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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Cait Kelly (now) and Josh Taylor and Matilda Boseley (earlier)

SA hospitals under ‘extraordinary strain’; Perrottet asks MP to resign after charges – as it happened

United Nations Australia Peter Dutton António Guterres Scott Morrison G20
Covid-19 testing centre in Melbourne
Members of the public are tested at a Covid-19 testing centre in Melbourne. Health authorities have confirmed the Omicron BA.2 variant is now the dominant strain in the state. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP

What we learned, Tuesday 22 March

And with that, we will put this blog to bed for the night. Thank you so much for spending part of your day with us.

Before we go, let’s recap the big stories:

  • New South Wales MP Gareth Ward has been charged by police over allegations of sexual abuse of a man and 17-year-old boy
  • The Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, has proposed a human rights award be created in memory of Kimberley Kitching, the Victorian Labor senator whose funeral was held on Monday
  • Prime minister Scott Morrison says Albanese is “in hiding”, avoiding questions about the allegations of bullying towards Kitching
  • New SA premier Peter Malinauskas has criticised his predecessor, Steven Marshall, saying the state’s Covid restrictions were stricter than the rest of the country because of the extreme strain that was already placed on the state’s hospital system
  • At least 23 Covid-related deaths were recorded around the country, with nine in Queensland and seven in Victoria.

With that, we will be back tomorrow.

Updated

Stormy rains are forecast to return to eastern Australia, including over flood-hit regions of northern New South Wales and south-east Queensland, ending the longest dry spell many areas have had for a month.

Last month’s widespread rains that were fed from an atmospheric river of moist tropical air dumped persistent heavy rain over towns like Lismore. This time, though, the forecast rain from Wednesday onwards is “going to be all storm-related”, Jordan Notara, a senior Bureau of Meteorology forecaster, said.

A teenager has been transported to hospital after falling approximately eight metres down a stormwater drain in Brisbane’s north.

The young male trainee was doing a landscaping course in Strathpine when the incident occurred.

Japan’s ambassador has speculated that Australia’s proposed nuclear-powered submarines eventually could be involved in joint exercises with Japan in the East China Sea or the Sea of Japan.

It remains unclear when the first of the nuclear-propelled submarines envisaged under the Aukus partnership will be ready. Initially the Australian government said by around 2040, but more recently it has suggested the mid-2030s could be achievable, although this is still subject to ongoing talks with the US and the UK.

Japan’s ambassador to Australia, Shingo Yamagami, said the ties between the two countries were “far, far more than mere symbolism”.

He said the recently signed Reciprocal Access Agreement means that “in the years ahead” the various arms of the Japan Self-Defence Forces (SDF) “will be paying call to the bases, ports, and training grounds in Australia in greater numbers and with more hardware”.

Addressing a symposium hosted by the Perth USAsia Centre today, Yamagami then turned his attention to Aukus (which Japan has supported):

The adoption by Australia of nuclear submarines brings further areas of potential cooperation with the SDF into view, including joint exercises within the East China Sea or even the Sea of Japan.

Australia itself recognises the importance of this vital maritime area, a point reinforced by the Defence Minister’s speech to the National Press Club last year, in which he mentioned the Senkaku Islands for the first time in the context of China’s threat to Taiwan and the regional order. This comment certainly caught the attention of Tokyo, and was very warmly received.
With the security situation growing more severe in our region and more broadly across the world, like-minded countries will act in unison to mitigate potential threats by promoting deterrence.

With the security situation growing more severe in our region and more broadly across the world, like-minded countries will act in unison to mitigate potential threats by promoting deterrence.

A quick reminder: Peter Dutton, in that speech, said China’s president, Xi Jinping, was not bluffing about Beijing’s determination to take Taiwan by the 2040s, adding: “If Taiwan is taken, surely the Senkakus are next.”

Dutton was referring to uninhabited islets in the East China Sea administered by Japan but claimed by China, where they are known as Diaoyu Dao.

Yamagami described Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as “outrageous” and said: “I can assure you that Japan stands with Ukraine.”

From AAP:

A NSW Liberal MP has given a speech attacking Covid-19 vaccination mandates, saying she thinks her own government has gone too far.

Tanya Davies addressed the anti-vaccination rally outside NSW parliament on Tuesday, congratulating protesters for calling “on this government for fairness and for freedom”.

The member for Mulgoa in Sydney said she had been “dismayed” that a Liberal government made the decision to mandate vaccinations for construction workers during the Delta outbreak in Sydney last year.

The move, made by former NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian, was met with opposition from Davies at the time, who called it an “assault on an individuals’ freedoms and civil liberties” in a statement.

“I can’t quite tell you exactly how I felt when I read those words in that media release,” she told protesters.

“As Liberals, we believe in individual freedom and individual responsibility the two are intertwined.”

Davies said she stopped posting live videos on Facebook after NSW premier, Dominic Perrottet, was sworn in last October, saying she “wanted to give the new premier ... the opportunity to turn the Titanic around”.

She said she’d been working with Perrottet to show him Covid-19 was not a “deadly disease that is going to eradicate millions of people”.

Updated

From AAP:

Domenic Perre, the man charged over the bombing of the National Crime Authority office in Adelaide in 1994, has been found guilty of an unrelated assault charge after spitting on a police detective.

In Adelaide magistrates court on Tuesday, Perre was found guilty of aggravated assault over the incident at the Adelaide Remand Centre in 2018.

Two detectives had gone to speak with Perre over an alleged assault on him by another prisoner.

But when the cell door was opened and one of the officers stood in the doorway and called his name, Perre turned over on his bed, raised his head and spat on the sergeant’s clothing.

He had previously indicated to prison officers he did not wish to speak with police.

Delivering his verdict on Tuesday, Magistrate John Fahey said he was satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Perre had assaulted the officer, knowing that he was acting in the course of his official duty.

Updated

Dying with Dignity NSW supporters will be rallying outside NSW parliament tomorrow in an urgent plea to the NSW upper house to allocate enough time to debate the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill.

Dying with Dignity NSW president, Penny Hackett, said:

If the upper house does not allocate additional time, such as sitting on Fridays, the bill could drag on until the end of the year or longer.

She added:

In the meantime, more people will continue to die with extreme suffering and agonising pain because the government is playing games.

We have already lost Judith Daley – who stood outside Parliament House last year calling for the lower house to urgently deal with the bill. They did. Now it’s time for the upper house to do the same.

There is no reason why we cannot allocate Fridays as an extra sitting day to give this bill enough time for debate.

This is a bill that passed with overwhelming support in the lower house and had an unprecedented number of co-sponsors for any legislation in Australia.

Updated

Looks like more sites are coming back online now – we are still not sure what caused it, but I’ll bring you more when we know.

Updated

The government has finally released the joint statement about Scott Morrison’s meeting with India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, last night.

As expected, there was no direct condemnation of Russia, with which India has longstanding ties.

But the joint statement includes the following form of words:

Leaders expressed their serious concern about the ongoing conflict and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. They reiterated the need for an immediate cessation of hostilities. They emphasised that the contemporary global order has been built on the UN Charter, international law and respect for sovereignty and the territorial integrity of states. They agreed to remain closely engaged on the issue and its broader implications for the Indo-Pacific.

Leaders expressed their shared commitment to a free, open and rules-based Indo‑Pacific, supported by a robust regional architecture, with ASEAN at its centre. They reaffirmed their commitment to an inclusive and prosperous region in which the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states is respected and countries are free from military, economic and political coercion.

The joint statement says Modi appreciated a briefing from Morrison on the Aukus partnership that brings together Australia, the US and the UK.

Leaders recognised Australia’s commitment to not develop nuclear weapons and to uphold the highest standards of non‑proliferation.

Morrison and Modi also called for “the immediate cessation of violence against civilian populations in Myanmar, the release of all those arbitrarily detained, including foreigners, and unhindered humanitarian access”.

They also “reiterated their firm commitment to provide humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people, in view of the deteriorating humanitarian situation and also reaffirmed calls on those in positions of power across Afghanistan to adhere to counter‑terrorism commitments and human rights”.

It is unclear exactly when Australia and India will reach a deal on an interim free trade agreement. The joint statement says Morrison and Modi “welcomed the considerable progress made in the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) negotiations” and “expressed satisfaction on the large degree of convergence on many of the elements which are close to finalisation”.

Leaders re-committed to concluding an Interim CECA at the earliest and work towards an ambitious, full CECA by the end of the year to enhance trade and investment ties and deepen the CSP.

A severely burnt Hannah Clarke asked why she didn’t just stay with her “babies” inside their car after her estranged husband set the vehicle alight, an inquest has been told.

The inquest heard Clarke was yelling and crying while talking to off-duty paramedic Stephanie Ring, who came across the burning car in Brisbane’s Camp Hill minutes before firefighters arrived on 19 February 2020.

Hello everyone, this is Cait Kelly. It could be an interesting afternoon on the blog – as Josh said, a lot of the breaking news sites are down.

If you want to contact me you can on Twitter (@cait__kelly) and email (cait.kelly@theguardian.com).

Let’s get into it!

Updated

And I will now get my colleague Cait Kelly to pick up the blog so I can go and find out what the outage might be.

Updated

There seems to be a bit of an outage affecting a bunch of websites in Australia, including News Corp websites, ABC, AAP, and Nine. Some people are still able to get to the websites via mobile devices but not on desktop.

We are looking into it and seeing if we can find out more. Based on the scale, it sounds like another issue similar to the Fastly outage last year.

Updated

Assessing how the state budget affects Victorians based on their gender should become enshrined in law, a new report says.

AAP reports the state government announced it would establish a gender responsive budgeting unit as part of its 2021/22 budget last year in a push towards equality for women in budget decisions.

In a report tabled to parliament on Tuesday, the Public Accounts and Estimates committee recommended further development and adoption of gender responsive budgeting practices in Victoria.

Gender responsive budgeting is being increasingly adopted worldwide as a tool to assess whether policies proposed in a budget will benefit or disadvantage individuals based on their gender and guide reform in the interest of supporting more gender equitable outcomes.

Committee chair and Labor MP Lizzie Blandthorn said while the government made some strides forward, Victoria could learn from other jurisdictions, and made 10 recommendations including introducing gender responsive budgeting to future legislation.

Updated

Seselja is asked about his election fight, with former Wallabies great David Pocock running for the Senate in the ACT at the upcoming federal election.

He calls Pocock a “green independent”, says Pocock stands for different things than he does.

The Liberal party that I represent has a different view of the world from Labor and the Greens, and some of these green independents. Yes, the economy is important, national security that we’re investing record amounts in – and [which] Labor party cut last time, and the Greens want to cut in half – and yes, issues around housing affordability and the economy.

Yes, we put out ideas for how we can release commonwealth land in the ACT, thousands of blocks. I think that would make a really big difference to first home buyers in Canberra. It’s something that’s not being done by the local government, something where we can effect change because we do have surplus ... in the north of Canberra.

Updated

International development and Pacific minister, Zed Seselja is on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing and is asked whether a cut in foreign aid is a good thing during the current international turmoil.

Seselja says there are a lot of budgetary pressures in the space, but the government has had a number of targeted and temporary measures in response to Covid, with $1.7bn in aid delivered for the Pacific – the most any government anywhere has delivered into the Pacific.

Obviously, the overall aid budget details are worked through in the budget context. There’s a lot going on in this space. We’re doing a lot particularly in our region, but we look further afield, to other places.

Updated

The Labor party is moving to install an Accenture managing director, the former high-profile Labor staffer Andrew Charlton, into the western Sydney federal seat of Parramatta, igniting anger among local branches and multicultural communities.

Insiders say the proposal of parachuting in Charlton, who worked as an economic adviser to Kevin Rudd, has been put forward by the opposition leader, Anthony Albanese, and is under consideration by the party’s state executive.

Former New South Wales deputy premier John Barilaro was “broken” and “wanted to hide” during the state’s Delta outbreak due to the abuse from members of the public that followed a series of Friendlyjordies videos, a defamation trial has heard.

On Tuesday, Barilaro took the stand in his case against tech giant Google over a series of videos made by the YouTube comedian Jordan Shanks, who uses the nom de plume Friendlyjordies, in late 2020.

Barilaro told the court about his “anger” at Google for refusing to take down videos at the centre of the case despite repeated requests from his staff, and recalled telling his staff he was contemplating self-harm after receiving significant online abuse.

Tickets are now available for those hoping to pay their in-person respects to cricket legend Shane Warne at his state memorial service, AAP reports.

Bookings opened at 3pm on Tuesday through Ticketek for the Melbourne Cricket Ground event which will take place at 7pm on 30 March.

It will be the wider public’s first chance to say goodbye to Warne following his death from a suspected heart attack at the Thai resort island of Koh Samui on 4 March.

Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, is expecting tens of thousands of Victorians to attend the state memorial.

“We’re working very closely with the family to make sure that it is a celebration of his life,” Andrews said in parliament on Tuesday.

“It’s a matter of how much space is required for staging and things of that nature, but there’s no Covid limit or anything like that. There will be as many [mourners] as we can get in there.”

Patrons will need to be fully vaccinated to attend the service, which is expected to run for two hours.

Gates will open at 5.30pm and guests must be seated by 6.45pm for a 7pm start.

Rather than flowers, Warne’s family has asked people to donate to The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health.

Updated

The communications workers’ union, the union representing NBN construction workers, has slammed the government’s announced upgrades to the NBN is “another election promise that will go unmet”.

CEPU national president, Shane Murphy, said:

The NBN was set up to fail from the moment this government chose to replace the fibre-to-the-home roll-out with ageing copper wires.

This government has had years to fix it.

Murphy took aim at NBN’s contracting scheme, which technicians say mean they can be paid as little as $50 a day for jobs, while NBN Co executives have raked in millions of dollars in bonuses.

It’s almost laughable that a few weeks out from an election, the government suddenly decides that they want to throw money at the NBN. Is this a joke?

You have senior employees on top salaries and multimillion dollar bonuses while workers are squeezed for pay and conditions at the other end and service suffers.

If this government actually wanted to fix the NBN – they would’ve listened to the pleas of thousands of workers who went on nationwide strikes last year.

Updated

The Queensland government says it is proud of the number of documents it releases in response to right to information requests amid calls for major reform, AAP reports.

The health minister, Yvette D’Ath, says the situation has improved under the Palaszczuk government as more documents are released for less cost.

“We’ve got a higher percentage of documents that are being released each year, so our record stands strong compared to the LNP,” D’Ath said.

“We’ve got more documents, providing more transparency at a lower cost.”

The cost per page is now 15 cents, compared to 27 cents under the former government, she said.

But government transparency is in need of significant overhaul according to Liberal National opposition leader, David Crisafulli.

“It is not good enough that 800,000 documents remain under lock and key,” he said on Tuesday.

“It’s absolutely not good enough that one in five requests don’t get met.”

There needed to be a shift in culture where information was released rather than withheld, Crisafulli said.

He also said there needed to be a change to the state’s estimates process to get back to ministers answering questions “rather than hiding behind committee chairs”.

D’Ath didn’t know if the RTI application fees had changed, but said a lot of work went into providing documents, so it was fair that costs were recouped.

“What is important is that we are releasing a substantive amount of documents every single year, and we’re very proud of that,” she said.

Updated

Flood recovery still under way.

Updated

WA records one historical Covid-19 death

WA is reporting one historical Covid-19 death – that is, it happened before Monday – and 7,075 new cases. There are 180 people in hospital with Covid-19, including six in ICU.

Updated

Just following on from that, we have a statement from the NSW premier, Dominic Perrottet, who is calling on Gareth Ward to resign from the NSW parliament and says if he fails to do so, the government will move a motion to have Ward removed.

He said:

While Mr Ward is entitled to the presumption of innocence, as any citizen is, the standards expected of an elected Member of Parliament are not compatible with the seriousness of the charges he is facing.

Following discussion with the acting premier, I have therefore attempted to contact the Kiama MP to seek his resignation from the Parliament with immediate effect.

Should Mr Ward not resign, the government will move a motion to remove him from the parliament.

I have also written to the State Director of the Liberal Party requesting that Mr Ward be suspended from the Party pending the outcome of the criminal trial against him.

Mr Ward is entitled to defend himself against the serious charges against him but he must do that as a private citizen.

Updated

NSW MP Gareth Ward charged over sexual abuse allegations

New South Wales MP Gareth Ward has been charged by police over allegations of sexual abuse of a man and 17-year-old boy.

Police confirmed the member for Kiama had on Tuesday been charged with three counts of assault with acts of indecency, and one count each of common assault and sexual intercourse without consent.

Ward stepped down from the ministry in May last year and left the Liberal party room to join the crossbench after he revealed he was the subject of a police investigation.

He said at the time he had not been contacted by police and denied any wrongdoing.

Police will allege Ward indecently assaulted a 17-year-old boy at Meroo Meadow in February 2013 and sexually abused a 27-year-old man in Sydney in September two years later.

The charges were laid on Tuesday following “extensive inquiries”.

A NSW police spokesperson said a man had been charged following an investigation “into the historic alleged sexual abuse of a man and teenage boy”

“In May 2021, detectives... established Strike Force Condello to investigate allegations of sexual violence-related offences.

“Following extensive inquiries, a 40-year-old man attended Oak Flats Police Station about midday [on Tuesday].”

In a statement, Ward denied the charges.

“I am completely innocent of the charges brought against me. I will be instructing my lawyers to seek to bring this matter before the courts as quickly as possible and I look forward to demonstrating my innocence there.

“While others have already attempted to prosecute my case in the media rather than the courts, out of respect for our system of justice I will not be doing the same.”

Ward has been granted conditional bail and will appear before Port Kembla local court in May.

He did not say if he would seek to remain in parliament while he fought the charges.

Updated

Victorian opposition leader, Matthew Guy, will miss parliament’s question time as he awaits the result of a PCR test, AAP reports.

Deputy Liberal leader, David Southwick, said Guy had been taking daily rapid antigen tests, including one on Tuesday that was negative.

“In the last hour he’s not been feeling as well as one would hope, so he’s off to do the right thing and get a PCR test,” Southwick told reporters on Tuesday.

“Obviously Matthew won’t be back here for question time, and we’ll await those results.”

Guy attended late Victorian senator Kimberley Kitching’s funeral on Monday despite telling media he felt unwell over the weekend.

“I was quite unwell on Saturday,” he told reporters on Monday, before listing a number of events he had attended including a multicultural gala with 1,500 people on Saturday night.

He also went to an event at the Shrine of Remembrance on Sunday, and a shadow cabinet meeting on Monday.

Guy detailed his movements on Monday evening in response to the government questioning his whereabouts when the opposition revealed a reversal in its position on the state’s mental health levy, without Guy at the press conference.

It comes as Liberal MP Neil Angus returned to parliament on Tuesday after meeting the house’s vaccination requirements.

The member for Forest Hill previously refused to comply with parliament’s vaccination mandate.

Asked whether Angus was vaccinated, Southwick said, “I believe so”.

“[They’re] the rules and he’s presented as such, he’s back in parliament and we welcome him back,” he said.

Updated

Just a bit more on the free public transport calls, via AAP.

Tasmania has become Australia’s first region to introduce free public transport as a national debate continues over rising fuel prices and cost of living.

All public bus travel across the island state will be free for five weeks from Monday.

The state Liberal government said it was making the move to ease costs on households and encourage commuters to switch from using their cars.

“While higher fuel prices are due to global fuel market uncertainty, we understand the impact it is causing on cost of living pressures,” infrastructure and transport minister, Michael Ferguson, said in a statement.

“At this point, we see a temporary, highly attractive measure such as free bus travel as one option the Tasmanian government can activate to ease cost of living pressures.”

An adult travelling on a Metro Urban Zone 1 trip will save $5.60 a day. Travellers from Sorell to Hobart can save $15.20 on a return trip, travellers from Westbury to Launceston will pocket a benefit worth $22.80, and Port Sorell to Devonport $27.80 for return trips.

Commuity services peak body TasCOSS said the temporary relief was welcome but warned there needed to be a long term strategy to reduce the cost of living pressures.

TasCOSS chief executive, Adrienne Picone, said Tasmanians living on low incomes had been hit particularly hard by the higher petrol prices, particularly those living in rural and remote areas where public transport options are limited.

Updated

That’s a lot of dead animal.

Victorian health authorities say the Omicron BA.2 variant of Covid-19 is now the dominant strain in the state, according to wastewater testing.

It is the dominant strain in more than 80% of metropolitan samples and more than 60% of regional samples.

The Victorian health department says genomic sequencing work is under way to better understand the prevalence of BA.2 in the state.

In Queensland, authorities say 58% of virus samples sequenced in the past two weeks have been BA.2. There has been a 15% increase in the number of cases in Queensland in the past week, but this is far short of when Queensland opened its borders in January.

Authorities, however, are warning Queensland is just at the start of the wave of this particular variant.

Updated

NT reports one Covid-19 death, 341 new cases

The Northern Territory has reported one Covid-19 death overnight, with 341 new cases, 14 in hospital, and one in intensive care and on a ventilator.

Updated

Victorian crossbench MPs are pushing for an independent review into how the state’s parliament handles bullying and harassment claims, AAP reports.

The Justice party will on Wednesday move a motion in the upper house calling for a Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission inquiry into the parliamentary complaints process.

It comes after Kaushaliya Vaghela quit the Labor party earlier this month after alleging systematic bullying.

“There is not a single mechanism for all who work here that ensures we can be held to the same standards of behaviour, that we can be safe, and that an independent workplace standards body is available to deal with complaints free from political interference,” Justice party MP Tania Maxwell said in parliament on Tuesday.

“That’s why I’m moving for the VEOHRC to examine the adequacy of existing laws, policies, structures and complaint mechanisms relating to bullying and harassment in the Victorian parliament.”

She said the motion also asks the commission to look into whether the current processes require independence.

“My motion also asks the commission to advise on improvements and the establishment of an independent complaints body to manage and respond to complaints about bullying and harassment within the parliament,” she said.

The premier, Daniel Andrews, said work was already under way to review the bullying and harassment framework within parliament.

“Work is being done by the president and the Speaker, department of parliamentary services and the party leadership ... we’ll be a much better parliament for that,” he told reporters on Tuesday.

“This is about culture but it’s also about making sure that anybody who has had an experience like that can safely come forward, tell their story and get the support and the justice.”

Andrews hopes the review will be completed before the state election.

Vaghela left Labor after supporting her former ally and disgraced factional powerbroker Adem Somyurek’s motion requesting the Victorian ombudsman reinvestigate any role Andrews may have played in the government’s 2014 election rorts scandal.

Somyurek quit the party before it moved to expel him last year when it was revealed he led an “industrial-scale” branch stacking operation for the moderate faction.

Updated

A person has fallen eight metres down a hole in Strathpine in Queensland. Paramedics are on the scene.

Separate to the NBN Co’s wireless upgrade announcement, the company is also now inviting around 50,000 homes that are connected via fibre-to-the-node to upgrade to full fibre-to-the-premises.

This is part of that $4.5bn upgrade announcement in 2020. It was due to start rolling out by the end of last year, but the company has only begun taking orders today.

It’ll mean people who might not be able to get as fast speeds on FttN as they want will be able to upgrade to up to 250Mbps.

From here, the company is planning to allow an extra 60,000 homes to order an upgrade every month, meaning around 230,000 homes will be eligible by the end of the year.

The company plans to have up to 2m homes able to upgrade by the end of 2023.

People will need to check with their internet provider to see if they can upgrade, but the suburbs covered in today’s announcement include:

New South Wales: Aberglasslyn, Bella Vista, Cameron Park, Canley Vale, Castle Hill, Cherrybrook, Chipping Norton, Croydon, Croydon Park, Darlinghurst, Edgeworth, Erina, Glenhaven, Green Valley, Hunterview, Kingswood, Kurnell, Lyndhurst, Melrose Park, Norwest, Pleasure Point, Rutherford, Singleton Heights, St Albans, St Clair, Terrigal, Thornton, Villawood, Voyager Point, Wattle Grove, West Pennant Hills, Woodlands

Victoria: Bayswater, Bayswater North, Braybrook, Cranborne North, Hampton Park, Lynbrook, Narre Warren, Rowville, Sunshine, Sunshine North

Queensland: Burleigh Waters, Gilston, Highland Park, Mudgeeraba, Robina, Varsity Lakes, Worongary

South Australia: Ascot Park, Athol Park, Bowden, Burton, Clovelly Park, Dudley Park, Edwardstown, Ethelton, Greenwith, Mawson Lakes, Mitchell Park, Parafield Gardens, Paralowie, Renown Park, Semaphore, Semaphore Park, Semaphore South, South Plympton, West Lakes, West Lakes Shore, Woodville North

Western Australia: Alexander Heights, Beckenham, Doubleview, Gwelup, Innaloo, Karrinyup, Langford, Marangaroo, Thornlie

Updated

Queensland, ACT and SA Covid-19 case numbers

The Queensland, ACT and South Australian Covid-19 case numbers have come through too, now.

In Queensland there were nine deaths reported, with 8,881 new Covid cases. There are 252 people in hospital and nine in intensive care.

In the ACT there were 1,014 new cases reported, with 38 in hospital, three in intensive care and one on a ventilator.

In South Australia, there were 3,686 new cases reported, 165 in hospital, and 11 in intensive care.

Updated

This should be welcome news for freedom of information nerds like myself.

One of the problems when the government stopped having a separate FOI commissioner distinct from the privacy/information commissioner is that there is a major backlog of FOI cases the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner has to deal with.

In theory, now that there’s a separate commissioner who doesn’t have to also do privacy and other information issues, that workload is reduced.

We will see how that works in practice.

Updated

Chalmers says Labor would look to have its own budget after the election for its priorities before the end of the year, should Labor win the election.

He said:

Clearly, we’ve got economic priorities around cleaner and cheaper energy, addressing the skills shortages, investing in the NBN so that people can decide how they work and where they work. Childcare, so that we can build a bigger labour force and things like co-investment and the national reconstruction fund in Australia.

So if we were to win the election, we would look to budget for those priorities before the end of the year and we’d look to start dealing with the legacy of a decade of rorts and waste and corruption.

Labor’s Jim Chalmers.
Labor’s Jim Chalmers. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP

Updated

Shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers is now up, discussing Labor’s approach to the 2022 budget, but I’ll hand you over to the wonderful Josh Taylor to take you through all of that.

Updated

Morrison says Albanese 'in hiding' over Labor party bullying allegations

Morrison says opposition leader Anthony Albanese is “in hiding”, avoiding questions about the allegations of bullying towards the late Labor senator Kimberley Kitching.

Yesterday was an important day for Kimberley Kitching’s family. And I’m pleased that she was able to be honoured in the way that she was. Certainly for her family and friends and there were people from both sides of politics there to pay tribute.

I welcome the fact that she’ll be honoured within the Labor party with an ongoing recognition award for those in the Labor party. I think that that is very fitting.

But that does not dismiss the fact that serious allegations have been made – not by the Liberal party, but by members of the Labor party about a toxic culture within the Labor Party. Which the leader of the Labor party, Anthony Albanese, is in hiding and won’t address.

He can’t just dismiss away hard issues. That’s not what prime ministers can do*. And this someone who wants to be prime minister. You face up to these things, as my government has and dealt with difficult issues and worked then through, and had the reviews and had the inquiries and ensured that we’ve made the system better for all of the parliament. But what we’ve got from Anthony Albanese at the first sign of hard questions – and we’re not even into the campaign yet. He has gone into complete hiding.

*I’ll leave it up to you to make a joke about irony here.

Updated

Morrison continues in Cairns:

I’ve heard the shadow treasurer today thinking that he’s got a blank cheque, he can spend as much as he likes and he’s talking about ‘it will be quality spending’. Well, I remember the quality spending, so-called, from Labor last time they were in government.

I remember the pink batts disaster. I remember the overpriced school halls. I remember the terrible programs like cash for clunkers and all of these sorts of things. That’s the quality that Labor talks about.

Our programs, particularly through this pandemic, has saved the Australian economy – 700,000 jobs alone. And that came from getting the balance right, getting the targeting right and the discipline right. See, we know when we need to go and spend. But we also know when we need to stop. And under the Labor party’s financial management – yeah, they know how to start spending but they never know how to stop and that’s what Jim Chalmers has said today. That he won’t be constrained and that his spending won’t stop and that’s why you can’t trust Labor with Australia’s finances.

Updated

NSW Liberal MP Tanya Davies speaks at anti-vaccine mandate protest

New South Wales Liberal MP Tanya Davies has taken aim at prime minister Scott Morrison and NSW premier Dominic Perrottet over their handling of the Covid pandemic, calling for an immediate end to vaccination mandates.

Speaking at an anti-vaccination mandate rally outside NSW parliament house, she said Morrison should pay close attention to the thumping election result in South Australia and “lead Australia to freedom”. She told the flag-waving crowd:

Prime minister Scott Morrison declared two weeks ago we are now living with Covid. Well, I say to him... we are not living with Covid if people are not allowed and permitted to work.

I call on prime minister Morrison to work immediately with all the premiers of the states and all of the territory leaders to get a unified statement that actually ends the vaccine mandate now.

I say to prime minister Morrison, you need to start acting and speaking based on your Liberal party values. Mr Morrison you have an election coming up - I would pay very close attention to the election results that happen on the weekend in South Australia.

She said she had been working with the premier, calling for an end to the mandates:

I have been working with the new premier and his office, without going on Facebook Live, to give him a chance to actually get more evidence to say that Covid is not the deadly disease that is going to eradicate millions of people in Australia and to have a more proportionate response to apply to our community.

It’s been now nearly six months that he’s been premier and I’m now saying alright, you’ve had six months, now’s the time to take the stand and lead this NSW community out of this Covid fear panic. Give us back our freedoms to go and earn an income.

Davies spoke after half a dozen others, including a man who claimed there were pedophiles in the parliament and “9/11 was an inside job”. Asked afterwards if she agreed with those views, Davies said she had been busy speaking with constituents and had not heard those comments, nor did she agree with them.

Liberal MP Tanya Davies.
Liberal MP Tanya Davies. Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAP

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Morrison has promised next week’s budget will deliver carefully considered measures to address the rising cost of living.

The budget is next week and the treasurer is hard at work together with the finance minister. We are extremely conscious of the impact, particularly of the rise in fuel prices on the cost of living, and the cost of doing business.

Because fuel prices flow right through. The terrible things we’re seeing in Ukraine, as you know on the weekend, we announced further measures to support the people of Ukraine, including sending 70,000 tonnes of coal, which the federal government purchased from Whitehaven and to get it there to power up their resistance of the Russian invasion.

But these terrible events are having a big impact on the global economy and particularly on the price of oil by the barrel, and that is pushing the costs up. Australians understand that. And so the treasurer and I have been working carefully to ensure that we get our response right and in addressing the cost of living pressures that Australians are facing right across the spectrum.

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Scott Morrison urges backpackers to 'come back up north'

Jumping up to Cairns now, where prime minister Scott Morrison is speaking.

He was asked if the new funding aimed at increasing tourism to Australia would mean more backpackers to help staff businesses up north.

I’m glad that you asked that for two reasons. One of them is that one of the announcements that I made last year is we increased the funding for backpacker tourism to Australia for funding to market for backpackers by $10 million. We gave Tourism Australia that support last year.

But I have no doubt that a big part of the it will follow in that space. See, we’re not going to tell them – they know where they need to go and spend the money. But the other thing I’d say is those backpackers who are here in Australia, it’s time to come back up north because there’s going to be lots of tourists coming and the businesses here are going to need you here to be working here as well.

And I want to encourage you to make your way north and be back here. There will be a lot of opportunities and I’d say that to other Australians, too. The jobs will be coming back here in far north Queensland and they will need you to ensure that we can meet the demand that is already on its way.

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The Morrison government may be dismissive about “chattering classes of the UN” unhappy about Australia’s – and the world’s – efforts to tackle climate change. (A good place to start would be to stop making it worse.)

But the pressure to decarbonise our economies is arguably going to increase if the public looks more closely at what sort of regimes our dependence on oil props up. Russia, obviously, for starters.

Anyway, investors and regulators are also moving to highlight which companies are exposed to climate risks.

Overnight, the US Securities Exchange Commission, which regulates Wall Street, has issued its draft rule on climate disclosure requiring companies to disclose their scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions.

That’s the emissions from the initial production (like digging up coal), transporting it, and then consuming it (often by burning it).

Companies will also have to disclose any climate-related goals and progress, climate transition plans (if any), their climate-related risk assessment information, and climate governance information, among others.

Jessica Wachter, the SEC’s chief economist, said the new rules would provide greater comparability and reduce costs to investors who currently struggle to assess information from a “variety of reporting frameworks in a variety of places”, according to a media release.

Philip Lowe, Australia’s central bank governor, has indicated Australian investors needed similar disclosures – although our regulators are still working out what our disclosure rules will be.

Meanwhile, Microsoft has been working with research bodies to examine just how Australia companies are tracking towards net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

The survey of 686 Australian business leaders, as may not surprise, found a “delivery deficit” exists for 68% of them between what Australian organisations set as their ambitions and what they are actually planning.

And about one-third cite “not having clear government guidance for action”.

It does make you wonder: when was the last time prime minister Scott Morrison or even Labor’s would-be PM Anthony Albanese mentioned “net-zero” ambitions by 2050?

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The Victorian government will begin delivering an additional 60,000 air purifiers to state and low-fee private schools this week, amid an increase in Covid cases.

Since the beginning of the year, 51,000 air purifiers have already been sent to Victorian schools. The expanded rollout means every classroom will have an air purification unit, rather than just high-risk areas of schools.

Deputy premier and education minister, James Merlino, said the additional purifiers would ensure students and teachers were protected as winter approached:

This is the largest investment in school ventilation in the nation – no other state is taking such strong steps to protect students, staff and school communities.

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Somes updates from an anti-vaccine mandate protest currently underway in NSW.

The speaker quoted by our reporter Tamsin Rose is Liberal MP Tanya Davies.

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Albanese proposes human rights award in Kimberley Kitching's honour

The Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, has proposed a human rights award be created in memory of Kimberley Kitching, the Victorian Labor senator whose funeral was held on Monday.

In a letter to the national secretary Paul Erickson, Albanese said the whole ALP had been “deeply affected by the unexpected and tragic death of Senator Kitching”.
Albanese outlined Kitching’s service including “the elevation of human rights in political discourse”.

He said:

In recognition of Senator Kitching’s outstanding service to the party, I recommend the national executive institute a Kimberley Kitching human rights award to be awarded at each national conference to a member of the party who has demonstrated an outstanding commitment to the advancement of human rights in Australia or globally.

In recent days Albanese has rebuffed calls for an inquiry into alleged bullying of Kitching, noting she had never complained to him about it and warning political debate about her death is not constructive.

Labor senator Kimberley Kitching died from a suspected heart attack in Melbourne this month.
Labor senator Kimberley Kitching died from a suspected heart attack in Melbourne this month. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

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Northern Land Council has not received promised $2m funding for Indigenous consultation, Beetaloo inquiry told

Just back to the Beetaloo Basin fracking inquiry for a moment. We’ve just heard some rather startling evidence. Consulting with traditional owners is a critical requirement prior to any fracking or gas production in the Beetaloo.

Some traditional owners are greatly opposed to the plan, fearing it will destroy their land and waterways, while doing nothing to improve housing, health services and infrastructure in remote communities.

Last year, the Morrison government promised $2m to the Northern Land Council to conduct consultation with traditional owner groups. But the Senate inquiry has just heard the NLC has not received the money, one year on.

In fact, it hasn’t even received a draft grant agreement from the federal government.

Greg McDonald, the land council’s resources and energy branch manager, said:

We don’t yet have a funding agreement, we have not yet received a draft agreement for our consideration. This was an announcement that was made at last year’s federal budget, and that’s where the NLC first heard about it, when that public announcement was made.

Labor senator Malarndirri McCarthy said:

So we’re coming up to the next budget of the Morrison government, and you’re still waiting on this money, is that right?

McDonald responded:

That’s correct.

He said the NLC had continued to conduct consultation with traditional owners, despite the $2m not materialising.

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Elective surgery ban was reinstated by previous SA government, Malinauskas says

Malinauskas:

Now, I want to be up front and honest about that. Make no mistake. Our hospital system is under extraordinary strain. It doesn’t necessarily enjoy as much capacity as I would like to see in place, hence our policy to dramatically increase hospital capacity over the coming four years.

But obviously, we can’t click our fingers and make sure that happens overnight. But you need to be aware about the state of the situation and why this is the case.

Needless to say, I was rather disappointed and somewhat shocked to learn that an elective surgery ban has now been reinstated in some instances here in South Australia. That is significant news.

I have directed SA Health to rapidly plan for urgent additional hospital preparedness, particularly given there is the prospect of Covid cases continuing to rise.

I’ve also directed SA Health and the Department of Premier and Cabinet to develop a campaign all orientated at increasing the take-up of the booster here in South Australia.

Former SA premier Steven Marshall (left) and new SA premier Peter Malinauskas (right) during a leaders in Adelaide last week.
Former SA premier Steven Marshall (left) and new SA premier Peter Malinauskas (right) during a leaders in Adelaide last week. Photograph: Matt Turner/AAP

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SA hospital system 'under extraordinary strain', new premier says

The new SA premier has slammed the former leader Steven Marshall, stating that SA’s Covid restrictions were stricter than the rest of the country because of the extreme strain that was already placed on the state’s hospital system.

He said that the previous government reinstated a non-urgent overnight elective surgery ban last Friday. It’s a little unclear if this was already being enforced but I will try to confirm that for you.

Peter Malinauskas:

Upon examination of why it is that South Australia doesn’t have a national consistent position on things like quarantine requirements, my suspicions that I enunciated as leader of the opposition have proven to be true, in that the reason why we have tough restrictions is because our hospital system is under extraordinary strain.

I have been formally advised by the chief executive officer of Health that last week was one of the toughest weeks that South Australia has ever experienced in respect to hospital pressure.

There is a lot of demand on hospital capacity at the moment, so much so that I can reveal today that on Friday last week, a decision was taken to ban all non-urgent overnight elective surgery in our public hospitals.

I’ll say that again. On Friday last week, a decision was taken to reinstate a ban on all non-urgent elective surgery, overnight elective surgery in public hospitals. So things are so bad in our public hospital system that the elective surgeries that were put back on are being cancelled again.

So if you want to know why we’ve got different arrangements in South Australia, that has been an informing consideration that has no doubt helped inform the judgement of the state coordinator in making relative decisions.

The Royal Adelaide Hospital. Peter Malinauskas says SA’s hospitals are under ‘extraordinary strain’.
The Royal Adelaide Hospital. Peter Malinauskas says SA’s hospitals are under ‘extraordinary strain’. Photograph: Roy Vandervegt/AAP

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SA Covid case numbers set for 'significant' rise, Malinauskas says

SA premier Peter Malinauskas says he is working to urgently increase hospital capacity ahead of a predicted increase to Covid-19 cases.

I’ve directed SA Health to urgently develop a plan for hospital preparedness in preparation for rises in Covid cases.

The chief public health officer in a moment will share with you the most up-to-date modelling that we have available to us which I understand has been updated as recently as last night. What you will see in that modelling is that case numbers, even with current policy settings, are set to escalate in a rather significant way. This is modelling that I understand has been in possession of the government for some time. It’s been updated last night and I want to make that publicly available to the people of South Australia today. It’s an important act of transparency. South Australians are entitled to know where we’re at.

People have seen case numbers go up and that looks like continuing in the near future. The chief health officer can go through what the impact of that is in relation to hospitalisations, the key number.

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Malinauskas says the new Covid-19 committee structure will increase their power to make health-related rulings.

If I can speak plainly, the Covid-ready committee is not a decision-making body. It doesn’t have true power. It doesn’t have any specific authority invested in it and I don’t want to chair a committee that doesn’t make decisions.

The people of South Australia elected a Premier to make decisions and I seek to chair meetings that make decisions and, of course, when the Premier chairs a meeting of Cabinet or a sub-committee of Cabinet, then it has authorities that can actually deliver upon actions. Hence that policy change.

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Malinauskas has announced that the state’s Covid-ready committee will be abandoned and replaced with a sub-committee of cabinet.

I can announce some actions that my government will be taking effective immediately – in fact they’re already in place as a result of the meetings I had last night and a subsequent meeting this morning. First and foremost is there will be a change to policy and process in respect to Covid management in South Australia under my leadership.

I can announce today that the Covid-ready commit committee is being abandoned and replaced with a sub-committee of cabinet. That sub-committee is the emergency management council. That council, for your benefit, has been in place for some time. It is an existing sub-committee of cabinet in place under the Marshall government and the former Labor government before that, a staple as far as sub-committees of cabinet is concerned.

I want to see cabinet play a more substantial role in ensuring that the meetings we’re having are resulting in actions that can be delivered by the government.

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SA's Covid rules to move towards rest of Australia's, premier says

Malinauskas has indicated that South Australia will likely fall into line with Covid-19 restriction across the rest of Australia.

In regards to Covid, as you’re well aware, yesterday I enjoyed an ... incredibly important meeting with the police commissioner and chief health officer in regards to Covid in South Australia.

It was fantastic to have such a thorough briefing and important for me to be able to fully scrutinise the decisions that have been made up until this point and more importantly what has informed those decisions.

The simple fact is in South Australia we have a degree of inconsistency with the vast bulk of the Australian population in a range of settings, the most topical of which is mask-wearing but also isolation and quarantine requirements, particularly quarantine requirements.

My government does have an ambition to get closer to national consistency in that regard. I think that is good for the people of our state. I think that is good for our economy and I think that is also good for our nation as a whole – national consistency should be something that we all gravitate towards as we move through new phases of Covid-19.

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Chris Picton appointed SA health minister

The new South Australian premier Peter Malinauskas has just begun his press conference, where he is set to announce changes to the state’s Covid-19 restrictions after a meeting with the chief health officer.

He began by announcing that Labor MP Chris Picton will become the state’s new health minister, with other cabinet roles to be confirmed on Thursday.

I can confirm that the remainder of the Malinauskas Labor government cabinet will be sworn in. We’ve been working incredibly hard, of course, over the last 48 hours or thereabouts to ensure that that’s the best cabinet that my government can offer the people of South Australia to realise our policy ambition.

As I’ve stated previously – and I’m happy to reiterate today – there will be some changes. They won’t be major but there will be some changes to both portfolios and personnel. I can confirm that Chris Picton will be new minister for health and wellbeing.

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National Covid-19 update

Here are the latest coronavirus numbers from around Australia today, as the country records at least 23 deaths from Covid 19:

ACT

  • Deaths: 0
  • Cases: 1,014
  • In hospital: 38 (with three people in ICU)

NSW

  • Deaths: 4
  • Cases: 20,960
  • In hospital: 1,177 (with 41 people in ICU)

NT

  • Deaths: 1
  • Cases: 341
  • In hospital: 14 (with 1 person in ICU)

Queensland

  • Deaths: 9
  • Cases: 8,881
  • In hospital: 252 (with nine people in ICU)

South Australia

  • Deaths: 0
  • Cases: 3,686
  • In hospital: 165 (with 11 people in ICU)

Tasmania

  • Deaths: 1
  • Cases: 1,825
  • In hospital: 25 (with no people in ICU)

Victoria

  • Deaths: 7
  • Cases: 9,594
  • In hospital: 256 (with 24 people in ICU)

Western Australia

  • Deaths: 1
  • Cases: 7,075
  • In hospital: 180 (with 6 people in ICU)

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By the way, we should be hearing from the new SA premier Peter Malinauskas soon, and prime minister Scott Morrison is also expected to speak from Cairns at some point in the next hour or so.

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Oil and gas production in the Northern Territory’s Beetaloo Basin could help Australia meet its energy needs and provide export income, a Senate inquiry has been told, AAP’s Aaron Bunch reports.

The basin is one of five gas fields the federal government plans to develop to support exports and manufacturing, under its “gas-led recovery” from the Covid-19 pandemic.

It has caused concern among many Territorians, who fear it would not only jeopardise efforts to meet the nations’s emissions reduction target but also contaminate groundwater.

Andrew McConville, Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association chief executive, says the Beetaloo Basion has the potential to supply domestic gas needs and export markets.

“This is both an export and domestic opportunity,” he told the first environment and communications committee hearing on the issue in Darwin on Tuesday.

McConville said 30% of gas produced in Australia was used for electricity generation and 70% to manufacture everyday goods.

The simple reality is that those products do not have a substitute.

Cattleman Rohan Sullivan told the committee he had been dealing with a gas exploration company in the NT for about a decade, saying it had helped build gates and roads that the government had not been able.

In a testy exchange with Victorian Greens senator Lidia Thorpe, Sullivan said when asked why he had not acknowledged traditional owners at the start of his submission that he preferred to let his actions take precedence over words.

He said he was one of the few pastoralists who had employed Aboriginal workers since he bought the lease for the 76,000 hectare Birdum Creek Station in the basin.

The Northern Land Council, the Lock the Gate Alliance and GetUp! are also scheduled to present evidence to the hearing.

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Senate inquiry probes Beetaloo Basin fracking plans

A Senate inquiry is this morning probing the Morrison government’s plans to open up the Northern Territory’s Beetaloo Basin to fracking and exploratory drilling.

Environmentalists and activists have warned the plan will grossly drive up Australia’s emissions, requiring offsets for 27-39 million tonnes of emissions, and potentially derailing the nation’s ability to meet its Paris targets.

Analysis from Lock the Gate suggests the proposed and current exploration activities in the Basin will also use 2,272 million litres of water alone.

The inquiry is in Darwin this morning, primarily to hear the views of traditional owners. But proceedings have gotten off to a heated start. The Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (Appea), the industry’s peak group, is giving evidence about the thousands of jobs and economic benefits the Beetaloo development will bring. Appea appeared alongside a local pastoralist supportive of fracking, Rohan Sullivan.

Greens senator Lidia Thorpe has just challenged each of the witnesses to explain why they gave an acknowledgement of country before their evidence, given they were supportive of destroying Indigenous land through fracking.

When you say that you acknowledge country and traditional owners, I want to know what that means to you? Because we’re here because country is about to be destroyed.

Greens senator Lidia Thorpe.
Greens senator Lidia Thorpe. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Sullivan, the pastoralist, says he made no acknowledgement to country because he believes it is “virtue signalling and a waste of time”. He says he employs two people as stockman and station hands.

I think I’ll stand on that record rather than doing acknowledgements to country.

Thorpe responds:

Thanks Mr Sullivan and thank you for not acknowledging stolen land that you are on.

Sullivan:

I didn’t steal land. We bought the lease at auction in 2002 in Katherine. The lease is issued by the territory government.

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Of the four people with Covid-19 who died in NSW in the latest reporting period, two were in their 70s and two were in their 90s, NSW Health says.

Tasmania records one Covid death and 1,825 new infections

Tasmania has recorded 1,825 new Covid cases in the last 24 hours and one death.

There are now 25 people with Covid in hospital, none of whom are currently in the ICU.

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Birmingham has taken a swipe at shadow treasurer Jim Chalmer’s promise to deliver a second budget this year if elected to office.

The shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers is giving a pre-budget speech in which he has indicated that a Labour government if they were elected this year would hand out another budget this year and in that he has been flagging that there would be extra spending, extra spending on what’s he is not defining.

That’s really something the Labor party has to be upfront about. If they’re going to spend tens of billions of dollars more delivering upon their vague promises of virtually free childcare, or free Tafe or extra spending on social welfare measures, detail those. Tell Australians if there is to be a second budget this year, what the alternate budget would look like – give the detail. Where were the cuts be if there are going to be cuts?

Will the Labor party invest less in rural and regional Australia and if they cut those creative programs, which programs would they cut? ... If they cut the infrastructure, what would they cut?

If they will spend tens of billions of dollars more in the new budget, detail that too. Don’t make vague promises ... Be clear as to what will we be delivered.

Finance minister Simon Birmingham.
Finance minister Simon Birmingham. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

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Finance minister Simon Birmingham is somehow attempting to make the disaster that is the national broadband network Labor’s fault:

When our government was elected the NBN was little more than a poorly designed and little deliberate concept of the back of a napkin Stephen Conroy scribbled out.

Under our government we have built out the NBN, not using four designs but using smart technology options, …

The data used, fixed line, fixed wireless or satellite solutions we have been able to adapt and respond in ways that have given Australians cost-effective internet solutions and access but also to continue to build upon that by using new technology, new options, to provide even better services as we keep investing in the NBN. Today is another step of new investment by our government and further breeding services particularly for those in rural and regional Australia who are so central to our economic recovery.

The economic recovery of Australia is being driven by small and medium businesses across the country, employing Australians in record numbers and especially doing so in rural and regional Australia

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Communication minister Paul Fletcher is speaking now about this new NBN funding package. He says “only the Coalition” can be trusted to get regional Australia better internet.

Let’s have a listen in:

Firstly, 120,000 premises will come into the footprint, people previously served by satellite will be able to get the NBN fixed wireless. It will go to a speed of 100 megabits per second and over 750,000 premises. 85% will get a speed of 250 megabits per second.

Upload speed Inverarity crease in 20 meg bites per second which is important for businesses, anybody using the cloud. A material increase in speed at what is called the busy hour, typically in the evenings and importantly as well, for people on NBN satellite, as we move 120,000 out of the satellite footprint, that means we will be able to increase the monthly download limit for satellite customers on NBN sky muster from 50 gigabytes up to 90 within a couple of years.

This is better, faster broadband for regional and remote Australia, only the Coalition can be trusted to deliver better communication services for regional and remote Australia. I want to particularly acknowledge the work that Bridget McKenzie, as minister for regional communications, has been doing in relation to the regional telecommunications review. This response to an important recommendation of the review.

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It’s been assumed the Australian economy will continue to roar out of the Covid downturn, powered by the $250bn or so that households have apparently stashed away during the pandemic.

Well that was before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine came along to elevate prices for just about everything, including, of course, petrol and diesel.

ANZ-Roy Morgan has captured some of that consumer funk, showing confidence among consumers has started to crumble. Its weekly sentiment gauge has dropped almost 5% to the lowest level since September 2020 when the second Covid wave was just getting going.

The fall was across all states and territories. Senior ANZ economist David Plank said:

The weakness in consumer confidence presents a growing near-term risk to the outlook for household spending.

But the other risk has to be the jump in what people expect will happen to prices. Spoiler: they expect them to rise, a lot.

The inflation expectations are now up to 6%, or about a decade’s high. Just how rapidly they have taken off will be noted by the Reserve Bank.

It also keeps an eye on the other Reserve Bank, of New Zealand. It is already lifting interest rates, and by the looks of how inflation expectations are going, it has a ways to go:

With Australia’s federal budget out next Tuesday, it’s a challenging job for the treasurer Josh Frydenberg for his fourth budget – how to offer voters help to deal with cost of living (plus various margin-seat bribes) while not poking the inflationary possum further.

His Labor counterpart Jim Chalmers – who will be hoping it will be Frydenberg’s final budget – is warning today that households and government will have to cope with rising interest rate bills. He’s also planning his own budget this year, if Labor gets elected, as we wrote here:

You have to wonder if that might become a thing for any incoming commonwealth government – put out your budget, first chance you get.

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‘Chattering classes’: Coalition dismisses UN secretary general’s climate criticism

The Australian government has brushed off criticism from the UN secretary general labelling it a “holdout” after Scott Morrison refused to strengthen the nation’s 2030 emissions reduction target.

Communications minister Paul Fletcher hit back at António Guterres after he used an address to a sustainability summit to take an extraordinary public swipe at Australia’s climate efforts.

Fletcher told ABC News Breakfast the “chattering classes of the UN can say what they want” while Australia was “delivering outcomes” like a 20% emissions reduction since 2005. That was a “better performance” than the US, Canada and New Zealand, Fletcher said.

The Nationals senator Matt Canavan said the UN should “read the room” and accused it of being “asleep” as “Europe has got itself into an absolute vulnerable mess because they failed to develop their own fossil fuels”:

It is clear now that what we need to do is restore natural resource production to the free world ... For the UN here – they are not only so hopeless on Ukraine … Now they’re actively undermining our peace and security, and we should totally ignore them.

We’ve been covering this this morning but if you want to quickly catch up, check out the article below:

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Tickets available for Warne MCG memorial

Those hoping to pay their respects to cricket legend Shane Warne can buy a ticket to his state memorial service, reports AAP.

Ticket sales will open from 3pm on Tuesday for the Melbourne Cricket Ground event, which will take place at 7pm on 30 March.

It will be the wider public’s first chance to say goodbye to Warne after his sudden death from a suspected heart attack at the Thai resort island of Koh Samui on 4 March.

Victorian premier Daniel Andrews is expecting tens of thousands of Victorians to attend the state service:

We’re working very closely with the family to make sure that it is a celebration of his life.

Warne’s family and close friends held a private funeral on Sunday.

About 80 guests, including Warne’s three children and parents, attended the service at the St Kilda football club.

Tickets for the state memorial service will be free and will also be livestreamed on the Victorian government’s website.

The MCG’s Great Southern Stand will also be renamed in Warne’s honour.

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The Victorian government has launched the nation’s first teaching academy in an attempt to up-skill the state’s educators and improve students’ learning.

The Victorian Academy of Teaching and Leadership was announced last year. The $148m purpose-built facility in the city’s Treasury precinct will focus on skills development for the state’s teachers in government, Catholic and independent schools.

In addition to the CBD location and an existing facility in North Melbourne, seven regional sites will also open by the end of the year.

Deputy premier and education minister James Merlino said the academy was a “profound investment” in the education of Victoria’s students:

This Australian-first Academy is just another initiative that cements Victoria as the Education State – with campuses in every corner of Victoria to ensure all teachers have access to world-class upskilling opportunities.

Updated

The UN secretary general has called Australia a “holdout” after Scott Morrison refused to strengthen the nation’s 2030 emissions reduction target.

António Guterres has used an address to a sustainability summit to take an extraordinary public swipe at Australia’s climate efforts.

“A growing number of G20 developed economies have announced meaningful emissions reductions by 2030 – with a handful of holdouts, such as Australia,” he said.

He said the Paris climate pact’s ambition of limiting global warming to 1.5C was “on life support” but there was still something that could save it.

“Keeping 1.5 alive requires a 45% reduction in global emissions by 2030 and carbon neutrality by mid-century,” the UN chief said. “That problem was not solved in Glasgow.”

You can read the full report below:

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Victorian Greens call for month of free public transport

The Victorian Greens are calling on the state government to make public transport free for a month in an attempt to alleviate cost-of-living pressures.

Greens transport spokesman Sam Hibbins told reporters at parliament:

With the cost of living rising for so many Victorians, now is the time for the government to support the shift away from expensive, polluting petrol vehicles and towards cheaper, cleaner or sustainable transport. And they can do that by immediately making public transport free for the next month.

He anticipates free public transport would cost $75m a month.

Hibbins is also calling for the government to introduce a $5,000 credit for people who get rid of their petrol cars.

Updated

Police believe the death of a man and woman found with gunshot wounds on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast is not domestic violence-related, AAP reports.

Two bodies were found in the southern Sunshine Coast suburb of Caloundra West when police undertook a welfare check about 6.30pm last night.

The pair have not been formally identified but the 48-year-old woman is believed to have lived at the Teal Street Address.

The 52-year-old man was from Brown Plains, south of Brisbane, and the nature of their relationship is forming part of the investigation.

Police are not looking for anyone else in connection with the deaths.

A four-year working visa and a path to permanent residency should be offered to international graduates to counter Australia’s skilled migrant shortage, according to a leading NSW thinktank.

The Committee for Sydney outlined the proposal to attract international students as part of its federal agenda released on Tuesday, in the lead-up to the May election.

The group is also calling for major efforts to boost hosing affordability across the city, bolder action on climate change and a raft of measures to boost female participation in the workforce, including free childcare.

You can read the full report below:

Updated

NSW records 20,960 new Covid cases and four deaths

Updated

Victoria records seven Covid deaths and 9,594 new cases

An additional 140,000 travel vouchers will be up for grabs in Victoria from tomorrow.

Tourism minister Martin Pakula has confirmed that the fourth round of the travel voucher scheme will go live at 2pm Wednesday.

Vouchers will be issued on a first-come, first-served basis and are limited to one a household.

The scheme provides successful applicants with a $200 reimbursement when expenses of more than $400 are incurred across accommodation, attraction and experiences in Victoria.

To be eligible, travellers must stay in paid accommodation for a minimum of two consecutive nights.

Those who secure a voucher can claim expenses incurred during the program travel period of 8 April and 27 May 2022.

The Andrews government has spent $159m on the scheme so far:

Victorians have embraced travel vouchers, and this fourth round of the program gives them another chance to experience the best our state has to offer.

Updated

NSW police are urging the public to be on the lookout to help them find missing 12-year-old Awab Farhan.

Police say he was last seen about 4.30pm yesterday when he left a home on Lodore Street in The Ponds and jumped on board the 752 bus to Blacktown:

He hasn’t been seen or heard from since and was reported missing to Riverstone Police Area Command who commenced inquiries.

Police and family hold concerns for Awab’s welfare due to his age.

Awab is described as being of Mediterranean/Middle Eastern appearance, of thin build, 165cm – 170cm tall, with black hair. He was last seen wearing a long sleeve blue and white ‘Fila’ shirt with a black shirt underneath, black tracksuit pants, black ‘Nike’ shoes, and a khaki rain jacket.

He is known to frequent the areas of Liverpool and Bankstown.

Anyone with information that could help find Farhan has been told to contact Blacktown police or call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Updated

The Victorian Greens are pushing for public transport to be made free for the next month as petrol prices soar.

Wozzahs, it really is a morning for (pre) budget announcements.

Scott Morrison has just released a statement promising to invest $60m towards a plan to “bring back international visitors, especially to the regions that have been hardest hit”.

The press release broke down where the money in the package would be going:

  • $15m for Tourism Tropical North Queensland to get tourists back to North Queensland and to promote the Great Barrier Reef.
  • $45m for Tourism Australia (TA) to undertake additional targeted activities to get international tourists back into key regional destinations heavily impacted by the loss of international tourism, of which:
  • $15m for advertising in crucial international markets to support regions most reliant on international tourists;
  • $25m for direct partnership activities for TA to work with trade wholesalers, the airlines and the media to drive international demand back to key regions; and
  • $5m to extend Business Events Australia’s highly successful bid fund – which has already helped win 57 events for Australia.

Here is what the prime minister had to say:

As the world reopens, and travellers get out and see the world again, we want to ensure that at the top of every must-see list is Australia.

I have been listening to tourism industry operators about what they will need to rebuild their international tourist businesses and this funding boost will deliver on these needs. The package is about getting people on planes and getting them here. It’s about converting the strong interest in Australia to actual businesses.

The return of our international tourism market will support hundreds of thousands of tourism jobs, strengthen our economy, and back our world-class tourism operators and the many regions reliant on international visitors, like tropical north Queensland.

Updated

Through a snorkel mask, the corals struggling for survival in the heat are easy to spot. Some have turned white while others are pouring out a fluorescent pigment into their flesh – it’s spectacular, but it’s also a sign of a coral in deep distress.

This is John Brewer Reef about 70km off Townsville in Queensland – the centre of a widespread coral bleaching event. For hundreds of kilometres north and south, reefs are going through the same battle.

As we float over one of about 3,000 individual reefs that make up the vast Great Barrier Reef on Sunday afternoon, two scientists are touching down in Brisbane for a 10-day UN monitoring mission.

You can read the full report below:

Updated

Budget boost for regional NBN network

In the lead-up to next week’s budget, the federal government has promised a boost to improve the beleaguered NBN network if it wins re-election.

It has vowed to invest $480m to improve connectivity in regional areas, promising up to 1m extra homes will have access to higher NBN speeds or “greater data limits on Sky Muster services”.

The NBN will also chip in $270m to take the total proposed package to $750m.

Where this will make the biggest difference is in “busy hours” where many people in the same area could be streaming or video conferencing. This could bring regional area’s connectivity down to an absolute crawl.

Here is what communications minister Paul Fletcher had to say:

This means more people can be served by NBN fixed wireless; it means higher speed services on the NBN fixed wireless network; and it means higher amounts of data can be used by households and business customers. The upgrade will expand the fixed wireless footprint coverage by up to 50%, enabling 120,000 additional premises to access fixed wireless services instead of Sky Muster satellite services.

Updated

New South Australian premier says he'll keep his shirt on from now on

Peter Malinauskas has promised to keep his shirt on from now on, after a photo of his muscled torso made quite a stir in the world of Australian politics.

ABC radio host Patricia Karvelas:

During the campaign, you were photographed shirtless in swimming shorts, and it caused a bit of a stir. I have to ask you ... the Australian’s Greg Sheridan said jokingly on [ABC] Insiders that you’re “far too good looking”. Which I thought was quite a statement. What have you made of the reaction to that picture?

Malinauskas:

Do you have any idea how much grief I’ve copped around the place as a result of that?

Karvelas:

Have they told you just to buff to be premier?

Malinauskas:

They’ve piled it on, let me tell you. I haven’t stopped copping it, and I deserve every bit of it.

We were announcing a big investment at our major aquatics centre here in South Australia and a whole bunch of us jumped in for a swim in our boardies with our kids there. And, yeah, it got a bit more attention than I anticipated, fair to say.

Karvelas:

So you’re going to keep your shirt on from now on?

Malinauskas:

Damn straight!

Updated

Peter Malinauskas says the federal election will revolve around the cost of living, and he continues to use his newfound national platform for Anthony Albanese:

I think we’re about to see a federal election where a cost of living is a front and centre issue. And I think Australians get the price of petrol, but they can’t control the price of groceries.

The way we address cost of living as a nation is to start having an incomes policy focus on how we improve working in small businesses to improve the productivity of their labour, so they can earn a higher income. And that’s why education, training and skills is so important.

And I only see federal Labor stepping up to the plate with serious economic policy, about investing in people’s education, training and skills improving labour, workforce participation through childcare policies, and that’s why I hope they win this election.

Updated

Peter Malinauskas has expanded on his promise not to be “Scott Morrison’s” quokka.

Scott Morrison described Steven Marshall as his quokka, and what I’ve said is I’m not going to be Scott’s quokka.

ABC radio host Patricia Karvelas:

I thought it was funny, and after I thought it was funny I thought if I get Peter Malinauskas on the show – and we have – I really want to ask him what it will look like not to be Scott’s quokka ...

Malinauskas:

What that means is if the current government or even the next government does the right thing by our state, I’ll be the first to applaud it. But if they seek to undermine the standard of living of South Australians, if they seem to take away a particular source of revenue or investment that we rightfully believe should [remain], I’m gonna stand up and advocate for the state’s interests.

And like I said, that’s not [just] true for Scott Morrison, but also Anthony Albanese should he become prime minister, which I, of course, desperately hope he does. So this is about the function of leadership.

Updated

Gosh, Peter Malinauskas really is being forced to use his victory lap to campaign for federal Labor isn’t he?

He has assured the people of Australia that Anthony Albanese also shares his vision for a better future after Covid:

I think Anthony Albanese and myself have a common idea in trying to ensure that these elections that have just happened in South Australia – or better – occur federally, does deliver on that idea that we’ve got to come out of Covid better than we were when we went into it. I don’t think there’s any point in going through Covid and just going back to before.

Our economy as a nation has challenges. I think there is no real evidence to suggest that Covid has exacerbated economic equity for those people that don’t own capital, whether it be in the form of the home or equities. They have become just one that one step further removed from being able to enjoy the wealth associated with that.

If you want a quick recap on how the SA election could affect the upcoming federal vote, check out Guardian Australia’s TikTok below, in which I attempt to break it all down in 59 seconds:

Updated

Newly appointed SA premier Peter Malinauskas credits the success of his campaign to Labor’s focus on health and his plans to shape what the “legacy of Covid” will look like.

He is speaking with ABC radio now:

So there are two things. The first one is the health and hospital crisis that we have here in South Australia. We’ve got evidence ramping and record levels to the extent that it now actually hinders upon the ability for triple zero calls to be made on time. So that was the immediate concern that speaks to a lived experience.

There was a big-picture issue at play here [too]. And that is what is the legacy of Covid going to be and I think this is not just true to South Australians. My sense is that this applies equally throughout the nation. But people have made big sacrifices to get through Covid whether it be in the form of isolation, closing their own businesses, giving up their incomes giving up their capital, and they want to live a better future ...

[They don’t want] the legacy of Covid just to be a massive debt and a bad memory. Our policy speaks to a vision for the future of our state and I think that’s what South Australians were particularly pleased to support.

New South Australian premier Peter Malinauskas with his wife Annabel and their children Sophie, Jack and Eliza
New South Australian premier Peter Malinauskas with his wife Annabel and their children Sophie, Jack and Eliza at Government House in Adelaide yesterday. Photograph: Matt Turner/AAP

Updated

Free tickets to Shane Warne’s state memorial service will become available from 3pm today, Victorian premier Daniel Andrews says.

Updated

Space must not become “a new realm for conflict”, Peter Dutton will say as he launches the Australian defence force’s new space command.

The defence minister will on Tuesday accuse some countries – including Russia – of seeing “space as a territory for their taking”. Dutton will tell a conference in Canberra that Australia will work with allies to push for “a safe, stable and secure space domain”.

In a second speech on Tuesday, Dutton will say Australia is “in the crosshairs” for cyber-attacks, while declaring that authorities believe China has the capability to mount “an unprecedented digital onslaught”.

Both speeches reflect the Coalition’s determination to promote a tough message on national security before the election due in May – despite both parties having a largely similar approach to the major strategic challenges.

You can read the full report below:

Updated

Good morning

Good morning all, it’s Matilda Boseley here with you, somewhat red in the face after absolutely stacking it on my bike outside the office about 20 minutes ago. But it seems that I’m not the only one who should be embarrassed this morning, with Australia being called out on a global stage for its fossil fuel focus.

The UN secretary general has called Australia a “holdout” after Scott Morrison refused to strengthen the nation’s 2030 emissions reduction target.

António Guterres has used an address to a sustainability summit to take an extraordinary public swipe at Australia’s climate change efforts:

A growing number of G20 developed economies have announced meaningful emissions reductions by 2030 – with a handful of holdouts, such as Australia.

He said the Paris climate pact’s ambition of limiting global warming to 1.5C was “on life support” but there was still something that could save it:

Keeping 1.5 alive requires a 45% reduction in global emissions by 2030 and carbon neutrality by mid-century. That problem was not solved in Glasgow.

Guterres implored all G20 governments to dismantle their domestic coal infrastructure, with full phase-out by 2030 for OECD countries, and 2040 for all others. He called coal a “stupid investment” that would lead to billions in stranded assets.

Simon Bradshaw, head of research at the Climate Council, said the UN chief’s direct and veiled attacks on Australia’s climate policies were striking.

It’s very unusual for the UN secretary general to call out any country, specifically. I don’t recall a time when this has happened. It’s striking to see.

But why fix issues on Earth when we could look to space! Defence minister Peter Dutton will today launch Australia’s own command outfit for our space defence initiatives, as he warns of increased competition and conflict out there.

The command will be headed by Air Vice-Marshal Cath Roberts in a bid to protect Australia’s interests in space where “losing access would have significant civil and military consequences”.

New military space capabilities will be used to counter threats, continue access to space-based intelligence, to conduct surveillance and reconnaissance and uphold the free use of space.

Dutton will tell an air and space power conference in Canberra on Tuesday that:

[Space] will undoubtedly become a domain which takes on greater military significance in 21st century ... It is a domain which must be used to deter aggression, rather than become a new realm for conflict.

With all that in mind, why don’t we jump right into the day? I think I need a coffee.

Updated

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