Category Archives: Scott Morrison

Australia politics live: international border to stay closed until at least March

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Government extends country’s biosecurity emergency declaration; Josh Frydenberg unveils laws requiring Google and Facebook to pay for news. All the latest updates

In the UK, Margaret Keenan, a 90-year old grandmother from Coventry, has become the first person to receive the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine.

Australia has currently secured enough doses of the vaccine for 5 million people.

Congratulations to Margaret Keenan on her pub quiz question immortality.

Related: Coventry woman, 90, first patient to receive Covid vaccine in NHS campaign

Independent senator Rex Patrick has tabled a bill today to ban the importing of goods made by the forced labour of Uighurs in China.

The bill would stop Australia importing any goods made in the Xinjing province of China, or goods from other parts of China produced “using forced labour” as defined by Australian criminal law.

The Chinese Communist regime’s persecution of the Uyghur people is undeniable. More than 1 million people have been rounded up and put in internment camps across Xinjiang and subjected to gross human rights abuses.

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PM apologises for erroneously stating Kevin Rudd had left and re-entered Australia during Covid

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Scott Morrison has written to the clerk of the lower house correcting the record and apologising to the former Labor leader

Scott Morrison has written to the clerk of the House of Representatives correcting the record and apologising to Kevin Rudd after declaring erroneously in question time that the former Labor prime minister had been allowed to leave and re-enter Australia during the pandemic.

The controversy began when Labor on Monday asked Morrison why Tony Abbott and Alexander Downer had been able to leave and re-enter the country multiple times this year “when there are thousands of vulnerable stranded Australians who haven’t been able to get home once?”

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Australian politics live: NSW and Victoria to ease Covid restrictions; final sitting week of parliament

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NSW to lift tranche of restrictions while in Victoria it will no longer be compulsory to wear face masks in offices or cafes; federal parliament returns for the final sitting week of 2020 – latest updates

Victoria will begin accepting international flights again from today – a flight from Sri Lanka is about to touch down in Melbourne. All up, there will be about 125 travellers arriving as part of the hotel quarantine program in Victoria today.

There is no longer any private security guards as part of the Victoria program – and any worker has to work exclusively for the Victorian government.

The latest foreign interference laws are also due to pass parliament this week – these ones are the ones looking at agreements with foreign governments that private organisations and state governments have made.

States, Territories and local governments will have three months to handover agreements with foreign governments which @dfat "will carefully and methodically consider against Australia's foreign policy settings" #auspol @Birmo @SBSNews pic.twitter.com/pwT5PtCEta

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Chinese official’s ‘repugnant’ tweet of Australia soldier likely amplified by fake accounts, experts say

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Australian experts and Israeli cybersecurity firm allege ‘unusual behaviour’ by Twitter accounts retweeting or liking Zhao Lijian’s tweet

A Chinese official’s tweet of an image of an Australian soldier that sparked a furious reaction from Canberra was amplified across social media by unusual accounts, of which half were likely fake, Australian experts and an Israeli cybersecurity firm say.

The digitally created image that purported to show an Australian soldier holding a bloodied knife to the throat of an Afghan child was tweeted by China’s foreign ministry spokesman, Zhao Lijian, on Monday.

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Australia news live: China row simmers; NSW awaits Covid case numbers

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MP Andrew Hastie has criticised the release of details included in the war crimes report for allowing China to ‘malign our troops’; PM faces questions over Murdoch Christmas party flight; NSW awaits update on new Covid cluster. Follow all today’s news

Good morning, Matilda Boseley here. It’s nearly the end of the week and what better way to reach the finish line than to stick around on the Guardian live blog and get all your much-needed news updates, Covid-19 or otherwise.

First up, Liberal MP Andrew Hastie has criticised the Brereton Report which he says was filled with “unproven rumours” of Australian soldiers murdering Afghan children, saying the report has given China an opening to malign Australian troops.

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Australia on track for March 2021 Covid-19 vaccine distribution – video

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Australia has targeted March 2021 to begin the rollout of a Covid vaccine after the UK became the first western country to license a vaccine against the coronavirus. 

While British prime minister Boris Johnson says vaccinations will begin there next week, Australian prime minister Scott Morrison and health minister Greg Hunt say that won't impact Australia's timeline.

'In Australia, we're in a very strong position,' Morrison says. 

'That enables us to get this right, to get the balance right, to ensure first and foremost the safety, which enables us to roll out the vaccine across the country successfully.' 

Hunt has reaffirmed the country is on track to vaccinate healthcare workers and aged-care residents in March

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Australian politics live: economy grows 3.3% in September quarter, national accounts reveal

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OECD warns Australia over China exports; agriculture and trade ministers to meet wine producers – follow the latest updates

Philip Lowe is accompanied at today’s hearing by Guy Debelle, a deputy RBA governor. Debelle has just shown Lowe the growth number in the national accounts.

The governor is pleased. It’s very good, he says. (Lowe was hoping for more than 2% in today’s numbers. The growth number is 3.3%).

Jim Chalmers has responded:

Today’s headline number is cold comfort for millions of Australians looking for work, or more work. For many people what looks like a recovery on paper will still feel like a recession. #auspol

What really matters is not one quarterly GDP number on a page but how Australians are actually faring and whether they can provide for their loved ones. #auspol

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Australian politics live: Chinese embassy accuses Canberra of overreacting to tweet on Afghan killings

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Embassy official dismisses ‘rage and roar’ over tweet; new WA border rules not requiring quarantine to start on 8 December; Paul Fletcher complains to ABC chair about Four Corners program. Follow latest updates

And that’s where we’ll leave the blog for today. Thanks as always for reading, we’ll be back tomorrow, with Amy Remeikis at the helm in the morning.

Here’s what happened today:

And in further weather news, severe thunderstorms are set to hit Sydney in a few minutes. The Bureau of Meteorology has warned of damaging winds and large hailstones.

⚡Detailed Severe Thunderstorm Warning⚡
for DAMAGING WINDS and LARGE HAILSTONES. Forecast to affect Hornsby, Parramatta and Richmond by 7:05 pm and Sydney City, Sydney Olympic Park, Mona Vale and waters off Bondi Beach by 7:35 pm.
⚠️Warnings: https://t.co/qF3XejM6Tv pic.twitter.com/qnSGNfqZND

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Australian politics live: Scott Morrison says Chinese government should be ashamed of ‘repugnant’ tweet on ADF soldiers

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Prime minister calls on China to apologise and seeks removal of tweet; Victoria revamps hotel quarantine program under single agency with private security banned. Follow all the latest

Twitter hasn’t taken the Tweet down, as demanded by Scott Morrison, but it has censored it.

The image defaults to hidden with the message:

Shocked by murder of Afghan civilians & prisoners by Australian soldiers. We strongly condemn such acts, &call for holding them accountable. pic.twitter.com/GYOaucoL5D

And yet, no one is responsible. Governance in Australia is so, so broken

I don’t support wording of Labor’s motion but someone needs to resign over the #robotdebt fiasco. How is it that only female Ministers like Ley and McKenzie resign? Where is the Westminster Ministerial responsibly? #qt #auspol pic.twitter.com/lfAClWfphp

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Australian PM demands China apologise for ‘repugnant’ tweet with fake image of soldier

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Scott Morrison says China should be ‘totally ashamed’ of digitally altered image depicting Australian soldier posted by foreign ministry

The Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, has demanded the Chinese government apologise and take down a “repugnant” foreign ministry tweet that depicted an Australian soldier cutting the throat of a civilian in Afghanistan.

As the outrage over the digitally altered image threatened to sink already tense relations between the two countries to a new low, Morrison said on Monday the Chinese government “should be totally ashamed of this post”, which he said diminished Beijing on the world stage.

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Dfat reveals 36,875 Australians are stranded overseas, including 8,070 vulnerable people – live news

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Scott Morrison says Kylie Moore-Gilbert’s release from Iranian prison a ‘miracle’; Labor and Greens accuse Berejiklian over council grants; an Adelaide high school is closed after Covid case – follow updates

I’ll be passing over the blog to my colleague Michael McGowan, who will take you through the next part of the afternoon.

I’ve been Elias Visontay. Have a great afternoon.

The high court has granted special leave to appeal in a landmark case on casual employment.

In the Workpac v Rosatto decision the federal court found employees described as casuals could be owed further entitlements if they performed regular, permanent work.

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World’s powerful nations must not force allies into ‘binary choices’, Scott Morrison says

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Prime minister says diplomatic difficulties Australia is navigating are ‘a foretaste’ for others around the world

Scott Morrison has used a speech to the British Policy Exchange to call for a more nuanced appreciation of national interest, and more flexibility, when countries pursue relationships with America and China, because “stark choices are in no one’s interests”.

In a section of his speech outlining the challenges of navigating Australia’s fraught relationship with China in an era of escalating geopolitical competition, Morrison on Monday night said “greater latitude will be required from the world’s largest powers to accommodate the individual interests of their partners and allies” because “we all need a bit more room to move”.

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Coronavirus detected in Victorian sewage as state records 22 days with no new cases

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NSW records 10 cases in hotel quarantine, while Queensland announces two and Western Australia one

Victoria has only one active Covid-19 case but authorities are concerned about traces of the virus unexpectedly found at a Melbourne wastewater facility.

Victoria has gone 22 days with no new coronavirus cases while on Saturday New South Wales recorded 10 new cases in hotel quarantine. Queensland announced two new coronavirus cases and Western Australia one – all of which were in hotel quarantine.

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Coalition paves way for scrapping planned rise in superannuation guarantee

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Retirement income review to emphasise Australians using ‘voluntary savings’, saying a lift in compulsory super rate would hurt wages growth

The Morrison government is laying the groundwork to scrap the already legislated increase to the superannuation guarantee, declaring the retirement income review has found current policy settings are suitable.

A summation of the retirement income review distributed by treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s office ahead of the report’s official release on Friday put greater emphasis on Australians using “voluntary savings”, including equity within their homes, ahead of raising compulsory superannuation contributions.

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China warns Australia and Japan over ‘confrontational’ new defence pact

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Australian ministers urge dialogue to resolve dispute as Beijing says countries may pay ‘corresponding price’

Australia and Japan will “pay a corresponding price” if their new defence pact threatens China’s security, Chinese state media has warned, as Scott Morrison insisted the deal should not cause any concerns to Beijing.

The state-run Global Times newspaper declared the new agreement “accelerates the confrontational atmosphere in the Asia-Pacific region” and was aimed against China.

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South Australia to shut down to contain Covid cluster as new national hotel quarantine worker testing rules announced – live news

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SA introduces ‘wide-ranging restrictions’ from midnight on Wednesday; $200 vouchers for Victorians to spend in regional areas. Follow the latest news

Insurance companies have lost a crucial test case on whether they have to pay businesses who shut their doors due to the coronavirus pandemic under business interruption policies.

The NSW Court of Appeal says they do, and has thrown out arguments from insurers that coronavirus is excluded from policies.

Meanwhile, a huge chunk of Darwin and surrounds is experiencing a blackout, with the temperature expected to climb to 35C.

Wide spread power outages affecting Darwin and surrounding areas. #DarwinNT Crew responding.

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Robodebt class action: Coalition agrees to pay $1.2bn to settle lawsuit

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Some 400,000 Australians will share $112m in extra compensation, lawyers say

The Australian government has agreed to a $1.2bn settlement for a class action brought on behalf of hundreds of thousands of robodebt victims.

In a deal struck the day a federal court trial was set to begin, 400,000 people will share in $112m in additional compensation, the firm running the action, Gordon Legal, announced on Monday.

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Foreign investors and actors not bound by ‘Australians first’ arrivals policy

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Decision sees international students go to the back of the queue while others are given special approval

Greg Hunt has clarified that foreign business people and actors will not be subjected to the “Australians first” approach to international arrivals as Australia struggles to clear a backlog of people seeking to come home.

The health minister suggested that “national interest” exemptions would continue to apply, clarifying that investors will not be barred by the rule that prevents large numbers of international students coming ahead of 36,500 Australians still seeking to return.

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Simon Birmingham urges China to respect ‘spirit’ of new Asian trade pact

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Australia hopes 15-country Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership will help reset economic relations with China

Simon Birmingham has urged China to respect the “spirit” – not just the letter – of the new 15-country Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.

Australia is hoping the deal, signed on Sunday, will help reset economic relations with China after a rolling series of trade disputes or disruptions widely regarded as retaliation for Australian policies towards China.

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National cabinet endorses national vaccination policy – as it happened

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PM and premiers meet as Covid-19 cases plummet. This blog is now closed

The day is winding down so we are going to wrap up the blog. Here are the main events:

The rise of rightwing extremism has coincided with the emergence of social media “echo chambers” and easily formed online communities of interest, the head of home affairs has said.

Michael Pezzullo, the secretary of the department, appeared before a parliamentary hearing into social cohesion and nationhood this afternoon.

He was asked about recent testimony from the head of Asio that rightwing extremism now made up 30% to 40% of its priority counter-terrorism investigations. Labor committee chair Kim Carr wanted to know whether Pezzullo thought the trend coincided with the rise or rightwing populist groups in the US and Europe.

Domestically it would seem to me that the groups that are of most concern are those that would either promote or seek others to adhere to a philosophy or an ideology of extra-constitutional action, and worse of course extremist action, and worst of all violent action rather than moderating legitimately held differences of political, ideological, economic views through our democratic process.

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