Coronavirus Australia live update: NSW Coalition in crisis as Covid-19 border row intensifies – latest news

NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian gave Nationals leader John Barilaro ultimatum after stoush over future of koala population. Follow live

We will get additional details, like test numbers, very soon

#COVID19VicData for 11 September, 2020.
Yesterday there were 43 new cases reported. Sadly, 9 lives were lost and our thoughts are with those affected. More information will be available later today. pic.twitter.com/Y5dxX1ixEK

It is just one week short of a year since this photo was taken – which was the last time Gladys Berejiklian’s colleagues tested her leadership over legislation. When the Ched debate happened, Tanya Davies, Matthew Mason-Cox and Lou Amato had announced they were calling a spill motion over the state’s abortion laws.

Berejiklian stared them down as well. There was no spill motion. But what there was, was a debate over whether she was carrying Saladas (as reported in the Tele) or Cheds for breakfast.

big day in NSW politics and you know what that means - the Cheds are back pic.twitter.com/rjdUatDGgV

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Coronavirus Australia live update: Daniel Andrews holds press conference as Victoria reports 51 new cases and NSW records seven

Greg Hunt says Melbourne curfew should be lifted if ‘there is no medical basis’ for it as two more Sydney healthcare workers test positive. Follow live

The woman who was at the centre of Scott Morrison’s plea today will be allowed to attend a private viewing of her father to say goodbye after her family has held their funeral.

She will be escorted to the funeral home, and then escorted back, a spokeswoman has confirmed.

John Barilaro, who is rumoured to have his eye set on Canberra and the federal Nationals leadership, has effectively removed the Nationals from the NSW coalition, plunged the Berejiklian government into minority after vowing to abstain from government votes (unless its to do with regional NSW), and removed itself from joint party room and leadership meetings – unless the koala protection legislation is scrapped.

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Coronavirus Australia live update: Victoria Covid cases drop below 50 for first time since June as NSW records four – as it happened

Melbourne’s stage 4 lockdown extended by two weeks in ‘roadmap’ as Victoria pursues aggressive suppression strategy. This blog has ended

Thanks for following our live coverage of the coronavirus coverage in Australia. You can continue to follow our rolling global coverage here.

A quick recap on what happened today:

Asked if he would step down as premier if the hotel quarantine inquiry laid the blame for the outbreak on his office, Andrews said his responsibility was to keep going.

My position and the responsibility I have is to see our state through this. What is what I’m focused on.

Let me be as frank as I can be: Politics has never mattered less to me. Leadership is not able doing what’s popular, it is about doing what’s right.

The politics of this, that is of no value. The only thing that matters is we all stay the course. We all keep following the data, the science and the doctors and get this done. Then move to the biggest economic repair job that our state has ever seen.

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Victoria reports 76 coronavirus cases and 11 deaths as Daniel Andrews says roadmap not yet ‘finalised’

New South Wales announces five more Covid-19 cases while Queensland and South Australia report one more each

Daniel Andrews says Victoria’s roadmap out of coronavirus lockdown has “not been finalised” as government and health experts meet before the unveiling of the plan on Sunday.

At his press conference on Saturday, the Victorian premier announced 76 new coronavirus cases and 11 deaths, five of which were historical cases from recent days.

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‘Anyone else smell fish?’: residents across Sydney and coastal NSW report strong salty odour

Bureau of meteorology says strong south-easterlies could be sending the smell of the sea across the suburbs

A salty smell has wafted over Sydney and coastal New South Wales, as residents who live kilometres from the coast reported a strong sea aroma on Friday morning.

On a drizzly morning ahead of forecast thunderstorms, residents from Sydney’s beaches to its inner suburbs and down to coastal towns like Thirroul have woken to the strong smell of petrichor – the smell of the soil or ground after rain – tinged with salt.

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Australia coronavirus live update: Victoria records 73 new cases and 41 deaths as NSW records 10 new cases

Figure of 41 deaths in Victoria includes 33 people who died in aged care but not reported until yesterday; legislation to extend but reduce jobkeeper and jobseeker payments will be considered by the Senate today. Follow all the latest news and updates, live

This report from AAP earlier today:

NSW deputy premier, John Barilaro, is calling for a national code to allow agricultural workers to cross state borders without permits.

Twenty Victorian aged care providers have been found to be non-compliant with standards under the Aged Care Act since July.

My colleague Melissa Davey has this report:

Related: Twenty Victorian aged care homes ordered to improve 'inadequate' standards after Covid outbreaks

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Coronavirus Australia live update: Victoria records 113 new Covid cases and 12 deaths as NSW reports 13 cases

Queensland cancels schoolies events after three new coronavirus cases. Follow live

Coatsworth says he agrees with Scott Morrison’s comments that, even with a vaccine, there is not a “zero risk” of Covid-19.

“It is not simply me agreeing with the prime minister, every chief health officer agrees with that,” he says.

Coatsworth is asked about the Liberal MP Craig Kelly, who has been pushing the discredited drug hydroxychloroquine online as a treatment for Covid-19.

He is asked: “Are you concerned about him using his social media to promote those views against the scientific advice?”

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Unborn twin baby dies after delay approving mother’s Queensland-NSW border exemption

Case prompts Queensland’s chief health officer to call the sheer volume of medical applications ‘unsustainable’

Queensland’s top health official says the sheer number of people applying for medical exemptions to enter her state is “unsustainable” following the death of an unborn twin in NSW.

Dr Jeannette Young granted an exemption to a Ballina woman pregnant with twins who required emergency surgery on Thursday, but it came only after the expectant mother had waited 16 hours and then flown to Sydney.

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Victoria reports 113 new cases, NSW nine and Queensland two – as it happened

Labor grills the Coalition on aged care and the PM discusses the foreign relations bill. This blog is now closed

That is where we will leave the live blog for this evening. If you want to follow the latest global coronavirus news you can follow our other live blog here.

Here’s what we learned today:

#breaking Sports rorts: 70% of grants from separate fund went to Coalition seats, Greens say #auspol #sportsrorts https://t.co/iej3ex14JO

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Australia coronavirus live update: Sydney quarantine hotel dumped as Morrison spends on defence – latest news

NSW police say Wentworth Travelodge not up to standards as 400 guests moved. Follow all the latest news and updates, live

Scott Morrison made plenty of time to set a test for Anthony Albanese’s leadership in June, when the Victorian Labor branch stacking allegations were revealed - there were interviews and question time attacks and comments about being focussed on jobs while the Labor party was in rack and ruin.

But now that he is facing questions over the Liberals behaviour in Victoria, which implicates one of his own frontbenchers - Michael Sukkar, Morrison is very busy being focussed solely on the pandemic.

These matters have been referred by the Department of Finance and that’s the appropriate response and that’s where... No, I’ve been dealing with the COVID crisis. I’ve been dealing with getting people back into jobs. The matter has been referred to the Department of Finance. I don’t think that Australians would want me distracked by those issues at all.

This is quite the declaration of war within the Queensland Labor party - the CFMEU has announced it is immediately quitting the left faction.

That will have some serious implications for the power balance in the party:

The CFMEU will be withdrawing from the left faction of the Queensland ALP, effective immediately.

Both the Mining and the Construction & General divisions of the CFMEU have decided the union can be a more effective advocate for workers as a voice totally independent of a faction that has lost touch with its core values.

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Peter Foster behind bars in Sydney on 16 charges related to alleged online scam

57-year-old refused bail after being extradited from Queensland

Peter Foster has been refused bail after appearing in a Sydney court on 16 fraud charges related to an alleged online scam.

Foster was extradited from Queensland by Sydney police officers on Monday night and charged at Mascot police station.

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‘Next fire season is already upon us’: NSW to adopt all recommendations of bushfire inquiry report

Report finds climate change ‘clearly played a role’ in conditions that led up to Australia’s 2019-2020 fires, which were so extreme, traditional firefighting methods often failed

Last summer’s bushfire disaster was so unusual that traditional firefighting methods, such as hazard reduction burning, failed in some instances, an inquiry into the crisis heard.

The final report of the New South Wales bushfire inquiry, published on Tuesday, said the 2019-20 bushfire season brought fires in forested regions on a scale not seen in recorded history in Australia.

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Coronavirus live update Australia: Victoria records 116 new cases and 15 deaths as NSW reports three new cases

Brisbane watches hotspots after youth detention centre outbreak, Victoria’s hotel inquiry continues and politicians gather in Canberra for the first time in 10 weeks. Follow today’s latest updates

Virtual parliament has so far gone off without a hitch.

Malcolm Roberts has been spotted on a screen - which means that no, he is not in Canberra. No sighting of Pauline Hanson either.

"I'm very proud to be the first senator to be using our remote facilities as the chamber finally enters the 21st century."

Greens Senator @larissawaters @SBSNews #auspol pic.twitter.com/XSV41x91WQ

The ACT has reported no new cases of Covid in the last 24 hours.

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Low blow: Sydney’s new ferries won’t fit under bridges while passengers on top deck

Commuters will have to move before boats can travel under Camellia Railway Bridge and Gasworks Bridge on Parramatta River

The New South Wales government has confirmed that 10 newly purchased ferries will not be able to safely pass under bridges along the Parramatta River if commuters are sitting on the top decks.

Purchased from Indonesia, the new River Class ferries are set to join the NSW transport fleet later in the year, operating along the Parramatta River and on inner harbour routes.

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Coronavirus update Australia: Victoria records nine Covid deaths and 179 new cases, as NSW reports one new case – live

Lowest rise in Victorian cases in five weeks comes ahead of national cabinet. Follow live updates today

Andrews thanked all Victorians for the role they played in getting the daily coronavirus numbers down below 100.

I’d simply say that, whilst tomorrow’s numbers will be for tomorrow, we are all pleased to see a ‘1’ in front of these additional case numbers, and to a certain extent it is perhaps at that level a little quicker than I thought it might be.

Of course, this Sunday marks the three weeks since the curfew was imposed. Next Wednesday marks three weeks since the most significant workplace restrictions came into effect. To be at this point shows that the strategy is working....

I want to thank each and after Victorian who is making a big contribution to this strategy working. I want to thank them and their families. I want to thank people from all backgrounds, from all parts of the state. No matter your perspective, this is a challenge that none of us are immune from. We’re all in this together. We say that a lot, but it’s true. It’s absolutely true. And because I think more and more Victorians are making the best choices and looking out foreach other, and therefore everybody, we are seeing these numbers come down.

We’ll see what tomorrow holds. But there’s no room for complacency, there’s no way we can assume that this is over. It is an ultra-marathon, and we’re not halfway yet.

The Victorian and federal governments have set up a $15m joint disability response centre, which Andrews said is “essentially mirroring the arrangements we have in aged care”.

There are currently 62 active Covid-19 cases in disability care sectors, across 60 different sites.

We’re grateful to them. That’s not easy. But with that payment, that’ll mean that we can support them to, in turn, keep their clients safe. We all know that, in that sector, that’s what they’re motivated to do – to provide the best care and support to their clients.

Again, I thank the prime minister and the federal government for their partnership. This is yet another example of us working together to deal with a common challenge. And it’s really important that, given the vulnerability of many people across these settings, it’s very, very important that we have a singular focus, and all the senior people around the table at the same time, and that funding to be able to limit the amount of workers who are going to multiple sites.

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Coronavirus live update Australia: Victoria reports 12 deaths and 216 new Covid cases as NSW records seven cases

Scott Morrison says vaccine will be ‘as mandatory as you can possibly make’. Follow today’s news live

  • Follow our global coronavirus live blog
  • Australian stats interactive; Vic cases map; NSW cases map; NSW hotspots list
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  • The ABC has announced the 2020 Boyer Lectures to be delivered by the philanthropist and business leader Andrew Forrest will be delayed due to ongoing Covid-19 travel restrictions and border closures.

    The four-part lecture series – Rebooting Australia: How ethical entrepreneurs can help shape a better future – was scheduled to be broadcast on ABC Radio National from 28 November.

    The Crown Resorts casino empire controlled by the billionaire James Packer received more than $110m in jobkeeper payments from the Australian government, propping up the group’s profit.

    Crown’s full-year results, filed today with the ASX, show the $111.3m the group received to pay both working and stood-down employees was almost two-thirds of its profit before tax of $153m.

    This was close to a quarter of the profit before tax the previous year – no surprise, as Crown’s gaming floors largely shut down during the first wave of the pandemic. Crown hasn’t paid a dividend.

    Related: The 'dividendkeeper' shuffle: how jobkeeper payments are flowing to shareholders

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    Federal court judge was wrong to freeze Huang Xiangmo’s overseas assets in tax office stoush

    The Chinese billionaire did not challenge the freeze on his Australian assets, including two Sydney homes worth an estimated $3.28 million

    A freezing order on the worldwide assets of Chinese billionaire Huang Xiangmo over a $140m tax bill was unlawful, an appeal court has ruled.

    The property developer, whose association with Sam Dastyari led to the Labor senator’s downfall in 2018, had challenged the international element of the order on the grounds it was unenforceable in China and Hong Kong, where most of his assets lay.

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    Coronavirus live news: new French cases surpass 3,000 for second day; Italy hits record cases since May

    Italy closes all discos; Spain takes new measures as infections soar; New Zealand adds 13 infections to total

    The UK government has said that in the 24-hour period up to 9am on Sunday, there were a further 1,040 lab-confirmed cases of the coronavirus. Overall, a total of 318,484 cases have been confirmed in the UK.

    As of Sunday, 41,366 people have died in the UK within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19. This was up by five from the day before.

    Ireland’s health chiefs will meet on Monday to decide if further restrictions are needed to slow a sharp increase in the spread of coronavirus that the government and officials have described as deeply concerning.

    Ireland has reopened its economy at a slower pace than most EU countries but that has not prevented a jump in cases over the last two weeks that led to the first localised reimposition of some restrictions last week.

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    Victoria records 279 new Covid cases and 16 deaths as NSW reports five cases and one death

    Daniel Andrews expresses ‘cautious optimism’ but declines to say whether restrictions may be eased after six-week lockdown

    • Follow the Sunday coronavirus liveblog
    Shorten lashes out at profit-driven aged care and Morrison government over Covid failings

    Victoria recorded another 16 coronavirus deaths on Sunday as well as 279 new cases, as the premier Daniel Andrews expressed “cautious optimism” that the state’s harsh stage four restrictions were finally bringing the crisis under control.

    “These numbers are heading in the right direction,” Andrews said. “They speak to a strategy that is working. At the same time, no one day necessarily guarantees the outcome – that is a long hard slog.”

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    Port Macquarie attack: surfer saves wife by punching shark in the head

    Man punches shark repeatedly until it lets woman’s leg go in attack off Shelly Beach

    A woman is in a stable condition in hospital as authorities hunt the juvenile great white shark that attacked her on the NSW mid north coast.

    The 35-year-old was rushed to Port Macquarie Base Hospital with serious leg injuries after she was mauled off the city’s Shelley Beach about 9.30am on Saturday.

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