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The Guardian - AU
National
Graham Readfearn and Caitlin Cassidy (earlier)

Victoria reports 41 Covid deaths, Qld 21 and NSW 18; anti-vaxxers protest in Canberra – as it happened

Barnaby Joyce Justin Langer New South Wales Covid-19 Scott Morrison Canberra Australia Victoria Queensland CA
Barnaby Joyce apologised to Scott Morrison and offered to resign as deputy prime minister after he referred to him as a ‘hypocrite and a liar’ in a leaked text message.
Barnaby Joyce apologised to Scott Morrison and offered to resign as deputy prime minister after he referred to him as a ‘hypocrite and a liar’ in a leaked text message. Photograph: Steven Saphore/AAP

What we learned today, Saturday 5 February

That’s going to be it from us for the day. Thanks for following and to my colleague Cait Cassidy who took you through the bulk of the day earlier.

Here are the main events that have kept us busy:

  • Some 83 people were reported to have died with Covid in the last day. Queensland recorded its deadliest day, with 21 people losing their life.
  • At least 303 people are in ICU across Australia with the disease.
  • An estimated 2,000 people rallied in Canberra to protest vaccines, vaccine mandates and ask for “freedom”. The Coalition MP George Christensen and United Australia party leader, Craig Kelly, attended.
  • The deputy prime minister, Barnaby Joyce, offered his resignation to the prime minister after a text emerged from last year where he called Scott Morrison a hypocrite and a liar. Morrison rejected the offer.
  • The Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, said Joyce’s position was untenable as the ABC said Joyce had withdrawn from an interview on their Sunday politics show Insiders.
  • Justin Langer resigned as the coach of the Australia men’s cricket team after rejecting a six-month contract extension. The former captain and Langer’s friend Ricky Ponting said it was a sad day for Australian cricket.
  • A bushfire is threatening properties in the south-east of Western Australia near Denmark, with 60 firefighters on the scene and weather conditions forecast to worsen.

Stay safe and enjoy your weekend.

Updated

An estimated 2,000 people rallied in Canberra today, variously protesting against vaccine mandates, lockdowns, vaccines generally and asking for “freedom”.

Read our wrap of the day and see some pictures from the rally, which included the United Australia party leader, Craig Kelly, and the Queensland Coalition MP George Christensen.

Protesters outside Old Parliament House, Canberra
Protesters outside Old Parliament House, Canberra. Photograph: Richard Milnes/Rex/Shutterstock
Protester holds a banner outside Old Parliament House, Canberra
A protester holds a banner outside Old Parliament House, Canberra. Photograph: Richard Milnes/Rex/Shutterstock
United Australia Party leader Craig Kelly at the rally
United Australia party leader Craig Kelly, the MP for Hughes, at the rally. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP
A banner at the rally outside Old Parliament House, Canberra
A banner at the rally outside Old Parliament House, Canberra. Photograph: Richard Milnes/Rex/Shutterstock

Updated

Cricket Australia boss 'eternally grateful' to Justin Langer but committed to 'transition'

Cricket Australia’s chief executive, Nick Hockley, has just spoken at a press conference about the resignation of Justin Langer as coach of the men’s team.

He says Langer was offered a six-month contract yesterday to take the team through the T20 World Cup later this year, but that it was a short-term extension while there was a post-Ashes review.

Langer resigned “effective immediately” after the offer was made. But Hockley says he personally, and Cricket Australia, are “eternally grateful” to Langer:

He is not only a legend of the game but an outstanding individual. His passion, his dedication and commitment is second to none. As we said we would, following the Ashes, did a thorough evaluation of the team’s needs going forward. We recognised that the team has evolved and the requirements and needs of the head coach have also evolved.

The decision to start a process of transition is what we believe is in the best interests of the men’s team for unity and future success.

Hockley is talking a lot about how the team is in a “period of transition” and how the requirements for a head coach have “evolved” and there is a desire to change the way the team is managed.

And he rejects criticisms that came earlier today from the likes of former captain Ricky Ponting and opener Matthew Hayden.

We obviously respect the views of the greats of the game, but really feel that the process that we have undertaken, we have done it thoroughly and in the best interests of Australian cricket.

Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley
Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley. Photograph: Con Chronis/AAP

Updated

South Australia reports two deaths of women with Covid-19

South Australia’s health officials have reported two women, both in their 80s, have died after testing positive for Covid-19.

There were 1,289 new cases recorded in the state where 16 people are in intensive care.

Updated

Some might remember the controversy over supertrawler the Abel Tasman that was banned from Australia in 2013?

Well OK – maybe not – but this environment reporter remembers it. Anyway, the Dutch-owned trawler, now known as the FV Margiris, has shed more than 100,000 dead fish into the Atlantic Ocean off France.

Here’s our story about that.

Updated

Here’s our story about that private text Barnaby Joyce sent last year while he was a backbencher, describing Scott Morrison as a “hypocrite and a liar”, and the ongoing fallout:

Updated

Here’s a bit more about the announcement from Queensland that a former grazing property near Hughenden has been purchased and turned into a 350 sq km national park.

The environment minister, Meaghan Scanlon, says for commercial reasons she can’t say how much the property cost, but has revealed that US-based charity The Wyss Foundation put in $2.6m.

The property, known as The Lakes, will also protect the headwaters of South Gregory River that feeds into the Great Barrier Reef catchment, Scanlon said:

These regions have plains, woodlands, escarpments, creeks and unique high-altitude lakes that support a wide range of important flora and fauna.

Dr James Fitzsimons, of The Nature Conservancy Australia that helped negotiate the new park, said The Lakes had “significant conservation values”.

A view of The Lakes national park in Queensland
A view of The Lakes national park in Queensland. Photograph: Queensland government

Updated

Is it worth rhetorically pointing out the Queensland Coalition MP George Christensen’s attendance at today’s rally in Canberra – sporting a grin and a T-shirt with the words “Think for Yourself” – comes on the same day his state records its deadliest day of the pandemic with 21 deaths?

I think it is.

Updated

Saturday so far: 81 deaths reported

Cheers to Caitlin Cassidy. There’s been a fair bit going on today so here’s a very quick recap.

  • A total of 81 people have died with Covid in the last day. Queensland recorded its deadliest day, with 21 people losing their life. South Australia is still to report its numbers.
  • At least 287 people are currently in ICU across Australia with the disease.
  • Deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce offered his resignation to the prime minister after a text emerged from last year where he called Scott Morrison a hypocrite and a liar.
  • Labor leader Anthony Albanese says Joyce’s position is untenable.
  • Justin Langer has resigned as the coach of the Australia men’s cricket team. Assistant coach Andrew McDonald has been appointed interim coach.
  • A bushfire is threatening properties in the south-east of Western Australia near Denmark, with 60 firefighters on the scene and weather conditions forecast to worsen.

I’m Graham Readfearn and I’ll be here until we close off our live news coverage in a few hours.

Updated

With that, I will pass the theoretical baton on to Graham Readfearn who will keep you company for the rest of the day. Enjoy your respective weekends.

More on Langer’s resignation:

Here is the full statement from Cricket Australia:

Cricket Australia has accepted men’s team head coach Justin Langer’s resignation, which was received today.

Justin was offered a short-term extension to his current contract, which sadly he has opted not to accept.

CA would like to thank Justin for his outstanding leadership since he became Australian men’s team coach in 2018 and for guiding the team to the T20 World Cup title last year and the 4-0 Ashes victory.

Justin is not only a legend of the game but an outstanding individual.

The contract extension offered to Justin was the result of a thorough review process that evaluated many factors including future requirements of the team and the upcoming extensive schedule of fixtures.

The extension was approved by the CA Board and was put to Justin last night. It included the opportunity to defend the T20 World Cup title in Australia at the end of this year.

Justin informed CA this morning he was not accepting the offer and would resign with immediate effect.

Updated

Cheree Toka campaigned for years for the Aboriginal flag to be a permanent fixture of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, as NSW premier Dominic Perrottet announced today.

Back in the ACT, and protestors have been singing The Last Post, with George Christensen up and about among them.

NT records 968 Covid cases and outdoor mask mandate to lift

The Northern Territory has recorded 968 new Covid-19 cases today and no deaths.

An additional 173 cases have been added to Friday’s tally - bringing the total number of cases announced today to 1,141.

Hospitalisations, too, have risen. There are 151 people being treated in hospital with the virus, including four people requiring intensive care.

It comes with the mask mandate in the territory to lift from 6pm.

A statement from the NT government says territorians have shown “high levels” of personal responsibility and compliance with mask-wearing. It is still recommended people over 12 wear a mask outdoors when physical distancing isn’t possible.

The indoor mask mandate remains in place.

Updated

Andrew McDonald to replace Justin Langer

Andrew McDonald will be appointed interim head coach of the Australian men’s cricket team following the resignation of Justin Langer.

Updated

A young man has fallen to his death from a cliff on Victoria’s Bellarine Peninsula, AAP reports.

The 22-year-old plummeted into the water near Ocean Boulevard at Jan Juc just after 2am this morning.

His body was found by SES and search and rescue crews about 7.30am. Police will prepare a report for the coroner.

Hmm ...

Updated

Oh, my!

Updated

WA records 26 new Covid-19 cases

WA premier Mark McGowan has just delivered a press conference giving updates on food supplies, bushfires and Covid.

McGowan urged residents not to panic-buy, while he stood in a freight yard in Perth where a train was arriving with supplies to ease a shortage caused by road closures due to flooding.

He said there were unconfirmed reports of property damage from an out-of-control bushfire near Denmark in the state’s south-east, where 60 firefighters were on the ground.

McGowan reported the state had seen 26 new Covid cases, adding residents could now apply for a $320 payment if they had to isolate while waiting for a PCR test result.

Updated

'Sad day for Australian cricket': Ricky Ponting reacts to resignation of coach Justin Langer

Back to the news of the resignation of Australian men’s cricket coach Justin Langer. Former Australian cricket captain and batting legend Ricky Ponting isn’t impressed.

Ponting has been speaking to the ABC this morning, where the batting legend and now pundit described Cricket Australia’s handling of the situation as “embarassing”.

Ponting, who described Langer as “like a brother”, said the decision appeared to have been taken at a “very strange time” in the wake of a 4-0 Ashes win over England.

“I think it’s a really sad day as far as Australian cricket is concerned.”

“It’s been a really poor six months with the way Cricket Australia have handled some of the better people in Australian cricket.”

“Those being Justin Langer and Tim Paine. I think it’s been almost embarrassing the way they handled those two cases.”

Ponting said he thought it had been a small number of players and backroom staff that had expressed dissatisfaction with Langer’s coaching style.

When asked if he thought new captain Pat Cummins should have backed Langer earlier this week, he said Cummins had been put in a difficult position.

Justin Langer has resigned from his role as coach of the Australian men’s cricket team
Justin Langer has resigned from his role as coach of the Australian men’s cricket team Photograph: Patrick Hamilton/AFP/Getty Images

Updated

With that, I will pass you deftly, and briefly, into the hands of Graham Readfearn.

ACT Police estimates the anti-vaccination crowd gathered in the territory is in excess of 2,000.

A reminder, the ACT’s double-vaccination rate is 98.6% among over 12-year-olds.

You do the maths! (I can’t).

Updated

Back in Melbourne:

Two inmates lost their lives in Junee private prison in NSW in a three day period last month, provoking calls for an immediate investigation into the facility.

On 26 January, a 47-year-old man died in his cell after testing positive to Covid-19. Today, the private operator GEO confirmed that a 48-year-old woman died at the prison on 29 January.

The Greens MP David Shoebridge said it was a “human rights disaster” and urged the inspector of custodial services to begin an immediate investigation. He said the prison needed to be brought back to public management.

There are real questions about the ongoing safety of Junee and Parklea prisons and the impact of private operators seeking to maximize profits regardless of the human cost.

My office has been inundated with requests from families for information about what’s happening with their loved ones at Junee because they’re hearing nothing from the prison operator. Families and inmates have been denied essential information about what’s happening, which is creating a climate of fear and distress. Meanwhile, inmates are having court dates canceled because the prison is in lockdown.

The failure of either the minister or the private operator to even announce these two deaths is just another part of this policy of silence about the unfolding crisis in prisons and it must end.

Updated

Back in the ACT where protestors have gathered in opposition to vaccination mandates, though there seems little ideological coherence to what, exactly, they are purporting:

Updated

Covid peak in Queensland 'has passed'

Queensland’s chief health officer, Dr John Gerrard, says the “good news” is the public hospital system is not being overwhelmed and the peak of the Covid wave in the state has passed.

The good news is in our public hospital system, the numbers of patients in hospital continues to decline gradually down to 727 from 732. This is a gradual decline in admissions in hospital. This again demonstrates that we have passed the peak of transmission in the community across most of Queensland. We are increasingly confident the transmission is decreasing. We know there will be a lag as people, in terms of hospitalisations ... and deaths.

There will be a lag in that, but the peak of transmission has passed and the virus is absolutely everywhere in Queensland. It is in every corner of Queensland. We know that large numbers of people who have carried the virus have no symptoms. There is no way you can avoid being exposed to this virus in the coming weeks. It is inevitable. Although the peak has passed. That is certainly good news that the peak has passed.

Updated

Taking you to Queensland now, where authorities have been providing a Covid update. The 21 deaths recorded today is a record for the state.

The chief health officer, Dr John Gerrard, says only two of today’s deaths received a booster shot, however seven were aged care residents:

This includes two people in their 60s, four in their 70s, 11 in the 80s and four in their 90s. Four of these people were not vaccinated. Two had received a single dose of vaccine. Thirteen had received two doses and only two had received a booster – only two out of 21 people who had died in this reporting period. Seven of these people were known to be aged care residents. It distresses me greatly every day to be reporting on older Queenslanders dying without having received a booster.

We know that the booster, that third dose of vaccine, is absolutely critical in protecting us, particularly older people, from more severe disease. Hospitalisation, intensive-care admission and death. I cannot state this often enough.

Updated

National Covid-19 update

Here are the latest coronavirus numbers from around Australia today, as the country records at least 81 deaths from Covid 19:

ACT

  • Deaths: 1
  • Cases: 372
  • In hospital: 63 (with one person in ICU)

NSW

  • Deaths: 18
  • Cases: 8,389
  • In hospital: 2,337 (with 152 people in ICU)

NT

  • Deaths: 0
  • Cases: 968
  • In hospital: 151 (with 4 people in ICU)

Queensland

  • Deaths: 21
  • Cases: 8,508
  • In hospital: 727 (with 46 people in ICU)

South Australia

  • Deaths: 2
  • Cases: 1,289
  • In hospital: 218 (with 16 in ICU)

Tasmania

  • Deaths: 0
  • Cases: 483
  • In hospital: 10 (with two people in ICU)

Victoria

  • Deaths: 41
  • Cases: 7,810
  • In hospital: 687 (with 80 people in ICU)

Western Australia

  • Deaths: 0
  • Cases: 26

Updated

Queensland records 21 Covid deaths and 8,508 new cases

Queensland’s Covid-19 update has been posted. Sadly, there have been 21 deaths recorded in the past 24 hours.

There have been 8,508 new Covid cases detected.

It brings today’s daily national toll to at least 81.

Updated

ACT records one Covid death and 372 new cases

Speaking of the ACT, its Covid update has just gone live.

There have been 372 new cases reported overnight and, sadly, one life has been lost.

There are 63 people being treated in hospital with Covid-19 including one person requiring ventilation.

Updated

More on the protests in the ACT:

They’re back. A large crowd has gathered in the ACT for a Hands off Our Kids national rally to end vaccination mandates.

Anti-vaccine mandate freedom protesters in Glebe Park, Canberra
Anti-vaccine mandate freedom protesters in Glebe Park, Canberra. Photograph: Richard Milnes/Rex/Shutterstock

Updated

Before bidding adieu, Albanese welcomes the NSW premier Dominic Perrottet’s announcement the Aboriginal flag will be flown atop the Sydney Harbour Bridge 365 days a year.

I welcome the decision. ... this is a welcome move, it should fly, proudly, for 365 days a year and I look forward to being a part of a government that advances in reconciliation ... with a voice to parliament.

Anthony Albanese speaks to the media at Dulwich Hill in Sydney
Anthony Albanese speaks to the media at Dulwich Hill in Sydney. Photograph: Steven Saphore/AAP

Updated

Albanese turns to the deeply weird photo opportunity that took place yesterday, when Morrison was pictured washing a woman’s hair in a salon.

Scott Morrison should stop jumping in motorcars in Bathurst pretending he is a car driver ... he should stop trying to pretend he is a hairdresser. He should stop with all the photo ops and just do his day job.

Do his day job looking after older Australians in aged care who are currently undergoing a crisis and increasingly aged care providers are calling for the defence forces to be brought in to make beds, to do the essentials. This is a government that, if Scott Morrison was fair dinkum, he wouldn’t go to a hairdresser. He would go to the governor general and call an election because quite clearly they are not governing, they are not functioning, they are just paralysed by disunity.

Labor already had a cheeky little dig at this one:

Updated

Albanese says the idea Joyce’s remark was flippant is “simply untenable” also, and pulling out of the Insider’s interview due to go ahead tomorrow demonstrates Joyce is “incapable” of doing his job.

It follows the other revelations of what the people who were closest to Scott Morrison said about his character. The revelations about Gladys Berejiklian at the time of the bushfire crisis saying that Scott Morrison was a fraud in terms of his character and saying, importantly, that he cared more about politics than people. That was the height of the bushfire crisis ...

The context is a prime minister who was saying that a reported sexual assault occurred just metres from his office and he wasn’t aware of those allegations. That no one told him, in spite of the fact that this alleged incident occurred in the defence minister’s office just metres from his own. People in his office knew, people in the department knew, people in Parliament House knew, no one thought of telling the prime minister. It’s also the case that there has been no reporting of all the inquiries that were set up to find out what Scott Morrison’s office new about the circumstances around Brittany Higgins.

Updated

Anthony Albanese says it is 'untenable' for Barnaby Joyce to continue as deputy PM

The federal opposition leader, Anthony Albanese, is speaking live from Sydney now. He says it is “untenable” for the deputy prime minister, Barnaby Joyce, to remain in his position after what he said about the PM in the leaked text message.

This isn’t a government. It’s a shambles full of dysfunction and disunity. It’s a shambles which isn’t looking after the interests of Australians because they are obsessed by their internal hatreds and dysfunctions. The comments by Barnaby Joyce a year ago are ... just extraordinary.

It is untenable for Barnaby Joyce to continue to be deputy prime minister to Morrison when this is what he had to say: “He is a hypocrite and a liar from my observations and that is over a long time. I have never trusted him and I dislike how he earnestly rearranges the truth to a lie”.

That is something that sums up what the deputy prime minister thinks of Scott Morrison and I note that Barnaby Joyce said “that was a year ago, I have got to know him better”. Hang on a second here. That was after Barnaby Joyce had served in the cabinet for over half a decade.

Anthony Albanese speaks to the media during a press conference in Sydney
Anthony Albanese speaks to the media during a press conference in Sydney. Photograph: Steven Saphore/AAP

Updated

Australian men's cricket coach Justin Langer resigns

There it is. Justin Langer has resigned following a meeting with Cricket Australia yesterday evening, his management, the Dynamic Sports and Entertainment Group, has confirmed.

The resignation is effective immediately.

Justin Langer gestures during day two of the Ashes Third Test at the MCG
Justin Langer gestures during day two of the Third Ashes Test at the MCG on 27 December 2021. Photograph: Daniel Pockett - CA/Cricket Australia/Getty Images

You can read more on the background to his decision here.

Langer’s contract was due to expire in June. Ahead of the confidential board meeting that took place yesterday, Australia’s captain, Pat Cummins, was unwilling to publicly endorse his coach’s future. Speculation had been ongoing despite the strong Australian victory in the Ashes this summer.

Updated

We have more detail on the 18 lives lost in NSW overnight.

One person was in their 40s, three were in their 60s, four were in their 70s, six were in their 80s and four were aged in their 90s. Condolences to their loved ones.

Just two of today’s deaths had received a booster vaccination.

The chief cricket writer at the Australian, Peter Lalor, is reporting that Justin Langer, the coach of the Australian men’s cricket team, has resigned. What a Saturday this is shaping up to be!

Updated

Wow. This is a big call. I am struggling to think of a time this has happened before on the program.

Updated

Craig Foster to lock himself in cage outside Park Hotel

At 12pm today, human rights activist and former professional sports player Craig Foster will lock himself in a cage outside the Park Hotel in Melbourne in solidarity with detained refugees.

His gesture will be the official launch of the Freedom Cage campaign, a grassroots movement calling on celebrities and members of the public to protest against the indefinite detention of refugees and asylum-seekers across the country and offshore.

The Park Hotel currently holds 25 refugees and asylum-seekers, most of whom have been detained for nearly nine years.

Aboriginal flag to fly permanently atop Sydney Harbour Bridge

The Aboriginal flag will have a permanent home atop the Sydney Harbour Bridge “as soon as possible”, NSW premier Dominic Perrottet says and AAP reports.

Perrottet told reporters today the government had been “working through this” for some time.

He said that first advice he’d received on the reconciliation gesture was that it would take two years to make good, something he felt was excessive considering the bridge itself was built in nine years.

“I’ll climb up there and and put it up myself if I need to,” Perrottet declared.

He said the initiative was part of a new holistic government approach to acknowledging Indigenous Australians in NSW that would include the remediation of Sydney’s Goat Island and its return to Aboriginal ownership:

Part of the change we are looking at today is empowering all ministers to have buy-in to that responsibility. There are many issues that go right across the board, across different departments. If we all work together and have a key focus, I want all our ministers to be minister for Aboriginal affairs in their own right.

We can’t truly be proud of our country unless we are working together to achieve true reconciliation. That’s a combination of both symbolic reconciliation and practical reconciliation.

The premier said it was important to engender a deeper understanding of Indigenous culture, something he said had been lacking and as such, was “a travesty”.

Updated

Not to make light at all but this was quite funny:

Updated

Good news for South Australia and the NT - the Stuart Highway will reopen to trucks and emergency service vehicles from 7am tomorrow, restoring the main road link between the state and territory.

The SA government says four wheel drives and other high-clearance vehicles will be able to use the road from Tuesday of next week, initially for one vehicle at a time during daylight hours.

It came after heavy rains that fell around SA’s north in the past fortnight saw more than a metre of water build up on the highway.

Victoria’s deputy secretary of the Covid-19 response Kate Matson will provide a Covid update from the Royal Exhibition Building at 11am this morning.

Tasmania reports 483 Covid cases

Tasmania has recorded 483 new Covid-19 cases overnight.

There are ten people being treated in hospital, included two people requiring intensive care. There have been no new deaths.

Updated bushfire advice for the Shire of Collie in Western Australia says smoke is impacting eastern parts of Collie and residents and travellers are advised to close doors and windows and take care when driving through the area.

A bushfire “advice” warning remains in place for people bounded by Paull Street to the west, Palmer Road to the north, Airstrip Road and Barnes Road to the east, and Coalfields Road to the south in the eastern part of Collie and for people in parts of Collie Burn.

There remains a bushfire emergency warning in place for the Shire of Denmark, and a watch and act warning in the Shire of Murray.

These screenshots appear to show Josh Frydenberg on Weixin (WeChat) wishing everyone a Happy Chinese New Year following backlash over the PM’s “hijacked” account.

The link takes you to a statement on Weixin which, when translated reads:

Our Chinese community in Australia has played and will continue to play an important role in our country’s success. I am so grateful for you to keep looking forward, staying strong, and helping our country come together. That’s why we head into 2022 with confidence as one Chinese New Year.

I hope you all can catch up and celebrate with friends and family during this special time, after a very difficult and chaotic two years. May your celebration be a joyous sign that our best days are yet to come, and may you all enjoy a happy and prosperous Chinese New Year!

Speaking of Queensland, deputy premier Steven Miles and CHO Dr John Gerrard will hold a press conference at 10.45am local time.

Returning to today’s Covid numbers, and it is worth mentioning hospitalisations in NSW have dropped by 157 today, while ICU numbers have also dropped by eight (though there have been 18 lives lost).

In Victoria, hospitalisation numbers are relatively stable. But the seven-day case number average is down 16% in the state, and down 34% on last week in NSW.

Updated

They could also hop over to Snapchat – which not only has a timer but a Snap Map and personal emoticons:

Updated

So to summarise, Joyce has apologised unreservedly to Scott Morrison and conceded he should never have written the text calling the PM a hypocrite and a liar. Though he didn’t expect the texts to end up in the public domain, he said the fault was his.

He went on to say the PM was the first person he called when he found out about the leak, and offered his resignation, which the PM rejected.

Joyce said he trusts the PM now, who has honoured “every agreement” he’s had with him, but conceded this would be damaging for Morrison.

It is also worth mentioning he suggested he didn’t actually want the person who forwarded the text to Brittany Higgins, to forward the text to Higgins. This comes as the recorded instruction in the text was “tell BH”.

Updated

Joyce is asked if things will be awkward in parliament next week with the PM, and whether the text will damage the upcoming election campaign.

Obviously you’d say that the optics of it is for others to decide. But no, the first call I made on becoming aware of this text becoming public was to the prime minister.

I think that the election campaign will be based on a clear decision. It’s going to be the Nationals and the Liberals in a working relationship, or the Greens and Labor in a working relationship. And the Australian people will make that decision on whether they want the Greens and Labor running the country, or they want the Liberals and the Nationals running the country.

And off he goes.

Updated

Joyce says the PM has honoured “every agreement” he’s had with him, which is why he trusts him, despite calling him a liar as a backbencher.

Asked if the text will be damaging to the prime minister, particularly on a week he has also been described as “horrible, horrible”, Joyce says well, of course:

Obviously, you wouldn’t be apologising for it if you didn’t think that there was something wrong with it. But what you have to do is make amends for it. So you don’t apologise for things that you don’t think cause harm.

Should people trust the PM?

“Yes,” Joyce says, “they should”.

You should always base something on fact. And I base that on the fact that in the most difficult of times, the pandemic, the geopolitical situation that Australia is in in our region of the world, in negotiations with the Coalition, he’s showed competency, and also he’s honoured every agreement. Every agreement that I’ve had with him. There’s not one word of it that he hasn’t stuck to.

Updated

A reporter asks what the comments – that he was a “hypocrite” and a “liar” – were about specifically.

Joyce says “whatever it is was, was wrong” because it was never from a conversation he had with the PM.

I was never in a job that I had a conversation with the prime minister at that stage. So what you’re basing it on is based on what you read in the paper. And what you read in the paper, you know better than I do.

Does he trust Scott Morrison now?

“Yes,” Joyce says, “I do”.

Updated

Barnaby Joyce says text calling Scott Morrison a liar was 'based on assumptions – not fact'

A reporter asks Joyce why he felt the PM was a hypocrite and a liar. Why did the text get sent to Brittany Higgins?

Joyce says the message was based on assumptions, not fact, and he thinks he told the person who sent the message not to forward it on to Higgins.

I didn’t send it to Brittany Higgins. I sent it to another person who forwarded it on. In fact, I think that I said to ... never to forward it on. Your views from the backbench are based on assumption and commentary, not on a one on one relationship. And basing something on commentary is a flawed process. Dealing with someone one on one in the hardest job in the nation is something entirely different. To actually be in a room with a person when you’re dealing with such things as Aukus, the pandemic, how we make our nation a stronger place, gives a vastly greater insight than your life totally at the back of the chamber. And so, it was based on assumptions – not fact.

Updated

Joyce says the fact the PM did not accept his resignation is a “statement of a person of great character”.

That is not one of a person of any form of vindictiveness or a sense of retribution. Really, the issue in regards, no doubt you’ll ask, ‘What is your views?’ and, ‘why did you say it?’ ... and therefore they are basing something on assumptions and commentary, not the proper process. The proper process of analysis is done by a court. And that process is now afoot, and so I shall not be offering any commentary on a legal process.

Joyce goes on to say the Australian people have “no real interest” in some of the intrigues of Canberra, like the deputy prime minister calling the prime minister a liar, presumably.

What they’re interested in is their future. What they’re terribly concerned about and interested in is such things as what China and Russia are agreeing to at the moment.

Updated

PM rejected Barnaby Joyce's resignation over text calling him a 'liar'

Joyce:

I want to apologise to the prime minister. Last year in March, I was approached by a number of people to help them. I did. And ... that assisted in a legal process that is now afoot. However, I should never have written the text that I did. I certainly never expected the text to be forwarded on. And I don’t blame anybody but myself, but I never expected it to end up in the public realm. But it would not have ended up in the public realm had I not written it, so the fault is mine.

My view from the backbench about the prime minister is based on assumption and commentary, not from a one on one working relationship. And from a one on one working relationship, I found a man who has honoured every agreement that he’s made with me. And who I have noted has honoured every agreement that he’s made with others from both sides of the political fence. When it came to light a couple of days ago, I rang the prime minister immediately. I apologised. He accepted my apology. I offered my resignation and he did not accept my resignation.

Updated

Barnaby Joyce is speaking now, issuing an apology to the prime minister.

He says he should “never have written” the text that he did and never expected it to be forwarded on and end up in the public realm.

But it would not end up in the public realm if I hadn’t written it, so the fault is mine.

NSW premier Dominic Perrottet is speaking now from Sydney airport.

He was just rudely interrupted by a flight announcement (“this was always going to happen”, he muttered), but he’s talking about business investment into Rex which is expanding the airline’s services across Sydney and regional NSW.

We’ve always had strong financial foundations in this state. The strongest economy in the country. And importantly, as part of that, it’s working with the private sector to drive that investment so that will create more jobs for the people of our state and this commitment today from Rex is a sign of confidence in the New South Wales economy. It’s a sign of confidence that will drive opportunity and prosperity for the people of our state for decades to come.

This investment today will also include an expansion for call centre, Rex’s call centre in Orange. Also a flight simulator, as well as other expansions right here at Sydney airport. Sydney is Australia’s tourism capital. And importantly, this investment will ensure greater tourism opportunities for regional New South Wales.

Updated

With 59 lives lost in NSW and Victoria alone, it is worth reading, if you haven’t already, Tory Shepherd’s piece on Sue Rees, who survived cancer but died in hospital as Australia’s Omicron wave took off.

As Australia’s death toll grows, we know very little about who has died. Daily press conferences reveal the rising number, often accompanied by the disclaimer that those who died had “underlying conditions”.

Sue would have hated being a statistic, her daughter says:

She always hated taking off her clothes, her pearls, her brightly coloured tops … if you dress the same as everyone else, they stop talking to you as an individual with a personality and start treating you like a two-dimensional cardboard cutout.

She got caught up in a system where she was just treated like a number and no one could see who she was. When you’re in those hospital gowns you just become one of thousands. Faceless, soulless, you’re just a nobody.

Victoria records 41 Covid deaths

Victoria’s case numbers are also in.

There have been 7,810 Covid-19 cases reported in the past 24 hours from rapid and PCR tests.

Sadly, there have been 41 lives lost overnight.

NSW records 18 Covid deaths

NSW case numbers are in, and there have been 8,389 new Covid-19 cases detected over night from PCR and rapid antigen tests.

Sadly, 18 more lives have been lost overnight.

We are expecting a press conference from deputy leader Barnaby Joyce at 9am.

It is expected he will respond to the leaked texts calling the prime minister a ‘liar’.

Labor senator Kristina Keneally has echoed opposition leader Anthony Albanese’s calls for aged care minister Richard Colbeck to resign.

566 people have died in aged care from Covid since 1 January. This government’s approach ... is summed up in one word: neglect. That’s not my word, that is the word chosen by the royal commission into aged care and that is what they titled their interim report.

How is it that we are in the third year of this pandemic, and what did the government announce today? A taskforce to look at data in aged care. I’m sorry Kieran, I don’t see how having a bunch of bureaucrats sitting around poring over data in a windowless office is going to solve the problem of somebody’s grandmother who’s in aged care who’s wounds aren’t getting dressed.

Richard Colbeck has presided over a diabolical circumstance in aged care. He should resign.

Updated

WA's south coast faces fast-moving bushfire

A bushfire threatening rural properties south of Perth has flared back up to emergency level as firefighters also battle a blaze on Western Australia’s south coast, AAP reports.

Authorities on Friday upgraded the blaze in Nambeelup, about 70km south of Perth in the Peel region.

“You are in danger and need to act immediately to survive. There is a threat to lives and homes,” WA’s Department of Fire and Emergency Services said. “If the way is clear, leave now for a safer place.”

The fire, which has burnt through 100 hectares since Wednesday, is moving fast in a northeasterly direction and is out of control. Aerial support has been sent to assist firefighters on the ground.

Residents near the town of Denmark on WA’s south coast were earlier urged to flee an out-of-control bushfire that poses a threat to lives.

An emergency warning remains in place for parts of Shadforth, west of Denmark, with affected residents advised to leave immediately if the path is clear or prepare to shelter in their home.

DFES:

Houses on Point Hillier Vista, McLeod Road and the east end of Limbourne Road are under threat from fire. Residents in the emergency warning area, leave in a southerly direction towards South Coast Highway, and then travel on the Highway east towards Denmark. William Bay National Park is closed and people are asked to leave the area.

An evacuation centre has opened at Denmark Recreation Centre. The blaze is moving slowly but is described as uncontrolled and unpredictable.

An emergency bushfire in Rockingham, south of Perth, was downgraded on Thursday to an “advice” level, with residents advised to monitor conditions. Train services on the Mandurah line between Rockingham and Cockburn Central were cancelled on Friday morning but have since resumed.

Australian Primary Principals Association president Malcolm Elliott is speaking now on ABC Weekend Breakfast.

He says teachers are facing an expanding workload and facing burnout two years into the pandemic, which may dissuade people from entering the workforce.

It can’t help much, that’s for sure, because the job is – while richly rewarding – it is really very demanding in terms of its levels of energy and now we’ve got more of a focus on it so it is illuminating the nature of teaching even more closely.

We’ve known the work has been intensifying in schools for a long time - decades, really – but now the Covid situation has brought it into sharper relief, so that the flexibility and adaptability that teachers and school leaders and departments of education and so on have had to show has been massive, recognised by lots of families, but it has been exhausting. Teachers are trained to work with children in classrooms and have now developed a lot of experience in other modes of teaching, particularly online, but it is very, very draining.

Updated

Turning now to our nation’s traffic: Victorians might want to avoid the Western Ring Road if you’re out and about this morning.

There’s been a major truck fire near Furlong Road, causing large delays.

Liberal MP Bridget Archer crossed the floor last year to support an independent MP’s integrity commission bill.

Citipointe in Carindale principal steps aside to give community 'time to heal'

The principal of a Brisbane Christian school that withdrew student enrolment contracts including gender and sexuality clauses has stepped aside.

The Citipointe in Carindale faced a possible review of its state funding and anti-discrimination action over the contracts sent to parents last week.

The documents said “the college will only enrol the student on the basis of the gender that corresponds to their biological sex” and said homosexuality is “sinful” like bestiality, incest and pedophilia.

Citipointe Christian College principal Brian Mulheran said in a statement on Friday night that he had decided to “stand aside and take extended leave in order to reflect on what has transpired and provide the College community time to heal”:

Citipointe needs to be ready to welcome students on Monday with a positive outlook to start the new school year.

He had on Thursday revoked the enrolment contracts, saying parents would not have to sign them. He apologised about the documents, and to gay and transgender students.

Mulheran said on Thursday:

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. 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.

Prime minister Scott Morrison and Queensland education minister Grace Grace had opposed the contracts.

Updated

Meanwhile, a 6.4 magnitude earthquake has just hit the Indian Ocean.

Good morning,

We’ve reached the weekend, which means – I hope – no more weird photo opportunities in hair dressers for prime ministers.

It’s Caitlin Cassidy, here to guide you through this morning’s news.

The deputy prime minister, Barnaby Joyce, has apologised to Scott Morrison after the leaking of a text message in which he labelled the prime minister “a hypocrite and a liar”, sent before Joyce returned to the leadership of the National party

Joyce said: “In the last 24 hours I have become aware that a screenshot of a text message has been circulating among third-parties that contains comments I made in March 2021 when I was a backbencher.

“While the text message was supposed to be private, what I said in that message was wrong; and I have unreservedly apologised to the prime minister for my comments.”

Morrison said that he “accepted his apology in good faith”.

Firefighters in Western Australia are dealing with two emergency-level bushfires, forcing some residents in the state’s south to flee their homes.

Authorities on Friday upgraded the blaze in Nambeelup, about 70km south of Perth in the Peel region.

“You are in danger and need to act immediately to survive. There is a threat to lives and homes,” WA’s Department of Fire and Emergency Services said.

Residents near the town of Denmark on WA’s south coast were earlier urged to flee an out-of-control bushfire that poses a threat to lives.

An emergency warning remains in place for parts of Shadforth, west of Denmark, with affected residents advised to leave immediately if the path is clear or prepare to shelter in their home.

Also on the agenda, once again, is Covid-19. Victoria recorded 36 Covid deaths yesterday, while New South Wales reported 31 Covid deaths.

It came as the prime minister reiterated his backing of WA premier Mark McGowan’s decision to keep the borders shut to domestic travellers over concerns the Omicron strain would overwhelm the health system of the relatively Covid-free state. Morrison denied his support had anything to do with the popularity of the border closure in the west.

And we’ll be keeping an eye on the nation’s capital today, where a protest is reportedly planned after anti-vaxxers yesterday camped outside the ACT National Library armed with megaphones and placards.

There will no doubt be much to get through today, so let’s dive in.

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