What happened Friday 11 February, 2022
With that, we’ll wrap up the live blog for today.
Here were the day’s major developments:
- Anthony Albanese says the head of spy agency Asio has not raised any concerns with him about Labor’s federal election candidates, stating Peter Dutton is engaged in “game-playing” with national security issues.
- The telco Optus has appointed the former New South Wales premier Gladys Berejiklian, who is under investigation by the state’s corruption watchdog, to a senior executive role.
- The Australian government has officially listed the koala as endangered after a decline in its numbers due to land clearing and catastrophic bushfires shrinking its habitat.
- Ben Roberts-Smith told a fellow soldier he had shot an unarmed and captive Afghan teenager in the head with a pistol, and that killing him was “the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen”, the former comrade has told the federal court.
- The head of Australia’s peak aged care body has linked NSW premier Dominic Perrottet’s decision to lift Covid restrictions late last year to the deaths of hundreds of aged care residents.
- Religious groups have expressed disappointment at the federal government’s decision to shelve controversial religious discrimination laws, claiming parliament lost sight of the original intent of the legislation.
Thanks for following along. Have a great evening.
The police officer who made a plan to arrest Kumanjayi Walker has denied the main reason she wanted the operation to start in the morning was so she could have a sleep, a court has heard.
Yuendumu’s Sgt Julie Frost also denied she deliberately withheld evidence, during heated cross-examination in the trial of constable Zachary Rolfe on Friday.
Rolfe, 30, is charged with murdering Walker, 19, in the remote community of Yuendumu on 9 November 2019. He has pleaded not guilty to murder and to two alternate charges.
Frost was the officer in charge of Yuendumu station, about 300km north-west of Alice Springs, when Walker was shot dead.
The Northern Territory supreme court has previously heard Frost requested officers from the immediate response team (IRT) to travel to Yuendumu on 9 November 2019 because of a series of issues within the community, and to assist in the arrest of Walker the following day.
Read more:
#ALERT: Severe thunderstorms have caused flash flooding in the #Newcastle and Lower #Hunter regions.
— 9News Sydney (@9NewsSyd) February 11, 2022
Many streets – including local roads at Bar Beach and Jesmond - remain CLOSED, as emergency services struggle to clear the deluge.
Full weather report, 6pm on #9News pic.twitter.com/y8vgMuXvaT
Ben Roberts-Smith told a fellow soldier he had shot an unarmed and captive Afghan teenager in the head with a pistol, and that killing him was “the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen”, the former comrade has told the federal court.
Asked what had happened to a young man “shaking like a leaf” after being taken from a Toyota Hilux found with bomb-making equipment inside, the witness claimed Roberts-Smith replied: “I shot that cunt in the head. [Person 15] told me not to kill anyone on the last job. So I pulled out my 9mm, shot the cunt in the side of the head, blew his brains out. It was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”
Giving evidence, the army medic, anonymised in court as Person 16, identified the body of the young Afghan in several pictures shown to him in court.
The body was photographed with an AK-47 rifle. Person 16 said the young man was not carrying any weapons when he was taken captive and handcuffed.
Roberts-Smith, a recipient of Australia’s highest military honour, the Victoria Cross, is suing the Age, the Sydney Morning Herald and the Canberra Times for defamation over a series of reports he alleges are defamatory and portray him as committing war crimes, including murder.
The newspapers are pleading a defence of truth. Roberts-Smith denies all wrongdoing.
Read more:
This daily infographic provides the total number of vaccine doses administered in Australia 🇦🇺 as of 10 February 2022 📅
— Australian Government Department of Health (@healthgovau) February 11, 2022
Stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccine information here 💻 https://t.co/lsM33j9wMW pic.twitter.com/qVEaxirWBx
One issue that is likely to get more attention, particularly as the federal election draws near, will be the transition to a low carbon economy, particularly in the electricity sector.
There’ll be some irony in this focus. The Morrison government has been desperate to avoid a repeat of its national energy guarantee schmozzle – which arguably felled Malcolm Turnbull as prime minister – and so the commonwealth has largely avoided having any national plan for electricity.
As we saw yesterday, AGL is accelerating the closure of two of the three coal-fired power stations, and its only other one – Liddell – starts shutting its remaining units later this year before being turned off entirely in April next year.
In a separate analysis, I argue here that those two closures may come a lot quicker than AGL is currently stating, and we’re not very ready for those changes.
AGL’s announcement, though, has also prompted Trevor St Baker, part owner of the Vales Point coal-fired power plant in NSW, to question the trends.
Firms such as AGL – which will split into separate retailer and generator arms by June 30 – are “iconic” businesses that “have delivered, and still deliver, reliable and low-cost electricity that has been the mainstay of the Australian economic boom”, St Baker says.
Not holding back, he goes on, telling Guardian Australia:
Australian electricity consumers and workers in businesses made internationally uncompetitive as electricity supply becomes scarcer and 24/7 electricity unavailable, will rue the day that they voted for vacuous calls ‘for more action on climate change’ by political opportunists who have no idea how this could possibly be delivered any quicker than the existing stellar businesses are trying to achieve.
Instead, they risk being “defeated by government intervention to placate the media-driven ‘climate-change frenzy’.” St Baker says.
Others, of course, might argue government action has tended to lag the market, and in any case we need to get our skates on since we’ve already warmed at least 1C (Australia 1.44C) over the past century, and we don’t have a lot of time to linger if we want to avoid even more catastrophic impacts from a warming world.
Updated
Theresa May calls on Australia to do better on climate change
Former British prime minister Theresa May has called on Australia to ramp up its efforts to tackle climate change and to treat gender equality in politics as more than a box-ticking exercise.
May told a Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry event in Melbourne on Friday that it was possible for nations to reduce emissions while also growing their economies.
May said:
I passionately believe that the arguments that we’ve seen all too often in the past, that either you can deal with climate change or you have an increasing economy but these cannot be done together, is absolutely wrong,
You can do well by your economy and deal with climate change but it just means you have to do this in a different way … some of the innovations we’re seeing around climate change for the future, I think, are hugely exciting.
She said Britain was the first major economy in 2019 to enshrine in law a commitment to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Last year, Australia’s prime minister Scott Morrison announced a plan for net zero emissions by the same year, though it is not legislated and at at least 15% of the reductions required relies on as-yet unknown “technology breakthroughs” in the future.
May said:
I recognise some of the issues around major elements of the Australian economy. But this really is the way of the future, and for younger generations it is so important.
The future of the planet is their future and if we don’t do something about this, then sadly that future will be a rather different one from the prosperous and exciting future that we want it to be for them.
May is in Melbourne at the invitation of the Victorian Liberal party and will hold several talks on getting more women in business and politics.
Updated
The Quad countries want to provide options to nations in the Pacific without forcing them to choose, according to a readout of one of the meetings in Melbourne held today.
The prime minister, Scott Morrison, met with the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, and the foreign ministers of Australia, Japan and India this afternoon. Morrison thanked the ministers for their support of the Aukus deal.
A readout suggests Blinken reinforced that US president Joe Biden had underscored the importance of the Indo-Pacific, but the events in Ukraine challenged basic principles that all Quad partners wanted to see upheld.
The meeting is understood to have been in agreement that the Quad’s engagement with south-east Asia should be broad, including vaccine distribution, infrastructure and financing, security cooperation and critical minerals and technologies.
Amid concerns about debt-trap diplomacy in the Pacific, attendees at the meeting also agreed on the importance of the Quad providing options for countries in the region, but not forcing nations to choose.
Updated
As mentioned in an earlier post, the RBA governor Philip Lowe was up before the House of Representatives economics committee for his half-yearly grilling (along with other RBA deputy chiefs).
Lowe stressed not having a crystal ball and gave little away about the timing of a prospective rise in the official cash rate, other than one was “plausible” this year.
As the CBA said in a summary: “The RBA continues to note it is too early to conclude inflation is sustainably within the [2-3%] target band. Where the inflation debate will heat up is how long the RBA will tolerate inflation above 3%.”
“Lowe did comment it would be good to see a couple of more CPI points from here,” it said, implying he might not move for a couple more quarters. CBA, though, continues to expect inflation to accelerate and wages to rise, prompting the first rate increase in August. (Investors are betting it’s in June.)
Rival big four bank, Westpac, also picks August as the starting point, with the cash rate to rise from its record low 0.1% to “a peak” of 1.75% by March.
That shift “brings forward the timing of an anticipated correction phase for housing markets and means it will extend into 2024”, Westpac said in a note.
“Despite some further gains near term, Westpac expects declines later in the year to see dwelling prices post a net gain of just 2% over 2022. Prices are then forecast to fall 7% in 2023 and a further 5% in 2024, stabilising towards the end of that year.”
After rising about 25% in the past year, a plateauing this year for house prices and then a drop for two years – if that’s what transpires – would be a blessing for those anxious to buy.
For those up to their eyeballs in debt, though, the prospect of falling home values at a time of rising borrowing costs will be a less welcomed change.
Updated
Anthony Albanese says the head of spy agency Asio has not raised any concerns with him about Labor’s federal election candidates, stating Peter Dutton is engaged in “game-playing” with national security issues.
The Nine newspapers on Friday reported “multiple security sources” had said a Chinese intelligence service was behind a recently disrupted foreign interference plot that had “attempted to bankroll NSW Labor candidates in the upcoming federal election”.
Guardian Australia has been unable to verify the claim aired on the eve of Saturday’s by-elections in four NSW state seats. It comes as the Morrison government is facing internal divisions, damaging cabinet leaks and poor poll numbers ahead of the federal election due by May.
NSW Labor said on Friday the Nine report was the first it had heard of the allegations. It said the Asio chief, Mike Burgess, had “never raised these matters” with either the leader of the state party, Chris Minns, or the NSW general secretary, Bob Nanva.
The report was published a day after Dutton, the defence minister, levelled an accusation in federal parliament that the Chinese Communist party had “made a decision about who they’re going to back in the next federal election … and they have picked this bloke [Albanese] as that candidate”.
According to the Nine newspapers, unnamed security sources confirmed that Dutton was referring to a Chinese plot to interfere with NSW Labor’s preselection process.
Albanese hit back on Friday, saying national security was “too important to engage in game-playing, such as what we saw on the floor of the parliament yesterday, however much the government needs a distraction”. He said:
The Asio director-general has publicly stated that if he had concerns about attempts at foreign interference in political parties he’ll raise them directly with the party leader.
The federal Labor leader said he took national security seriously and had regular briefings with the Asio chief. Albanese said he had spoken directly with Burgess on Friday morning.
Read more:
Updated
Former multi-millionaire racehorse owner Damion Flower has been jailed for at least 17 years for smuggling significant amounts of pure cocaine into Australia, AAP reports.
Flower, 49, and Qantas baggage-handler To’Oto’O Mafiti, 53 were arrested in May 2019.
They later pleaded guilty to commercial drug importation and dealing with money believed to be the proceeds of crime greater than $100,000.
Best-known for his stake in one of Australia’s most in-demand stallions, Snitzel, and buying an inaugural slot in Australia’s richest horse race, Flower relied on his knowledge of airports to import more than 200 kilograms of cocaine.
The former baggage handler used his connections at Sydney Airport to get bags of cocaine, weighing 19kg, through side doors after they were flown in on commercial flights from South Africa.
In sentencing the pair in the NSW district court on Friday, judge Sarah Huggett said the offending was “an extremely serious example” of drug importing which took place over a number of years.
She jailed Flower for 28 years with a non-parole period of 17 years.
Mafiti was jailed for 23 years with a non-parole period of 14 years.
Updated
Victoria’s Covid-19 quarantine hotels will close within weeks as a purpose-built quarantine centre at Mickleham begins operations, reports AAP.
The state’s quarantine agency Covid-19 Quarantine Victoria (CQV) says medi-hotels to quarantine sick people will cease operations by the end of this month and hotels will not be used at all by the end of March.
More than 70,000 people have undergone quarantine in the hotel system since December 2020, enabling travellers to enter Victoria from interstate and overseas without spreading the coronavirus.
But leaks from the hotels sparked the state’s second wave of coronavirus in 2020, which resulted in more than 18,000 new infections and 800 deaths.
The minister for police, Lisa Neville, said the hotels were built for tourists, not quarantine.
“A purpose-built quarantine facility ensures we have the resources we need to see through the coronavirus pandemic and any pandemics in the future,” she said in a statement.
The new Mickleham facility is the first of its kind in Australia to be built since the start of the pandemic and will open 250 beds later this month, scaling up operations until the end of April.
Hotel quarantine coming to an end in Victoria. Statement from minister Lisa Neville, who has been overseeing the program: pic.twitter.com/Eev4MIMlRB
— Benita Kolovos (@benitakolovos) February 11, 2022
The site, which will initially have 500 beds, has been built with federal government money but will be operated by state authorities.
It will house unvaccinated arrivals, people who test positive but can’t isolate at home, and could also be used as emergency accommodation for natural disasters such as bushfires.
CQV has begun on-site training and orientation for 500 staff, with hundreds transitioning across from the hotel system.
The program included some of Melbourne’s biggest hotels, including the Mantra Tullamarine, Four Points Hotel, Holiday Inn Airport, Novotel South Wharf and Intercontinental Hotel, Novotel on Collins and the Stamford Plaza.
Updated
A Sydney nurse who stole $1,000 from the account of an elderly cancer patient after forcibly obtaining her PIN has been deregistered for at least four years, reports AAP.
Percy McCarthy’s misconduct was premeditated and of “a most egregious kind”, the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal said on Friday.
“She took advantage of an elderly, vulnerable patient who was under her care and whose health and safety she was required to protect,” it said.
“She caused physical harm to that patient in engaging in conduct which is the antithesis of the characteristics and traits of a professional nurse.
“She destroyed the confidence the public is entitled to expect of a professional nurse that patients will be safe whilst in their care and their property will also be safe.”
The tribunal in December upheld four complaints against McCarthy, including professional misconduct.
In June 2019, she was found guilty in the district court of dishonestly obtaining, and of attempting to obtain, a financial advantage by deception. She had tried to withdraw $1,000 from one account and succeeded in doing so with a second card.
McCarthy was sentenced to a two-year community correction order which included a requirement for 500 hours of community work.
Updated
Western Australia records 51 Covid-19 cases, one death
Western Australia has recorded 51 new locally-acquired Covid cases.
Premier Mark McGowan also announced the death of a man with Covid-19. He said he was in his 70s, died in hospital, and that there is no record of him receiving a Covid-19 vaccine.
McGowan said he is the second person to have died after contracting Covid in Western Australia.
McGowan said:
Omicron is well and truly here in Western Australia.
Updated
Religious groups have expressed disappointment at the federal government’s decision to shelve controversial religious discrimination laws, claiming parliament lost sight of the original intent of the legislation.
Groups such as the Australian National Imams Council (ANIC) have urged the government to return their focus to the initial purpose of the bill, which was to protect religious minorities.
ANIC spokesperson Bilal Rauf told Guardian Australia it was “disappointing” to see the bill delayed, saying there was a “significant gap” in protective laws.
“I think the primary focus of this bill was always those protective provisions to bring it in line with the protections based on other attributes – that was always the primary provision and there was no dispute or question about those proposed provisions,” he said.
“The rest was secondary, and sadly the secondary provisions became the subject of debate.
“It’s disappointing that it has been shelved, and we hope that it’s something that will quickly be revived and pursued.”
Read more:
At his press conference this morning, the New South Wales premier, Dominic Perrottet, backed Atagi’s shift in the definition of Covid vaccinations away from “fully vaccinated” to “up to date”, but would not say where the state stands on vaccine mandates for essential workers.
Released by Atagi yesterday, the new definition means Australians will need three Covid doses to be considered “up to date” with their vaccination, but it will be left to individual states to set their own rules on booster mandates.
In NSW, the state has chopped and changed its position on mandatory booster shots for essential workers. On 7 January the health minister Brad Hazzard said that “anybody for whom vaccination was mandatory already, will now have boosters mandated”.
The government has also said teachers would be required to receive a booster shot.
Last week Hazzard told the Guardian the government would not go ahead with the mandate for health workers after concerns had been raised by both the Health Services Union and the Nurses and Midwives Association.
He said at the time: “We’ve decided to take essentially a more encouraging and nurturing approach to getting them all [boosted], rather than forcing the issue and jumping in with mandates.”
But earlier this week the Sydney Morning Herald suggested the position could again change if Atagi changed the definition of a fully vaccinated person to include a third shot.
On Friday though, Perrottet still didn’t have an answer on where the state stood, other than on aged care workers, where the mandate was agreed to in national cabinet yesterday.
Perrottet said the government would “work through” the other areas of essential workers, adding that he preferred the term “up to date” to fully vaccinated.
He said:
That’s the narrative we get, it’s something that parents are very familiar with when we’re vaccinating our children, ‘are you up to date?’ I think that’s important.
Updated
Scott Morrison is meeting with Quad foreign ministers in Melbourne.
The prime minister began by specifically thanking US secretary of state Antony Blinken for making the longest trip of any foreign minister present “particularly with the other matters you’re dealing with at the moment”.
Morrison said:
We live in a very fragile, fragmented and contested world and that is no more accentuated that are here in our Indo-Pacific. And the like-minded partners we see gathered together in this Quad I always find so incredibly reassuring. I’m reassured by our perspective, I’m reassured by the understanding that is shared between each of us.
I’m reassured by the incredible, strong support that Australia has received by our Quad partners and I don’t just mean in a security context, I mean that in terms of our economic partnership and co-operation, I mean that in our humanitarian partnership, I mean that in terms of how each of us stands for a world order that favours freedom and particularly here in a free and open Indo-Pacific and I want to thank you for all of that.
He goes on:
The things we discuss today are principally how we’ll continue to always stand up for our values, that unites us most. I think in doing so we stand up to those who would seek to coerce us, and I understand from our Quad partners, none of you understand better than we do, and that is a great comfort to us, that the coercion and the pressure that Australia has been placed under, we greatly appreciate your support.
But we also share a vision for a strong economy, not just regional stability and security, and our engagement in this region of which we’re so passionate about, because that gives all nations in the region options and choices and opportunities. And enables their sovereignty to be strengthened and respected.
Updated
I will now pass you on to Elias Visontay who will be with you for the rest of the day.
Back to May’s address:
Former British PM Theresa May has called on the Commonwealth government to do more to tackle climate change.
— Callum Godde (@calgodde) February 11, 2022
“I hope Australia is going to pick up this agenda of climate change rather more proactively than it has done,” she says. pic.twitter.com/vOTbIlrZtB
The (S)Quad meeting is underway.
Quad meeting gets underway. pic.twitter.com/lXuMEypHtY
— Andrew Tillett (@andrewtillett) February 11, 2022
The Quad foreign ministers meeting with PM Morrison. @SBSNews pic.twitter.com/hHBnVVaI7o
— Pablo Viñales (@pablovinales) February 11, 2022
Health minister Greg Hunt has slammed as “wildly inaccurate” reports of a federal cabinet blow-up on Monday.
The Australian reported late Thursday that Scott Morrison had been rolled in a cabinet meeting over a proposal to try to win over moderate MPs and save his religious discrimination bill by introducing a beefed-up version of the government’s integrity commission.
My colleagues Sarah Martin and Katharine Murphy reported that sources confirmed a discussion on such a proposal took place. Other media outlets have also confirmed the original reporting.
Asked at his press conference, Hunt – who is retiring ahead of the next election – shot down the reports:
It struck me, as somebody who was there, that it was utterly inaccurate in what was seen. I don’t believe it came from somebody who was there. I don’t care if somebody is off on the side with differing reports ... the report is wildly inaccurate and would not have been given by anyone who was there.
Hunt described Morrison’s cabinet as “deeply united”.
Updated
Classic banter.
VCCI President Karyn Sobels accidentally refers to Theresa May as the prime minister of the United Kingdom before correcting herself.
— Callum Godde (@calgodde) February 11, 2022
“I’ve done Boris out of a job,” she jokes.
As she walked to the stage May quips: “Don’t worry Karyn I won’t tell him.”
— Callum Godde (@calgodde) February 11, 2022
The Novavax Covid vaccine is available for Australians to receive, with the first person in the country getting the jab today.
Health minister Greg Hunt, giving a press conference at a medical centre in Melbourne, said with the new availability of Novavax there were “no excuses for anybody” not to get a Covid jab – alluding to people who had chosen to wait for this vaccine.
Novavax uses a more traditional protein technology, rather than the cutting-edge mRNA base of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. Some Australians who had resisted or declined taking the other vaccines on offer had claimed they were more willing to take Novavax due to the different underpinning medical technology.
Hunt said the government expected “hundreds of thousands” of people would take up Novavax and that “hopefully” the vaccine would be approved for booster shots.
There are those that, for their own personal circumstances, have awaited or been unable to take the other vaccines. This is a new choice. It’s a protein vaccine ... a tried and tested vaccine platform.
Hunt said Novavax doses were being sent to 3,500 clinics nationwide, with bookings available from Monday.
Joining Hunt at the press conference was Angela Luttick, a woman who received Novavax today. She said she was a “virologist by training”, and had chosen to wait for Novavax over other vaccines:
I have preferred a traditional vaccine to be introduced into myself. I’m not anti-vax, I’m pro-choice, and this was my choice.
She also noted that she was co-owner of a company called 360biolabs, which she said had “supported the Novavax vaccine, we’ve done the specialty lab testing for the vaccine”.
The company had worked with Novavax on sample analysis for clinical trials of the vaccine in Australia.
In a statement, Novavax said it was conducting trials on both booster shots and a combined Covid-flu vaccine in Australia.
Updated
The Capital Region Farmers Market has cancelled its event which was due to go ahead in the ACT tomorrow due to safety concerns.
Over 80 stalls were set to appear.
The market has released a statement confirming with “great sadness” the event would not be going ahead as planned:
Due to the existing safety concerns onsite and logistics for customers attending the market the decision was made to cancel the market. It is a devastating result for our farmers and producers following on from the last two years. Please check back here for any updates as we share any information from stallholders on alternative arrangements for selling their produce.
Erhan Akincio runs Dilliro Vegetables. He was just sent an SMS notification informing him the market was cancelled and not to attend the showground due to safety concerns.
Akincio says protests in the ACT have “ruined” income for sellers:
What are we going to do with all our vegetables now? ... our business, and [our] only income?
🚨 The farmers market at EPIC has been cancelled this weekend due to safety concerns. Statement incoming.
— Markus 🎲 (@MarkusMannheim) February 11, 2022
Updated
Former UK PM Theresa May is in Melbourne addressing @vicchamber to talk about getting more women in politics. She begins her speech by acknowledging the traditional custodians of the land. @theheraldsun pic.twitter.com/EUOYtVUO7B
— Mitch Clarke (@96mitchclarke) February 11, 2022
In WA, there is a hazmat incident at Timber Treaters in the Shire of Bridgetown-Greenbushes.
Authorities say it was caused by bushfire damage to the treated timber on-site.
10:03 AM - HAZMAT Fire in HAZMAT incident in HESTER TOWNSITE in the SHIRE OF BRIDGETOWN-GREENBUSHES: https://t.co/ZSEIQCTb4B
— DFES (@dfes_wa) February 11, 2022
Updated
NSW Labor general secretary Bob Nanva has released a statement in response to reports published in SMH and The Age alleging a Chinese spy ring attempted to bankroll candidates in the upcoming federal election in an attempt to get MPs elected to parliament.
Nanva says it is the “first time” NSW Labor has heard of such matters and no national security agency has ever raised the alleged matters with the NSW branch of Labor or parliamentary leadership.
Read the full statement here:
A statement from NSW Labor General Secretary Bob Nanva in response to reports published today in the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age: pic.twitter.com/rC9iLy8TpX
— NSW Labor (@NSWLabor) February 11, 2022
Updated
The RBA has been briefing the House of Reps committee members about inflation, rates and so on. No big reveals, as you might expect, from these cautious central bankers.
Anyway, as they’ve been speaking the ABS has released details of how Covid is affecting businesses – and indirectly pointing to the challenges of forecasting economic trends during a pandemic.
In a survey taken between 27 January and 4 February, the ABS found just over one in five businesses had staff unavailable to work because of Covid quarantines, isolation, illnesses and so forth.
Perhaps as a result of those absences, 47% of businesses reported supply chain disruptions in January.
ABS head of industry statistics John Shepherd:
In January 2022, more businesses were impacted by supply chain disruptions compared to April 2021, where 30% of businesses experienced supply chain issues.
And how did firms respond? Half of them changed their ordering processes and 42% responded by lifting the price of their goods or services. Sadly, the ABS did not seem to have asked what proportion of them responded by raising wages.
It did, though, find that 18% of employing businesses did not have enough employees based on current operations, compared with 19% in June 2021 and 12% in March 2021. That suggests the challenges of finding staff may not have become that much worse over the past half year, at least.
RBA governor Philip Lowe, meanwhile, told the committee the “vast” bulk of Australians were still seeing wage increases of “no more than two-point-something per cent”.
And that’s despite the economy missing more than 200,000 workers on short-term visas (eg backpackers).
Updated
National Covid-19 update
Here are the latest coronavirus numbers from around Australia today, as the country records at least 49 deaths from Covid-19:
ACT
- Deaths: 0
- Cases: 489
- In hospital: 50 (with 3 people in ICU)
NSW
- Deaths: 19
- Cases: 8,950
- In hospital: 1,716 (with 108 people in ICU)
Queensland
- Deaths: 14
- Cases: 5,977
- In hospital: 584 (with 45 people in ICU)
South Australia
- Deaths: 2
- Cases: 1,445
- In hospital: 210 (with 16 people in ICU)
Victoria
- Deaths: 13
- Cases: 8,521
- In hospital: 553 (with 82 people in ICU)
Western Australia
- Deaths: 1
- Cases: 51
Updated
health minister Greg Hunt announces the first person in Australia has received the Novavax COVID vaccine, with supplies of that jab to start going out shortly
— Josh Butler (@JoshButler) February 11, 2022
also the COVID rules under the Biosecurity Act have been extended again, now to April
South Australia records two deaths, 1,445 cases
South Australia’s Covid-19 case numbers are in.
Sadly, there have been two deaths reported overnight.
There have been 1,445 new cases. Hospitalisations have remained relatively stable, with 210 people being treated with the virus including 16 people requiring intensive care.
With that, I shall pass you over to the always wonderful Caitlin Cassidy.
Updated
Many thanks to Matilda Boseley for guiding us through this morning’s news. I’ll be with you for the next little while.
Opposition Leader @AlboMP on reports Chinese spies attempted to install Labor candidates in the federal election: "I have total confidence in all of my candidates and the director general of ASIO has never raised a concern about any of my candidates" #7NEWS #auspol pic.twitter.com/lLAFcKIPHC
— Jennifer Bechwati (@jenbechwati) February 11, 2022
⛈️Thunderstorm forecast for today: severe thunderstorms with damaging wind gusts are possible in northwestern #QLD. Thunderstorms are possible across northern Queensland and the southeastern interior. Warnings if needed: https://t.co/FBmpsInT9o pic.twitter.com/yLumkFFjeN
— Bureau of Meteorology, Queensland (@BOM_Qld) February 11, 2022
The telco Optus has appointed the former New South Wales premier Gladys Berejiklian, who is under investigation by the state’s corruption watchdog, to a senior executive role.
In a statement, the Singapore-owned company said Berejiklian had been appointed to the newly created role of managing director, enterprise, business and institutional.
Berejiklian resigned as premier in October after the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption announced it was investigating whether she broke the law by failing to report matters that she “suspected on reasonable grounds concerned or may concern corrupt conduct” by her ex-lover, the former Wagga Wagga MP Daryl Maguire.
You can read the full report below:
Fire crews are still working to gain the upper hand on a bushfire at Lebrina. The fire has burned through more than 1100 hectares. No houses or buildings impacted so far, but a series of forestry plantations have burned. Full update tonight on @WINNews_Tas at 5.30pm. pic.twitter.com/tHQ52HH2wG
— Tarlia Jordan (@tarliaj14) February 11, 2022
Waiting for Albo to give us a Billy Joel harmonica cover in retaliation
— who is lav baj (@lavosaurus) February 11, 2022
During his brief press conference, Albanese was asked about Dutton, who made claims in parliament yesterday that China was backing Labor as its candidate.
The Sydney Morning Herald and the Age have today published a story stating, based on unnamed sources, that the alleged interference plot foiled by Asio involved a Chinese intelligence service and related to NSW Labor.
This is unconfirmed at this stage, at the Asio chief Mike Burgess went out of his way on Wednesday to say all sides of politics were targeted by foreign interference attempts, and this plot was stopped and the harm was avoided.
Albanese dismissed this, stating that Burgess “never raised the sort of reports that are there”.
I understand the government is desperate for distractions.
asked about SMH report on Chinese spies & Labor candidates, Anthony Albanese says ASIO director-general Mike Burgess "never raised the sort of reports that are there"
— Josh Butler (@JoshButler) February 11, 2022
"I understand the government is desperate for distractions"https://t.co/dBhr92jOWh pic.twitter.com/Ounm1rZWmi
Updated
The RBA has been briefing the House of Reps committee members about inflation, rates and so on. No big reveals, as you might expect, from these cautious central bankers.
Anyway, as they’ve been speaking the ABS has released details of how Covid is affecting businesses – and indirectly pointing to the challenges of forecasting economic trends during a pandemic.
In a survey taken between 27 January and 4 February, the ABS found that just over one in five businesses had staff unavailable to work because of Covid quarantines, isolation, illnesses and so forth.
Perhaps as a result of those absences, 47% of businesses reported supply chain disruptions in January.
ABS head of industry statistics John Shepherd said:
In January 2022, more businesses were impacted by supply chain disruptions compared to April 2021, where 30% of businesses experienced supply chain issues
And how did firms respond? Half of them changed their ordering processes, and 42% responded by lifting the price of their goods or services. Sadly, the ABS did not seem to have asked what proportion of them responded by raising wages.
It did, though, find that 18% of employing businesses did not have enough employees based on current operations, compared with 19% in June 2021 and 12% in March 2021. That suggests the challenges of finding staff may not have become that much worse over the past half year, at least.
RBA governor Philip Lowe, meanwhile, told the committee the “vast” bulk of Australians were still seeing wage increases of “no more than two-point-something per cent”. And that’s despite the economy missing more than 200,000 workers on short-term visas (eg backpackers).
Updated
Queensland records 14 Covid deaths and 5,977 new infections
There are now 584 Covid positive people hospitalised in Queensland with 45 in the ICU.
Today we have recorded 5,977 new COVID-19 cases.
— Queensland Health (@qldhealth) February 11, 2022
Sadly, 14 deaths were reported in the past 24 hours.
Full details ➡ https://t.co/2vvTmliFgl pic.twitter.com/Y5uZ6nFUId
'Asio has never raised a concern about any of my candidates': Albanese
Opposition leader Anthony Albanese states that Asio has not raised concerns about any of his candidates in relation to foreign interference from China (following Dutton’s accusatory comments in parliament yesterday).
Can I say this? I also met just this week, with the head of Asio, I have regular security briefings.
I don’t talk about the detail of those security briefings, because we shouldn’t talk about [it]. That is the nature of it.
But I say this, I have total confidence in all of my candidates, and the director general of Asio has never raised a concern about any of my candidates.
And I have spoken and I asked him ... today and he has reaffirmed that he has not raised concern [about] any of my candidates, I can’t be clearer than that.
Updated
Anthony Albanese is speaking now from Melbourne, where he has been in talks with Quad leaders this morning.
I reflected of course on Labor’s concerns about the change posture of China and the need to stand firm in Australia’s interests in the interests of all of those who hold democratic values dear.
I look forward to continuing to strengthen Australia’s engagement through the Quad, but also through direct relations that we will have, and I have indicated that if we are successful in the election, I look forward to reacquainting myself with [US] President Biden, who I’ve met on a couple of occasions through the Australia-US leadership dialogue.
Updated
Victorian health minister Martin Foley also touched on national cabinet endorsing the expert immunisation panel’s advice that Australians will need a third Covid-19 vaccine dose to be deemed “up to date” on their vaccination status:
We will now work out, with public health advice, what that means, how that relates to the vaccinated economy, how we can make sure that the interests of the soon-to-return international tourist market and international students works into that.
It’s complex, but we’ll do it and we’ll do it properly. But we will make sure that the benefits of the vaccinated economy to drive up vaccination rates are maintained.
Atagi has replaced fully vaccinated with the phrase ‘now up to date’ and ‘up to date’ will mean different things depending on which age category you’re in.
Updated
Police officers third dose: State Goverment says they announced the third dose deadline on Jan 10. The deadline was Feb 12. The deadline to GET the jab is now March 12 - but they have to have a booking by midnight tonight. @7NewsMelbourne
— Sharnelle Vella (@SharnelleVella) February 11, 2022
Scott Morrison bringing a real “2014 hipster” vibe to this 60 Minutes interview.
Get you a Prime Minister who can do both (sing the same verse of April Sun In Cuba twice) pic.twitter.com/AQ8at4Gzpb
— Josh Butler (@JoshButler) February 11, 2022
Updated
Former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett is speaking now and has reflected on the infamous leaked “car phone call” conversation, which was one of the great scandals of Australian politics in the 80s.
It would be remiss of me, I think, not to refer to the phone conversation for which we became infamous. It was a phone call that was recalled by a scandal in those days, which was released to the media in all its detail, in fact, released the next day, and it is true to say, of course, caused Andrew and I and our families a fair bit of embarrassment.
But received in Canberra by the then leader of the opposition John Howard, his response was to sack or remove Andrew from his role of shadow foreign affairs minister at the time. I think that was unfair because Andrew was just trying to advise me, to calm me down, from what I was indicating might be my intentions the next day.
But I’ll never forget him saying a couple of days afterwards, he said, ‘I still can’t believe it. I was at my own home in my own bed with my wife. I got a phone call. I lost my job but you kept yours.’ It is a story, sadly, in terms of private conversations continually being released, prime minister.
Ours happened 37 years ago. And still people take some pleasure in trying to embarrass those who are the subject of these things. And I’m sure Andrew would have responded in the same way you have, prime minister. That is, to disregard and not to involve themselves in any form of retaliation. That is the real test of a leader that doesn’t get down to that level of retribution.
Updated
Scott Morrison:
[Peacock was] the first of a new generation of Liberals, preparing Australia for the cultural transformation that occurred in the late 1960s and the 1970s.
Charm, intellect, capacity, curiosity, an openness in the world, a willingness to engage. He dominated the landscape.
The most influential opposition leader to not have never become prime minister. Although he went so close, the record does tell the story: 28 years as the member for Kooyong, 20 years on the frontbench, a decade as a minister ...
I know the people of Papua New Guinea will be mourning his loss today, and honouring his memory.
Leading his party to two general elections and in those elections, he faced Labor’s most successful ever political leader.
Updated
The prime minister is speaking now from Andrew Peacock’s memorial.
Can I thank Andrew’s family for allowing me to come and share with you here today. It’s a great honour and a great privilege.
I vow to thee, my country, all earthly things above, entire and whole and perfect, the service of my love.
Andrew Peacock was a man of great loves. His country, his party, his beloved Essendon, the track, and above all, his family.
Updated
Health minister @MartinFoleyMP announces code brown will end on Monday 14th of February. @7NewsMelbourne pic.twitter.com/C5Qx5GJ0wI
— Sharnelle Vella (@SharnelleVella) February 11, 2022
Victorian hospitals' 'code brown' to end on Monday
The Victorian health minister Martin Foley has confirmed the state’s code brown declaration will end on Monday.
A further resumption for elective surgery will begin on Monday, with private hospitals able to perform 50% of procedures in metropolitan Melbourne and 75% in regional areas.
Foley also announced that the state had recruited 1,000 surge staff to assist the state’s vaccination program over the coming weeks, many with prior healthcare backgrounds:
With those numbers already on the job we’re able to free up nurses and other health professionals to return to our public health services.
Updated
Bill Shorten was on ABC radio this morning, renewing calls for the government to come clean on what the opposition has called “stealth cuts” to the national disability insurance scheme in the lead-up to the federal election.
As Guardian Australia revealed in December, the number of people challenging cuts to their funding packages or denials of support had increased by 324% in the first five months of this financial year. In some cases, funding has been cut, reinstated after legal challenges, and then cut again.
Some NDIS providers report that up to half of their clients have had their funding cut, and some participants are being told that their requests for support are not “value for money” or that there isn’t enough evidence that the support will be beneficial.
Sustainability reforms to the NDIS proposed by the government last year were scrapped after the states rejected them, but internal documents obtained by Guardian Australia earlier in 2021 suggested the agency was attempting to tighten spending through operational changes that do not require legislation. You can read more about that background here.
Responding to concerns the cuts appeared to be targeting those with autism and intellectual disabilities, Shorten, the opposition’s NDIS spokesperson, today said the government was effectively creating two classes of disability.
I do think that this government is almost creating a two-class disability system. Certain disabilities they think pass the so-called Morrison pub test. But other disabilities, which are more awkward or more challenging or less easy to define, well they’re second-class disabilities.
The government maintains it is fully funding the scheme.
Updated
The memorial service for former Liberal party leader Andrew Peacock has begun, with many major party members in attendance.
Malcom and Lucy Turnbull. pic.twitter.com/taGk5XnfSZ
— josh gordon (@joshgordo) February 10, 2022
Peter Costello pic.twitter.com/2jHcjaYdRV
— josh gordon (@joshgordo) February 11, 2022
Peter Dutton has doubled down on his controversial claims that China would like Labor to defeat the Morrison government at the upcoming federal election, prompting Malcolm Turnbull to warn that such “reckless” comments had “no basis in fact” and harmed Australia’s national security.
The defence minister said on Friday there was “no doubt in [his] mind” about what he described as a “statement of the obvious” regarding China’s preference for Labor. He claimed he based Thursday’s inflammatory allegation on “open source and other intelligence”.
The Morrison government, struggling in the polls, is increasingly seeking to weaponise its perceived advantage on national security issues before this year’s election, despite Labor’s bipartisan cooperation against China’s aggressive stance in the Asia-Pacific region.
You can read the full report from Paul Karp and Daniel Hurst below:
Updated
Just in case you forgot, the Quad meetings are going on today.
Pix: Quad Foreign Ministers Meeting https://t.co/ldj3KYIY76 pic.twitter.com/0wjMiNmmEo
— AAP Photos (@aap_photos) February 10, 2022
A very warm welcome in #Melbourne this morning as @SecBlinken meets with @MarisePayne & our Australian hosts ahead of the #Quad Foreign Ministers meeting later today. 🇺🇸🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/87CeGDoX4z
— US Embassy Canberra (@USAembassyinOZ) February 10, 2022
Tanya Plibersek diagnosed with Covid-19
Federal opposition frontbencher Tanya Plibersek has been diagnosed with Covid-19 overnight, after appearing on Q&A remotely last night from home isolation.
Plibersek’s children previously tested positive, with the politician getting her positive PRC result this morning.
Sorry if I sounded a little croaky on QandA last night - having been home all week isolating with my kids who have COVID, this morning I received a positive PCR result as well.
— Tanya Plibersek (@tanya_plibersek) February 10, 2022
I’m feeling a bit crappy. Thankful for vaccines. Thinking of the many families going through this too.
Updated
Former Premier Jeff Kennett arriving at the state memorial service for Andrew Peacock. pic.twitter.com/nrux0ji9j6
— josh gordon (@joshgordo) February 10, 2022
Berejiklian appointed to Optus's executive team
Optus has announced this morning that it has hired former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian to its executive team in the “newly created” role of “managing director, enterprise, business and institutional”.
In the statement Berejiklian said:
I am excited and proud to join an organisation that impacts the lives of millions of Australians every day and prides itself in providing outstanding customer service.
I look forward to working with [CEO] Kelly [Bayer Rosmarin] and the executive team of Optus who are providing inspiring and innovative leadership in the telco sector.
Updated
The RBA governor Philip Lowe is up before the House of Representatives’ economics committee this morning, talking about interest rates, among other things.
It’s a timely meeting not least because his US counterparts at the Federal Reserve are poised to lift their main lending rate next month, perhaps by a half a percentage point.
Overnight, the US January consumer price index came in at a higher than expected 7.5% annual pace, the highest in 40 years. Excluding food and energy, prices were up 6% on the year, also a 39‑year high.
Lowe noted that UK, Germany and New Zealand inflation rates are also at a multi-decade high. (By contrast, as noted here, the underlying rate in Australia in the December quarter was 2.6%, a mere seven-year high.)
Anyway, so far, Lowe says that at the current inflation rate and a jobless rate of 4.2% (but headed below 4% this year and next) “there is no evidence that things in Australia are over-stimulated”.
He’s also sticking to his previous language of being prepared to be “patient” when it comes to lifting the record-low cash rate of 0.1%. “It’s too early to conclude that inflation is sustainably within [the bank’s] target range” of between 2-3%, Lowe said. “We have scope to wait”, unlike some of our trading partners, he added.
Lowe did, though, note that if inflation did start to take off internationally and central banks did have to ramp up lending rates, there is a risk of “an abrupt adjustment in financial conditions around the world”, including for Australia. A hint, perhaps of that came in the US overnight. After the inflation figures came in worse than expected, with Wall Street’s main indicies were all down.
The ASX is just opening now, and has a strong down arrow to get going.
Updated
Investigations are under way and three people are being questioned after a man died at Kallangur, north of Brisbane, overnight, reports AAP.
Paramedics assessed the patient with critical injuries following an alleged assault on Anzac Avenue just after midnight, the Queensland Ambulance Service said.
A second, uninjured patient was assessed and did not require transport to hospital.
A crime scene has been established and two men and a woman are currently assisting with inquiries.
Queensland police are expected to provide further details later on Friday.
Updated
⚠️ Hazardous Surf #Warning issued for the southeast coast from Saturday. #Surf and swell likely to be hazardous for coastal activities such as rock fishing, boating, and swimming. Details: https://t.co/FBmpsInT9o follow @lifesavingqld advice on beach closures pic.twitter.com/EvjGr8fZnD
— Bureau of Meteorology, Queensland (@BOM_Qld) February 10, 2022
Some good news out of Queensland this morning: 60% of the eligible population have now received their third dose of a Covid vaccine.
BREAKING: 60.64% of Queensland’s eligible population have now had their booster shot.
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) February 10, 2022
Keep it up, Queensland 👏 pic.twitter.com/ycAMpPVKwW
Updated
⛈️Thunderstorms redeveloping over the south of Sydney. Thunderstorms are possible throughout the eastern half of #NSW today. Keep an eye on the radar at: https://t.co/joGHpQeD2Z
— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) February 10, 2022
Forecasts & Warnings: https://t.co/SPHgGeisGZ pic.twitter.com/6UICGhasvQ
Ralph Cordingley had three great loves – his family, golf and music. In his final months he asked for his favourite sheet music to be brought to his nursing home because he couldn’t bear the songs they were singing.
He was 85 when he died, and his daughter, Deborah Clarke, is sure if it weren’t for acquiring Covid-19, he’d still be alive today.
“There was no reason to believe he wouldn’t have lived longer … he was fully cognitive and smart,” Deborah says.
At the same time, though, it’s not about that, not really.
“It’s about celebrating them, not just being a statistic,” Deborah says. “These people had lives.”
You can read the full story below:
Updated
Thunderstorms moving through #NorthWestSlopesandPlains. Chance of thunderstorms to continue throughout today for the eastern half of #NSW, not likely to be severe. Keep an eye on the radar at: https://t.co/joGHpQeD2Z pic.twitter.com/u3H0wVTdot
— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) February 10, 2022
Doctors say giving pharmacists the power to diagnose and treat a wider range of conditions is not the answer to health shortages in regional Queensland, reports AAP.
A trial proposed for north Queensland would allow pharmacists to prescribe medicine for serious conditions and chronic illnesses, AMA Queensland says.
The 23 conditions include asthma, type 2 diabetes, heart failure and middle ear infections, and it would mean patients could access medicine without a GP consultation.
It has been proposed for 37 local government areas in north Queensland that have “significant indigenous populations and serious doctor shortages”, the AMA says.
Speaking ahead of a state parliamentary inquiry on Friday, president Chris Perry says medical association members “overwhelmingly” oppose the proposed pilot:
It’s fundamentally flawed and will deliver second-rate health care to people in north Queensland.
While pharmacists are a vital part of healthcare, they do not have the training to diagnose serious health conditions, AMA Queensland council of general practice chair Maria Boulton said:
GPs on average have 12 years of training under their belts before they start diagnosing and treating these conditions.
Boulton is expected to speak at Friday’s wide-ranging inquiry into the public health system.
The AMA has written to the Therapeutic Goods Administration seeking advice on the trial’s potential impact on Australia’s health system.
For example, the trial will allow pharmacists to prescribe the oral contraceptive pill – a move expressly outlawed by the TGA late last year given the health risks for patients ...
We are seriously concerned that this trial will lead to significant misdiagnosis of potentially serious conditions plus undermine attempts to manage antimicrobial resistance.
The AMA initially agreed to take part in a steering committee for the pilot, but now says it fundamentally rejects the proposal.
The National Council of Primary Care Doctors has also written to Queensland and federal health ministers recommending that the pilot be stopped.
Queensland Health has been contacted for comment.
Updated
More good news for NSW #Covid with deaths down to 5 to 19. Hospitalisations are also down 4.4% and 10.7% lower for ICU patients. https://t.co/ceuaGlDKio
— Peter Hannam (@p_hannam) February 10, 2022
In terms of hospitalisations, in NSW there are 1,716 Covid-19-positive people in wards, 108 in the ICU.
In Victoria, the total hospitalisation number now sits at 553, with 82 in ICU.
Updated
Victoria has recorded 13 Covid deaths and 8,521 new infections
We thank everyone who got vaccinated and tested yesterday.
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) February 10, 2022
Our thoughts are with those in hospital, and the families of people who have lost their lives.
More data soon: https://t.co/OCCFTAtS1P#COVID19Vic #COVID19VicData pic.twitter.com/5Wxfno3YjR
NSW has recorded 19 Covid deaths and 8,950 new infections
NSW COVID-19 update – Friday 11 February 2022
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) February 10, 2022
In the 24-hour reporting period to 4pm yesterday:
- 95.6% of people aged 16+ have had one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine
- 94.1% of people aged 16+ have had two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine pic.twitter.com/XtycHMQ8qn
We shall be hearing from the leader of the opposition at 11am (AEDT).
Leader of the Australian Labor Party, Anthony Albanese, is in Melbourne today and will hold a press conference, 11AM #auspol
— Political Alert (@political_alert) February 10, 2022
The Prime Minister will attend the State Funeral for Andrew Peacock AC, 10:30am Melbourne #auspol
— Political Alert (@political_alert) February 10, 2022
Wow. This is a photo of the bushfire that came close to impacting homes in Tasmania’s north yesterday. Residents in Lebrina, Wyena, Golconda and Ferny Hill Road are being warned fire activity is likely to increase throughout today @abcnews
— Monte Bovill (@MonteBovill) February 10, 2022
📸: Dave McGuiness pic.twitter.com/auWle5HbmU
The gap between what men and women earn has narrowed but persists, with research showing men are twice as likely to earn more than $120,000 a year than women.
Data from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency released on Friday shows women typically earn about $25,000 less than men.
The overall gender pay gap continued its downward trend for the 2020-21 financial year, pegged at 22.8%, meaning that for every $10 a man earned a woman made about $7.72.
That’s down by half a percentage point from the previous year, but the WGEA says it understates the true extent of the problem.
You can read the full report below:
Important Wordle update:
It’s changed font. New York Times now in charge. #Wordle pic.twitter.com/1RoJyugLnR
— Mark Tighe (@marktigheST) February 10, 2022
(I know my demographic.)
Malcolm Turnbull has attacked Peter Dutton’s “reckless” claim the Chinese government wants Labor to win the next federal election.
Turnbull told Radio National:
I think it’s really reckless. I think it undermines Australian security. It uses matters of grave national security purely for crass political advantage ... Dutton does it to wedge the Labor party and wedge Morrison, he rushes off to the right … and then wedges whoever he’s targeting.
We should not be turning the debate about China national security into some kind of ‘reds under the beds’ scare. The proposition that Albanese is under influence of the CCP [Chinese Communist party] is ludicrous … it’s just a sign of desperation.
Asked how ugly he thinks the election campaign will get, Turnbull replied:
I’m worried it’s going to get uglier. The ‘reds under the beds’ China scare sledge against Labor is really bad. Morrison should try to pull Dutton back in on that. It has no basis in fact, and all that will do is undermine our prospects of being united in face of pressure from other countries.
Updated
.@TasFireService has issued a Bushfire Advice warning for Lebrina, Wyena and surrounds. Monitor conditions, there is no immediate threat. Conditions are expected to be changeable. For fire updates, listen to ABC Local Radio or visit Tas Fire at https://t.co/c0PvUD43xz pic.twitter.com/8bXfvZ5Cg5
— TasALERT (@tasalert) February 10, 2022
E-scooter rider dies in Melbourne crash
An electric scooter rider has died after a collision with a station wagon south-east of Melbourne, AAP reports.
Police said a white Volkswagen station wagon was driving on the Princes Highway in Narre Warren on Thursday afternoon when it collided with the e-scooter.
The rider, who has not been formally identified, died at the scene. The station wagon driver was not injured and stopped to help the rider.
Major collision investigation unit detectives are investigating the crash.
Updated
Opinion:
Peter Dutton’s incendiary question time intervention suggesting China has picked Anthony Albanese as its election candidate plumbed new – and dangerous – depths.
For weeks Scott Morrison and his defence minister have been suggesting voters must not be lulled into a false sense of national security bipartisanship. Only the Coalition, their argument goes, can be trusted not to “appease” China.
At the tail end of question time on Thursday, Dutton dialled the scare campaign up to 11. With Morrison watching on, the defence minister declared he wanted to scotch the idea that both of Australia’s mainstream political parties were equally committed to “defending our nation”. Nothing, claimed Dutton, could be further from the truth.
You can read the full piece below:
Updated
Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull was far less positive about Peter Dutton’s comments (not wildly shocking given what went down in 2018), saying the comments about Labor’s relationship with China have “no basis in fact”.
Malcolm Turnbull says Dutton "reds under bed" China scare on Labor has "no basis in fact" and Morrison should rein him in because it harms Australian unity. #auspol
— Paul Karp (@Paul_Karp) February 10, 2022
Updated
Foreign affairs minister Marise Payne has also adopted the “just being incredibly vauge” approach when it comes to justifying Peter Dutton’s suggestion that China has picked Labor leader Anthony Albanese as its preferred prime minister.
Here’s what she said when asked about it on ABC radio earlier this morning:
It does require a consistent and measured approach at all times. I think the point the prime minister and defence minister were making is that that hasn’t always been demonstrated by the opposition. But we will be absolutely focused on Australia’s national interests and delivering that.
Host Sabra Lane:
You say it hasn’t been demonstrated, where is the evidence?
Payne:
There are a number of aspects which I think the defence minister was referring to yesterday. But ultimately making these tough decisions [is] a focus on national security and a focus on what our priorities are more broadly.
Updated
Peter Dutton:
I think in certain circumstances if one goes in you lose five* and you lose a vote by one you can lose about five it’s the same outcome.
Patricia Karvelas:
[Liberal MP Trent] Zimmerman had reserved his right, right. And he said that to the party rooms. So who was doing the misleading?
Dutton:
Well, we had very clear statements from a number of people, including beyond the five, and I’m not going into individual commitments or undertakings, that that’s the basis you asked me about the prime minister’s situation.
The prime minister based his judgment, his actions, his decisions on a perfectly reasonable basis following discussions, and it’s difficult when you get to the floor of the parliament and those undertakings aren’t honoured.
So that’s the situation and again, I’m happy to speak frankly about it. Because that is just the facts of what happened.
*This is not common in politics FYI, five MPs crossing the floor is a HUGE deal.
Updated
Morrison 'misled' by Liberal MPs who crossed the floor over religious discrimination
Defence minister Peter Dutton has said a number of the Liberal MPs who crossed the floor over the religious discrimination bill misled the government about their intentions, confirming speculation that their leaders were blindsided by the way the vote went:
[Scott Morrison] was frankly misled ... There are undertakings that were given. The undertaking wasn’t honoured ... The government doesn’t go into a vote like that unless assurances have been given.
I’m not sure how you want to describe it, depending on your perspective of the situation, but there are undertakings that were given. Those undertakings weren’t honoured.
Updated
Dutton doubles down on accusation China has 'picked' Albanese as preferred PM
Patricia Karvelas:
There’s no doubt that there’s been political interference. We know that but to actually make that claim that the leader of the opposition is China’s pick is a pretty inflammatory thing to say.
Peter Dutton:
I think you’ve got to stick to the facts, Patricia, and if you look at the facts, in this case, I think certainly, from what I see, both open source and other intelligence that I see it’s a statement of the obvious*.
And there were relationships going back to Sam Dastyari and Bob Carr is obviously is very close still to Beijing, and there are many others that are alive.
Karvelas:
But Sam Dastyari and Bob Carr are not Anthony Albanese, as you know.
You can pair Liberal MPs to that, you know, different relationships with China too, but they’re not Peter Dutton, right? Or they’re not Scott Morrison. I mean, to actually put this on the opposition leader is an incredibly inflammatory and politicised thing to say.
Dutton:
I have, as I said, Patricia on what’s openly available to us, and when I say otherwise, there’s no doubt in my mind about the statement that I made yesterday. And I think there needs to be a greater awareness, frankly, particularly from the Labor party about the engagement of people who, who don’t have our national interests.
At its heart, that’s the reality of the situation. We’re dealing with a very different China, the Chinese government or the Communist party now than they were five or 10 years ago.
*Sorry to use internet slang, but “receipts or it didn’t happen”, minister.
Updated
Radio host Patricia Karvelas has asked Peter Dutton what evidence there is to suggest that China has chosen Anthony Albanese as its preferred Australian prime minister.
Dutton doesn’t actually provide any evidence at all:
I think there’s open-source information reported over a long period of time, both in terms, quite frankly, of China and Russia exerting political influence, not just here.
I mean, it’s long been established in the United States and in the United Kingdom and other democracies around the world, that we’re seeing this where people are seeking to influence members, influential members, young members who are on the rise. They pick somebody who will be influential within that party in years to come.
Updated
Defence minister Peter Dutton comments in parliament have been questioned this week after he accused Anthony Albanese of being China’s pick to be the next prime minister.
Many viewed the accusation as an attempt to shift focus away from the Coalition’s damaging defeat in passing its contentious religious discrimination bill through the upper house but Dutton has doubled down on it when speaking to ABC radio this morning.
He said he agreed with US secretary of state Anthony Blinken:
He believes that the Chinese government’s strategic ambition has expanded so that it now aims to dominate the entire world in military, economic, diplomatic and political power ...
I think it’s important not just to look at secretary Blinken’s words, but to look at the words of President Xi and the spokesman for the regime. That’s the reality and we need to deal with that from Australia’s perspective.
We want to a reliable partner in China, we want human rights to be respected and we want to build the relationship, but that’s two-way process and many other countries have said same …
China has moved quite dramatically away from principles that we thought were being adopted over a period of time.
Updated
Hello everyone, after a wild week of politics in Canberra, it’s Matilda Boseley back here on the blog to take you through the (thankfully) parliament-free day.
Let’s kick things off in Victoria where the state’s parliament has passed laws to decriminalise sex work, to the applause of MPs and advocates. It is now the third Australian jurisdiction to do this after NSW (1995) and the NT (2019).
There were cheers and applause in the chamber when the final vote tally was read out, with the Labor government garnering the support of 10 crossbenchers.
The Sex Work Decriminalisation Act 2021 will partially abolish street-based sex work offences and associated public health offences, remove a licensing system and regulate the industry through existing agencies – essentially the reforms aim to have the law treat sex work like any other industry.
It will also strengthen anti-discrimination protections, making it unlawful to deny sex workers accommodation.
Reason Party leader Fiona Patten, a former sex worker who led Victoria’s review into decriminalising the industry, said the reforms were long overdue:
This bill is for everyone who has been working under these draconian laws that have not protected us.
The bill will now return to the lower house (where the government has an overwhelming majority), before being sent to the Victorian governor, and will come into effect between May and December next year.
With that, why don’t we jump right into the day?
Updated
