‘Tyranny’: US rightwingers portray nightmare vision of Australia’s Covid response

The feedback loop between US conservative media and Australia’s fringe right has intensified as New South Wales and Victoria have struggled with outbreaks

At a rowdy rally to protest against mask mandates in New York on Monday, some participants carried Australian flags and joined in with chants such as “Save Australia”.

Many Australians were puzzled by what seemed a sudden, unbidden show of support, but this spectacle was the culmination of a months-long effort in conservative US media to portray Australia’s coronavirus response as having brought the country to the brink of authoritarianism.

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Victoria reports record cases and Virgin Australia crew member tests positive – as it happened

NSW passes the 90% first-jab milestone for its 16-plus population and reports 580 new cases. This blog is now closed

Looks like there was another earthquake overnight near the Vic-SA border.

Not quite as large as the one in Victoria a few weeks ago.

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Tony Abbott raises fears China ‘could lash out disastrously’ as Taiwan tensions grow

The former Australian prime minister uses a speech in Taipei to call on Beijing to ‘scale back the aggression’

The former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott has raised fears Beijing “could lash out disastrously very soon” amid growing tensions over the future of Taiwan – and argued the US and Australia could not stand idly by.

Delivering two high profile addresses to a regional forum in Taipei on Friday, Abbott dismissed claims that Australian officials were beating the “drums of war”, while calling on Beijing to “scale back the aggression”.

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Australia Covid live news update: Victoria records 1,838 cases, five deaths; NSW reports 646 cases, 11 deaths; restrictions eased in south-east Qld, Townsville

Greg Hunt says Australia’s vaccination rate has hit 81.5% first dose and 60.2% second dose; Victorian premier Daniel Andrews is being investigated for not wearing a mask in public; Victoria reports record high number of new Covid cases; NSW records 646 local cases, 11 deaths three days ahead of reopening; Dr Kerry Chant says a new strain of Delta is circulating in Sydney; restrictions eased in Townsville and south-east Queensland; 44 new cases in New Zealand. Follow all the day’s news live

So, today is the final Friday under (this) lockdown in NSW, with the state due to emerge from stay-at-home orders on Monday.

But you’d be forgiven for losing track of what you can and can’t do once lockdown is lifted, considering the changes made and many, many annoucements.

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Indigenous man dies during ‘violent struggle’ with Queensland police

Two men are on the run after fleeing the scene in Toowoomba, west of Brisbane, while two police officers have minor injuries

An Indigenous Queensland man has died during a “violent struggle” with police that also left two officers with minor injuries.

Two other men were on the run after fleeing the scene of the incident in Toowoomba, west of Brisbane, after midday on Thursday.

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Regional health experts and local mayors fear NSW reopening could spread Covid

Tweed shire mayor says ‘many regions are facing the very real likelihood of their first Covid-19 outbreak’ ahead of the state lifting travel restrictions

All 10 local government areas in New South Wales with double-dose Covid vaccination rates below 50% are regional, with six of the 10 currently affected by outbreaks.

This could leave those areas at greater risk of adverse effects on health infrastructure and businesses in these areas, as NSW plans to reopen.

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Australia Covid live news update: Victoria records 1,420 cases, 11 deaths as year 12s return to school; NSW nears 70% double vaccination target

Banking regulator tightens rules on home loans; ‘dozens’ of construction protesters have Covid, John Setka says; Brittany Higgins appointed to Global Institute for Women’s Leadership; NSW to reach reopening vaccine rate today or tomorrow – follow all today’s news

The numbers are out in Victoria and there has been a bit of a drop, with 1,420 new cases recorded.

Sadly, the state has recorded 11 deaths overnight.

There’s a number of areas within the roadmap can be looked at.

There’s a number of issues that I want to raise with our health officials this morning. Whatever we do, we want to make sure it’s done in a way that keeps people safe.

That’s an incredibly positive thing. There’s been a slowdown, but there’s naturally going to be a slowdown if the vaccination rate gets to a high point.

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Australia urged to support Asian Development Bank plan to end fossil fuel financing

Thirty-five organisations implore Australia, which is ADB’s fifth-largest shareholder, to help the region ‘make a just and equitable low-carbon transition’

The Australian government is being urged to support an end to the financing of fossil fuel projects as the Asian Development Bank prepares to signs off on a new energy policy later this month.

The ADB “will not support coalmining, processing, storage, and transportation, nor any new coal-fired power generation”, according to a draft version of the policy, which also endorses “the early retirement of coal-based power plants”.

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Tony Abbott arrives in Taiwan to address regional forum amid rising tensions with China

Former Australian prime minister, who has said China is ‘asserting itself aggressively’, will meet Taiwanese president and foreign minister

Australia’s former prime minister, Tony Abbott, has jetted into Taiwan to speak at a regional forum as tensions with China escalate following recent air incursions.

Abbott is in Taiwan to deliver a keynote speech at the Yushan forum – an Asian-regional dialogue conference organised by the Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation.

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Essential workers challenge Victoria and NSW vaccine mandates in court

Victorian teacher Belinda Cetnar and her husband Jack argue they could lose their livelihoods if they don’t get vaccinated

A casual relief teacher is taking Victorian health officials to court over mandatory Covid vaccines, arguing there is no legal or ethical justification for making workers get the jab.

Separately, in New South Wales, a group of essential workers has argued in court that state’s health orders regarding vaccines are an attempt to coerce them into being inoculated.

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Hillsong founder Brian Houston to plead not guilty to concealing sexual abuse charge

Police allege megachurch founder was aware of information relating to the abuse of a young man in the 1970s by his late father

The Hillsong founder Brian Houston will plead not guilty to charges alleging he concealed child sexual abuse by his late father in the 1970s.

The megachurch founder did not appear during a first mention of the case at Sydney’s Downing Centre local court on Tuesday morning.

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Will all submarines, even nuclear ones, be obsolete and ‘visible’ by 2040?

Technologies could render the ocean transparent by the time Australia’s new submarines are ready, some experts say

Australia’s proposed nuclear-powered submarines could be obsolete by the time they hit the water in the 2040s due to new technologies making underwater vessels “visible”, some experts argue.

One of the controversies over the federal government’s decision to ditch the $90bn deal to build conventional submarines in favour of nuclear boats is the timeline for getting them battle-ready.

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Australia warns China against ‘threat or use of force’ following Taiwan air incursions

Canberra weighs into dispute saying it wants ‘an Indo-Pacific region that is secure, prosperous and based on the rule of law’

The Australian government has raised concerns about China’s increased incursions into Taiwan’s air defence zone and warned against “the threat or use of force”.

Taiwan has said Beijing sent nearly 150 fighter jets and bombers into its air defence zone over four consecutive days, prompting the US to describe the incursions as “provocative” and “destabilising”. Taiwan’s foreign minister, Joseph Wu, described the activity as “threatening”.

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Australia news live update: Melbourne to set Covid lockdown world record, Dominic Perrottet set to become NSW premier

Melbourne overtaking Buenos Aires as city that has spent most days under stay-at-home orders. Follow all the updates

When it comes to Melbourne now, by some counts, becoming the most locked-down city in the world, premier Daniel Andrews says he is proud of the sacrifices Melburnians have made over the pandemic.

Yesterday he called on Melburnians to make a final push before lockdown ends in coming weeks, reports Callum Godde from AAP.

We are going to get past this. We are going to end this lockdown and open up, and all that we will enjoy then will be a result of all that we have given.

If we let it rip last year, we would have had severe mortality and morbidity. It’s just that we haven’t had the same luck as other place.

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Australia Covid news live update: Victoria records 1,220 cases; NSW announces new rules for 70% vaccine milestone; Brisbane readies for NRL grand final

NSW reports 10 deaths amid ‘dramatic drop’ in new Covid cases with 70% double-dose target in sight; cases continue to rise in Victoria amid vaccine mandate protests; Queensland readies for NRL grand final at Suncorp Stadium tonight as state records no new local Covid infections; ACT records 38 new local cases; 32 of New Zealand’s 33 new cases in Auckland. Follow live

Speers has asked Husic what he thinks of the state government’s plan to open up once 70% of adults are vaccinated?

Husic:

As someone who lives in a locked down LGA, who represents residents who have gone through some of the toughest measures across the LGAs in Western Sydney, we clearly want to get out of this.

As Labor has said, we at the national level support the national plan and believe that we do need to get out as quickly as we can, but it does require in particular a focus on the safety elements of this.

Icac is actually not allowed under law to delay or defer investigations. What do you think, though, about the criticism that it has chosen a terrible time to do this?

In response to your question first off, I would say that it is a bit hard for Gladys Berejiklian to make that point when she started cancelling her own press conferences, her daily press conferences. If this was such an important time, she would be there every single day. I think that needs to be borne in mind and I would urge people to consider that, but I guess overall I would understand, the two points I would quickly make:

I understand how people are confused and disoriented about the events of Friday, seeing the premier go that quickly, but it is important to emphasise that ... this explosive event was lit in 2020 when you had a New South Wales premier appear before Icac as a person being monitored, a person of interest, and clearly there was an issue there, and the reality is Icac did not force Gladys Berejiklian to resign, she did that of her own accord, following 12 months of saying that she wouldn’t do that.

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NSW reports ‘dramatic drop’ in new Covid cases as Melbourne edges closer to world’s longest lockdown

Dr Kerry Chant warns next week is ‘critical’ for state as Victoria and ACT see slight declines in numbers

Victoria’s Covid infections have dropped slightly with Melbourne’s 246-day lockdown to become the world’s longest on Tuesday.

And while New South Wales recorded a substantial drop in local Covid-19 cases on Sunday, the state continued to see a rise in Covid-related hospitalisations and deaths.

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‘It will be found’: search for MH370 continues with experts and amateurs still sleuthing

It is the ‘mystery that must be solved’ – seven-and-a-half years after the Malaysia Airlines flight disappeared with 239 people on board

Somewhere in the vast expanse of Earth’s oceans lies MH370, the Malaysia Airlines flight that disappeared on 8 March 2014 with 239 people on board.

Authorities closed the books on the search in 2017, but all over the world people are continuing the hunt. And one day the plane will be found.

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Queensland police refuse to remove traditional owners occupying Adani’s coalmine site

Miner says group is ‘trespassing’ but police have acknowledged their cultural rights under human rights act

Queensland police have told a group of First Nations people occupying the site of Adani’s Carmichael coalmine for the past five weeks that they have no intention of removing them from the area “at this time”.

The group of Wangan and Jagalingou traditional owners opposed to the coalmine project began an ongoing cultural ceremony within the boundary of Adani’s mining lease in late August.

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Australia’s ‘black summer’ bushfires pushed 11 bee species closer to extinction

Eleven species are now eligible to be listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s red list of threatened species

The devastating 2019–20 bushfires had a significant impact on native Australian bees, threatening 11 species, according to new research.

Australian scientists have analysed the effect of the fires on 553 Australian native bee species – one-third of all bee species discovered in the country to date.

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Australia told French submarine firm it didn’t have green light to proceed hours before deal cancelled

Letter, sent to Naval Group on 15 September, is at the heart of diplomatic rift between France and Australia

Australia cautioned the French contractor – hours before the $90bn submarine deal was cancelled – that its achievement of a key contractual milestone did “not provide any authorisation to continue work”.

The letter, sent to Naval Group on 15 September, is at the heart of an extraordinary diplomatic rift between France and Australia, with the French foreign minister telling a parliamentary hearing this week that “someone lied”.

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