Editor Brian Harrod Provides Comprehensive up-to-date news coverage, with aggregated news from sources all over the world from the Roundup Newswires Network
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.
Aid package, including 1,000 ventilators, announced after nation records daily high of 31,189 coronavirus cases
Australia will send 2.5m AstraZeneca vaccine doses to Indonesia and will fund 1,000 ventilators as the country battles record-high Covid cases that are pushing the health system to breaking point.
From South Korea to Australia, authorities are struggling to contain the highly transmissible coronavirus strain that has caused a surge in UK, Europe and US
Countries throughout Asia Pacific – from South Korea to Australia – have been hit by a rise in coronavirus infections as the Delta variant threatens a new wave of the pandemic even in a region renowned for tackling the virus with a high degree of success.
China reported 57 new coronavirus cases in the mainland for 6 July, up from 23 cases a day earlier, the national health authority said on Wednesday. It was the highest daily tally of infections since 30 January.
A landmark report by Human Rights Watch has detailed accounts of pro-democracy students and academics in Australia who are being harassed and threatened over their comments relating to China. In some cases, people have been doxxed, and others claim their actions have been reported to Chinese authorities. Reporter Daniel Hurst explains why academics and students are experiencing this harassment, and what Australia can do about it
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.
Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has announced changes to restrictions in Brisbane, Townsville and several SEQ local government areas. Here’s the full list of what you can and can’t do in Qld
As hospitals in greater Sydney were placed on ‘red alert’ due to the latest Covid outbreak, restrictions on visitors triggered alarm among expectant mothers.
New Zealand restarts the travel bubble with Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and the ACT; infected aged care resident at SummitCare home in NSW was not vaccinated. Follow latest updates
Circling back on that story involving the NRL penalties handed out to St George Illawarra players for attending a party in breach of Covid-19 restrictions.
Sure, there’s enormous fines of $305,000 total for the 13 players. But the suspensions are also fairly significant, ranging from eight matches, handed down to Paul Vaughan, who hosted the party, to one match for some of the attendees.
The NRL alleges that player Paul Vaughan invited players to a gathering at his home on Saturday 3 July which was attended by 12 teammates, in breach of NSW Public Health Orders and the Game’s biosecurity protocols. It’s alleged a number of players hid or fled the residence when NSW Police attended the home after complaints from neighbours.
It’s also alleged that a number of players gave or were involved in giving misleading information about the event during the NRL’s investigation into the breaches and that some of the players conspired to withhold key information from the NRL. The notices allege that all players involved knowingly breached the game’s biosecurity rules by attending the premeditated gathering. They were made aware of the game’s Biosecurity Protocols by the club and admit they knew they were breaching the game’s rules.
It has been very hot in New Zealand, which is not a great sign for the planet (but worth considering if you’re planning on travelling there now the bubble has reformed):
Experts say now’s the time to get on top of the destructive impact of the invasive species on vulnerable ecosystems
If there is one thing beef cattle farmer Ted Rowley has learned while trying to manage feral deer on his property, it is this: for every deer that you see, there are at least another 10 that you can’t see.
“In the beginning you see a few deer and think that’s pretty cute,” he says. “But what you don’t see is the very large number that are across the landscape.”
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.
Two residents of SummitCare home at Baulkham Hills taken to hospital as a precaution and facility is in lockdown; Queensland records one new local case. Follow live
Police have recovered the bodies of three fishermen and their upturned boat near Wollongong south of Sydney.
Relatives raised the alarm about 6am on Sunday after the trio set off from the Bellambi boat ramp in Wollongong about 2pm the previous day.
Tasmanian’s opposition leader, David O’Byrne, has announced he’s quitting as Labor leader, with the ALP investigating allegations he sexually harassed a woman more than a decade ago.
O’Byrne announced he was resigning on Sunday and said while he would remain in parliament as the member for Franklin, he would not seek or accept a position in the shadow cabinet.
Brisbane’s lockdown ended at 6pm on Saturday despite the state recording five new Covid-19 cases, including one not linked to an existing outbreak.
Queensland’s premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, told reporters on Saturday morning that the state was “not out of the woods yet” and that some restrictions, including mask mandates, would remain in place, but that the snap lockdown announced last week would end.
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.
Here’s some video from earlier today of prime minister Scott Morrison being asked by Guardian Australia’s Daniel Hurst about his position towards AstraZeneca:
The latest edition of Weekly Beast covers Chris Kenny doing a Peta Credlin, among other things:
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.
After fleeing persecution in Myanmar, Ealom was detained in a ‘torture camp’. Using tricks learned from Prison Break, he snuck his way out
In 2013, when Jaivet Ealom sat squeezed in a boat with other asylum seekers, he prayed, not for the first time, for an easy death. They were far from shore off the coast of Indonesia, the vessel was sinking, and Ealom could not swim.
Fishermen from a nearby island came to the rescue, hauling each passenger from the half-submerged vessel. Ealom was saved. But during the chaos, a small baby fell into the ocean. “It never resurfaced,” remembers Ealom. “[The mother] just screamed from the bottom of her lungs. It was traumatising.”
New South Wales recorded 24 new cases of Covid, including an aged care worker believed to be unvaccinated and a second healthcare worker, as the state’s coronavirus outbreak rose to 195.
The premier, Gladys Berejiklian, expressed concern that “around half” of the new cases on Thursday were out in the community while infectious and urged anyone with symptoms to get tested and isolate.
Bulk of Pfizer and other mRNA vaccines expected to arrive in third quarter of this year, despite widespread lockdowns
Australia’s finance minister has said the country is at the “back of the queue” for Pfizer vaccines, contradicting assurances from the prime minister Scott Morrison and the health minister that “our strategy puts Australia at the front of the queue”.
Simon Birmingham on Thursday said Australia has had supply challenges “because European countries and drug companies have favoured those nations who’ve had high rates of Covid for the delivery of vaccines like Pfizer”.