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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Cait Kelly and Royce Kurmelovs (earlier)

Seventh Japanese encephalitis case in NSW; nation records 17 Covid deaths - as it happened

New South Wales Australia Sydney Newtown
Covid RAT tests
NSW recorded an additional 10,000 cases today that were actually recorded over the last Sunday to Monday period due to a data processing problem. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP

What we learned today, Wednesday 16 March

And with that we are going to put this blog to bed - thank you for joining us today. Before we go, let’s recap the big ones:

  • Man dies in NSW flood waters in Broken Hill
  • A man was charged with murder over a NSW boarding house fire; he later appeared in court
  • Coalition to spend $243m on four mining projects
  • New Zealand border to open to international travellers in April
  • NSW adds 10,000 additional Covid cases from RATs
  • Lawyers seek stay of prosecution for the alleged rape of Brittany Higgins
  • ‘Chilling silence’ from China on Russia: PM
  • NSW records 30,402 Covid cases and five deaths, Victoria 9,426 cases and eight deaths, QLD records three deaths and 6,136 cases, while WA records one death and 6,062 cases, and the ACT records 1,226 new Covid cases

That’s it from me for today – I will see you all again tomorrow afternoon!

Updated

LGBTIQ+ equality, health and parents’ groups have joined the NSW Teachers Federation in welcoming the NSW government’s outright rejection of One Nation’s anti-LGBTIQ+ education bill.

Ghassan Kassisieh, legal director of Equality Australia:

Every child deserves a quality education in a school where they have a place and feel valued.

The LGBTIQ+ community in New South Wales will breathe a little easier today, as the NSW Government has stood up to One Nation’s bullying of trans and gender diverse kids, affirming their right to connect, succeed and thrive at school.

The government’s position is contained in its response to Parliamentary Education Committee’s report into the bill, opposed at the time by committee members Anthony D’Adam (Labor) and David Shoebridge (Greens).

Teddy Cook, the sole trans person invited to give evidence at the committee hearings, and acting director, Community Health and Wellbeing at ACON, said:

It’s fantastic to see the NSW government today stand by trans kids and their families, who already face so many barriers, and experience disproportionate levels of bullying and harassment.

Trans kids already experience extremely concerning negative mental health impacts, as we see in research findings all over the world. One Nation’s bill would only have made schools less safe for trans students, and placed lives at risk.

Updated

The Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, has taken a swing at Rupert Murdoch’s national broadsheet the Australian, declaring it is “extraordinarily disrespectful” to use the appellation “mean girls” to describe “strong, articulate, principled women” like Penny Wong, Katy Gallagher and Kristina Keneally.

The blast followed the publication on Wednesday of an article chronicling alleged internal disagreements between members of Labor’s Senate team and the late senator Kimberley Kitching, who died suddenly of a heart attack last week at the age of 52. The article claimed the disagreements left Kitching feeling isolated.

Updated

From AAP:

A group of essential workers who were challenging Victoria’s vaccination mandates have been given permission to discontinue their case – though they will have to pay costs.

But two are hoping to press on.

There were 132 workers and employers who sought to challenge the state’s Covid-19 vaccination mandates, arguing it breached their human rights.

Melbourne couple Belinda and Jack Cetnar filed a case challenging the mandates in October last year, but after a judge recommended they get legal advice, they joined a larger action led by a healthcare worker Simon Harding.

All but two members of that group were represented in a Victorian supreme court hearing on Thursday where Justice Melinda Richards granted them permission to file a discontinuance and bring their case to an end.

Updated

South Australia’s environment minister has challenged the federal government to “fast-track” Australia’s transition to electric vehicles by matching the state’s subsidy scheme aimed at increasing uptake.

Speaking to Guardian Australia, David Speirs said that with a federal election looming, and an oil price shock caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine inflating the cost of petrol, there had “never been a better time” to transition to electric cars.

Updated

It was midnight, hours before the floods hit Lismore, and Naomi Moran was in the Koori Mail’s office, working frantically to save an Indigenous institution.

The newspaper’s three-storey building, perched perilously close to the swelling Wilsons River, was expected to be flooded, just as it was in 2017.

Christopher Knaus has the dramatic story of how the Indigenous-owned and managed newspaper, the Koori Mail, was affected by the recent flooding in northern NSW.

Updated

Clive Palmer’s address to the National Press Club is back on, after the mining magnate cancelled his previously scheduled appearance because of Covid-like symptoms.

Palmer is believed to have refused to get the safe, effective vaccine.

The ABC previously said it would air the address on a delay, because of his views on the vaccine.

Updated

From AAP:

The Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, has again defended Wivenhoe Dam releases during recent floods after extending her condolences to the families of 13 people killed in the disaster.

Palaszczuk moved the motion in parliament on Wednesday to take stock of the disaster in the state’s south-east during the last two weeks.

13 people died and another man remains missing, feared dead in the floods, which also damaged thousands of homes and businesses.

“The record rainfall that led to the widespread floods of the past fortnight will enter the record books as one of the toughest ordeals our state has ever faced,” the premier told parliament.

“I express once again my sympathies to the families and friends of [the] 13 people who lost their lives.

“These floods occurred with frightening speed across a vast area. It is as if a river dropped from the sky across the entire southeast.”

She paid tribute to Queensland Fire and Emergency Services who made 657 swift water rescues and responded to 13,685 calls for help.

The inspector general of emergency management is probing the government’s response, Palaszczuk said, including flood mitigation releases from Wivenhoe Dam into the upper Brisbane river.

However, the premier again defended the operation of the dam, which she said had held back “four Sydney Harbours’” worth of water.

“Critics have accused the dam’s operators of contributing to the floods – how they explain what happened in Gympie and Maryborough, let alone Lismore and Sydney, is beyond me,” Palaszczuk said.

Updated

From AAP:

Some Australian Defence Force veterans are being “overwhelmed” by a complex compensation claims process that could be contributing to high suicide rates among ex-soldiers, a royal commission has been told.

The commission in Sydney is probing the long-running issue of defence and veteran suicide, with the inquiry on Wednesday hearing from Department of Veterans’ Affairs officials about a “complicated process” for ex-ADF members seeking compensation payouts.

Counsel assisting the royal commission, Peter Singleton, put to the DVA official Kate Pope that complexities in the department’s claims process meant “some veterans feel overwhelmed by the task of seeking their entitlements”.

“Yes, I think it’s broadly true that DVA would have the view that, for some people, it is an overwhelming process,” Pope said.

The claims process, for some veterans, became a source of stress, depression, deteriorating mental health and even suicidality, the inquiry was told.

“Does DVA accept that in some cases these issues can extend so far as to be contributing factors to suicidality?” Singleton asked.

“It’s not unreasonable to think that an overwhelming process that affects someone in that way could be a contributing factor,” Pope replied.

The inquiry has previously heard of an “unacceptably high” claims backlog at DVA, with the average processing time blowing out to around 200 days.

Updated

With petrol prices continuing to soar, Peter Newman, a John Curtin Distinguished Professor from the Curtin University Sustainability Policy Institute, says it’s time to make the switch to electric transport.

The oil crisis is finally happening after many previous shorter versions with serious fluctuations in price due to political interference in oil markets. These have been very big disruptions in the past. I was in San Francisco during the first oil crisis in 1973-74 when the whole city fell apart desperately trying to get their last tank of petrol.

We must act rapidly to get all electric transport so we can depend on local sunshine for our transport as well as our buildings.

We have electric trains, but we must go for electric buses and electric modern trams – and, of course, electric cars. It’s time to put the diesel subsidy into getting help for industry to switch to electric freight trains and trucks, electric tractors, and mining equipment. And it’s time for the fuel tax to be put into electric cars and electric public transport purchases and infrastructure.

Updated

Ben Roberts-Smith ran an “aggressive intimidation campaign” against witnesses giving evidence to a government war crimes inquiry, a former comrade has told the federal court.

The soldier, anonymised before the court as Person 7, also gave evidence Roberts-Smith repeatedly punched and kicked a “terrified” unarmed Afghan prisoner “who posed no threat whatsoever”; bullied other Australian soldiers; and made threats he would “choke a man to death with my bare hands”.

The full report is below:

Updated

From AAP:

Victoria’s health minister has been forced into seven-day quarantine after a family member tested positive for Covid-19 as the state’s case numbers grow.

Martin Foley said he returned a negative rapid antigen but since he was a close contact he would undergo isolation, meaning he will miss the first half of this state parliament sitting week.

“I feel healthy, so I’ll continue working remotely and will be doing regular tests,” he tweeted on Wednesday afternoon.

The minister held a press conference about vaccinations in the suburb of Sunshine earlier on Wednesday.

Victoria has seen a 10% rise in Covid-19 case numbers week-on-week as the state government pushes vaccinations ahead of winter.

The state’s daily Covid-19 figure, of 9,426 new infections, is the highest since posting 9,908 on 9 February.

Updated

From AAP:

Access to Victoria’s parliament is a privilege not a right, says a lawyer defending the rejection of a media pass for a conservative activist and political commentator.

Avi Yemini, the Australian bureau chief for Canadian far-right website Rebel News, is suing over a decision to refuse him media accreditation to allow him entry to both houses of state parliament, the building and its surrounds.

Yemini, whose lawyers describe him as a member of the “new media”, have argued in Victoria’s supreme court that he was denied procedural fairness when his accreditation application was rejected last year.

He has brought a case against the upper house president Nazih Elasmar, the lower house speaker, Colin Brooks, and the serjeant-at-arms, Paul Groenewegen.

But Chris Horan QC, representing the trio, said all cases for access were a matter of privilege.

“There’s no right or entitlement of journalists or anybody else to have access to any part of the parliamentary precinct,” he said.

“That doesn’t detract from the importance of freedom of the press or reporting on parliament, but the decision not to give a media pass is, of itself, not inconsistent with the freedom of expression or reporting of political activities.”

Justice Tim Ginnane suggested there were different rules for members of the “old media” – organisations who have historically been granted access and accreditation.

But Horan insisted decisions were made on a case-by-case, saying even accredited organisations would have limits on the number of yearly accreditation passes based on things like the capacity in the parliamentary press gallery offices.

Updated

Several high-profile Indigenous journalists have condemned the Australian newspaper’s coverage as unethical, victim-blaming and insensitive following the acquittal of Northern Territory police officer Zachary Rolfe in relation to the shooting death of 19-year-old Kumanjayi Walker.

A jury acquitted Rolfe of murder and related charges on Friday over the 2019 shooting of Walker in Yuendumu. The court heard Walker was shot three times, with Rolfe arguing he acted to protect his and his partner’s safety.

From AAP:

A record number of people needing emergency care turned up at NSW public hospitals in the last quarter of 2021, while ambulance call outs also increased amid the Covid-19 Delta and Omicron waves.

The Bureau of Health Information quarterly report covering October to December documented NSW Health services during the peak of the Delta outbreak and the emergence of the Omicron variant.

There were 763,257 emergency department attendances and 320,729 ambulance responses, the highest of any October to December quarter since BHI began reporting in 2010.

NSW ambulances responded to almost 9,000 of the highest priority cases (Priority 1A) – an increase of 21.3% or more than 1,500 responses – compared with the same quarter in 2020.

NSW Health said the median response time for Priority 1A cases was 8.8 minutes, within the 10-minute benchmark.

The lower priority one and priority two patients waited an average of 14.1 and 25.1 minutes, respectively.

Here’s the Guardian report below:

Updated

Labor’s foreign affairs spokesperson, Penny Wong, has met with China’s new ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian, a week after the foreign minister, Marise Payne, held a similar meeting.

In line with the bipartisan consensus on China, Wong made similar points as Payne in the meeting, although she added concerns about the recent report that Russia has asked China for military equipment. Wong said last week that if Labor won the federal election in May, Australia would not be taking “a backward step” on any substantive points of disagreement with Beijing.

Here is the readout supplied by Wong’s office moments ago:

Senator Wong told the Ambassador that she shares foreign minister Marise Payne’s commitment to a constructive relationship with China, while Australia’s sovereignty is respected.

Senator Wong reinforced that there is strong bipartisan agreement on the issues raised by the minister, during her meeting with the ambassador last week.

The senator repeated Labor’s concerns for human rights, including in Xinjiang and Hong Kong, and for the welfare of Australians detained in China. She emphasised the importance of free and open trade, and stability and respect for sovereignty in the region.

Senator Wong urged China to use its unique relationship, and position as a ‘no-limits’ partner with Russia to end to the conflict in Ukraine. She expressed her serious concerns over reports that Russia has asked China for weapons. Senator Wong urged China to support the people of Ukraine and its sovereignty, and not provide weapons to Russia.

Xiao, who was previously China’s ambassador to Indonesia, said last month that China was “willing to work with Australia to meet each other halfway”.

He said the two governments should “jointly make efforts” to push the relationship back on “the right track” – but did not specify any tangible actions Beijing may take.

Updated

National Covid-19 summary

Here are the latest coronavirus numbers from around Australia today, as the country records at least 17 deaths from Covid-19:

ACT

  • Deaths: 0
  • Cases: 1,226
  • In hospital: 39 (with 4 people in ICU)

NSW

  • Deaths: 5
  • Cases: 30,402
  • In hospital: 1,016 (with 36 people in ICU)

Northern Territory

  • Deaths: 0
  • Cases: 251
  • In hospital: 24 (with 2 people in ICU)

Queensland

  • Deaths: 3
  • Cases: 6,136
  • In hospital: 255 (with 21 people in ICU)

South Australia

  • Deaths: 0
  • Cases: 3,122
  • In hospital: 136 (with 10 people in ICU)


  • Victoria
  • Deaths: 8
  • Cases: 9,426
  • In hospital: 201 (with 24 people in ICU)

Western Australia

  • Deaths: 1
  • Cases: 6,062
  • In hospital: 123 (with 2 people in ICU)

Updated

ACT records 1,226 new Covid cases

Updated

QLD records three Covid deaths and 6,136 new cases, while WA records one death and 6,062 new cases

Tragically, WA has recorded its first Covid-related death from an aged care home for the entire pandemic.

Updated

On the eve of Closing the Gap Day, and just days after the Rolfe trial verdict, Australia’s only First Nations-led national justice coalition, Change the Record, has released its key election demands to all parties.

Change the Record’s ambitious election platform demands that governments abandon the harmful, punitive “law and order” measures that do nothing to keep community safe and drive Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples into prison.

Instead, the coalition calls on all parties and candidates to address the poverty, housing crisis, family violence and discriminatory laws and policies that fuel inequality in our communities.

Cheryl Axleby, co-chair of Change the Record:

Our people are once again in mourning after another young fella was killed in police custody with no consequences, and no justice. We are tired of governments saying they want to “close the gap” but then doing nothing to support our young people in community instead of prison.

Governments say they want to work with us but instead of investing in housing, adequate social security payments and putting our people in the driver’s seat, they continue to lock away our children and criminalise our people.

We are calling on all political parties: if you are serious about closing the gap, look at our Blueprint for Change and start listening to the First Nations experts calling on you to do things differently.

A brief summary of CtR’s key asks:

Housing

  • Invest in Aboriginal and community-controlled housing – including an emergency commitment to build new remote housing in response to the crisis of overcrowding and Covid
  • End homelessness once and for all
  • Commit to systemic reform to realise everyone’s right to a home

Family violence

  • Adequately fund family violence prevention and legal services to meet community need (+$32m a year)
  • Restore funding to the national peak body, the Family Violence Prevention and Legal Services Forum ($1m a year)
  • Establish a self-determined, dedicated National Safety Plan for and by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women

Social security

  • Raise the rate of Centrelink so no one is forced to live in poverty
  • Abolish discriminatory compulsory income management
  • Abolish punitive mutual obligations

Justice

  • Establish a National Justice Reinvestment Body (Labor & Greens have already committed)
  • End Blak deaths in custody and fully implement police and prison oversight (including intergovernmental agreements to implement the Optional Protocal to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT))
  • Raise the Age of criminal responsibility to at least 14 years old

Updated

Some more information on that from AAP:

A man who allegedly murdered three fellow residents in a Sydney boarding house by starting an explosive fire has appeared before court.

The two-storey dilapidated Newtown boarding house was engulfed in flames following an explosion in the early hours of Tuesday, killing at least of 11 residents, according to police.

NSW police are concerned for a fourth man who is yet to be located.

Richard Hotoran, 45, has been charged with three counts of murder and one charge of damaging property by fire or explosion after he surrendered himself to Surry Hills police station on Tuesday night.

The Kingsford man, according to court documents, appeared before the Central local court on Wednesday where he made no application for bail and it was formally refused.

Detective chief superintendent Darren Bennett said that Hotoran was a resident of the boarding house at the time, and was one of the men who police initially feared had perished in the blaze.

“We will be alleging he was there when the fire was set,” he told reporters on Wednesday.

Police said they were still trying to locate the owner of the building and were investigating whether an accelerant was used.

“It has been reported that there has been an accelerant used, and we have had that advice given to us and it will form part of the brief of evidence,” Chief Supt Bennett told reporters.

Hotoran is next due back in court on May 12.

Updated

Man in court over boarding house fire

The man charged with the murder of three people following a fire at a boarding house in Sydney’s inner west did not make an application for bail during a brief mention in the Sydney Central local court shortly after noon on Wednesday.

The accused, Richard Hotoran, 45, did not appear via video link.

His lawyer, Adam Ly, told the court there was “a lot more of the investigation to go” and requested eight weeks before the next hearing.

His client was remanded and will reappear on May 12.

Speaking outside court, Ly said his client was “as good as anyone who has been charged with such serious matters could be”. He said:

[He] was obviously doing it very tough.

He’s been charged with very serious matters and we have to see what comes of the evidence.

NSW Police and Fire and Rescue personnel work at the scene.
NSW Police and Fire and Rescue personnel work at the scene of a house fire in Newtown on Tuesday 15 March, 2022. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAP

Updated

Lastly, Morrison is asked about inflation and the upcoming budget:

We have to be very careful about those issues and that’s why we have to take responsible decisions and always have.

The reason we have kept our AAA credit rating in Australia is because ratings agencies have understood what we were doing in our budgets. That they understood that we had been targeted and this is one of the key principles that we articulated at the start of the pandemic that we said we would be targeted in the supports we provided but they would have a start date at stop date.

Scott Morrison
Scott Morrison speaks during a press conference at the Crown Perth Convention Centre in Perth. Photograph: Richard Wainwright/AAP

Updated

Asked whethere there should be an investigation into the allegations of bullying against Kimberly Kitching, Morrison said:

I’ll leave those matters to the Labor party ... They need to be addressed in particularly out of respect for the late Senator Kitching and her family and friends.

My main message to them that it’s a terrible shock, a terrible shock to us all. It was like when we lost our dear friend Don Randall many years ago here in the west. Almost in similar circumstances dying of a heart attack while he was in his car. For many of us it brought back those memories as well so I understand how so many in the Labor party would feel at the moment but these are the stories that have come forward and they come forward from the Labor party and the union movement.

Clearly they need to be addressed and I leave that to the leader of the Labor party to address.

Updated

Morrison is asked about the claims that Kimberley Kitching was bullied before her death:

I feel terribly for Kimberley’s family that at a time when they are grieving so badly and her close friends, and she has close friends on both sides of the aisle.

Her funeral will be next week as I understand and I know there will be many Coalition members there as well. Kimberley Kitching was unique. She was a true patriot. The reason she had so many friends on our side is because she stood up very strongly for issues of our national security and sovereignty.

She worked closely with members like Andrew Hastings in W,A he became a good friend of Kimberly.

These reports of her treatment are not ones I can confirm as the leader of the Liberal party. They are things I’d expect not to be dismissed and to be taken very seriously and addressed.

Updated

'Chilling silence' from China on Russia: PM

Morrison is asked if the national security committee is considering sanctioning China because of its silence on Russia:

One thing that’s disturbed me from the outset apart from the obvious in terms of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, has been the chilling silence we saw from China. There is a real lack of transparency in the relationship between China and Russia.

At a time when the rest of the world is applying sanctions to Russia, and seeking to impose a heavy price on them for their violent and aggressive actions, China actually relieved trade restrictions or trade measures on Russia, on wheat, for example.

Now that sends a terrible message. China seeks to present itself as playing a positive role in global affairs to maintain peace and stability. The lack of transparency and relationship with Russia is of great concern in our region not just to liberal democracies and I think it’s time for sorts of issues to be made clear.

Updated

Reporter: If you lose four seats in WA, that will be hard to retain government.

Morrison:

I only highlight the importance of the choice between the Australian people. West Australians know that it was our government that delivered the fair GST deal. It’s a government that supported the resources industry, the Labor party that didn’t move on GST when they had the opportunity. We did.

The Labor party has not backed the resource industry here in WA at a federal level. At a state level very different, state Labor is different to Albanese Labor at a federal level.

It’s not the same thing. At the next election, Mark McGowan will be premier the next day and ... I will continue to work closely with the West Australian premier to get the right outcome for West Australians.

Updated

Morrison is stressing he has worked well with the WA premier, Mark McGowan, while making the argument that Albanese is not the same person.

Whether it’s our agreement with the WA premier McGowan, we wanted to change the environmental protection act, conservation act. To ensure it was simple, so the decisions could be made quicker and investments could flow into WA.

The premier and I agreed we had to do this. So we put the legislation forward, Labor and the Greens opposed at a federal level. Federal Labor under Anthony Albanese is not the same as state Labor under Mark McGowan.

They are two very different animals and we have worked very closely with Mark McGowan here and agree to deliver and support the party ... especially in our resources sector, continues to be realised and we’ve done the same with our defence industry investments.

Updated

Scott Morrison is in WA making his case for re-election

Morrison is making his argument for why people in Western Australia should vote for the Libs:

Because of my WA team, because of the closeness of the West Australian team of Liberals that form our government, we have achieved a lot for WA.

In the last three years, the last three years including the pandemic, we have delivered an extra $20bn to support WA through the crisis. More than $14bn directly in economic support ... through JobKeeper and cash flow assistance and all those measures are over $800m directly we have put in to support the WA Health response through the 50-50 partnership on hospitals and the many other measures from vaccines to mental health.

Updated

The prime minister has been speaking in Perth. We are going to him now.

Updated

Dibb:

What I’m about to tell you - I can’t tell you the source but it is an impeccable source. When you ask Ukrainians at reasonably influential levels - so, this Russian army (is made up of) conscripts about 30%. The others are professionals. The conscripts are as young as 17. They weren’t told that they were going to attack Ukraine.

They were told that they were going on an exercise. And you’ve seen them in the video shots. They’re crying. They’re young men. So this Ukrainian source, this impeccable source said to me. “What do you do with the young boys?” “We impound their iPhone, we ask for their mother’s telephone number in Russia and ring them and say - we’ve got your son, he’s safe and please come and pick him up!” Isn’t that smart. The word will get around. Now, will it have any impact on Putin? No, nothing. He’s impermeable to that. He has no soul.

Former Department of Defence secretary Dennis Richardson and former director of the Defence Intelligence Organisation Paul Dibb
Former Department of Defence secretary Dennis Richardson and former director of the Defence Intelligence Organisation Paul Dibb at the National Press Club in Canberra. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Updated

Dibb has been talking about the friendship between the two leaders:

My view was Xi Jinping, remembering that he and Vladimir Putin are the closest of friends. They’ve seen each other 30 times in a few years. That Xi Jinping will be scrutinising in exquisite detail how much Putin is getting away with the use of military force against a sovereign country across sovereign boundaries.

And what does that mean for Xi Jinping in regards to - shall he warm it up with regard to Taiwan? But there are some issue, arent there? It’s one thing to cross land borders and the Russians have clearly found that a bit of a challenge.

The Taiwan Straits is 160km across. This is not going the English Channel. This is serious stuff. And any Chinese amphibious assault would be totally vulnerable to impossible to detect, dare I say it, American nuclear attack submarines.

Impossible to detect. I would have thought that Xi Jinping, and I’m guessing, is having a look at also the reaction of the Western world - America, Europe, us, some countries like Japan in Asia, are thinking - I never thought that the West would get its act together like that. But it makes it more complicated for him, I would have thought.

Back at the Press Club, Paul Dibb has just been talking about what the risks are for China supporting Russia with arms.

I know Russians who are very uncomfortable with the relationship. Let’s remember. If you go back through history, Stalin kept waiting for months when the Communist revolution had just occurred in 1949 in China. Stalin was the leader of world communism. Then they signed an alliance and it was called the Lips and the Teeth and I’ve got on my door at the university, a poster from that period and it has a Russian and Chinese, and the Chinese man has his arms around a Russian boy, and the Russian man has his arms around a Chinese girl. And in Russian it says, “Always together.”

Well, that alliance ended up with Russia threatening to drop nuclear weapons on the Chinese in 1968 on an island in a river and it was dangerous stuff. The Russians actually approached the Americans – how would you react if ... Then there was a long period where Russia disintegrated and was nothing much. China was racing ahead. We’d taken our eyes off China for 20 years, lord help us. We were in Afghanistan and Iraq and what was China doing? Making hay while the sun shines.

And I think that the situation now is – could we in any way lure China way? I’m not a China expert. I find it hard to imagine.

Updated

Richardson is asked if it is time there is more transparency about what happens at Pine Gap and how much control Australia has over the facility.

We do have access to the different parts of that facility. Any claim to the contrary is rubbish.

Secondly, the deputy head of Pine Gap is an Australian. American Congress men and women have visited Pine Gap. I know this as of fact. And on at least two occasions, have got back to Washington and queried American officials as to what the hell they were doing being briefed by Australians. Because on at least one visit, the American head of Pine Gap wasn’t there and he was replaced by the deputy who was always an Australian. So I don’t think we should use this occasion to start furphies yet again about Pine Gap.

Updated

Richardson says he thinks the decision to get nuclear submarines is a good one.

First of all, we failed to keep in place a sophisticated design team for submarines after the last of the Collins was built in the early 2000s. Secondly, we failed to press the button on new submarines in the period between 2007 and 2013.

So, from 2013 on, it was inevitable that we would face a problem in terms of the life of the Collins and what comes afterwards. And that’s the game that’s been played out since. I actually think the decision to acquire nuclear-powered submarines is absolutely the correct one and the right one.

Updated

Just back to the Press Club where former secretary of defence Dennis Richardson was just speaking about China.

Russia and China share a strategic objective in weakening US global leadership power and also alliance structures that have been in place for a long time. The joint statement signed on February 4 talked about a no limits relationship. And, of course, there’s no such thing as a no-limits relationship. We’ve already seen that China had a limiting not voting for Russia in theUnited Nations. So, China has already articulated, silently, that there are limits.

I think China will give what support it can to Russia, that it thinks that is it can get away with. I think I would have thought that there’s very little prospect of china at this point seeking to be a mediator between Ukraine and Russia.

I don’t think that it would see it as being in its own interests. China has this funny position where it one, recognises Ukrainian sovereignty, but on the other hand, says that Russia had legitimate security issuing going in there and carrying two contradictory thoughts in its head at the one time.

So I think that China will work with Russia and help Russia to the extent that it think that is it can get away with it.

Updated

Bruce Lehrmann’s lawyers will seek a permanent stay of the prosecution against him for the alleged sexual assault of Brittany Higgins.

At an ACT supreme court hearing on Wednesday Lehrmann’s counsel, David Campbell, confirmed he had instructions to seek a stay – permanent or temporary – of the trial, scheduled for 6 June. Campbell cited publicity around allegations which he will argue makes it impossible for his client to receive a fair trial.

Lehrmann denies the alleged assault and is pleading not guilty.

Updated

Former secretary and deputy secretary in the Department of Defence, Paul Dibb, has been speaking at the Press Club about the invasion in Ukraine.

He is talking about how to get rid of Putin:

There are two options. One is a popular uprising. The second is a palace coup.

My friend who’s just out of Carnegie foundation, who just gone back to America ... dismisses both those options. He is a passionate Russian citizen, his mother was born in Kyiv, he lived in Kyiv, but he’s arguing against the possibility.

Why? We all know what Putin does with dissidents, what he’s about to do with [Alexei] Navalny, give him another 13 years. We know the brutality of the Russian police. You have seen it on your TV.

And when you go in any case outside of the elites, the intellectuals and the people who are officials in Moscow and St Petersburg. Rural Russia ... guess what? The only media they get is the Russian propaganda and you see them being reported on TV.

These sort of people, out in rural Siberia. We believe what our Government says. We were provoked, this is all America’s fault. The Americans are about to use biological weapons.

... And you also need to remember in addition to the military and the intelligence community the security organs of the state, Putin created a group called Roskvadia, the Russian Guards, they’re directly responsible to their commander in chief, who is guess whom? Vladimir Vladimirovich. How much are in this guard, how about 340,000. Think about that, we have no idea.

A palace coup? In the Soviet Union, even under Stalin, there was a political bureau, we call it a cabinet. Stalin ignored it, of course. But relevant to this argument, you remember how Krushov was deposed. He was on the holiday in Crimea. Because of the silly thing he talked about the burying the west, the politic bureau voted him out. There is no political bureau.

Updated

The Together We Can movement has today released the results to its Climate Poll 2022, which surveyed 15,000 people around the country.

Here are some key takeaways:

Across Australia, seven-in-10 people (69%) recognise that taking meaningful action on climate change will deliver long term economic benefits.

A majority of people in every electorate support action on climate change. Almost half of all people (48%) say the benefits outweigh the costs to them personally, while another (19%) support greater action even if it costs them in the short term.

Just one-in-10 people (11%) believe the costs of climate action are too high, while less than that number (9%) don’t support action on climate change regardless of the cost.

The federal government’s net zero by 2050 policy has failed to convince Australians that it will do enough to stop climate damage. Six-out-of-10 Australians are not convinced the PM’s commitment to net zero by 2050 is enough action.

Concern about climate change will be influential on how people vote on election day. Climate change is in the top three issues for one-in-three people (30%) at the next federal election, alongside a combination of the following: cost of living, health and hospitals, managing the Covid-19 pandemic and the economy.

Updated

A third South Australian resident has died in the last 48 hours while waiting for an ambulance, according to the Ambulance Employees Association (AEA) of South Australia.

On Wednesday morning the man in his 50s died while waiting over two hours for an ambulance after taking a fall.

“Crews, and communications staff are utterly devastated,” the AEA said on Facebook.

“To the question in all of our minds: How many more people have to die before premier Marshall will do anything other than apologise? The answer must be … ‘A few more’.”

According to news.com.au Marshall expressed condolences to the family but said it was unclear if the time delay was an aspect of the man’s death.

This tragic death has again put ambulance waiting times at the centre of the heated election campaign – which is covered in Sarah Martin’s great piece here:

Updated

Hello everyone, this is Cait Kelly – a big thank you to Royce for taking us through the morning.

If you would like to contact me, you can Tweet me: @cait__kelly or email: cait.kelly@theguardian.com. Let’s get into it!

Updated

And that is all from me. I will now be handing over the blog to my illustrious colleague, Cait Kelly who will take you through to the afternoon.

Labor says it will consider setting up an Office of Climate Threat Intelligence if elected.

The party has previously flagged plans to commission an urgent risk assessment of the national security threat posed by the climate crisis.

Labor’s defence spokesperson, Brendan O’Connor, expanded on the issue in a speech to a United States Studies Centre event in Canberra this morning:

We know extreme weather events are already increasing due to climate change.

Our region is becoming more contested militarily, but as our troops are providing non-ADF focused relief, their focus is compromised.

Obviously, there is a key role for the ADF in emergencies, but they cannot be the federal government’s only answer for every non-military crisis.

O’Connor reaffirmed plans to “look at the capability for swift disaster response mobilisation to the scale of natural disasters that we are experiencing, and whether, as suggested by experts, a national emergency taskforce is needed”. (My colleague Paul Karp covered that issue here.)

And O’Connor said the urgent climate risk assessment would be undertaken by the director general of national intelligence and the secretary of the Department of Defence.

It would also involve Australia’s intelligence agencies and an independent panel and would be given a four-month deadline:

The assessment would be explicitly required to capture domestic and Indo-Pacific trends and considerations, and economic matters.

It would be consistent with president Biden’s executive order on tackling the climate crisis at home and abroad.

The assessment would also consider the appropriateness of establishing an Office of Climate Threat Intelligence, which could potentially coordinate a holistic, whole-of government approach, building capacity across the public service and government agencies.

Updated

The performance of South Australia’s major hospitals has deteriorated as patients with serious conditions wait too long for treatment, the Australian Medical Association says, AAP Reports.

The AMA’s national president, Omar Khorshid, said the hospital system was coming under increasing pressure with the AMA’s Public Hospital Report Card revealing a backsliding performance across a range of measures.

“South Australians are waiting longer than they should for emergency treatment,” Khorshid said as he launched the report in Adelaide on Wednesday.

“Only one in two patients who present at an emergency department with an urgent condition such as moderate blood loss are seen on time.

“That’s 25% below the best-performing state and 13% below the national average.

“These conditions can’t wait a long time – we’re talking about abdominal pain, heavy bleeding or major fractures.”

The AMA said elective surgery performance in SA had also declined significantly, with wait times for even serious procedures, such as heart valve replacements, blowing out.

Health and ambulance waiting times are a key issue at the upcoming South Australian election – Guardian Australia reporter Sarah Martin has examined the political landscape in the state and has all the details.

Updated

The Victorian government has issued a warning to the state’s universities about reports of widespread wage theft and casualisation in the higher education sector.

The state’s training and skills minister, Gayle Tierney, has written to all Victorian universities requesting each institution update the government on steps they are taking to tackle the issue of underpayment of casual staff.


“The underpayment of casual staff is a serious issue across the higher education sector nationally, including in Victoria, and has significant impacts on staff while also risks broader reputational damage for the sector,” she wrote.

“I also remain concerned by the level of insecure work in the higher education sector.”

Updated

NSW Health has confirmed a seventh case of Japanese encephalitis.

The confirmed case is a woman aged in her 40s from the Berrigan area in the Riverina region. She was treated in hospital before being discharged and is continuing to recover in the community.

Japanese encephalitis is spread by mosquitoes and can infect animals and humans. It is not transmitted between humans or transmitted by consuming foods like pork.

There is no specific treatment for the infection, which can cause severe neurological illness with headache, convulsions and reduced consciousness in some cases.

NSW Health urged the community to protect themselves against mosquito bites to avoid contracting the disease.

Updated

Tasmania has reported 1,859 new Covid-19 cases today, with 14 people in hospital and three in intensive care.

Elsewhere the ACT have reported 4,339 active cases, with 39 people in hospital and four in ICU.

Updated

Some 120 Covid-19 pop-up vaccination hubs will be opened across priority suburbs in Victoria to improve booster uptake.

The health minister, Martin Foley, on Wednesday announced authorities would move away from operating large vaccination hubs and focus on smaller, walk-in facilities in local communities where booster uptake is lower than the state average of 62% and where there are fewer GPs and pharmacies.

Vaccination will be available at community and sports facilities, markets, playgrounds, primary schools and even at Bunnings in local government areas including Brimbank, Casey, Dandenong, Darebin, Hume, Melton and Moreland.

Some communities are doing really well. But we can do better, we can do more. And that’s why making it as easy as possible to get those vaccines into our arms is so critical.

Foley says the shift towards localised vaccination services will mean the Royal Exhibition Building vaccination hub will close from Wednesday 23 March.

The hub is the second-largest in the state and has delivered 400,000 vaccines. Foley says the shift towards localised vaccination services will mean the Royal Exhibition Building vaccination hub will close from Wednesday 23 March.

The hub is the second-largest in the state and has delivered 400,000 vaccines.

Updated

Victoria’s Covid-19 commander, Jeroen Weimar, says authorities are preparing for a rise in new infections.

The state recorded 9,426 new infections on Wednesday, its highest figure since mid-February.

He said:

Numbers are starting to trickle up again and, if we look at the sequencing we’re doing, we’re now seeing BA.2 the sub lineage in around half of our wastewater sequencing results that are coming through, so we’re seeing increasing prevalence of the BA.2 sublineage both here and we understand that other states across Australia as well.

We expect that the case numbers continue to trend upwards over March and April as people spend more time indoors as we mix more. So it’s really important that everyone uses this time and to get themselves protected with the third dose.

Updated

Officers have confirmed the 45-year-old man charged with the murder of three people following a fire at a boarding house in Sydney in the early hours of Tuesday morning had until recently been a resident.

On Wednesday police charged Richard Hotoran, from Newtown in the city’s inner west, with three counts of murder and one count of destroying or damaging property by fire or explosive.

The fire broke out just after 1am on Tuesday. Three people died in the blaze while eight managed to escape. Two of those people remain in hospital, one in a critical condition.

Two of the people who died in the fire remain “in situ” because, chief detective superintendent Darren Bennett told media, the building remained “structurally unsound”. He said police still don’t know whether more bodies could still be inside.

Bennett said the alleged motive remained unclear. He said:

The motive will form part of our inquiry. As we sit here now we don’t know the reason that the fire was [allegedly] set. Our allegation will be that the person we arrested last night set the fire, but we do not know why that person did that.

We’re aware the man arrested was a former resident of the boarding house and we’ll be alleging he was there when the fire was lit.

He was arrested after what Bennett described as an “interaction” with police just before 8pm.

Assistant commissioner Peter Cotter described the boarding house fire as a “horrible explosion” which had struck a chord with the community in Sydney. He said:

We all understand boarding houses are there for a specific reason. They’re there to help people who are down on their luck or down on their economies. Really these boarding houses play an integral part in providing suitable housing.

The boarding house owner owns several similar developments across Sydney, and on Wednesday Bennett said police were still attempting to speak to him.

Updated

Albanese ends the press conference – most of it follow Labor’s current line ahead of the next federal election: a focus on cost of living pressures, concerns around the prime minister’s handling of support for flood victims and ends – somewhat predictably – with a discussion about the Labor’s leader’s weight loss.

Updated

Albanese on China:

I support Australia acting in conjunction with our partners in the world. That’s what we’ve done up to now. We’ve provided bipartisan support for that. It’s important that democracies around the world take action. But I make this point – China has a responsibility to call out Russia’s behaviour and its aggression. It’s outrageous.

Questions now turn to Lismore where he says the PM “never prepares for anything”, and cost of living pressures.

Updated

Albanese:

The funeral is on Monday. And I’m not going to comment on anything other than that Kimberley Kitching is someone who I had respect for, someone who I – no one else – the one decision I have that doesn’t go to caucus is the appointment of assistant shadow ministers. I appointed Kimberley Kitching as an assistant shadow minister. She remained there.

Kimberley Kitching – it’s a great shock and a great loss and what it shouldn’t be is an opportunity for people [to] speculate based upon I’m not quite sure what.

Questions are now coming in about China and the possibility it may support Russia despite international action to impose sanctions.

Updated

Anthony Albanese press conference

Opposition leader Anthony Albanese is speaking live at a press conference now. The Labor opposition has come under fire for promises to marginal electorates and reports about bullying Kimberley Kitching – but Albanese is now pouring cold water on these attacks.

I find it astonishing that, in 2022, I get a question using the term “mean girls”. I find that extraordinarily disrespectful to describe strong, articulate, principled women like Penny Wong, Katy Gallagher and Kristina Keneally. I find it astonishing and a throwback. Decades. Decades. And when I saw that headline this morning, I just thought it was disrespectful to them.

Updated

With everything else going on in the world, here is a live blog cleanse with video of a sulphur-crested cockatoo freeing a rat from a trap.

Some might consider this a betrayal of a sacred compact with humanity, others might look at it and see an act of inter-species solidarity – I prefer to think of it as the act of a true maverick.

Updated

A poll of 15,000 young Australians of voting age has found climate change, Covid-19 and the cost of living at the three biggest issues of concern going into the next federal election.

The survey was organised by the Together We Can movement, an initiative of the Australian Conservation Foundation, and billed as “Australia’s Biggest Climate Poll”.

It aims to take a “temperature check” on voting attitudes among 1.63 million young people aged between 18 to 24.

The Australian Youth Climate Coalition national director, Alex Fuller, said: “Just a few thousand votes could determine who’s in the driver’s seat on climate action for the next three years.”


“Across the board, one thing is clear: young people want our government to put the health and safety of communities before the profits of big corporations, and our generation needs all parties to have a real plan to protect our future,” Fuller said.

Updated

Lawyers seek stay of prosecution for alleged rape of Brittany Higgins

The ACT supreme court is conducting a hearing in the prosecution of Bruce Lehrmann for the alleged sexual assault of Brittany Higgins.

Lehrmann denies the alleged assault and will plead not guilty.

Lehrmann’s counsel, David Campbell, has confirmed that he has instructions to seek a permanent stay of the prosecution.

Campbell revealed Lehrmann’s legal team will also write to media outlets asking them to take down articles about the Higgins allegation.

If the permanent stay application is not granted and media outlets do not voluntarily take the articles down – Lehrmann will move for the court to order they be taken down.

Updated

New Zealand to reopen its borders

New Zealand is reopening its borders to the world, after two years spent closed off by the pandemic.

From 13 April, vaccinated tourists from Australia will be able to enter the country without isolating, and from midnight May 1, they can enter from other visa-waiver countries around the world.

“We’re ready to welcome the world back,” the prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, said.

“While we have removed all travel isolation so that tourists will be able to experience the sights and sounds [of Aotearoa] immediately, they will be required to have a pre-departure test.”

The New Zealand tourism minister, Stuart Nash, said Australians were welcome.

“We have missed you,” Nash said, “We are ready to roll out the green and gold carpet to our Australian neighbours, and in time for the school holidays.”

It is now two years since Ardern’s 2020 decision to snap close New Zealand’s borders, as the country’s first outbreak of Covid cases sprung up.

The country is reopening now after vaccinating the vast majority of adults – 95% of those aged 12 and over are now double-vaccinated, and 72% have had a booster shot.

Updated

Victoria records 9,426 new Covid cases and eight deaths

The Covid-19 numbers for Victoria are also in with the state reporting eight people died overnight, 201 are hospitalised, with 24 in ICU and six people on ventilation.

Updated

New South Wales records 30,402 Covid cases and five deaths

NSW Health reports five people have died overnight as the state reports 1016 hospitalisations, with 36 people in ICU.

They also report 30,402 positive tests in the last 24 hours – though be aware they include 10,000 positive tests that had been left out of official statistics due to a data error.

Updated

Wait times blew out for ambulances in NSW for patients with life-threatening conditions such as cardiac arrest during the Covid pandemic, a report published on Wednesday shows.

The Australian Paramedics Association described the findings of the Bureau of Health Information report as “alarming”, but said the pandemic was not entirely to blame for the worsening response times.

The report shows the median response time for patients with life-threatening conditions, known as “P1A” cases, was 8.5 minutes in the October-December quarter of 2021. The benchmark is 10 minutes.

Read Melissa Davey’s full report for more:

Updated

NSW adds 10,000 additional Covid cases from RATs

NSW Health has added the results from 10,000 additional positive rapid antigen tests to its official numbers after a data error meant they were left out.

The results were registered between Sunday 13 March and Monday 14 March, with NSW Health warning the numbers will “inflate the cases being reported today for the 24 hours to 4pm yesterday (Tuesday)”.

PCR test results were not affected by the issue.

NSW recorded 30,402 positive test responses on Tuesday, which includes 22,748 positive RATs – 10,000 from Sunday and Monday.

There were 7,654 positive PCR results returned from a total of 48,987 PCR tests.

NSW will release full details at its daily Covid-19 update at 11am.

Updated

A Western Australian government scheme to provide free rapid antigen rests enters its second day.

Registered individuals can get up to 15 free tests, with the potential for additional tests if they had previously registered.

Updated

The federal Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, has denied the party has a cultural problem after some senior MPs were accused of treating the late Senator Kimberley Kitching with hostility and ostracising her, AAP reports.

Albanese said Kitching’s sudden death last week was a tragedy that hurt all of Labor and it was important she was paid due respect ahead of a funeral on Monday.

“Out of respect for Kimberley, I think the idea that people go into who might have had a disagreement here or there is totally unbecoming,” he told the Nine Network on Wednesday.

I’m going to pay respect to Kimberley Kitching by treating her with the respect that she deserves.

She made a contribution for too short a time to the Labor party and to the Labor cause. Her family and friends are really hurting today.

Asked if there was a cultural problem with senior women within the opposition, Albanese said “no”.

“I’m very proud of the fact that I lead a team that has 50% female and male contribution in my shadow cabinet,” he added.

“I’m proud of all of the people in the leadership team of the Labor party.”

The Australian on Wednesday reported Senator Kitching was accused of leaking to the Liberals, benched from the party’s tactics committee and ostracised by the senior leadership team.

Updated

New Zealand border to open to international travellers in April

The New Zealand prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, is set to announce a new reopening strategy for the country, with preferential treatment for Australia, AAP reports.

New Zealand has held firm to tight border policies through the Covid-19 pandemic, maintaining a largely shut border for two years.

However, the arrival of the infectious Omicron variant has put paid to the need for a wall to keep the virus out.

For the past fortnight, New Zealanders in Australia and further abroad have been able to come home without quarantine or self-isolation on arrival.

That will soon extend to foreigners, with at least two New Zealand media outlets reporting they will be allowed to visit from next month.

Newsroom reports the border will be flung open to Australians in time for next month’s school holidays, with other countries to follow.

All travellers to New Zealand are expected to be fully vaccinated.

Updated

Coalition to spend $243m on four mining projects

Scott Morrison, who is in Western Australian on a three-day tour of marginal seats, will announce on Wednesday that the Coalition will spend $243m on four mining projects, two of which are in regional WA.

The funding will come from the government’s previously announced $1.3bn Modern Manufacturing Initiative (MMI) and will go towards projects focused on critical minerals, electric vehicle and battery markets.

The largest envelope of money is $119.6m for a refinery hub in the Kalgoorlie region that will refine material for nickel manganese cobalt batteries. The project is being jointly developed by Pure Battery Technologies and Poseidon Nickel and will form part of a new $400m hub that is expected to employ 380 people during construction and 175 jobs thereafter.

Another $49m will go to a $367m project led by Australian Vanadium to process high-grade vanadium from its Meekatharra mine in WA for use in batteries.

Arafura Resources, which is headquartered in Perth, will receive $30m for a rare earth project at its Nolans project in the Northern Territory, which will create a rare earth separation plant in Australia. Rare earths are a group of 17 metals that comprise the lanthanide series of elements and which have unique properties that are in high demand in the technology industry.

Morrison will also allocate $45m to Alpha HPA and Orica for a new alumina production facility near Gladstone in Queensland that will supply high purity alumina to lithium ion battery production and LED lighting supply chains.

In a statement ahead of the announcement, Morrison said the projects would help grow “local critical minerals processing and clean energy industries” while also backing Australian manufacturing.

“The $1.3bn MMI is a key part of my government’s plan for a stronger economy and a stronger future for our country,” he said.

Morrison is making his first visit to WA since the state’s borders reopened, with the prime minister attempting to lift his party’s fortunes ahead of the election.

The Coalition is concerned that it could lose the marginal seats it holds in the state, where the Labor premier, Mark McGowan, is still riding high in the polls for his management of the pandemic.

Updated

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is unlikely to accelerate the relief by two years and flatten the tax rate for those earning between $45,000 and $200,000 to 30%, the Australian reported on Wednesday.

Citing an unnamed senior government source, the news outlet said Frydenberg plans instead to focus on cost of living pressures, such as rising petrol prices.

Federal Labor has previously committed to backing the so-called stage three tax cuts, which would cost about $17bn a year, originally due in 2024/25.

Updated

Man charged with murder over NSW boarding house fire

A man has been charged with three counts of murder following the fatal house fire in Newtown on Tuesday.

The 45-year-old man was also charged with one count of destroying or damaging property by fire or explosive.

The Newtown man went to the Surry Hills police station about 7.40pm Tuesday and was spoken to by homicide squad detectives.

He was refused bail and will be in court later today.

The three men who died are still yet to be formally identified and the 80-year-old man who leapt from the inferno remains in a critical condition in hospital.

One man who was taken to St Vincent’s Hospital has since been released.

Investigations are ongoing.

Updated

Updated

Man dies in NSW flood waters

A man has died in the New South Wales outback after driving his ute into flood waters in Broken Hill, AAP reports.

The 56-year-old man drove his Toyota Landcruiser into flood waters on Tuesday night, before being sucked into a concrete pipe, NSW Police said.

Police and State Emergency Service volunteers later found his body in flood waters.

A general view on September 24, 2021 in Broken Hill, Australia.
A general view on September 24, 2021 in Broken Hill, Australia. Photograph: Jenny Evans/Getty Images

Updated

Good morning

Good morning, this is Royce Kurmelovs and I’ll be kicking things off here on the live blog this morning.

As ever, there is much happening out there in the world. Here are some of the stories from overnight:

  • The SES in New South Wales warned in 2020 that budget cuts and a restructure “threatened the future of the service”.
  • Ambulance wait times for patients in NSW with life-threatening conditions in have blown out according to a new report.
  • South Australians go to the polls this Saturday in the first test of an incumbent government following the pandemic.

If you spot something from Australia that you think should be in the blog, you can get me on my Twitter @RoyceRK2.

Updated

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