End of rapid Covid test and telehealth subsidies criticised – as it happened

The Victorian government has ignored health advice calling for mask mandates in schools, early childhood and retail settings as the state recorded 16 Covid deaths, with 58 reported across Australia on Tuesday. Photograph: Diego Fedele/AAP

9.35am BST

What we learned: Tuesday, 12 July

With that, we will wrap up the blog for the evening. We’ll be back first thing tomorrow, with all the latest from Fiji and closer to shore.

Here are today’s major developments:

• With the Pacific Islands Forum underway, Australia has resisted calls from neighbours for no new gas or coal projects, saying it was not responsible for other countries’ emissions.
• In other forum news, the Australian and US governments have signed a deal they say will help accelerate zero emissions technology, including long duration storage and removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The announcement was made by the climate change and energy minister, Chris Bowen, and the US secretary of energy, Jennifer Granholm, on the sidelines of the Sydney Energy Forum.
• The federal health minister, Mark Butler, announced the federal program providing 10 free rapid antigen tests every three months for concession card holders will end in July. The opposition’s health spokeswoman, Anne Ruston, has called for the health advice underpinning the decision to be released. The announcement has been criticised by health bodies including the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia.
• Australia reported 58 Covid deaths on Tuesday, as both NSW and Victoria reduced the reinfection period from 12 down to four weeks.
• And Australia’s privacy watchdog has launched an investigation into retail giants Bunnings and Kmart over their use of facial recognition technology in stores.

Updated at 9.39am BST

9.28am BST

A gentle reminder we’re still in a pandemic:

AMA Victoria President Dr Roderick McRae says we're headed for a "perfect" COVID-19 storm, "cheered on" by the business sector who want "to pretend this virus doesn't exist".

"Things are bad and they're going worse. The collective willful blindness is not in anybody's interest."

— Callum Godde (@calgodde) July 12, 2022

He says the govt skewed "too far" towards the interests of business when rejecting health advice to reinstate some mask mandates.

"They're just in too big a rush to pretend this is all finished, which it is not, and ignoring the fact that we're in the middle of winter."

— Callum Godde (@calgodde) July 12, 2022