Morrison says Qld premier ‘consulted’ on emergency; Rio Tinto ditching Russia; 21 Covid deaths – As it happened

ADF personnel clean up flood damage in Milton, Brisbane, on Thursday. The premier has said it’s too late for the PM to declare a national emergency due to floods in Queensland because the disaster situation has already ended, AAP reports.
Photograph: Jono Searle/Getty Images

7.46am GMT

What we learned, Thursday 10 March

That’s where we’ll say goodbye for this evening. Here are just some of the things we learned today:

• Prime minister Scott Morrison said he will be discussing the national emergency declaration with the governor general in the next 24 hours as Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk rejects the move, saying it’s too late for that now that the floodwaters have receded.
• The PM also announced his plan to enact the “biggest increase” to ADF personnel numbers in peacetime in Australian history, increasing them by around 18,500 to 80,000.
• Opposition leader Anthony Albanese gave a speech to the Lowy Institute, in which he argued that Australia’s inaction on climate crisis was undermining Australia’s status in the Pacific.
• The body of cricket great Shane Warne was loaded onto a repatriation flight to Australia from Thailand, where he died almost a week ago, aged 52. A state funeral will be held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 30 March.
• The Australian mining giant Rio Tinto says it is “terminating all commercial relationships it has with any Russian business”, throwing question marks over the future of its joint venture with Russia’s Rusal in Queensland Alumina Ltd (QAL).
• The Reserve Bank of Australia’s deputy governor Guy Debelle has announced he will resign from his post next week to take up a job as chief financial officer of Fortescue Future Industries, a renewable energy company owned by mining giant Fortescue Metals Group, in June.
• A spike in cases in Covid-19 NSW is concerning authorities as a more transmissible version of the Omicron variant emerges.
• And South Australia announced it is scrapping density restrictions and reducing Covid-19 isolation requirements, as the country recorded at least 21 deaths from the virus.

Thanks for following along today. See you again bright and early tomorrow!

Updated at 8.04am GMT

7.30am GMT

NT records 326 new cases of Covid-19 with 33 people in hospital

Two people are in intensive care with the virus. No deaths were recorded over the past 24 hours.