Editor Brian Harrod Provides Comprehensive up-to-date news coverage, with aggregated news from sources all over the world from the Roundup Newswires Network
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.
NSW to ease coronavirus restrictions, including the number allowed to visit a home; Queensland prepares for influx of visitors ahead of December 1 border reopening. Follow updates
Scott Morrison has defended providing Mathias Cormann a government-funded Royal Air Force jet so he can travel around the world as he campaigns to be secretary general of the OECD.
The prime minister said there was an “extremely high” risk Cormann, who recently resigned as finance minister, would catch Covid if he were forced to travel on commercial flights.
That’s funded by the government because we’re taking this bid very seriously and the reason we need him to do that in the Air Force jet is because Covid is running rampant in Europe, and this is a very important position, and the OECD is going to play a really important role in the global economic recovery.
There really wasn’t the practical option to use commercial flights in the time we had available, because of Covid. If Mathias was flying around on commercial planes, he would have got Covid. The risk of that was extremely high.
Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has confirmed Victorians will be able to enter her state without quarantining from 1 December, after Victoria announced no new cases on Tuesday.
It comes a day after the same reopening was granted to residents of Greater Sydney, as both Greater Sydney and Victoria achieved 28 days of no community transmission without an unknown transmission source.
I just heard and that’s wonderful news and can I congratulate Daniel Andrews, their chief health officer and all of Victorians because this is just such fantastic news. So it means on 1 December, Victorians can also come to Queensland and, of course, Queenslanders can go to Victoria as well. So very, very good news.
We’re absolutely prepared for the influx of people for the Queensland holidays. In fact, just yesterday, we saw a 250% increase in some of our tourism operators across Queensland. So that is absolutely wonderful news.”
Labor claims dinner at Club Taree raised $18,000 from four donors and gave them access to premier
Gladys Berejiklian has said she cannot remember whether she attended an “intimate fundraising dinner” at Club Taree in May 2018, where Labor claims illegal property donations were made.
Labor used question time in New South Wales parliament on Wednesday to ask about the event and donations made to the campaign of the mid-north coast MP Stephen Bromhead, the member for Myall Lakes, in 2018.
Budget estimates continue with Australia’s coronavirus response on the agenda. Victoria’s hotel quarantine inquiry will reconvene for an extraordinary session while in NSW testing rates drop below 7,000. Follow all the latest updates
Keith Pitt, bless him, attempts a dixer on the Queensland resources industry which LNP candidates in central and north Queensland can cut up and put on their facebook page for three people to look at, but the dixer isn’t the right question, so he can’t use his zinger, or get his time back.
Neither can we.
Steve Burt, he is a typical driller, he is big, he’s bearded, he is rough as hessian underwear to be honest
Catherine King to Michael McCormack:
The Australian audit office told Senate estimates last night that it provided AFP on 10 July potential evidence about potential defrauding of the Commonwealth.
Thank you, Mr Speaker. Whilst I appreciate this is the subject of many inquiries being made by Senate estimates, as you would expect, this is an inquiry, the Australian Federal Police are looking into it and the ANAO has referred this matter to the AFP, as has the Secretary of the Department of Infrastructure.
And, of course, an independent investigation is also going into the matter, being conducted by the Commonwealth Ombudsman Dr Thomas, the former Inspector-general of the Commonwealth Ombudsman, Dr Vivienne Thom.
Melburnians can now travel up to 25km and spend more time out of the house; and federal parliament resumes with Senate estimates. This blog is now closed
In the off chance you aren’t completely fed up with Covid-19 data, the federal health department has been publishing a weekly snapshot of how each state is going.
This is an interesting tool for assessing the success of contact tracing in various states, especially as the case load in Victoria continues to drop.
The Independent Commission Against Corruption’s investigation into whether Daryl Maguire improperly used his position as a politician for his own benefit concluded with admissions from the former Wagga Wagga MP on Friday.
To be clear, though, the transcript shows that later in the day Maguire seemed to walk that back a little, saying 2014 was “clearer in my mind”.
Robertson:
From your perspective the relationship was a close personal relationship on those two dates that you there identify. Do you agree?
I see that. But 14 was clearer in my mind – 14/15.
So is it right that at least from your perspective, you were in a close personal relationship with Ms Berejiklian in calendar year 2014, is that right?
I originally said 15 and I lean towards 15 still, or late 14. That was, that’s my recollection, somewhere there.
Former Wagga MP questioned over corruption allegations including that he misused public office to broker property deals in western Sydney that would financially benefit him. Watch and follow the live stream
We’re back and Robertson dives straight into grilling Maguire over an invoice sent to the Chinese delegation on a G8Way International letterhead which included a “fee for introduction”.
Robertson asks if the fee was raised with Maguire, who says he doesn’t remember.
I don’t recall seeing it ... I would have thought so.
Victoria’s premier weathers upset after his top public servant resigned and NSW premier holds on after Icac revelations. In Queensland, opposition leader Deb Frecklington faces questions over event with Peter Dutton. Follow live
The Queensland Liberal National Party has categorically denied claims it referred its own party leader, Deb Frecklington to the electoral commission over concerns about her fundraising events.
The ABC reported this morning that the party referred Frecklington to the Electoral Commission of Queensland over a series of events, one where Peter Dutton was a guest, involving property developers.
NSW Health have set up a pop-up testing clinic, and alerted to more venues, after two GPs in the Sydney suburb of Lakemba tested positive for Covid-19.
Both doctors worked at the A2Z Medical Clinic, and are linked to a patient who was previously diagnosed with Covid-19, who attended Lakemba Radiology.
NSW premier is under pressure to resign after disclosing secret relationship with disgraced former MP Daryl Maguire
The New South Wales premier, Gladys Berejiklian, has admitted she “stuffed up” in her personal life, but has stared down calls to resign following extraordinary revelations she had for years maintained a secret “close personal relationship” with the disgraced former Wagga Wagga MP Daryl Maguire.
In a press conference following her explosive appearance before the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac) on Monday, Berejiklian declared she had not considered resigning “because I haven’t done anything wrong”.
Victorian bar owner lodges legal challenge to the constitutionality of the state’s lockdown as fears in NSW grow over number of locally transmitted cases. Follow all the latest updates
Australian scientists have discovered that the virus that causes Covid-19 can survive for up to 28 days on surfaces such as the glass on mobile phones, stainless steel, vinyl and paper banknotes.
The virus survived longer on paper banknotes than on plastic banknotes and lasted longer on smooth surfaces rather than porous surfaces such as cotton.
NSW says a new cluster of three people is likely linked to an existing cluster. The premier Gladys Berejiklian is also warning that the public will be told of “additional venues, additional locations” to respond to during the day.
The remaining three cases of community transmission are all linked, and that source is being investigated by Health. Health has not ruled out also being able to establish a link between that new cluster of three people and also an existing cluster. It’s also important to note that we anticipate during the day there will be additional venues, additional locations, which we’ll be asking the public to respond to.
We anticipate that because we’ve identified these eight cases, that a number of close contacts and family members could be found to be positive as a result, so it’s really, really important for everybody to stay on high alert, look at the information which Health provides during the course of the day, and please react and make sure you take that advice. If you’re asked to get tested and stay home for 14 days, please make sure you do that.
In NSW, another four cases were recorded from returned travellers.
Of the eight locally-acquired cases, one is under investigation and seven are linked to a known case or cluster. NSW Health said:
One new case reported today was locally acquired, is likely to have been infected some days ago and appears linked to the Liverpool Hospital Dialysis cluster. Four more cases are close contacts of this case.
One new case is locally acquired whose source is under investigation. The remaining two cases today are close contacts of this case.
Testing numbers have dropped recently, which is a concern. NSW Health renews its call for increased testing across Sydney, even if you have the mildest of symptoms like a runny nose or scratchy throat, cough, fever or other symptoms that could be COVID-19.
This is especially important for people across West and South West Sydney with these new cases and after the state’s sewage surveillance program detected fragments of the virus at the North Richmond and West Camden treatment plants.
Three of today’s nine new cases have been linked to known outbreaks or are considered complex cases. These are linked to the Butcher’s Club Chadstone Shopping Centre outbreak, with single cases linked to Corrigan Produce Farms Clyde North and Coles Williamstown. The other six cases remain under investigation.
Anglicare is calling on the federal government to increase jobseeker and fund social housing projects in tomorrow’s budget announcements.
“A permanent boost to jobseeker will add billions of dollars to the economy and at least 145,000 full-time jobs. The benefits would go straight to the areas that need them most,” Anglicare Australia executive director Kasy Chambers said in a statement.
Social housing will offer relief for the tens of thousands of people who are homeless in Australia. It also boosts GDP, and creates jobs in construction for the regions that need it most.
With the economy reeling in the wake of the coronavirus, we need to invest in projects that are shovel-ready. There is no time to waste. Social housing projects can get off the ground quickly – and they bring long-term benefits.
The fact is that one-off payments and tax cuts won’t help people out of poverty. And they won’t boost the economy. A jobseeker increase and social housing will do both.
NSW records no new locally acquired cases for fifth day as pressure mounts over border closures and budget speculation intensifies. Follow all today’s updates
In aviation news, the regional airline Rex has announced it will start flights between capital cities in 2021, as a competitor to Qantas and Virgin.
Rex has signed letters of intent to lease six Boeing 737 planes, which will fly between Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, AAP reports.
Hi all, it is Naaman Zhou here. Thanks as always to Amy Remeikis for her blog captaining today.
Pokies profits dropped sharply during the first wave of the pandemic, but are still in the billions, according to new figures released today and reported by AAP.
A man who had been deported to New Zealand, and who was in isolation at a government-run quarantine hotel, is under investigation by the police after he tied bed sheets together to escape the facility from a fourth floor window.
All travellers returning to the country – only New Zealanders and their families, plus others with special exemptions are allowed to pass through its borders – must spend two weeks in mandatory isolation, during which they are tested twice for Covid-19.
I am going to leave you in the very capable hands of Naaman Zhou for the rest of the afternoon shift.
There have been quite a few messages today – I am slowly working my way through them – but if you have anything else to say, or I missed you, you can contact me here and here.
Rebecca Cartwright tells anti-corruption watchdog she stored Daryl Maguire’s work computer in her parliament house office from 2018
A NSW government staffer didn’t reveal she was storing former Liberal MP Daryl Maguire’s parliamentary computer hard drive because it may have contained information that could implicate him, an inquiry has heard.
The government whip’s secretary, Rebecca Cartwright, on Wednesday told the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac) that she has been storing the hard drive in her parliament house office since 2018.
NSW premier implores John Barilaro to stick to agreement after he refused to rule out further threats to dismantle the Coalition
The New South Wales premier, Gladys Berejiklian, has made it clear she will not tolerate any further public posturing by the Nationals over koala habitat protections or new threats by the junior partner to leave the Coalition.
Liberal premier played key role in bid for Sydney Olympics and also helped thwart attack on Prince Charles
John Fahey, the former premier of New South Wales and federal finance minister, has died aged 75.
In a statement on Saturday morning, the NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian, paid tribute to Fahey and offered his family the option of a state funeral for the former premier.
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