Omicron has played out in a series of strange stages in Australia. Here’s what to expect when the wave hits
Dear New Zealand,
Kia ora!
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‘Fifty years of resistance’: Aboriginal Tent Embassy began with an umbrella and became a symbol of sovereignty
1972 was the first time many saw First Nations people confront the establishment. Now elders say it’s a legacy for future generations
In the middle of the night, four young Aboriginal men pitched a beach umbrella on the lawns opposite Parliament House and sat down. When dawn broke on 26 January 1972, a police officer came over to ask how long they intended to stay.
“Until we get land rights,” one of the four, Billy Craigie, told the officer.
Above: Bobbi Sykes (with Gordon Briscoe) addresses a protest at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, Canberra, July 1972. Below: The Aboriginal Tent Embassy, Parliament House in 1972. Images: Ken Whittington/National Archives Australia
Continue reading...Netflix’s Byron Baes cast appear to flout NSW Covid measures in Instagram videos
Covid cases in the Byron Bay area have exploded since December
Cast members of the Netflix reality series Byron Baes have posted videos to social media of people dancing to live music at a crowded Byron Bay venue in apparent contravention of New South Wales Covid measures.
Two of the show’s other stars have posted videos in the days after receiving positive Covid tests that appear to show them out in public.
Continue reading...Australia news live update: nation records 76 Covid deaths; Anthony Albanese announces Labor election priorities
Labor leader outlines election priorities; nation records 76 Covid deaths; Peter Dutton warns against Russia invasion of Ukraine; giant ram survives 4.7 magnitude earthquake in WA. Follow all the latest news
- Grace Tame and Scott Morrison’s frosty meeting sparks praise, condemnation and memes
- Australia’s decision to withdraw people from Ukraine sends ‘wrong message’, diplomat says
- Police say Charlise Mutten, 9, was shot dead before body was found in Blue Mountains
- Poll: disillusion growing over Coalition handling of pandemic
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The benchmark ASX200 is set to fall 1.7% this morning, according to futures data, following further losses on overseas markets overnight.
In the US, the S&P500 fell 0.72% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq index dropped 0.43%, while London’s FTSE100 shed a whopping 2.63%.
Continue reading...Australian Open reverses its ban on ‘Where is Peng Shuai?’ T-shirts
- Shirts to be allowed but banners still barred, says Craig Tiley
- Tennis Australia u-turn comes after international backlash
The Australian Open has reversed its ban on ‘Where is Peng Shuai?’ T-shirts following widespread backlash to the tournament’s claim they constituted “commercial or political” material, but banners will still be prohibited.
Late last week spectators at Melbourne Park were asked to remove their shirts referencing the Chinese player, whose wellbeing has been the subject of international concern since she accused a senior Chinese official of sexual assault in early November.
Continue reading...‘No evidence of hacking’: WeChat hits back at interference claims about Scott Morrison’s account
Chinese tech giant Tencent says ownership dispute behind rebranding of prime minister’s account to ‘Australian Chinese new life’
The owner of the Chinese social media platform WeChat insists there is “no evidence of any hacking or third-party intrusion” of Scott Morrison’s account.
Coalition members have vowed to boycott WeChat in retaliation for the prime minister’s account being taken over and rebranded as “Australian Chinese new life” earlier this month.
Continue reading...Testing for fully vaccinated travellers to UK to be scrapped; new vaccine pass rules in France – as it happened
UK transport secretary says testing rules for travellers into country will change from 4am on 11 February; new France rules come into force
- Boris Johnson faces fresh outrage over lockdown birthday party
- A full list of alleged UK government Covid rule-busting ‘parties’
- US to distribute 400m free N95 masks to pharmacies and health centres
- ‘Paradigm shift’ needed in way WHO is funded, says director general
- England to end Covid testing for double-vaccinated travellers
- Half of first-wave Covid cases may have lasting harm to sense of smell
That’s it from me, Helen Livingstone, for today. I’m handing you over to my colleague Martin Belam.
Before I go, here’s a roundup of what’s been happening over the past 24 hours:
Continue reading...Australian government buys copyright to Aboriginal flag in $20m deal
Deal includes payment to designer Harold Thomas and terminates commercial licences, meaning flag now ‘belongs to everyone’, federal minister for Indigenous Australians says
The Aboriginal flag can now be reproduced on apparel and merchandise after the federal government secured its copyright to resolve a complicated legal dispute over the use of the emblem.
The Morrison government has paid more than $20m to obtain the copyright to the flag, plus terminate commercial licenses owned by companies which had limited the reproduction of the symbol.
Continue reading...Martina Navratilova says Tennis Australia is ‘capitulating’ to China over Peng Shuai
- Former world No 1 labels Australian Open organisers ‘weak’
- Messages of support for Chinese player banned from grand slam
Tennis great Martina Navratilova has condemned as “pathetic” the Australian Open’s decision to stop fans wearing ‘Where is Peng Shuai?’ T-shirts, accusing Tennis Australia of “capitulating” to China.
Late last week spectators at Melbourne Park were asked to remove their T-shirts and security confiscated a banner emblazoned with the same words, on the grounds that TA prohibits “clothing, banners or signs that are commercial or political”.
Continue reading...Former Australian PM Paul Keating criticises Liz Truss over ‘demented’ China comments
Ex-leader targets UK foreign secretary’s remarks on potential China aggression in the Indo-Pacific, adding Britain suffers from ‘relevance deprivation’
The former Australian prime minister Paul Keating has accused Liz Truss of making “demented” comments about Chinese military aggression and urged the British foreign secretary to hurry “back to her collapsing, disreputable government”.
Keating, in a blistering op-ed, also said Britain “suffers delusions of grandeur and relevance deprivation” and its tilt to the Indo-Pacific lacks credibility.
Continue reading...Elderly woman forced to isolate under a tree in remote community due to lack of facilities
Quarantine facilities desperately needed in Yuendumu where Covid has ripped through community, relative says
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A resident of the remote community of Yuendumu, who is caring for a toddler and a partner on dialysis, is pleading with the Northern Territory government to provide a local quarantine facility, after her Covid-positive elderly relative was forced to sleep outside on the veranda and spend three days under a tree in order to safely isolate from the rest of the family.
The Warlpiri woman, who has asked not to be named, says she is “stressed and worried” that her child and partner remain exposed to the virus while the relative remains in their care. She says communication with health officials has left her confused about whether her relative will be sent to quarantine elsewhere or asked stay at home.
Continue reading...Cleo Smith: Terence Darrell Kelly pleads guilty to abducting four-year-old from WA campsite
Kelly, 36, admits in court to taking child from a tent last year. Other charges have been adjourned to a later date
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A man has pleaded guilty in court to abducting Cleo Smith from her family’s West Australian campsite, sparking a widespread search and attracting global attention.
Terence Darrell Kelly, 36, on Monday admitted taking the four-year-old from a tent at the remote Blowholes campsite last year.
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Continue reading...A paramedic and an ICU nurse from the frontline of the Omicron surge
All summer we’ve seen the highly contagious Omicron variant rip through most of Australia, as a record number of people continue to get sick and die from the virus.
Laura Murphy-Oates speaks to a paramedic and a senior ICU nurse, who say the health system is being pushed to the limit
Read more:
Continue reading...Australia live news update: nearly identical return-to-school plans for NSW and Victoria; no rapid tests for Qld students; 58 Covid deaths recorded
Students and teachers in NSW will be required to take rapid Covid tests twice a week when school resumes; Victoria mandates third vaccine dose for teachers and staff, masks for year three and above; NSW records 34 Covid deaths, Victoria 14 and Queensland 10; ACT reports 694 cases and no deaths, SA 2,062 cases. Follow live
- Craig Tiley says Novak Djokovic not suing Tennis Australia and will return for 2023 Australian Open
- Red alert: New Zealand prepares for thousands of Omicron cases a day with community spread
- Patients left without crucial information as Covid puts pressure on NSW interpreting services
- Covid-19 vaccine Australia rollout tracker
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A search and rescue operation will resume for a fisherman missing since the early hours of Saturday after he was thrown from a boat along with another man and a dog on Sydney’s North Harbour, AAP reports.
The men, aged 25 and 49, launched their 3.5-metre runabout from Northbridge about 9pm on Friday before running into rough seas and capsizing about 3am on Saturday.
Continue reading...‘I’ve got this little extra strength’: the rare, intense world of a super smeller
From petrol and perfume to Parkinson’s disease, super-smellers can detect scents others are oblivious to. For Krati Garg, the ability’s both power and pain
A few years ago Dr Krati Garg, an oral surgeon in Melbourne, was in theatre about to commence work on a patient when she told the anaesthetist she could smell sevoflurane.
Sevoflurane is the anaesthetic gas used to put – and keep – patients asleep during surgery. Ingested via a tube that is placed down the throat, in large quantities its bitter smell can be noticeable, but trace amounts are largely indiscernible.
Continue reading...‘It’s a glorified backpack of tubes and turbines’: Dave Eggers on jetpacks and the enigma of solo flight
When inventor David Mayman took to the skies, it seemed he’d answered an age-old longing. So why did no one seem to care?
We have jetpacks and we do not care. An Australian named David Mayman has invented a functioning jetpack and has flown it all over the world – once in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty – yet few people know his name. His jetpacks can be bought but no one is clamouring for one. For decades, humans have said they want jetpacks, and for thousands of years we have said we want to fly, but do we really? Look up. The sky is empty.
Airlines are dealing with pilot shortages, and this promises to get far worse. A recent study found that, by 2025, we can expect a worldwide shortfall of 34,000 commercial pilots. With smaller aircraft, the trends are similar. Hang-gliding has all but disappeared. Ultralight aircraft makers are barely staying afloat. (One manufacturer, Air Création, sold only one vehicle in the US last year.) With every successive year, we have more passengers and fewer pilots. Meanwhile, one of the most dreamed of forms of flight – jetpacks – exists, but Mayman can’t get anyone’s attention.
Continue reading...NSW records 30 deaths, Victoria 20, Qld 10, SA three and Tasmania one – as it happened
Australia to scrap PCR test requirement for international arrivals; Triple J counts down Hottest 100. This blog is now closed
- WA races to contain Perth Covid cluster as Hunt declines to condemn border decision
- ‘Flying blind’: Australia faces 10,000 long Covid cases
- Mark McGowan’s backflip on Covid reopening splits WA
- Teachers frustrated by lack of planning for schools reopening
- Covid-19 vaccine Australia rollout tracker
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Health minister Greg Hunt has been talking to reporters in Canberra. He was asked about the decision of the Western Australian government to vacate the 5 February border opening date.
He said WA’s border opening was “very much a matter for the WA government”, but then says several things which sound like criticising the WA government.
We understand many families will be disappointed, their ability to meet loved ones, their ability to see beautiful young babies or to be present for weddings. That’s all been deferred. It is a matter for Western Australia and so we recognise that that’s a decision for the one government.
Continue reading...I’m not complaining that WA is staying shut. Like many, I’m just grieving for lost time | Calla Wahlquist
West Australians are torn between wanting to see loved ones and wanting to stay safe behind the barricade. Most of us in the eastern states feel that conflict too
It has been a hard few years to have family in Western Australia. On Thursday, at a late-night press conference after national cabinet, the premier, Mark McGowan, announced that his safe transition plan, which would have allowed quarantine-free travel into the state from 5 February, had been put on indefinite pause.
I exchanged muted text messages with my sister, who lives in Perth, from my home in central Victoria. We were not really surprised – relying on McGowan to open the border on schedule is a mug’s game this far into the pandemic.
Continue reading...Australia news live update: nation records at least 80 Covid deaths in deadliest day yet; WA delays border reopening
Australia records its deadliest day of the pandemic with 80 deaths; AFP begins investigations into RAT price gouging; ‘If not now, when?’ asks Frydenberg on WA border. Follow all the day’s news
- WA suspends border reopening indefinitely amid Omicron spread
- Omicron wave has likely peaked in NSW and Victoria, some experts say
- Free rapid tests won’t be available for millions, Australian pharmacists warn
- Covid vaccine rollout tracker
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The West Australian paper certainly isn’t mincing words with their views on the indefinite border closure this morning.
The Australian federal police have launched an investigation into price gouging rapid antigen tests, warning people that re-selling them for “more than 20 per cent of the original retail purchase price” is a crime punishable with up to five years in prison.
Two investigations have begun in Queensland and NSW after referrals from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
More referrals are expected and will be coordinated under the AFP’s Taskforce LOTUS, which was established in 2021 as a targeted and scalable response to potential criminal threats to the COVID-19 vaccine rollout.
Continue reading...Covid live: Ireland to lift almost all curbs from 6am on Saturday; France reports 400,851 new cases
Ireland’s premier Micheál Martin says ‘we have weathered the Omicron storm’; France reports 400,851 daily cases and 233 Covid-linked hospital deaths
- Covid reinfection: how likely are you to catch virus multiple times?
- Boris Johnson tells schools in England to end mask-wearing policy
- Irish taoiseach lifts one of Europe’s longest Covid clampdowns
China has reported its lowest daily tally of local confirmed Covid-19 cases in nearly two months, after a national strategy to stamp out flare-ups and lock down affected cities.
China reported 23 domestically transmitted infections with confirmed symptoms for Thursday, official data showed, down from 43 a day earlier.
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