Australia politics live: Coalition grilled in question time on changed AstraZeneca advice; NSW Covid cases rise to four

AstraZeneca vaccine now recommended for over-60s; Sydney’s eastern suburbs cluster grows; Victoria records no new local cases. Follow the latest updates live

Anthony Albanese to Michael McCormack:

Does the acting Prime Minister agree that no adult worker should be paid less than the minimum wage?

Well, Mr Speaker, as I said in my previous answer, we’re operating under the same conditions for wages, for industrial relations, and was established by the then Labor government. And the government’s record and I appreciate that whilst he didn’t mention this in his question, but it’s talking about worker exploitation and wage underpayment, and we have zero tolerance for any exploitation of workers.

And that includes the underpayment of wages and entitlements by any employer. We have zero tolerance. And the government has taken unprecedented action to protect vulnerable workers. Since 2016...

We have committed more funding to the Fair Work Ombudsman, strengthened their investigative powers to compel witnesses to provide evidence, and increased penalties up to 10 fold for worker exploitation.

People who work should be paid a fair and decent wage.

Tony Burke asks Michael McCormack about a woman named Kate, who took a job picking fruit, on ‘piece rates’ (a common way fruit pickers are paid) and was forced to find food in supermarket garbage bins, as she couldn’t afford food, despite working seven days a week.

McCormack starts talking about the minimum wage. Which this woman doesn’t receive (something Burke points out)

I take the member for Watson’s point. But we are operating under the same system of wages and industrial relations that we did when Labor were in government. And indeed, and indeed - there was a wage decision case made this week, this week.

As he said, we have had - we’ve got an industrial relations framework which reflects what was introduced by the previous government.

And Mr Speaker, I make it very clear our government has zero tolerance for any exploitation of workers. And is committed to ensuring that workers have the opportunity to make a positive contribution to the Australian economy, without the fear of exploitation. We have the highest minimum wage in the world, and we have extensive safeguards in place.

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NSW Covid update: Sydney cases visited Bondi and eastern suburbs venues while potentially infectious

Health authorities say contact tracing under way after man in his 60s, who drives international flight crews, tests positive along with household contact

A man who lives in Sydney’s eastern suburbs and works as a driver for international flight crews has tested positive to Covid, as has a household contact, with the New South Wales health department listing a string of hotspot venues they visited while potnetially infectious.

NSW Health revealed on Wednesday afternoon the man in his 60 had tested positive before announcing later that night his household contact had also tested positive with “further venues of concern identified”.

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Australia politics live: Morrison hails UK free trade agreement; Victoria records five new local Covid cases

Parliament will sit in Canberra today and Victorians wait to hear if restrictions will be eased further. Follow latest updates

Does parliament even happen if the motion to remove Andrew Laming from his committee role isn’t defeated?

Heading into the Chamber for the daily Laming.

Scott Morrison told Australians Andrew Laming would stand down from all his roles, then allowed him to keep a ~$20k Committee role.

Every day we move a motion calling on the PM to keep his word & every day Lib MPs vote against it

In 10 minutes of my life I will never get back, I just watched Michael McCormack on Sky News (fun fact, you can skip ahead to any point of a McCormack interview and it still makes as much sense if you listened to it straight through.

And of course, even during a trade deal interview, he can’t help but take a swipe at the Greens.

We don’t things just to annoy the Greens, although I think the Greens annoy the hell out of everybody.

I mean I’ve yet have yet to ever see them, condemn the Extinction Rebellion protests, I’m yet to ever see them exalt what our farmers do.

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Coalition says community detention not a pathway to resettlement for Biloela family

Campaigners say minister’s decision must be ‘first step’ in returning Murugappans to Queensland

The immigration minister, Alex Hawke, says the government’s decision to allow the Murugappan family to live in community detention in Perth will not provide a pathway to permanent resettlement in Australia.

Lawyers for the family welcomed the government’s announcement on Tuesday that they will be removed from Christmas Island, but insisted it must be a “first step” to returning them to the Queensland town of Biloela.

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Delta variant of Covid spreading rapidly and detected in 74 countries

Concerns over impact on poorer countries, while richer governments try different containment measures

The Delta variant of Covid-19, first identified in India, has been detected in 74 countries and continues to spread rapidly amid fears that it is poised to become the dominant strain worldwide.

With outbreaks of the main Delta strain and several of its sub-lineages confirmed in China, the US, Africa, Scandinavia and the Pacific, concern increasingly is focusing on how it appears to be more transmissible as well as causing more serious illness.

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Biloela family to reunite on Australian mainland but visa status expected to remain unchanged

The immigration minister, Alex Hawke, is set to announce the Murugappan family will be released from detention on Christmas Island

The immigration minister, Alex Hawke, is set to announce on Tuesday that the Murugappan family will be released from detention on Christmas Island and allowed to reunite on the Australian mainland.

Hawke will use his ministerial discretion to allow the family to return but the government is not expected to make any substantive changes to their visa status which is still being argued in the courts.

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Australia news live update: Victoria records two new local Covid cases; Morrison heads to London for trade talks

Authorities yet to say which coronavirus restrictions will be relaxed in Melbourne and regional Victoria. Follow live updates

Scott Morrison was denied a one-on-one meeting with Joe Biden yesterday, at the PM’s first meeting with the US president, because Boris Johnson joined it.

Labor’s Penny Wong said it was disappointing that Morrison could not have a one-on-one meeting with Biden.

[The three-person meeting] was an opportunity that presented because we’re all here and so it was mutual.

It was a great opportunity for my first meeting, of course, with the president. I mean I’ve known Boris for many years.

Related: Scott Morrison denied one-on-one with Joe Biden as Boris Johnson joins meeting

Another exclusive, this time from Daniel Hurst.

The Australian army is investigating allegations of bullying and harassment of officer cadets at the University of Sydney regiment. Allegations include searches through women’s underwear drawers and a nearly three-month period in which cadets were forced to work seven days a week with no days off.

Related: Australian army investigating alleged bullying and harassment at Sydney University regiment

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Scott Morrison inks G7 deals with Japan and Germany to develop lower-emissions technology

PM resists pressure to commit Australia to 2050 climate deadline as he talks up hydrogen, LNG and carbon capture and storage

Scott Morrison has inked deals with Japan and Germany to develop technology to help reach “a net zero emissions future” – but continues to resist international pressure to formally commit Australia to a firm 2050 deadline.

With the climate crisis taking centre stage on the final day of the G7 summit in Cornwall, England, the prime minister stuck to his preferred approach of focusing on technologies such as hydrogen, rather than signing up to more ambitious medium- and long-term emission reduction commitments.

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Thousands remain without power in Victoria days after deadly storm

James Merlino details financial support on offer to people who have had property damaged in the floods and wild weather

Thousands of Victorians remain without power, days after a deadly storm lashed eastern parts of the state.

Emergency management commissioner Andrew Crisp confirmed 39,000 homes remain without power on Sunday, down from 300,000 immediately after the storm, which began on Wednesday night.

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Scott Morrison denied one-on-one with Joe Biden as Boris Johnson joins meeting

Labor’s Penny Wong says it’s disappointing the Australian prime minister did not secure a private meeting with the US president

Scott Morrison has met with Joe Biden on the sidelines of the G7 summit and agreed to work closely on challenges in the increasingly contested Indo-Pacific region including China.

Regional issues dominated the Australian prime minister’s first face-to-face meeting with the US president late on Saturday – but the British prime minister, Boris Johnson, also attended in what became a trilateral engagement.

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Onlookers extinguish flames after man set alight outside Perth church

The 68-year-old was taken to hospital where he was treated for burns to his face, upper body and hands

Perth detectives are investigating reports a man was set alight outside an inner city church.

Police say the 68-year-old suffered significant burns after he was approached by another man on Beaufort Street in Highgate around 5pm on Saturday.

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Universities promise to ramp up face-to-face learning as student frustrations grow

Students have been able to go to pubs and clubs this year, but not lectures. Now universities are saying next semester will be radically different

Australian universities say campuses will look “radically” different next semester as students return to more in-person learning, although most large lectures will still be delivered online.

As many students yearn for a return to the classroom, universities say they are planning to offer in-person learning for up to 90% of courses next semester.

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Major flooding in Victoria leaves tens of thousands without power or telecommunications

People evacuated from Traralgon given the all clear to go home but heavy rain continues to impact large parts of the state

Tens of thousands of Victorian residents remained without power or telecommunications as heavy rainfall and flooding continued to impact large parts of the state.

Communities without phone coverage and unable to call triple-zero included: Trentham, King Lake, Dandenong Ranges, South Gippsland, Gembrook, Pyalong, Don Valley, Healesville, Lancefield and Woori Yallock.

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Smashed prices: Australians enjoy $1 avocados amid record production

It’s avo on toast for everyone thanks to an eye-watering drop in the price of the nation’s favourite brunch fruit

It was the summer of 2018 and Australians were sweating. In their hands: a single avocado pear, barely ripe. The price: $9. Could it possibly be worth it? And how many times had it been squeezed?

Thankfully, though much has gone wrong in the world since that fateful January, one thing has gone right – this winter, Australians can afford to eat all the avo on toast they like, with the savoury green fruit selling for just $1 (55p, or 77c) each.

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Geoffrey Edelsten, high profile former doctor and one-time Sydney Swans owner, dies at 78

Edelsten was known for his flashy lifestyle, young wives and a series of brushes with the legal system that included a stint in jail

Geoffrey Edelsten, who made a name for himself as a flashy doctor, helped save AFL team the Sydney Swans from extinction and had a string of young wives, has died aged 78.

Edelsten died on Friday at his home in Melbourne, the ABC and local media reported.

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Coronavirus Australia live: woman’s body found in Victoria flood waters; Four Corners QAnon episode to air Monday

Victoria and Queensland record no new Covid cases; court approves robodebt settlement. Follow live

A flood evacuation warning has been re-issued for Traralgon in Victoria’s Gippsland region, reports AAP.

Anyone near the Traralgon Creek was being told early on Friday afternoon to evacuate now.

Andrew Grech, a partner at Gordon Legal, is on the ABC now responding to the federal court judgment on the robodebt class action.

I think for many people, there’s been a lack of accountability, both of the ministers involved and senior public servants involved.

We think that it’s important that, through the proper parliamentary processes and, if necessary, through a royal commission, that those questions be answered for people, so that they can actually have far more closure on all those issues.

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Australian researchers discover why only two of echidna’s four penis heads become erect at one time

The major blood vessel of the penis splits into two main branches which each supply two of the four penile heads

The penis of an echidna has four heads but only two become erect at any one time. Now, Australian researchers have uncovered why.

Scientists discovered the marsupial has unusual reproductive anatomy that causes male echidnas to ejaculate from only two of their four penile heads at one time.

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‘A grant or a bribe?’: MP questions John Barilaro in parliament over $50,000 funding request

The NSW deputy premier dismissed concerns that a grant to a cooperative linked to Angus Taylor’s family may have been improper

NSW deputy premier John Barilaro has brushed off the concerns of an unidentified public servant that a $50,000 grant to an agricultural cooperative associated with federal MP Angus Taylor’s family may be improper.

In question time on Thursday, Labor MP Yasmin Catley asked Barilaro: “Dead set, deputy premier, is this a grant or a bribe?” referring to what the concerned public servant had written in a note to file.

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Peter Dutton flags more US troops on Australian soil citing potential China conflict

Defence minister says increased presence good for both countries and it’s time for a discussion about ‘threats we face’

The Australian defence minister, Peter Dutton, has backed increasing the number of American military personnel rotating through the Northern Territory and having US navy vessels operate from a base near Perth.

Dutton said on Thursday it would be in the interests of both Australia and the US to strengthen their defence relationship – but indicated the details would be a matter for further talks.

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‘Extremely rare’: Australia records second death ‘likely linked’ to AstraZeneca vaccine blood clots

TGA says 52-year-old New South Wales woman died ‘with a blood clot in the brain’, but it maintains vaccine benefits outweigh risks

A 52-year-old woman from NSW who died after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine is “likely” Australia’s second death from a rare and severe blood clotting syndrome linked to the Covid vaccine, Australia’s drugs regulator says.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration said on Thursday the woman had a severe form of the syndrome “with a blood clot in the brain known as a cerebral venous sinus thrombosis”.

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