Category Archives: Queensland

NSW cases jump; Qld passengers to be released from quarantine; Victoria lifts vaccine mandate for non-essential retail

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Victorian vaccine mandate lifted for non-essential retail; Omicron will inevitably spread through Queensland, CHO says; Qld hotspot passengers to be released from quarantine; Victoria records 1,405 new Covid-19 cases and three deaths; NSW cases jump to 1,360 infections, with one death; potential Omicron superspreader event in Melbourne – follow all the day’s news live

The New South Wales government has picked Kerry Schott to chair its net zero emissions and clean economy board, hoping for a happier outcome than its first attempt.

Earlier this year, the energy and environment minister Matt Kean chose former prime minister and mentor of sorts Malcolm Turnbull to lead that role.

Dr Schott is one of the most outstanding public servants in the country and brings with her a wealth of knowledge and experience which will be invaluable as NSW drives towards halving our emissions by 2030 and reaching net zero by 2050.

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Australia live news update: Victoria records 1,189 Covid cases, six deaths; NSW 804 cases, one death; Joyce opposes Assange extradition;

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Victoria records 1,189 new Covid-19 cases and six deaths; NSW records 804 cases and one death; Barnaby Joyce says Julian Assange should not be extradited to the US; passengers on NSW rail network face another day of disruption as train union strikes – follow all the day’s news

Here is the full statement for the Victorian government on the Moderna manufacturing facility that’s set to be operational by 2024.

Prime minister Scott Morrison has called on states and territories to ease their last remaining Covid-19 restrictions, as Western Australia announced plans to reopen its hard border to the rest of the nation, reports AAP’s Andrew Brown.

Australians kept their side of the deal, it is time for governments to now keep theirs; to step back and let Australians step forward...

To put Australians back in charge of their own lives, relying on the connecting points and relationships that exist between the state and the individual.

Australia is going to be connected and together again...

This will be welcome news for thousands of Western Australians looking forward to reuniting with family and friends after so long apart.

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Australia live news update: WA to ease hard border from 5 February; $1bn defence deal signed with South Korea

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Mark McGowan announces reopening plan after WA hits 80% fully vaccinated; PM confirms international borders to reopen Wednesday for some visa holders; defence deal inked as Korean leader visits; Greg Hunt says telehealth to be made permanent; Victoria records 1,290 new Covid cases and two deaths; NSW records 536 new cases and no deaths; NT to ramp up Covid rules for some communities after 17 new cases; Queensland records one new local case, with 13 reported in SA. Follow all the day’s developments

Time to chat about next year’s election, and the battle the treasurer is facing from an independent in his home seat.

Michael Rowland:

You are now facing, as we know, Monique Ryan in the seat of Kooyong. She’s a Royal Children’s hospital doctor. You’ve labelled people like she, an independent, as a front for Labor and the Greens. What evidence do you have for that?

Well, at the last election, I had an independent who said they were gonna vote for Labor. That’s a pretty clear indication. We’ve also seen plenty of cases where they’ve just mirrored the policies of our political opponents.

But what evidence do we have at this time?

This is a rinse-and-repeat, Michael. What we’ve seen, we’ve seen obviously a lot of funding going into these independents around the rest of the country, and it’s a democracy, so people can put their hand up.

Just on Omicron, you might have caught up with the news just in the last hour or so, Boris Johnson, the UK prime minister, made an address to the nation there. He’s declared a tidal wave of Omicron case is about to hit the UK.

He’s declared it a public health emergency, and has declared that all British adults over the age of 16 can get a booster shot by the end of the year. Taking that into account, are we being a bit too sanguine about Omicron here in Australia?

We saw the medical advice, and that saw a pause for two weeks of the reopening of the border to international students and to skilled workers.

That was a precautionary measure. But we will continue to listen and follow the health advice, and it has served us well to date.

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Queensland declares ‘world first’ Omicron Covid genetic variation but experts say it is not a new variant

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Sub-lineage described as Omicron ‘like’ was identified in an overseas arrival to the state from South Africa

Queensland has declared a “world-first” sub-lineage of Omicron but experts say it’s not a new variant or a new strain and more information is needed.

The new Omicron Covid sub-lineage, known as Omicron “like”, was identified in an overseas arrival to Queensland from South Africa.

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Qld border to reopen 13 December, Palaszczuk says; SA premier advised to close border with NSW over Omicron – As it happened

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Annastacia Palaszczuk brings forward Qld border reopening; Steven Marshall ‘very concerned’ by Omicron as SA records four Covid cases; Perth stripped of Ashes series finale; Victoria records 1,073 new cases and six deaths, NSW records 208 cases, ACT six; Katherine lockdown extended as NT records one case; Australia could be renewables ‘superpower’ but has wasted time, Chris Bowen says.

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A New South Wales government plan to control feral horses in Kosciuszko national park will allow horses to remain in the only known habitat of one of Australia’s most imperilled freshwater fishes and risks pushing the species closer to extinction.

Conservationists say allowing horses to continue to roam around some sections of the park will put vulnerable wildlife and ecosystems at risk.

There are lot of reasons even though they don’t get as sick as adults, they have a pretty strong role in spreading it back to family members and of course that can include parents and also, of greater concern, the grandparents. The older you are, the impacts of getting seriously ill or worse with Covid is greater.

The other reason is just so kids can do what kids are meant to do – go to school, play with their friends, do sport, do exercise, do social things.

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Scott Morrison repeats that Australians have ‘had a gutful of governments in their lives’; Peter Cundall dies at 94 – As it happened

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Gardening legend Peter Cundall dies aged 94 as PM repeats that Australians have had a ‘gutful of governments in their lives’. This blog is now closed

Hunt is asked whether states, like Queensland, will hold off opening state borders until at least 80% of kids aged five to 11 are vaccinated given today’s announcement.

Hunt:

There is no reason for that. The Doherty modelling was set out very clearly on the 80% rates for double dosed across the country for 16 plus, and what we have seen now is that in terms of the 12 to 15-year-olds, we have now had an extra 1.8 million vaccinations over and above the Doherty modelling. The Doherty modelling was based on an 80% national rate for double dosed and didn’t include 12 to 15-year-olds.

A bit over a fifth of all cases of Covid are actually in the under 12s. Indeed, some of the early data with Omicron suggests it may actually be higher for the Omicron variant ... While most kids to get fairly mild infection and only a limited number end up in ICU, is great, there are bigger impacts.

Unfortunately about one in 3,000 of the kids who get Covid actually end up with this funny immunological condition called multi-system inflammatory condition. Those kids can end up being very sick for months. It is not the same as long Covid but it has some things in common, and it has a whole range of symptoms where the kid is just not well. That is one of the things we are protecting against by vaccinating children...

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Australia politics live news: Coalition and Labor test new Speaker’s limits in question time; NT records 11 new Covid cases

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Lorraine Finlay also says she doesn’t believe her past political aspirations with the Liberal party will impact her job.

Certainly my past political involvement doesn’t qualify me for the role, but it also isn’t a disqualification from the role.

Now the human rights commission is an independent, apolitical statutory agency. And as the human rights commissioner, let me be very clear, I am not a politician. It is not a political role. And I fully intend to operate within the established framework of the commission.

What I can say is my personal views, haven’t changed, but my role has, and I’m very aware that as human rights commissioner I do need to take a broader perspective and there are a variety of views and opinions that need to be taken into account.

So again, I don’t see this role as my personal soapbox. I’m not a politician by default, I am here to do a very specific job. And I intend to operate very squarely within the framework of the commission to perform these duties.

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Australia news live updates: NSW and Victoria close in on vaccination milestones; NT communities in lockdown after nine new Covid cases

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Almost 90% of Victoria has had first dose of Covid vaccine as state records 1,275 new cases and four deaths; NSW records 176 cases and two deaths as state nears 95% first vaccination dose milestone; two more NT communities in lockdown after nine new cases on Saturday; 16 Covid cases in ACT; thunderstorm warning for south-west WA and severe weather warnings in place across NSW – follow all the day’s news

Speers has asked Chalmers about the anti-lockdown and anti-vaccination protestors that took place in Victoria yesterday.

Do you accept that there are some people concerned about vaccine mandates who aren’t necessarily extremists?

You can express a view in this country without dragging around gallows and noose and calling for premiers to be hanged. I condemn without reservation, without qualification, the violent threats being made here, even if the prime minister won’t.

We live in a society, and that means we have obligations to each other to try to tame this virus, to look out for each other, to protect each other, to try to keep each other safe and what the prime minister is trying to do is trying to divide us, trying to diminish that collective effort and undermine all of the good and all of the progress that Australians have made together. He does that with this dangerous dog whistling double-speak that we see from him. He does it by claiming credit for high vaccination rates without taking responsibility for the measures that are necessary to get those rates up.

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Political leaders condemn alleged attack on MP’s daughter – as it happened

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PM comments after Animal Justice MP Andy Meddick says daughter attacked; Indian PM repeals controversial agricultural laws; rapid antigen Covid testing for NSW primary schools; Victoria records 1,273 new cases and eight deaths; NSW records 216 new cases and three deaths; rain set to hamper search for remains of William Tyrrell. This blog is now closed

OK, jumping back to South Australia where opposition leader Peter Malinauskas has condemned the premier’s decision not to dismiss his deputy premier and attorney general Vicky Chapman after the parliament passed a vote of no confidence against her.

Malinauskas told ABC News Breakfast that this was “a truly extraordinary state of affairs, if not a constitutional crisis”.

It’s an incredibly unfortunate state of affairs in South Australia where premier Steven Marshall has decided to almost literally tear up the rulebook of convention that’s been established over hundreds of years of the Westminster system of government and ignore the parliament’s will [for him to] ask Vickie Chapman to resign her position at deputy premier.

There’s been a motion of no confidence passed in the deputy premier. This is unprecedented. Everybody seems to be putting their fingers in their ears and pretending nothing has happened, particularly the premier himself.

What I accept and what I’ve always defended and been a very strong supporter of is people’s right to protest. But if it’s not peaceful, it’s not protest and it’s something very different.

We have seen extremists, rabid anti-vaxxer and others making all sorts of threats, threats against me, my wife and my kids. That is not my focus, this is about every family’s safety and that’s why we have to work together and that’s what Victorians have done.

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Australia news live blog: Barnaby Joyce dismisses Cop26 ‘talkfest’; snap lockdown for Katherine in NT; Qld eases Covid border rules

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Barnaby Joyce says Coalition has done a ‘great job’ on climate policy; Changes to South Australia quarantine and border restrictions; fully vaccinated travellers can apply for Qld border passes from 5pm; Victoria records 860 new local Covid cases and five deaths; NSW records 165 cases and one death. Follow live updates

Cop26 failed in a bid to phase out coal, news that had its president Alok Sharma close to tears. But not everyone’s disappointed – nationals senator Matt Canavan has declared it a great win for Australia’s mining industry.

He told the Nine Network:

Given the fact that the agreement did not say that coal needs to be phased down or taken out, it is a big green light for us to build more coalmines.

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Queensland man uses pocket knife to fight off crocodile dragging him into river

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Cape York man, 60, was fishing on his property when the reptile clamped its jaws around his boots

A Queensland man has escaped the jaws of a crocodile by stabbing it in the head with a pocket knife as it dragged him into a river on Cape York.

Parks and Wildlife officers said the 60-year-old had been fishing on his property on the banks of a remote part of the McIvor River, near Hope Vale, last Wednesday.

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Australia news live updates: NT to decide if Covid lockdown extended, Tim Smith won’t contest Victoria election after drunken crash

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Katherine stay-at-home restrictions due to lift at midnight, but source of outbreak still not known. Follow updates live

Labor will create a national anti-scam centre and double funding for services helping aggrieved Australians get stolen IDs back to counter scammers if it wins government, AAP reports.

Forcing companies to take down fraudulent ads faster, a review of the current penalties in place for scammers and a new ministerial portfolio for the issue will be introduced under its “scambuster” plan.

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Australia news live update: Scott Morrison unveils details of 2050 net zero plan; Victoria premier outlines new pandemic laws

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Prime minister gives press conference on Australia’s commitments to climate action; Daniel Andrews explains new measures; Victoria confirms four Covid deaths overnight, NSW one death – follow all the day’s news

The estimates hearings today cover off the same committees as yesterday:

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Australia Covid live updates: Victoria to have freedom of movement from Friday as state records 1,935 cases; 296 cases in NSW

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Victoria may reach jab milestone allowing greater freedoms this week, while figures show worrying number of school closures from outbreaks

The full rundown on Covid in NSW today, brought to you by AAP:

NSW has added a further 296 locally acquired infections to its Covid caseload along with four more deaths.

Some 480 people with the virus remain in hospitals across the state, 119 of them in intensive care.

Meanwhile, Halloween enthusiasts are being warned to keep trick-or-treating Covid-safe.

“If you and your family are planning to celebrate Halloween this year ... aim to keep the celebrations outside, provide closed packaging for treats and instead of communal lolly bowls consider other ways to distribute your treats,” NSW Health’s Jeremy McAnulty advised on Saturday.

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‘Like snow’: freak hail storms batter Australia’s east coast

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Coffs Harbour cops a hammering as shopping centre ceiling collapses; Australia records its largest ever hailstone

Freak storms across the east coast of Australia have damaged buildings and pounded cities with hail the size of grapefruit.

The largest hailstone ever to fall in Australia – a whopping 16cm in diameter – was recorded in Queensland after heavy storms hammered the Mackay region on Tuesday afternoon.

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Australia politics live: Scott Morrison in last-ditch talks with Nationals on net zero

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Prime minister expected to push Liberals and Nationals to find agreement on emissions roadmap in meeting on Tuesday. Follow the latest updates live

And also worth keeping in mind – the Liberals don’t actually need the Nationals to move ahead with the climate commitments. Nothing is going to parliament (at least at this stage – because we are talking a 2050 plan) which means there is no danger of people crossing the floor.

Scott Morrison told the Liberal party room yesterday he planned on taking Australia’s commitment to net zero by 2050 to Glasgow as an NDC – a a nationally determined contribution – which doesn’t need the parliament either. It’s essentially a pledge which says ‘we intend to do this’, and makes it a little more official, rather than just a speech. He doesn’t need the Nationals for that either.

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Australia Covid news live update: TGA grants provisional determination of Pfizer vaccine for ages 5-11; Victoria records 1,571 cases, 13 deaths

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So there has been a bit of drama in the South Australian parliament, with a Liberal party defector somehow taking the Speaker of the House role in a late-night upset.

Dan Cregan, who left the Liberal party to sit on the crossbench last week, managed to take the job in a secret ballot.

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Indigenous man dies during ‘violent struggle’ with Queensland police

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

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

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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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