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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Ben Doherty and Donna Lu (earlier)

At least 89 Covid deaths; Littleproud tells Nationals he’ll bring pragmatic policies to jobs summit – as it happened

Nationals Australia David Littleproud
David Littleproud
Party leader David Littleproud addresses a meeting of the Nationals’ federal council in Canberra. Photograph: Jane Dempster/AAP

What we learned today, Saturday 13 August

We will close this blog now. Many thanks for your company, comments and correspondence today.

A brief summary to finish:

  • 89 deaths were recorded in Australia due to Covid, the majority in NSW (35) and Victoria (22).

  • A child from the NSW north coast may be the third person linked to the recent Splendour in the Grass festival to contract meningococcal disease.

  • Internationally, the British-Indian author Sir Salman Rushdie was stabbed on stage at a literary event in New York. The Booker prize winner lived for years in hiding after a fatwa was issued against him by the then leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, over his 1988 book The Satanic Verses, which some Muslims regard as blasphemous. Rushdie remains in hospital, with reports he may lose one eye; the nerves in his arm were severed; and his liver was stabbed and damaged.

  • The UN has warned of a “grave crisis” resulting from shelling at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, rebuked Amnesty International for a report that accused the Ukrainian military of endangering civilians. And a Russian airbase on Crimean coast was damaged by several large explosions.

Updated

Socialite Lillian Frank remembered as a flamboyant personality who used her social standing for good

The Melbourne socialite Lillian Frank has been remembered as a flamboyant personality who used her social standing for good, after her death aged 92.

The icon of Melbourne’s social scene, hairdresser and tireless charity worker died on Friday night.

Frank’s daughter Jackie Frank paid tribute to the social doyenne, saying “last night we lost the heart and soul of our family”.

“She lived life to the max, without any regrets and was forever grateful,” she wrote on Instagram.

“She saw things through rose-coloured glasses. No matter what adversity she had to face, and there were many, she saw the good in everyone and everything.

“Forever trying to make a difference in the world. She used her flamboyant personality and social standing for good, raising millions and millions for charity.”

She said of the longtime Toorak hair salon owner: “To us she was mum, to my kids nani and the most spectacular selfless human being in the world with the biggest heart.

“We (heart) you but a piece of our hearts will be broken forever. #RIP Lillian.”

The Victoria Racing Club paid tribute to Frank, who was a longtime judge of Myer Fashions on the Field and attended her first Melbourne Cup in the 1960s.

“Lillian left an indelible mark on the Melbourne Cup Carnival where she attended nearly every year for 50 years,” chairman Neil Wilson said.

“Her impeccable sense of style and vibrant personality helped elevate the VRC’s Fashions on the Field competition to one of the most popular and prestigious outdoor fashion events in Australia, if not the world.”

The club was celebrating 60 years of Fashions on the Field in 2022, and would not be the enduring competition it had become without Frank’s influence, Wilson said.

Updated

Australian former Taliban prisoner returns to Afghanistan

The Australian teacher formerly known as Timothy Weeks, who was a prisoner of the Taliban for more than three years before a prisoner swap was engineered for his release in 2019, has returned to Afghanistan, praising Taliban rule of the country, a year after the terror group violently seized power.

“I’m … coming to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the government of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, who I have stood behind,” he said.

“I spent three and a half years with Taliban soldiers, and I saw these people in a light that nobody else has been able to do.”

Three convicted terrorists, senior members of the Haqqani network, were released in exchange for his freedom.

The educator has converted to Islam and is now known as Jibrael Umar. He landed at Kabul airport on Friday Afghanistan time.

Umar was welcomed by the Taliban.

But his return was condemned by members of the Afghan-Australian community.

Updated

What happened in the Russia-Ukraine war this week?

The UN has warned of a “grave crisis” resulting from shelling at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, rebuked Amnesty International for a report that accused the Ukrainian military of endangering civilians. And a Russian airbase on Crimean coast was damaged by several large explosions.

Guardian Australia reporter Jordyn Beazley has everything you need to know:

And here is a wrap of what we know on day 171 of the invasion:

Updated

That’s all from me for today – it’s time to hand you over to my excellent colleague Ben Doherty, who will take you through the rest of Saturday afternoon. Ciao!

National Covid summary

Here are the latest Covid-19 figures from around Australia, with a total of 89 deaths recorded around the country in the last day.

NSW

  • Deaths: 35

  • Cases: 8,217

  • In hospital: 2,107 in hospital, 63 in ICU

Victoria

  • Deaths: 22

  • Cases: 4,300

  • In hospital: 543 in hospital, 31 in ICU

Queensland

  • Deaths: 16

  • Cases: 3,132

  • In hospital: 507 in hospital, 19 in ICU

Western Australia

  • Deaths: three

  • Cases: 2094

  • In hospital: 304 in hospital, nine in ICU

South Australia

  • Deaths: eight

  • Cases: 1,400

  • In hospital: 275 in hospital, 11 in ICU

Tasmania

  • Deaths: four

  • Cases: 514

  • In hospital: 65 in hospital, one in ICU

ACT

  • Deaths: one

  • Cases: 322

  • In hospital: 141 in hospital, three in ICU

NT

  • Deaths: none

  • Cases: 171

  • In hospital: 32 in hospital, one in ICU

Tasmania records 514 Covid cases

Tasmania has recorded 514 new Covid-19 cases in the last day. There are now 3,476 active cases across the state.

Across Tasmania, 65 people are in hospital with Covid-19, of whom 17 are being treated specifically for Covid.

More information is available here.

NT records 171 new Covid cases

The Northern Territory has reported 171 new Covid cases in the 24 hours to 4pm yesterday, bringing the number of active cases to 1,228. There are currently 32 people in hospital.

The territory has seen a total of 59 Covid-related deaths throughout the pandemic.

Millenial and Gen Z voters a significant bloc in Victorian state election – analysis

Much has been made about voters shifting away from the major parties and towards independents and Greens candidates.

But a lot of the analysis from this year’s federal election didn’t consider one important aspect: it was the first in which baby boomers were outnumbered by Millennial and Gen Z voters.

According to the 2021 census, Millennials, aged 25-39, are neck and neck with the baby boomers as the largest generational group in Australia, each representing about 21% of the Australian population. A further 18% of the population are members of generation Z (10-24 years old).

This is a significant voting bloc who have come of age at a time of economic uncertainty – either the global financial crisis or the Covid pandemic – growing inequality and an increase in extreme weather events, including bushfires and floods.

This is a demographic that is being closely watched in Victoria as the state heads to the polls in November.

Read more from Benita’s analysis here:

Updated

‘Horrible act of intolerance’: witness describes Salman Rushdie attack

Prof Carl LeVan of the American University, who was in the audience at the Chautauqua Institution when the author Salman Rushdie was attacked, has told the ABC:

I was sitting about 14 or 15 rows back from the stage, it’s a fairly large amphitheatre, here we call it the Amp. It seats a few thousand people and it’s a covered amphitheatre and I was just settling into my seat around 10.45am, a few minutes beforehand.

We knew this was going to be a very popular event, he is a very well-known speaker, author, novelist and proponent of human rights.

One of the hosts for the event, one of the staff members of the Chautauqua Institution was describing the program and shortly after he started talking, a man rushed onto the stage and repeatedly and viciously stabbed Salman Rushdie. And there were just gasps of shock from the audience, we were all sitting down, many of us stood up. A few courageous and compassionate people went up the stage and it was just a really horrible act of intolerance and violence to witness.

You can follow live updates about Rushdie here:

Updated

WA reports 2,094 Covid cases and three deaths

Western Australian health authorities have reported 2,094 new Covid-19 cases to 6pm last night. There are currently 14,677 active cases in the state and 304 people in hospital.

More information here:

Littleproud says Nationals will rebuild trust with women but rules out quotas

AAP brings us David Littleproud’s comments at the party’s federal council meeting today:

Nationals leader David Littleproud says his party will take policies representing regional and rural communities to the Albanese government’s national jobs summit next month.

Littleproud outlined his vision for the Nationals to the party faithful gathered in Canberra for a federal council meeting.

It’s disappointing that regional Australia wasn’t even thought of. We were an afterthought and it’s important regional Australia has a voice there.

We want to prosecute our case with some pragmatic solutions.

The fact that regional Australia wasn’t even invited just goes to show that this stunt was all aimed at just sending the symbolic messages to the electorate.”

Littleproud said rebuilding trust with women was also a top priority, but rejected quotas for his party.

I don’t believe in quotas. I believe in creating the environment for women to come forward.

We’ll be looking to identify female candidates in new seats and those seats that we will have retiring members in and we’ll start that process as part of this journey in being open and honest, but we want to be genuine about this.

Littleproud said pensioners and veterans should be able to work more without their payments being impacted as a reward for their service to the nation. “This is a payback to them,” he said.

The party will also fight for a visa to fast-track permanent residency for workers in rural and regional communities.

We believe that it needs now to go forward and to incentivise those migrants that come to regional Australia. We need to give them the incentive of becoming residents and citizens of this great country.

This is an opportunity to grow regional Australia to make sure the next generation are out there and taking us to our full potential.

Littleproud said the program of paying the university debt of healthcare workers in the regions should be extended to other graduates in areas experiencing skills shortages.

The federal government will hold its jobs and skills summit in Canberra over the first two days in September.

Labor invited the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, to attend, or a Coalition member in his place, but the Liberal party turned down the offer.

Updated

SA records 1,400 Covid cases and eight deaths

It brings the total number of active cases in the state up to 11,211. There are 275 people in hospital.

Melbourne icon Lillian Frank has died aged 92

Lillian Frank, a Melbourne socialite and philanthropist, has died aged 92.

Frank will be remembered as an icon of Melbourne’s social scene, hairdresser and tireless charity worker.

Frank’s daughter Jackie announced the news on social media, saying “we lost the heart and soul of our family” on Friday night.

Frank was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for service to the community in 1991, and a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1977 for her philanthropic work.

Updated

Queensland records 3,132 new Covid cases and 16 deaths

There are currently 507 people hospitalised in the state.

Penny Wong reaffirms support for Australian journalist detained in China

Australia’s foreign minister, Penny Wong, has vowed to keep advocating for a Chinese-born Australian journalist detained in China for two years on espionage charges. AAP has the story:

Cheng Lei, a one-time high-profile presenter on China Global Television Network, was detained in Beijing in August 2020 and later formally arrested.

In March, the 46-year-old faced a closed trial in Beijing on charges of illegally supplying state secrets overseas.

Australia’s ambassador to China, Graham Fletcher, was barred from attending the court hearing and China has not provided details of its outcome.

Senator Wong said in a statement:

Our thoughts today are with Ms Cheng’s family, including her two young children, with whom she has had no contact since she was detained.

Since Ms Cheng was detained in August 2020, the Australian government has consistently called for basic standards of justice, procedural fairness and humane treatment to be met, in accordance with international norms.

We will continue to support Ms Cheng and her family, and to advocate for Ms Cheng’s interests and wellbeing.

The comments come after the foreign minister raised Cheng’s case with her Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in Bali last month.

In June, the Chinese ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian, said that when cases of Australians detained in China involved national security they usually were not conducted openly, and urged Australia to respect China’s legal process.

Updated

Victoria records 4,300 Covid cases and 22 deaths

Victoria has recorded 22 deaths from Covid in the last reporting period, and 4,300 new cases. There are 543 people in hospital with 31 in ICU.

Updated

Former Liberal staffer criticises response to Broderick report

AAP reports:

A former New South Wales Liberal staffer who raised issues of sexual misconduct is sceptical any structural change in breaking a misogynistic and toxic workplace culture in NSW parliament will occur, after an independent report by former sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick was handed down this week.

Dhanya Mani, an advocate for sexual assault survivors, has alleged she was sexually assaulted by a male Liberal staffer between 2014 and 2015 when she was working in the parliament.

The NSW premier, Dominic Perrottet, said he would “absolutely” try to weed out people in the parliament behaving poorly.

“If you are involved in this behaviour, you should leave immediately,” he said.

The opposition leader, Chris Minns, said the review painted a “dark picture” and the response needed to be bipartisan.

“It’s my view that neither side or any side in politics comes to this issue with clean hands,” he said.

Mani accused the major parties of not reaching out to survivors in responding to the report:

Given that there wasn’t any consultation with survivors, it feels like it’s quite a tokenistic reply to that report from both sides [Liberals and Labor] …

It’s really staggering and disappointing that neither [party] leader bothered to reach out to survivors.

In June, the premier, Dominic Perrottet, and the opposition leader, Chris Minns, acknowledged Mani by name as a sexual assault survivor in their response to the NSW ministerial offices respectful workplace policy.

The Broderick report found sexual harassment and bullying were rife in the parliament.

It said five people had reported an attempted or realised sexual assault, while more than one in four experienced bullying in the past five years, with several unnamed offices identified as “hotspots” for the behaviour.

More than two-thirds of respondents, the report said, noted sexual harassment was perpetrated by someone at a more senior level.

Mani is the only survivor on the NSW parliament advisory group on bullying, sexual harassment and sexual misconduct established in March 2021 and comprised of politicians and parliamentary staff.

Her membership came about after lobbying efforts by Greens MP Jenny Leong and after meeting with former premier Gladys Berejiklian. Leong on Friday criticised the oldest parliament in Australia as an exclusionary space:

Parliament is a toxic, sexist and at many times unsafe workplace – nobody inside the institution needed this report to know this.

Updated

NSW records 8,217 Covid cases and 35 deaths

The state recorded 35 deaths in the last 24 hours. There are currently 2,107 people in hospital with Covid-19.

Updated

ACT records 322 Covid cases

The Australian Capital Territory has recorded 322 new Covid cases in the last 24 hours, bringing the current number of active cases to 2,749. One person lost their life. There are currently 141 people in hospital with the virus in the territory.

Updated

Restarting life for the third time after fall of Kabul

This is an extraordinary and moving story written by Noor M Ramazan, who fled Kabul with his wife, Masuma, and two children a year ago and is now settled in Melbourne. He “had to restart from zero for the third time in my life”. He writes:

I had to go through many other dead-end jobs in my childhood when Taliban took over my hometown Mazar-i-Sharif in 1998. I had to shine shoes and sell water, cigarettes, chewing gum and cherry juice on the streets to help my family have food on the table. OK. Let’s do it for the third time. At least this is Australia and I hope no one will harass or bully me as they did on the streets when I was a child …

Thousands of Afghans trying to evacuate Kabul are stopped by a river of raw effluent
Thousands of Afghans trying to evacuate Kabul are stopped by a river of raw effluent. Photograph: Noor M Ramazan

We were taught from childhood to love our country. Country is mother. We love our country as much as our mother. You are safe as long as you are in your mother’s arms. You are free and nothing bad can threaten you. Because mother takes care of you with all her might. But if something happen to this mother, you will become an orphan and no one cares about you. Just like us, the Afghan people, who are like helpless children whose mother has fallen to her knees due to countless wounds …

Masuma and Noor with their children, Diana and Daniel
Masuma and Noor with their children, Diana, 1, and Daniel, 5. Photograph: Christopher Hopkins/The Guardian

If you are very lucky like me, another kind of mother comes and holds your hand and saves you from being trampled and crushed. She keeps you in her arms and her vast heart and adopts you as a child. Like what Australia did to us. Australia saved us. We owe our lives to Australia. Australia accommodated us in its sky-sized arms and gave us freedom and security.

Noor and his friend, fellow Hazara refugee Aziz Bamyani, sip coffee in Melbourne’s CBD before a screening of Barat Ali Baatoor’s film about his horrific journey by boat to Australia
Noor and his friend, fellow Hazara refugee Aziz Bamyani, sip coffee in Melbourne’s CBD before a screening of Barat Ali Baatoor’s film about his horrific journey by boat to Australia. Photograph: Christopher Hopkins/The Guardian

It’s well worth your time as a Saturday morning long read. Fair warning: tackle with tissues.

Updated

Pharmacists and GPs clash on Covid antivirals

Doctors resisting calls for Covid-19 antiviral treatments to be sold over the counter have accused pharmacists of creating a false narrative for commercial reasons, AAP reports.

The Australian Pharmacy Guild this week publicly petitioned the federal government for the right to dispense the medications without a prescription, citing a national shortage of general practitioners.

While two oral antivirals are available in Australia and early treatment is considered critical to lessen the effects of the virus, access to them is restricted.

People aged over 70 and those over 50 at risk of severe disease are eligible following consultation with a doctor or nurse.

Yet the guild believes community pharmacists should be able to supply the treatments over the counter to speed up access upon infection.

The immediate reaction to the idea from the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners was around concern over patient safety.

The RACGP president, Dr Karen Price, said bypassing the prescription process would be “a recipe for disaster”. She said the guild’s claims of wait-time blowouts when visiting doctors, and their impact on the narrow window to use antiviral medications, were unfounded and misleading.

Price said in a statement:

The Pharmacy Guild, which is the body representing pharmacy business owners, needs to stop muddying the message on access for patients.

Patients need to understand the urgency of contacting their GP when they test positive for Covid-19 and not be distracted by the Pharmacy Guild’s efforts to push their own agenda.

We have telehealth infrastructure in place to make sure patients can access these medicines while isolating, including patient rebates for longer telephone consultations.

We are also calling for these antivirals to be added to the doctor’s bag in the event access to a pharmacy is problematic in emergency situations or for rural and remote locations.

Doctors were best placed to safely prescribe treatments because they knew their patients, their health histories and what medications they were on, Price added.

The Pharmacy Guild president, Trent Twomey, said on Thursday that GP wait times were growing unacceptably. In NSW, that meant an average of 4.17 days to see a family doctor and in Victoria, 3.33 days.

At the same time, antivirals needed to commence within five days of the onset of virus symptoms, Twomey said.

Updated

Nationals president says party needs to embrace women

The Nationals are holding a federal council meeting in Canberra today, the first since David Littleproud took over party leadership and since the coalition’s federal election loss. AAP has the story:

Nationals federal president Kay Hull says the party needs to reset and embrace women to remain the nation’s most diverse political organisation.

In the first address of the meeting, Hull spoke of the importance of women in politics and the contribution they made to key regional industries, including agriculture:

We need to be resetting, ensuring we are embracing particularly the women of our nation.

They are part of our heartland ... we stand as one of the few parties that have such a proud track record.

I think there are many areas that we need to embrace and further reset.

Analysis of the coalition’s election defeat showed women deserted the Liberal Party in droves, with a number of women - the teal independents - winning city seats from the party. They strongly campaigned on climate change action and integrity.

Littleproud is expected to talk about his priorities for the upcoming jobs summit and the review into nuclear power. He told AAP:

We are going to have to face up to some of the challenges we’ve got.

We retained all of our seats at the election, but you only have to look at the numbers to see that women left us so we have to go out and talk to them.”

Littleproud, deputy leader Perin Davey and leader of the Nationals in the Senate Bridget McKenzie will give speeches at Saturday’s conference.

Littleproud was elected leader in May, emerging as the winner of a three-way contest with ousted leader Barnaby Joyce and former minister Darren Chester.

The party’s federal director Jonathan Hawkes is stepping down after three years in the top administrative job.

Updated

White whale calf seen off NSW coast

A southern right whale with rare ‘white’ calf spotted off the southern New South Wales coastline on August 13. (AAP Image/Supplied by Maree Jackson, NPWS Right Whale ID Program)
A southern right whale with rare ‘white’ calf spotted off the southern New South Wales coastline on August 13. (AAP Image/Supplied by Maree Jackson, NPWS Right Whale ID Program) Photograph: Maree Jackson/PR IMAGE

There’s one newborn hogging all the attention off the NSW coast – a southern right whale calf born whiter than usual, AAP reports:

The calf and its mother are resting up before they head south to Antarctica.

Government conservationists are urging people to keep their distance from the mum and new bub spotted off the state’s south coast.

National Parks and Wildlife Service’s Andrew Marshall said it was rare to see a virtually white calf, though the parks office says it is more of a brindle colour:

Southern right whales are mostly very dark, although some have splashes of white called a blaze.

Its white areas will darken to grey as it ages. It’s one of around one-in-30 southern right whale calves born with brindle colouring.

The calf’s colouring is related to genetics. The mother shows pale grey areas indicating she has a recessive brindle gene.

A southern right whale calf needs 300 litres of milk a day to get to the weight needed to make the 5,000km trip south.

It’s illegal for a vessel to go within 300 metres of a nursing whale mother and calf, that includes people on surfboards, paddleboards and kayaks.

Drones have to stay 100 metres above the whales.

Updated

Indigenous issues ‘can only be improved if we listen to a voice’, Mark Dreyfus says

Asked about concerns that the voice to parliament would result in a “talk-fest without tangible issues”, Dreyfus responds:

I think this can only add to the range of issues we need to make to improve Indigenous health, housing, to deal with the social problems that [Country Liberal party] senator [Jacinta] Price is talking about.

The voice is to elevate to constitutional level the possibility of receiving representations, receiving suggestions from our Indigenous people on measures we need to take that are about them. We have not had that in the past.

I’m very much looking forward to this referendum succeeding so there will be at the constitutional level, a voice to parliament. I don’t think in any sense the two things are inconsistent. I accept Senator Price’s concerns about what needs to be done for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders across Australia, but I think the measures we need to take can only be improved if we listen to a voice of Indigenous people.

Updated

Mark Dreyfus says he’s pleased with progress on Indigenous voice

Dreyfus is asked about the referendum about constitutional change to recognise Indigenous Australians with a voice to parliament. He says:

I think in coming months you will see careful building of the community consensus we will need to make this referendum successful. I’ve been pleased to hear from the leader of the opposition, Peter Dutton, from the shadow attorney general, that they are keeping the door open. That is appropriate.

I’m pleased to hear so many people making constructive contributions, to hear a number of constitutional lawyers putting to rest today this incorrect notion that it might be veto or a that it might be a third chamber.

We need to … build the community consensus that we need to accept that this is the way in which we can recognise our Indigenous people in our constitution.

Updated

Mark Dreyfus says attorneys general want to address responses to sexual violence

Dreyfus said the meeting that took place between the attorneys general was the first face-to-face meeting in two and a half years.

We will be meeting more regularly … we plan to get together four times a year and this is a very important item on our agenda. We’ve also agreed to do more work on criminal justice system responses to sexual violence.

This is responding to something that Grace Tame raised with attorneys general last year and I’m very pleased to see that tremendous co-operation in the room yesterday, from Liberal and Labor attorneys general agreeing to work together nationally to keep women and children safe, to work on family violence, to work on measures against sexual violence.

Updated

Attorneys general agree on some draft principles to address coercive control

Mark Dreyfus, the attorney general of Australia, is speaking to the ABC about coercive control. He says he and the attorneys general of jurisdictions around Australia have agreed on some draft national principles to address coercive control as an issue:

We’re going to be consulting … in coming months, trying to get to some nationally agreed standard on how to deal with this.

Coercive control is, of course, a pattern of behaviour – it might be not necessarily involving violence – where the perpetrators seeks to establish control over the victim.

Updated

Nick Kyrgios’s winning streak comes to an end

In sport, Nick Kyrgios’s North American winning streak has come to an end with a defeat by Hubert Hurkacz in the quarter-finals of the National Bank Open in Montreal. The Australian had won 15 of his last 16 matches.

The full story is here:

Updated

Victorian First Nations dispute over Phillip Island property donation

A property donated by the family of renowned satirist and comedian John Clarke has become embroiled in a long-running dispute between two First Nations groups in Victoria.

The land on Phillip Island, about 120km south-east of Melbourne, was donated by Clarke’s widow, Helen McDonald, to conservation group Trust for Nature after his death in 2017.

Trust for Nature intends to transfer the eight-hectare property to the Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation. However, a local traditional owner has demanded that be halted.

While the Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation is the registered local Aboriginal party, the area involves land on which members of the Boonwurrung people is seeking native title via the federal court.

Read more here:

Updated

The struggles of those who need Medicare most

Guardian Australia’s medical editor, Melissa Davey, and inequality reporter, Stephanie Convery, have been breaking vital stories this week about Medicare, bulk billing and the dire state of Australia’s primary healthcare system.

Today, they feature the stories of people who have been forced to limit GP visits or travel long distances for affordable care.

You can read the full story below, and more from their Mind the gap: bulk billing in crisis series here.

Updated

Third meningococcal case from Splendour

A child from the NSW north coast may be the third person linked to the recent Splendour In The Grass festival to contract meningococcal disease, AAP reports.

It follows the death on August 4 of a Sydney man in his 40s, who also developed meningococcal disease after attending the festival.

NSW Health has urged anyone who attended Splendour In The Grass - which took place from July 21-24 at the North Byron Parklands - to be alert. Anyone showing symptoms - which can include a red or purple rash, fever, headache, stiffness, light sensitivity, nausea, diarrhoea, drowsiness and confusion - is urged to contact a doctor immediately.

The disease, which is caused by Neisseria meningitidis bacteria, is uncommon but can be fatal. Authorities warn it can develop very quickly and kill within hours.

Three people have died of meningococcal disease this year: a Northern Territory man in his 30s died on Friday, while a two-year-old died in rural South Australia in July.

Health authorities in the NT said the man had undertaken no recent interstate or international travel.

Updated

Good morning

Welcome to another Saturday edition of the live news blog.

I’m coming at you from sunny (for now) Melbourne and will be taking you through most of today – please get in touch at Donna.Lu@theguardian.com or on Twitter at @donnadlu with anything to know or things we’ve missed.

Here’s what making news:

The Nationals will hold their first major meeting today since the coalition’s federal election loss. The federal council meeting, in Canberra, will also be the first since David Littleproud took over party leadership.

The energy ministers of New South Wales and Victoria have criticised gas companies for exporting Australian resources overseas, claiming their pursuit of profits led to the recent energy crisis.

The monkeypox vaccine has arrived in Australia and the rollout has commenced in Victoria, with jabs being given to certain eligible groups while supplies are limited.

In New South Wales, transport officers will today refuse to issue fines, part of the Rail, Tram and Bus Union’s rolling strike action in an attempt to secure crucial safety commitments.

The Judith Neilson Institute for Journalism and Ideas has dismissed the remaining members of its international advisory council, months after four independent directors walked out en masse.

Overseas, the actor Anne Heche has died, a week after she was injured in a car crash, and the author Salman Rushdie is in surgery after being stabbed onstage at an event in upstate New York.

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