What we learned today, Friday 13 January
With that, we will wrap up the blog for the night. Here’s what happened today:
The New South Wales premier, Dominic Perrottet, said he was confident in his position and he wants more education for young people about the Holocaust after it was revealed yesterday he dressed as a Nazi for his 21st birthday. He also said he was not aware of any photos taken.
The Jewish Board of Deputies said the premier’s apology was sincere but should have come earlier.
The NSW Greens blasted Perrottet over his Nazi outfit revelation, saying it was “difficult to fathom his political views were not already formed”.
A memorial service for George Pell will be held in Sydney, but there will be no state funeral for the man who was Australia’s most senior Catholic.
Cardinal Pell wrote a secret memo calling Pope Francis’s papacy a “catastrophe”, a journalist revealed.
The federal court published new rules, limiting non-party access to certain court documents until “after the first directions hearing or the hearing (whichever is earlier)”.
A man who was pulled unresponsive from a creek in NSW’s Riverina region has died.
Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed new home loan commitments fell by a seasonally adjusted 3.7% in November. It was the 10th monthly fall in a row, according to the CBA (which had tipped a 4% drop).
The number of Covid-19 cases dramatically declined over the holiday period, with NSW reporting a 33% decrease in positive cases.
The elective surgery waitlist is expected to reach half a million by 30 June this year, the Australian Medical Association warned.
The Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre released 16,756 more offers for courses at universities, Tafe institutes and independent tertiary colleges commencing in 2023.
The chair of Australia’s Brazil parliamentary group contacted Brazil’s ambassador to Australia to express “sadness and disappointment” about the storming of key buildings by supporters of the defeated president Jair Bolsonaro.
Updated
South Australia records 38 Covid deaths and 3,261 new cases while Tasmania reports 8 deaths and 1,230 cases
South Australia has recorded 3,261 new Covid cases in the past week, and 38 deaths.
There are 128 people in hospital with the virus, with six in intensive care.
Tasmania has reported 1,230 new cases in that period, and eight deaths, with 18 people in hospital with the virus.
Updated
