What we learned today, Saturday 23 April
That’s it for today, thanks for reading. Here’s a recap of the day’s main news:
- The fallout from the security pact between Solomon Islands and China continues, with the US voicing its concern, and the government again refusing to say when it knew about the deal.
- The Labor deputy leader, Richard Marles, says he told the Chinese government about a speech he delivered in the country in 2019 because it was critical of their human rights record, and not because he wanted its pre-approval.
- The prime minister, Scott Morrison, visited a camping store to announce a funding package, but did not do a press conference for the reporters following his campaign.
- The Coalition has scrimped on advertising for some MPs facing a challenge from Climate 200-backed independents, who are outspending them in key seats.
-
Zali Steggall accuses John Howard of “sexist language” after he called the teal independent candidates “anti-Liberal groupies”.
- Australia has reported almost 42,000 new Covid-19 cases and 44 deaths as restrictions ease around the country.
Enjoy the rest of your day and we will see you all again tomorrow.
Updated
About 500 Australians are expected to travel to Gallipoli for the Anzac Day dawn service, 10 News reports. Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, it is the first time since 2019 that Australians have been able to travel to the service.
COMING UP: We’re live from Gallipoli as preparations get underway for the first Dawn Service since 2019. Around 500 Australians are expected to attend. | @10NewsFirst pic.twitter.com/qimgk0n9gR
— Johnpaul Gonzo (@JohnpaulGonzo) April 23, 2022
Updated
You may think you’re just about done with the news that Labor leader Anthony Albanese has Covid-19, but I still reckon there were some interesting points raised in the excellent Campaign catchup podcast:
Updated
Just a reminder that you can find absolutely everything we have published about the 2022 election over here.
I really enjoyed this feature published earlier today on the modern reinvention of co-living in Australia. By Katie Cunningham.
This is a quick-fire catch-up on day 13 of the federal election campaign, via AAP:
Where the leaders campaigned
Prime minister Scott Morrison: NSW Central Coast and Hunter region (Robertson and Dobell).
Labor deputy leader Richard Marles and shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers: Brisbane (Forde), while Anthony Albanese was isolating.
What the Coalition wanted to talk about
The government has a stronger economic record and brought unemployment down to 4%.
What Labor wanted to talk about
The Morrison government dropped the ball on national security by letting Solomon Islands sign a security pact with China.
What made news
- The Coalition pledged $20m for more camping and fishing facilities.
- Labor wants to put $15m into opening more language courses at weekend schools.
- The Greens proposed grants of up to $25,000 for householders and business owners and loans of up to $100,000 to help make the switch from gas to electricity.
- Former prime minister John Howard reminded the Liberal party that every seat is at risk while launching the campaign of Bennelong candidate Simon Kennedy.
- Howard also came under fire for referring to independents running on a pro-climate and integrity agenda as “anti-Liberal groupies”, which Zali Steggall branded as sexist.
- Questions have been raised over when the federal government became aware of a draft security pact between China and Solomon Islands after reports Australian intelligence agencies were involved in its leaking.
What they said
“These men and women all posing as independents, they’re not independent. They’re anti-Liberal groupies.” – John Howard criticising ‘teal’ independents for not running against incumbent Labor MPs.
“There’s another reason why we need your support because just this week, the Liberal party lost one of its best campaigners – Anthony Albanese – to Covid-19.” – Liberal mayor for Ryde Jordan Lane.
“There is a new Realpolitik. There is a new dawn in our neighbourhood and it is becoming less stable.” – Treasurer Josh Frydenberg on China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific.
“We’ve given you the answers that we’ve given you.” – Deputy Labor leader Richard Marles when repeatedly pushed on whether coalmines will be made to buy carbon credits if they go over the safeguard limit.
Tweeted
“Appalling sexist language by John Howard. It explains a lot of the culture of the Liberal party and its problem with women.” – Independent MP for Warringah Zali Steggall after the former prime minister called a slate of independent candidates running against Liberals “anti-Liberal groupies”.
Updated
I’m all shook up realising that, for another year, I’ve missed the Elvis festival in Parkes. Thankfully AAP was there:
Dressed in a jewelled white jumpsuit, with his hair combed back Elvis-style, mechanic Charlie McCarter carefully buffs his black Cadillac.
“This is the problem with black cars. They show up dust,” Mr McCarter says, as he whips a red duster around his Coupe 58 at the Parkes Elvis Festival in central western NSW.
Hundreds of classic cars lined Parkes’ main drag for a street parade on Saturday morning, including a pink Cadillac with the bumper sticker: “Where the Heck is Memphis”.
Despite the 14,000 kilometre distance from Elvis’s Graceland home, fans have been gathering at the country town festival to honour his legacy for nearly 30 years.
Mr McCarter said he keeps Elvis’s spirit alive through vintage cars, records and a vast collection of memorabilia.
“It’s my passion. It’s the vibe,” Mr McCarter said.
“Elvis was a poor man from a poor family and all of a sudden he’s famous.
“He was a very big-hearted man. I want to carry that on.”
Thousands lined Clarinda Street to watch the parade of cars, in keeping with the festival’s theme of Speedway, the 1968 film starring Elvis and Nancy Sinatra.
Lookalikes revved their engines, sounded their blaring horns and one feigned his best southern drawl to call out “Elvis loves you baby” to a cheering crowd.
There was an Elvis on roller skates and another sitting next to Marilyn Monroe’s doppelganger, while swing dancers twirled down the street, alongside a bewigged brass band.
Updated
Our friends at AAP have filed this update on the national Covid-19 situation today:
Australia has reported almost 42,000 new Covid-19 cases and 44 deaths as restrictions ease around the country.
NSW posted 12,633 infections and 16 fatalities on Saturday, Victoria 8,120 cases and 13 deaths, Queensland 7,212 cases and seven deaths.
There were almost 8,000 cases announced in Western Australia.
Seven-day isolation for close contacts ended in the two southern east-coast states on Friday, while Queensland is moving to scrap quarantine for unvaccinated international arrivals by Thursday.
In the ACT, household contact quarantine rules will be ditched after Anzac Day.
South Australia will drop the requirement for close contacts to isolate from 30 April but five rapid antigen tests over seven days will apply.
Residents will also need to wear masks outside the home, are banned from high-risk settings like aged care centres and must inform employers and schools of their status.
Vaccination status and check-in requirements for pubs, restaurants, theatres and sports venues also continue to be wound back in Victoria although mandates for workers in multiple industries are being retained.
NSW is shifting to a risk assessment based model, meaning household contacts of positive cases will no longer need to isolate seven days, so long as they continue to test negative.
They should still work from home where possible and avoid high-risk settings.
Latest 24-hour Covid-19 data from across Australia:
NSW: 12,633 cases, 16 deaths, 1,617 in hospital, 60 in ICU
Vic: 8,120 cases, 13 deaths, 449 in hospital, 35 in ICU
Queensland: 7,212 cases, seven deaths, 513 in hospital, 15 in ICU
ACT: 975 cases, one death, 55 in hospital, two in ICU
Northern Territory: 525 cases, one death, 47 in hospital, two in ICU
Tasmania: 1,212 cases, one death, 44 in hospital, one in ICU
Western Australia: 7,758 cases, one death, 248 in hospital, seven in ICU
South Australia: 3,457 cases, four deaths, 237 in hospital, 12 in ICU
Updated
If you’d like to watch a breakdown of the second week of the election campaign, Amy Remeikis has you covered:
Updated
Thanks for a stellar stint at the helm Calla. Let’s see if we can find some news shall we?
I’ll now leave you in the capable hands of Nino Bucci to take you through the afternoon.
Stay well.
The US government has warned Solomon Islands it will “respond accordingly” if its security agreement with China leads to a Chinese military presence in the Pacific island nation.
A visiting US delegation including Indo-Pacific security adviser Kurt Campbell delivered the message to the Solomon Islands prime minister, Manasseh Sogavare, directly, the White House said, as fallout over the agreement continued to dominate the Australian federal election campaign.
Details of the agreement have not been made public. But according to a draft version of the deal, it would allow armed Chinese police to be deployed at Solomon Islands’ request to maintain “social order”. It would also allow China to “make ship visits to, carry out logistical replenishment in, and have stopover and transition in Solomon Islands”, and Chinese forces could also be used “to protect the safety of Chinese personnel and major projects in Solomon Islands”.
In a statement, the Biden administration said Sogavare assured the US there would be no long-term Chinese presence on the islands. But the US would nevertheless “follow developments closely in consultation with regional partners”.
Bandt said that Ryan could be one of the seats that decides the federal election.
If elected, Elizabeth Watson-Brown will be one of the most powerful members of parliament in the country.
Updated
Greens leader Adam Bandt was also in Queensland today, campaigning in the seat of Ryan in Brisbane’s western suburbs with candidate Elizabeth Watson-Brown.
Ryan is held by the LNP’s Julian Simmonds but the Greens hold the overlapping state seat, and Greens first preference votes in the electorates have risen over previous years.
Bandt was announcing a plan for grants of up to $25,000 and government-supported loans of up to $100,000 for businesses and households to switch from gas to electricity, and grants of up to $10,000 and loans of $50,000 to purchase and install solar batteries.
In a statement, he said:
The Greens want to see household solar batteries get as affordable as solar panels.
Government support has helped drive down the cost of solar PV to the point where over three million households in this country have solar on their roofs.
The Greens want to say to every one of those households with solar, get a battery as well.
Updated
If you have been watching the unfolding saga of Katherine Deves in Warringah and the subsequent attempt by conservatives in politics and media to pretend that they have always cared deeply about women’s sport, you may find Katharine Murphy’s column today particularly interesting.
Murph is working through the suggestion that Morrison has adopted a “red wall” strategy this election — the name given to UK prime minister Boris Johnson flipping a bunch of traditionally Labour-voting seats by courting pro-Brexit working class voters.
She writes:
There’s been sustained speculation among journalists and some pundits about whether Scott Morrison is currently attempting a Johnson-like flip, writing off heartland seats in metropolitan Australia at risk from the so-called ‘teal’ independents and hunting for gains in outer suburban and regional Labor-held seats, like Hunter and Parramatta, to offset the losses.
There’s a few things to say about this. Now you’ve heard the red wall story, it will feel very familiar. This recruitment exercise is not new in Australia – for the Liberals, this has been a 30-year project.
John Howard used various culture wars to chip off a chunk of Labor’s traditional base. Tony Abbott weaponised carbon pricing to that end, and the scars of that corrosively cynical foray persist until this day. Morrison has pursued the same core objective, narrowcasting relentlessly to men who might vote Labor. In 2019, one of the pillars of Morrison’s recruitment strategy was the entirely bogus ‘war on the weekend’.
In 2022, the speculation about Morrison and red wall strategies has surfaced in the context of a transgender rights debate that has erupted during the campaign.
You can read Murph’s full analysis here:
Updated
Conservation Volunteers Australia has launched a broader national day of action to begin clearing plastics and other debris from waterways affected by the floods in Queensland and New South Wales.
The work of the volunteers has been supported by a $5 million partnership with the federal government and in conjunction with the CSIRO.
CVA said it has already removed about 250,000 pieces of litter, most of it plastics, from eight river systems that flow into the Great Southern Reef that extends along the bottom of the continent from Brisbane to Perth.
In recent months the group has also conducted replanting and clearing activities in the flood-hit Northern Rivers of NSW.
Updated
And now, for some rat news:
Rare birds, snails and other endangered species are growing their population on Lord Howe Island following a rodent control program.
Among the recovering species are the flightless Lord Howe Island woodhens and a number of land snail species that surveyors spent close to 400 hours trying to find across 200 survey sites.
Government scientists, university researchers and island locals spent two weeks cataloguing the woodhens.
NSW environment and heritage minister James Griffin said woodhen numbers have increased to about 565, having been as low as 22 in the 1970s.
Prior programs to eradicate feral pigs on the island helped the population rebound over the years.
A program to control rodent populations began on the island in 2019, helping them recover further.
Introduced rodents had damaged plants and animals on the island, which has a large number of endangered and threatened species, many of which are not found anywhere else in the world.
“By controlling pigs, cats, goats, plant disease and rodents, Lord Howe Island’s native fauna and flora has been able to recover, demonstrating that good science and management can help to turn back the tide of biodiversity decline,” Griffin said.
It’s hoped insights gained on Lord Howe Island could inform other biodiversity and conservation programs around NSW.
Updated
Tasmania recorded one death and 1,121 positive Covid tests in the past 24 hours. There are currently 44 people in hospital.
Updated
ACT records one death, 1,041 new Covid cases
The Australian Capital Territory has recorded one death of a person with Covid and 1,041 positive Covid tests in the past 24 hours.
There are currently 57 people in hospital and two in ICU.
Updated
Zali Steggall accuses John Howard of 'sexist language' after 'groupies' remark
The independent MP for Warringah, Zali Steggall, was not impressed with John Howard’s description of independent candidates, calling it “appallingly sexist language”.
Howard slams ‘anti-Liberal groupies’. Appalling sexist language by John Howard. It explains a lot of the culture of the Liberal party & it’s problem with women. Women in politics shouldn’t be denigrated with this type of language. #enoughisenough #auspol https://t.co/JnBz3dPGR9
— 🌏 Zali Steggall MP (@zalisteggall) April 23, 2022
Updated
Australia has reported more than 38,000 new Covid-19 cases and 40 deaths as restrictions are eased around the country.
John Howard reportedly calls teal independents 'anti-Liberal groupies'
Howard also reportedly used the campaign launch to criticise the wave of high-profile independent candidates running in wealthy Liberal seats, calling them “anti-Liberal groupies”.
According to Newscorp’s newswire, Howard said:
These men and women are all posing as independents. They’re not independents, they’re anti-Liberal groupies.
He said if they were “genuinely independent” they would also run in safe Labor seats.
They don’t represent disgruntled Liberals. They represent a group in the community that wants to destroy the Liberal government. It’s as simple that.
That is why they’re running in seats like Wentworth, and North Sydney and Mackellar, and Goldstein in Victoria.
That’s something that has to be kept very much in mind.
Updated
Former prime minister John Howard has been on the campaign trail today, launching the campaign for Liberal candidate Simon Kennedy in his old seat of Bennelong.
He reminded party faithful to treat every seat as if it’s at risk.
Howard lost his seat when his government lost power in 2007.
Tennis great John Alexander won it back from Labor’s Maxine McKew in 2010 but Alexander is now retiring, with Kennedy running as his successor.
Howard told reporters on Saturday:
I think Simon is an excellent replacement but sensibly he’s working hard.
You treat every seat as at risk: common sense proposition. But I think he’ll win.
Australia secured commitment from Solomon Islands 'to not have foreign military bases'
When Simon Birmingham spoke to reporters this morning in Brisbane, he defended the Australian government’s actions in the Solomon Islands both before and after the security deal was announced.
He said:
Scott Morrison has had many conversations with prime minister [Manasseh] Sogavare. And we as a country continue to engage appropriately with the Solomon Islands and it’s through those areas of engagement that we’ve secured important commitments from the Solomon Islands to not have any foreign military bases established in the Solomon Islands.
Birmingham said Australia “remains their partner of choice when it comes to security issues”.
We will continue to work closely with the Solomon Islands, notwithstanding our disappointment in relation to their decision to enter into this agreement with China.
Birmingham was also asked whether the United States’ decision to reopen an embassy in the Solomon Islands was useful. He said:
We welcome deeper engagement by all of our partners in the Pacific. Australia has a comprehensive network of embassies and high commissions across Pacific island nations. We, under the Coalition, under Scott Morrison, have scaled up diplomatic presence across Pacific island nations as we’ve scaled up our overseas development assistance to those nations ... And we welcome and encourage our partners to do likewise.
Updated
Queensland has recorded seven deaths and 7,212 cases of Covid-19
Queensland has recorded seven deaths of people with Covid-19.
The state also recorded 7,212 positive test results in the past 24 hours. There are 513 people in hospital and 15 in ICU.
Today we have recorded 7,212 new COVID-19 cases.
— Queensland Health (@qldhealth) April 23, 2022
Sadly, we have reported 7 deaths in the past 24 hours.
Full details➡️https://t.co/MyDwPPzP2F pic.twitter.com/7xorAbYtRG
Updated
Western Australia has recorded 7,758 new cases of Covid-19 and one death
Western Australia has recorded 7,758 positive Covid-19 test results in the past 24 hours.
It also recorded one new death, of a woman in her 80s who died on 12 April.
As of last night there were 248 people with Covid-19 in hospital in WA, and seven in ICU.
Updated
Scott Morrison is not doing a press conference today
Scott Morrison is currently walking through a BCF (Boating, Camping and Fishing) store, shaking hands with people who are most likely to be supportive of the $20m funding for boating, camping and fishing facilities announced today.
But reporters following his campaign have been told that he will not give a press conference today. That means the only official press conference of the Coalition campaign today is that conference given earlier by Simon Birmingham.
Labor, which has been criticising Morrison for three days for “going missing” on the Solomon Islands security deal with China, is likely to seize upon this decision as further proof of their argument.
Jim Chalmers was also asked about the alleged disposal of LNP postal vote applications by an Australia Post worker. As reported earlier, the worker has been stood down while Australia Post investigates.
Chalmers said suggestions that this was a coordinated campaign by the union were incorrect.
There’s no evidence that that’s the case. I’m not aware of that allegation that you’ve just raised, but I will say this. What happened there was completely unacceptable, completely and utterly unacceptable. We need to know what happened there, we need to know that it won’t happen again, and we need to know that Australia Post has the adequate resources to deal with the demand during this election campaign.
He was then asked if the ALP would stop sending out postal vote applications, which the parties use to collect demographic data on constituents. He said:
This is a longstanding practice that is consistent with electoral law. If the electoral law changes then we’ll change how we go about it.
Richard Marles gets into a back-and-forth debate with the Sky News journalist Jonathan Lea, who asks whether coalmines will be made to buy carbon credits if they go over the safeguard limit, and what those credits will cost.
Marles says:
We have the most detailed modelling around the proposals that we have put in place that an opposition has ever put forward ... we are really clear about where we need to go and we are completely transparent.
But he does not answer the two points raised in the question, instead handing over to Jim Chalmers – who also does not answer those two specific points.
Lea pushes Marles to answer the question personally, saying: “You’re the deputy leader, surely you would know?”
Chalmers says the policy is “designed not to prejudice our exporters against the companies that they compete with around the world”.
The best outcome from our point of view is that businesses reduce their emissions in line with that timeline and that safeguard mechanism ... Our climate change policy is designed to leverage and maximise our traditional strengths and not abandon them.
Lea isn’t happy with that answer either.
Marles says: “We’ve given you the answers that we’ve given you.”
Updated
A reporter asks if Labor would consider increasing the skilled immigration count in order to provide a more immediate fix to the skills shortage, noting that training apprentices takes some lead time.
Marles says Labor will look at skilled immigration but its focus remains on the Tafe plan.
Let’s be clear, the reason we have an issue right now is the degree to which Scott Morrison and his government has dropped the ball over the past nine years.
Updated
Marles is also asked about how he’s managing in leader Anthony Albanese’s absence, while he isolates with Covid-19.
He says it’s a “very unusual circumstance” but one the party prepared for.
He repeats the line that it will give Labor the opportunity to showcase its team, which the party sees as a strength against the Coalition.
Updated
Richard Marles says his 2019 speech was a public criticism of China's human rights record
Richard Marles is asked why he showed the speech he gave to Beijing University to the Chinese government before he delivered it in 2019.
I made a speech in China where I criticised China and I wanted to make sure that the Chinese government were not at all surprised with what I was going to say.
Marles says the speech criticised China’s actions in Hong Kong and its human rights violations against the Uyghur community.
How many government ministers have gone to China and in China publicly criticised the Chinese government? That’s actually what I did.
Asked if he made any changes to the speech after showing it to the Chinese government, he says “absolutely not”.
Marles says Morrison is using this speech as a distraction from his government’s failure on the Solomon Islands.
He says Morrison is “standing here at home, beating his chest, while he leaves the field vacant in the Solomon islands”.
He is desperately trying to divert attention and desperately trying to blame anyone else.
Updated
The shadow treasurer, Jim Chalmers, and deputy Labor leader, Richard Marles, are also speaking in Queensland. They’re also in Logan, pushing Labor’s skills policies and speaking about flatlining wages.
Marles says:
Fundamentally, what we need to see is wages growing again by getting productivity growing again. And that means we need to deal with the skills crisis in Australia.
He says cuts to VET and Tafe courses have resulted in a drop in the number of apprentices and trainees working towards trade qualifications.
An Albanese Labor government will provide free Tafe for people studying in an area of skills shortage. That is the policy that will make the difference.
Updated
Birmingham also comments on a report of an Australia Post worker being stood down pending an allegation that they dumped hundreds of postal vote applications sent by the Liberal National party in the marginal seat of Blair.
He says:
It is deeply concerning to us that there may be these type of antics behind the scenes that make it harder to get our message out to voters, to communicate with them.
He adds:
It’s a matter for Australia Post in determining precisely how they respond ... but crucially Australia Post needs to ensure that postal workers across Australia deliver the Labor party’s mail, the Greens party’s mail, the Liberal party’s mail, and anyone else who has paid to send something in the post.
Updated
The finance minister, Simon Birmingham, is speaking in Brisbane, questioning the costings of Labor’s policy of a $135m trial to fund 50 urgent care GP clinics.
Birmingham says that Labor should submit its costings on that policy to the parliamentary budget office as soon as possible.
Updated
This is a really beautiful series of photographs captured by photographers Scott Portelli and Rosie Leaney, a husband-and-wife team of wildlife and nature photographers.
A Western Australian woman who was a member of the Women’s Royal Australian Air Force in the early 1950s, before she was deemed ineligible and discharged because she got married, has been presented with her Australian Defence Medal.
Barbara Burns, née Hoad, lives in Byford, in the electorate of the Liberal MP Andrew Hastie.
He included the story in his newsletter to constituents. We don’t usually share that sort of thing on the blog, but this is a lovely story.
Hastie writes:
On 20 January 1953 Mrs Burns (then Ms Barbara Hoad) enlisted in the Women’s Royal Australian Air Force (WRAAF) – rising to the rank of Leading Aircraftwoman on 20 January 1954.
However, on 22 August 1956 she was discharged from the WRAAF, ‘on ceasing to be eligible for WRAAF service’.
Why? Because in June that year she had married her husband, Robert ‘Lou’ Burns.
At the time, married women were not permitted to serve in the Defence Force. But ever since, Mrs Burns has rightly felt her discharge did not accurately reflect her service.
For many years she has felt like her service was not recognised or celebrated – as if she had left in some sort of disgrace.
Earlier this year I was contacted to see if anything could be done to recognise her service and fix this wrong.
I investigated the matter, and was able to confirm that Mrs Burns was indeed eligible for the Australian Defence Medal.
On Tuesday this week I had the honour of presenting it to Mrs Burns, in front of her family and friends.
Mrs Burns has served her nation and deserves to be recognised.
This year she will attend the Anzac parade in Serpentine wearing her own medal, and carrying a photo of Lou with his.
It was a privilege to help right an historic wrong, and personally thank Mrs Burns for her service to Australia.
Updated
One of the 16 people who died with Covid-19 in New South Wales in the past 24 hours one was in their 20s, the health department has said.
It added that the person had “significant underlying health issues”.
The remaining 15 were over the age of 65. Six had received three doses of a Covid-19 vaccine, two had received two doses, and three had received one dose. Four were unvaccinated.
Updated
NSW changes Covid isolation rules for school students
Students in NSW will be able to attend school if someone they live with contracts Covid-19, under new plans announced for term two.
Teachers are already able to attend school if someone if their household has Covid, under essential worker exemptions.
More on this from AAP:
The changes to isolation requirements are in line with those for the general community, which changed on Friday night to no longer require people to isolate for seven days if they’re a household or close contact of someone who has tested positive for coronavirus.
The changes will help ensure continuity in the state’s schools and prevent disruption in teaching and learning, the education minister, Sarah Mitchell, said.
“School is where our students learn best and we need to do everything we can to make sure that face to face learning continues with minimal disruption as we move into the colder months,” Mitchell said.
Teachers and students will be required to inform their schools of their close contact status.
They will have to take a rapid antigen test daily before attending and must wear a face mask indoors, with the exception of primary school students for whom face masks are only a strong recommendation.
More rapid antigen tests are expected to be distributed to parents and school staff early on in the term.
Retired teachers and those in their final year of study will also be on standby to cover gaps.
The return of students and teachers to classrooms was a primary focus for the NSW government as term one approached, with testing protocols and other requirements to reduce the spread of the virus in place.
More than 600 school staff and 2,400 students tested positive in the first week.
NSW also announced this week changes to vaccine mandates for workers in some sectors and industries including teachers.
Aged care and disability staff will still require vaccination, but other areas will shift to mandates based on the assessed risk of the role.
That could mean vaccine mandates for workers such as teachers and police are adjusted. However, a spokesperson for Mitchell told AAP the public health orders covering teachers are current until mid-May.
Students and teachers return for term two on Tuesday.
Updated
Several moderate Coalition MPs have cautioned more conservative members of their party against introducing legislation that would restrict the participation of trans women in sport, saying such legislation was “redundant”.
Queensland LNP senator Gerard Rennick said it was not an area where parliament should take action.
I hate identity politics, we shouldn’t be using it to score points. Not just the Liberals but Labor too.
You can read more in this report by Josh Butler and Paul Karp.
NSW independent MP Alex Greenwich says he has issued an ultimatum to the premier, Dominic Perrottet, warning he will discontinue his support for the government if the damaging narrative on trans people in sport continues.
In the Sydney Morning Herald today, Greenwich writes:
Transgender and gender diverse people just want to get on with their lives and participate in activities like everyone else. They should not be used as a distraction to hide from the policy vacuum during this election campaign that continues to ignore the real crises we all face like climate change.
The Premier and I hold different views on a number of issues. Most recently on my voluntary assisted dying bill. He approached the reform with sensitivity, research, and outlined his reasons. When it comes to the trans community and its participation in sport, he did not take the same approach. He didn’t talk to trans people or do the research to understand sport already deals with this issue, instead he unnecessarily intruded into a furphy of debate and backed someone who wants trans people cancelled.
The impact of the “boys should play boys, girls should play girls” statement has affirmed my strong commitment to the LGBTQ community and the expectation I set with premiers Berejiklian and Perrottet that if the government comes for them my support and cooperative relationship with the government will end. I welcome the Premier’s agreement to meet with me, trans advocates, and sporting representatives, and hope we can repair the damage done.
Victoria delays repeal of public drunkenness laws
Victoria will delay repealing public drunkenness as a crime, in a move that has triggered the state’s Indigenous legal service to urge the state government to prioritise the “overdue reform”.
The offence was to be officially repealed in November, but Guardian Australia understands the decriminalisation of public drunkenness may not take effect until 2023 – more than five years after the death of 55-year-old Yorta Yorta woman Tanya Day.
Day had been arrested in December 2017 after being found drunk on a train, and later died in hospital from head injuries sustained in a prison holding cell.
Last year, the Andrews government passed landmark legislation that would decriminalise public drunkenness in line with a recommendation made after a coronial inquiry into Day’s death.
But on Friday, the state government said delays in establishing trials of sobering-up centres – as part of a shift to a health-based response – meant that the decriminalisation of public drunkenness would be pushed back. The delay has been attributed to Covid-related pressures on the health system.
Updated
The prime minister, Scott Morrison, has released a statement formally announcing that $2om fund for “fishos, boaties, and campers”.
I’d like to register that I am a country kid and have never heard the term “fishos”.
Anyway. Here’s the statement:
A re-elected Morrison Government will provide more than 100 new projects across Australia’s coastal and regional communities to extend boat ramps, jetties, cleaning stations, disability-accessible toilet blocks and campground facility upgrades,
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the Coalition was backing in recreational fishers, campers and boaters.
“Australians love getting out to explore the great outdoors, if it’s the weekend fishos, boaties or the family going camping, this program supports them by upgrading the community facilities they need,” the Prime Minister said.
“Recreational fishing has significant economic and regional benefits – it’s good for regional tourism, creates local jobs and supports small and family businesses as well as benefits for physical and mental health.”
There’s then a few shots at the Labor party, which I’ll leave you to fill in.
On the administration of the fund, the statement says:
The Recreational Fishing and Camping Facilities Program is administered by the state and territory governments paid directly to local councils. Each jurisdiction is responsible for opening their programs and local councils must apply through this process.
If you know of a location that would benefit from new or improved fishing, boating or camping facilities in your area, you can contact your local council to advocate for their application to this program.
Updated
Independent candidates outspend Liberal MPs in at-risk seats
Liberal MPs in seats that are at risk of takeover by a community independent have received little financial support from the party in the lead-up to the federal election, an analysis by Guardian Australia has shown.
The analysis, conducted by chief political correspondent Sarah Martin and data editor Nick Evershed, found that the Coalition had committed just $92m in the key seats being contested by both Liberal MPs and Climate 200-backed independent candidates, out of a total of almost $6bn in discretionary spending made since the beginning of the year.
That includes the seats of Wentworth, Mackellar, North Sydney, Kooyong, Goldstein, Warringah and Curtin.
Analysis of Facebook and Google political ad transparency data shows that independent candidates are outspending their opponents by tens of thousands of dollars in Kooyong, North Sydney, Mackellar, Wentworth and Goldstein.
You can read the full article here:
Dingoes are genetically distinct from domestic dogs and their evolution has been shaped by Australia’s environment, scientists who have fully decoded the dingo genome have said.
An international team of researchers have analysed the genetic makeup of a pure desert dingo called Sandy Maliki, finding that dingoes are an intermediary between wolves and domestic dog breeds.
Sandy, with her sister and brother, was discovered as a three-week old pup in the central Australian desert. In 2017 she won a “world’s most interesting genome” competition which funded the DNA sequencing.
The researchers compared Sandy’s genome to that of five domestic dog breeds – a basenji, a boxer, a labrador retriever, a German shepherd and a great dane – as well as a Greenland wolf.
Using five types of DNA sequencing technology, as well as epigenetic analysis, the researchers found distinctions between the dingo genome and that of domestic dogs.
One was a difference in the number of copies of a gene coding for amylase, an enzyme which aids in digesting starchy food. Dingoes, like wolves, only have one copy of the amylase gene.
“Breed dogs, which only emerged in the last 200 years, have between two and 20 copies of this gene,” said Matt Field, an associate professor at James Cook University and the study’s first author. “That’s one of the telltale signs of domestication and [in dingoes] it’s not there.”
Updated
The prime minister, Scott Morrison, is in New South Wales today. He will head to the Central Coast to talk about the $20m funding for boating and fishing facilities, as foreshadowed by treasurer Josh Frydenberg on the morning TV rounds this morning.
It’s an extension of a program that was announced in the 2019 election.
Updated
Guardian Australia’s New South Wales state correspondent, Michael McGowan, has been speaking to members of Katharine Deves’ team about how her offensive comments about the trans community have affected her campaign.
They say it has resulted in more donations. Michael writes:
As controversy swirls around the Liberal party’s controversial candidate in the seat of Warringah, Katherine Deves, local party officials insist they are witnessing an influx of support from donors and volunteers.
“This has been a godsend,” one Warringah branch official tells the Guardian.
Deves’ candidacy has prompted a firestorm of criticism from LGBTQ+ groups, caused infighting within the Liberal party, and led to calls for her to be disendorsed by senior Coalition figures after an avalanche of press about transphobic tweets which surfaced after her nomination.
Deves has gone to ground since the tweets emerged, yet in interviews with more than a dozen local party members, officials and state executive representatives, it is clear many in the party see an opportunity in the negative coverage.
“Once this pile-on with the trans stuff reached hurricane proportions and you had a number of people on our own side coming out and saying ‘this is terrible’, we had a bunch more people coming out wanting to volunteer and donate,” a branch official says.
“The influx of people wanting to contribute financially has been incredible. We would have had to spend a quarter of a million dollars to get name recognition like this.”
Another senior party member in Warringah agrees, telling the Guardian members had been attracted to Deves after Scott Morrison defended her through the week.
“People don’t like the woke ‘cancel culture’ stuff and this has played into that,” he says.
While it is not possible to verify claims about campaign contributions, even moderate Liberals who have stayed away from Deves’ campaign concede there is anecdotal evidence to suggest some of the party faithful have been attracted to the campaign.
You can read the full piece here.
Updated
NSW reports 16 deaths, 12,633 new cases of Covid-19
New South Wales has recorded 16 more deaths of people with Covid-19.
There are currently 1,617 people in hospital and 60 in intensive care.
NSW health reported 12,633 new positive test results yesterday.
COVID-19 update – Saturday 23 April 2022
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) April 22, 2022
In the 24-hour reporting period to 4pm yesterday:
- 96.2% of people aged 16+ have had one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine
- 94.7% of people aged 16+ have had two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine pic.twitter.com/QrvGgWprN0
Victoria records 13 deaths of people with Covid-19
Victoria has recorded 13 more deaths of people with Covid-19.
There are currently 449 people in hospital, 35 in ICU and eight on ventilators.
There were 8,120 new cases recorded yesterday.
We thank everyone who got vaccinated and tested yesterday.
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) April 22, 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/c9HSibRrEj
Frydenberg was also asked on Sunrise whether he was worried after his rival, Kooyong independent Dr Monique Ryan, drew the number one position on the ballot draw yesterday while he drew number seven.
There’s the luck of the draw when it comes to the ballot, you just accept it and you move on.
Josh Frydenberg was also asked about the Solomon Islands security pact on Weekend Sunrise on Channel Seven.
He said Australia could not have done more to stop it.
No. Because we’ve got a full court press with respect to our Pacific friends ... we provide about two-thirds of developmental assistance.
The United States on Thursday warned the Solomon Islands that it will take action against them should the security pact with China pose a threat to US or Allied interests.
More on this from AP:
The White House said the message was delivered directly to the country’s leadership by a visiting senior US delegation. The delegation expressed concern that the deal with China raises questions about its scope and purpose, according to the White House, which also lamented transparency in the agreement and cast doubt on Solomon Islands’ officials’ claims that the deal was purely domestic.
The visit came just days after China and the Solomons confirmed they had signed a security pact, a development that has alarmed neighbouring countries and Western allies who fear a military buildup in the region.
“Solomon Islands representatives indicated that the agreement had solely domestic applications, but the US delegation noted there are potential regional security implications of the accord, including for the United States and its allies and partners,” the White House said in a statement.
“The US delegation outlined clear areas of concern with respect to the purpose, scope, and transparency of the agreement,” it said. “If steps are taken to establish a de facto permanent military presence, power-projection capabilities, or a military installation, the delegation noted that the United States would then have significant concerns and respond accordingly.”
There was no indication of what the US response might be.
The White House statement noted that Solomons Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare had assured the US there would be no long-term Chinese presence on the islands and no power projection capability but stressed that the US would “follow developments closely in consultation with regional partners.”
A draft of the pact, which was leaked online, said Chinese warships could stop in the Solomon Islands for logistical replenishment and China could send police and armed forces there “to assist in maintaining social order.” The Solomons and China have not released the final version of the agreement.
In a bid to deal with the matter, the US proposed, and the Solomon Islands accepted, a proposal to launch a high-level strategic dialogue that would address mutual concerns. The US delegation was led by Kurt Campbell, the National Security Council Indo-Pacific coordinator, and Daniel Kritenbrink, the assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs.
During the visit, the US side also discussed its plans to reopen an embassy in the Solomons capital of Honiara, as it tries to increase its presence in the strategically important country amid growing concerns about Chinese influence. The embassy has been closed since 1993.
Frydenberg would not say when the Morrison government first knew of the draft pact between the Solomon Islands and China, saying instead that “we’ve known that this was always a risk”.
He added:
We’ve known that there were discussions under way.
Frydenberg then pointed to a speech Labor deputy leader Richard Marles gave in China in 2019, which the Coalition resurfaced yesterday because they claim it shows Marles is “soft” on China.
In the speech, Marles said China’s providing of “development assistance” in the Pacific was a “good thing”. It feels important to point out that development assistance does not equal a security deal.
Incidentally, Daniel Hurst has looked into the Coalition’s repeated line of Labor being soft on China and found the instances cited by Scott Morrison and his ministers are “either factually inaccurate, misleading, or lack context”.
Frydenberg claimes Marles’s 2.5 year old speech is the “biggest story” of the day – not the deal itself, or concerns raised by the US, or what the Australian government intends to do next.
Asked why Marise Payne was not sent to the Solomon Islands to deal with this issue personally, he pointed to other visits made to the Solomon Islands by the prime minister and financial aid provided to the Pacific more broadly.
Asked if the government will provide more action on climate change, as repeatedly requested by Pacific nations, Frydenberg said Australia was “doing its part” to meet its Paris agreement targets.
Updated
On to interest rates. Can voters blame the current government if interest rates rise before election day on 21 May?
Frydenberg says not, but unsurprisingly he reckons you can blame Labor.
Decisions about monetary policy and interest rates are ones for the independent Reserve Bank but we do know that Labor is promising to spend a lot more money through this campaign and that would put unnecessary upward pressure on interest rates.
So: you cannot blame the party that has been in power for nine years if interest rates rise but you can blame the party that has been in opposition. I feel this would fail a fact check.
Updated
The treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, has also been on ABC News Breakfast this morning.
Frydenberg’s electorate of Kooyong is one of those under threat from the so-called teal independents. Monique Ryan, the independent in Kooyong, drew number one on the electoral ballot yesterday.
And he is tackling that by, er, announcing a $20m upgrade to community facilities for recreational fishers, campers and boaters.
It’s a grants process and looks, on the surface, similar to grants programs that have drawn the attention of the audit office.
Frydenberg said applications for this program would be administered by state and territory governments, and local councils would be able to apply.
Host Johanna Nicholson asked: “There’s been a history of these being used to gain votes and improve the Coalition’s popularity. Will these votes be just going to marginal and Coalition held seats?”
Frydenberg replied:
As I understand it, this money will go around the country, reflecting the fact that recreational fishing is something Australians take to with great gusto. And these types of programs, these types of projects, provide great community benefit and it’s only appropriate that all governments are involved.
Make of that what you will.
Updated
Plibersek said the Solomon Islands security pact with China followed “years of neglect” by the Coalition government.
Asked what Labor would have done differently, she said: “We wouldn’t have trashed the relationship with our Pacific neighbours in the first place”.
It is inexplicable that, having been warned about this, Scott Morrison didn’t say to his foreign minister, Marise Payne, I want you on the first plane to the Solomon Islands to talk this through. This could have happened months ago. It comes on top of years of neglect.
Updated
The Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, will be campaigning whenever his health permits, Plibersek says.
She told the ABC:
Yeah, look, there’s no good time to get Covid. As someone who has had it I can tell you there’s no good time to get it.
But of course Anthony is tough. He’ll be campaigning, whenever his health permits, from his home base in Marrickville. He’s done a few media interviews from isolation in Marrickville.
Of course, you know, we’ve got a strong team. Anthony is really proud of his team and I guess it’s a real contrast with Scott Morrison who has to keep half his ministers in witness protection because of the various scandals they’ve been engaged in.
The politicians have started campaigning early.
First up is Labor’s education spokesperson, Tanya Plibersek. Plibersek was on ABC News Breakfast to talk about a Labor policy to commit $15m over three years to fund language other than English classes at community language schools.
There are currently 780 such schools around Australia, she says.
They’re teaching about 100,000 kids, most of them learning a language that their parents or their grandparents spoke in the country of their origin and it is a great opportunity to learn a second language. We know that that’s good for all kids. We want to make sure that more kids can learn a second language and they can learn it from an earlier age. So one of the features of this fund is that it will be available to schools to expand their teaching to pre-school-aged children because the earlier you start learning a language, the more likely you’ll be fluent.
Updated
Good morning
Good morning and welcome to even more of the Australian election campaign.
Scott Morrison’s handpicked candidate for the seat of Warringah, Katherine Deves, avoided the media when she attended a “politics in the pub” style event at the Forestville RSL last night.
Deves was photographed outside the event and read a short statement but reporters and photographers in attendance were told Deves would not enter the venue if media were present and she did not take any questions from them.
The prime minister has continued to support Deves and (ironically, considering events last night) says she will not be “silenced” despite her previous comments about transgender people.
Morrison yesterday said he believed that many Australians would be able to relate with Deves in that they too “feel sometimes that they haven’t expressed things well in the past”.
(As a reminder, this is how Deves expressed herself just last year).
Morrison spent much of yesterday speaking about the Solomon Islands’ security pact with China with the US saying overnight it will “respond accordingly” if China is allowed to establish a military base in the country.
The White House said the message was delivered directly to the Solomon Islands leadership by a visiting senior US delegation. The delegation also lamented the lack of transparency over the agreement and cast doubt on Solomon Islands officials’ claims that the deal was purely domestic.
The Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, is on day two of isolation after testing positive to Covid-19 on Thursday. He gave a TV interview to the ABC yesterday, saying the party had “war gamed” the possibility of him catching Covid, including figuring out who would speak and attend official events in his stead. Deputy leader Richard Marles will represent him at the Anzac Day commemorations in Darwin, for example.
The Western Australian premier, Mark McGowan, also has Covid and one of his children is in hospital after being in a serious condition after contracting the virus. He received a positive PCR test result on Friday.
Let’s kick on. You can contact me on twitter @callapilla or via email at calla.wahlquist@theguardian.com
Updated
