Editor Brian Harrod Provides Comprehensive up-to-date news coverage, with aggregated news from sources all over the world from the Roundup Newswires Network
Tian Xuejun rejects Australia’s ‘groundless accusations’ that China influenced the finding to score political points
The Chinese host of a United Nations world heritage committee has defended a proposal to label the Great Barrier Reef as “in danger”, and rejected Australian government suspicion that China influenced the finding for political reasons.
It came as the Morrison government sought to use a new report by Australia’s marine science agency to argue there had been widespread coral recovery on the reef.
Residents of Fairfield, Canterbury-Bankstown and Liverpool local government areas barred from leaving for work as NSW tries to control spread of Delta variant. Follow the latest developments live
The NSW branches of the Transport Workers’ Union and the Australian Road Transport Industrial Organisation are welcoming an exemption for their workers in the three local government areas where only health and emergency workers are allowed to leave.
The groups say updated advice now includes a list of “authorised workers” permitted to go to work, “which includes freight, logistics, courier and delivery workers, bus drivers, waste workers and airport workers”.
The exemption will come as a relief to the more than 20,000 transport workers in south-west Sydney who yesterday believed they would not be able to go to work. We commend the NSW government for responding quickly to our calls for an exemption, however the advice to workers and operators is still far too sluggish.
Deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce is asked about far-right media figure Katie Hopkins flying into Australia and going into hotel quarantine (maybe to appear on the local reality TV show Big Brother, as is the speculation).
I’m the one who wanted to send home Johnny Depp’s dog, so I have no problem sending home someone who wants to flout our laws. If you want to do that, pack your bongo and get out of country!
The Western NSW Local Health District has posted on its Facebook page that it has been notified of cases that travelled to Molong, near Orange in the state’s central west, on 16 July.
No venues of concern are currently identified and contacts of the cases are being tested while in isolation. Urgent investigations are underway and contact tracing is continuing.
As a precautionary measure, a drive-through (testing) clinic will be established in Molong and capacity in Orange and Bathurst will be increased.
The prime minister, Scott Morrison, has released a statement following today’s national cabinet meeting:
National Cabinet discussed the outbreak in Greater Sydney and the additional measures introduced by the New South Wales Government to stop the spread of the virus. National Cabinet has agreed to a suppression strategy for COVID-19 with the goal of no community transmission.
All leaders expressed their full support for NSW to get on top of the current outbreak. National Cabinet noted the Commonwealth’s extension of the COVID-19 Disaster Payment support for Greater Sydney and Victoria, based on Commonwealth hotspot declarations.
National Cabinet received an update from the Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet on the four step plan to reopening and the progress of the Covid-19 Risk Analysis and Response Taskforce report and the Doherty modelling for the National Plan to transition Australia’s National Covid Response.
All leaders reiterated the importance of Australians, especially those in vulnerable groups, to get a COVID-19 vaccination.
Hmmmm, Morrison also seems to be arguing that Australia really isn’t as far behind when it comes to vaccinations as everyone think.
He was asked if the Syndey situation could have been avoided if the vaccine rollout was on track.
But very few countries are talking single digits when we’re talking single digits when we’re talking personals. We’re at 9%.
No, no, we’re above 10%... We’re at about 11%. A third of Australians have already received their first dose.
Well over 70% of over 70s. And well over half of those over 50 and we’re scaling-up now to almost a million doses a week.
Prime minister Scott Morrison has also been out and about this morning, seemingly mostly to slam the Victorian government a little more.
Here is what he had to say on the Today show when asked if the Victorian government’s criticism were fair:
No, it wasn’t because during the Victorian lockdown without request the federal government was providing a billion dollars every week.
In the recent lockdown, which thankfully only went for two weeks, Victoria got exactly the same as what NSW got for those two weeks. NSW is going into week four of a lockdown and that means the challenges are escalating.
A man in his 70s from Sydney’s east has died of coronavirus; Queensland keeps border open for now; support package for NSW to include increased payments for people who have lost work. Follow the latest updates live
It’s a little late today, but pleased to keep up Matilda Boseley’s tradition of highlighting the bizarre graphic design choices of the Queensland premier’s social media team.
Today’s special announces 100 new Tafe scholarships. Someone has spent time etching the bloke’s arm in front of the graphic, for some reason.
100 TAFE scholarships valued at up to $5,000 are up for grabs.
The skills TAFE offers can change lives and set people up for stable and rewarding careers. pic.twitter.com/9TOHAsIbuz
Looks like we’re learning about that Covid relief package at 3.30pm.
Just enough time to take a breath, grab a coffee, watch a couple of episodes of he Office and settle in for the announcement.
A new Australian government Covid awareness advertisement featuring a young woman gasping for air in a hospital bed has been criticised for leaning into scare tactics and for urging vaccination among a group who are still not eligible for the recommended vaccine.
The federal government released two ads at the weekend, one featuring the young woman, which also carries a message for people to stay at home and get tested, and the other showing a parade of arms bearing Band-Aids after vaccination with the tagline: “Arm yourself against Covid-19.”
Masks must be worn in all indoor construction sites across NSW and from 13 July in residential common areas as new restrictions placed on people entering greater Sydney. This blog is now closed
That’s where we’ll end today’s live coverage of Covid news.
Here are the key developments:
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and the Australian Medical Association have both backed NSW Health’s call for Sydney residents to bring their second shot of AstraZeneca forward to six weeks after the first dose.
Both the RACGP and the AMA said that the six week window made sense, as it would provide quicker protection against catching, spreading and also potentially dying from Covid-19.
We will definitely will be looking at giving boosters for those who get it early.
You will actually have a benefit from coming in early, because we’ll keep you on that list.”
Having long encouraged universities to find funding elsewhere, politicians now home in on their ties to China to argue that they’ve lost their way
Outside the political sphere, much of Australia’s China panic centres on university campuses. This is hardly surprising, given the deep connections of the Australian higher-education sector to China.
In 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic hit, higher education brought in some A$12bn in export revenue, most of it from China. With more than 150,000 Chinese international students enrolled, some institutions relied on that single revenue stream to make up a quarter of their total budget before the current drop-off. Mandarin is the second language of campus life in most universities these days; Confucius Institutes have been established at 13 universities; partnerships and MOUs with Chinese universities proliferate in many fields. Australian academics now collaborate more with colleagues in China than in any other foreign country: one report found that an incredible 16.2% of scientific papers by Australian researchers – almost one in six – were co-authored with researchers in China, with papers in the fields of materials science, chemical engineering and energy topping the list.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian says 29 of the new cases were infectious in the community as new restrictions announced for Sydney; state and territory leaders meet with PM to discuss the vaccine rollout. Follow latest updates
Big news: NSW families minister Alister Henskens confirms the government's NDIS independent assessments plan "will not proceed". pic.twitter.com/gJByatuma2
Although Victoria's disability minister Luke Donnellan is slightly less categorical about it in his statement. pic.twitter.com/zFIYR1bIgc
The pharmaceutical giant Pfizer says there is no change in the number of doses the company has contracted to deliver to Australia over 2021 – contradicting reports asserting the Morrison government had secured a “game-changing deal” to triple its access to the jabs.
The prime minister – who has been under significant political pressure because of the slow pace of the vaccination rollout, pressure that has ramped up during the lockdown of greater Sydney – embarked on a media blitz on Friday to argue the pace of the vaccination rollout was accelerating.
More than four in 10 Australians think Chinese are coming and analysts say that’s due to government’s ‘drums of war’ rhetoric
More than four in 10 Australians are worried China may attack Australia, according to new polling, expressing a level of fear that is nearly as high as among Taiwan’s population.
The Australia Institute, a progressive thinktank that commissioned polling in both Australia and Taiwan, said the “astounding” findings may be partly explained by some government figures in Canberra “beating the drums of war”.
New coronavirus cases for NSW and Queensland as South Australia ends border restrictions with WA and NT, and Sydney remains in lockdown. Follow the latest updates, live
Morrison says the royal commission will be able to inquire into any death by suicide, including suspected suicide, and will make recommendations about systemic issues.
Former NSW police commissioner Nick Kaldas will lead the royal commission, Morrison says.
The greater Sydney lockdown has been extended for a week after New South Wales recorded another 27 local Covid cases and health officials expressed concern about the growing spread of the virus in some south-western suburbs.
The NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian, said the decision to extend the lockdown was a difficult but necessary one.
Critics say government not doing enough to help neighbour as record cases deplete oxygen supplies
The Australian government has been urged to rapidly step up its assistance to Indonesia, amid warnings the sharp rise in Covid-19 cases is fuelling an “escalating crisis right on our doorstep”.
With aid groups fearing the Indonesian health system is on the verge of collapse, and with oxygen and bed shortages reported in some hospitals, there are growing calls for the Morrison government to help its most populous neighbour.
International airlines claim they could be forced to suspend services to Australia from next week after national cabinet agreed to halve the number of people allowed to enter the country – and they say any suggestion of price gouging is “insulting and bizarre”.
From 14 July, overseas arrivals will be slashed from 6,070 to 3,035 a week – crushing the hopes of thousands of Australians stuck overseas and looking to get home.
The number of Australians applying to travel overseas is surging, leading to an increase in exemptions despite efforts to crack down on unnecessary travel.
According to a Guardian Australia analysis of Australian Border Force statistics, 34,616 exemptions were sought in June, up from 23,836 in May.
When will life go back to normal? When can Australians fly overseas? How soon will lockdowns become a thing of the past? Here’s what we know about the national pandemic exit plan
Scott Morrison has revealed the triggers for moving to the next two phases of Australia’s opening-up plan, aimed at reducing the reliance on lockdowns and increasing freedom for vaccinated international travellers.
But the moves are conditional on dramatic increases in Covid-19 vaccination rates and the timing remains up in the air. Morrison declared there was an “in principle” agreement at a national cabinet meeting on Friday but at least one state leader subsequently warned that lockdowns may still be necessary in later phases. Here is a rundown of the latest version of the reopening plan.
For a while Australia seemed to be on top of Covid-19, but we have lost our way – and an ideology is to blame
Has Australia lost the plot? It’s the question many of us are asking. Our pandemic response, for so long admired as world-leading, is rapidly unravelling before our eyes. And as a nation, it feels like we are unravelling too.
Our tempers are frayed, our patience thin. We all want someone to blame. We’ve become a nation divided: by politics, by state, by age, even by vaccine.