a magnificent answer to suburban runoff going onto the reef with their macro-algal bioremediation facility and they need serious funding too.

Katter goes on:

How much of a scam and a con on the public purse were the previous crown-of-thorns starfish eradication programs? $120m was allocated and it would appear from the information sent to me that it went into the hands of three people. There was never any information published on just how many crown-of-thorns starfish were removed.

Updated

Relief for Melburnians, followed nearly immediately by thunderstorms:

Morrison is absolutely shamelessly milking the votes of reptiles here who – let’s be real – are already committed to the Animal Justice Party.

Updated

Back in the NT, and a third vaccination will become mandatory for workers in public facing roles.

High risk workers must receive their first dose by 11 March, and the remainder of public facing workers will need to receive their booster by 22 April.

Chief minister Michael Gunner says it was known Omicron would spread “quickly and aggressively:

We also knew that fully vaccinated Territorians would be the best protected – and they are. That is why we worked so hard to achieve such a high vaccination rate across the Territory.

Two doses of the vaccine has given tens of thousands of Territorians excellent protection against severe illness – the booster shot makes sure that protection is stronger, and lasts longer.

If you are eligible now, please don’t wait. Book in, boost up and give yourself and your loved ones the best shot at protection from serious illness.

Updated

Pavlovsky says the buildup of more than 100,000 troops near the border with Ukraine is not a sign of aggression:

I’m not saying there are no troops in our territory – I’m not.

Reporter:

But why are they there?

Pavlovsky:

A sign not of aggression ... there is no aggression because our troops are on our territory.

He turns to telling reporters how to write: “You can not say there is Russian aggression.”

He then pivots to criticising Australia for its “lies” to invade Iraq in 2003.

Updated

Other lyrics of John Lennon’s Imagine include:

Imagine there’s no countries

It isn’t hard to do

Nothing to kill or die for

And no religion, too...

Imagine all the people

Sharing all the world

Russia's ambassador to Australia hits out at "propaganda" reporting

Russia’s ambassador to Australia, Alexey Pavlovsky, is holding a press conference in Canberra amid growing concerns about Russia’s troops building-up near the border with Ukraine.

Pavlovsky begins by saying many media have requested comment on the situation in eastern Europe:

I appreciate that when you requested our comments, you cited the desire to ensure balanced reporting. Indeed I think the Australian public does need balanced reporting and it needs it badly.

The ambassador tees off at “propaganda”. He cites Peter Dutton’s comment yesterday that Vladimir Putin is an ageing dictator who is becoming more irrational:

If such is the level of analysis informing Australian policy then it is definitely a worrying sign.

The Australian government has voiced support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and has left the door open to sanctions coordinated with allies, if Russia invades.

The first question goes to a Russian reporter. We’ll have more updates later.

Updated

Russia’s ambassador to Australia, Alexey Pavlovsky, has begun a rare press conference.

Updated

NT reports 940 Covid cases

Heading to Darwin now, and Northern Territory chief minister, Michael Gunner, is providing a Covid update. There have been 940 new cases detected overnight.

Yesterday’s case numbers have also been revised from 626 to 747, Gunner says. I am unsure why this has jumped so dramatically overnight.

There are 4,200 active cases in the NT, with “well over half” of the cases in Darwin and Palmerston.

A 48-hour lockdown will be imposed in parts of central Australia with very low vaccination rates to allow for greater testing and containment of the virus, Gunner says.

There’s additional community in central Australia we’re concerned about. We’re getting detail of new cases there but we understand ... there’s a community with a very low vaccination rate. From 2pm today, they will enter a 48-hour lockdown to allow us to test the community and trying to contain it as much as possible.

Active cases in the Northern Territory now stand at 4,200. Around two-thirds of our cases are occurring in the Top End, well over half are in Darwin and Palmerston. We have seen a sharp spike in cases, mainly in Darwin, as more and more families rush home from interstate holidays. It’s not surprising and we can expect that to continue for a few days to a week. This doesn’t change our overall settings, but it’s more important than ever we stick to the measures that are in place to keep us safe.

Updated

Big bag of Cairns (coffee cups) with the lads!

Updated

Here we go again.

The Bureau of Meteorology says a severe thunderstorm is approaching western parts of greater Melbourne including Geelong and the Bellarine Peninsula:

[As of 1pm] severe thunderstorms were detected on the weather radar near the area south of Ballarat, the area southwest of Ballarat and the area northwest of Meredith.

These thunderstorms are moving towards the southeast. They are forecast to affect Brisbane Ranges, the area south of the Brisbane Ranges and the area west of Lara by 2pm.

Damaging winds and heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding are likely.

A more general severe thunderstorm warning is also current for parts of the central and south west districts.

Updated

The Australian Energy Market Operator has released its latest quarterly report which shows a renewables “surge” in rooftop solar and large-scale wind and solar farms.

The founder & chief scientist of Rewiring Australia, Dr Saul Griffith, said households could better share in the economic benefits of energy technology trends if homes were rewired with electric heating, electric water heating, electric cooking, and electric cars:

Australia’s global lead in generating clean, renewable energy from our home rooftops is admirable but to really drive home this advantage we need to fully exploit our lead ... If we press this advantage now, Australian households can smash household energy costs by $5,000 a year and drive a one-third reduction in domestic carbon emissions.

We are spending $1bn to save the Great Barrier Reef while spending many more billions destroying it by supporting fossil fuels. While I can’t complain about more money for reef research and support, this is blatant hypocrisy. We should be investing in more renewable energy and storage, demand side electrification, and prioritising green manufacturing for future export industries.

Today’s report from AEMO found almost 35% of Australian energy was generated from renewable sources for the three months to 31 December.

Griffith:

With just a little foresight, Australia can lead the world in fully electrifying our homes and then export that technology and expertise to the world. But this won’t happen by itself. We need to make it really straightforward for households to swap a fossil fuelled appliance or vehicle with one powered by clean energy. We should change our planning and permitting laws to prioritise all electric households and businesses, and start training the installation and maintenance workforce for this electrified future now.

Updated

After wild weather and flooding in the past 24 hours, 6,700 homes are without power in Victoria.

Updated

ACT records one death, 734 new Covid cases

The Australian Capital Territory has recorded 734 new cases of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours and sadly, one further death.

A man in his 80s has died overnight, bringing the number of fatalities with Covid-19 in the ACT to 26.

There are 66 people being treated in hospital with Covid including five people in intensive care and one person requiring ventilation.

It’s down from 73 hospitalisations yesterday, and it’s the ninth day running case numbers have remained below 1000.

Updated

Butler is asked whether Labor will up its funding commitment to the reef in the wake of the Morrison government’s announcement.

Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, committed $163m to the Great Barrier Reef during a trip to Cairns earlier this month

Butler says Labor’s commitment is for “immediate support” to protect the reef:

The government’s announcement is for funding over ten years or so. We don’t even know how much of this money is supposed to be spent immediately and how much of it will be in years, eight or nine. It is up to the government to say that they will be taking action immediately to stand up for the reef. And as I said, Australians will judge this government on what they have done over the past decade – not what they say they’re going to do in a decade’s time.

Updated

In Brisbane, shadow treasurer, Jim Chalmers, and Labor MP Terri Butler, are reacting to the federal government’s $1bn pledge for the Great Barrier Reef announced today.

Butler says the $1bn investment – to be provided over a nine year period – comes after the threat of the reef being added to the world heritage listing:

What the international community knows and what Australians know is that the greatest threat to the Great Barrier Reef is climate change. And until we have a government willing to take real action on climate change, it’s just not good enough.

Chalmers says today’s announcement is an “admission of failure and also a con job”:

They’ve left businesses in far north Queensland in the lurch. And now at five minutes to an election campaign, they want to all of a sudden pretend that they care. If this government really cared about the reef, they’d care about climate change. And you can’t do anything meaningful about the reef unless you do something meaningful about climate change as well. And in this government, climate change policy is run by Barnaby Joyce and Matt Canavan and all the rest of them, and the reef is not getting a look in.

Updated

Many thanks to Calla Wahlquist and, by extension, her enviable ponies for guiding us through this morning’s news. I’ll be with you for the rest of the day.

Thank you for your company this morning. I’ll leave you in the capable hands of Caitlin Cassidy, who will take you through the afternoon.

In unsurprising news, parents who home-schooled children experienced significantly higher levels of distress than people without children during lockdown.

More from AAP:

An Australian National University study asked more than 1,200 Australian adults to rank their psychological wellbeing during the first wave of Covid-19 restrictions in March and April of 2020.

The results validate the feelings of those who struggled through home-schooling hell.

It found that those who were home-schooling experienced greater disruption to their work and social lives.

Lead researcher Prof Alison Calear, from ANU’s Centre for Mental Health Research, said parents who supervised their children’s school work were “so stretched”.

“They were often trying to do their full-time job, as well as keeping their kids on track, as well as still doing everything else they have to do around the house,” Calear said.

“In addition, most caregivers couldn’t rely on their usual social networks for support.

“You couldn’t have grandparents helping out for example, or take your kids to a friend’s house.”

The analysis was carried out during the first wave of the pandemic.

“My suspicion is the distress levels would be even higher now,” Calear said

“It’s important for employers to be aware of this toll. I think there’s a lot we could do to better support parents”.

Updated

Producer prices rising at their fastest annual pace in 13 years

Producer prices were rising at the fastest annual pace in almost 13 years at the end of 2021, the ABS tells us this morning.

The 3.7% rise in the December quarter tracked closely the 3.5% “headline” increase in the consumer price index reported earlier this week.

Similar factors were at play in nudging the pace of rising costs to its fastest since the March quarter in 2009, namely fuel prices and construction materials.

Cheaper power and water costs helped – thanks La Niña – although the ABS also sought to highlight a 4.4% drop in sugar and confectionery manufacturing due to falling chocolate prices “resulting from promotional Christmas discounting”. Think of it as a sweetener, I guess, amid all the bad news.

Anyway, with the Omicron disruptions rattling supply chains at the end of 2021 and 2022, we might expect to see further increases in producer and consumer prices well into this year.

The RBA has its first meeting next Tuesday and the bank governor, Philip Lowe, will give a National Press Club speech the following day in Sydney.

Investors have already dismissed RBA pronouncements about being patient and leaving the official cash rate unchanged at its record low 0.1% and today’s producer prices will probably bolster their case.

They’re betting the bank will lift the rate to 0.25% by May, and by a full percentage point by the year’s end. Commercial bank economists don’t expect a rate move so soon but more are coming around to a rate move by August or so.

Updated

Labor frontbencher Mark Butler said much the same:

You can’t be serious about protecting the Great Barrier Reef if you’re not serious about climate change. And I think that Australians understand that this government simply is not serious about climate change.

Updated

The Greens have criticised the $1bn Great Barrier Reef funding announcement made by prime minister Scott Morrison today, saying that the biggest threat to the reef was climate change and the government has no meaningful policy in that area.

Queensland senator Larissa Waters said the “belated cash splash” was a “joke from a government that has turbo charged the climate crisis imperilling the Reef by giving billions to fossil fuels and backing new coal and gas”.

Climate policy is the most important factor in saving the Reef and the government’s policy is crap.

Under Scott Morrison’s leadership, Australia played a spoiler role at the climate summit in Glasgow, holding the entire world back from achieving the emissions reduction we need to slow global heating.

This is a pathetic attempt to shore up Queensland regional seats but if this is to save tourism it’s too late. Cairns tourism operators needed JobKeeper for much longer.

Sarah Hanson-Young, the Greens spokesperson on environment and water, said Morrison “can’t save the Reef while making climate change worse”.

Our environment is in crisis and the Great Barrier Reef is at top of the list of casualties. We need genuine action not just lip service. Spending $1 billion of the reef over the next decade, while handing out over $220 million to open new gas wells in the Beetaloo Basin makes no sense!”

Australian Olympic Committee will partner with Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting

The Australian Olympic Committee has partnered with Gina Rinehart’s mining company, Hancock Prospecting.

In a media release today the AOC said the “innovative and important partnership” would run until 2026, through the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games, Paris 2024 summer games, and the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, as well as the youth olympic games at Gangwon in 2024 and Dakar in 2026, and the Pacific games in 2023.

Rinehart made a pitch for reduced government regulation on new developments ahead of the Brisbane games in 2032.

AOC president, John Coates, says he “greatly welcomes” the partnership.

This is a major commitment to Australian sport. We welcome and thank Mrs Gina Rinehart and Hancock Prospecting for this investment. On the eve of farewelling our Team to the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games, the timing is perfect.

There is no coincidence that the strong support of Mrs Gina Rinehart for many of our athletes in Tokyo yielded excellent results. There were so many golden moments and success in the pool, our rowers had a wonderful Games, as did our beach volleyballers.

While delighted that this partnership will assist with our teams at future Games, I am also extremely grateful for the ongoing support for so many athletes at the grassroots. While that support is separate to this arrangement, it is a remarkable illustration of Mrs Gina Rinehart’s commitment to Australian sport at all levels. Along with our artistic swimmers, our swimmers, rowers and beach volleyballers will continue to benefit from this investment. She’s a great Australian who shares our Olympic values and philosophies.

The AOC is proudly independent of government. We neither receive nor seek federal funding for our day-to-day operations. We are grateful to have the support of Mrs Gina Rinehart, Hancock Prospecting and all our partners to ensure we retain that independence.

Chairman of Hancock Prospecting group Gina Rinehart.
Chairman of Hancock Prospecting group Gina Rinehart. Photograph: Jason Reed/Reuters

Rinehart said:

Our company has been a long-term supporter of the summer Olympic sports of artistic swimming, rowing and volleyball for many years, and specifically over 30 years for swimming. We are so proud to help our great Olympians who are such inspirations, through their hard work, most do not really know how hard they work, dedication, focus and self-discipline, as they endeavour to represent our country to the best of their ability. The traits these role models show in my view, are important for us all, if we wish to succeed in life and business.

We are delighted to take the next step in our long-term support of Australia’s best athletes and become an official Australian Olympic Committee partner, an organisation admirably independent of government funding and aligned to our values at the Hancock Group.

At Hancock we believe it is important that if there is government funding to other sporting bodies, that it be strictly applied to support the Olympians and future Olympians, their coaches and training requirements and participation in sport. We believe government or sponsor funds should be used to ensure sport is at the service of the community and the athletes, and much tighter scrutiny of taxpayers and sponsors funds would assist.

And the kicker, of course:

As Australia looks to hosting an Olympic Games in ten years, it will be important for our country to be open to investment and reduce the regulatory burden that impacts development needed to help make Queensland shine and the Games a success.

Updated

Australia has recorded its deadliest day of the pandemic so far

Australia has recorded its deadliest day of the pandemic with 92 deaths so far.

There have been 18 deaths reported in Queensland, 35 in New South Wales, and 39 in Victoria.

The previous highest toll was 88 deaths, reported last Friday.

Queensland chief health officer, Dr John Gerrard, said he did not expect the hospitalisation numbers would be so low. There are currently 818 people in hospital, 54 in intensive care.

Gerrard says that the peak of cases has passed on the Gold Coast and while there is no clear fall anywhere else in the state, “the situation in most of Queensland outside of the Gold Coast is very stable and we are expecting to see falls sometime in the next seven days.”

Today is two years since I saw Queensland’s first Covid-19 case on the Gold Coast and never at that time did we expect to see such low numbers of patients in our hospitals or intensive care units as we approach this peak. This is quite extraordinary and it is of course all due to the vaccination and vaccinations across Queensland, and the work of Queenslanders in healthcare workers delivering the vaccines.

Palaszczuk says it appears Queensland is coming to the peak of Covid-19 cases. She says the peak has passed on the Gold Coast, and it appears to be cresting in Brisbane and the southeast.

She is releasing modelling that was presented cabinet on Monday, which showed how bad authorities in Queensland were expecting things to get.

You can understand why we have had so many sleepless nights but we were initially expecting, in the worst case scenario, 5,000 [hospital] beds across Queensland would be needed. Our most likely scenario was around 3,000, over 3,000. And as you know what we are reporting at the moment is under 1,000. This is encouraging news but, honestly, I have to tell you that we were planning for the worst case scenario. And it was quite frightening at the time.

In ICU, our worst case scenario, we were looking at around 500 beds that were needed for ICU and at the moment that is tracking just above 50 and it is actually lower than the low scenarios in both situations so I think Queenslanders can appreciate that a lot of planning went into this. The modelling will be updated as well but these are very encouraging signs today.

Palaszczuk said the number of health staff furloughed was also down.

It doesn’t mean by any means that we are out of the pandemic but it does mean that hopefully we will see the return of our supply chains, and of course it means more police are out there to do their general duties and health staff are back into our hospitals. So we’re not out of it yet. It has taken a toll on our workforce. To all of our men and women out there and families who have been affected during this time, I know it has been hard for many people. For the majority of people, it is mild. In some cases, people have been quite sick at home and in other cases people have ended up in hospital.

Updated

Queensland reports 18 deaths from Covid-19, 12 in aged care

Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says that Queensland has reported 18 deaths in people with Covid-19, 12 of which were in aged care. One of the deaths was also a person in their 30s who was not vaccinated.

It’s one of the worst days of the pandemic so far for the sunshine state.

Palaszczuk also noted it is two years to the day since the first Covid-19 case was reported in Queensland.

Updated

Victorian health minister Martin Foley is speaking now.

He says 38% of children aged five to 11 in Victoria have now received their first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, before school goes back next week. A further 12,991 kids in that age group are booked in to receive their first dose at state run clinics next week, and there are more than 82,000 appointments for kids in that age group available over the next 30 days.

The Victorian government is also holding pop-up vaccine blitzes targeting school communities with reduced access to general practitioners and pharmacies.

There are also walk-up appointments available for children at the Sandown Racecourse, Dandenong Plaza vaccination Centre, Caroline Springs Leisure Centre, the Campbellfield Ford Factory Complex, the St Albans hospital and the Melton vaccination hub.

Updated

Former Liberal government staffer, Rachelle Miller, has responded to prime minister Scott Morrison’s comment that he greets everyone who comes to the Lodge with a smile. Morrison was responding to a question about whether he felt “disrespected” by outgoing Australian of the Year, Grace Tame, who had a neutral expression during a photo op earlier this week.

Updated

The Victorian health minister, Martin Foley, will give a press conference shortly.

At the risk of tempting fate, it’s worth pointing out that despite the concern about rising petrol prices, the pain at the bowser has actually been easing lately.

As I note in this piece, most capital cities have had a drop in fuel prices in the past week or longer even with global oil prices at seven-year highs, and ongoing concerns about whether Russia will invade Ukraine.

Still, petrol prices rose about one-third in 2021 and were a significant contributor to nudging underlying inflation to the highest level – perhaps not coincidentally – since 2014.

Meanwhile, it’s worth keeping an eye on where Australia’s electricity prices are headed because the RBA has cited their relative stability as one reason why we weren’t facing the same inflationary pressures as in the US, EU, UK and so on.

Well, that was short of true. New data out today from Aemo, the electricity market operator, showed wholesale power prices were heading higher as 2021 came to an end, and future markets were pointing to further rises.

It’s a nuanced tale because renewables – which offer near zero-cost fuel once set up – are rapidly advancing. In the December quarter they made up a record of almost 35% of the National Electricity Market (which serves about 80% of Australians).

But rising coal and gas prices – which are linked to overseas trends – meant that when they set the wholesale market price it was higher for buyers.

Still, there were a bunch of interest records set in the quarter, as you can read here:

Updated

A further 35 people with Covid have died in aged care facilities in south-western Sydney

Chant said another 35 people, in addition to those previously reported, had died in aged care facilities in south-western Sydney between 2 and 20 January.

There was a delay in reporting those deaths to the health department, she said.

We have reached out to all our other local health districts to ensure that the processes are streamlined for the reporting to the state-wide reporting purposes and we have been – no additional issues have been identified to date. So can I also pass on my condolences for those who have lost their loved ones.

Updated

NSW chief health officer, Dr Kerry Chant, is now running through the list of people who died with Covid-19 overnight.

Twenty of those who died were men, 15 were women.

One person was in their 40s, two were in their 60s, six in their 70s, 11 in their 80s, four in their 90s and one person was more than 100 years old.

Eight of the 35 had received three doses of a Covid-19 vaccine, 15 had received two doses, and 12 were not vaccinated.

He said that additional public transport services would be provided to ensure students could travel to school in a Covid-safe way.

There will be an additional 3,400 buses and an extra 200 train services in both mornings and afternoons for students. Anyone over the age of 12 is required to wear a face mask on public transport.

Updated

Perrottet said every school that starts back in NSW next week has now received their rapid antigen tests, to allow for two tests per student and teacher for surveillance testing for the first four weeks.

This has been a phenomenal effort, it has been as we have said a military operation and we set out to achieve this a few weeks ago. We always thought it would be a substantive challenge not just in the procurement of these tests, the distribution right across NSW to schools, public schools, independent and Catholic schools.

It is over 3,000 schools right across NSW we have been able to distribute these tests to. As well as 5,000 childcare and early childhood centres across the state. So it has been a mammoth effort. I want to thank and congratulate everyone involved, whether that has been at department of education teams, who volunteered their time on weekends, to help package, to help organise this distribution in a way that would ensure that every child in every school and every teacher has access to these tests.

We have worked alongside the Victorian government to achieve this outcome, we are the only states in the country that have been able to achieve this program due to the fact we went out and procured a substantial amount of these tests. But it should give confidence, a lot of confidence to parents and to teachers that when we open up schools day one, term one, we are doing so in a safe way for you and your family.

Perrottet said ideally parents would pick up their child’s rapid antigen tests before school starts back but he said not to worry if you can’t organise it – the school will hold them until you can pick them up.

He also said there are no set days that the tests have to be completed provided you do two a week.

A worker delivers boxes of Rapid Antigen Tests to Mount View Primary School in Glen Waverley, Melbourne on 24 January 2022.
A worker delivers boxes of Rapid Antigen Tests to Mount View Primary School in Glen Waverley, Melbourne on 24 January 2022. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP

Updated

Perrottet says the health system is still under strain, but compared to modelling put out a few weeks ago it is tracking well.

You might recall a few weeks ago we had around 6,000 furloughed health workers across our state that was putting a strain on the system. Today that figure is around 3,700. So we are having many frontline health workers being able to return to our health system, to continue to provide that care and support for people who need it across our state.

Updated

NSW premier Dominic Perrottet is speaking in Sydney now

The NSW premier, Dominic Perrottet, is giving an update on the Covid situation now.

He says they are “tracking within capacity and in a positive trend as well”.

We’re standing by for a press conference from NSW premier Dominic Perrottet, transport minister David Elliott, metropolitan roads minister Natalie Ward, and chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant.

They will give a Covid update and make an announcement about transport arrangements for the return to school next week.

Updated

Roundup of daily coronavirus figures: 98 deaths so far

There have been 98 deaths of people with Covid-19 reported so far today.

We will update this post as the numbers come in from other states and territories.

Updated

Tasmania has reported 584 new cases of Covid-19

Tasmania has reported 584 new cases of Covid-19 overnight, a significant drop from the 700 reported yesterday. There are currently 19 people in hospital, down from 24 yesterday.

According to the ABC, nine of the 19 people in hospital are being treated “specifically for coronavirus symptoms” and one person is in ICU.

Hunt said no decision had been made at this stage about changing the definition of fully vaccinated in Australia from two doses to three. It is currently before the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation.

That is an item that is being considered, so I won’t pre-empt. Either way we want to encourage everybody to come forward for their booster.

Updated

Hunt was also asked to comment on the open letter from Northern Territory Aboriginal organisations, who say there has been a “catastrophic failure” in management of the Covid outbreak in central Australia.

Hunt said the federal government was working with NT land councils on the Covid response, including applying biosecurity orders to restrict movements in and out of communities.

It is absolutely critical that there is the consent, endorsement and approval of those communities that may be affected. That’s been a principle that we have upheld throughout and the endorsement of the Northern Territory government. So where we have that joint support, then we have put those biosecurity declarations in place and we’re continuing to do that.

He said increasing vaccination rates in Indigenous communities was an important part of the response. The national vaccine rate for Indigenous Australians is now 81.5%.

Updated

Hunt was asked if Novavax, which is not yet available in Australia, will be approved for use as a booster.

He said that as of this week, Novavax has not put in an application for booster status, “but I spoke with the company last week and they are intending on doing that”.

We don’t have a time frame from them yet but we’re encouraging them to do that at the earliest possible time. We are now about to begin the process of batch testing the Novavax early arrivals in Australia and as I say we’re planning on ... Novavax being available as a primary course from the 21st, but please do not wait for this as a booster. The company has not applied as of yet. They do intend to apply. We don’t have a time frame on that. The critical thing is ... do not wait.

But Novavax has indicated they’ll be applying for booster status, whether it’s for the third or fourth shot were required for immunocompromised people.

Novavax Covid vaccine.
Novavax Covid vaccine. Photograph: Alastair Grant/AP

Updated

Australia’s chief nursing and midwifery officer, adjunct professor Alison McMillan, said that people who have had Covid do still need to get a booster.

The answer is absolutely you do. We know that an initial infection does potentially provide you with a small amount of protection from Covid, but we really don’t yet know how much. But we do know that the booster will provide you with high levels of protection, particularly against severe disease and death.

So if you have had Covid recently or you think you had Covid, what our advice is, what the advice of Atagi is – once your symptoms, once the runny nose, the headache, the sore throat, the aches and pains, all of those things have gone, then you can go and get your booster. And there are appointments available right across the country. So as I say, once those symptoms have gone, now, if you’re eligible at three months as of Monday, you can go and get your booster.

Updated

Federal health minister Greg Hunt is speaking to reporters this morning about the booster shot rollout.

From Monday the interval between second dose and booster shot has been reduced to three months for everywhere in Australia, not just Victoria and New South Wales.

And as reported earlier, the Therapeutic Goods Administration has provisionally approved the use of Pfizer booster shots in people aged 16 to 17. It’s now just up to Atagi to determine the recommended use, but Hunt says: “We’re looking forward to their advice within the course of the coming week, if not earlier, then we will make these doses available immediately.”

The booster dose for teenagers aged 16 to 17 is the same as for adults, so it’s already widely available.

Hunt said there is also now clear advice on people who have recovered from Covid-19 and have yet to get a booster shot.

If you have had Omicron, the simple message is – you still need to be boosted. We want all Australians to come forward to be boosted and once you cleared your symptoms, then it’s appropriate for you to come forward so long as you are eligible for your dose.

Updated

Morrison says he and Jenny 'always greet guests with a smile'

Breen then asked: “Scott Morrison, did yourself and your wife Jenny feel disrespected by Grace Tame this week with the way she looked at you and didn’t greet you at the Lodge?”

I am not really sure why we’re bringing Jenny into this, she was not in the photos that were widely spread, and Tame does smile at her in the video.

Morrison replied:

Oh look, I’ve seen all that. When anyone comes to our home, when Jenny and I, we invite someone to our home we greet them with a smile and they’re always welcome. And that day was actually about all the finalists that we came to celebrate. And the previous Australians of the Year were there. Jenny and I were there, and that day was all about them.

Scott Morrison and 2021 Australian of the Year Grace Tame at the Lodge in Canberra on 25 January 2022.
Scott Morrison and 2021 Australian of the Year Grace Tame at the Lodge in Canberra on 25 January 2022. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Breen suggested Tame “made it about herself though and she made a political statement”.

Morrison:

Well look, that’s for – I haven’t raised any issues about this. All I’m saying is we were there that day to celebrate those who had done an incredible job for our country. And Jenny and I wanted to welcome them to our home and wish them all the best.

Look, Grace is a passionate person who’s raised important issues. She’s had a terrible life ordeal, you know, things happen to her, her ordeals, the abuse. It’s just awful. And I know a lot of Australians, me included, you know, support her efforts to ensure that these issues can be raised and addressed. Our government has done more than any other government on this issue, and that is in part because of the strong focus that has been brought to these issues and the response that we’ve made. So I thank her for her time as Australian of the Year and as I say, when you know, if people come to our house, Jenny and I always greet them with a smile.

I’m going to pass the microphone to Amy Remeikis, who has written powerfully on this subject. And also provided this reminder: the Lodge isn’t Morrison’s house, it belongs to the people.

Updated

Morrison was then asked about aged care minister Richard Colbeck attending the cricket in Tasmania on a day where he did not attend a federal aged care inquiry.

Morrison said Colbeck “has appeared ... at that hearing on many, many occasions”.

And you know, we set up that hearing. We set up that committee at the start of Covid because we wanted to ensure there was an ongoing oversight and visibility on everything we’ve been doing. And he’s appeared before that on countless occasions. And during the course of that week, I’m aware he was dealing not just issues when it was related to his sports minister, but he was having the regular contacts with the aged care sector with the AHPPC and all of those things. I mean, ministers have many responsibilities. I can understand the criticism and I’m sure ...

Breen: Because it doesn’t pass the pub test. Doesn’t look good.

Morrison:

I think Richard has taken that, you know, on board. I have no doubt but I can tell you, I mean, over the course of this pandemic and I know Richard very well and you know, there’s been a few knockers of him, but I know what he does each and every day for the welfare of people living in our residential aged care facilities. And so, you know, he will take that criticism on the chin and he’ll get back to work, which he does every single day.

Australian aged care minister Richard Colbeck.
Australian aged care minister Richard Colbeck. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Updated

Breen then asked about aged care. Morrison said 86% of all residential aged care facilities have now received their booster visits and pointed out that death rates in Australia are lower than they are in Canada.

Morrison then said:

And that’s, you know, and the reason for that is we’ve worked so hard on the vaccination in aged care facilities. I remember the first big wave that we had that went through aged care in Victoria. You’ll remember it, it was just terrible.

Breen said he does remember it. You will too – it was only 18 months ago, within Morrison’s current term of government.

Morrison continued:

There was no vaccine [in 2020]. But even then, only 8% of our aged care facilities were affected by those extreme events. And in the UK, it was 56%. So it is a challenge to manage Covid in aged care facilities.

Updated

Prime minister Scott Morrison was on Brisbane radio 4BC this morning, talking to Neil Breen about the $1bn Great Barrier Reef announcement.

Breen asked if the additional investment will “protect the reef from those [Unesco ‘in danger’] lists”.

Morrison:

Well, I believe so. But more importantly, I believe it will protect the reef, and that’s what it’s about. And I mean, the reef is, you know, one of the great natural wonders not only of Australia, but the world, but it’s also an important livelihood for everybody up in north Queensland, far-north Queensland. I mean, there are 64,000 jobs that depend on that reef. And so its health is about the economic health of that region, as well as the natural health of that region. And as you said in the introduction, this billion goes on top of the $2bn we’ve already invested. As a government, we’ve taken our stewardship responsibilities for the reef incredibly seriously, and we’ve been able to ensure that the reef not only remains protected despite the many challenges, environmental challenges to the reef, but to ensure that its status has been able to be preserved.

Breen then asked if money was “the only thing that can fix it”, saying “if we keep throwing money at everything in Australia, we’ll go broke”.

Morrison again:

Well, that’s why you have to be careful about where you’re investing. Your programmes have to be targeted, and that’s why we’ve done the work over a long time with this package to ensure it’s been directed where it needs to go. And as you said, water quality is the most important part of this package [Breen did not say this]. So that’s working with land managers, people who actually live off the land in this part of the world. Those who are, you know, doing that commercially. Those who do it to care for our national parks and places like this, land managers to remediate erosion, improve land condition, reduce nutrient and pesticide runoffs. There’s serious investment going into research.

Updated

This is not quite the deadliest day in Victoria since the pandemic began, but it’s getting close.

The record for Covid deaths in Victoria is 41 deaths per day in September 2020. Today’s toll, of 39, is particularly worrying because while we appear to have passed the peak in infections, the peak in hospitalisations and deaths is, if it follows the usual pattern, yet to come.

Updated

NSW records 35 deaths and 13,333 new cases

New South Wales has recorded 35 deaths overnight. There are currently 2,737 people in hospital with Covid-19, of whom 189 are in ICU.

The state recorded 13,333 new cases.

Updated

Victoria records 39 deaths and 12,755 new cases

Victoria recorded 39 deaths overnight and 12,755 new cases.

There are 988 people in hospital, 114 in ICU and 40 on ventilators.

Only one of Australia’s 23 approved at-home rapid antigen tests explicitly states it will detect Omicron, as the Therapeutic Goods Administration carries out a review of all tests to check how they work with different variants of Covid-19.

Most of the product disclosures for tests list their ability to detect Delta and other variants, but not Omicron. However, manufacturers are providing evidence to the TGA of their tests’ effectiveness as it comes to hand.

The United States Food and Drug Administration has warned that “early data suggests that antigen tests do detect the Omicron variant but may have reduced sensitivity”.

The TGA has announced that variants caused by virus mutations could mean “test kits may no longer be able to detect the virus, leading to false negative results”.

Read more:

Severe thunderstorms have caused flash flooding in parts of Victoria and New South Wales.

Bureau of meteorology senior forecaster Jackson Browne told the ABC this morning that parts of western Victoria experienced winds as strong as a category two cyclone, with wind speeds of 139km/h recorded at Horsham and 133km/h recorded at Swan Hill.

A flash flooding alert was issued for the Victorian city of Geelong about 9.30pm Thursday night, with homes, buildings and roads flooded.

A lighting strike across the Mornington Peninsula on the 27 January.
A lighting strike across the Mornington Peninsula on the 27 January. Photograph: JaneE @bodysurfer1964/Twitter

The storms began on Wednesday. The State Emergency Service had responded to more than 350 calls for help by Thursday afternoon, including for one incident where a lightning strike set a house at Bundoora alight.

Mildura in northern Victoria recorded its highest ever daily rain total for January, with 80.2mm falling in the 24 hours to 9am. Kyneton, north of Melbourne, recorded 75mm in the same period.

Thunderstorm warnings have been lifted for the morning but are expected to be back in place this afternoon, with storms agains sweeping across Victoria and southern NSW from South Australia today. Browne said:

[The storms] will make their way in during the course of today, most likely affecting the central parts of the state as some of them will be severe, during the afternoon and into the evening. And unfortunately looks like Geelong is looking like to get more rainfall today, so hopefully people impacted there can make whatever preparations they can for some of the further heavy rainfall.

Updated

Sticking in NSW for a moment: the premier, Dominic Perrottet, is expected to announce a back-to-school transport plan at a bus interchange at 10.30am today.

He’ll give the Covid update at the same time.

Public schools in NSW are back on 1 February, and most teachers are back from today.

Updated

Hazzard said NSW is supporting the Victorian government push to change the definition of fully vaccinated in Australia from two doses to three.

But he says there are some issues to be ironed out before that change can be made. He doesn’t know what issues, he says, because he is not a part of national cabinet.

He then offered this musing on the benefits of unilateral versus consultative decision making:

I understand that most of these things require a range of medical expert input. In fact, they all require a range of medical expert input, and I think when you’ve got a committee of a large number of people, all giving their input, sometimes it takes a while to get there. Sometimes it is easier being a minister, I’ve got to say, than being on a committee.

Anyway: get your booster.

Updated

The NSW health minister, Brad Hazzard, has just been on ABC24 talking about the slow uptake of booster shots. He says 40% of the eligible population in NSW has had the booster so far.

He has urged everyone who is eligible to get their booster, because the booster is what will slow the transmission, but also reduce the likelihood of the severe illness.

So for everybody who is eligible, please go and get the booster as quickly as possible.

Hazzard says he thinks the slow uptake is in part caused by confusion around when you can get your booster after you have had Covid. In NSW, the advice is you can get your booster four to six weeks after you have had Covid.

A woman receives a vaccination at a Cohealth pop-up vaccination clinic at the State Library Victoria in Melbourne.
The Covid booster interval has been reduced to three months after the second jab. Photograph: Con Chronis/AAP

The booster interval has also been reduced to three months. So three months after you get your second shot, you can get your booster.

Hazzard was asked if the rhetoric around Omicron being ‘mild’ – which all Australian governments partook in – may have contributed to the lack of urgency around people getting a booster. He replied:

I think a number of issues, not least the period where the federal government and TGA were telling us that we could have the booster five months after we had had our second shot, then it moved to four months, then it moved to three months, I think that has been very confusing for most people. And I think generally the understanding, of course, on one interpretation the virus certainly is less dangerous than Delta, but on sheer numbers, because of its transmissibility, it transmits so easily, then we have vast numbers of people who are obviously getting it, and therefore more people who are ending up – or at least a reasonable number of people who are ending up passing away and also ending up in hospital. In one sense it is less severe and in another, because of the total numbers it is quite severe.

Updated

Unions and human rights groups call for targeted sanctions against Myanmar

Human rights advocates and union leaders have urged the Australian government to impose targeted sanctions against Myanmar’s military leaders as the first anniversary of the coup looms.

A letter to the foreign minister, Marise Payne, also calls for sanctions or other economic measures to stop funds from Myanmar’s oil and gas sector, the junta’s single largest source of foreign currency revenue, amid concerns about the deadly campaign against anti-junta protesters.

The letter – signed by six groups including Human Rights Watch, the Australian Council of Trade Unions and the Australian Council for International Development – says sanctions will be most effective when countries take a coordinated and unified approach:

By joining with other countries that have imposed targeted sanctions, the Australian government would send a strong message to abusive leaders in Myanmar and around the world that there are far-reaching consequences for their actions. Many people in Myanmar are risking their lives to challenge military rule. The Australian government should unequivocally stand by them and heed their calls to help deprive the military of its revenue sources, joining other governments to maximise pressure on Myanmar’s junta to end its campaign of terror against the Myanmar people.

The letter says the Australian government should move swiftly to sanction individuals including the commander-in-chief, Min Aung Hlaing, and also state enterprises and industries currently under military control and military business conglomerates. It also encourages the Australian government to determine whether there are other junta officials and military personnel “implicated in abuses since the coup who have assets or who travel to Australia, and immediately impose sanctions on them.”

The letter – released just days before the anniversary of the 1 February military coup – was also signed by the Australian Centre for International Justice, the Refugee Council of Australia and Publish What You Pay. It comes after Australia’s Woodside Petroleum announced it was following multinational energy groups Chevron and Total in exiting Myanmar.

Updated

Karvelas then asked why the reef shouldn’t be listed by Unesco as in danger, “when it clearly is”.

Ley:

Because every reef, in fact every natural world heritage property, is under the same threat, if you like, from climate change as our Great Barrier Reef. So the unreasonableness of the listing is that our reef was singled out. You could line up every single reef in the world, not nearly as well-managed as ours, and not one of them were listed as being in danger or draft listed as being in danger.

Now we won that argument in the international forum at the world heritage committee because it was a perfectly sensible argument. But we also said we have taken a position as a country that we want to take a look at the effect of climate change on world heritage properties. Australia has done some of the leading work on that ... so we’re not shying away from that. What we want is a global response to how we manage world heritage properties in the face of climate change that doesn’t single out a single one and doesn’t actually suggest that one country can on its own make a difference.

The Great Barrier Reef near the Whitsundays.
The Great Barrier Reef near the Whitsundays. Photograph: Jumbo Aerial Photography/AP

Updated

Federal environment minister Sussan Ley has been on Radio National talking about the $1bn in funding for the Great Barrier Reef announced today.

She would not provide any further detail how the funding would be spent and when, beyond saying it would be spent over nine years. Those details apparently have to wait until after the formal announcement in Northern Queensland today.

In the interview with Patricia Karvelas, Ley also said that it was unreasonable to link damage done to the reef by global heating to carbon emissions in Australia because the emissions causing global heating don’t only come from Australia. Yes, really. Here’s the full exchange.

Karvelas: Wouldn’t a more ambitious 2030 emissions reduction target be a good way to demonstrate your commitment to preserving the reef?

Ley: Well, we’ve made our response to the emissions challenge clear –

Karvelas: Minister, you have, but is it good enough given we know the reef is going to deteriorate further because of climate change. So we need more ambitious targets, don’t we, in the shorter term.

Ley: But implicit in that question is the assumption that it is Australia’s emissions that are the only emissions that are responsible for the state of the reef and that’s clearly not the case. So internationally we are playing our part. Obviously we can’t influence the emissions from the big emitters, and we know who they are, but we know that we can help build a healthy resilient reef in the face of climate change while playing our part.

Karvelas: But we can take responsibility for our own ambitions, minister. Of course the global community is part of this. Every country must take responsibility. but you’re a minister of the crown in this country. For 2030, as the minister for the reef, don’t we need a more ambitious target to deal with climate change affecting the reef in the shorter term?

Ley: I think the action we’re taking by protecting the reef with this package is the best possible response to the pressures on the reef, not withstanding the global challenge of climate change and acknowledging that every country must play its part.

Ley then went on to talk about the shift to renewable energy, and said that as she travels to Queensland today, “I want to reassure the farmers, the fishers, the tourism operators that we have got their back. That we’re not setting policy that will act to elevate their costs and raise electricity prices.”

Updated

Pfizer booster shots approved for Australians aged 16-17

The Theraputic Goods Administration has provisionally approved the use of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine as a booster or third dose in teenagers aged 16 and 17.

In a statement, the TGA said:

Dosing in this age group is the same as the adult population – a booster dose of COMIRNATY may be administered intramuscularly after the completion of a Covid-19 vaccine primary series (2 doses). This primary series can be of any of the Covid-19 vaccines approved for use in in this age group, although data on the use of COMIRNATY as a booster with other Covid-19 vaccines is more limited.

This does not mean teenagers can book in for boosters right away. The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) will provide advice on when that age group will become eligible to receive a booster.

The TGA says it continues to monitor ongoing trials associated with booster doses for younger children.

The Pfizer Covid vaccine booster has been approved for teenagers aged 16-17
The Pfizer Covid vaccine booster has been approved for teenagers aged 16-17 Photograph: Richard Wainwright/AAP

Updated

Birmingham was also asked to comment on the decision of aged care minister Richard Colbeck to attend the Ashes on the same day he declined to front an inquiry about the federal government’s Covid response.

He said:

I have had a discussion with Richard. I have been assured as aged care minister he was receiving all of the daily briefings, that he was engaged in the meetings that he should be for all of those considerations.

Of course, he is also the minister for sport and the Ashes Test being held in his home state of Tasmania was a significant thing for Tasmania, too, but I’ve been reassured that he certainly wasn’t missing a beat in terms of engaging, as he should be in the aged care issues every single day asI know he does.

ABC24 host Michael Rowland: “It wasn’t a good look, was it?”

Birmingham:

Well, Michael, I think it’s possible for many people to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time. This was a day/night Test. I know that he has reassured me.

Updated

We’re about to run through a slew of federal ministers on morning radio and TV, so bear with us.

Earlier, finance minister Simon Birmingham told ABC24 that the economy is doing fine, actually, despite the Omicron wave.

Birmingham said data released on the first half of the financial year — crucially that’s to 21 December, before the cases really took off — showed that unemployment was down and the economy was resilient.

He said:

Although we know things are tough in terms of labour market and worker shortages right now due to Omicron, we’re confident that the resilience and bounce back we’ve seen before will be repeated again as we come off of the current cases.

Birmingham was asked if the federal government would provide additional support to struggling NSW businesses, and said that was a matter for the NSW government.

Updated

The minister for families and social services, Anne Ruston, has told ABC radio that she believes every person with a disability who wants to work should be supported to do so.

Ruston announced $20m in funding for paid internships and industry training to help employers hire more people with disabilities. It comes after the new Australian of the Year, Dylan Alcott, urged non-disabled people to “challenge your unconscious biases, your negative perceptions and lift your expectation of what you think people with disability can do”.

Asked how many people with disabilities should be in work, Ruston said:

I’d like to see a figure that sees anybody who wants to have a job has a job. So I would like to see an absolute sky’s the limit target ... but we do need to put measures in place to ask what support do people need in the workplace.

Updated

Good morning

Good morning,

The three biggest Aboriginal organisations in the Northern Territory have written a scathing letter to the Gunner government, saying the coronavirus outbreak is “out of control” in central Australia, due to a “catastrophic failure by government”. They are calling for a lockdown to protect vulnerable communities, saying the current strategies — a “lockout” and living with covid — are not working.

Meanwhile, the New South Wales health minister, Brad Hazzard, has criticised people for failing to get their booster shot, saying about 100,000 doses of the vaccine had been available but not taken up in recent weeks. Most adults in NSW are eligible to receive their third shot, but only 36.2% of them have got one. The deputy secretary of the NSW health department, Susan Pearce, told AAP “a perception in the community that Omicron was milder” was to blame. That perception was created, in some part, by the NSW government saying Omicron was milder.

In Victoria, 35% of those aged 18 and over have got their booster shot. The Victorian government reduced the third dose interval to three months last week. On Monday, premier Daniel Andrews said that 2.2m Victorians were eligible for their third dose but hadn’t had it yet. He wants national cabinet to agree that Australians must have three doses to be considered fully vaccinated.

And in pre-election news, the federal government has announced another $1bn in funding for the Great Barrier Reef just months after successfully lobbying Unesco to delay a decision about listing the World Heritage site as “in danger”. The prime minister Scott Morrison will make the announcement in north Queensland on Friday, a fortnight after Labor pledged $163m to protecting the reef. There is, in case you had not guessed, a fight to be had for the Cairns electorate of Leichhardt. Environmentalists have said the plan for the reef remains wanting, because the Morrison government has not committed to more aggressive emissions reductions targets and global heating remains the biggest threat to the reef.

Let’s crack on. You can get in touch on calla.wahlquist@theguardian.com or via twitter at @callapilla.

Updated

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