Australia Covid live news update: NSW confirms 919 cases, two deaths; ACT reports nine new cases, Victoria 45; Qld pauses hotel quarantine

New record for NSW with 919 new Covid cases, two deaths; Queensland to pause hotel quarantine from noon; ACT reports nine new cases; Victoria reports 17 of new cases in quarantine for entire infectious period. Follow all today’s news

It’s another dixer on sticking to the national plan – this time for Josh Frydenberg.

Bob Katter, from his electorate, has the independent’s question, but the videolink seems to be having trouble with his question.

So it’s not that different from having him in the chamber.

Continue reading...

First commercial rocket due to be launched from Australia later in 2021

Taiwanese company TiSPACE is planning three launches from South Australia in 2021, amid hopes the event will provide a boost to Australia’s space industry

Australia’s first commercial rocket launch will take place in South Australia this year, after receiving approval from the federal government.

Australian space company Southern Launch will send a Taiwanese rocket into space after being granted a launch permit, it was announced on Monday.

Continue reading...

South Australian MP Sam Duluk a ‘drunken pest’ but not guilty of assault – magistrate

Magistrate finds allegation he slapped fellow MP Connie Bonaros on the bottom not proven beyond a reasonable doubt

The South Australian MP Sam Duluk “behaved like a drunken pest” but has been acquitted of assault after allegedly slapping a fellow MP on the bottom at a parliament house Christmas party.

The accusation stemmed from Duluk’s conduct towards the SA-BEST upper house MP Connie Bonaros at the celebrations in December 2019.

Continue reading...

Cancel Me: John Cleese to present Channel 4 show on ‘woke’ thought

Comedian to interview ‘cancelled’ subjects while examining ‘all aspects of political correctness … there’s so much I don’t understand’

John Cleese will take on the topic of “cancel culture” in a forthcoming television series for the UK’s Channel 4.

The new documentary will reportedly explore “why a new ‘woke’ generation is trying to rewrite the rules on what can and can’t be said”.

Continue reading...

‘Why are you crying?’: Qantas ad promoting vaccination hits hard for Australians unable to travel

With images of people jetting off to see loved ones overseas, the ad offers a glimpse of what many have been missing

Qantas has released a new ad that promotes getting a Covid-19 vaccine, and it tugs at the heartstrings of Australians longing to travel again.

The ad appeals to those who have been separated from loved ones overseas, with scenes of what the future might offer when vaccination rates are high enough.

Continue reading...

Brisbane Easi food delivery driver claims he was fired for raising concerns about pay and safety

The Transport Workers Union has taken the case to the Fair Work Commission, arguing the driver qualifies as an employee, not a contractor

A food delivery driver who was allegedly sacked by Chinese food delivery company Easi after trying to raise concerns about pay and worker safety, has had his case taken to the Fair Work Commission by the Transport Workers’ Union.

According to the Fair Work claim, Lawrence Du, 35, started working for Easi in Brisbane in early June, but was sacked in early August, he claims after making inquiries with other workers about work safety, wages and other conditions.

Continue reading...

Voters in Sydney’s Liberal ‘heartland’ more worried about climate than Covid, polling suggests

Delta may be gripping the city and dominating headlines but global warming is still the number one issue for many

Voters in three Liberal-held federal seats in metropolitan Sydney remain worried about climate change despite the pressing frustrations and uncertainties associated with the Delta outbreak, according to new electorate-level polling commissioned by an activist group.

New seat polls commissioned by Climate 200, an organisation supporting independent political candidates committed to achieving a science-based response to climate change, suggest global heating is the number one issue of concern for voters in the electorates of Wentworth and North Sydney.

Continue reading...

Australia politics live news update: NSW reports 818 Covid cases, three deaths; Victoria faces longer lockdown as 71 cases recorded

No word on whether Victoria’s lockdown will be lifted next week as state reports 71 cases; prime minister says ‘this cannot go on forever’ as he discusses path out of pandemic; NSW reports 818 new cases and three deaths; parliament returns in locked-down ACT. Follow updates live

So what happened there is:

Scott Morrison referenced updated Doherty Institute analysis advice in one of his answers.

Here is the last question Scott Morrison took before ending question time (there was a dixer after this, but they don’t count).

Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:

Mr Speaker, first of all the government has not changed its position.

The plan as we set out very clearly about...that when we reach 70%, and we reach 80%, we can move through to phase B of that plan, those marks have been set by the Doherty analysis that was undertaken Mr Speaker.

I asked that the prime minister table that advice he was quoting from. The prime minister is now saying there is no updated advice, where previously he said that there was.

Even at a point of order the leader of the opposition again seeks to misrepresent. And he seeks to undermine Mr Speaker. He seeks to undermine, that is been his practice for the last 18 months.

Now Mr Speaker our position is very clear, our position is very clear, the national plan sees Australia starting to break free from a lot of lockdowns when we get to 70% vaccination rates, and 80% vaccination rate. Mr Speaker, why is Labor, seeking to undermine that position? I do not understand Mr Speaker, that the Labor party will be seeking to undermine confidence in a national plan where Australians are saved from lockdown. That is what the leader of the Labor party is doing.

Continue reading...

Solar power in Australia outstrips coal-fired electricity for first time

For a fleeting moment on the weekend more than half the nation’s electricity generation came from solar power, but experts say Australia is still a long way from peak renewable energy

The national electricity market reached a new milestone on Sunday, with solar power outstripping energy generation from coal for the first time since the market was set up two decades ago.

The crossover point lasted for only a few minutes, as low demand and sunny skies on Sunday meant the contribution from coal dropped to a record low of 9,315MW just after noon, while solar provided the dominant share with 9,427MW.

Continue reading...

The Covid crisis suits rightwing media personalities as they monetise fear | Jeff Sparrow

Their success depends not on providing solutions but on ginning up, by any means necessary, the conservative base

The pandemic has upended all our lives, leaving many of us frightened and confused. But if the weekend’s angry anti-lockdown protests reflected genuine pain in the community, they also showed how, in a complicated international emergency, rightwing grifters have seized an opportunity.

If you look for Covid truth on Telegram and Gab, you’ll uncover the online equivalent of a crowded outdoor market, dominated by shouting stall holders.

Continue reading...

‘Extraordinary’: Police fine dozens after church service in western Sydney Covid hotspot

More than 30 people were fined $1,000 each at the Blacktown Christ Embassy Sydney church gathering, just hours before stronger lockdown measures came into force

NSW police have issued 31 fines to people who attended an illegal Sunday night church service in Blacktown in the heart of Sydney’s Covid-19 outbreak hotspots.

Police went to Christ Embassy Sydney church around 7.30pm on Sunday after being tipped off about a gathering in breach of public health orders.

Continue reading...

NSW police apologise for sending email with sensitive information to wrong person

Exclusive: Personal information about woman fined for lockdown breach emailed to man with same name as woman’s lawyer

When a sensitive email from New South Wales police landed in Richard McDonald’s inbox earlier this month, he could scarcely believe the irony.

The email, obviously not intended for him, contained confidential and personal information about a woman police had just fined for a Covid lockdown breach in questionable circumstances.

Continue reading...

Hot summer nights: ‘My brother brought friends to marvel at the awful state of my body’

First I got sunburn, then one of the worst cases of chickenpox the doctor had ever seen. I was supposed to be on holiday, yet I was the tourist attraction

The hottest summer nights of my life were in Australia around the Christmas of 1988. My brother was on a gap year with a mate, working in a factory in Dandenong, a suburb of Melbourne. They were living in a tiny, scruffy caravan in an overgrown field when I went to visit. It had come with air-conditioning, they explained, but on their first night it shook violently for a few seconds upon being switched on, before dying.

The heat in this oven they called home was simply appalling. I slept not at all. But this was only the third-most terrible night of my life; the second-worst and the very worst were still a couple of weeks away.

Continue reading...

Police say Melbourne anti-lockdown protest ‘most violent in nearly 20 years’

Saturday’s rally was the first time police used non-lethal weapons during a lockdown protest, with at least nine officers ending up in hospital

An anti-lockdown protest held in Melbourne on Saturday was one of the most violent the city has seen in 20 years, Victoria’s top police officer says.

Chief commissioner Shane Patton said his officers had no choice but to use non-lethal weapons to defend themselves from an angry mob that came armed and appeared intent on attacking them.

Continue reading...

Coronavirus live: UK death toll rises by 104; fears of ‘super-spreader’ Trump rally

Latest updates: panic-buying in Vietnam amid record Covid infections; riot police use pepper spray to break up crowds in Melbourne

France’s interior ministry said around 175,500 people in total demonstrated on Saturday - down from roughly 215,000 last weekend although numbers could increase as people return from summer holidays.
They demonstrated across France for a sixth consecutive weekend on Saturday against a Covid-19 health pass required for daily activities, Reuters reports. “This health pass divides French people. I think that is clear. And unfortunately, I believe we should abolish it,” said civil servant Sophie Soulas at the Paris protest.

Here is more on the story that a high-ranking Roman Catholic cardinal and vaccine skeptic hospitalised after contracting Covid-19 was off a ventilator and being moved out of intensive care in the US.

Related: Vaccine-skeptic US cardinal off ventilator after contracting Covid-19

Continue reading...

Australia records highest number of new cases in a day – as it happened

Gladys Berejiklian reports record high case numbers and Victoria extends lockdown statewide. This blog is now closed

We’re going to close off this blog for today, thanks very much for your company.

Here’s a helpful summary from Graham Readfearn – who did most of the hard slog today – and myself:

“Freedom” appears not to be free.

That's more than $1.2 million in fines pic.twitter.com/lfQJmbIPrb

Continue reading...

Australia anti-lockdown rallies: protesters violently clash with police in Melbourne

Thousands march through streets of Melbourne and Brisbane, as police try to prevent Sydney rally

Anti-lockdown protesters clashed violently with police as thousands of unmasked people marched through the streets of Melbourne on Saturday.

Victoria police said they had made 218 arrests and that six officers were hospitalised during a series of altercations. Police said in a statement the majority of the estimated 4,000 demonstrators “came with violence in mind”.

Continue reading...

Hot summer nights: ‘I sat naked against the freezer, shoe in hand, prepared for the worst’

As the sun set, the air-con at my uncle’s place in Australia broke, turning it into a house of horrors. Never have I missed Manchester so much

In 2014, I returned to my place of birth in Melbourne, Australia, to visit family. The 32-hour slog to the other side of the globe was uncomfortable, but it was nothing compared with what awaited me on the ground.

One night, the uncle with whom I was staying went to Tasmania to visit friends. Suddenly, place transformed into a horror house. It was about 9pm, the sun was leaving the horizon and the lawn, which had been baked into straw, was getting a much-needed reprieve. Sweat had welded my polyester shirt so tightly to my back that it almost took my spine with it when I finally managed to peel it off.

Continue reading...

Victoria Covid update: Dan Andrews hints at more restrictions after 55 new Covid cases

Premier urges Melbourne residents to follow lockdown rules to the letter and warns Delta outbreak on the verge of ‘getting away from us’

Daniel Andrews has told Victorians he “cannot rule out” introducing more restrictions to curb the state’s coronavirus outbreak after a spike in positive cases that includes 12 in the regional city of Shepparton.

The premier warned that unless Melburnians follow the lockdown rules to the letter, next week’s case numbers “will be like Sydney”.

Continue reading...