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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Caitlin Cassidy and Matilda Boseley

Nation records 76 Covid deaths as Albanese reveals Labor election priorities – as it happened

What we learned: Tuesday, 25 January

With that wild exchange, we will wrap up the blog for the evening.

Here were today’s major developments, on the two year anniversary (if you could call it that?) of Australia’s first case of Covid-19:

  • Australians in Ukraine are being urged to leave immediately as the threat of Russian military action against the country increases. Defence minister, Peter Dutton, warned Russia against advancement but said Australia would not join the conflict if it ensued.
  • Speaking of Dutton, he confirmed today there is a Covid outbreak on the HMAS Adelaide, bound for Tonga. 23 cases have so far been detected.
  • A day out from Australia Day, the Australian federal government has completed a deal to take ownership of the Aboriginal flag copyright, enabling its free use.
  • Anthony Albanese announced Labor’s election priorities at today’s National Press Club address, including a significant funding injection into wellbeing in schools.
  • NSW premier, Dominic Perrottet, is promising businesses reeling from the effects of the Omicron wave of Covid-19 will get fresh support within a week. It comes as the state recorded 29 Covid deaths and 18,512 new cases, with Covid restrictions to continue for another month to deal with the resumption of elective surgery and schools.
  • Victoria recorded 29 Covid deaths and 14,836 new cases, while Tasmania reported its third Covid-19 death. Queensland reported 11 deaths and 9,546 new cases, while the ACT recorded another Covid death and 904 new cases. SA recorded five deaths, and WA recorded 15 cases including mystery cases.
  • Police have confirmed that nine-year-old Charlise Mutten died from a gunshot wound. Justin Stein, 32, has been charged with her murder.

Perhaps the biggest news of the day, though, was this extremely cringe image of Grace Tame alongside prime minister Scott Morrison today. A picture tells a thousand words.

Updated

The red carpet has been well and truly rolled out ahead of tonight’s ceremony.

“I want to win this fucking thing, to be honest,” says Kyrgios.

“Sink piss and come here [Kia Arena],” adds Kokkinakis.

Updated

An Australian teenager is among dozens of people who could be harmed as Islamic State militants attempt to storm a prison in Syria.

Guardian Australia has confirmed the 17-year-old, who was originally from Sydney, has sent voice recordings claiming he has been injured in the fighting.

The teenager was taken to the Middle East when he was a boy after his family joined IS.

Like many Australian men, women and children, he has been detained since the fall of IS in March, 2019.

The teenager says in the recordings that he has suffered injuries to his head and a hand, and that friends have been killed.

The acting chief executive of Save the Children Australia, Mat Tinkler, said:

Save the Children is extremely concerned for the safety of children in north east Syria where fighting is ongoing. We are particularly concerned for an Australian boy we know is being held in Guweiran prison.

We are distressed to hear reports that children are being used effectively as human shields at Guweiran prison. Save the Children warned Australian officials of the significant risks to Australian children in north east Syria, including this boy.

Will it take the death of an Australian child to compel the Australian government to act? The only way the Australian government can guarantee their safety is to bring these innocent children to Australia immediately.

Updated

If you missed it, tennis champion Dylan Alcott has had quite a busy week. He is not only up for Australian of the Year, but into his last ever Australian Open final as well.

Following opposition leader Anthony Albanese’s Press Club address, Save the Children has welcomed Labor’s commitment of more than $400m in funding towards school students’ wellbeing.

Executive director of Australian services, Matt Gardiner, said the past two years had placed “intense pressure” on children’s mental health, particularly for disadvantaged students:

We cannot afford for students to disengage further from school. This would create disastrous ripple effects for children, communities and the economy well into the future. With hard-working teachers already overburdened, we need specialist mental health care to be bolstered in all schools.

Along with the additional school counsellors and psychologists promised today, Save the Children encourages all major parties to invest in support which gives children practical skills to cope and build resilience to disasters. Save the Children is encouraged that both the government and the opposition have announced measures to address the mental health needs of children, but there is an urgent need for a comprehensive national plan for children’s Covid recovery.

We urge governments at every level to fast-track their plans to prevent lasting effects on our children arising from the pandemic and their future prosperity.

Updated

A major disability provider has Covid-positive workers supporting Covid-positive group home residents in regional Victoria, a union has reported.

The Health and Community Services Union says the local public health unit granted three workers an exemption to continue working while Covid-positive, citing “critical workforce shortages”.

Current orders only allow for an exemption to be granted to asymptomatic close contacts who have tested negative for Covid in Victoria. There is no information from the Victorian government or Department of Health on working while infectious after a positive Covid test.

Acting state secretary, Kate Marshall, said:

The union is strongly concerned about the safety of both our members and the vulnerable people they support. We are appalled that we have not been consulted on this and that no up-to-date Covid plan has been discussed with us.

Yet again, disability has been left behind, and treated inconsistently in comparison with other health services.

HACSU members and disability support workers have found themselves in incredibly challenging circumstances and should be commended for continuing to provide essential supports to clients throughout the pandemic.

Updated

Over in Queensland, the search for police dog Quizz has been scaled back in the area where he was separated from his handler.

A reward will still be considered for anyone who has information that assists in locating PD Quizz.

He is described as a three-year-old Sabel German shepherd with a black and tan hide, wearing a tracking harness and long lead.

He went missing after his lead slipped through the hands of senior constable Daniel McGreevy while tracking an offender through dense bushland off Greenwood Village Road at Redbank Plains several weeks ago.

As a lab owner, this story has caused me genuine distress. Wherever he is, I hope he is happy.

Updated

The foreign minister, Marise Payne, has backed the right of fans at the Australian Open to wear shirts expressing concerns about the fate of Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai, saying freedom of speech should be defended.

My colleague, Emma Kemp, reported earlier today that the Australian Open had reversed its ban on “Where is Peng Shuai?” T-shirts, after a backlash against the tournament’s claim they constituted “commercial or political” material.

However, banners will still be prohibited.

Payne waded into the issue at a doorstop press conference in Newcastle today. Asked for her view on Tennis Australia’s handling of the matter, Payne said she understood there were “wide international concerns” about Peng’s situation.

The foreign minister praised “her strength” in accusing a senior Chinese official of sexual assault in early November.

I respect her strength in making those disclosures and I would hope that it is handled appropriately by the Chinese authorities.

For Australians who wish to message their support for her, as long as it is done in an appropriate way that does not disturb the courts themselves, then I can understand why they would be perturbed if they were prevented – in a country that values freedom of speech, freedom of expression – if they were prevented from wearing, for example, in this case, T‑shirts seeking to support her position.

Back in November, the Australian government called on Chinese authorities to answer serious concerns about Peng’s welfare “with transparency and accountability”.

Updated

Back in the world of politics, Labor frontbencher Katy Gallagher is appearing on ABC News, discussing the revelation that the minister for aged care, Richard Colbeck, accepted sponsored hospitality to watch three days of the Ashes cricket test in Hobart on the same day he declined to appear at the Covid-19 committee.

Gallagher:

We’ve tried to organise a hearing since about 7 January in light of the fact that ... we were having widespread problems with the government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic. So RATs, aged care, the outbreak itself, testing more broadly.

So we’re trying to organise a hearing and ... I’ve tried to work with ministers and officials to find a suitable time, acknowledging that their attention needs to be on the pandemic first ... the response he [Colbeck] gave me was he was working hard on the response and he didn’t want to divert officials. We took him at his word. We now find out he was at the cricket. I don’t think he was being straight with me.

Reporter:

Do you regard that as a bald-faced lie?

Gallagher:

I haven’t heard his response ... but all we can say is he’s gone to the Senate and said to the Senate, I was at the cricket for three days for sponsored hospitality. He’s told us he was at the cricket.

He didn’t tell us that in the letter. He said he was essentially too busy, couldn’t attend and I took him at his word and tried to work with him to have another hearing.

The Senate’s one thing. The broader issue is aged care is in crisis ... it sends a very worrying message about priorities and commitment of this minister.

Updated

Speaking of boisterous tennis crowds, here is the moment Nick Kyrgios accidentally slammed a tennis ball moving at 120km an hour into a little boy’s stomach, then smoothed things over by gifting him a racquet.

Updated

If you haven’t caught this story from Paul Karp, I would recommend you give it a read.

The aged care and sport minister, Richard Colbeck, attended the Ashes cricket on the same day he declined to appear at the Covid-19 committee citing officials’ “urgent and critical” work combating Omicron.

In an update to his register of interests, Colbeck declared that he received “sponsored travel or hospitality” to attend three days of the Hobart Test between Australia and England from Friday 14 to Sunday 16 January.

Updated

Earlier we saw a “surprise” consumer price index result for the December quarter that indicated inflationary pressures are now the highest since mid-2014.

Economists knew there would be some effect from the supply constraints caused in part by Covid-triggered staff absenteeism, and the huge build-up in savings and other stimulus aimed at supporting the economy.

Anyway, now that the underlying inflation has quickened faster than economists and the Reserve Bank of Australia had flagged, we can expect more banks to lift expectations of when they think the central bank will lift the official cash rate.

Westpac moved last week, bringing forward that rate change to August after earlier predicting a 2023 move. The CBA has today joined them in tipping an August move, although there’s a risk it might be June, the top economist Gareth Aird said today.

The ANZ, though, is sitting on the fence for now. In a briefing note, it said:

The RBA will now almost certainly need to adjust its forward guidance to acknowledge a rate hike is possible this year.

... We suspect the RBA won’t shift to a 2022 rate hike as being its central case, likely wanting to see wages growth clearly accelerate. But earlier than expected evidence of this is also possible.

The official cash rate is at a record low of 0.1% so there is only really one way it can go. We may find out at the RBA’s meeting on 1 February – next Tuesday – whether it still thinks 2023 or even 2024 is when it might lift that rate.

Updated

Nine-year-old Charlise Mutten was shot dead before her body was dumped in a barrel in bushland in the Blue Mountains, AAP’s Farid Farid reports. Homicide squad commander detective superintendent Danny Doherty said an extensive post mortem had revealed how the girl died.

The child’s disappearance while holidaying at Wildenstein Private Gardens at Mount Wilson was reported on 14 January, triggering an intensive five-day search of bushland until her body was discovered a week ago, in a barrel dumped near the Colo River northwest of Sydney.

“Charlise … suffered a fatal gunshot wound and that’s how she died,” Doherty told reporters today, describing it as an “unimaginable” murder of a child. Investigations are continuing and the crime scene at Mount Wilson is ongoing.

According to court documents, Charlise was killed days before she was reported missing. Justin Laurens Stein, 31, faced court last week charged with murder after being arrested at a Surry Hills unit in inner Sydney.

Police have interviewed Charlise’s mother Kallista who provided a formal statement that she was not present at the property at the time of the murder and corroborated other key evidence. Police say there was no evidence that puts her at the property at the time of the murder. Stein was alone with Charlise on the night of her murder, Doherty said.

Police have released CCTV footage of a red Holden Colorado ute that was seen driving around and towing a boat in the inner Sydney suburb of Drummoyne followed by the northern areas of Wisemans Ferry and Colo River. They allege Stein had previously tried to float a “covered up” boat at an inner-Sydney dock after buying sandbags from a hardware store, before travelling back to the Colo River.

A plastic barrel was missing from the property indicating a “high probability” of the murder taking place at the remote estate near the Blue Mountains.

FYI, Victorians who test positive to the novel coronavirus between 8.30pm and 11.30pm tonight:

In the wild world of sport, Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios’ quarter finals match has just begun at Kia Arena, and it’s looking like another big, boisterous crowd.

Updated

It appears the public are being evacuated from the Cataract Gorge, where police are employing the use of drones and choppers to search for a missing woman.

Updated

A woman in her 20s has gone missing while swimming at Cataract Gorge in Tasmania after she reportedly became separated from her friends.

Updated

A 40-year-old man has been charged with two counts of murder following the death of a woman and a six-year-old girl in Melbourne’s north earlier this month, Victoria police have confirmed.

The Mill Park man will face Melbourne magistrates’ court at date yet to be determined. He remains under police guard in hospital.

Updated

There have been 23 cases of Covid-19 recorded among the crew of HMAS Adelaide, which departed Brisbane on Friday to deliver humanitarian aid to virus-free Tonga, AAP reports.

The Department of Defence confirmed the positive cases and close contacts were isolating as per Covid-safe protocols, adding the ship would continue on to Tonga and arrive off its coast early Wednesday morning.

HMAS Adelaide would fulfil its mission to support the relief effort, with humanitarian and medical supplies, engineering equipment and helicopters on board, the department said in a statement:

Defence recognises the Covid-free status of Tonga, and will ensure the humanitarian supplies and equipment on board are delivered in a Covid-safe manner.

The ADF has significant experience conducting Covid-19 safe regional responses, including in Fiji following Tropical Cyclone Yasa, which will help contribute to the success and safety of this response.

HMAS Adelaide has “excellent” medical facilities on board and a 40-bed hospital.

All personnel are fully vaccinated, with Covid-positive people either displaying mild symptoms or asymptomatic. Earlier, the defence minister, Peter Dutton, said the government was working with Tonga to ensure no threat to the Pacific nation:

They need the aid desperately but they don’t want the risk of Covid. We will work through all of that as quickly as we can. We are not going to put the Tongan population at risk.

There are over 600 crew onboard. It is the second aid shipment from Australia where a positive case has turned up, with a C-17 plane turned around mid-flight after someone was diagnosed with Covid-19.

Updated

Tasmania records 643 new Covid cases, one death

Tasmania has reported 643 new cases of Covid-19 overnight and, sadly, one death – a 79-year-old woman with underlying health conditions.

It brings active cases in the state to 3,668.

There are 35 people being treated in hospital including three people requiring intensive care.

It is the third Covid-19 death recorded in Tasmania.

Updated

Victorian political correspondent Benita Kolovos has more on state opposition leader Matthew Guy’s doorstop in Cranbourne East earlier today.

Asked if the Victorian government was “secretly trying to kill Australia Day”, Guy replied, “yes”.

He went on:

The Victorian government has absolute intent to do nothing for Australia Day. It’s ideological, it’s typical politics of division that this government engages in. Australia Day is our national day. Until it’s changed, if it’s changed, it may never be changed ... this is our national day. Find ways for all governments to unify us, to heal any issues of the past and bring us together.

The government earlier this month announced the Australia Day parade was not going ahead for the second year in a row. Instead, smaller events including a free public concert will be held.

Guy, who will be involved in a citizenship ceremony on Wednesday, said the cancellation was “sad”:

We’ve got a state government that’s not interested in celebrating our nation. If they don’t like our date, then say it, but don’t try to secretly undermine Australia and everything we’ve achieved as, I think, the world’s most successful multicultural nation.

Victoria’s health minister, Martin Foley, said the date of Australia Day was a matter for the federal government.

Australia Day is a national public holiday that’s determined by the Commonwealth. Australians mark it, respect it and celebrate it, or mourn it in their different ways.

Updated

If you haven’t seen the full video of Grace Tame’s uncomfortable meeting with the PM, Guardian Australia has it in full here.

2021 Australian of the Year, Grace Tame, has appeared stony faced beside the prime minister, Scott Morrison, during the 2022 Australian of the Year morning tea at The Lodge. Tame has not shied away from criticising the PM during her year in the spotlight. The sexual assault survivor and 2021 Australian of the Year has regularly commented on the government’s controversial handling of a number of alleged sexual assault and harassment scandals.

A useful reminder:

Updated

Speaking of 26 January:

Updated

In Queensland, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander partnerships minister, Craig Crawford, has released quite an interesting statement in reference to 26 January.

He says the public holiday “holds different meaning” for every Queenslander, and acknowledges their right to protest:

Australia Day ... highlights the need for a reframed relationship with First Nations people in Queensland. This is the year Queensland’s Path to Treaty process really gains momentum. We will come together this year through truth-telling to reflect on our highs and lows, resolve historical tensions, and celebrate our state, its people, and our shared future.

Truth-telling and an openness to listen is important on Queensland’s Path to Treaty and ultimately, towards reconciliation. Queensland is home to the nation’s second largest population of Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islander people, the world’s oldest continuous living cultures.

Our state is enriched by the cultures, knowledge and contributions of First Nations people – who have occupied and cared for this continent for more than 65,000 years.

We acknowledge the lived experiences, centuries of resilience, and ongoing contributions of Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islander people. We respect the rights of people to express their views about important milestones and calendar dates for the nation, including Australia Day. We also respect the right for lawful and peaceful protest. And we ask all Australians use the day to reflect, respect and honour the true history of this country.

Updated

The Productivity Commission released its report into housing and homelessness today, and it’s bleak.

As we reported this morning, the data shows nearly half of all people who sought help with homelessness last year in New South Wales did not get it. And it’s getting worse – five years ago, unmet requests for accommodation assistance from specialist homelessness services were at 37.2% in Australia’s most populous state; they’re now at 48.2%.

The situation is getting worse in Queensland too, where unmet demand for homelessness services is at 35.9%, up from 25.9% in 2016-2017.

Kate Colvin, national spokesperson for housing campaign coalition Everybody’s Home, drew attention to the extraordinary amount of rental stress that many lower-income Australians are living with:

The Australian rental market now resembles a great white shark, swallowing family incomes almost whole. It’s simply astounding that even after receiving rent assistance, almost half of households are still in housing stress.

The report showed that 45.7% of people receiving commonwealth rent assistance payments are still spending more than 30% of their income on housing – the definition of housing stress.

Mission Australia executive, Ben Carblis, said the situation was “unacceptable”:

Our dual housing and homelessness crisis is a blight on our country. With so much human suffering, the question remains: why isn’t more being done to repair and invest in Australia’s housing system?

This crisis demands the federal government take the reins of a national plan to end homelessness in Australia which focuses on long-term investment to address the stark shortage of social and affordable homes.

Kristen O’Connell from the Antipoverty Centre called for an increase in the rate of social security payments, saying the organisation had seen first hand how the fluctuations in jobseeker payments during the pandemic had changed people’s lives:

Every state and federal member of parliament in this country should be ashamed of themselves. This is the result of decades of under-investment in public housing, chronically low income support payments and lack of access to appropriate healthcare for people with disability.

We know that poverty is the number one cause of homelessness and housing stress in this country and we know the government could do something about it overnight if they cared.

Updated

Well, that was fun!

Quite a lot was covered today. Albanese is pushing hard on a few topics: Medicare, federation, education and childcare, the NBN and climate. Probably the largest announcement was the $440m to go to schools, and the overall enthusiasm for greater commonwealth intervention – through, for example, free rapid antigen tests.

So nothing groundbreaking, but a clear sense of optimism and enthusiasm in his speech – which he contrasted to the commonwealth failures in the past two years of the pandemic.

Updated

Wrapping up Albanese’s National Press Club address, Tingle asks whether he will commit to debating Morrison during the election campaign.

Albanese says he will debate Morrison anywhere, anytime, name your date:

Every day, every week is fine. I can’t get into debating him in the parliament. There has never been a prime minister who is so shy about having a debate ... no other government shut down debate the way that this one does and is so scared of having a debate.

I am up for a debate here with the prime minister. I am up for a debate on ABC, seven, nine, 10, Herald, West, you can all host, Guardian, everyone can host one. I will turn up wherever they are. We will wait and see whether he turns up. I’m available next week, by the way, when he turns up here.

I think an election should be a contest of ideas and I think the more debate, the better ... I think the National Press Club should host a debate, but I am up for a debate wherever, here now, have agreed to do one on Sky, I would debate him anywhere. I will debate on Andrew Bolt if he likes.

Updated

Back to the other big C apart from Covid-19 (climate change), Dominic Giannini from AAP asks Albanese how he will enforce the promised legislation of net zero. He asks: will Labor strengthen the safeguard mechanism to cover more industries or lower the baseline?

The safeguard mechanism is a requirement for the largest emitters of greenhouse gases to keep their net emissions below a certain baseline – building on the national greenhouse and energy reporting scheme.

Albanese says no, to the latter:

We think the current industries that are there provide certainty going forward. So we won’t include – there isn’t a single business that is currently not covered by the safeguard mechanism that will be covered. It’s a straightforward plan. And it’s one that will work. And that’s been fully modelled. And we put it all out there. Our plan didn’t have a little provision, a little asterisk in their pamphlet of stuff we made
up that doesn’t exist yet. And by the way, it doesn’t even add up to net zero by 2050 anyway ...

Journalist:

But you have announced this policy, so what is your one answer about how you’re going to enforce it?

Albanese:

I’m not sure what you mean.

Journalist:

You said you’re going to legislate net zero.

Albanese:

Yeah, you have legislation. And the legislation includes, well the legislation for the safeguard mechanism is there. It was introduced by Tony Abbott. It was Tony Abbott’s legislation. And Tony Abbott’s legislation provides for the companies that are a part of the safeguard mechanism.

What hasn’t happened, what hasn’t happened is that the Climate Change Authority hasn’t put forward an oversight of it that ensures it’s consistent with net zero by 2050. What we did, wasn’t to adopt 43% by 2030 and then decide how we’re going to get there. What we did was say these are the mechanisms we’re going to do.

Updated

This is very good.

Speaking of Western Australia, Lanai Scarr from the West Australian asks Albanese whether he still backs in McGowan’s decision to keep the borders closed and whether he could have done more to prepare for the pandemic.

Albanese says he has backed in “every premier”:

One of the reasons why [the national cabinet] has drifted away is this sort of game of the prime minister being critical of premiers selectively, even though they’re doing the same thing. I recall you can get a cup of coffee in Queensland, or you need to, um, you need to log on, in order to get a cup of coffee in Queensland. It was exactly the same rules in New South Wales.

One of the things I do know about WA under premier McGowan, WA’s economy has been the strongest in Australia, the WA’s exports have kept the national economy going, people in WA have been able to have dinner, they’ve been able to associate and go to each other’s houses, they’ve been able to go to the pub, they’ve been able to to play footy, and I think hosted the grand final last year. So I’m not about second guessing premier McGowan and his decision making process. I make no apologies for saying he’s done a good job ... Mark McGowan has done an outstanding job as the premier of Western Australia.

Updated

Western Australia records 15 new Covid cases

Western Australia has reported 15 new local cases of Covid-19 from about 10,000 tests, AAP reports.

Two are unlinked to other cases, premier Mark McGowan told reporters today.

Two infected people have been admitted to hospital and one is in intensive care.

There were also three cases detected among quarantined travellers.

It comes after 13 new local cases were detected yesterday.

Scaling back a bit, and Albanese is asked by Max Maddison from the Australian whether he will state his position on Labor’s 2009 policy to implement a minimum tax rate on discretionary trust. Will he categorically rule it out?

Albanese:

You get into a game of: ‘will you rule out something else that you might just like to make up?’ It’s not our policy. It’s not our policy until we announce something. And we will work all of those issues through. I’ve been very transparent about what our policy process is.

And can I say this, we have announced ... since December an expanded NBN. A climate policy which is fully costed. 465,000 free TAFE places. 20,000 university places ... a policy of 500 new community workers to deal with domestic violence. A shipping policy that includes a strategic national fleet. High speed rail being a priority ... A policy of disaster preparedness using the ERF. A Great Barrier Reef Fund ... that’s since December. That’s what we’ve done. You know what the government has announced in new policy for the next term since December? Zero! Crickets!

Updated

An amusing question from the ABC’s Andrew Probyn. In light of the huge spotlight on Australia’s premiers during the pandemic, Probyn asks: “for all of those people who do know Mark McGowan more than they know you, who is Anthony Albanese?”

Albanese answers the question in reference to the famed story of his upbringing, growing up in council housing and raised by a single mother:

Anthony Albanese is the son of a single mum who grew up in council housing in Camperdown. She was an invalid pensioner. As I grew up, I understood the impact that government had, can have, on making a difference to people’s lives. And in particular, to opportunity. I had the security, because it was public housing, of a roof over my head. So I didn’t have to worry about that. Until there was a change of government in Sydney City Council. And a conservative group got control who thought that the council shouldn’t be involved in public housing. So they tried to sell my house.

My first campaign, I was 12-years-old. We organised a rent strike. We took petitions around to everyone. That was my experience of that, that drove me. That was my first political campaign. And by the way, we won!

And then, then my mum was crippled with arthritis. So I lived by myself for a long period of time ... I tell it straight. I lived by myself. It’s meant that I’m resilient and I’m tough. If people think I’ll go and you know, into a corner during the upcoming fight, they’re very wrong. They’re very wrong. Just watch. It gave me a determination each and every day to help the people like I was growing up, to have a better life. And I think that that is what Australians want, very simply.

And no-one does it on their own ... One of the things that I’ve learnt in life, too, is that it’s often the poorest people, the most working class people, one of the reasons why I’m a supporter unashamedly of the trade union movement, is that it’s often those people who have less who will give more. That’s me.

Updated

The Guardian’s own Katharine Murphy is up. She returns to Medicare, and asks Albanese if Labor would commit to more funding for public hospitals. It comes in reference to a letter sent to health minister, Greg Hunt, from state leaders last October, which told him there was an “effective underpayment” in the current national hospitals agreement.

Albanese says “Labor will always be better on health and education than our opponent.”

Murphy:

Is that a yes?

Albanese:

That’s the answer I gave! Labor will always be better on health and education than our opponents. We’ve already announced a range of policies out there. And there will be more to come.

Updated

Michelle Grattan from The Conversation is up next. She asks if Labor would hold a royal commission into Australia’s handling of the pandemic. Albanese says it is “beyond doubt” an assessment will be needed.

Whether that be a royal commission or some form of inquiry, that will need to happen. And the best way to ensure support is to have more consultation with the opposition in general. I adopt that principle. I adopted it when I was a minister and when I was leader of the government in the House of Representatives.

Updated

Laura Tingle from the ABC asks Albanese how Labor would provide free rapid antigen tests, as they have been arguing for repeatedly. He says other national governments have done it, while the Coalition has played catch-up:

Other national governments have purchased rapid antigen tests for distribution. What occurred here, even in recent times, and I found the announcement extraordinary, after the government said that pharmacies would provide free rapid antigen tests for concession card holders. They then told pharmacies that they’re on their own getting them. Which is one of the reasons why they’re not available. You actually need to take responsibility for that. And I’ve been approached by companies, for example there’s one, that could provide [tests] and they’ve been trying to get the government to buy en masse up to, and we’re talking in the hundreds of millions, available each month, for $3.25. They tell me $4 including freight. Crickets I hear from this government.

There are so many occasions where the government just makes an announcement and then that’s done – it’s like the box is ticked and they move on. We actually need a government with follow through. A government that plans. A government that puts in place structures. That’s not to underestimate the challenge which is there to rebuild the public service which has been gutted over the last nine years and to rebuild its capacity.

Updated

Hopping out of Canberra for a minute, and Queensland health minister, Grace Grace, has provided an update on her positive Covid test:

Updated

The conclusion to Albanese’s speech is very optimistic and future driven, a thread which has been sustained throughout – recovery as opportunity, and unifying the nation by overcoming division.

We cannot look to our future without also reflecting on the past – including injustice for First Nations people. Until a nation acknowledges the full truth of its history, it will be burdened by its unspoken weight. We must acknowledge the wrongs, learn from them, and look for ways of healing.

Truth telling can be confronting, but it need not be grounds for conflict ... a key part of that is to keep heading down the path to become a country deeply proud of being home to the oldest continuous cultures on Earth. A nation that takes up the Uluru Statement from the Heart and its gracious call, done so generously, for Voice, Treaty and Truth. A powerful and inspiring new chapter in a 60,000-year story.

In conclusion, can I say, that this crisis has shown we are stronger together. But that truth is older and runs deeper than this pandemic. Tommy Wren was the closest person in my life I had to a father figure. He fought in World War II and he spent most of it as a prisoner of war. He always said that his fellow Australian prisoners survived because of a simple code. The healthy looked after the sick. The strong looked after the weak. And the young looked after the old.

To me, that’s always been the best of Australia ... and those are the values I want to bring to the job of prime minister. Leadership that brings people together in a spirit of compassion and decency. A government that seeks to unite the country ... beyond the recovery, I see renewal and I see rejuvenation. I see an Australia rebuilding on the foundation of its people’s greatest strengths and best qualities. An Australia that is worthy of our people and their potential. An Australia where no-one is held back and no-one is left behind. Our best days are ahead of us. Together, we will get out of the pandemic and chart a path to them.

Updated

Before finishing his speech, Albanese turns to Australian of the Year, Grace Tame, who was pictured looking significantly less than pleased alongside Morrison today.

For our country to advance together as one, we must advance equality for women. We need to respect women across all elements of our culture – at work, at home, in schools and in our community. Women’s safety must be an absolute national priority. And on her final day as Australian of the Year, I want to take a moment to thank Grace Tame for her quite extraordinary courage and her fierce advocacy. Grace – you’ve inspired countless Australians and you’ve earned enormous respect.

Now, the events that occurred in parliament not just in recent times but were made public in recent times, they constituted a powerful wake-up call. But we’ve had so many wake-up calls. We have no excuse to wait for another. Every time I look around our caucus room and see my colleagues, such as those who are here today ... I’m reminded of a simple, powerful truth. That our country will be so much closer to what it should be when women enjoy true equality and when our parliament reflects the population with 50% women’s representation.

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Albanese turns to Keating’s famed line, first uttered at the National Press Club: “if you change the government, you change the country”.

He says if Labor is elected, it will prioritise federation reform and greater cooperation between the commonwealth and the states, as well as establishing a national Anti-Corruption Commission.

My team and I want to change the government and change the way that government operates and the way that government is perceived. I don’t expect to make Australians fall in love with question time, but I do want more people to have greater faith in the integrity of their parliament and its representatives.

Australian democracy is a great national achievement, but our system is no more immune to the threat of extremism and polarisation, corrosive influence of corruption and cynicism, than other democracies around the world, many of whom are grappling with these very challenges ...

The best way to make democracy stronger is to make government work better, and that’s why I’ll advocate for federation reform with greater cooperation between the commonwealth and the states. To be true to that vision of Australia. So much more than the sum of its parts.

And – to put it really simply, in our first term, we will have not just a promise, we will have a national Anti-Corruption Commission. One with teeth, to restore faith in government and trust in our public officials. We will end this government’s culture of rorts because public money should not be splashed around in cynical vote buying exercises. And just as I want to encourage the commonwealth and state governments to work together better, I want to encourage business and unions to work together, because ultimately, they share the same interests.

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Read Labor’s education plan in full here:

Albanese moves to renewable energy, outlining Labor’s climate plan to reduce emissions by 43% by 2030, putting Australia “on track” to reach net zero by 2050.

Albanese:

It’s a plan with economic growth at its heart. Over 600,000 jobs created. $52 billion of private sector investment, spurring new industries and cutting power bills by $275 by 2025 for the average family. Unlike Mr Morrison’s glossy pamphlet, Powering Australia is underpinned by the most tensive independent expert modelling ever done for any policy by any Opposition.

Our plan has the backing of the Business Council of Australia, the Australian Industry Group. The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The ACTU. The National Farmers’ Federation, and a range of non-government organisations. Pretty broad spread. That is just one practical example of how I will bring Australians together, united by a common vision and a national partnership for progress. We can, finally, put the climate wars behind us. Setting Australia on a path to a better future is not just about what we do, it also matters how we do it.

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Albanese announces Labor's plan for schools

Albanese turns to education, which he says is “fundamental and essential to the jobs, productivity and prosperity of the future”.

He says education has been neglected by the Coalition preceding the pandemic, and announces a “student wellbeing boost” that would provide funding for school activities and wellbeing. Labor would also prioritise ventilation and improvement of outdoor learning areas in schools in response to the pandemic.

Education is the biggest and most powerful tool we have against disadvantage. I’ve always seen it as one of the greatest divides in Australian politics. Labor sees education as about creating opportunity. The Liberals see it as about entrenching privilege ... it’s why Labor remains committed, working with state and territory governments to getting every school to 100% of its fair funding level. And it’s why today I’m announcing Labor’s plan to help our schools and students bounce back.

Our plan starts with the student wellbeing boost. It will provide funding for school activities to get children back on track. This could mean more funding for school counsellors and psychologists. And for camps, excursions, sporting and social activities, that improve children’s wellbeing.

Every Australian school stands to benefit from this investment. And the schools themselves will decide how to use the extra money to best help their students.

Our plan will direct the education department to conduct an urgent review of the impact of Covid on students with disability so that they get the support that they need ...

The other element of our plan is the Schools Upgrade Fund, which will provide much needed support for improving ventilation in schools and creating outdoor learning areas.

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Albanese says the “greatest lesson” that can be taken from the past two years is not to take Medicare and our public health system for granted. He reminds listeners Medicare was established by the Hawke government: “Labor built Medicare.”

Right now, our health workers are paying the price for some of the most serious public policy failures that our country has ever seen. They are overworked. They are exhausted ... like firefighters during the black summer, they put their own wellbeing on the line for their fellow Australians. And they’re doing it every day. They embody the best of the Australian spirit. We owe it to them to study what the pandemic has revealed about the vulnerabilities of our public health system and strengthen it for the future.

At heart of it all is Medicare – a proud Australian achievement. Medicare is part of who we are. It makes our way of life possible with its green and gold, it is the most patriotic piece of plastic that you can have in your wallet ... Labor built Medicare, not just as a safety net, but as a conscious act of nation building.

Right now, we could strengthen both the safety net and our sense that we are all in this together by making rapid antigen tests available free to every Australian through Medicare. And that is what we should do. That is what a Labor government would have done at this moment, because Labor will always strengthen Medicare. We know there is nothing more central to our families, our communities, our schools and our economy than our health.

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Albanese turns to the pandemic, including a little pun (referring to Morrison) that got a laugh: “he doesn’t hold a hose and he doesn’t give a rats”.

Albanese says Covid is the “greatest crisis” we have faced since the global financial crisis:

It is beyond comprehension that this government has actively refused to learn from this pandemic. This government has failed repeatedly on testing, tracing, vaccinations and quarantine. The grand slam of pandemic failure. A prime minister who was repeatedly warned by experts about what is coming, and given the opportunity to plan ahead. But repeatedly fails to listen and more importantly, fails to act.

And while Mr Morrison talks drivel at the cricket and shows off the contents of his kitchen, Australians are being confronted by empty supermarket shelves.

And contrary to Barnaby Joyce’s extraordinary statements yesterday, Australians are dying from Covid in record numbers. Over 900 lives lost in the first 25 days of this year. Never before has Australia had a prime minister with such a pathological determination to avoid responsibility.

He declares – it’s not my job, it’s not a race, it’s a matter for the states. He doesn’t hold a hose and he doesn’t give a rats. Every action, every decision has to be dragged out of him. And so often, after all of the build-up, he gets it wrong anyway.

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Albanese:

If I’m successful, the future we are working towards will be demonstrated to Australians by the end of Labor’s first term. An Australia with rising living standards – lifted by more secure work, better wages, better conditions for small business, stronger Medicare and more affordable childcare.

An Australia with more secure jobs in both existing and new industries. Industries that will be reaping the benefits of cheap, renewable energy. An Australia that is secure in our place in the world – standing up for Australian democratic values and for human rights on the global stage. An Australia with robust funding for the Australian defence force, which rebuilds our diplomatic service, revitalises our international aid program and works closely with our American ally and regional partners in the challenges and uncertainties that lie ahead.

An inclusive society where gender, race, or religion, are no indication of a person’s opportunities or possibilities. An Australia that is reconciled with ourselves and with our history, and with a constitutionally recognised First Nations voice to parliament.

The desire to leave that legacy for Australians, with the lessons of this moment at its core will be a driving force of a Labor government that I seek to lead.

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Continuing, Albanese goes through his shopping list of priorities for the upcoming election, which he says have been neglected by the Morrison government.

It includes:

  • Prioritising a “strong, properly funded public health system”, with Medicare as its backbone
  • Addressing insecure work
  • Investing in TAFE and the training sector
  • Local manufacturing
  • A high quality NBN
  • Affordable childcare

Albanese:

In a recent profile when asked to reflect on his time in office, Mr Morrison suggested that he is not interested in leaving a legacy. For him – leaving no legacy is a conscious choice. I find this pretty remarkable. If given the opportunity, I want to make a real difference for the people of our nation and to strengthen the nation itself. I want a better future.

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Unbelievable! Albanese is somehow live tweeting while simultaneously addressing the National Press Club. And they say men can’t multitask.

Alright, back to Albanese, who is making his case for government.

He says we “must learn from the lessons of the pandemic” to build a more “resilient” Australia. His vision draws on past Labor leader Paul Keating, who said the lesson of the first world war was one about “ordinary people, and the lesson that they were not ordinary”.

What stands before us now is the opportunity to build on the best qualities that characterise Australians, and to realise our potential as a people and as a nation more fully than at any time in our history. The chance is ours to seize. But it requires courage and it requires vision ...

Just pushing through this pandemic is not enough. We need to learn from it. We need to use what the last two years have taught us to build a better future ... The Australian people have been simply magnificent during this crisis. Calm in the midst of turmoil – looking out for each other in tough times. If I’m elected prime minister of this great country of ours, I see it as my deep responsibility to repay these sacrifices. To reward these efforts. To prove worthy of the generosity and bravery of the Australian people.

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SA records five deaths, 1,869 new Covid cases

Hopping over to South Australia before we return to Albanese, and there have been 1,869 new Covid-19 cases detected in the state – a record low for 2022.

Sadly, there have been five new Covid deaths including two in the past 24 hours.

There are 287 people being treated in hospital, including 32 in ICU and five requiring ventilation.

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Big news coming out of Melbourne.

The Australian Open is making an apparent backflip on its ban on the “Where is Peng Shuai” T-shirt following significant backlash – including within the tennis community.

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Anthony Albanese announces Labor election priorities

Hoping over to Canberra now, and the opposition leader, Anthony Albanese, is fronting the National Press Club in the first address of the year. The prime minister, Scott Morrison, will be following suit next week.

He begins by acknowledging tomorrow will be a difficult day for First Nations people:

Australia’s best days are ahead of us. Not just the better days that we’re all hoping for right now, but the best our nation has ever seen. Together, we are ready for it. Australia Day is a good moment for us to reflect, to consider our blessings as a nation and to celebrate them. Perhaps that is more important now than it has been for decades. We’ve been through a time so challenging that none of us will ever forget it.

And I know, as we enter the third year of the pandemic, a lot of Australians are exhausted. They’re worn down by bad news, uncertainty, inconvenience, disruption and separation from loved ones. And we look forward to the day when we can put all of this behind us. My argument to you today is that if we want to get this moment right, Australia can emerge from this once in a century crisis better, stronger, more fair and more prosperous.

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This morning’s sharemarket fall has turned into a bit of a rout, with the benchmark ASX200 index down by almost 3% shortly after midday.

There’s red across the board and across sectors, with miners, financials and retailers all getting punished.

Seven West Media fell almost 8%, as did forex trading group OFX.
Millionaire’s factory Macquarie Group isn’t minting any richies today, down 3.98% – as was Gerry Harvey’s Harvey Norman.

West African Resources, which has a mine in Burkina Faso, where there’s been a coup, remains the biggest loser, down 16.5%.

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Many thanks to the equally fantastic Matilda Boseley. I’ll be with you for the rest of this fine Tuesday.

With that, I shall hand you over the always fantastic Caitlin Cassidy for the rest of the afternoon.

Payne has again reiterated that Australia has no intention to engage militarily with Russia at this point, although other (less direct) measures are being considered if they do invade Ukraine.

We’re working closely with Australians in Ukraine and our embassy is in contact with all of the Australians for whom we have details in Ukraine. As you know, from the change to the travel advice, our advice to those people is to leave Ukraine now, via commercial means. It is possible to do that.

There’s basically regular services continuing out of Kiev. And this is, as I said, out of caution and out of prudence, to protect the interests and the safety of Australians. We have not been asked for further assistance from Ukraine.

But we’ll continue those discussions, not just with Ukraine, but with our partners, with the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, the members of the European Union, the members of NATO, very closely engaged on these issues.

Reporter:

Is military involvement or advisors on the table?

Payne:

Military involvement is not something Australia [is] involved in offering. Both the prime minister and I have mentioned that in the last week.

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Police confirm Charlise Mutten died from gunshot wound

Police have confirmed that nine-year-old Charlise Mutten died from a gunshot wound.

Mutten went missing in the Blue Mountains on 13 January and her body was found five days later inside a barrel on the banks of the Colo River.

Homicide squad commander Danny Doherty spoke a short time ago:

I can confirm that the cause of death for Charlise was that she suffered a fatal gunshot wound, and that’s how she died ...

32-year-old Justin Stein has been charged with Charlise’s murder. Police are now calling for anyone with further information, specifically about a car police believe is connected to the alleged murder, to come forward:

Investigations are still ongoing. The crime scene at Mount Wilson is ongoing. Yesterday and today we’re still searching the building and surroundings at Mount Wilson, obviously now looking for a firearm. And that’s been with the assistance of police, divers and the dog unit ...

As part that investigation, we’re releasing CCTV on the red Holden Colorado that was seen to be driven into the city area and also around the Wisemans Ferry area and Colo River area and that’s important for investigative reasons because there are some gaps in the timeline, where the vehicle is seen towing a boat and so we’re keen to appeal to the public who may have seen suspicious activity in those locations:

On 13 January, the Thursday before Charlise was reported missing: 5:53pm in a BP at Marsden Park, Richmond Road; 7:19pm Victoria Road at Drummoyne; and at 7:30 at Bayswater Road in Drummoyne; and, importantly, up to 9:50 at the Five Dock boat ramp at Drummoyne.

The follow morning: about 1:30am to 1:40am, the Windsor boat ramp and then at the Colo River on 14 January; at 2:25am to 2:30am in the Colo River jetty under the Putty Road Bridge; and 2:37am to 2:46am [on] Lower Colo Road.

Police described Mutten’s death as “unimaginable and egregious”.

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Foreign minister Marise Payne is speaking now about Australia’s decision to urge all citizens in Ukraine to come home by any commercial means possible, as fears of a Russian invasion grow.

We’ve taken the cautious and prudent decision to return dependants to Australia and that’s understandable I think in the circumstances.

It’s one which we have discussed with our like-minded [allies] particularly the United States, Canada, the UK, and many European representatives who have diplomatic posts in Ukraine.

I spoke to the foreign minister last week and talked with him, I spoke to our ambassador in Kiev at length on Friday evening. This is an important step and it is about protecting Australians and protecting the families of our diplomatic staff.

She was asked about Australia’s ability to provide cyber-security assistance to help Ukraine fend off potential Russian cyber attacks:

They’ve been victims of cyber-attacks, many reportedly sourced to Russian actors of various sorts. In that context, we have previously worked with Ukraine in cyber-affairs and cyber-security, including some training last year.

My ambassador for cyber-affairs and critical technology is engaging with the Ukrainian system. Australia has worked very hard on our international engagement strategy on cyber. This is the time, this is the challenge, and we’ll be working with our partners.

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National Covid summary

Here is a summary of the daily numbers so far:

NSW
Deaths – 29
Cases – 18,512
Hospitalisations – 2,943 (183 in ICU)

Victoria
Deaths – 29
Cases – 14,836
Hospitalisations – 1,057 (119 in ICU)

Queensland
Deaths – 11
Cases – 9,546
Hospitalisations – 928 (51 in ICU)

ACT
Deaths – 1
Cases – 904
Hospitalisations – 67 (three in ICU)

SA
Deaths – 5
Cases – 1,869
Hospitalisations – 287 (32 in ICU)

WA
Deaths – 0
Cases – 15
Hospitalisations – 2 (1 in ICU)

Tasmania
Deaths – 1
Cases – 643
Hospitalisations – 35 (3 in ICU)

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ACT records another Covid death and 904 new cases

The Covid death toll in the ACT has climbed to 25 today after a woman in her 80s died after contracting the virus.

In a statement ACT Health said it “extends its sincere condolences to her family and friends at this difficult time.”

There are now 67 people in hospital in the territory, including three in the ICU.

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Queensland CHO Dr John Gerrard says the peak of hospitalisations across the state is lower than expected, but will still strain the health care system.

There is no question that as we approach the peak, there will be strain and stress on individual hospitals.

But the peak, it appears to be slightly less in most areas and it won’t necessarily be the same everywhere.

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Queensland health minister Dr John Gerrard says Queensland and specifically Townsville is now approaching the peak of the Omicron wave.

The peak is expected, we expect an acceleration in the number of cases here in Townsville over the next two weeks. Townsville approaches its peak in about two weeks’ time, but thankfully you have high vaccination rates here in Townsville, and that will put you in good stead ...

The good news is, in most of the world what we’ve seen is a steady rise in cases over a period of about one month followed by a steady fall over the next month. That’s what we are expecting to see here in Queensland ...

I remind you that [the peak] is not the end. The peak is the high point, the high point of the pandemic and, over the next month after the peak, the numbers are expected to fall, to come to a level, and then we’ll see what happens thereafter. [It’s] still a little bit unclear worldwide what will happen at the end of this wave.

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Queensland reports 11 deaths and 9,546 new cases

Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is speaking now and has confirmed the state has recorded 9,546 cases and sadly 11 more Covid deaths, all over the age of 50.

I know this is very heartbreaking to families. Can I say none of this is easy. And, you know, we don’t want to be reporting this, but we are during a health pandemic and Dr. Gerard will go through a bit more detail about the status and the ages but they’re all over 50 years of age.

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Underlying inflation climbs to highest since mid-2014

Australia’s consumer prices rose 3.5% in the December quarter from a year ago, while the underlying rate climbed to 2.6%.

The figures, just released by the ABS, will be pored over by economists for any hints that the nation’s inflation is on the same trajectory as the soaring levels seen overseas. It’s what you might expect if you juice up the economy with stimulus packages and add in Covid-related supply shortages.

That 2.6% rate is the one of interest. Dubbed the trimmed mean, the tally is the highest since the June quarter of 2014. On a quarterly basis, the rise was 1.3%.

More to come on this, but expect more of the banks to follow Westpac’s lead from last week, when they brought forward their guess of when the RBA will start lifting the official interest rate from the record low 0.1%.

Westpac reckons it will be in August, with another rate rise two months later. Borrowing costs are already on the rise, and today’s CPI figures will likely add to that pace.

Among the various sectors, the construction industry is a standout because of shortages to labour and raw materials. The cost of new dwellings has risen in the past two quarters to the fastest rate since September 2000 just after the GST got going, the ABS said.

Fuel prices were another big contributor, rising 6.6% in the December quarter to a new record for a second quarter in a row.

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Oh my good gosh, you have to see these photos of Grace Tame meeting with prime minister Scott Morrison this morning. (Today marks the last day of her term as 2021 Australian of the Year.)

Oh and there are more!

Scott Morrison and Grace Tame.
Scott Morrison and Grace Tame. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

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Gosh, the Victorian press conference has gone on forever!

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From Victorian state correspondent, Benita Kolovos, who is still on the press conference which happened a bit earlier. The deputy state controller of Victoria’s health system operations, Adam Horsburgh, was still taking questions:

When the code brown was activated last week, authorities said there could be more than 2,500 Covid cases in hospital by early February. There are currently 1,057 cases in hospital, an increase of 59 since Monday.

Asked whether the code brown could end earlier than planned given the figures, Horsburgh replied:

While the number of admissions and staff availability have either remained stable or improved slightly over the past seven days, the system is still under enormous strain. And therefore we do think that the code brown ... is still the appropriate response at this point in time.

In the background, we are preparing work to consider how and when we can restore elective surgery. We’re very conscious of the impact that the deferral of elective surgery has on everyone on a waiting list. But we do not believe at this point in time that the system is in a position to restart elective surgery.

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The sharemarket is off to a weak start this morning, with the benchmark ASX200 index falling as expected.

At about 11am it was down 1.36% off the back of falls across the board.

West African Resources took the biggest tumble, with shares plunging more than 9% on news of a coup in Burkina Faso, where it has a gold mine. The company says the mine, Sanbrado, is “continuing to operate as usual.”

Oil and gas company Beach Energy was down about 5.5% and retailer Harvey Norman fell 2.96%.

Rival retailer Myer rose 5.41% after an upbeat sales report and BNPL operator Sezzle skyrocketed 20% on news it is in talks to merge with Zip.

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NSW’s new treasurer Matt Kean has announced his first major change since formally taking over from now premier Dominic Perrottet in the role in December.

Paul Grimes, who was the coordinator general of Kean’s former Environment, Energy and Science division when he was environment minister, will be the 28th secretary of the NSW treasury from 29 January 2022.

Grimes replaces Michael Pratt, who served in the top post for the past five years and had been rumoured to be leaving soon. Pratt’s term, though, will be marked down for the accounting controversy surrounding the state’s rail assets.

The auditor general had refused to sign off on the state’s accounts over their valuation that puffed up the reported bottom line. The dispute ended this week, but there is a $4.1bn adjustment to come in the future.

Kean, it seems, is eager to draw a line under that rail debacle.

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Jumping back to Victoria for a second:

Updated

We have a bit more information about the 29 people with Covid-19 who sadly died in NSW from the state’s health department:

Five people were aged in their 60s, three people were in their 70s, 14 people were in their 80s, six people were in their 90s and one was more than 100 years old.

21 people had received two doses, and six people were not vaccinated.

One person who died was aged under 65. This man was not vaccinated and had serious underlying health conditions.

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From Victorian state correspondent, Benita Kolovos:

Foley said currently one in five calls to triple zero are not for emergencies.

The deputy state controller of Victoria’s health system operations, Adam Horsburgh, explained:

In my role, I hear firsthand many of the stories of people who have felt the need to attend an emergency department or call triple zero because they didn’t necessarily know how else to access the advice or support that they needed when they tested positive.

As we’ve outlined before, it’s vitally important that we work to relieve some of the pressure that our frontline doctors and nurses are facing.

He also provided an update on the state’s hospital system since a code brown was announced for all metro hospitals and six regional ones last week.

Since the code brown was called we have seen a drop in calls to triple zero and also a reduction in presentations to the emergency department, and this has been really important in relieving some of the pressure on those frontline emergency services.

We’ve also seen improvements in the number of staff available to work as a consequence of the changes to the furlough policy and improved access to rapid tests ... Having said all of that, the pressure on the health system remains intense. And it’s important to remember the challenges that our frontline staff are dealing with every day.

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From Victorian state correspondent, Benita Kolovos:

Health minister Martin Foley has announced a new campaign encouraging people with mild Covid-19 symptoms to recover at home. He said since the start of 2022 more than 550,000 people have contracted the virus but just 0.71% have required hospitalisation.

He said:

For every person who ends up in hospital – and there are a significant amount of Victorians in the hospital with Covid – thousands more get mild symptoms and are able to rest and recover at home.

Foley said the campaign will also serve to remind Victorians to save triple zero and the emergency department for “the most serious of matters”.

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This is an interesting update on the HMAS situation. The wife of one of the crew on board says that lines of communication with the ship are down, and she can’t get in touch with her husband.

Covid outbreak on the HMAS Adelaide

Oh dear, it seems Tonga was right to take precautions to ensure foreign aid workers who are travelling to the island nation to assist in the volcano/tsunami recovery effort do not inadvertently spread Covid-19 throughout the community.

Defence minister Peter Dutton says there is now a large outbreak of Covid-19 on the HMAS Adelaide (one of our big military ships bringing supplies to Tonga). So far 23 cases have been detected on board.

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Heads up to my beautiful SA readers:

‘He’s great’: Giant ram survives 4.7 magnitude earthquake in WA

A 4.7 magnitude earthquake has hit the Great Southern town of Wagin in Western Australia shortly before 5.30am.

Aftershocks have been felt, including a 3.6 magnitude one near Arthur River and a 2.6 magnitude one near Darkan, reports AAP.

The quake was about eight kilometres deep, says Geoscience Australia.

Wagin is a wheatbelt town about 230km southeast of Perth, known for its giant ram “Bart” and annual Woolarama event.

Shire president Phillip Blight said Bart and the century-old buildings in the town had escaped damage.

I’m just having a look right now at the giant ram in Wagin to make sure he hasn’t suffered any damage ... he’s great.

[My wife and I] were having breakfast and it built fairly rapidly, it started and built fairly rapidly to a maximum intensity and it just rumbled along.

It just wasn’t probably quite strong enough that I could see a plate or a knife or a fork moving on the table sort of thing, it didn’t do that. But yeah, just strong enough to certainly recognise what it was.

Updated

Foley is addressing the increase of Covid-19 hospitalisations today, and the tragically high death toll of 29.

However, it’s worth noting 17 of those deaths are historical (from recent weeks) which have been added to the Covid tally following investigations.

Foley:

Among people with Covid-19, yesterday we saw 1,057 people in hospital, up slightly from the figure of 998 from yesterday.

That is a seven-day running average of 1,063.

119 of these Victorians are currently in the intensive care unit. We have seen a very small drop of people on a ventilator in the ICU, down from 47 to 45.

We tragically saw 29 people with Covid-19 pass away, 12 of whom have died within the previous two days.

If I can take this opportunity to pass on my condolences, best wishes, and thoughts to 29 families who have lost a loved one, 29 families who will be morning and grieving. It is a sad loss at this time.

Updated

Okay, let’s listen in to the Victorian health minister Martin Foley who is speaking now.

If your little one is still missing an “I’m vaccinated” sticker, here are the best places to get them in Melbourne.

Dutton says 'haven’t heard a true account' from China on tennis star Peng Shui

The defence minister, Peter Dutton, has been asked about Tennis Australia’s handling of a protester wearing a Where Is Peng Shuai T-Shirt at the Australian Open.

Dutton told Sky News:

A woman [Peng Shui] makes a claim of having been sexually assaulted, raped, in 2021 ... And still we don’t have answers to that, as to how authorities have responded other than her social media accounts have been wiped.

We really haven’t heard a true account, she hasn’t departed China. It’s deeply concerning. We should be speaking up about these issues.

Dutton said that everyone – celebrities, Tennis Australia and the Women’s Tennis Association – should speak up about the issue, but declined to criticise Tennis Australia’s response.

China’s Peng Shuai.
China’s Peng Shuai. Photograph: Andy Brownbill/AP

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Amid the gathering economic storms, as flagged here, there are a couple of more upbeat readings on the Australian mood this morning.

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s weekly credit card spending tracker reveals a broad rebound has begun, at least in the figures to 21 January.

Consumer spending is “holding up better than feared”, the report said, while adding the necessary caveat that it’s “still early days” in terms of living with Covid. Western Australia, which notably has put off its reopening date to the never-never, was leading all states in the spending rebound.

The ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence Survey, also out today, is a bit patchier, but generally showed the mood to be picking up.

Consumer sentiment improved 2.2% last week to be just above the neutral 100 mark in the index. Again, WA helped to lead the improvement along with Victoria and Queensland, while New South Wales slumped as did South Australia.

Measures such whether it’s time to buy a major household item (a category that seems rather subjective) picked up 6.3 percentage points, reversing some of the 15.8% fall during the first two weeks of 2022.

The ANZ attributed some of the rebound to reports last week that the jobless rate was now at its lowest in more than 13 years – or at least it was prior to the Omicron whack to supply chains, staffing levels, and so forth.

“The live entertainment of the Australian Open tennis and great weather might have added to Victoria’s positive outlook,” the commentary said, though perhaps prematurely given the sultry conditions that have a week to run in Victoria’s fair capital.

Inflation expectations, meanwhile, have edged up in the ANZ survey to match a recent high of 5%. That’s timely, as we’re about to learn a bit more about consumer prices.
At 11.30am, the ABS will tell us all about how consumer prices fared in the December quarter. The market is expecting a “headline” figure of 3.2% compared with a year earlier, and a 1% increase compared with the September quarter.

Economists, though, will be more interested in the underlying readings, which are supposed to strip out more volatile changes.

Anything higher than about 2.5% on a yearly basis and 0.8% on a quarterly one will have the quills being resharpened to adjust the guesses of how soon the Reserve Bank will start to raise the official interest rate.

Westpac broke ranks last week among the big four to predict the cash rate will start to rise by August, compared with the RBA’s insistence 2024, or maybe 2023 at a pinch, would be the time to start “hiking”.

Today’s CPI figures may prompt other banks to bring forward their predictions too.

Updated

There will be bloody scenes: Peter Dutton warns against Russia invasion of Ukraine

The Australian defence minister, Peter Dutton, has warned Russia against invading Ukraine but said Australia will not be part of any military response if it does.

Dutton told Sky News the situation is “precarious to say the least” because Russia is “obvious in its intent, amassing troops on the border”.

Dutton said Australia wants to see a de-escalation, because conflict would “result in 10,000s of people losing their lives in Ukraine”.

Dutton said Australia doesn’t expect to be asked to contribute troops or military assets because “we’ve got a lot on in the Indo-Pacific at the moment”.

He said:

We haven’t received a request nor would we expect to receive one.

The Brits and the US in particular and the EU have provided support to Ukraine, so-called lethal aid, those countries are closer in proximity or have a vested interest in the circumstances as they play out. We hope deterrence means they [Russia] don’t continue on path to conflict with Ukraine. [Because if they do] 10,000s will die, there will be bloody scenes.

It’s not too long ago where we saw tragic scenes in that part of the world – we want to make sure they’re not repeated. We would condemn any military action.

Dutton noted foreign minister Marise Payne is discussing possible cyber assistance with her Ukrainian counterpart but did not give any concrete commitment.

Ukrainian servicemen from the 25th Air Assault Battalion are seen stationed in Avdiivka, Ukraine on January 24, 2022.
Ukrainian servicemen from the 25th Air Assault Battalion are seen stationed in Avdiivka, Ukraine on January 24, 2022. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Updated

We will be getting the Queensland update in about an hour and a half when the premier stands up at 11.30am AEST.

RING THE MELBOURNE PRESS CONFERENCE CLAXON - We will be hearing from the health minister for a Covid update at 10.30am AEDT.

In other news, Joe Biden may or may not have just called a Fox News reporter a “stupid son of a bitch”.

Very 2022 areas.

Updated

Covid restrictions in New South Wales will remain in place for another month, the premier Dominic Perrottet has announced, saying the state was taking a “cautious” approach amid an expected increase in cases as schools resume across the state next week.

The decision means that existing restrictions – which include a ban on singing and dancing in bars, as well as a one-person per square metre rule in hospitality venues, an indoor mask mandate and QR code check-ins – will now run until at least Sunday 28 February.

On Tuesday Perrottet said the government still planned to keep its commitment to end its pause on elective surgery by mid-February. Perrottet said:

This is a cautious approach, a safe and measured approach, as we move through this next phase and also ensures that we continue to instil confidence, particularly in our parents, sending kids back to school and as mobility increases.

As Dr Chant has said, we will expect cases to rise, so this is a measured and proportionate approach to the situation that we are in here in New South Wales.

Updated

There has been a little mini earthquake in Western Australia, but luckily authorities say there is no tsunami threat.

Tweet me at @MatildaBoseley if you felt it!

The number of people hospitalised with Covid-19 in NSW has now reached an all-time high, dashing hope that those numbers were already on the decline following several hopeful days of numbers.

There are an additional 127 people in hospital with Covid-19 in NSW today, bringing the total to 2,943. However, there are now 183 people in the ICU, a decrease of 13.

Victoria has also seen a jump in hospitalisation numbers, with 1,057 now in Covid wards, up from 998 yesterday. There are now 119 in ICU, which remains stable.

Updated

Here is the premier’s full statement about the roll over of restrictions:

NSW Covid restrictions to continue for another month

The New South Wales premier says the current restrictions will roll over for another month, to help ensure the resumption of schooling and elective surgeries go smoothly.

Perrottet:

As we move through, we want to maintain that cautious approach as we continue to get our booster program moving. So the restrictions that we put in place last year, we will be rolling over for another month.

This is a cautious approach, a safe and measured approach, as we move through this next phase ...

As you’d be aware, those restrictions we’ll be rolling over include density limits of two square metres, wearing face masks indoors, no singing and dancing in hospitality venues.

These measures are proportionate, but particularly, you know, taking a cautious approach as we move through and really focus on getting kids back in the classroom on the first day of school this year in a safe way, and as well, making sure that we get that non-urgent elective surgery back.

Updated

NSW premier Dominic Perrottet has confirmed the state will resume elective surgeries in mid-Febuary:

... as well that, we bring back as quickly as possible non-urgent elective surgery. We put a pause on that as we did during the Delta and Alpha outbreaks.

I want to thank people for their patients. This is surgery that should occur over the 365-day period. We want that non-urgent elective surgery back as quickly as possible. We’ve set out a date in mid-February and that’s our commitment to maintaining that date.

Updated

First up on the agenda today for NSW is once again the return to school:

It’s been, obviously, a disruptive year in our education system in New South Wales and around the country over the last two years. But they’re doing an amazing job as well as we prepare with the school plan we’ve put together ... I want to thank our parents for their patience.

For the last year or two, many parents have had to home school and we know that as we go through this next period of time in getting kids back in the classroom on day one, term one, that there will be disruption, there will be issues that come through as we move through this period of time. But from a New South Wales government perspective, we have put together incredibly strong plans. We have resourced those plans.

We’ve invested significantly to ensure we can have kids back in the classroom on day one, term one, in a safe way, in a safe way for parents, for students and for teachers.

Updated

NSW premier Dominic Perrottet is speaking now, let’s listen in.

Victoria records 29 Covid deaths and 14,836 new cases

NSW records 29 Covid deaths and 18,512 new cases

Just a reminder, we are about to get the daily Covid-19 numbers for NSW and Victoria, and shortly after that hear from the NSW leadership for their daily virus update.

Australians in Ukraine are being urged to leave immediately as the threat of Russian military action against the country increases.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on Monday night raised its advice to “Do Not Travel”.

“Australians in Ukraine should leave now by commercial means, where safe to do so, noting that flight availability could change or be suspended at short notice,” it said in a statement.

You can read the full report below:

A major Guardian investigation examines the 1,700km Melbourne to Brisbane megaproject to find out whether communities along its route will benefit and whether their concerns are being bypassed.

This one is definitely worth a read:

Updated

Support for NSW business within a week

The NSW premier is promising businesses reeling from the effects of the Omicron wave of Covid-19 will get fresh support within a week, reports AAP.

The state Labor opposition says a business support package is urgently needed to lift small- and medium-sized businesses out of the summer’s “shadow lockdown” as the rampant virus keeps workers and customers at home.

Premier Dominic Perrottet says treasurer Matt Kean is working with stakeholder groups and industry “to make sure the support that we provide ... during his period has impact”.

“It will be within a week,” the premier told Sydney radio 2GB on Tuesday.

Our focus ... has always been to put businesses and workers before the budget ... and we will continue to do that.

He also promised non-urgent elective surgery would resume as soon as possible after an Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report found the median wait time for procedures blew out to 48 days in the 2020/21 financial year, an increase of nine days compared to the previous year.

Perrottet said the government would commit funding to clear the surgery backlog when the pressure had eased on NSW public hospitals.

As soon as we ... get advice from our medical teams that we can bring that non-urgent elective surgery back we will do so...

It’s a key focus of ours ... that we would get that back on track as quickly as possible.

Updated

The benchmark ASX200 is set to fall 1.7% this morning, according to futures data, following further losses on overseas markets overnight.

In the US, the S&P500 fell 0.72% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq index dropped 0.43%, while London’s FTSE100 shed a whopping 2.63%.

If it plays out as futures markets predict, today’s fall will extend a run of losses that’s already seen the ASX200 shed 3.75% over the past week as coronavirus disruption and fretting over rising inflation roils global markets.

US markets have shed about 5% over the past week.

There are also signs that the bubble in crypto assets, which are purely speculative and have no underlying use, may be starting to burst, with the price of Bitcoin down 10% in a week.

To bring you up to speed on goings on in the market and economy here’s my colleague Peter Hannam:

Updated

You can read the full statement from the prime minister on the government securing the copyright for the Aboriginal flag below:

Australia claims Aboriginal flag rights

The Australian federal government has completed a deal to take ownership of the Aboriginal flag copyright.

Previously owned by the flag’s designer Harold Thomas and a non-Indigenous clothing company, the flag is now freely available for public use.

It comes after a number of Indigenous groups were sent cease and desist warnings for using the flag in an apparent breach of copyright.

Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt is discussing the victory on ABC radio now:

It means that, much like the Australian flag, people can use it to promote products. You can buy transfers and stickers, or you can have smaller flags that are used in terms of events.

It means the AFL round or the NRL rounds, or major sporting events in this nation. the flag can be used without a charge being applied. And the charges that were applied could be significant, so that’s why the sporting events didn’t feature the Aboriginal flag. They will now be able to do that.

It will hold its place and pride alongside the Australian flag and be used freely by many of our partners, and many of our women who started fledgling businesses in apparel. They can now use it without having to pay a fee for the use of flags.

Scott Morrison enters a federal election year with his approval languishing at levels not seen since March 2020, and the Coalition’s handling of the Omicron wave has prompted some voters to signal they are now less likely to back the government on polling day.

The first Guardian Essential poll of 2022 confirms the prime minister’s approval rating (46%) hasn’t budged since last December, and disapproval of Morrison is up two points to 46%.

The Morrison government had hoped to recover standing with voters over the summer break, but the desired political fillip hasn’t eventuated. The prime minister needs to recover lost ground – voter approval of Morrison dived 19 points during the controversies and missteps of 2020.

You can read the full report below:

'Majority of the population is reviewing their first-aid tool kit,' Ukraine representative says

As I mentioned before Dfat has urged Australians in Ukraine to leave immediately. We are one of the first countries to do so, but Ukraine reckons this is premature.

A representative for Ukraine in Australia, Volodymyr Shalkivskyi, says it’s important to avoid panic.

Tensions are high, but there is no panic. Everyone understands that this time there may be a full-scale invasion ... Majority of the population is reviewing their first-aid tool kit.

But he urged people not to believe that an attack from Russia was “inevitable”.

I mean, the official responsibility of Australian officials and Ukrainian officials is to facilitate and assist in every possible way. But we in this situation we would like to avoid panic and different kinds of rumours that the invasion is inevitable ...

But we do hope that we will be able to avoid a full-scale invasion. That we will prevail.

And again, we consider international assistance and international support as one of the significant strengths of Ukraine in this situation.

Updated

Foreign affairs minister Marise Payne has again confirmed that while Australia has joined the UK, US and EU in calling for the de-escalation of tensions, we will not engage militarily with Russia if the northern power does invade Ukraine.

We have said that we will not be taking part or would not take part in relation to work and military assistance.

I spoke with the foreign minister of Ukraine last weekend in a very constructive conversation and I had a further conversation with Australia’s ambassador in Kiev on Friday evening.

However, she said we may help Ukraine fight off cyber-attacks.

We are seeking to discuss possible avenues of assistance from Australia to the Ukrainian government. In the cyber context, there have been significant cyber-attacks already on Ukraine understood to come from potentially Russian sources. And just to be very clear, this is a challenge that they have been dealing with for some time.

Flags of Russia and the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic wave in the wind near a monument to Soviet state founder Vladimir Lenin in the rebel-held city of Donetsk, Ukraine on 24 January.
Flags of Russia and the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic wave in the wind near a monument to Soviet state founder Vladimir Lenin in the rebel-held city of Donetsk, Ukraine on 24 January. Photograph: Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters


Updated

Australians told to leave Ukraine now

It’s time to talk about Ukraine.

Australians in Ukraine are being urged to leave immediately as the threat of Russian military action against the country increases.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on Monday night raised its advice to “Do Not Travel”.

Australians in Ukraine should leave now by commercial means, where safe to do so, noting that flight availability could change or be suspended at short notice ...

Australians who decide to remain in Ukraine should review their personal security plans, be prepared to shelter in place if required, maintain heightened security awareness and register with Dfat.

Foreign affairs minister Marise Payne tells ABC radio that around 1,400 Australians are currently in the ex-Soviet country, confirming that “the security situation is unpredictable”.

We strongly support Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and a unified European and Nato response ...

Payne was asked what would actually happen if Russia invaded – could it escalate into a full-blown war?

Again, I don’t like to speculate, but what is happening here is that authoritarian regimes are trying to exercise [their power] in relation to circumstances such as this, and it is not helpful to security or stability in any way, shape, or form.

But we have been, again, very clear about that, as have multiple members of the EU, the UK and the United States, and we have clearly sort de-escalation of Russia’s behaviour in that regard.

Updated

An early one from the NSW government today. We will be hearing from them at 9am AEDT.

Good morning everyone, it’s Matilda Boseley here, and there is a bunch of news to catch up on so let’s jump in.

Two years ago today the first case of Covid-19 was detected in Australia, although back then it wasn’t even called that yet.

We had heard of this scary-sounding virus circulating in Wuhan, as the news filtered through that the entire Chinese city was in lockdown.

By the end of the day, we would have our first case, a man in his 50s who had spent time in the city and flown back to Melbourne from Guangzhou six days beforehand.

Two years, 2.23m cases and more than 3,000 deaths later, here we are.

But it’s not all bad news (although it’s still mostly bad news), as it seems like we might have seen the worst of Omicron for now (knock on wood).

Federal health minister Greg Hunt yesterday declared infections had peaked in NSW, Victoria, the ACT and South Australia, with NSW chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant also expressing optimism that the virus spread in her state appeared to be slowing and the situation stabilising.

So is this light at the end of the tunnel? Or will we be sitting here reading another one of these posts in two years’ time?

Why don’t we jump into the day’s news and see if we can find out?

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