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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Josh Taylor and Melissa Davey

Nation records 16 Covid deaths; 25% of assessed Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley properties uninhabitable after floods – as it happened

New South Wales Queensland Scott Morrison Victoria Hawkesbury SES Covid-19 Dominic Perrottet South Australia ADF
Scenes in Lismore, NSW, after the devastating floods
Scenes in Lismore after the devastating floods. NSW premier Dominic Perrottet has said organising housing for people displaced in flood-ravaged northern NSW is one of his top priorities. Photograph: Jason O’Brien/AAP

The day that was, Sunday 13 March

That’s where we will leave the live blog for Sunday.

Here’s what we covered today:

  • Flood damage has left 25% of some 15,000 Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley properties that have been assessed so far for damage are “uninhabitable”, recovery coordinator Dean Betts said.
  • NSW premier Dominic Perrottet has said the deployment of Australian Defence Force troops and rescue teams would be examined as part of a review into the response to the flooding event. Currently there are still 23 evacuation orders in place across the state, with the premier announcing “this event is not over”.
  • Meanwhile the federal government will provide $35.9m to ensure communities affected by the Queensland and NSW floods can continue access health services, including mental health support.
  • The NSW government also announced $25m in additional funding for mental health support in the state.
  • Queenslanders have been warned to avoid “disaster tourism” and stay off the Brisbane River, with the clearing of debris caused by devastating floods expected to take weeks. Maritime authorities say more than 1,000 tonnes of debris have already been removed from Brisbane waterways.
  • In Covid-19 news, there were 29,311 new cases reported: 13,093 in NSW, 5,192 in Victoria, 3,669 in Queensland, 3,602 in Western Australia, 2,023 in South Australia, 932 in Tasmania, 649 in the ACT and 151 in the Northern Territory.
  • There were 16 more deaths, including four in Victoria, seven in NSW, three in Queensland, one in South Australia, and one in Western Australia.
  • The prime minister Scott Morrison said he believes Australians understand why petrol prices are going up but won’t say whether there will be help in the budget at the end of the month through a cut in fuel excise.

Thanks for reading today. We will be back with you tomorrow for all the latest news.

Updated

National Covid-19 update

Here’s the daily Covid snapshot, via AAP:

  • There have been 55,114,521 vaccine doses administered in the national Covid-19 rollout up to Saturday, including 72,514 recorded in the previous 24 hours.
  • Of that total, 34,749,316 have been administered by commonwealth facilities, an increase of 42,425 in the previous 24 hours.
  • State and territory facilities have administered 20,365,205 vaccines, an increase of 30,089 in the previous 24 hours.
  • 96.54% of people aged 16 and over have had at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine and 94.74% are double vaccinated.
  • A total of 12,195,821 people have received more than two doses – with a booster or top-up shot – an increase of 33,246 in the previous 24 hours.
  • 29,311 new cases: 13,093 in NSW, 5,192 in Victoria, 3,669 in Queensland, 3,602 in Western Australia, 2,023 in South Australia, 932 in Tasmania, 649 in the ACT and 151 in the Northern Territory.
  • The national death toll is 5,587 (+16): Victoria 2,644 (+4), NSW 1,980 (+7), Queensland 632 (+3), South Australia 222 (1), ACT 37, NT 31, Tasmania 26 and WA 13 (+1). (Two Queensland residents who died in NSW have been included in the official tolls of both states).

Updated

South Australia reports 2,023 new Covid cases and one death

There have been 2,023 new Covid-19 cases reported in South Australia today, and one additional death.

Updated

Weather warning for Victoria

Possible severe storms are heading to Victoria tomorrow and Tuesday.

Updated

Thanks for joining me and following our live coverage of the news of the day including the flood crisis and Covid.

My thoughts are with all of those helping with clean-up and rescue efforts in NSW and Queensland. I can’t imagine how exhausted volunteers and workers must be.

I’m handing the blog over to my colleague Josh Taylor now to take you through the rest of the afternoon and evening.

Updated

This is an incredible story by my colleague Chris Knaus, about how an entire hospital was evacuated by health workers during a flood emergency in Ballina:

Labor will consider establishing a civilian natural disaster agency rather than use defence forces to respond to floods and bushfires, Paul Karp reports.

The shadow defence minister, Brendan O’Connor, cited the “increased incidence of natural disasters and also the need for our defence force to be trained for military purposes” as reasons to consider a separate agency.

O’Connor’s comments to the ABC on Sunday come as Scott Morrison continued to defend the pace of the Australian defence force emergency response, arguing that the community “are always the first” on scene because it is not possible to have “an ADF base around the corner in every town”.

Here are some more details about the support package the NSW premier, Dominic Perrottet, announced earlier.

The NSW government will fast-track access to essential trauma and recovery services to communities hardest hit by the recent flooding in NSW as part of a $25m funding package.

Perrottet said this package will provide mental health support to people in flood-affected communities across the state to help them get through the recovery as they begin to rebuild.

Deputy premier Paul Toole said the investment will have an initial focus on communities across the northern rivers, with other areas likely to be included as the full impact of the floods becomes clearer. He said:

The task before us is complex and extensive. People’s mental health will not only be affected by the floods but by the enormity of the clean-up effort and the uncertainty it brings.

NSW Health will support the immediate mental health needs of the northern NSW community by deploying mental health clinicians from northern NSW, mid-north coast and northern Sydney local health districts. Teams from Hunter New England and western NSW local health districts are also being prepared to travel to northern NSW to assist.

There will be $5m in grants allocated to non-government organisations to deliver local trauma and recovery programs so support is available long after the clean-up has finished.

The Wellbeing Package includes:

  • $7 m over three years to fund Primary Health Networks to engage both clinical and non-clinical workforce, including staff for the Safe Havens, to boost local access to psychological and clinical support.
  • $5m over three years to establish grants program for NGOs to fund trauma-based programs. Key focus on supporting young people, older residents and Aboriginal communities.
  • $5 m for statewide needs based resourcing and support.
  • $3.5m over three years to appoint Headspace and Lifeline work with affected communities to identify what each community needs.
  • $3.5m over three years to recruit 10 Local Recovery Coordinators who will coordinate service delivery and identify emerging issues.
  • $1m to set up four pop-up Safe Havens in the areas hardest hit.

If you, or someone you know, is thinking about suicide or experiencing a personal crisis or distress, please seek help immediately by calling 000 or one of these services:

  • Lifeline 13 11 14
  • Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467
  • NSW Mental Health Line 1800 011 511

Updated

Queensland’s police commissioner says it is an “absolute miracle” no one died in a head on collision between a patrol van and a ute driven by a man allegedly fleeing a stabbing.

Katarina Carroll says the 37-year-old senior constable driving the van is in a stable condition in intensive care after “extensive surgery” overnight but will require months of rehabilitation, AAP reports.

However she was surprised no one was killed after watching the “confronting” dash cam footage of the crash that hospitalised another two officers aged 24 and 23 – the latter a recruit yet to be sworn in – and the man.

“Thankfully all officers are safe and alive,” Carroll said on Sunday.

If you saw that video, I just don’t know how people survived. There was no reducing of speed by the offending vehicle. It is absolutely extraordinary.

It is extraordinarily confronting and how they survived is just an absolute miracle.

Officers were heading to the scene of a reported stabbing at Moon Street in Caboolture before 3pm on Saturday when they collided with a white ute police believe was being driven by the alleged assailant.

Superintendent John Hallam confirmed they were investigating whether the man deliberately drove into the van.

“It is really difficult to say at this point in time,” he said.

Updated

Murder charge over SA woman's death

A man has been charged with murder after a woman was found dead in a South Australian home, AAP reports.

Police found the 26-year-old woman’s body inside the home at Millicent, about 50km north-west of Mount Gambier, late on Saturday night.

The 25-year-old Millicent man was arrested at the scene and interviewed by police before being charged with murder.

He will remain in police custody until facing Mount Gambier magistrates court on Tuesday. Police say the man and woman were known to each other and it was not a random incident.

1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)

Lifeline 13 11 14

Updated

Afternoon recap

Let’s recap the news and events so far today:

  • Flood damage has left 25% of some 15,000 Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley properties that have been assessed so far for damage “uninhabitable”, recovery coordinator Dean Betts said.
  • NSW premier Dominic Perrottet has said the deployment of Australian Defence Force troops and rescue teams would be examined as part of a review into the response to the flooding event. Currently there are still 23 evacuation orders in place across the state, with the premier announcing “this event is not over”.
  • Meanwhile the federal government will provide $35.9m to ensure communities affected by the Queensland and New South Wales floods can continue access health services, including mental health support.
  • Queenslanders have been warned to avoid “disaster tourism” and stay off the Brisbane River, with the clearing of debris caused by devastating floods expected to take weeks. Maritime authorities say more than 1,000 tonnes of debris have already been removed from Brisbane waterways.
  • In Covid-19 news, NSW has reported 13,093 new Covid-19 infections along with seven deaths. A further four Covid-19 deaths and 5,192 new cases have been reported in Victoria. In Western Australia, 3,602 new cases were reported to 8pm last night, and WA Health confirmed on Sunday that a woman in her 80s who tested positive has died.
  • The prime minister Scott Morrison said he believes Australians understand why petrol prices are going up but won’t say whether there will be help in the budget at the end of the month through a cut in fuel excise.

Updated

WA records one Covid-19 death

WA Health is reporting a total of 3,602 new cases to 8pm last night. There are currently 24,126 active cases in Western Australia.

Sadly, WA Health confirmed a woman in her 80s who tested positive has died. Due to patient confidentiality, no further information will be released by the department on the death.

To 8pm last night, there were 122 people with Covid-19 in hospital, including 5 in ICU.

Updated

Perrottet said he would “prefer to have as many troops on the ground as possible, where they’re needed”.

“But I don’t want this to turn into a story of New South Wales government at war with the commonwealth,” he said.

You’ve got troops available around the country, and from the ADF and from the commonwealth perspective, they’ve got to make sure they’re getting troops to where they need to go. Now that would be complicated. I’m assuming that would be a complicated task in these circumstances.

But as part of the review that we will do, that [looking at deployment of troops] will be included.

I think what has been lost over the course of the week is that we rely on volunteers.

This event was not predicted and in this event those volunteer resources may not be at the level they need to be.

What we see is people looking after each other, people who aren’t registered volunteers going out, conducting rescues providing care and support that shouldn’t be seen as a negative. That should be seen as a positive. But I believe it’s been lost in the media over the course of the last two weeks.

And it’s sad from my perspective, because from what I’ve seen over the last two weeks has been an incredible spirit in our people have coming together or putting their life on the line to provide that support to get people to safety, to come together and setting up their own community hubs. Making sure that every single member of the community has been looked after that period of time.

Updated

NSW SES commissioner Carlene York said during the last flooding event, it had been difficult to get ADF resources and work had been done since then to remove red tape to accessing and deploying them.

We’ve very much been working with the government to get rid of that red tape. We need to be a fast moving, responsive, professional organisation that I think the SES are. And I think we can always improve on it and it would be good to have a look at those circumstances as well in any review.

But she said some of the criticism of the rescue efforts had been unfair.

Community members have put their hand up without payment to risk their lives to help the community ... We’ve got great equipment now, it’s improved over the years and you know, this event was [handled] better than the last event and the next event will be better.

Updated

NSW SES commissioner Carlene York is asked about reports that private helicopter operators said they were never called upon by the NSW government to assist with the flood emergency, despite being paid by the government to be on standby so they can rapidly respond to natural disasters. She says:

I’m not sure what helicopter agencies you’re talking about. It is quite a rigorous process to make sure they’re assessed and accredited in relation to flood rescue. It’s a very, very dangerous type of rescue. And we’ve seen the difficulties even the experienced ADF helicopters had in a number of those locations to get to people.

Perrottet also responds to the question:

I think what’s important from my perspective, as premier, is that we get all the information and make an assessment of what went well what could be done better where their mistakes made.

And that’s why I think a better way of doing that is through a proper review of what occurred ... So there’s clearly an issue in terms of making sure that resources are available to those communities that need them.

But I do want to make the point that our SES and RFS and all those those teams have done an amazing job through this. I don’t want there to be any sense that there were failures in that spot. They have to make the assessments based on the evidence and information that that’s in front of them.

And when we were looking at a statewide issue, the allocation of resources needs to be upfront in those areas where damage and devastation could occur. So we’ll work through it. We’ll have a look at it.

Updated

NSW premier Dominic Perrottet is speaking again and says: “I want everyone to know that we will be with you through this whole situation as we recover.”

I know for many people in the Hawkesbury this is a worse flood event than last year. We are hearing stories of many people who were not substantially affected last time now severely impacted.

I don’t want anyone to feel that if you live in the Hawkesbury, you’ve been in an area that hasn’t been substantially affected as up north ... that doesn’t mean the government support is not going to be there. And I’m certainly going to focus here at our state level as we roll out the packages that we will ensure that it’s not based on your LGA, we will make sure if you have been affected that you’re given that support that you need to get through.

Updated

Flood damage leaves 25% of Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley assessed properties uninhabitable

Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley recovery coordinator Dean Betts says about 4,000 tonnes a day of waste has been removed from the streets from people’s properties.

The movements are averaging about a truck per minute into those waste stations. In four days we’ve moved more waste than we did in four weeks with the mid-north coast record floods only 12 months ago. So extraordinary work continues but there’s extraordinary work still ahead, just with that relief and cleanup.

Close to 15,000 properties have been assessed ... more than half of those – over 8,000 – have been identified as having damage and we know that about 25% of all the properties are uninhabitable.

So we’re talking about a significant number of people being displaced. We’ve got 1,000 people currently in emergency accommodation.

Updated

NSW SES commissioner Carlene York is giving an update from South Windsor. She says the SES has had 24,500 calls for assistance, 2,070 of those in the last 24 hours.

“We’ve also had three flood rescues in the last 24 hours so that still shows the risk that is out there in the community,” she said.

This severe weather event has been one of the worst that we’ve ever had on record in various parts of New South Wales and the SES has been operationally active from the Queensland border to the Victorian border, as well as helping the communities out in the western zone from the recent flooding. And we’re now seeing the waters from Queensland coming through and some severe weather warnings and flood warnings for the area around the Queensland border.

And I remind the community that our organisation is made up of community members, their family, their friends who live in that area and understand what dangers these weather events bring into those communities.

I would like to remind the community that we are out there helping you.

Updated

'This event is not over', Perrottet says

NSW premier Dominic Perrottet is in South Windsor visiting flood-affected communities and is holding a press conference where he has announced $25m in mental health support.

This additional funding of $25m, I believe will ensure that we don’t just focus on the here and now but that care and that support will be there now and into the future. And my message is we will get through it. And I know for many people, this event, this destruction can be overwhelming. But we will be there side by side with you every step of the way. we will get through this. We will get the housing, we will get the clean-up completed and we will get every single community, and every single person back on their feet as quickly as possible.

Currently there are still 23 evacuation orders in place across the state, he said.

This event is not over. Even here in the Hawkesbury we still have many isolated communities. So if there is an evacuation order in place, please follow those instructions and leave. If an evacuation warning is in place, please get ready to leave.

Updated

The federal government will provide $35.9m to ensure communities affected by the Queensland and New South Wales floods can continue access health services, including mental health support.

It includes $31.2m over two years for additional mental health support for adults, youth and children.

Health minister Greg Hunt said the package of support will be provided over the next two years “because we know support won’t just be needed in the next few months, and people living in flood-affected regions of QLD and NSW will need substantial ongoing support”.

The funding includes $4.7m to ensure continuity of primary health care services for flood-impacted Australians, particularly in worst hit communities.

MBS telehealth continues to be available across affected regions. An exemption has been made to normal MBS rules so people in flood-affected regions don’t have to have an existing relationship with a GP to access MBS-subsidised telehealth services.

In the severely impacted northern NSW community of Lismore, locum support for general practices and pharmacies will bolster the local workforce and assist in providing continuity of health care for residents where a number of general practices and pharmacies have been forced to close.

Contacts for support

Anyone experiencing distress can also seek immediate advice and support through Lifeline (13 11 14), Kids Helpline (1800 55 1800), or the Government’s digital mental health gateway, Head to Health.

If you are concerned about suicide, living with someone who is considering suicide, or bereaved by suicide, the Suicide Call Back Service is available at 1300 659 467 or www.suicidecallbackservice.org.au

Young Australians needing support can access free services through Kids Helpline (1800 55 1800), their local headspace or online through eheadspace (https://headspace.org.au/eheadspace/).

Other Telephone and online services

NZ reports 14,494 Covid cases, eight deaths

From AAP:

New Zealand’s Covid-19 death toll is climbing at its fastest rate of the pandemic, with another eight deaths recorded.

On Sunday, the health ministry reported six deaths from Auckland, the hardest-hit region, as well as one in the Waikato and another in Rotorua.

The country’s death toll stands at 113.

A third of those deaths, 37, occurred in the past 10 days during the Omicron wave.

While Sunday’s daily case numbers were the lowest this month, hospitalisations grew again to a nationwide record of 896.

Officials reported 14,494 new community cases on Sunday, though doubt surrounds the accuracy of that number after a switch to home testing.

Updated

Australia launches first Indigenous health workforce plan

The health minister Greg Hunt and the minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt today announced a 10-year plan to increase the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workforce, and improve health and wellbeing.

The National Workforce Plan seeks to have Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people equally represented alongside non-Indigenous workers across the health sector by 2031.

A joint statement from Hunt and Wyatt said this will lead to “an unprecedented increase in the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander doctors, nurses, midwives, allied health professionals, health workers and health practitioners working across the health system through the next decade, providing culturally safe and responsive health and medical care.”

The plan aims to lift the rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people working in the sector from the current 1.8% to 3.43 % by 2031, better reflecting overall population numbers.

The plan has been designed in close partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, the government said, including health leaders from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peak bodies and the community-controlled health sector.

Updated

Cost of living is a significant issue, assistant treasurer says

The prime minister Scott Morrison believes Australians understand why petrol prices are going up but won’t say whether there will be help in the budget at the end of the month through a cut in fuel excise.

Some parts of the country are paying well over $2 per litre as a result of global oil prices spiking due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, AAP reports.

“What are driving fuel prices are things well beyond the shores of Australia,” Morrison told the Nine Network on Sunday.

I think Australians understand those issues.

Morrison says Australia is working with other countries around the world in terms of releasing fuel reserves to try to alleviate the pressure on fuel prices.

There have been calls for a cut in fuel excise, which amounts to 44 cents for a litre of petrol.

Like the prime minister, assistant treasurer Michael Sukkar declined to foreshadow anything that may or may not be in the budget on 29 March.

But he concedes the cost of living is a significant issue.

There is no doubt the budget will seek to build the recovery, ensure that we keep our foot on the economic accelerator, but will also take into account the fact households are feeling the pressures of cost of living.

Households are also being warned of an official interest rate rise later this year, which would be the first in almost 12 years.

Sukkar was quick to point out that it is the Reserve Bank of Australia that makes these decisions, not the government.

We will be conveying to the Australian people through the budget and into the election that our economic recovery is not assured.

We’re in good shape but we still need to make wise decisions in a period of time where there is great instability in the world.

Cost of living pressures look set to be a key focus when the country eventually goes to the polls in May.

Labor frontbencher Tanya Plibersek says everything is going up apart from people’s wages.

Everywhere you go, everyone I’m talking to will tell you they haven’t had a pay rise in years - they have seen the purchasing power of their pay packet go backwards.

This is something Scott Morrison has absolutely failed on.

Updated

NSW clean-up in full swing after floods

From AAP:

Attention is now focused on the clean-up following NSW’s devastating floods.

Two recovery centres, in addition to six operating in the state’s north, will be opened in the Hawkesbury-Nepean area to provide access to multiple government agencies for those seeking support and assistance.

Resilience NSW Metropolitan Sydney director Dean Betts is co-ordinating the task while deputy police commissioner Mal Lanyon has been charged with the same role for the northern rivers disaster.

Prime minister Scott Morrison declared a national emergency in NSW late on Friday, allowing the federal government to access stockpiled resources and remove red tape in terms of business and welfare support.

“It’s going to be a long road back,” he told reporters.

Minor flooding is ongoing along the Hawkesbury River at North Richmond, although levels are falling.

However, based on Bureau of Meteorology predictions, the SES expects a number of areas will still be dangerously impacted along the western side of the river.

As of Sunday morning, they include low-lying portions at the back of properties in Grose Wold and North Richmond, and along Steading and Philip Charley creeks.

North Richmond Bridge has reopened but the Yarramundi Bridge between Yarramundi and Agnes Banks remains closed.

Waters peaked just above 14 metres at North Richmond on Wednesday morning.

Residents of a dozen councils in NSW are meanwhile eligible for disaster funding, with one-off payments of $1,000 per adult and $400 per child available for those affected.

Workers, businesses and farmers who lost income can also apply for 13 weeks’ assistance.

Premier Dominic Perrottet says the focus in the state’s north remains on cleaning up and finding housing for displaced residents.

The first 20 motorhomes were expected to arrive in the region on Sunday, with 100 more to follow. The temporary accommodation is stage one of a $551m housing support package.

As of Friday, about 5,500 damaged residences had been assessed and about half deemed inhabitable.

The Insurance Council of Australia estimates more than 126,000 claims across Queensland and NSW will cost insurers $1.89bn but concedes further claims are likely.

With the clean-up underway in western Sydney, residents are being advised not to travel there or to the Blue Mountains.

Elsewhere more than 100 workers are assessing damage to the state’s roads after exceedingly heavy rain created countless mudslides and landslips.

Authorities say it could take some time for permanent fixes.

Rail infrastructure has also been badly damaged with services likely to be disrupted for the next week at least.

Updated

Body found after NSW fisherman swept away

A body has been recovered after an angler was swept off rocks on the Central Coast yesterday.

Emergency services were called to Snapper Point after reports a rock fisher had been swept into the sea about 8am on Saturday. Officers from the Marine Area Command, Tuggerah Lakes and Brisbane Water police districts commenced a search for the man. They were assisted by Marine Rescue NSW, Surf Life Saving NSW and NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service.

The search continued until nightfall and was to resume this morning; however, at about 7am this morning, a man’s body was found on a rock ledge off Frasers Beach.

A post-mortem examination will be conducted this week to confirm identity and determine cause of death.

Updated

In sport news, a major redevelopment of La Trobe University’s Sports Park in Bundoora, Victoria, will provide a home for the Matildas.

Victoria’s minister for sport Martin Pakula today revealed artist impressions for the site as early works continue. The project will provide a world-class training base for Football Australia to train its national women’s squads.

It will include a show pitch with a grandstand, and four additional pitches. The project will also develop a base and facilities for Rugby Victoria.

Updated

At least 11 Covid deaths reported in Australia

As mentioned earlier, NSW has reported 13,093 new Covid-19 infections along with seven deaths.

The state’s caseload continues to fluctuate. Numbers were below 10,000 at the beginning of last week and peaked at more than 16,000 on Thursday, while Saturday’s total was 12,850.

Health officials said the majority of fresh infections are among the young, aged between 10 and 19.

Meanwhile, the number of patients in hospital is steady at 965, with 44 in intensive care.

Of the latest infections, 7,867 were detected using rapid antigen kits and 5,226 were returned via PCR lab tests.

A further four Covid-19 deaths and 5,192 new cases have been reported in Victoria, as a mandatory vaccination deadline passes in the state.

The cases include 3,434 from rapid antigen tests and 1,758 from PCR lab tests, the health department confirmed on Sunday.

The number of Victorians in hospital has grown by 20 to 195 patients. This includes 25 people in intensive care with eight needing ventilation.

There are 40,606 active cases in the state.

After being pushed back, the new deadline has passed for aged care, disability, emergency service, meat processing, quarantine and food distribution workers to get their third jab by 11.59pm on Saturday.

It means these workers, including contractors, volunteers and students on placement, must have received a third dose to attend work or hold a valid exemption.

Healthcare workers who received their first jab before 12 September are also now required to have their third dose.

Updated

O’Connor says that with increasing instability in the region, Australia needs to consider alternatives to the non-military deployment of Australian defence personnel in future. He says a national emergency task force may be one solution.

The incidence of natural disasters are increasing as a result of climate change, he says.

I think, frankly, part of the problem we have is we’ve had a government in denial for almost a decade on climate change, and we need to do more, and globally we need to see more done so that these matters can be mitigated over time. That’s not going to happen in the immediate sense, but we can’t leave it any longer.

Updated

Speers asks O’Connor:

You’re saying defence – and in particular, the major general who is in charge of the joint task force – needed some sort of political signal from the prime minister to do more than he did?

O’Connor:

I think it should have been clear that the prime minister saw this as the top priority and a national emergency, and we have now a situation where the prime minister’s decided to declare a national emergency for New South Wales only, not Queensland, which is, in my view, very churlish, insensitive behaviour by the prime minister.

Morrison said Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, had knocked back a similar offer for her state after Palaszczuk on Thursday said help had been needed a week earlier. O’Connor continued:

The prime minister can make a decision to declare a national emergency. Frankly, Queenslanders deserve the same approach to these matters nationally as do those of New South Wales. And what the Queensland premier was saying was this should have happened earlier.

Updated

Opposition defence spokesman, Brendan O’Connor, is on the ABC’s Insiders program this morning. Host David Speers asks him whose fault it was that the army was brought in too slowly to help in the northern NSW flood disaster zone. O’Connor responds:

The prime minister could have made [the situation] clear and declared a national emergency.

A prime minister who is responding to a national emergency would ensure that all other decisions are made either by a minister responsible, pursuant to legislation, or a public official. But this didn’t happen, and it didn’t happen because the prime minister - as he has shown time and time again, whether it was the bushfires two years ago, the rollout of the vaccinations, the delayed rollout of RATs – time and time again, we’ve seen a prime minister slow to react and too quick to blame others.

Updated

A television flood appeal has raised more than $25m for victims in NSW and Queensland.

The Red Cross Flood Appeal, broadcast on Australia’s three main commercial TV stations on Saturday night, surpassed its $20m target after major donations from Australian businesses, philanthropists and state governments.

The West Australian and Victorian governments donated $2m, while South Australia chipped in with $1m.

The clean-up continues in NSW and Queensland following the devastating floods, as more than 100 mobile home units head to ravaged communities in NSW.

Updated

5,192 new Covid-19 cases in Victoria

NSW records 13,093 new Covid-19 cases

Updated

Thinking of all those emergency crews and volunteers who must be exhausted.

With Japanese encephalitis outbreaks in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, health authorities are urging people to protect themselves against mosquitos over the long weekend.

Victoria’s deputy chief health officer, Deborah Friedman, said mosquitoes are still active at this time of year and are capable of transmitting a range of diseases.

Friedman said people can take simple steps to avoid bites.

Mosquitoes can be active throughout the day, but the peak period is often around the late afternoon and into the evening as well as around dawn and dusk. People should wear long, loose fitting clothes and use repellents containing picaridin or DEET on exposed skin. Mosquito numbers can be reduced by getting rid of stagnant water around the home or campsites.”

There is concern that a combination of flooding and La Niña has created conditions for mosquito populations to thrive.

Updated

Prime minister defends the pace of flood relief efforts

Scott Morrison has defended the pace of Australian defence force flood relief, telling Channel Nine’s Today that “we moved as quickly as the defence force and agencies can”.

Morrison said that in comparison to the callout after the 2011 Queensland floods, the current response has seen four times as many ADF personnel mobilise one week sooner. The first response “is always from the community”, followed by the SES then the ADF, he said.

Asked about scenes of Australians rescuing their neighbours, Morrison said:

We need people to do that. The community are always the first ones there. To deploy a nationally positioned defence force, to mobilise with heavy equipment and provisioning, you can’t just turn that off and on. We don’t have an ADF base around the corner in every town.”

Morrison said the floods were “one in 500 years”, but then conceded that yes climate change has impacted the severity and frequency of such events. The Coalition has “always been very clear on the issues of resilience and adaptation”, he said.

Has the government been slow to react to crises including bushfires and floods? Morrison suggested this is “Labor commentary” being echoed by a “chorus” of people who don’t like how the last election went.

He then rattled off a series of measures the government was quick on: Jobkeeper, closing the borders to China, calling out the origins of the covid-19 virus, building a “web of protection” against China.

On why Australians should trust him, Morrison said because he is “not pretending to be someone else”. “Australians know me and I’m pretty resilient”. He then pivoted to policy, arguing the Coalition would help ensure a strong economy and stand up to regional threats.

On petrol prices, Morrison did not rule out a cut to fuel excise, but noted an excise cut is not going to address fluctuations in price which outstrip the amount of tax paid, as petrol has increased from $1.70 to $2.20 a litre.

He said Australians understood that the price spike is caused by the war in Europe and Australia will work with international partners to release fuel reserves in a bid to ease prices.

Updated

More than 1,450 defence personnel are assisting with search, rescue and recovery efforts in Queensland, while 5,500 are assisting in NSW.

Today in Queensland, personnel will be focusing on disaster relief clean-up efforts in Bundamba, Goodna and Ipswich.

Ten Australian defence force and Singaporean helicopters based at Oakey will support south-eastern Queensland and northern NSW with tasks including search and rescue, aerial reconnaissance, food distribution, patient transfer and logistics support.

Updated

The Victorian government has formalised a collaboration agreement with Korea on mRNA research and development, clinical trials and manufacturing.

Signed at the Korea Medical Discovery 2022 conference in Seoul, the memorandum of understanding is between mRNA Victoria and the Korean Health Industry Development Institute.

It will bring together Victoria’s biotech research expertise with Korea’s biomanufacturing specialisation.

Under the partnership, Victoria and Korea have committed to exchange information and facilitate linkages between industry, research and government organisations on opportunities for joint early-stage RNA research, clinical trials and investment into the development and manufacture of new RNA-based therapies and vaccines.

The development of mRNA vaccines has been one of the good news stories to emerge from the pandemic, but it is hoped the technology used for the vaccines can be used for a whole new range of therapeutics for other diseases.

Updated

Many NSW and Queensland councils are scrambling to find funding that could top $1bn in total to repair roads ripped apart by the devastating flood waters, my colleagues Caitlin Cassidy and Joe Hinchliffe report.

Commuters across New South Wales and Queensland are dodging gaping potholes and avoiding cracked roads after flooding damaged the states’ road networks, with mayors arguing they will need to be repaired stronger to withstand future disasters.

As storms eased and waters receded in NSW this week, the full extent of the damage was revealed, with landslides and cracks on freeways, roads and suburban streets.

The NSW premier, Dominic Perrottet, will visit flood affected areas in the Hawkesbury Nepean region later this morning.

The premier will then hold a press conference at 12.30pm, so we will bring you that as it happens.

Updated

WA could soon reach 10,000 Covid cases per day

National cabinet is moving to end quarantine requirements for Covid-19 close contacts, as the Omicron wave of the virus approaches its peak in Western Australia, AAP reports.

It is predicted WA, which recorded 4,300 new Covid-19 cases on Saturday, could have about 10,000 new cases per day by next week, with hospitalisations forecast to peak towards the end of March.

Meanwhile, Scott Morrison said on Saturday that quarantine requirements are starving businesses of staff, and scrapping the need to isolate for extended periods will help the nation’s economic recovery.

Rather than a specified timeframe, otherwise healthy people with mild respiratory illnesses will instead be encouraged to undertake voluntary self-isolation only while symptomatic.

National cabinet is also looking at measures to reduce the reliance on PCR testing for Covid-19 diagnosis.

The Australian Health Protection Principal Committee is urgently reviewing both changes.

In WA, anyone who contracts the virus, as well as their close contacts, is currently required to isolate for seven days.

The state closed its borders to the rest of the country early in the pandemic, and while those restrictions have been lifted, density limits and mask requirements are still in force.

Morrison predicted a challenging winter, with Covid-19 cases and influenza likely to have an effect.

“Now that we are living with the virus, it means we are living with everything again,” he said.

The government has set aside $2.1bn to prepare for winter, including $1.2bn to help protect residential aged care and disability care sectors, $356m to protect vulnerable population groups and a further $571m for vaccines.

The government is also deciding on plans to handle a new and potentially more transmissible subvariant of Omicron.

NSW posted 12,850 new infections on Saturday, Victoria recorded 6,075 and Queensland 4,029.

There were 1,130 in Tasmania, 259 in the Northern Territory, 704 in the ACT and 2,374 in South Australia.

There were another 22 virus-related deaths across the nation, with 11 in Victoria, four in NSW, six in Queensland and one in South Australia.

Updated

Good morning

Good morning everyone, it’s Melissa Davey here with you to take you through the news headlines this Sunday morning.

A national emergency was declared in NSW late on Friday, triggering additional resources for flooded areas.

More than 100 mobile home units are on their way to flood-ravaged communities in NSW, as the emergency services minister pledged “unprecedented resources” to help with the clean-up.

The prime minister, Scott Morrison, who toured the flooded Windsor region north-west of Sydney on Saturday, said 20 similar units had already been set up across Lismore in the north of the state.

It is estimated two in three damaged homes in that region will need to be demolished or undergo substantial repairs after the severe floods and storms this month.

“It’s going to be a long road back,” Morrison said on Saturday.

Meanwhile in Covid news, NSW is experiencing another rise in cases, which are expected to double within weeks.

But states should not rush to reintroduce Covid-19 restrictions in response, health experts told Guardian Australia, insisting that raising booster coverage of older Australians will be far more effective against the new BA.2 subvariant than masks and curbs on movement.

On Saturday – a day after national cabinet moved to scrap quarantine requirements for all Covid-19 close contacts – Morrison said: “What we’ve seen with these latest permutations of this variant is it doesn’t need to change our settings. We can keep doing what we’re doing.”

Updated

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