Editor Brian Harrod Provides Comprehensive up-to-date news coverage, with aggregated news from sources all over the world from the Roundup Newswires Network
NSW MPs call for end to police investigating themselves on 30th anniversary of royal commission; Queensland eases Covid restrictions; fashion designer Carla Zampatti farewelled in Sydney. Follow updates live
Now that unemployment has hit 5.6%, the treasurer Josh Frydenberg has signalled he will revisit the budget strategy - which is that the Morrison government won’t tighten fiscal policy until unemployment is “comfortably within” 6%.
Frydenberg told reporters in Canberra that 5.6% was not “comfortably within” 6% and that now is “not the time for austerity”.
Wow, it’s been a busy few hours! With that, I’m going to hand you over to Michael McGowan to take you through the rest of the afternoon.
Christine Holgate gave some evidence about executive bonuses. It is a little confusing and we’ll come back to it, because even the senators seem a little confused about what is being said. And it’s important we get it right, so I’ll head back over the transcript to see what she was saying there.
Liberal senator Sarah Henderson has the question call now. She says she has been very moved by Holgate, and what she went through. She asks whether she thinks the questioning on the 22 October estimates hearing was fair.
Holgate:
In all honesty, I didn’t consider whether it was fair or not fair. I absolutely respect and Senator Carr, forgive me but you’ve asked me many tough questions over my time with you (“that’s my job,” Carr says)...and I was about to say ‘that’s your job’.
Angela Kitzelman and Don Jarmey joke their secret is having ‘no goals’, a philosophy that’s worked for the pair over more than three decades
Names: Angela Kitzelman and Don Jarmey Years together: 36 Occupations: public servant and lab technician
“If you can travel together successfully, that is a sign of a strong relationship,” says Don Jarmey. “If you can sit for 41 hours on a bus from Istanbul to Budapest with about 2 metres of snow outside, where the bus stops three times in that 41 hours and you still love each other at the end, then yeah.”
No new properties have been purchased under the Queensland government program since 2017, a report finds
Cape York Indigenous groups have warned that a successful Queensland government program to return land to traditional owners is on the verge of stalling, potentially leaving large and significant swathes of the peninsula at the mercy of mining speculators.
The Cape York land tenure resolution program has returned more than 4m hectares of land to traditional owner groups since 2007, including about 2m hectares that is designated as national park.
Gladys Berejiklian says a NSW Covid immunisation centre will be capable of administering 30,000 doses a week; EU denies blocking further shipments of AstraZeneca earmarked for Australia. Follow the latest updates, live
Australia needs to manage the increasingly complex relationship with China, even as the government seeks areas to diversify its export markets, according to a new report out this afternoon.
The Asia Taskforce – which includes the Business Council of Australia and Asia Society Australia – calls for a target of boosting Australia’s exports to 35% of GDP by 2030 (up from 29% in 2019).
Popular support for the open economy cannot be taken for granted. Retreating to old familiar relationships in western markets, falling behind in Asia literacy and failing to build connections with new Asian business partners should not be seen as a serious default choice when consumption in Asia will likely fuel future global growth.
The Greens are once again calling for an independent rapid review into the vaccine rollout to identify any issues and restore public confidence.
Senator Rachel Siewert, Greens spokesperson for health, said in a statement:
With targets missed, persistent problems with vaccine supply, and troubles getting the available vaccines to where they’re needed, the rollout of these vital jabs hardly inspires confidence...
We shouldn’t let this devolve into a game of finger pointing and blaming shifting between the federal and state governments. This pointless squabble doesn’t inspire confidence in the rollout, and can only serve to add further delays to the process.
Queensland Liberal defends ‘completely dignified’ photo of woman bending over but apologises for ‘feelings I’ve caused’
Under-seige Morrison government MP Andrew Laming says his online behaviour has been “re-invented into harassment” and that the “facts are on my side”, claiming he only ever asked “hard questions” but apologised “for how it’s made people feel”.
A number of states have slammed their borders shut to Queenslanders as greater Brisbane enters a snap three-day snap lockdown after authorities discovered four new locally-acquired coronavirus cases.
Queensland’s chief health officer, Dr Jeannette Young, on Monday described the growing cluster of seven cases as “significant community transmission” of the UK variant. She warned people in greater Brisbane to stay home over the coming days.
The Victorian state government won’t release a three-page email chain in which a decision to put Melbourne under a coronavirus curfew was made, reports Karen Sweeney from AAP.
Victorian opposition MP David Davis requested all documents relating to the curfew to be released under Freedom of Information.
These are the documents that relate directly to the decision to put Melbourne under a curfew and the reality, in our view, is there is little reason the documents should not be in the public domain.
We have one document - it is three pages of an email chain containing legal advice.
It is a single document - it may just be a single decision has to be made by the tribunal...
It’s just hard to see why this has been strung out for so long.
It’s worth considering how soon this lockdown is coming after the end of jobkeeper and how close it is cutting it to the start of the federal government’s half-priced plane ticket program.
Jobkeeper ended on Sunday, and the tourism sector support program is slated to start on 1 April.
Federal Liberal MP Andrew Laming has pleaded for privacy after announcing he will not recontest the next election, saying he will seek immediate help to improve his behaviour.
Following a series of reports about Laming’s poor behaviour towards women, including an incident where he allegedly photographed a woman’s bottom, the Queensland MP said he would “own those mistakes” and quit parliament.
Health authorities in Queensland are scrambling to track down contacts of two Brisbane friends who tested positive for coronavirus, amid fresh concerns about the outbreak growing.
Queensland Health said on Saturday night one of the men, aged 26, held a house party in Strathpine while he was waiting on his test result, despite instructions to self-isolate. But on Sunday morning, Queensland police contradicted that advice and said only five people had been directed to quarantine.
Queensland authorities have released a list of hotspots where Covid-positive people have visited while infectious.
Any individuals who have been in the below locations during the relevant times are considered close contacts and asked to immediately home quarantine (for 14 days), even if you receive a negative result, and complete the contact-tracing self-assessment or call 13HEALTH (13 43 25 84):
School closures as more rain, flooding expected on mid-north coast; major flooding expected along the Hawkesbury River in western Sydney, as well as the Macleay River at Kempsey and Smithtown, and the Hastings River. Follow the latest news
Morrison warned the damage from the floods could be significant.
This is an ongoing situation that is evolving and is extremely dangerous. And we are meeting regularly to be updated on the events and to direct our response. We are grateful at this point that no lives have been lost so far.
But weakened foundations for buildings, of roads and trees, they all create risk as do downed power lines and rising water levels. So we ask all Australians in these affected areas to please use caution. Check and on your neighbours and those who you know that are alone.
As is appropriate this time, many members supporting their communities are not here in this place. Another deputy premised and the Minister for government services and other ministers are also reaching out and working closely with the mayors and other communities ensuring they receive every support. This will be a very difficult week for hundreds of thousands of Australians if not more as we face the immediacy of the floods, and there will be many difficult months ahead as the cleanup and recovery from this natural disaster gets under way.
We have very competent agencies and our state governments stopping they are very good at dealing with these types of emergencies. They are doing a tremendous job right now and theAustralian government is standing together with them in ensuring they can be delivering on this most urgent of times. But above all, we rely on Australians themselves. They have shown, as we came together, we can get through these things when we work together, and that is what we will do in the hours, days, weeks and months ahead, responding to this disaster like those before and then rebuilding and recovering afterwards.
Prime minister Scott Morrison is addressing parliament about the floods.
Mr Speaker, Australia is being tested once again. The east coast of Australia, predominantly New South Wales but also in south-east Queensland, has experienced an extraordinary deluge over recent days. Rains are expected for at least the next 24 and 48 hours.
In south-east Queensland, there has been intense rainfall with more than 300 SES requests for assistance, over the 24 hours until this morning with crews working through the night.
I want to acknowledge and pay tribute and say thank you on behalf of all of us here in this place Mr Speaker for the extraordinary efforts of our volunteers and the emergency services and responding to this terrible event. And there is a serious risk still ahead. Heavy rainfall is likely to continue up much of the eastern half of New South Wales and into southern Queensland today and tomorrow. Heavy falls will also develop over northern and central inland parts of New South Wales tomorrow, bringing the risk of flash and significant river flooding to several additional catchments. A different low pressure system is also expected to form off the southern New South Wales coast, bringing rainfall they are also.
Thankfully, the current forecast has conditions easing statewide from early Wednesday but we will watch and see. Mr Speaker, I want to assure residents and all storm and flood affected areas that all parts of government are working closely together.
We understand that this is likely to be for recovery support and cleanup operations including personnel, vehicles and machinery stopping the premier and they were discussing that over the weekend. We have also been just advised now in discussions on the potential for heavy lift aerial support but this is also still to be scoped.
Locals who have endured months of mice and rats getting into their houses, stores and cars are praying heavy rain will help wipe them out Warning: graphic images may disturb some readers
Drought, fire, the Covid-19 pestilence and an all-consuming plague of mice. Rural New South Wales has faced just about every biblical challenge nature has to offer in the last few years, but now it is praying for another – an almighty flood to drown the mice in their burrows and cleanse the blighted land of the rodents. Or some very heavy rain, at least.
It seems everyone in the rural towns of north-west NSW and southern Queensland has their own mouse war story. In posts online, they detail waking up to mouse droppings on their pillows or watching the ground move at night as hundreds of thousands of rodents flee from torchlight beams.
The body of Toyah Cordingley, 24, was found in sand dunes north of Cairns in October 2018
Australia has taken the first step towards catching a runaway suspect believed to have murdered Toyah Cordingley on a Queensland beach before fleeing to India.
It has been two-and-a-half years since the body of the 24-year-old was found in the dunes of Wangetti beach, north of Cairns, following what police called “a personal and intimate attack”.
More than 100 federally funded clinics will take bookings for Covid-19 jabs from Friday and will begin administering them from Monday. Follow latest updates
This is Elias Visontay bringing you this morning’s main stories: some Covid vaccine developments, a growing political feud, and misogyny culture in the spotlight across the globe.
Month-long restrictions to come into force as officials warn virus could rip through PNG’s fragile health system ‘like a tornado’
Papua New Guinea will go into a month-long nationwide isolation in an effort to arrest a spiralling Covid-19 outbreak that threatens to rip through the country’s fragile health system “like a tornado”, health officials say, shutting hospitals and leaving wards without sufficient staff.
Hospitals across the country have already been forced to shut wards and departments, overwhelmed by a combination of staff becoming infected with the coronavirus, surging patient demand, and swingeing budget cuts.
Board belonging to big wave surfer Danny Griffiths believed to have made the journey via New Zealand
An Australian surfer has found a surfboard he lost four years ago after it floated at sea for thousands of kilometres, from the bottom of Australia to the top – potentially via New Zealand.
Danny Griffiths, a big wave surfer, lost his favourite board after he crashed off a wave at the very southern tip of Tasmania. It was found, covered in barnacles, by two brothers near Townsville in north Queensland, more than 2,700km away.
After 100,000 women marched for justice on Monday, the federal government faces scrutiny over whether it’s listening. Follow all today’s latest news and updates, live
Scott Morrison’s address to the joint party room spoke about the March4Justice issues, as well as the wider concerns about harassment and abuse at work, included a comparison to the Kokoda Trail.
He said, according to Sky News’ Andrew Clennell,
He actually compared it to walking the Kokoda Trail, is what I’ve been told out of the party room and said we are on a narrow path, we have to look after each other and focus on what matters.”
You wonder how you’ve got over the first hill and the next one’s even bigger.
That’s what it’s like in the pandemic,” he said, citing the next hill as being weaning the economy off government support.
More than 100,000 women are expected to march in Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to demand action in response to allegations of workplace abuse. Follow latest updates
Janine Hendry, a founder and organiser of the March4Justice, explained to the ABC this morning about why organisers turned down Scott Morrison’s offer of a private meeting with a small number of march delegates:
I think it is really quite disrespectful to the women whose voices need to be heard to have a meeting with our prime minister behind closed doors.
I have invited the prime minister, as I have all other sitting members of parliament, to come and march with us, to come and listen to our voices. I don’t think it is really a big ask – we have come to Canberra.