The day that was – Thursday 3 February
That’s where we will leave the blog for Thursday. Here’s what you might have missed:
- Australia’s chief health officer Paul Kelly said Australia is now “past the peak” of the Omicron wave but warned we are not out of the woods yet.
- Australia recorded at least 82 Covid-related deaths on Thursday.
- The federal government explicitly rejected Amnesty International’s assessment that Israel is perpetrating apartheid against Palestinians.
- The prime minister, Scott Morrison, flagged amendments to the religious discrimination bill to protect LGBTIQ+ students from discrimination.
- Citipointe Christian College has withdrawn demands for families to sign controversial anti-gay and anti-trans enrolment contracts – but says it won’t back down from teaching its fundamental beliefs.
- The foreign minister, Marise Payne, condemned the recent North Korean missile launches.
Until tomorrow, stay safe.
Updated
Bushfire emergency warning for East Rockingham in Perth
A bushfire emergency warning has been issued for parts of East Rockingham in Perth’s south, with residents urged to act immediately as there is a threat to lives and homes, AAP reports.
The fire, reported at 1.50pm on Thursday, was moving fast in a southwesterly direction and was out of control and unpredictable, the Department of Fire and Emergency Services said in a statement.
The warning was in place for people bounded by Crompton Avenue, Ennis Avenue and Lake Cooloongup in parts of East Rockingham in the City of Rockingham.
“You are in danger and need to act immediately to survive. There is a threat to lives and homes.”
Residents are being advised to leave for a safer place if the way was clear.
“Do not wait and see, leaving at the last minute is deadly,” the warning says. “If you cannot leave, you need to get ready to shelter in your home.”
Updated
Grace Tame injured in bike crash
The 2021 Australian of the Year Grace Tame says she broke her collarbone in a bike crash, and has now been discharged from hospital.
“Bike stack, broken collarbone, thank you for understanding that we may take a while to respond,” she said in an Instagram story. “Out of hospital now and on the mend.”
Tame is due to give a speech with Brittany Higgins at the National Press Club on Wednesday next week.
Updated
More than 30 patients have been evacuated from a private hospital damaged by severe thunderstorms as Queensland braces for more flooding, AAP reports.
Health minister Yvette D’Ath has hailed Sunshine Coast’s emergency services and health care staff for their swift action after Eden Private Hospital was hit hard by wild weather on Wednesday night.
“There were 31 patients in total that needed to be relocated or discharged overnight and everyone did an incredible job to step in and address that,” she said.
“I want to put a big shout out to the Sunshine Coast University Hospital, to the private hospitals in the area and Queensland Ambulance Service who worked so well together overnight to transfer the patients out.”
QAS Sunshine Coast’s Tony Hucker said water could be seen pouring out of the ceiling when crews arrived.
“They had a deluge ... through the roof ... which made the building unsafe for patients to stay overnight,” he told reporters.
He said QAS worked with health care staff for almost eight hours until 1am on Thursday to help evacuate patients.
Cooroy recorded more than 110mm of rain from 9am on Wednesday – including 65mm in one hour – with severe thunderstorms lashing the southeast, cutting power to 11,000 households overnight.
The Bureau of Meteorology warned there may be more power outages with heavy rain likely across north, central and southeast Queensland.
It signals the end of a three-day heatwave which has tested a state power grid that has hit peak demand as people try to keep cool.
“Power outages are possible today due to increased use capacity and pressure on the grid,” BOM’s Brooke Pagel said.
The BOM warned heavy rainfall may also lead to flash flooding across the state in coming days with western regions already hit hard.
Updated
Australian government condemns North Korean missile launches
A statement has just come in from the foreign minister, Marise Payne, condemning the recent North Korean missile launches.
The Australian government condemns the continuing pattern of provocative and destabilising missile launches conducted by North Korea in contravention of multiple UN Security Council resolutions, including the launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile on 30 January 2022.
North Korea’s pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles poses a grave threat to international peace and security and is contrary to global and regional interests in a stable, secure and rules-based Indo-Pacific.
Permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula can only be achieved through dialogue. Australia again calls on North Korea to refrain from further provocations and make a sustained commitment to meaningful talks with the United States and the Republic of Korea.
Australia is committed to maintaining and enforcing sanctions against North Korea until it takes clear steps to abandon its nuclear weapons, other weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs in a complete, verifiable, and irreversible manner. We supplement UN Security Council sanctions with our own autonomous sanctions against North Korea. Australia calls on nations to assist with UN Security Council sanctions and to take steps to prevent sanctions evasion.
We will continue to work with our allies and security partners, including the United States, the Republic of Korea and Japan, to uphold peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific.
Updated
Showers forecast to continue along coastal areas tomorrow and into the weekend, though easing, while inland #NSW expected to see dry conditions. Stay up to date with the latest weather forecasts https://t.co/SPHgGeisGZ pic.twitter.com/3r0X8bmtlV
— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) February 3, 2022
Doubt over WA's Covid stance as hundreds of students placed in 14-day quarantine
There is growing doubt over the sustainability of the WA government’s hardline Covid-19 rules after cases were detected at Corpus Christi College, Harrisdale Senior High School and Winterfold Primary School, just days into the first term.
AAP reports the entire Year 11 cohort of 212 students and their teachers at Corpus Christi must isolate for 14 days after a student tested positive.
Other students across years 7-12 are deemed casual contacts and required to get tested after having attended a whole-of-school assembly.
The case at Harrisdale involved the Year 12 cohort who attended an orientation program earlier this week. About 200 students who attended will be forced into 14 days quarantine.
Two teachers have also tested positive after attending a professional development day at Winterfold Primary School, which closed for deep cleaning on Wednesday.
The school reopened on Thursday with replacement teachers after isolation rules wiped out virtually all of the facility’s staff. About 27 children who were taught by an infected teacher also face 14 days quarantine, along with their close household contacts.
Remote learning will be available for students unable to attend classes.
Premier Mark McGowan has promised isolation periods will eventually be halved for Covid-infected people and their close contacts.
But despite growing backlash, the premier has insisted the rules will only change when the state reaches a yet-to-be defined higher caseload.
“We’ll eventually move to seven-day quarantining, and in certain circumstances people will still be able to go to school and go to work,” he told ABC radio.
“But at this point in time, because we have very low case numbers, we take a precautionary approach.”
McGowan has also refused to say when the borders will reopen after backflipping on a plan to reopen from 5 February.
Updated
Dutton suggests journalists out of touch with 'people in the suburbs'
Defence minister Peter Dutton laid into journalists this morning when speaking to Ray Hadley on 2GB radio. It’s the usual schtick about journalists being out of touch etc but he’s expressing his frustration over the National Press Club questions to Scott Morrison this week.
Hadley:
There were plenty of galoots outside the National Press Club and a few inside the National Press Club. My problem with this is always the case: there are certain things put to a prime minister from a conservative, I guess, background, as opposed to what they say to either Labor prime ministers or Labor opposition leaders, and I can’t help but draw the conclusion that many within the National Press Club are there as a cheer squad for the Labor party and those of the left of politics, am I wrong?
Dutton:
No, I think you’re dead right. I mean there’s always been a criticism about the bubble in Canberra. Canberra is, Ray, a very affluent city. If you look at house prices, you look at the lifestyle that people lead in that circle within Canberra – the media – they’re paying big dollars for some of the journalists to be down there. In some cases they’ve been there for decades, and I just don’t think they get out and mix with people in the suburbs, regardless of what state you’re in.
My assessment is that they can continue to pile on whatever they want to the prime minister, but he’s a resilient person. Like any human being, like you and I and every listener, he’s not perfect. But I tell you what, when we had the first briefings on the Covid situation here, we were talking about setting up morgues, and we were talking about positioning army personnel at hospitals where people would be turned away.
We were looking at all sorts of dire situations which we have avoided in this country and I think people, as I say, can continue – whether they’re a premier or whether they’re part of the press gallery – to try and heap whatever rubbish they can on the prime minister, but I think most people out in the suburbs get it.
Dutton then proceeds into the usual national security lines we are getting about the opposition (despite, amid much criticism, Labor basically supporting all the national security legislation the government has brought in).
Hadley then moves on to this, which is interesting considering he was accusing journalists of being cheerleaders for Labor.
Hadley:
Well, just leave Mr Morrison and Mr Albanese aside, the prime minister made the point with me yesterday how the teams compare, and that’s been documented today in The Australian. Josh Frydenberg – Jim Chalmers. Peter Dutton – Brendan O’Connor. Karen Andrews – Kristina Keneally. Marise Payne – Penny Wong.
Now, I’ll concentrate my efforts – I’ll leave you alone – I’ll go to Kristina Keneally. Can you imagine where we’d be with Kristina Keneally being a key member of a government in relation to our borders, our economy, our dealings with other people?
And then you throw into the mix Chris Bowen and then the failed leader Bill Shorten. I mean, it’s a Melbourne Cup field of failures.
And in response, Dutton brings in the boats lines (it’s not an election unless he does):
Well I’m not sure what the collective is for average, but it’s a gathering of pretty average contributors. I mean if you look at Chris Bowen’s record, not only was he the one that came up with the retirees’ tax and with the general taxes that Bill Shorten took in the last election, but he also – don’t ever forget Ray – that when he was immigration minister or border protection minister, 398 boats arrived on Chris Bowen’s watch.
I mean my opponent, the man that would be the defence minister in an Albanese government, Brendan O’Connor; he was a bit better than Chris Bowen – he had 184 boats arrive on his watch and then you’ve got Tony Burke – 83 boats. I mean you’ve just got to pause for a second and think what would happen.
There is pressure – we don’t talk publicly about it – but we are dealing with pressures of boats and people and those coming out of Afghanistan and the uncertainty now in the Ukraine. There will be people movements and we’ve stared down – both Scott Morrison and I, if I can be honest about it – have stared down people smugglers over the last few years and we haven’t had boat arrivals.
But those boats are still out there. The people smugglers are still trying to put people on boats, and Anthony Albanese, who’s been the leader of the left of the Labor Party for decades, has openly said that he could not take the decisions that we took to keep the boats stopped or to stop the boats in the first place.
... So scratch below the surface a bit and, yes, you can take your personnel attacks against the prime minister, but I’ll tell you what, he’s stood up for this country over the course of the last couple of years and we’re in a much better position than almost any other country in the world.
Updated
Not 'ideal' that defamation bill is presented as 'anti-trolling', eSafety commissioner says
Earlier this afternoon, I was watching the esafety commissioner Julie Inman Grant speak before the parliamentary inquiry into social media and online safety.
It has come up through the course of the inquiry that the government’s social media (anti-trolling) bill is anti-trolling in name only – literally. It’s a bill tackling defamation – in particular removing liability for page owners like media companies, and shifting it to platforms like Facebook if they refuse to help unmask anonymous commenters in defamation action.
Inman Grant was asked whether it was a concern the bill was being misrepresented as a way of protecting children.
“I don’t think it is ideal,” she said.
Inman Grant said the existing anti-bullying scheme operated by her office “will probably be a much more effective way to adjudicate those types of harms that are happening to young people”.
The adult version of the scheme came into effect in late January, and her office has found a high number of the reported bullying falls into the category of defamatory comments online, which are not covered by the anti-bullying scheme. Prior to the scheme, the informal process the office had for dealing with complaints of bullying of adults online found about 31% of all complaints were defamatory comments rather than bullying.
Since the new powers came into force, Inman Grant’s office has been investigating an account that had been sending messages to a user to commit self harm. After two escalations to the platform where the message had been sent, the account was removed within 12 hours.
However, multiple similar accounts have since popped up, and Inman Grant’s office is now exploring using powers to find out the details of those behind the accounts.
Updated
WA supermarkets impose purchase limits after floods disrupt freight
Australia’s supermarket giants have imposed fresh product limits in West Australian stores as floods leave supply chains severely disrupted, AAP reports.
Freight services have ground to a halt on the Trans-Australian Railway after South Australia last month received a one-in-200-years deluge.
Repairs are continuing along a section of track more than 300km long, which has sustained damage in 18 locations.
Coles on Thursday announced temporary purchase limits for WA customers on a range of goods including pasta, rice, flour, sugar, chicken and sausages.
Toilet paper, tissues, paper towels, medicinal products and rapid antigen tests are also subject to limits.
Coles said while the majority of fresh produce in its WA supermarkets was grown or produced locally, some products could only be sourced from the eastern states. All freight options were being considered including road, marine and air.
“We are continuing to review our stock levels and are working hard to get products through the network as quickly as possible,” the company said.
“This is going to be a challenging time ... we thank our customers for continuing to treat our team members with kindness and respect and ask that they only purchase what they need.”
Woolworths said it would impose a two item purchase limit on flour, sugar, rice, pasta, eggs, paper towels, frozen fruit, frozen vegetables and frozen chips in WA, in addition to pre-existing nationwide product limits on toilet paper and painkillers.
“The loss of the key freight link from the east will regrettably have an impact on product availability in our stores over the next little while,” WA general manager Karl Weber said.
“More than 80% of our fresh fruit and vegetable range is sourced from growers within Western Australia, so we expect that part of the store will hold up reasonably well. We also source a large volume of our milk, dairy and meat locally.”
WA transport minister, Rita Saffioti, said she had been advised the rail line would reopen on 17 February but cautioned that purchase limits could remain in place for weeks to come given there was a significant freight backlog.
Updated
With that, I will pass you on to the highly capable Josh Taylor who will keep you company for the rest of the afternoon.
An Australian Olympic athlete has been identified as a Covid close contact. They now have to live and travel in isolation but can still compete and train. @9NewsAUS
— Charles Croucher (@ccroucher9) February 3, 2022
The vaccination rate among 5- to 11-year-olds is still lagging in Queensland, while in WA the adult vaccination rate is ramping-up:
💉over the past week by Age & State
— CovidBaseAU 🦠📊🇦🇺 (@covidbaseau) February 3, 2022
Top groups:
1️⃣💉
ACT 5-11🔺10.88%
TAS 5-11🔺10.07%
VIC 5-11🔺9.79%
SA 5-11🔺8.93%
WA 5-11🔺8.73%
NSW 5-11🔺8.28%
2️⃣💉
WA 16-19🔺3.87%
WA 20-24🔺3.43%
WA 25-29🔺3.29%
WA 12-15🔺3.13%
WA 30-34🔺2.92%
WA 35-39🔺2.49% pic.twitter.com/vwZ40pVS5Z
Updated
The minister for immigration, Alex Hawke, has announced arrival figures for international students and working-holiday makers following the reopening of the international border.
Almost 7,000 international students have landed in the past week, with a 17% increase in arrivals of working-holiday makers.
Hawke says visa application rates have “surged” in the past week since the government’s announcement of a special visa application charge refund window, particularly from backpackers.
We are building back healthy pipelines of working-holiday makers, and we are processing these visas very quickly. The government is seeing a surge in demand from backpackers and we are ready to welcome them to our shores.
There are more jobs now available in Australia than before the Covid-19 pandemic, and there are still many more places available to backpackers and students that we are ready to fill, so come on down.
Since late November 2020, 56,000 international students have arrived in Australia. More than 50,000 overseas student visa lodgements have been made since late 2021.
A total of 28,000 working-holiday maker visas have been approved in the past few months – since the reopening of international borders to a range of travellers.
Updated
The Australian Retailers Association (ARA) has called the Covid provision under the NSW Workers Compensation Act “unsustainable”, renewing calls for a repeal of Section 19b of the Act which presumes that if a worker contracted Covid-19 they did so in the workplace.
Appearing before a parliamentary inquiry on Wednesday, ARA chief executive, Paul Zahra, said the workplace presumption no longer reflects where transmission is most likely to occur and places an unfair burden on NSW retailers:
When the Section 19b provision came into effect in May 2020, government-mandated lockdowns meant that if someone contracted Covid-19 it was more likely that they would do so at work. With the recent surge in cases of the highly transmissible Omicron variant, there is now a disconnect between where cases are deemed to have originated and where transmission has occurred.
Despite this, retailers in NSW are still processing claims on the presumption that transmission occurred in the workplace - increasing costs and complexity at a time when we need to be helping the retail community back on the path to sustained recovery.
Updated
Another interesting tidbit from Premier Daniel Andrews on Victoria's COVID-19 case numbers bouncing around since schools went back:
— Callum Godde (@calgodde) February 3, 2022
"It's a price or a cost of getting our kids back into the classroom. But the value and the worth of that is just huge."
Speaking of the religious discrimination bill, national lobby group Just.Equal Australia has written to moderate Liberals warning them “the devil will be in the detail” of the prime minister’s proposal to prevent discrimination in faith-based schools.
Spokesperson Rodney Croome, said the protections Morrison was offering to LGBTQ+ students could “quite easily turn out [to be] hollow”:
For example, amending the Sex Discrimination Act to prohibit sexuality and gender identity discrimination, as some moderate Liberals have proposed, would be pointless because the bill broadens the scope for faith schools to discriminate against LGBTIQ+ students and teachers on the grounds of ‘religious belief’
As the actions of Citipointe Christian College clearly show, there are faith-schools camouflaging discrimination against LGBTIQ+ students by invoking ‘religious beliefs’ rather than discriminating directly on the grounds of sexuality or gender identity.
Updated
Liberal MP Angie Bell, one of a group of four Liberal moderates who have pushed the prime minister to agree to prevent LGBTQ+ students being expelled with amendments to the religious discrimination bill, has released a statement in response to Citipointe Christian College’s decision to retract its enrolment contract.
The federal member for Moncrieff has welcomed the contract revocation, which discriminated against children who identify as part of minority groups:
Discriminating on the basis of gender identity, sexuality, relationship status or pregnancy only serves to make the most vulnerable in our society feel more small and more excluded – particularly when this is done by a school.
I welcome the revocation of the college’s enrolment contract as a mark of growth in our society and a step towards tolerance.
It was the right move to listen to feedback from the student, parent, and teaching community. Providing pastoral care is a primary responsibility for all education institutions to ensure the development of adolescent wellbeing.
As a society, together we should be judged on how we treat our most vulnerable children and work toward equality for all – including people of faith and Australians who identify as part of minority group.
Updated
If you’ve missed it, we’re live now from Canberra where the Women’s Ashes first ODI has started.
England are bowling, and have already taken a wicket, with Rachael Haynes gone for four runs.
Check out the action here:
Updated
South Australian COVID-19 update 03/02/22. For more information, go to https://t.co/mYnZsGpayo or contact the South Australia COVID-19 Information Line on 1800 253 787. pic.twitter.com/p2gS4lYBpQ
— SA Health (@SAHealth) February 3, 2022
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) says allowing adolescents aged 16 and 17 to receive a Pfizer booster vaccine is a “positive step forward” in the vaccination rollout, but more assistance to the sector is needed. It comes after a recommendation from ATAGI.
RACGP president Dr Karen Price:
With tens of thousands of new Covid-19 cases emerging every day and students returning to school the timing couldn’t be better. These adolescents are in the senior years of their schooling so it’s so vital to offer them the increased protection a booster vaccine provides.
We know from studies based on emerging real-world data that mRNA boosters, such as Pfizer, provide roughly 86% protection against symptomatic Omicron infection and 98% against severe infection.
But Price said practices still needed more help to deliver the vaccinations in a timely manner:
We are flat out delivering kid’s vaccines, which is more time intensive and complicated compared to adults, as well as boosters and taking care of our day-to-day patient case load. Some people avoided or delayed screenings and consults during the pandemic and others have had to delay elective surgery, so helping those people is also a high priority.
If we are to continue as the backbone of the vaccine rollout, we really need more support from the federal government. Many practices are having enormous difficulty absorbing the cost of taking part in the rollout. We didn’t sign up to make money but at the end of the day we must make ends meet because no one benefits when a practice has to shut up shop.
Updated
⚠️Final #Flood Watch issued for #NorthernRivers, #MidNorthCoast and #UpperMacintyre. Flooding no longer expected in these locations. See https://t.co/Ss766eSCrL for details and updates; follow advice from @NSWSES. #NSWFloods pic.twitter.com/j9JIyP0sCU
— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) February 3, 2022
Back in Victoria, where the premier, Daniel Andrews, is speaking to reporters:
Asked about workers returning to office, Premier @DanielAndrewsMP says many people are regulating their own behaviour to avoid Covid risk. He notes many people don’t want to go to the office when masks are required but says “they’re not coming off any time soon.” @abcmelbourne
— Richard Willingham (@rwillingham) February 3, 2022
Updated
One in six Gold Coasters may have had Covid-19 around the peak of the Queensland wave, a randomised household survey has found.
The Gold Coast public health unit went door-to-door last month to 117 households across Gold Coast suburbs collecting PCR tests.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the surveillance initiative delivered higher than expected results. Of those tested, twenty were positive to Covid-19 but only one in four reported having any symptoms.
Only one in ten were aware they were positive.
Palaszczuk:
Initial results indicate Covid-19 is considerably more common in the community than reported and that many people who are infectious may not be aware.
This particularly true for fully vaccinated and boosted Queenslanders, who are benefiting from the protective effects of the vaccine.
A follow-up survey performed a week later on 29 January saw the rate of infection halve to one in 13.
Updated
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews on speculation Novak Djokovic may have got the COVID-19 vaccine after the AO visa fiasco: “If that's what he's done, then good on him. That's terrific. He'll be part of the solution instead of being part of the problem.”
— Callum Godde (@calgodde) February 3, 2022
The four Victoria police officers who lost their lives on the eastern freeway in Melbourne will be remembered today at a statewide memorial service.
Leading senior constable Lynette Taylor, senior constable Kevin King, constable Josh Prestney and constable Glen Humphris died on 22 April 2020 following a horror truck crash in the emergency lane of the freeway.
The Victorian government is lighting buildings across the city blue following the service, to be held at Marvel stadium in Melbourne.
Premier Daniel Andrews:
The loss of Lynette, Kevin, Josh and Glen was devastating for their families, their colleagues at Victoria police and all Victorians.
Updated
Approvals to build houses fell by a further 1.8% in December, continuing a slide from the record peak in April in 2021, AAP reports.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics said private sector house approvals have now dropped 31.5% since April.
The director of construction statistics at ABS, Daniel Rossi, said:
While approvals for private houses have fallen from all-time highs, the series remains at historically elevated levels, with the December result 20.5% higher than the pre-pandemic level in December 2019.
Overall approvals rose 8.2% in December, driven by a 27.5% increase in dwellings excluding houses.
Separate data showed the construction industry suffered a slump over December and January due to the impact of the Omicron variant, continuing the sector’s volatile run over the past six months.
The Australian Industry Group Housing Industry Association performance of construction index dropped 11.1 points to 45.9 over December and January, cutting short a recovery in November.
It was the weakest index result since August last year, with a reading below 50 indicating the sector is in contraction.
Ai Group chief policy advisor, Peter Burn:
This latest downturn was driven by disruptions to labour supply, material supplies and business and household confidence associated with the rapid spread of the Omicron strain.
Builders and constructors are hoping the reductions in Covid-19 infections evident over the past couple of weeks will ease some of the extra constraints evident over the past couple of months but they, like everyone else, are geared for further uncertainty and volatility.
Updated
Over in WA, a bushfire Watch and Act order is in place south of Perth in the shire of Manjimup.
People in the area bounded by Muir Highway to the north, Deeside Coast Road to the east, Kin Kin Rd to the south and Wheatley Coast Road to the west are under a possible threat to their lives as a fire approaches, burning in a west-southerly direction.
10:23 AM -Bushfire ADVICE for MEELUP NATIONAL PARK and parts of NATURALISTE and DUNSBOROUGH in the CITY OF BUSSELTON: https://t.co/ZSEIQDbkiJ
— DFES (@dfes_wa) February 3, 2022
Updated
Catholic Health Australia is calling on health minister Greg Hunt to immediately change Australia’s official definition of ‘fully vaccinated’ from two doses to three.
Earlier today, Hunt said he was waiting for the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) to consider changing the definition.
But the manager of health policy at CHA, Alex Lynch, said it was “misleading” for states to be reporting a fully vaccinated rate of 95% for double doses which was “inadequate” at protecting people from Covid-19:
Health authorities are struggling to convince Australians to go out and get their booster and part of this is surely because people feel complacent when they see such impressive headline figures.
A huge contributor to the speed of vaccination last year was people feeling responsibility for getting low rates to climb. We need to put that impetus on society once again.
We now know that Covid-19 vaccinations are losing effectiveness just months after the second dose is received. A truly fully vaccinated community, with three doses for all who are eligible, will help alleviate pressure on our hospitals and start getting us back to normal.
Updated
We will be hearing from Victoria in the next half an hour.
Premier @DanielAndrewsMP and @LisanevilleMP speaking ahead of this afternoon’s police memorial, to talk about that and #covid19 at 1.30pm. @10NewsFirstMelb #springst
— Simon Love (@SimoLove) February 3, 2022
Marise Payne’s spokesperson rejects Amnesty’s ‘characterisations of Israel’
The federal government has explicitly rejected Amnesty International’s assessment that Israel is perpetrating apartheid against Palestinians.
Readers will recall that the prime minister, Scott Morrison, yesterday said “no country is perfect” in response to Amnesty’s 280-page report that concluded Israel had “perpetrated the international wrong of apartheid, as a human rights violation and a violation of public international law”.
Guardian Australia asked the foreign minister, Marise Payne, several questions including whether she agreed with the assessment that Israel is perpetrating apartheid (and if she didn’t agree, why not) and whether she would be more direct in publicly urging Israel to uphold human rights.
A spokesperson for Payne responded overnight. Here is the full statement:
We do not agree with the report’s characterisations of Israel, and we remain a firm supporter of the State of Israel.
The conflict between the Palestinians and Israel must be resolved so that peace and security can become normalised.
We are strong supporters of a two-state solution, with Israel and a future Palestinian state establishing internationally recognised borders. We have always urged all parties to refrain from actions and statements that undermine the prospects for peace.
For more, see our news report:
Updated
National LGBTQ+ rights organisation Equality Australia has cautiously welcomed comments by prime minister Scott Morrison foreshadowing amendments next week to better protect LGBTQ+ people in religious schools.
But the organisation has called for the Religious Discrimination Bill to be scrapped, warning it will result in widespread discrimination.
Morrison’s comments were made on B105.3 this morning at the same time Citipointe Christian School announced it was withdrawing a controversial enrolment contract that labelled homosexuality as “sinful and offensive” and included a provision that allowed the school to exclude trans and gender diverse students.
Equality Australia legal director, Ghassan Kassisieh:
The PM made a commitment in 2018 to remove the outdated carve-outs in national anti-discrimination laws which allow discrimination against LGBTQ+ people in religious schools. This reform is long overdue, and better protections must apply to both teachers and students.
But the Morrison government’s Religious Discrimination Bill will invite exactly this type of practice in employment across faith-based organisations, from schools, aged-care services, emergency accommodation and hospitals.
The PM may be putting out one small fire, but his Religious Discrimination Bill will unleash a firestorm of discrimination in religious organisations against anyone that holds a different belief from their faith-based employer – even when they can faithfully do the job that is required of them.
The Religious Discrimination Bill allows religious organisations like schools, hospitals, aged care and disability service providers to draw up contracts that require its workers to sign away their own religious and non-religious beliefs in order to keep their jobs.
Kassisieh:
If the PM is serious about fulfilling his 2018 election commitment, he would end discrimination against LGBTQ+ students and staff in religious schools by delivering simple legislation to stop schools from firing, expelling or discriminating against them for who they are.
And if his government is serious about protecting people of faith from discrimination, he must withdraw the Religious Discrimination Bill and do what he promised to do; deliver a simple reform that protects all of us, equally.
Updated
Yesterday RBA governor, Philip Lowe, was asked at his National Press Club speech whether now was a good time to switch to a fixed interest rate if you’re a borrower.
Ever cautious to avoid sending too clear a message, Lowe encouraged people to have a “buffer” to absorb any interest rate rises that might be coming as the economy gathers pace and inflation perks up further. (He has paid off his home loan, we learned).
Anyway, as if on cue, the CBA – the country’s biggest bank – raised its fixed home loan rates by as much as 0.2 percentage points.
ING, Australia’s seventh largest bank, also raised fixed and variable rates but only for new customers.
According to market tracker RateCity, the CBA’s four-year fixed rate has risen by 1.55 percentage points over the past year. Someone with a $500,000, four-year fixed loan will now be paying $411 more than someone taking out the same loan a year ago.
For such loans, the CBA now charges 3.54%, ANZ – 3.39%, with both Westpac and NAB on 3.34%.
RateCity research director, Sally Tindall, said:
While much of the heavy lifting has already been done, we expect fixed rates will keep on rising in the months to come, not just from the big four banks but across the market.
Right now, there are just 28 fixed rates [in the market] under 2% but the number is dropping rapidly. In a few months time they could be extinct.
Updated
National Covid-19 update
Here are the latest Covid numbers from around Australia today, as the country records at least 82 deaths from Covid 19:
ACT
- Deaths: 0
- Cases: 529
- In hospital: 63 (1 person in ICU)
NSW
- Deaths: 38
- Cases: 12,632
- In hospital: 2,578 (160 people in ICU)
Queensland
- Deaths: 9
- Cases: 8,643
- In hospital: 749 (71 people in ICU)
SA
- Deaths: 1
- Cases: 1,583
- In hospital: 226 (18 people in ICU)
Victoria
- Deaths: 34
- Cases: 12,157
- In hospital: 752 (82 people in ICU)
WA
- Deaths: 0
- Cases: 19
Updated
Queenslanders might want to avoid mosquitos while also dodging Covid this summer:
NEW: Queensland Health is warning that mosquitoes in the southeast are carrying Ross River virus, which causes joint pain, fever, rash and fatigue.
— @MartySilk (@MartySilkHack) February 3, 2022
Symptoms last for 3-11 days, but not all people develop them.
However, for some people joint pain can be severe and last months.
More here: pic.twitter.com/cxI1X1z6Y6
— @MartySilk (@MartySilkHack) February 3, 2022
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The PM has backed Mark McGowan’s decision to keep the WA's borders shut
— Max Maddison (@maxmaddison) February 3, 2022
“That’s the Premier’s call. He has to make the decision based on what he thinks the hospital system is ready to absorb” he told 6PR
“At the end of the day Mr McGowan has to make that call and we support it”
Queensland’s attorney-general, Shannon Fentiman, will hold a press conference at Parliament House at 11.45am local time today.
Updated
Meanwhile, we may not have found the Endeavour after all.
The chief executive of the Australian National Maritime Museum, Kevin Sumption, announced today the shipwreck of Cook’s vessel had been positively identified.
But the Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project has rejected the ANMM’s report, calling it a “breach of contract” with RIMAP, the lead organisation for the study in Newport harbour.
It says there has been “no indisputable data” to prove the site is the Endeavour, though the study is “consistent with what might be expected”:
There are many unanswered questions that could overturn such an identification ... RIMAP’s conclusions will be driven by proper scientific process and not Australian emotions or politics.
#BREAKING The lead investigator on the Endeavour discovery -- Dr Kathy Abbass from the Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project -- says that Australia has jumped the gun ⚓️
— Jamie Travers (@JamieTravers) February 3, 2022
Says report is "premature" and that the Maritime Museum is "in breach of the contract" @abcnews pic.twitter.com/M0AKFymju0
Catch up on the story here:
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WA records 19 new Covid-19 cases
Western Australia has recorded 19 new Covid-19 cases overnight, sending hundreds of students and staff into a fortnight of isolation less than a week into the school year.
Premier Mark McGowan told ABC Perth radio rules around isolation periods would remain in place for now.
McGowan said the current rules were sensible until Covid-19 cases grew.
Updated
Thanks as always to the marvellous Matilda Boseley. I’ll be with you for the start of this fine afternoon.
With that, I shall hand you over to the amazing Caitlin Cassidy who will with you for the next little while.
Today we have recorded 8,643 new COVID-19 cases.
— Queensland Health (@qldhealth) February 3, 2022
Sadly, we have reported 9 deaths in the past 24 hours.
Full details ➡ https://t.co/2vvTmlzIil pic.twitter.com/bVdLL0y59P
SA records one Covid death and 1,583 new cases
South Australia has reported another 1,583 Covid-19 cases and one more death as the number of active infections across the state continues to fall.
Premier Steven Marshall says active cases are down to 18,308, the lowest number for some time.
What we’re now seeing is a settling of the numbers in South Australia ...
We’re starting to see those numbers plateau a bit. We’d like to see them go lower.
SA has 226 people in hospital, including 18 in intensive care, with five on ventilation.
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Victoria’s Healthcare Association has welcomed the state’s extension of surge payments for healthcare workers in Covid settings but says the allowance should be expanded to other patient-facing roles.
Guardian Australia has confirmed the surge allowance for hospital workers, paramedics and other frontline staff will be extended until 31 March as Victoria remains under a code brown declaration. The payments equate to an additional $60 per shift for public hospital and Ambulance Victoria workers.
VHA chief executive Tom Symondson said the organisation had called for the payment to be extended beyond February to ensure healthcare workers were recognised for their “extraordinary work” as the state remained under a code brown declaration:
Many healthcare providers are struggling to retain staff, let alone recruit them, so the next critical step is to expand this payment to other healthcare workers. They need to feel valued during this public health crisis.
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Morrison claims Coalition will prevent LGBT student discrimination
Scott Morrison was asked on Brisbane’s B105.3 radio this morning about Citipointe Christian College and the issue of LGBT students.
Morrison replied:
I don’t support that. My kids go to a Christian school, I wouldn’t want my school doing that either.
The bill we’ll be taking through the parliament will be having an amendment that will deal with that to ensure kids cannot be discriminated against on that basis. I’ve been saying that for years. That’s always been my view.
[If] you send your kids to a Christian, Muslim or Jewish school – they should be able to teach kids in that way.
This is an ambiguous statement that we’re seeking to clarify with Morrison and attorney general Michaelia Cash’s office.
If Morrison means that the religious discrimination bill will contain this amendment, then that is a shift in government policy; but if he means that there will be a separate bill that follows the religious package, then this is much less consequential than it appears.
Morrison is right that he has suggested students shouldn’t be able to be expelled for their sexuality previously, but Cash has said that a bill to do this will have to wait 12 months until after the religious bill passes.
On Radio National yesterday evening acting attorney general Amanda Stoker said:
The religious discrimination bill that’s before the parliament does not empower this conduct. That is a factor that is already law, and it is law under the Sex Discrimination Act. The next thing to say is that the Liberal-National government has committed to taking away those exceptions, and we will do it as soon as we have the Religious Discrimination Act in force. The only reason we can’t do it beforehand is that we need to be able to tailor it to whatever product ultimately emerges from the Senate. But it’s already something we believe in and have committed to.
So, it’s clear that Cash and Stoker think the fix for LGBT students is SEPARATE from the religious bills. Did Morrison misspeak or has there been a shift in policy?
Updated
The ACT records 529 new Covid-19 cases
The ACT has recorded 529 new Covid-19 cases and no deaths.
There are now 63 Covid-19 positive people in hospital with one person ventilated in the ICU.
ACT COVID-19 update (3 Feb 2022)
— ACT Health (@ACTHealth) February 3, 2022
💉 COVID-19 vaccinations
Aged 5-11 years (1 dose): 71.2%
Aged 12+ (2 doses) 98.6%
Aged 18+ (3 doses): 51.8%
New cases today: 529 (317 PCR and 212 RAT)
Active cases: 3,183 (1,963 PCR and 1,220 RAT)
Total cases: 37,362 (28,401 PCR and 8,961 RAT) pic.twitter.com/8CLB0K0BPU
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Opposition Leader, Anthony Albanese, is angry - calling for Aged Care Services Minister, Richard Colbeck, to resign. @10NewsFirst pic.twitter.com/lVeAe4Li31
— Chloe Bouras (@ChloeBouras) February 3, 2022
The absolute whiplash we all just experienced going from the maritime news of positive identification of Captain Cook’s ship to Anthony Albanese demanding Colbeck’s resignation.
I need to go do some neck stretches!
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⚠️Initial Minor #Flood Warning issued for the #WarregoRiver (NSW) at #FordsRiverBywash. It is possible that the minor flood level (1.70 metres) may be reached on Thursday evening. See https://t.co/AdztI2rqg1 for details and updates; follow advice from @NSWSES. #NSWFloods pic.twitter.com/6xmiUHJcbs
— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) February 3, 2022
Reporter:
In terms of the campaign process, as you face Scott Morrison in the upcoming election, do you share the view of Gladys Berejiklian that he is a horrible person?
Albanese:
Gladys Berejiklian’s comments are on the record for all to see and that is a judgement of a NSW premier who, at the time, was fighting hard. I respect the work she did during the bushfire crisis. I have said that publicly and privately at the time.
But also we have a circumstance whereby Australians, and older Australians, are paying the price for the disunity in this government. I do not care that the Liberals do not like each other, I don’t care that the Nationals do not like each other and the Liberals do not like the Nationals. What I care about is the fact there are real-world consequences as a result of disunity. And the fact that this government is focused on itself and disunity, and older Australians are not being looked after.
This government is not functional. It is not competent because they are too obsessed with attacking each other and fighting each other, and the most damning statement in those text messages is Gladys Berejiklian’s statement that Scott Morrison at the height of the bushfire crisis was more concerned about politics than he was about people, and this was at a devastating time for people at the height of the bushfire crisis. That to me is the most damning statement in those text messages.
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Here is what Albanese says Labor would do to fix aged care if they take government in May:
Immediately we will act. Immediately, the first thing we would do is acknowledge the problems that are there. We would make sure that booster shots are available, that rapid antigen tests were available, that PPE equipment was available for people in the aged care sector.
We would work with the sector, listen to what residents and workers and the aged care sector were saying and work with them, not have this approach that this government has of she will be right, mate.
The problem is, this government have been in office for almost a decade, they have had a circumstance whereby we are now in the third year of this pandemic - the third year!
They cannot say they have not had time to prepare. We have known, one of the circumstances which Australia has found itself in throughout this pandemic is because it began in other parts of the world we have had an opportunity to learn from that experience and we know that older people are particularly vulnerable to Covid, and that is why we have known what was coming in some circumstances in terms of looking at overseas experience. So, for example, rapid antigen tests were approved much earlier, supply was what under leadership from government and that was made available to the workforce.
This government have failed to learn any of the lessons from the pandemic which is why they keep committing mistakes.
Updated
Albanese won’t commit to supporting a 25% pay rise for aged care staff but says a Labor government would put in a submission to Fair Work supporting a pay increase.
I agree there should be an increase in pay and conditions of age care workers. That is up to the commission what that figure should be but the government should make a submission.
When the social and community services had an inquiry through the commission in to an increase in their salary, the then federal Labor government made a submission saying they supported an increase in wages ...
If we were the government, we would make a submission ... We do not make submissions as opposition but if we were the government and if we formed government, we will make a submission supporting an increase.
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Albanese:
That is the truth because this government have failed in this area but they don’t even have a commitment of putting a nurse in every nursing home. That is something I called for last May in my budget reply. It is something the royal commission has called for as well. It is something that was mentioned in the interim report of the royal commission. The truth is that this government continues to act with the word that summed up the aged care sector in the interim report, neglect. This minister is not doing his job and the prime minister continues to say it is all OK in the aged care sector.
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The opposition leader has been asked by a reporter how much of the issue in aged care is down to Labor’s time in government given that the royal commission found there were entrenched systematic issues. But Albanese isn’t having it.
This government has been in office for almost a decade. They are shooting for a second decade in office. The entire government response that it is ‘Labor’s responsibility’ for something when we have not been in office since 2013 is a big call.
And can I say that in regard to the minister and him being replaced and the implication that you need to skill someone new up, the problem with that statement is that this minister does not have any skills and he is not doing his job.
He is absent. He is absent. We actually need a minister who will take responsibility. This minister will not take responsibility and when he does front up to a committee, to a committee hearing yesterday, he has refused to acknowledge that there is a crisis, has refused to acknowledge the problems that are there and the context of this – such as Mike Baird, the former Liberal new premier of New South Wales calling for the army to be brought in to make beds and to look after fundamental tasks in the aged care sector – because this crisis has just been building and building.
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Albanese:
The problem with this government is that if you do not acknowledge that there is a problem, you have no chance of finding a solution. But the solutions are there in the aged care royal commission.
Older Australians deserve better and their nurses and carers deserve better as well. They used to call these facilities nursing homes for a reason. Because nurses worked there. The aged care royal commission, and I called for it in my budget reply, called for a nurse, a registered nurse to be on call 24 hours a day in every nursing home. A nurse should be on call in every nursing home.
That is pretty fundamental to the whole concept of care. What’s more, this government continues to refuse to put in a submission to the Fair Work Commission to increase the wages and conditions of the aged care workforce.
Even though they know that this is causing a massive problem of retention of workers but a one-off payment certainly won’t solve it. This is a government that is incompetent, a government that is out of touch and a government that should be out of time come the next election.
Updated
Albanese:
[The government] knew, they knew that aged care residents were particularly vulnerable and yet we have aged care workers who still cannot get access to rapid antigen tests.
We have aged care residents who are confused, who are locked in their rooms, who are not able to see their loved ones. We have the loved ones of these residents witness who are despairing, who are upset, who are fraught as a result of not being able to see their mum on dad or their granddad or grandmother, or their uncle or aunt or just a friend. This is not good enough.
And we have an ongoing approach by this government that is characterised by complacency and characterised by always acting too little too late. And then we have the prime minister’s grand announcement at the National Press Club of one-off payments of up to $400 for aged care workers as a retention bonus. One of which is to be granted in March and one just about handed out with the ballot papers at the election in May.
A cynical exercise from a government that does not even seem to understand the fact, which is that most people in the aged care workforce, they are part-time, they are casual and they are getting a part pro rata rate.
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Albanese says aged care services minister 'must resign today'
Opposition leader Anthony Albanese is speaking now from Sydney and he is angry.
Today I am angry.
He is demanding the aged care services minister, Richard Colbeck, resign immediately from his position or be fired by the prime minister.
I am angry because I have spoken to the families of aged care residents who have had enough. Richard Colbeck must resign today. If Richard Colbeck does not resign today the prime minister should sack him.
He is simply incapable of fulfilling the task of looking after the interests of old, vulnerable Australians. What we have is a circumstance whereby these Australians have helped to build this country. They deserve dignity and they deserve respect. Not the ... contempt that we get from a minister who, having avoided appearing before a committee inquiry all year up until yesterday, went before that inquiry and said that it was working exceptionally well.
He went before the inquiry and said that there was not a crisis in aged care and today, what we have, what we have, remarkably, is an announcement that they are going to have a taskforce, they are going to ask a few people in the department to look at the data. They are not going to act. That is what they are going to do.
Well, here are some data. 566 deaths since 1 January. Double the number of deaths that occurred throughout 2021 in aged care. 15,000 residents and 17,000 aged care workers being infected with Covid. One-quarter of shifts not being filled. 80,000 aged care residents who have not received booster shots. Aged care residents who are missing out on showering, who are missing out on food and water, who are not having their wounds tended to. This is a crisis and it is a crisis on this government’s watch in the wake of a Royal Commission that described the aged care sector in one word, neglect.
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Queensland records nine Covid deaths and 8,643 new cases
Queensland’s chief health officer has just spoken, confirming the state has recorded 8,643 new Covid-19 cases and sadly nine deaths.
There are now 749 Covid patients in the hospital and 47 in the ICU.
National Maritime Museum CEO Kevin Sumption says the US and Australian teams are working to protect the site of the Endeavour wreck due to its immense historical importance.
You know, just like how Captain Cook famously was super respectful of the tens of thousands of years of immensely important Australian history when he landed on the continent 200 years ago.
Sumption:
It ended its final life as a prisoner of war vessel, it was in such bad condition that it was being used as a prison hold while it was in Newport by the British to hold American prisoners.
To provide some further Australian historical perspective, 1778, when the vessel was scuttled to the bottom of Newport harbour, was 10 years before the First Fleet arrived in Botany Bay. And only one year before Cook met his death in Hawaii. Importantly, we are writing about findings as we speak, these will be reviewed in due course.
The archaeological work does indeed continue, and we look forward to some further robust conversations over the coming months. We now, however, have entered an important phase of this project.
As we look to protect this important site, importantly only about 15% of the vessel remains. We will continue to investigate, and will look closely with maritime experts in Rhode Island about the future of this site and what should happen to the site.
Certainly protection is what we are working towards right now.
Updated
Wreck of Cook's Endeavour positively identified
OK, we are jumping over to some historical maritime news (I’m just as surprised as you are that I’m typing this sentence).
The CEO of the Australian National Maritime Museum has just confirmed that a historic shipwreck in a US harbour is in fact the ship captain James Cook sailed to Australia in 1770.
This morning, I am here to announce with great pride, that after a 22 year program of archival and archaeological work, and based on what we call the preponderance of evidence approach, I have concluded that an archaeological site known as RI2394, which is located in Newport harbour, Newport RSA, does indeed comprise of the shipwreck of HM Bark Endeavour. This of course is the vessel that James Cook sailed to Tahiti in 1769 to observe the transit of Venus, and following that he continued his scientific journey charting large parts of the South Pacific, and of course that is the coast of Australia in 1770.
It is arguably one of the most important vessels in our maritime history and yes, the Australian National Maritime Museum, together with our partners, have found the wreck of Cook’s Endeavour. It has been announced previously that this may have been the site that the vessel, the Endeavour, was to be found, but it has been a few years of detailed scientific work to actually finally get to this point where we can conclusively confirm that this is indeed the wreck of Cook’s Endeavour.
This is an important moment, as this vessel played a critical role not only in the history of the United Kingdom, but also New Zealand, of course Australia, and now the United States of America.
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Citipointe Christian school drops anti LGBTQ+ contract
A large Brisbane Pentecostal school has withdrawn demands for families to sign controversial anti-gay and anti-trans enrolment contracts – but says it won’t back down from teaching its fundamental beliefs.
In a statement, Citipointe Christian College principal, Brian Mulheran, said families would no longer have to agree to the contract, which described homosexual acts as “immoral” and “offensive to God”.
The contract also implied the school would not recognise transgender students. Mulheran said:
We deeply regret that some students feel that they would be discriminated against because of their sexuality or gender identity, and I apologise to them and their families on behalf of the College.
As stated previously, the College does not and will not discriminate against any student because of their sexuality or gender identity. It is central to our faith that being gay or transgender in no way diminishes a person’s humanity or dignity in God’s eyes.
It is also deeply distressing that some of our students have been vilified in the community simply for their religious beliefs or because they attend the College.
Every individual is created equal in the image of God and should be treated with compassion, love, kindness, respect and dignity. This will continue to be at the heart of our College and help us to come together again as a community.
Our society gives freedom to people to be a part of groups with shared beliefs. Citipointe has the freedom to maintain its Christian ethos and this is an essential part of Christian education and choice for parents.
As a College established for religious purposes, we will continue to provide an education based on our shared beliefs.
The College will continue to ensure that families are provided with the information that is necessary to make informed choices about our community and our approach to teaching and caring for their children.
Updated
Citipointe principal Brian Mulherin has confirmed that a controversial contract distributed to students requiring them to denounce homosexuality and bisexuality and conform to the gender roles of their birth has been withdrawn.
He said the school “deeply regret that some students feel that they would be discriminated against the cause of their sexuality or gender identity, and I apologise to them and their families on behalf of the College.”
You can read our previous coverage of the situation below:
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How much does a loaf of bread cost is one question being bandied around this week. Perhaps the more interesting one would be: what’s it going to cost this time next year?
A lot, of course, is riding politically on cost of living issues. My colleague Greg Jericho opines here that the election may be dominated by them.
And I had stab at how the RBA may be keen to see wages rise before lifting interest rates but real wages (after inflation) fell last year and may barely keep up with rising prices this year and next. (Take NZ as a warning sign.)
Anyway, Rabobank, a bank specialising in commodities, has this morning published their Australian agribusiness outlook. They describe 2021 as a “once in a blue moon year”, which implies 2022 is not going to be a repeat.
Senior commodities analyst Cheryl Kalisch Gordon says:
There was a combination of drought and adverse weather in key cropping regions around the world, strong stockpiling demand in the face of potential food shortages along with Covid-induced labour shortages which impacted intensively-produced agri products and transport.
Anyway, the expectation is Australia will have another good year given there’s no shortage of water (think giant cotton farms with their full dams in the Murray-Darling Basin).
Rabobank has released its annual agribusiness commodities outlook for Australia. It's tipping falls in most commodities as supply constraints ease abroad (but a caveat will be if the Aussie dollar sinks...) pic.twitter.com/iboIiCJ3JK
— Peter Hannam (@p_hannam) February 2, 2022
Assuming some of those supply constraints ease abroad, there should be less stockpiling, and those global prices of wheat, milk, meat and so on should start to fall.
One key, though, will be the Australian dollar. Rabobank expects some “near-term slippage” before climbing later in the year. Since most commodities are priced in US dollars, a weaker Aussie dollar is not so helpful.
The US Federal Reserve will start raising interest rates from next month and since the RBA seems determined to be stoic, the investors will likely push the Aussie down from its current 70 US-cent value (as they chase a higher yield).
Aussie farmers (many of them multinationals) in other words, could divert more of their produce offshore ... leaving Australian consumers to face higher prices for their proverbial litre of milk or loaf of bread.
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Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen has told the parliamentary committee on social media and online safety that the company could do much more to crack down on abuse on Facebook and Instagram.
She said the company could invest in more moderation, have more stringent standards on abusers, and improve the detection of abuse on its platform.
She said the company hadn’t gone far enough because it wasn’t transparent about what it was doing:
Because Facebook doesn’t have to disclose what it does to prevent bullying, itt doesn’t go anywhere near to any near have an adequate length for those interventions.
Health minister Greg Hunt says the government is completely confident in Scott Morrison’s leadership.
More generally, the belief in the prime minister and the belief in the leadership is immensely strong.
And the reason is here. As a country that has faced a global pandemic that has led to terrible human tragedy on a grand scale, Australia has not been unscathed. We have had human losses that we have been talking about that are profoundly tragic in each and every case. Each life matters. When you look back over the course of a pandemic, you see that we have a country with one of the highest vaccination rates in the world. One of the lowest rates of loss of life. With over 40,000 lives saved compared with the United Kingdom and United States, and over 30,000 compared with the OECD average.
When you have the strongest economic recoveries, the big things that have occurred here under Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg have been immensely important. That is why we believed in them, that is why, if I had a blank sheet and I know everything that I know about the pandemic and I was asked to nominate the two people to lead the country at the start of the pandemic, I would pick Scott Morrison as prime minister and Josh Frydenberg as treasurer.
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'Just release it': Hunt wants name of texting minister revealed
OK, we have turned to the “complete psycho” texting scandal, and Greg Hunt has doubled down, stating that he doesn’t believe a federal minister would have sent them.
I have to say as the cabinet is arguably the strongest, most united cabinet in the last 60 years ... quite frankly don’t believe that this is from a federal minister.
I don’t know the veracity otherwise, but I do not believe it’s from a federal minister. Probably the easiest thing for the journalist in question is to release them, release all of the detail, all of the names. If they are not willing to do that, then share it with trusted people like Paul Kelly, Michelle ... They can look at it and verified and speak to anyone who is allegedly been responsible.
I can speak for the whole of the cabinet, I just say to release, in full. No one in the cabinet is remotely worried about it being released and everyone in the cabinet would want it released.
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Hunt says 61% of Covid deaths were among people in palliative care:
61% of those of – in the most recent data we have – who have passed with Covid were in palliative conditions, and amongst the people who had passed, 19% were unvaccinated and 8% were partially vaccinated for a total of 27%. Those are the figures which the department provides.
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Greg Hunt has continued his a defence of the aged care booster vaccine rollout:
Approximately 190,000 people in aged care ... 125,000 and their boosters, about 20,000 so far, have not had any vaccination or have not had their second vaccinations.
So when you take those into account that means that you have a pool of about 170,000 who are eligible, 1125,000 who have taken it up so it there are about 35,000 who have not taken it up and we will continue to encourage either the residents or their families to take this opportunity.
Right across the sector, 99% of facilities have been visited. [Some] have not been able to accept visit so far, that will happen in the coming days.
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Reporter:
You and other ministers have said that rapid antigen tests were not approved until November and that is why we have not seen the take-up ... how come there is a discrepancy? When vaccines first came out you signed a memorandum of understanding six months ahead of approvals and we put aside hundreds of millions of dollars to purchase vaccines [even though] we were still in clinical trials, but we did not do this for rapid antigen tests?
Health minister Greg Hunt:
There are a number of assumptions in that question. In relation to the rapid antigen tests, the first of the rapid antigen tests for point-of-care were approved in 2020 by the TGA and we began to use tests in aged care in August 2021 and that was a point made on many occasions.
The commonwealth has purchased, procured and provided continuous supply of rapid antigen tests in aged care since that time and we have now provided over 8m tests in aged care and that has been continuous since August and we were in a position of planning ahead in procuring and that is what we had done in relation to that ...
There was a difference of views about the utility, particularly given that PCR was the standard test recommended by the AHPPC and the Communicable Diseases Network of Australia. Some states and territories were not supportive of using it and it was not allowed under law for some considerable period of time. We have been engaged since the outset and that forward planning has allowed us to have that continual supply in aged care.
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Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen has urged the Australian government to regulate tech giants to address the spread of disinformation and hate before the federal election.
She told the parliamentary committee examining social media and online safety on Thursday:
It must go to the heart of the business model of platforms addressing the algorithms and design features that enable the spread of disinformation and hate and the exploitation of personal data. We see European and British regulators moving in this direction. Australia is due to have a federal election in only a few months. As we have seen in many recent elections around the world – the United States – threats to electoral integrity are unpredictable and can escalate rapidly.
Australia, with its unique geopolitical position, is no exception. Social media as a major vector or coordinated disinformation campaigns, it adds fuel to the fire of confusion and fake news. It amplifies the most sensationalistic content to the detriment of balance. In fact, we can no longer rely on platforms, flawed content moderation systems to deal with harmful and illegal content downstream.
She said the platforms needed to have “radical transparency” given their sway over democratic outcomes, and urged the committee to be the catalyst to regulate the tech companies.
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Chief medical officer Paul Kelly:
The death rate from Omicron is 0.1%: 99.9% of people who get Omicron survive, and usually survive well, without ongoing problems.
We are finding more about that all the time. There are issues with other longer-term effects but the reality is the death rate from Omicron 0.1% ... 99.9% of those are either asymptomatic, [or have] mild illness or severe illness.
Because of the better clinical care and the surge capacity we are put into the sector, because of our very skilled health staff working at the frontline, because of all of those things, we have a spectacularly low rate of death.
That is not to discount debate we have had a large number of deaths, when we have a large number of cases we expected and I said publicly on my advice to government that may happen and it has, and my condolences go to every single family that has experienced that over the whole pandemic.
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'We are past the peak' of Omicron, chief medical officer says
Paul Kelly says Australia is now “past the peak” of the Omicron wave but warns we are not out of the woods yet.
We are past the peak in Australia in terms of the Omicron wave. It will not be the last Omicron wave we will have and it will not be the last wave of Covid we will have.
We are learning to live with this virus, and that means that we have to have realistic expectations of what will happen this year, and probably subsequent years, in terms of Covid circulating in the community.
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Chief medical officer Paul Kelly says while Covid-19 is unlikely to be life-threatening for teenagers, the booster shot in this age group is still vital in curbing community spread:
It is good to see now that we can join them to that adult rollout of the booster program. Essentially that older age group of teenagers, the Covid acts in a similar way to young adults up to in the 20s and 30s. It makes sense for them to get the booster for their own protection.
I point out in that age group at the chance of having a severe dose of Covid, including particularly Omicron, and also if you have had two doses of vaccine already, is very low. But there is a personal protective component to it.
More importantly, definitely, as part of our transmission wall, to decrease the transmission in the community, we know that 16- to 17-year-olds and young adults have more friends and social interactions and have a higher chance of transmitting throughout the community.
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Australia has one of the highest childhood vaccine take-up rates in the world, Greg Hunt says:
I would make this point, that among our upper teenagers and 16- to 19-year-olds, we have a 91.3% first-dose rate and 88.2% second-dose rate. Among the younger teenagers and 12- to 15-year-olds, we have an 83.7% take-up, and 76.7% of those who have had the second dose.
We want to encourage all of those families, with all of those younger teens to come forward for the first and second doses, it is important to complete the program. In relation to our children, we are, in the next 48 hour, set to pass 1m doses for five- to 11-year-olds.
That has been one of the fastest take-up rates in the world and that is already, on the advice I had, one of the highest rates of take-up.
Updated
OK let’s jump to Canberra where health minister Greg Hunt is once again speaking from his strange little hostage camera live stream rather than holding a regular press conference. (I’m sure there is a good reason for this but the fisheye lens looks a bit odd.)
Hunt is discussing Atagi’s decision this morning to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to get the booster jab, three months after their second vaccine dose:
What that means is they will be an immediate group of 380,000 teenagers who will be eligible to have the booster, this is the Pfizer booster that has been through both the TGA and other technical advisory group immunisation.
Those doses are in the field and are the same as the adult doses, they are available and that is the group that has now passed three months until they have had their second doses.
In particular, that is part of a broader group, 580,000 teenagers of 16 and 17 years old – my daughter is one of them and she has indicated she will be willing to make a booking in the coming days. That is what we encourage and urge all of our teenagers and all of our families to consider.
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Northern Land Council welcomes NT biosecurity zones
The Northern Land Council, one of the NT’s biggest organisations, representing thousands of traditional owners across the top end, have welcomed the federal government’s decisions to establish a series of biosecurity zones across their area.
Last night health minister Greg Hunt introduced strict biosecurity zones preventing outsiders from travelling to dozens of remote communities in the Northern Territory as Omicron cases swell across the territory.
This covers the northern, central and Tiwi land councils regions, which will work together to allow come movement to continue between specific communities in the zones.
NLC chairman Samuel Bush-Blanasi said the organisation was happy that the government had listened to its requests, after weeks of traditional owners contacting the council asking for this measure to be put in place:
They want to stop people coming in from outside. These Biosecurity Zones or “bubbles” will help slow the spread of Covid out bush and give us more time to get more people their second and third jabs.
We also have to get vaccinations for our kids 5 years old and up. School is back and they need to be vaccinated.
In a statement, Bush-Blansi played out how the new biosecurity zone rules work:
You can move around inside your own Biosecurity Zone but you can’t leave it without an exemption. This means that in Beswick and Barunga area where I am from, people will be able to travel from Beswick/Wugularr to Barunga or Bulman or Manyallaluk but not to Katherine or Mataranka. That’s the same for people in Katherine or Darwin – they won’t be able to travel into one of the Biosecurity Zone areas ...
There will be exemptions but you will need an exemption form and a negative RAT test before you travel. But not if you’ve got the Covid – then you will have to isolate and stay in quarantine.
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SA premier visits flood-hit regions
South Australian premier Steven Marshall has travelled to the state’s northern flood-hit areas to thank locals, volunteers and emergency service workers for their efforts after damaging rains, reports Tim Dornin from AAP.
Marshall arrived in Port Augusta on Thursday morning where a deluge on Monday night turned roads into rivers and left the town’s main oval underwater.
He will then move north to Glendambo near where the Stuart Highway, the main access road to the Northern Territory, remains cut with repairs likely to take almost two weeks.
Marshall said the government was doing everything it could to help support everyone affected by recent extreme weather, from flying in vital supplies to cut-off communities, to sending rapid response teams out to assess the damage:
No stone will be left unturned in our efforts to help our regional communities, who have been dealt a fierce blow with many extreme weather fronts over the last week ...
While the rain has been a godsend for some of our farmers, it has been devastating for local communities who have been cut off because of closed roads, rail and other vital infrastructure.
Emergency services are currently working on the reopening of the Stuart Highway and engineers are working on options to expedite this process.
This week the RAAF flew in 20 tonnes of food and other supplies to Coober Pedy, which has been left isolated by the floods. The torrential rain has also left most roads in the state’s Indigenous APY lands impassable.
Trucks left Adelaide on Wednesday to deliver essential supplies to the region. SA Health has also organised an aircraft of 600 kilograms of essential food items for Pipalyatjara.
Marshall said while the rains had subsided, travellers were urged to keep clear of the state’s north.
Many roads are still closed, impassable or very dangerous.
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No backtrack this time. Ardern: "These are very firm dates ... New Zealanders in Australia are coming home on the 27th of February"
— Ben McKay (@benmackey) February 2, 2022
GPs demand more federal support as vaccine booster rollout expands
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners says it welcomes Atagi’s decision to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to receive the booster jab but raised concerns over what this would mean for GPs’ workloads across the country.
RACGP president Dr Karen Price said it was “another positive step forward in the vaccine rollout” but called for more support from the federal government:
With tens of thousands of new COVID-19 cases emerging every day and students returning to school the timing couldn’t be better. These adolescents are in the senior years of their schooling so it’s so vital to offer them the increased protection a booster vaccine provides ...
This latest booster announcement for adolescents 16- to 17-year-olds is great news but it will add another layer of work for the nation’s GPs and general practice teams ...
We are flat out delivering kid’s vaccines, which is more time intensive and complicated compared to adults, as well as boosters and taking care of our day-to-day patient case load. Some people avoided or delayed screenings and consults during the pandemic and others have had to delay elective surgery, so helping those people is also a high priority.
If we are to continue as the backbone of the vaccine rollout, we really need more support from the federal government.
Many practices are having enormous difficulty absorbing the cost of taking part in the rollout. We didn’t sign up to make money but at the end of the day we must make ends meet because no one benefits when a practice has to shut up shop ...
With Omicron cases surging across the country – the time for action is now.
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The widower of a police officer killed in a crash on Melbourne’s Eastern Freeway has paid tribute to her ahead of a state memorial service, reports AAP.
Leading Senior Constable Lynnette Taylor, 60, was one of four officers killed when they were hit by a truck while on duty at Kew in April 2020.
Her widower Stuart Shulze told ABC Radio he had lost his soulmate, and the service would allow friends to honour her and her colleagues.
Senior Constable Kevin King, 50, and constables Glen Humphris, 32, and Josh Prestney, 28, were also killed. They had been standing in the emergency lane, about to impound a Porsche 911.
Shulze said his wife of nearly 30 years had joined the police force at the age of 30, after travelling the world for a decade and starting her own business in London.
He said she was a fair and dedicated officer with a strong sense of empathy, who was drawn to the police by her sense of adventure:
I was in the force for 20 years so I knew what some of the dangers were ... I knew they were always going into dark dangerous places.
Funerals for the officers were restricted due to Victoria’s first Covid-19 lockdown, while a state service also had to be postponed.
The state memorial service will be held at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne today.
The crash was Victoria police’s single greatest loss of life, with the truck driver responsible jailed for 22 years.
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Here is some more information on that New Zealand border reopening plan:
Breaking: Ardern to return to international travel this year. She's pledging to visit "four key markets" this year: Australia, Asia, the United States and Europe.
— Ben McKay (@benmackey) February 2, 2022
(Note: not China)
We will be hearing from the health minister and CMO at 10am AEDT this morning, likely discussing Atagi’s decision to approve booster shots for 16- and 17-year-olds.
I’ll bring you all the updates here:
Minister for Health, Greg Hunt, and Chief Medical Officer, Professor Paul Kelly will hold a press conference at 10am, APH #auspol
— Political Alert (@political_alert) February 2, 2022
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Victoria extends pandemic pay for healthcare workers
Victoria will extend payments that aim to encourage frontline healthcare workers to undertake risky shifts with Covid patients, as the state’s hospitals remain under a code brown declaration.
The Andrews government has faced calls from hospital and paramedics bodies to extend the surge payment, introduced in October, that was due to expire next Thursday. Guardian Australia has confirmed the surge allowance for hospital workers and paramedics will be extended until 31 March. The payments equate to an additional $60 a shift for public hospital and Ambulance Victoria workers.
Premier Daniel Andrews on Wednesday said Victoria was on a “more optimistic trajectory” but stressed there continued to be significant pressure on the health system.
A Department of Health spokesperson said Victoria’s health workforce had “risen to the challenge”:
We’ve backed our hard-working health workforce with funding for more wellbeing support, investment in more training and the extension of the surge allowance which was provided last year.
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In case my SA readers were wondering what their premier was up to this morning: he has just touched down in Port Augusta to speak to locals as assess the damage from Sunday night’s torrential downpour.
The Premier is visiting flood-ravaged regions of Port Augusta, Glendambo and Coober Pedy today. @7NewsAdelaide will be on board, bringing you all@the latest. ✈️ pic.twitter.com/g5fOPgql72
— Kimberley Pratt (@KimberleyPratt_) February 2, 2022
PORT AUGUSTA: First stop, @marshall_steven will inspect the damage from Sunday night’s downpour before meeting leaders and volunteers at the command centre in Port Augusta. @7NewsAdelaide pic.twitter.com/SjzRyLbKND
— Kimberley Pratt (@KimberleyPratt_) February 2, 2022
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Anti-vaccine protesters gathered nearby Queensland Children’s Hospital yesterday calling for “injection coercion” to end.
— Eden Gillespie (@edengillespie) February 2, 2022
As of Wednesday, the state is still yet to reach 90% double doses and is at around 92% first doses. pic.twitter.com/gUAzCLQK2c
NZ announces five-stage border reopening
New Zealand has announced it will reopen its border to visitors in stages, after its earlier plans to do so were derailed by Omicron. The country’s borders have been closed, apart from a short-lived travel bubble with Australia, for nearly two years.
Jacinda Ardern:
With Omicron’s arrival, we pushed that change in border settings out – to give ourselves the chance to roll out boosters – a chance most other countries never had.
With our community better protected we must turn to the importance of reconnection. Families and friends need to reunite. Our businesses need skills to grow. Exporters need to travel to make new connections.
Fully vaccinated New Zealanders and other eligible travellers from Australia will be able to enter New Zealand without staying in quarantine, known as MIQ, from Sunday 27 February. Two weeks later they can come from all other countries.
From 12 April, 5,000 international students, and other eligible temporary visa holders, will be allowed to enter.
Sometime before July, the border opens to Australians and other travellers who do not require a visa to enter New Zealand.
All other international visitors will be allowed to enter New Zealand from October.
Vaccinated travellers will be allowed to self-isolate for 10 days, while all non-vaccinated travellers will still be required to enter managed isolation and quarantine.
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Looking at hospitalisations from those two states.
It seems Victorian has had a drop in both overall hospitalisations (down 16 to 752) and ICU numbers (down 17 to 81).
In NSW overall hospitalisations are down 44 today (now 2,568), as are ICU numbers (down 10 to 160).
But it’s not clear if some of the 72 deaths recorded across the two states overnight make up part of that decrease.
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Victoria records 34 Covid deaths and 12,157 new cases
It’s a similarly tragic scene in Victoria with 34 people with Covid-19 passing away and 12,157 new cases.
We thank everyone who got vaccinated and tested yesterday.
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) February 2, 2022
Our thoughts are with those in hospital, and the families of people who have lost their lives.
More data soon: https://t.co/OCCFTAtS1P#COVID19Vic #COVID19VicData pic.twitter.com/ow0PanC2ZQ
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NSW records 38 Covid deaths and 12,632 new cases
Another extremely deadly day is NSW, with 38 Covid-positive people dying in the latest reporting period.
NSW COVID-19 update – Thursday 3 February 2022
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) February 2, 2022
In the 24-hour reporting period to 4pm yesterday:
- 95.5% of people aged 16+ have had one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine
- 94% of people aged 16+ have had two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine pic.twitter.com/dFmL4Ymz1Z
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Anthony Albanese can't name the price of a box of tampons
So the country has been aflutter these last few days after Scott Morrison couldn’t tell a reporter the price of a loaf of bread when asked.
Every politician across this sunburnt country has no doubt been desperately memorising the price of a small weekly grocery list, but Labor leader Anthony Albanese’s media minder clearly didn’t think to pop a box of tampons on the pop quiz, because when asked on the Today show this morning, he couldn’t answer.
Host Ally Langdon:
For your female voters, can you give us the price of a box of Carefree.
Albanese:
No, I can’t. I live with my son who is 21 years old and I assure you that isn’t something ...
Langdon:
Gotcha.
Albanese:
I can tell you the price of medical care and bread and Vegemite and a range of products. I can tell you the price of cereal but no, you have got me there, Ally.
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It looks as though we will be hearing from the Queensland leadership about 9.30am Brisbane time, 10.30am Sydney and Melbourne time.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, Health Minister Yvette D'Ath, Education Minister Grace Grace and Chief Health Officer Dr John Gerrard will hold a press conference at 9:30am (QST)
— @MartySilk (@MartySilkHack) February 2, 2022
Updated
Andrew Forrest has launched criminal proceedings against Facebook alleging the tech giant breached federal anti-money laundering laws by not cracking down sufficiently on scam ads that used his image.
The action in the Western Australia magistrates court is the first time Facebook has faced criminal charges anywhere in the world, the mining billionaire said on Thursday.
The charges allege Facebook was criminally reckless by not taking sufficient steps to stop criminals from using its social media platform to send scam advertisements that aimed to defraud Australian users.
It is alleged the scam advertisements – which used Forrest’s image and purported to promote cryptocurrency investment schemes – have appeared on Facebook since March 2019.
You can read the full report below:
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A financial audit of NSW Health’s spending, originally reported by the Daily Telegraph, has revealed that the state government spent three-quarters of a billion dollars on PPE, including $150m on face masks, that ended up either not meeting health standards or passing its expiry date before it was used, so ultimately had to be thrown away.
Here is what opposition leader Chris Minns had to say about it this morning:
#BREAKING The NSW Government wasted over $150 million buying face masks that were unusable.
— Chris Minns (@ChrisMinnsMP) February 2, 2022
This money could literally have built a new hospital.
He also slammed the government’s actions while chatting with the newspaper about the situation:
It’s staggering that the government would waste hundreds of millions of dollars on throwing out PPE or buying PPE that didn’t even meet regulations ...
That money should have gone into bolstering our critical health resources.
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Hmm a twist in the political texting saga (basically, a minister texted Gladys Berejiklian during the black summer bushfires saying that Scott Morrison was a “complete psycho”.)
The health minister says he doesn’t believe it was anyone in the (current) federal cabinet.
So the mystery continues.
On the Gladys Berejiklian/anonymous cabinet minister text exchange:
— RN Breakfast (@RNBreakfast) February 2, 2022
"I don't believe there is any federal minister in this Cabinet that's involved."
- @GregHuntMP, Minister for Health and Aged Care
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Greg Hunt defends slow booster rollout in aged care homes
Health minister Greg Hunt has defended the slow rollout of vaccine booster doses in aged care homes. About 80,000 residents still haven’t received a boost but Hunt says this is largely due to personal choice:
There are families or individuals who are making their own choice not to receive that: 99% of facilities have had this visit ... so that opportunity has been there.
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Greg Hunt says the federal government isn’t in a position to provide an exact number of aged care residents who have died from Covid-19. He says the commonwealth is relying on state data (despite the vast majority of aged care homes being under federal authority):
The figure I have as of yesterday is 777 since the 1st of July ... That data is collected by the states ... at this stage they haven’t been in a position to provide it.
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Speaking of the ongoing Covid aged care crisis, health and aged care minister Greg Hunt is defending the government’s handling of the situation, telling ABC radio that 99% of aged care workers are now double-vaccinated:
We have over 99% vaccination rate amongst aged care workers, one of the highest rates in the world; 91% vaccination rate for residents. We’ve been able to have one of the lowest rates of loss of life in aged care in the world ...
But it is immensely hard for so many. The mental health impacts of people being locked down in aged care, which is a protective mechanism for them, but at the same time it has a huge impact on their quality of life.
Updated
From today, eligible Australians aged 16 and 17 years old will be able to receive a COVID-19 booster vaccine, following recommendations from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI), says @GregHuntMP #COVID19 #auspol
— Political Alert (@political_alert) February 2, 2022
If one was looking for a motive for the extraordinary leak of text messages describing Scott Morrison as “a horrible, horrible person”, “a fraud” and a “psycho”, then the wild factional brawl within the New South Wales division of the Liberals is a good place to start.
“This is a major hit job by NSW on Morrison and his offsider, [Alex] Hawke,” one senior NSW Liberal said of the blue-on-blue attack.
Morrison also upped the ante.
During a chat with 2GB’s Ray Hadley he publicly threatened federal intervention in the NSW division:
If they can’t endorse [federal environment minister Sussan Ley] they should get out of the way and let the federal executive ensure we can get things done.
You can read the rest of the report below:
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Jacqui Lambie was also asked for her views on fellow Tasmanian senator, aged care services minister Richard Colbeck, attending the cricket instead of appearing at a Senate inquiry into the Covid-19 aged care home crisis:
First of all, the cricket didn’t start until later that day. That’s the first thing. That cricket ran for three days. Pick an hour you want to go to and have your frothy, that would be fabulous.
Right now we just ran through a royal commission in aged care. I can tell you what is going on with some of those aged care residents is woeful, let alone the staff still haven’t got their PPE gear. These guys are all lined up to get their AstraZeneca. We know that is not working as efficient as Pfizer and Moderna. We need to get the booster shots into them. We have a lot going on in aged care.
“Here is a couple of payments of $400 each” – that is just over $2 extra a day and that is how we are going to convince the workers to stay in aged care? This is absolutely shocking.
Aged care [is] in crisis. What I would like to see today, if journalists want to get productive today, ask the prime minister if he agrees with minister Colbeck that our aged care is not in crisis. Go and ask the prime minister that.
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By the way, this is how Jacqui Lambie responded when Today show host Karl Stefanovic asked if she knew who the mystery texter was:
No, I wouldn’t have a clue, mate. I wouldn’t have a clue, mate. I wouldn’t have time for that shit, I will be honest with you.
Updated
PM and his people should focus on running country, not 'playground' arguments, Jacqui Lambie says
Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie has told Sunrise that she doesn’t know which minister called Scott Morrison a “complete psycho” in text messages to then NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian during the black summer bushfires.
She told the Today show that the government should instead be focusing a bit more on the whole “running the county” part of the job rather than “playground level” arguments:
I don’t know who it is. I’m actually really busy and I would have thought that the prime minister and his people would be that busy going into an election they wouldn’t have time for this stuff, this is really, really embarrassing.
I think what it goes to show is this is a unit that is absolutely falling apart before we are going into an election.
Quite frankly, I don’t really give a stuff who it is. I just wish they would start doing what needs to be done for the country.
This is what we are at, we are at this playground level, at prep level and this is what we are worried about, who released that text message out. Quite frankly, there are so much other big issues on the table.
Updated
A majority of voters oppose a key plank of the Coalition’s religious discrimination bill that would allow discriminatory speech and say they want greater protections for LGBTQ+ students and teachers, a new poll suggests.
The YouGov Galaxy poll of 1,030 voters, conducted for lobby group Just Equal, suggests the public doesn’t back the bill which some government MPs oppose due to the potential impact on marginalised students.
The poll comes after Citipointe Christian College urged families to sign an enrolment contract that included asking them to agree “homosexual acts” were immoral. That controversy caused Labor and Liberal moderate MPs to warn against waving the bill through federal parliament when it resumes on Tuesday.
You can read the full report below:
On the Gladys Berejiklian text exchange:
— RN Breakfast (@RNBreakfast) February 2, 2022
"The Government's disintegrating... We're talking about a Cabinet Minister wanting the world to know the Prime Minister is a psycho."
- @JEChalmers, Shadow Treasurer
Why don’t we check in on how the shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers is doing this morning?
Ooop, well it looks as though he is out and about of ABC radio, sounding the alarm bells over the potential that inflation rates will continue to rise throughout the year, while wage growth stays stagnant:
It would have a significant impact on people’s family budgets ... That would sting, people would certainly feel that coming out their family budgets ...
The reason we’ve got [stagnant wages growth] is because job insecurity is undermining the foundations of that wages growth ...
The problem we’ve got is we’ve got a government that says low wages growth is a deliberate design feature of their economic policy. They’ve made something like 55 wages growth forecasts in the life of this government and been wrong 52 times.
I’d be absolutely delighted to have an election about the economy ... The government’s been reduced to this grab bag of scare campaigns, slush funds and political panic-buying.
Updated
Good morning
Good morning everyone, it’s Matilda Boseley here and I’ve been up since the wee hours of the morning gathering all the news for around Australia for you. (I did wake up at 4.30am, but in truth it was mostly because I wanted to read a few more chapters of the sci-fi book Hyperion before work.)
Back on Earth, there is some breaking news when it comes to Australia’s vaccine rollout.
Atagi says 16- to 17-year-olds can roll up their sleeves for their third jab three months after their second in an effort to boost protection against the Omicron variant.
This means that around two-thirds of the teenagers in that age group are now eligible, which must come as a relief for those entering into their final, vital, years of high school.
Federal health minister Greg Hunt said he was pleased with the approval:
With the return to school this week and many of these young people in, or approaching, their final year of schooling, the ability to extend the vaccine’s protection even further will help provide stability and reassurance during this important period of their studies.
And it looks as though there could be more vaccine news coming in the next few days with Atagi chairman Prof Nigel Crawford telling the Covid-19 committee yesterday that the advisory group was considering making three vaccines doses the minimum to be fully protected. (Victorian premier Daniel Andrews has been pushing heavily for this over the last few weeks.)
OK, with that why don’t we jump right into the day’s news?
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