That’s it for today, folks. You can find all the daily Covid statistics in the summary post pinned at the top of the blog, and in our daily wrap of the Covid news from around the country. That includes all the details about the states that have brought forward the timing of booster shots from four to three months – so far, NSW, Victoria, South Australia and the ACT have all made announcements to that effect.
Elsewhere today:
• Dozens of intensive care nurses protested at Sydney’s Westmead hospital on Wednesday morning in the wake of staffing shortages across the healthcare sector.
• 20 Australian defence force personnel have been supplied by the federal government to help with Victorian ambulance crews.
• Prime minister Scott Morrison announced financial incentives to lure international workers to Australia, unveiling a $55m package that will refund the cost of visa application fees for up to 175,000 backpackers and international students.
• Backbench MP George Christensen announced that he will step down from his position on parliament’s joint committee for investment and trade, a move that comes after the government was forced to fend off criticism of the backbencher, who has been calling for parents to opt out of the government’s child vaccination program.
• The foreign affairs minister, Marise Payne, and the defence minister, Peter Dutton, will hold talks with their British counterparts in Sydney on Friday, in the first 2+2 ministerial meeting hosted by Australia since the start of the pandemic. They are expected to discuss how to manage tensions with China.
• Environment groups are calling on the Western Australian government to ban fracking in the state’s Kimberley region after an application by Perth-based oil and gas company Theia Energy to drill two exploratory wells.
• Mining magnate Clive Palmer will attempt a return to federal politics, announcing he will lead his party’s Senate team in the upcoming election. Palmer’s United Australia Party plans to field Senate candidates in every state and territory.
• Queensland will reopen to vaccinated international travellers from 1am on Saturday. They will be allowed to freely enter the state without needing to quarantine.
Thanks for sticking with us today, and join us again tomorrow morning when we’ll do it all again. Have a lovely evening.
Updated
The pressure on this has been building in the wake of the government’s decision to deport tennis player Novak Djokovic. Christensen and several other Coalition MPs have been vocal critics of the government’s vaccination program and openly campaigned against things like vaccine mandates.
Yesterday, the health minister, Greg Hunt, was asked about Christensen’s anti-vaccination comments on social media (made in a promotion for his podcast). Hunt said:
Wherever people have said things that are anti-vax, we disagree with them, whether that is people in our own movement, I disagree ... Frankly, the anti-vaxxers aren’t just losing the debate, they’ve lost the debate.
Later, Scott Morrison issued a statement:
I strongly disagree with the message sent out by Mr Christensen regarding children’s vaccinations. It is contrary to the official professional medical advice provided to the government and I urge parents to disregard his dangerous messages in relation to vaccines.
Updated
As we reported earlier, the prime minister was today forced to fend off criticism of Christensen, who has been calling for parents to opt out of the government’s child vaccination program.
Morrison said earlier he was in discussion with the deputy prime minister, Barnaby Joyce, about the potential for Christensen to lose his position on parliament’s joint committee for investment and trade, which is worth an extra $20,000 to his annual salary.
Christensen’s statement, made on Facebook just now, says:
In breaking news that’s of no interest to anyone but the Canberra Bubble:
When I return to Parliament House on Monday 7 February, I will be advising the Speaker that I intend to stand down as the chairman of the Joint Standing Committee on Trade and Investment Growth, a decision of my own making and not a demand or request from any third party.
Until then, I will continue in the role, prosecuting the need for the recommendations of the committee’s report on the Prudential Regulation of Investment in Australia’s Export Industries to be adopted by the Australian Government, especially the recommendation that the government recognise that finance, banking and insurance services are essential services for businesses.
