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The Guardian - AU
National
Caitlin Cassidy and Cait Kelly and Matilda Boseley (earlier)

Union calls on PM to apologise for strike comments; 34 Covid deaths recorded – as it happened

Australia Ukraine New South Wales Russia Sydney Scott Morrison China Antarctica David Elliott Queensland
The closed Central Station seen in Sydney on Monday
The NSW state government has dropped its case against the rail workers’ union at the Fair Work Commission after late-night talks hit a standstill on Sunday. Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAP

What we learned: Tuesday 22 February

With that, I will leave you to enjoy your evenings as I go to inspect the water damage in my bathroom. Stay dry, Sydney-siders.

Here were today’s major developments:

  • Australia has closed its embassy in Lviv and ordered all Australians to evacuate Ukraine after Putin ordered troops to descend in the east for ‘peacekeeping operations’. Australia’s foreign affairs minister Marise Payne has condemned Russia’s declaration that separatist regions in eastern Ukrainian are independent states as the crisis continues.
  • Limited train services are back running in Sydney today and the state government has dropped its case against the rail workers’ union after the network was shut down amid an industrial dispute.
  • The RTBU secretary has called on the PM to apologise for comments suggesting the suspension of the services was due to union-led strikes.
  • China says an Australian plane dropped a sonar buoy in water near a Chinese ship following claims its warship pointed a laser at an Australian surveillance aircraft north of Australia.
  • A defence spokesperson quickly responded, and said the Australian surveillance aircraft followed “a standard flight profile” and the plane dropped buoys only after the laser incident.
  • Western Australia has released its Covid-19 modelling projecting 129 Covid deaths, peaking at 10,363 cases per day next month. WA recorded 258 new local cases.
  • And in Victoria, the mask mandate will be lifted from Saturday, along with recommendations to work from home. Victoria recorded 14 Covid deaths and 6,786 new infections, while NSW recorded 14 Covid deaths and 8,752 new cases. Queensland will lift its indoor mask mandates on 4 March.

Here’s the latest from AAP on the possible easing of isolation requirements for household contacts in Australia.

Household contacts of positive cases are currently required to undergo seven days of quarantine, unless they are an essential worker without any symptoms.

However, the health minister, Greg Hunt, said there was capacity for exemptions from isolation to include everyone, following the success of the measures for essential employees.

It comes as officials from the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee in NSW and Victoria consider removing the household isolation rules in both states.

Hunt said today:

NSW and Victoria, with the commonwealth’s support, are leading that work, and I strongly support that direction. The next step is to consider expanding that definition (of household contacts) through the AHPPC … and it has worked well with our nurses.

The health minister said officials would follow the medical advice when considering changes to the rules:

It’s always a balance of ensuring that we have decreasing case numbers, and that’s a trend which I’m increasingly confident of. As a result of that, that actually allows us to have greater freedoms.

Meanwhile, the treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, said despite falling case numbers, it was too soon to implement a UK-style scrapping of restrictions.

He said the workplace issues in cities, which had been exacerbated by the Omicron wave at the start of the year, were now beginning to ease:

People are getting back to work and some of those workforce shortages are starting to abate. This is the next step in the road, reducing restrictions even further, and we’ll continue to monitor the situation in Australia.

Updated

As storms ease across NSW, SES volunteers are responding to the aftermath.

WA releases Covid modelling projecting upwards of 100 deaths

Western Australia has just released its Covid modelling following transmission of the Omicron variant in the state, and the “transition to living with Covid-19”.

It notes high levels of vaccination in WA, and emerging evidence Omicron is “substantially less severe than the Delta strain, albeit far more transmissible” as key factors.

The modelling projects three deaths a day at the peak of the virus, expected next month, and 129 deaths cumulative to a 180 day period.

It also projects a peak of 10,363 Covid cases and 463,932 cumulative cases to a 180 day period. At the peak of the outbreak, there would be 443 Covid patients requiring hospitalisation, and 56 people requiring intensive care:

In a living with Covid approach, further border restrictions will have limited or no efficacy in suppressing cases, as epidemic growth is overwhelmingly driven by community transmission.

With reducing positivity rates interstate and around the world and the systematic testing of all arrivals, it is expected that very small numbers of positive cases will leak into the community.

Based on current high vaccination rates, high and increasing booster uptake rates and the expected waning in vaccine efficacy, the Western Australian population’s immunity is projected to be at its highest in March 2022, which coincides with the expected uptrend in the epidemic curve.

Read it in full.

Updated

Events in eastern Europe have been moving quickly, so it might be worth taking stock of the Australian reaction.

The foreign minister, Marise Payne, this afternoon revealed that Australian officials have been directed to depart Ukraine “due to the increased risk”. The Australian embassy’s operations had already recently been moved from the capital Kyiv to Lviv - but Payne said:

Our embassy and operations in Lviv are now temporarily closed. Australian officials have been deployed to eastern Poland and Romania to assist Australians seeking to depart Ukraine.

Payne reiterated the government’s earlier calls for “all Australians to leave Ukraine immediately”.

Do not delay. The safety of Australians and officials is our priority.

It’s well known that the Australian government has been working with allies and partners – including the US, the UK and the EU – on a strong international sanctions package that was intended to deter Vladimir Putin from authorising a further invasion of Ukraine. Payne said the Australian government would join international efforts to “ensure there are severe costs for Russia’s aggression”.

Along with our partners, we are prepared to announce swift and severe sanctions that would target key Russian individuals and entities responsible for undermining Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Payne’s statement also said the Australian government joined with others in condemning Putin’s declaration that the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of eastern Ukraine are independent states. She said:

This flagrantly undermines Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and has no validity under international law. We also condemn president Putin’s announcement that Russia is deploying so-called “peacekeepers” to eastern Ukraine. These personnel are not peacekeepers.

The criticism of Putin’s actions is bipartisan. The Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, and the party’s foreign affairs spokesperson, Penny Wong, also issued a statement condemning the Russian government for “the blatant violation of international law and the territorial integrity of Ukraine, as well as a breach of the Minsk agreements”.

Albanese and Wong suggested options could include the withdrawal of Australia’s ambassador to Russia for consultations and targeted sanctions, and added:

Labor expects to be consulted on any developments in Australia’s position. In an election year it is critical that bipartisanship be maintained on challenges to national security that affect us all, and which go beyond domestic politics.

Updated

More from Sydney storms:

Australian plane dropped buoys only after laser incident, Defence says

The Australian government has confirmed an RAAF surveillance plane dropped buoys in the water to collect acoustic data near Chinese warships in the Arafura Sea north of Australia late last week. But it says they were only used after the incident in which a People’s Liberation Army Navy vessel directed a laser at the P-8A surveillance aircraft on Thursday.

Essentially, that is hitting back at the suggestion from China’s national defence ministry overnight that the dropping of the “sonobuoys” were an example of the Australian defence force’s “spiteful and provocative actions”.

A detailed new statement issued by the Department of Defence this afternoon says the Australian aircraft was “acting within international law at all times”:

To surveil the approaches to Australia the P-8A is equipped with an array of sensors to locate, track and understand air, surface and subsurface contacts.

Surveillance activities are conducted using all available surveillance tools including photography, sonobuoys and radio calls to identify maritime and air traffic.

The use of sonobuoys for maritime surveillance is common practice. Sonobuoys are used to collect passive acoustic data on environmental activity as well as surface and sub-surface contacts. These buoys are a receiving buoy only and do not pose any hazard to shipping.

No sonobuoys were used prior to the PLA-N vessel directing its laser at the P-8A aircraft on 17 February. Some sonobuoys were used after the incident but were dropped in the water a significant distance ahead of the PLA-N vessel.

China has also accused the Australian side of spreading “false information” and making an “irresponsible claim”.

The statement issued this afternoon hits back at that, saying: “Australia does not engage in the spread of misinformation or disinformation.”

The Department of Defence says at the time of the laser incident, the Royal Australian Air Force P-8 was about 7.7km from the PLA-N vessel and flying at an altitude of 457m. It says the closest the P-8 flew to the PLA-N vessel was about 4km, which it says “is a standard flight profile for RAAF maritime patrol aircraft for a visual investigation of a surface vessel”.

Updated

Storm warnings in Sydney have been cancelled with the easing of heavy rain.

Any rainbows about?

RTBU secretary calls on PM to apologise for strike comments

The Rail, Tram and Bus Union national secretary, Mark Diamond, has released a statement in the wake of the NSW government’s withdrawal of its legal action against the union – confirming Sydney train services will slowly return over the coming days.

He says it is “now clear” the decision to shut down the Sydney train network had nothing to do with rail workers:

It is up to the NSW government to explain how and why that decision was made.

For the past two days, Sydney Trains workers have copped abuse from stranded commuters on platforms and on social media because people wrongly believed the cancellation of rail services was due to a union strike.

That belief was fuelled by false statements made on 2GB and repeated at a nationally-televised media conference by prime minister Scott Morrison. Scott Morrison lied about a non-existent strike to score cheap political points. That lie compounded the anxiety and stress being felt by millions of people in Sydney.

Strikes are a legitimate industrial tool for workers, but we never take strike action lightly. To be accused of taking strike action, when our members were doing no such thing, was utterly bizarre.If Scott Morrison has any decency whatsoever, he will apologise to Sydney Trains workers for his brazen lie. I am happy to take Morrison for a tour of Sydney Trains depots so that he can deliver his apology in person.

Updated

We have just opened a new live blog with all the developments in Ukraine:

In other news, there has been a renewed push for rolling out daylight saving in Queensland. Here’s the latest from AAP.

Brisbane mayor, Adrian Schrinner, is calling for a referendum on daylight saving time, but north Queensland politician Robbie Katter has slammed the proposal.

The state is the only jurisdiction on Australia’s east coast that doesn’t wind the clock forward by one hour in spring and back by one hour in autumn. First light in Queensland can occur as early as 4.15am during the summer months.

Queenslanders in 1992 voted against permanently introducing daylight saving time after a three-year trial. Schrinner says most people under the age of 48 and anyone who moved to the state in the last 30 years hasn’t had a say on adjusting time zones.

He told ABC radio:

That means that over 3 million out of the 5 million people in Queensland didn’t get a say. So [there’s] a lot of people out there who never got the opportunity to have a say, and I’m actually one of them.

Schrinner suggested a new referendum could be held at the same time as the next state election in 2024.

But Katter’s Australia party leader, Rob Katter, said Schrinner’s stance is “irresponsible” and doesn’t account for Queenslanders in the state’s north:

To do the mature, right and equitable thing by the whole state, he’s got to think a bit more broadly than that.

Try encourage people when they’re trying to put their kids to bed at night and it’s 45C when the sun’s still out at 7.30/eight o’clock. Good luck with that.

30 years ago, 54.5% of Queenslanders voted against daylight saving and 45.5% voted in favour.

Updated

WA records 258 new local cases

Western Australia’s case numbers are in. There have been 258 new local cases of Covid-19 and five “other” cases detected overnight.

It’s a slight jump on yesterday’s numbers, when 213 new local cases were detected, however numbers are still staying relatively stable on what we’ve seen in the past week.

There are three people being treated in hospital across the state. Active cases have climbed to 1,315.

Updated

This is some really good news.

The Royal Melbourne Hospital is closing its Pod B ICU unit because of lower presentations of Covid-19. Here’s hoping it won’t have to be reopened.

Intense rainfall is continuing in the Sydney area with some easing in the CBD, the Bureau of Meteorology says:

As of 3.15pm, severe thunderstorms were detected on the weather radar near Darkes Forest and Helensburgh. These thunderstorms are slow moving. They are forecast to affect Appin and waters off Thirroul by 3.45pm.

Intense rainfall that may lead to dangerous and life-threatening flash flooding and damaging winds are likely.

Wyong (Olney Forest) recorded 80mm of rainfall in the 45 minutes to 10.30am. 92km/h wind gust was recorded at Molineux Point at 1.19pm. Marrickville Golf Club recorded 61mm in 1hr to 2pm.

Updated

Back in Sydney, some bus routes have been altered or temporarily suspended due to continued flooding, while flooding at Marrickville station is causing extended train delays.

Updated

Australia closes embassy in Lviv

The Australian embassy in Lviv is now closed. All staff and officials have been told to evacuate Ukraine. Australian officials will be sent to Romania and Poland to assist with Australian evacuations.

Keep up with the latest developments on our dedicated live blog:

Updated

Road weather alert in place across Sydney amid storms

Marrickville Golf Club in Sydney’s inner west has had 102mm of rainfall *so far* - equivalent to a month’s worth of rain in two hours. Won’t need to water the green for a while.

Updated

For reference, this is my house, which is currently leaking from the ceiling.

At one point the labrador’s dog bowl was floating in the backyard, which has fortunately ceased.

Sydney’s inner west is absolutely soaked right now:

Parts of Sydney are experiencing flash flooding:

SA records three Covid deaths, spike in cases

South Australia has recorded three Covid deaths, aged in their 40s, 60s and 80s.

There has also been a spike in cases with 1,378 recorded, up 161 on Monday’s number.

There are 205 people in hospital, 12 are in intensive care, and three of them are on ventilators.

Minister Yvette D’Ath said masks might have to go back on in winter:

We are expecting there to be some sort of secondary wave in the coming months, probably in winter. We don’t know what the future will hold but we assume there will be some sort of wave in winter. How large it will be, we don’t know.

There is a significant chance we will need to introduce mandatory masks wearing at some point, again for a limited period.

When we say mask wearing is mandatory, that means that it’s really necessary. So now that we’re at the end of the wave, now is the time to relax those measures.

Updated

We have some more information on the five deaths in Queensland.

Of the five people, two are aged in their 60s, two aged in their 80 and one aged in their 90s.

The state’s chief health officer, John Gerrard, said:

One person was not vaccinated, one had received one dose, three had received two doses and none had received a booster.

Updated

If you were a disadvantaged child today in an Australian school, chances are high that a majority of the other children in your school would also be disadvantaged, write Pasi Sahlberg, a professor of education at UNSW, and Adrian Piccoli, a former NSW education minister.

Updated

NT records 716 new cases and one death

Indoor mask mandates will end in the Northern Territory “sooner rather than later” amid falling Covid-19 case numbers, chief minister Michael Gunner says.

Gunner’s comments came as health officials reported the death of a man in his 80s with Civd-19, taking the Territory’s toll since the start of the pandemic to 16.

The NT reported another 716 new virus infections on Tuesday.

There are currently 123 patients in hospital.

Gunner has also signalled the likely scrapping of check-ins at shops and other venues in upcoming reviews of virus restrictions.

“We are actively discussing moving on from the indoor mask mandates,” he told ABC radio on Tuesday.

“I can’t give you a date yet, but it will be sooner rather than later.”

- With AAP

Updated

Equality Tasmania has put out a statement in response to the PM endorsing senator Claire Chandler’s trans exclusion Bill this morning.

Dr Charlie Burton, spokesperson for Equality Tasmania:

In the past few weeks the prime minister has shown a complete lack of empathy for trans and gender-diverse Australians and now he is using us as a political football.

In Tasmania, transgender women have been playing women’s sport and accessing women’s services for many years without any of the problems predicted by senator Chandler.

Tasmanian sporting organisations have been actively seeking guidance on how to be more inclusive, not less, with strong support from the Tasmanian Liberal government.

We reject attempts to sow fear and division about policies that have worked well and have made Tasmania a better place for everyone.

Updated

National Covid-19 update

Here are the latest coronavirus numbers from around Australia today, as the country records at least 34 deaths from Covid 19:

NSW

  • Deaths: 14
  • Cases: 8,752
  • In hospital: 1,293 (with 71 people in ICU)

NT

  • Deaths: one
  • Cases: 716
  • In hospital: 123

Queensland

  • Deaths: five
  • Cases: 5,583

Victoria

  • Deaths: 14
  • Cases: 6,786
  • In hospital: 345 (with 48 people in ICU)

Updated

Thirty years after Queenslanders rejected daylight saving at the polls, the Brisbane lord mayor, Adrian Schrinner, is calling for a new referendum on the divisive subject.

Queensland is the only jurisdiction on Australia’s east coast that doesn’t wind the clock forward by one hour in spring and/or back by one hour in autumn.

Updated

Elliott is asked if he thinks it is acceptable that we still don’t know the justification for the shutdown:

That is a matter for you to take up with Transport for New South Wales. Those questions should be directed to them.

Elliott - perhaps making the worse case for the existence of ministers:

I am not an operations expert when it comes to running a rail network. The reason why ministers employ senior executives to run departments is they have the expertise in this regard.

Elliott is asked why such a huge decision was made without letting him - the minister for transport - know:

I don’t expect them to send a car around at two o’clock in the morning and wake me up.

We pay these people to do their job, and I accept the fact that at 12:43am it was their judgement call as executives of the organisation that they needed to use their discretion and close the system.

Did I like it? Absolutely not. Absolutely not. Am I still asking for information, details to justify a decision? Absolutely.

Updated

Elliott is seeking to distance himself from the whole thing - saying it was a decision by Transport NSW and he was not consulted.

This is an operational matter, and these operational decisions, the executive of any government department would have the right to make a swift call if it is in the interests of the welfare of, [the] safety of commuters in the workforce.

Updated

Elliott says he and the Premier found out about the shutdown the same time.

I can tell you categorically that we knew there was a potential for industrial dispute, but we found out that the decision by Transport for New South Wales that the service would be closed, would not operate, when everybody else did at four o’clock in the morning, when the Premier and I checked our messages.

Updated

Elliott says “ideally” public transport in Sydney will be back to normal timetable tomorrow.

He is asked about his language yesterday (he said it was “terrorist-like” and the PM saying it was a strike (when it wasn’t):

I will not dwell on yesterday. It was a day of high emotion because the people of Sydney were certainly disenfranchised, but it was industrial action, there is no doubt about that.

Elliott:

Going forward, it is on the advice of the senior counsel that the government will withdraw the matter currently before the Fair Work Commission. Senior counsel has given that recommendation, which the government accepts in the interests of not only transparency but goodwill.

The NSW transport minister, David Elliott, has been speaking in Sydney.

He says he has had a “frank” and constructive meeting with the union.

Updated

Hello everyone – this is Cait Kelly, taking over from the other Caitlin for the lunch hour. Very glad to be here with you.

First up, I’ve got this from AAP for you:

The peak body representing NSW doctors has welcomed a move to oppose legislation requiring frontline workers to prove they caught Covid-19 at work to receive compensation.

A section was added to the Workers Compensation Act in May 2020, providing a presumption that certain workers in frontline industries who catch Covid-19 were infected at work and should be supported through workers compensation.

A bill seeks to have that section removed, and would ask health workers to provide proof of their infection.

But a NSW upper house committee on Monday tabled a report recommending those changes be rejected.

The president of the Australian Medical Association NSW, Danielle McMullen, has welcomed the recommendations, saying doctors had already faced a “gruelling two years” and the changes would cause further strain.

Updated

With that, I will pass you briefly into Cait Kelly’s capable hands.

Equality Tasmania have vehemently rejected the PM’s endorsement today of senator Claire Chandler’s bill that would allow sporting groups to exclude transgender people from single-sex sports.

Spokesperson Dr Charlie Burton says the PM has shown a “complete lack of empathy” for trans and gender-diverse Australians in the past few weeks:

Now he is using us as a political football. We completely reject the cynical abuse of trans people as a weapon in the prime minister’s political and electoral game playing.

Senator Chandler’s bill would strip transgender people of the right to live as we are, casting us into an unequal, uncertain and unsafe status in the eyes of the law. In Tasmania, transgender women have been playing women’s sport and accessing women’s services for many years without any of the problems predicted by senator Chandler.

Women are always stronger standing together rather than divided.

Updated

NSW government drops case against rail workers' union

Over in NSW, the state government has dropped its case against the rail workers’ union at the Fair Work Commission after late night talks hit a standstill on Sunday.

The transport minister, David Elliott, says they will work with the union on a new enterprise agreement.

Updated

South Australia’s premier ,Steven Marshall, is following suit with NSW, Victoria and the ACT, flagging Covid restrictions could be “gone by Easter”.

Updated

Prime minister Scott Morrison has backed a push by Tasmanian senator Claire Chandler to allow sporting groups to exclude transgender people from single-sex sports.

Campaigning in the marginal seat of Lyons today, the PM said he thought Chandler’s proposed private member’s bill to amend the Sex Discrimination Act was “terrific” and he’d encouraged her to pursue it.

Under Chandler’s “save women’s sports” bill, changes would be made to the Sex Discrimination Act to “clarify” that the operation of single-sex sport on the basis of biological sex was not discriminatory.

Morrison said:

I support it, as Claire knows. I think it’s a terrific bill and I’ve given her great encouragement. Claire is a champion for women’s sport and I think she’s been right to raise these issues in the way that she has. Well done, Claire.

Updated

Meanwhile, today marks 12 months since the vaccination rollout began in Australia. How time flies.

In Victoria, the first person to receive a vaccination was professor Rhonda Stuart - who was also the first person to diagnose a Covid case in Australia.

Since then, an average of eleven vaccines a minute have been administered by Victoria’s state-run services. Some 14,105,757 have been administered statewide, accounting for 42% of the vaccination rollout nationally.

Peering out my window, I can confirm it’s raining rather heavily.

Over in Queensland, the attorney general, Shannon Fentiman, has released a statement in reference to comments made by the leader of the opposition, David Crisafulli, yesterday suggesting whistleblowers wouldn’t take part in the integrity review for fear of reprisals.

Fentiman says:

It has come to my attention that ... the leader of the opposition made a statement to the effect that he has been made aware of certain allegations and the people making those allegations are requesting protection as whistleblowers.

I can confirm that such protections are already afforded under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2010.

Fentiman goes on to urge Crisafulli to refer any allegations to the Crime and Corruption Commission for investigation:

It is clear that the leader of the opposition believes that these allegations warrant the further attention of an investigative body.

The Public Interest Disclosure Act includes serious consequences if there is reprisal against a person who has made a public interest disclosure, as well as protections against reckless disclosure of confidential information.

I urge the leader of the opposition to treat the allegations he claims to know about with the utmost importance and refer them to the Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC).

There is no excuse ... he must show some integrity and he must act if he is aware of allegations that require investigation by the CCC.

Updated

If he manages to avoid Covid-like symptoms, former Socceroo and human rights activist Craig Foster will be up at the National Press Club next month.

Meanwhile:

Updated

Many thanks to Matilda Boseley for guiding us through this morning’s news.

I’ll be with you for the rest of the day, sans Clive Palmer.

With that, I shall leave you for the day and hand you over to the amazing Caitlin Cassidy.

See you tomorrow!

Updated

China’s national defence ministry has accused the Australian defence force of “spiteful and provocative actions” as it brushed off the accusation that its warship had shone a laser at an Australian surveillance plane.

The Australian government had demanded an explanation from Beijing over a “dangerous, unprofessional and reckless” incident last Thursday in which it said a People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLA-N) warship had used a laser to illuminate an Australian P-8A Poseidon surveillance aircraft.

The Australian aircraft had been tracking two PLA-N vessels that were sailing east through the Arafura Sea, north of Australia.

A new statement issued by the China’s national defence ministry did not address the claim of the laser use in any detail.

You can read the full report below:

Union officials met with the New South Wales transport minister, David Elliott, at state parliament on Tuesday morning following Monday’s rail network shutdown. Speaking on radio afterwards, the Rail, Tram and Bus Union NSW secretary, Alex Claassens, said the meeting was “a little bit tense” at first and accused the minister and the NSW premier, Dominic Perrottet, of being “out there verbalising” the union yesterday.

He told 2GB:

We had a little bit of a bloodletting but after that we got on with the business of doing what we should have been doing all along and that is having a productive conversation about the way forward and how we can fix some of the things that are broken.

Claassens said the union’s industrial action would continue and he expected trains to continue at a similar frequency today and tomorrow.

The groups will be back before the Fair Work Commission on Wednesday.

Claassens said he wanted to see the Commission to “resolve” the issue so the parties could continue negotiations.

He said:

We will do everything we can to try and restore normal services as quickly as possible. There’s a deadline on us anyway because [the government wants] to run the normal timetable from the 28th.

We’ve all got a goal that we’ve got to try and work to and we’ll try and do what we can, but we do need them to meet us halfway on some of these issues.

Updated

OK, time for Anthony Albanese to talk about the Sydney trains:

Well, the [state] government now seems to have conceded that it was a government decision to shut down the trains*.

Workers were there ready to undertake their day’s work in the early hours of the morning. I want unions and the government to come to terms, to have agreements, no one wants this level of disruption ...

Bear this in mind, just have a look at the difference in the rhetoric between Scott Morrison talking about the heroes of the pandemic, our nurses – they have had to strike in New South Wales.

Our transport workers who have been essentially shut down by the government of New South Wales with the decision to shut the public transport network, and what we need to do is recognise that during the pandemic, the people who kept this country going were our nurses, our cleaners, our public transport workers, truck drivers, our retail workers. They need to be treated with respect and they deserve better than a prime minister who just sledges them without knowing the facts.

*Actually the NSW transport minister said this was 100% the decision of Sydney Trains. This is a government organisation, but he said politicians didn’t have a direct decision-making role in this instance.

Updated

Australia's political parties should 'stand as one' in condemning Russia's actions, Labor says

Despite the dig at the prime minister’s ukelele playing, Anthony Albanese seems to be drawing a hard line in the sand by not criticising the government’s approach to international security issues:

Look, I don’t seek to raise partisan issues at a time like this. We’ve been briefed, I’m very confident with regard to the advice that was given to Australians to leave Ukraine was entirely appropriate.

Our Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is very good at their job. Our security agencies are very good at their job also and all Australians should stand together against this action and the statements that were made.

But also, to say to Russia, that they need to back off. Russia keeps saying that it has no intention of intervening in Ukraine, but every one of the steps that it’s taking points towards the opposite. So we stand with the people of Ukraine, with our allies, as Australians, and that’s important that we stand as one when it comes to national security issues.

(Although it should be noted that talking about staying united on the international security front is actually also a subtle dig at the Coalition who have been attempting to state that Labor is somehow in cahoots with the Chinese Communist party, despite there being no evidence to back this up.)

Updated

Whoops and just like that we are back to domestic politics; Anthony Albanese telling Scott Morrison to lay off the hair washing and the welding and get to work.

Albanese:

I think this is a government that has failed on key criteria this term. They failed to order enough vaccines. Before that, they failed to respond appropriately to the bushfire crisis. Then they failed when it came to rapid antigen tests. They’re continuing to fail when it comes to looking after aged care and tomorrow I’ll be here in Launceston talking about the aged care crisis which is there.

This prime minister seems to be more interested in stunts than he is in doing his day job.

I notice on the issue of the rather bizarre welding exercise that occurred in Darwin last Friday, that he said, well, it’s not his day job. I say to the prime minister, do your day job, forget about the photo ops and the shampooing people’s hair, and driving motor cars, and the welding, and indeed, maybe even the ukelele playing, if he can give that a miss too, and do your day job.

Australians are facing challenges and they want someone to be on top of issues like aged care.

Updated

Anthony Albanese:

We think this is entirely inappropriate. We also think that China and other countries need to speak out in support of the sovereignty of Ukraine. This unilateral statement by Vladimir Putin has no place in that a world in which we have respect.

We know there are consequences behind these sort of statements and the threats and intimidation that has occurred. And we call upon Russia to back off.

Updated

Anthony Albanese says Labor stands with the Australian and US governments in their condemnation of Russia ordering troops into Ukraine:

I want to make some comments about Vladimir Putin’s quite extraordinary statement that he has made.

We condemn Russia’s unilateral recognition of breakaway territories in the Ukraine. We respect the sovereignty of Ukraine, Russia should do that too, in accordance with international law.

There is no place in 2022 for nation-states to just try to carve off sections of another sovereign nation-state, which is what we’re seeing here.

And we agree with the comments made by the secretary of the state Blinken, who has confirmed this action, we stand with all democratic nations in opposing this action, but in particular, we stand with the people of Ukraine.

Updated

Anthony Albanese has started out with his regular list of Coalition faux pas:

Australians have done it tough over the last couple of years, the pandemic has brought real challenges. But Australians have been magnificent in their response.

They have made sacrifices, they have looked after each other in the great Australian tradition. But at the same time, the government has let them down. The government let them down by not ordering enough vaccines. The government more recently has let them down by not ordering enough rapid antigen tests, indeed, not ordering any until January of this year.

This government also has botched up the jobkeeper program, a good program – Labor supported wage subsidies – but, as the report identifies, there was a lot of waste early on, which meant that whole sections of the workforce, including in universities, in the arts sector, whole sectors missed out on support.

And other sectors have continued to struggle, including the hospitality sector.

Updated

Anthony Albanese is speaking now, also from Tasmania. I’ll bring you updates if he is interesting!

Clive Palmer’s office says he has “flu-like symptoms”, in explaining the last-minute cancellation of his National Press Club speech this afternoon.

A spokesman for the mining magnate, United Australia party leader and one-time federal MP says he has been “medically advised not to travel” to Canberra for the speech.

The Press Club had earlier said Palmer – who said in November that he was not vaccinated against Covid – was exhibiting “Covid-like symptoms”. Palmer’s spokesperson told Guardian Australia that Palmer would get a PCR test today:

It is hoped Mr Palmer’s address will be rescheduled for another time prior to the federal election.

The terms and conditions of the NPC event stated that guests “are not to attend the event if you are suffering any symptoms of disease caused by COVID-19”.

Palmer was due to speak on the topic: The Australian economy: where it is heading and the financial policy of the UAP.

Updated

Analysis: The New South Wales transport minister, David Elliott, started Monday on a rhetorical cliff and kept walking.

On Sydney radio station 2GB, he described industrial action taken by the state’s rail workers as “terrorist-like activity”, then accused the Rail, Tram and Bus Union of acting like “cowards”, spreading “bullshit” and “hijacking the city”.

At a hastily arranged media conference a few hours later, he effectively accused union members of seeking to change the government. The industrial action taken by the rail union was designed to “bully the electorate” into voting for Labor, as well as “disrupt the recovery from Covid”, he said.

Elliott was not alone. The prime minister, Scott Morrison, weighed in, also on 2GB, to condemn the “strike”, while the NSW premier, Dominic Perrottet, described the action as a “coordinated attack by the Labor party and the union movement”.

You can read the full story below:

Updated

Prime minister Scott Morrison says it is “nonsense” to suggest Russia is sending “peacekeepers” into Ukraine, labelling the invasion unwarranted and unprovoked, reports AAP.

Speaking from Tasmania today he said he hopes to see diplomatic talks prevail to prevent a conflict in Ukraine, following the move of “peacekeepers”:

Some suggestions that they are peacekeeping is nonsense. They have moved in on Ukrainian sovereign territory ...

We cannot have threats of violence being used to seek to advantage a nation’s position over others.

The prime minister said Australia would be in lockstep with other nations and immediately impose economic sanctions on Russia should there be further military action in Ukraine:

Russia should step back, it should unconditionally withdraw, back behind its own borders and stop threatening its neighbours ...

It’s unacceptable, it’s unprovoked, it’s unwarranted, and Russia should understand that by seeking to invade another country, that this cannot advantage them, and it would seriously and significantly cost Russia.”

This comes after former prime minister Tony Abbott said if Russia was successful, it could create a new iron curtain across Europe, particularly if Vladimir Putin went on to target Poland and the Baltic states.

Morrison said he was aware of his predecessor’s comments but was focused on the immediate situation in Ukraine, calling for Russia to withdraw.

Updated

Couldn’t help but note the subtle “framing” of PM Scott Morrison and environment minister Sussan Ley giving their press conference just then standing in front of what looks to be an empty timber truck in the Tassie town of Triabunna.

Of course, that town is famous for once hosting the world’s largest woodchip mill, which according to the spiffy Sandy Bay Mill website is “now managed by a bunch of provocateurs intent on charting a sustainable path”.

More sustainable, certainly, than destroying native forests for a pittance.
Actually, there are pics circulating of the wild few days when environmentalists took their (presumably borrowed) industrial tools and literally carved up the pulping equipment.

Of course, cutting through power plant turbines might take a bit more of an effort, but as we saw with the demolition of the smokestacks at the defunct Wallerawang power plant near Lithgow of the western fringe of the beautiful Blue Mountains, these can be quite spectacular in their own way:

As it happens, Wallerawang’s old unit seven boiler is to be detonated tomorrow – just in case tech billionaire and AGL Energy suitor Mike Cannon-Brookes happens to be in the vicinity and is scoping for ideas.

Updated

Queensland to lift indoor mask mandate from 4 March at 6pm

Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has just announced that from 6pm on 4 March the requirement to wear masks in most indoor settings will lift, although they will remain mandatory in healthcare settings and on public transport.

She says this can happen as the state are now confident that the peak of the Omicron wave has passed.

Updated

Queensland reports five Covid deaths and 5,583 new infections

Updated

Now, Clive Plamer’s National Press Club event has just been cancelled, but beforehand the ABC had announced a suite of factchecking and editing measures to ensure no misinformation was spread.

Here is Amanda Meade with the details:

The ABC had added multiple layers of moderation to the National Press Club speech by Clive Palmer to ensure misinformation was not broadcast.

The speech was to be delayed by 90 minutes to give time for factchecking and editing and any changes would have been relayed to viewers, an ABC spokesperson said.

In addition, the press club was going to factcheck the speech live and any issues were going to be related to the moderator on stage and addressed on the spot.

The spokesperson said:

The address will be broadcast on a 90-minute delay and assessed beforehand against the ABC’s editorial standards.

Any content inconsistent with the standards may be edited. If edits are made the audience will be informed.

The NPC speech will be followed by analysis from ABC journalists including political editor Andrew Probyn.

Updated

Clive Palmer reportedly showing 'Covid-like symptoms', National Press Club address cancelled

Clive Palmer’s address to the National Press Club has been cancelled, the venue says, claiming the United Australia party leader is showing “Covid-like symptoms”.

The mining magnate and one-time federal MP told an anti-vaccine mandate rally in November: “I’m not vaccinated and I don’t intend to be vaccinated.”

Palmer was due to give a speech this afternoon on the UAP’s strategy at the coming election. At 10am, the press club said the event wouldn’t go ahead.

The venue said:

The NPC has just been informed that Clive Palmer has been directed not to travel due [to] him exhibiting Covid-like symptoms ...

All ticket holders will be contacted to be refunded.

We’ve contacted Palmer’s media spokesperson for comment.

Updated

'Russia should step back', Scott Morrison says

Scott Morrison has addressed the rapidly escalating situation on the Russian/Ukrainian border:

Russia should step back. It should unconditionally withdraw, back behind its own borders and stop threatening its neighbours. We’ve seen this behaviour before and seeking to take opportunity to threaten a neighbour for their own advantage is just simply not on.

It’s unacceptable, it’s unprovoked, it’s unwarranted, and Russia should understand that by seeking to invade another country, that this cannot advantage them and it would seriously and significantly cost Russia and the international reputation and anyone else who support them and stands with them and refuses to denounce it.

OK, everyone, thanks very much.

Updated

PM dismisses Chinese sonar buoy justification for laser incident

Prime minister Scott Morrison is avoiding directly answering questions about if, as China claims, an Australian surveillance aircraft dropped a sonobuoy in the water near a Chinese military vessel – and this what was caused the ship to point a laser at the Australian plane:

The facts are very clear. There is a Chinese naval vessel in our exclusive economic zone and it pointed a laser pointer at an Australian surveillance aircraft. That’s what happened. They need to explain that.

Not just to Australia, but this needs to be explained to the entire region, as to what they would be doing undertaking such a reckless act for what’s supposed to be a professional navy ship. There is no explanation that Australia has to give here.

Our surveillance planes have every right to be in our exclusive economic zone and keeping a close eye on what people are up to in our exclusive economic zone and that is what their job is.

And the fact that they were put under that type of a threat I think is extremely disappointing and I think requires an explanation. Not for it to be dismissed or shunted off or some of the usual responses that we get. Now, do I have an expectation that an explanation will be given? Frankly, not a strong one, based on the form but what I do know is that’s what occurred and I will call it out.

Reporter:

They’ve said that they were forced to take defensive measures because Australia was flying too close to their vessel. Do you know how far our aircraft actually was flying to the vessel and was there any directive from the Australian government?

Morrison:

Our surveillance aircraft was exactly where it was allowed to be doing everything they were allowed to do and keeping eyes on those who are coming into our exclusive economic zone. They were doing their job as they do every single day and we make no apology for where our surveillance aircraft are looking after and protecting Australia.

Updated

Morrison has been asked if he is concerned that China is trying to assert dominance or establish territory in the Antarctic and if that has influenced this new funding package. (It 100% has but Morrison is being a bit coy about it.)

We are a treaty nation when it comes to Antarctica and we take those responsibilities incredibly seriously. Not everybody respects those obligations and those stewardship responsibilities, so this gives us eyes on Antarctica.

We have an important job to do, not just about understanding Antarctica and what the implications of that art for everything from climate science through too many other applications, but it is also about ensuring that we protect Antarctica and that we have good knowledge about what is going on there and we are able to push through now particularly with the airlift capability, the drug capability, the undersea capability, we are able to do things now in this next phase.

Reporter:

How many new jobs of this created – how many in Tasmania?

Scott Morrison:

We will see an extra 100 jobs specific to the program itself, and that is largely driven out of Tasmania.

This is where we base our thoughts and in Australia and overall there is 685 jobs that this is supporting, but as I said doesn’t include the jobs that are in places like all of the supply chains that sit around that, and it doesn’t include the new apprentices that will come on board to make this incredible equipment, and the skills that they will develop.

We are not just building sleds, we are building work with capability here. We are building sovereign manufacturing capability here so there’s the jobs and the capability and what does that do?

It drives your economy, gets unemployment down, gets wages moving, ensures that you got money flowing through small communities like this, so the knock-on effects of this I think are very, very positive.

This is what a strong economic plan looks like for a strong economy which means a stronger future or Australia and Tasmania.

Updated

By the way, we are getting an announcement from the Queensland premier in about half an hour. I’ll bring you the updates here.

Updated

Scott Morrison:

This program is going to create 685 direct jobs – 685 jobs. That’s directly in the $800m we’re putting in place and an increase of 100 on what we’re already doing right now. That doesn’t include the jobs here at this company or the supply chain or many other elements that go into supporting this program.

So the jobs being created by Australia being one of the large’s leading Antarctic managers, and we’re one of the best in the world with this and we’re working with partners and we’re respected for doing that and that’s creating the sort of jobs and capability – if you can build sleds to go across Antarctica, you can pretty much build anything.

Updated

Scott Morrison has turned quickly to chatting about the “building domestic manufacturing capacity in Australia” aspect of the Antarctic funding package:

Sovereign capability in manufacturing is one of our five key points of the economic plan which is driving our economy forward.

That plan is firstly to get taxes down, as we’ve been delivering, and cutting red tape.

Secondly to ensure that we are investing in the skills and infrastructure that Australia needs to ensure our economy can grow. And those skills have been on display here. Apprentices coming through with world-leading skills and talents like here in Triabunna.

Thirdly, to ensure we have affordable and reliable energy to ensure we can keep electricity prices down and manufacturers can continue to do what they’re doing. Prices have been down 8% over five years and 12% in the last two months.

All of this has to come together with Australia being, fourthly, a leading data and digital economy, a top 10 data and digital economy by the year 2030 which enables all of those skills and opportunities. All of that, then, builds into our sovereign manufacturing capability.

Updated

Scott Morrison:

Today we are making an important announcement about Australia’s commitment to looking after Antarctica. This is a very important responsibility that Australia has.

We are stewards of some of the most important and most sensitive environments anywhere in the world, whether it is up in far north Queensland on the Great Barrier Reef, where Sussan [Ley] and I were recently, or standing here in Tasmania announcing today $800m of additional investment as part of our science research and capability support program for what we’re doing to implement our Antarctica strategy.

Both of these big initiatives are all about Australia’s outstanding reputation of being one of the most advanced scientific managers of these sensitive environments anywhere in the world.

Can I just say, it’s so odd to hear Morrison call Australia advanced managers of any environment – especially a frozen one – after the government spent the last five years desperately trying to avoid committing to net zero emissions by 2050.

Updated

The prime minister is speaking now from Tasmania, talking about this new Antarctica funding.

Let’s have a listen in.

A brilliant explainer below by Adam Morton and Peter Hannam on why a tech billionaire is trying to buy Australia’s dirtiest energy company AGL.

Absolutely recommend you read it.

Here are the opposition leader’s comments on the developments in Russia:

Updated

Supermarket giant Coles has posted a 2% drop in half-year profit to $549m, hit by higher costs due to the Covid-19 disruptions and expenses of its transformation projects, reports AAP’s Prashant Mehra.

Sales for the 27-week period to 2 January rose 1% to $20.79bn. Comparable sales also rose 1% during the year.

Supermarket sales were up 1.1% to $18.02bn, while liquor sales rose 2.7% to $2bn. Online sales surged 46% to $1.5bn.

But sales at its convenience stores Coles Express slid 8.5% to $578m after mobility restrictions due to lockdowns in the eastern states.

The group said earnings were hit by $150m of Covid-related costs incurred during the half year, an increase of $45m from a year ago.

It also invested $20m in relation to the Witron and Ocado transformation projects, while net costs increased by $13m as a result of lower earnings from property operations, higher insurance costs and an increased net loss from Coles’ 50% share of Flybuys.

Meanwhile, trading has been mixed in the current quarter, Coles said.

Supermarkets sales were elevated in early January due to the spread of the Omicron variant, before moderating later in the month. There has also been significant variation in sales between states, with Covid and floods in South Australia impacting sales, particularly in Western Australia.

The company said it has already incurred Covid costs of $30m in January, although this has moderated in February.

Coles has kept its fully franked interim dividend at 33 cents a share, similar to the level a year earlier.

Updated

Defence responds to China's claim about laser incident

Australia has responded quickly to the Chinese government’s claims surrounding the laser incident last Thursday.

A defence spokesperson says the Australian surveillance aircraft followed “a standard flight profile”:

At the time of the lasing incident the RAAF P-8A Poseidon was approximately 7,700 metres from the People’s Liberation Army – Navy (PLA-N) vessel and was flying at an altitude of 457m.

The closest the P-8 flew to the PLA-N vessel was approximately 3,900 metres.

This is a standard flight profile for Royal Australian Air Force maritime patrol aircraft for a visual inspection of a surface vessel.

The statement doesn’t specifically address Beijing’s claim that Australia dropped a sonobuoy in the water.

Updated

NSW records 14 Covid deaths and 8,752 new cases

Victoria records 14 Covid deaths and 6,786 new infections

China says Australian plane dropped sonar buoy in water near Chinese ship

China’s national defence ministry has given its first detailed response to the claims its warship pointed a laser at an Australian surveillance aircraft north of Australia with two claims of its own.

A spokesperson for the ministry said that in the incident on 17 February, the Australian P-8A surveillance aircraft “approached the airspace over the PLA naval fleet with the nearest distance of only 4 kilometres”. He said that was “very close”.

He also said the Australian aircraft had cast a sonar buoy into the water around the Chinese vessel. Such a device – also known as a sonobuoy – can be used to gather acoustic information and help detect submarines. An image released by the Chinese national defence ministry shows a triangular orange buoy in the water.

In a statement posted on the ministry’s website, its spokesperson, Senior Colonel Tan Kefei, accuses the ADF of “spiteful and provocative actions” that would “undoubtedly result in misunderstanding and threaten the safety of aircraft, vessel and personnel of both sides”.

China is firmly opposed to these actions by the Australia.

The Australian government had said a PLA-N warship had used a laser to illuminate an Australian P-8A Poseidon surveillance aircraft on Thursday and that this activity was dangerous and was not professional. The Australian aircraft had been tracking two PLA-N vessels that were sailing east through the Arafura Sea, north of Australia.

The Chinese national defence ministry statement does not address the claim of a use of a laser in any detail – it just says the PLA naval vessel “maintained safe, normative and professional operations” and accused the Australian side of spreading “false information” and making an “irresponsible claim”.

It ends with China calling on Australia to “stop such provocative and risky actions” and “avoid negative effects on the relationship of the two countries and two militaries”.

The Australian defence department has been contacted for a response. We’ll let you know here on the blog as soon as we have it.

Updated

Putin orders troops to descend on eastern Ukraine for 'peacekeeping operations'

Vladimir Putin has ordered “peacekeeping operations” in Donetsk and Luhansk, the two territories in eastern Ukraine that he recognised as independent today.

I’ll bring you some updates in relation to Australian reactions but if you want to follow the situation more closely you can also check out our dedicated Russia/Ukraine blog:

Updated

But Sunrise host Natalie Barr pushes David Elliott, asking for clarification on who exactly had a problem with the agreement on Sunday night. (The union says it was the government, btw.)

Who went back to the commissioner and did not like it? The government or the union?

Elliott:

That is now a matter before the commission so I will not provide a running commentary ...

Barr:

Is important because there were people who could not get to school and parents who could not get to work and I think they deserve an answer. Did you go back or did the union? The union says it was you.

Elliott:

I think what the commuters and people of NSW want is us to have a swift resolution which is why within the hour I will be meeting with [union secretary] Alex in Parliament House to go through the final detail of his concerns and his side of the story, and that is why is it called a dispute.

We have the union saying one thing and Sydney Trains saying another and I just want the truth and I want to make sure we can reconcile whatever differences we have and make sure we do not continue with this disruption.

Updated

Now that we’ve heard from the head of the rail workers’ union about the Sydney train dispute, it’s time to hear what NSW transport minister has to say.

David Elliott was speaking on Sunrise earlier and he seems to again be distancing himself from the decision to shut down the train services:

There was an agreement and then on Sunday night there was a dispute over the interpretation of that agreement and they could not reconcile the dispute. So there was an operational decision made by the operators of Sydney Trains that dispute meant that the welfare and safety of commuters would be at risk and so, therefore, they decided to suspend services yesterday.

Now, am I happy with that? Absolutely not. It was an operational decision by the operators so suggestions that I somehow signed off on it at 1am yesterday is false. These are operational decisions, right ... once politicians get involved in operations, things go wrong.

Updated

Marise Payne condemns Russia's declaration of Ukrainian separatist independence

Australia’s foreign affairs minister Marise Payne has condemned Russia’s declaration that separatist regions in eastern Ukrainian are independent states.

She labelled the assertion a “violation of international law”.

Updated

Labor putting a bit of a dampener on the Coalition’s promises of increased Antarctic research equipment this morning:

Updated

A majority of voters see China and the bilateral relationship as a complex issue to be managed rather than a threat to be confronted, and more voters trust Labor than the Coalition to manage that complexity, the latest Guardian Essential poll suggests.

After a bare-knuckle political week in which the prime minister, Scott Morrison, branded Labor’s deputy leader a “Manchurian candidate” and declared the ALP unequal to the task of managing the regional threat environment, the latest poll of 1,089 respondents suggests Australians hold a nuanced view of the Australia-China relationship.

While last week’s partisan confrontation played out in stark binary terms, the poll shows 61% of respondents characterise the bilateral relationship with Beijing as complex, and only 26% see it as a threat to be confronted.

You can read the full report below:

Updated

Alex Claassens:

We worked until late last night to try to get a resolution and today we are running trains and we will make sure they run safely, and we will work with the government today as well, we will meet with the transport minister today and try and see what we can do.

Updated

NSW secretary of the Rail, Tram and Bus Union Alex Claassens has disputed the state government’s claim that the rail workers’ planned industrial action (basically refusing to do any duties that weren’t directly assigned to them and not working any overtime) would have made the rail system unsafe:

We would never do anything to jeopardise the safety of the network, so let’s start there – so that was a rubbish story that had no basis in any fact.

But the reality is, we have been taking industrial action since September. We had a range of different industrial actions and this time was no different. We notified them two weeks in advance, gave them all the industrial actions we were going to take, and there is one difference in this point. We included a new one whereby we have to give 70 days’ notice, and they then alleged at the last minute, despite the fact we gave them two weeks’ notice, they dragged us down to the commission on Saturday night, we hammered out the details and said, we want to go to work on Monday morning as normal, we will run normal services just like … since Christmas, the weekend timetable with some enhanced working, and we were prepared to do that.

We signed an agreement with them on the Saturday night, we all thought, ‘You beauty, it’s all good,’ and no. Sunday night we got a phone call saying ‘We want to drag you back into the commission, cancel your action, we don’t think it can work.’ We disputed that, had a conversation in front of the commissioner. We walked away and the commission said, ‘We will hear you on Monday morning, the trains will run.’ We walked away happy.

I went to bed on Sunday night and woke up Monday morning like everybody else and went, what the hell? Somebody had made a decision to pull the service. We are as angry and frustrated as everybody else out there today.

Updated

Jumping back to the Sydney train situation for a moment and the Rail, Tram and Bus Union state secretary, Alex Claassens, is discussing the return of limited train services with ABC News Breakfast:

Apparently, where we ended up late last night was we negotiated an outcome where trains will run today. We finally managed to get the management team to see some common sense and today they will be operating a service roughly around the half-hour to 15-minute mark.

They will then try and improve on that during the day. We will work together as much as we can to try to get as many trains on the tracks as we can, and you can imagine our disappointment yesterday morning when we got up like everybody else in Sydney to realise some genius had made a decision to cancel all of our train services.

Updated

What rules are changing in Victoria, and when

Victorians will be able to return to the office and masks will only remain in some settings from 11.59pm Friday.

Health minister Martin Foley on Tuesday announced that the recommendation to work or study from home will be scrapped and masks will only required in the following settings:

  • People on public transport, in taxis and rideshare, on planes, and indoors at an airport
  • People working or visiting hospitals, and indoor areas at care facilities
  • Workers in hospitality, retail, the court system, and justice and correctional facilities
  • Students in year 3 or above at primary school, and workers at early childhood centres and primary schools (masks can be removed in secondary school)
  • People working indoors at an event with more than 30,000 people attending
  • In special circumstances, such as if you have Covid-19 or are a close contact and you’re leaving home

Masks are recommended for other workers serving or facing members of the public, such as receptionists.

The remaining restrictions on elective surgery will also lift on Monday 28 February.

Public hospitals will be able to resume all surgery, with capacity to be based on an individual assessment of staff availability and Covid-19 demands. Private hospitals will be able to resume up to 100 per cent of pre-Covid activity.

Foley also extended the deadline for some workers required to receive three doses of the Covid-19 vaccine:

  • All education workers have until 25 March to be up to date with their vaccination.
  • Workers who are recent international arrivals will have a new third dose deadline of four weeks from the date of their arrival, provided they have evidence of a future vaccine booking.
  • Workers whose temporary medical exemption (eg, because they had Covid-19) has expired will have a new third dose deadline of two weeks after the expiry of the medical exemption.
  • Fully vaccinated workers who aren’t yet eligible for a third dose will have a third dose deadline of three months and two weeks from when they had their second dose.

Updated

Penny Wong has skirted around the question of if she thinks it likely that, if Russia were to invade Ukraine, China could use this distraction to launch their own invasion into Taiwan.

Well, one of the key drivers around why the opposition should be resolute in respect of Ukraine is because we understand all countries the potential of permitting or being silent while a country engages in these sorts of actions – the potential for risk in our region.

It does have implications for the world if a member of the international community simply violates international law and engages in unilateral changes to borders or to the status quo. The invasion or an act of aggression against Ukraine would be a unilateral change to the status quo. One of the reasons we have had since world war two, and one of the most peaceful, prosperous periods in human history is, in general, there has been adherence to international law and a recognition that countries don’t simply invade each other without justification.

Host Patricia Karvelas:

So you’re saying if this does occur, that you do think that it changes. It sets a precedent or it sets a new standard and you think China may exploit it.

Wong:

What I was saying is, in the end, the peace is best kept by ensuring countries recognise and respect the status quo. And in respect of Ukraine, that is very clear what needs to occur which is Russia needs to desist from the sorts of aggression we have seen.

Updated

Labor will back government in condemning Russian acts of war, Penny Wong says

So you might have heard, but things are really starting to ramp up on the Russian/Ukrainian border, with Vladimir Putin saying he will formally recognise the independence of separatist areas in eastern Ukraine.

Australia’s shadow foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, is speaking with ABC radio now about what this could mean for Australia. She says Labor will stand behind the government in condemning any Russian acts of war in the area:

It is a blatant violation of the territorial integrity of Ukraine and it is a violation of the Minsk agreements.

And this is why the international community have to be united and have to be clear. There is no justification, no matter what Mr Putin says, for a decision to engage in conflict, and a decision such as that would be, as I think President Biden has pointed out, a decision to enter into and take responsibility for the catastrophic and needless war.

So we would join with not only the government, Australian government, but the EU, many European governments and the United States in being very clear in our view about these being a violation of international law, and not providing any justification for conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Penny Wong
Shadow minister for foreign affairs Penny Wong. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Updated

Here is the full statement for those who are interested:

Updated

Mask rules lifted in Victoria from midnight Saturday

Some news from Melbourne. The mask mandate will be lifted from 11.59pm Friday, with the work-from-home recommendation to end as well.

Updated

Sussan Ley was asked how much “much of today’s announcement is about bolstering Australia’s strategic interests” in Antarctica. She beats around the bush a little bit but basically, it’s all about China:

There have been critical times over the years when we have needed to step up and lead. This is one of those times.

If you think that to Menzies, the continent could have been carved up after the cold war. Menzies made Australia a founding member of the Antarctic treaty system. If you think of the Madrid protocol 30 years ago, countries wanted to mine Antarctica.

This is a moment where we’re stepping up and leading and within the Antarctic treaty system. It’s the science that comes to the fore for environmental protection and management, both in terms of the extraordinary nature of this fragile continent and what we should, as a globe be doing to protect it, but also in the strategic investments that we make.

Australia has always been a lead player within the Antarctic treaty system. When I’ve sat down at the table recently with other countries I’ve seen that. I’ve seen the strategic importance of our leadership in science and environmental protection. And the key to the future of the region is the Antarctic treaty system.

And yes, there have been pressures on that recently by countries that have sought to overfish, to ignore catch limits, and not to respect the really strong push for a marine protected area that’s been going on now for a decade, that I’m very much keen to see.

Updated

Speaking of Antarctica, federal environment minister Sussan Ley has just appeared on ABC radio to explain this new research funding for the icy continent.

She is explaining what this new equipment will allow our researchers to do that we can’t already do now:

[It will give us the] extraordinary new ability to map, to chart, to penetrate the continent.

Remember our stations are around the coastline at the moment, but we don’t have the reach into the interior that we should have. Extra funding that supports our state-of-the-art Antarctic icebreaker to focus on more scientific voyages, marine science, the krill, the fishing.

The contribution of the Southern Ocean to climate science will be stepped up through this investment, and think to of our fleet of drones that will fly over Antarctica and map looks down below.

Think about new medium-range helicopters that will be launched allowing even more reach over the 42% of a continent that we have custodianship over.

A humpback whale swims in Grandidier Channel in Antarctica
A humpback whale swims in Grandidier Channel in Antarctica. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Updated

Good morning

Good morning everyone, it’s Matilda Boseley here with you this morning, and by golly it’s already a big one.

Let’s start our day in Sydney, where limited train services will run this morning after the network was shut down yesterday amid an industrial dispute between the New South Wales government and a transport union.

After the rail union ruled that workers would only do tasks as they were set and would refuse to work overtime, Transport for NSW cancelled trains for Monday, saying it was impossible to safely operate services with union bans in place affecting rosters.

Then last night NSW transport minister David Elliot said reduced services would return across all lines on the Sydney Trains network from 5am on Tuesday, running at a minimum 30-minute frequency:

Sydney Trains encourage commuters who typically rely on the rail network to find alternative travel options, if possible ...

These limited services are there to support essential workers and commuters who have no other options to get to where they need to go.

Now heading (much) further south, the prime minister, Scott Morrison, will today announce $804m for strategic and scientific programs in Antarctica over the next decade as the government flags its intention to increase Australia’s role in the increasingly contested region.

The package will include $136m for charting activities, mobile stations and traverse capability, and $109m for a new drone fleet, autonomous vehicles and medium lift helicopters.

Basically, this will let Australia map “inaccessible and fragile areas of east Antarctic”, and set up a new “Antarctic eye” program to parts of the continent. The helicopters, which have a range of 550km, will also allow researchers to travel to parts of the continent that have not previously been accessible.

It will come as a surprise to no one that this actually has a lot to do with China – specifically about making it harder for it to make a territorial claim on the southern continent some time in the future.

OK! With that, why don’t we jump right into the day!

Updated

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One A-lister has opened up about her regret turning down the lead role in 'The Devil Wears Prada'
Marie Claire
Marie Claire
Kid Rock reportedly splits from fiancée after being seen with Lauren Boebert
The MAGA musician and Audrey Berry had been engaged since 2017
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Identity of Dave Grohl's love child's mother revealed after months of secrecy
The Foo Fighters frontman, 56, revealed in September that he had fathered a baby with another woman
Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Simpsons star ‘vindicated’ more than 30 years after making cameo
New York Yankees players will no longer be told to ‘get rid of those sideburns’
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
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