Industrial science museum will not be closed and moved to Parramatta but will operate across both sites
The New South Wales government has made a U-turn on its decision to relocate Sydney’s Powerhouse museum, more than five years after the announcement was made.
The industrial science museum in inner-Sydney’s Ultimo will not be closed and moved to Parramatta, but will stay open and operate along with the new Powerhouse facility planned for western Sydney.
Continue reading...A summary of the major developments in the coronavirus outbreak across Australia
Good evening, here are the latest developments on the coronavirus pandemic in Australia. This is Josh Taylor and it’s Friday 3 July.
Continue reading...Residents of 10 postcodes in Melbourne’s north and west have been ordered to stay home from midnight tonight. Follow live
Scott Morrison was asked about Annastacia Palaszczuk’s comments about singling out Queensland on the Nine network this morning:
Well, I haven’t. There’s an election in Queensland, so I’m not surprised that the political rhetoric is amping up. Look, we’re keeping all of the country together to focus on this. I made similar comments about the changes in borders in South Australia yesterday. So, look, I think you can file that under a Queensland election.
Anthony Albanese was asked about Annastacia Palaszczuk’s comments yesterday, after she hit back on the border criticism (which included Scott Morrison) and said:
Well, look, I don’t believe that it’s appropriate, and I haven’t sought to politicise a response to the medical issues with regard to borders.
I’m not surprised that Annastacia Palaszczuk, who has shown tremendous leadership in Queensland, is frustrated at the comments of the Prime Minister given he has said time and time again it’s up to the states what happens.
NSW audit office blasts water conservation efforts and finds Sydney Water was two years too late in responding to recent drought
The New South Wales government has failed to investigate or implement water conservation measures for greater Sydney, leaving the city’s water supply vulnerable to the effects of population growth, drought and climate change, the state’s auditor has found.
The report by the NSW audit office also found Sydney Water was two years too late in increasing funding for water conservation in response to the recent drought.
Continue reading...Authorities ‘strongly discourage’ travel to and from six council areas that are home to most of the country’s new coronavirus cases. Follow live
Victoria has officially announced its new ministry.
Queensland has reported zero coronavirus cases overnight.
Thousands gather in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane to protest against Indigenous deaths in custody
The Sydney “Stop All Black Deaths in Custody” rally has been declared an authorised public assembly after a late decision by the court of appeal as thousands of protesters rallied in cities and towns across Australia to march against Indigenous deaths in custody and the killing of unarmed US man George Floyd.
The decision came minutes before the rally’s scheduled start at 3pm outside Town Hall on Saturday.
Continue reading...Planned protests at a time of social distancing draw criticism, including from Scott Morrison, as Melbourne school student tests positive. This blog is now closed
Thanks for staying with us. We’re going to leave for the today.
Before that, here are today’s main developments.
Speaking outside court, assistant commissioner Michael Willing has warned there will be a “significant” police presence at Saturday’s rally.
“Police will be out in numbers to enforce that decision,” Willing said.
Continue reading...Sarah Mitchell tells victims of teacher who allegedly preyed on Indigenous boys, she is ‘deeply sorry’ abuse occurred
The New South Wales education minister has apologised to victims of an alleged serial paedophile teacher who preyed on Indigenous boys for decades in the state’s west, saying she was “deeply sorry that those abuses occurred”.
A Guardian investigation last week revealed that since April 2018 the NSW government had quietly settled cases with more than a dozen men who were victims of Cletus O’Connor, a teacher, principal and school inspector who worked for the state education department for more than three decades.
Continue reading...Tourism operators and politicians are calling for Annastacia Palaszczuk to open the state’s border to domestic travellers. Follow live
Angus Taylor also spoke on the border closure issue while on the ABC:
Well, I think ultimately it’s a decision for Queensland but the advice coming in is very clear from the Chief Medical Officer and it’s clear what the New South Wales Premier has put her view as well.
What I want to see is opening up, getting things going again, jobs, investment and of course we have got to make sure all our policies are aligned with that at the federal level and we’d like to see states do the same and that includes our emissions policy which is all about strengthening the economy.
Speaking to the ABC a little earlier, Gladys Berejiklian says she did not think it was “logical at this stage to maintain those border closures for a prolonged period of time”.
She prefaced the comment with “that’s a matter for the Queensland premier and the Queensland government” before giving her opinion, so that might tell you how relations within national cabinet are starting to go.
New South Wales is in a position now where we’re really focused on jobs and the economy, and we’ll be able to get our industries up and running.
But for Australia to really move forward as a nation during this very difficult economic time as well as difficult health time, we do need our borders down, we do need to allow people to move between states, to live, to work, to see family.
Treasurer says in statement in lieu of the federal budget: ‘There is no money tree. What we borrow today we must repay in the future.’ Follow the latest news live
In what is becoming a common scene, there were long lines of international students waiting for donated meals today.
This footage was shot in Sydney where restaurants in Chinatown are offering free meals to students who have lost jobs and aren’t eligible for jobseeker or jobkeeper.
Quite incredible. A long line of international students in Sydney right now waiting for free food from a restaurant (line goes another 50m around the corner).
International students have been hard hit and aren't eligible for coronavirus stimulus payments. Many rely on free meals pic.twitter.com/eTDtRFU8Lw
Nathan Cleary, the Penrith Panther banned and fined by the NRL for being “untruthful” during the league’s investigation into his social distancing breach, has apologised.
“I’m obviously embarrassed with myself and I’m not happy with what I’ve done,” he told the club’s website. “I just to want to apologise for my actions. My actions were irresponsible, selfish and pretty stupid, to be honest.
Continue reading...Deputy CMO says there are ‘very serious risks’ from overcrowding as Victoria plans to lift lockdown rules and another Newmarch resident dies after testing negative. Follow all the latest news and updates, live
Labor’s foreign affairs spokeswoman, Penny Wong, says Australia’s relationship with China is “not in a great place”.
Speaking to ABC TV this afternoon, Wong said the relationship would benefit from “consistency and discipline and leadership” from the prime minister and foreign minister rather than backbencher-led commentary.
Some Coalition backbenchers, including George Christensen and Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, have been pushing for Australia to take a hard line in its relations with China. Wong also called on the government to provide detailed briefings to parliamentarians on how Australia is handling the China relationship:
I’ve said previously we need to think about the China relationship in 30-year terms, not in three-year terms. Unfortunately, there’s been a little too much from the Morrison government of a reflex to short-term domestic politics on this relationship and more broadly. And we would urge them to take a long-term position and a responsible position, and as much as possible a bipartisan position, when it comes to that relationship that’s in the national interests.
Cafes and restaurants in South Australia were open to sit-down customers today, for the first time in seven weeks. I say sit down, not sit-in, because customers have to dine alfresco. It’s limited to a maximum of 10 customers.
People will not be able to eat indoors at restaurants until June.
It won’t be worth it for many organisations. Some states have told us 10 indoor dining and the industry told us 10 wouldn’t be viable. Even 20 will make it very difficult, so we are trying to work through, with the industry, how we can get them back to being viable as quickly as possible. But we’ve got to do it in a safe way.
Continue reading...NSW police also say they asked to interview energy minister, but all questions were answered by his lawyers
New South Wales police says it found no evidence that the document Angus Taylor’s office used to attack City of Sydney lord mayor Clover Moore ever existed on the council’s website, casting renewed doubt on the minister’s explanation.
Taylor has repeatedly insisted that the false document he used to wrongly attack Moore for her travel-related emissions was downloaded from the council’s own website.
Continue reading...Reports emerge of fresh cruise ship transfers as state opposition calls for Brad Hazzard’s resignation over Ruby Princess
The New South Wales health minister, Brad Hazzard, has defended the role of health experts who allowed 2,700 passengers to disembark the Ruby Princess cruise ship and make their own way home, following reports that authorities knew about the widespread respiratory sickness on board.
NSW Health has confirmed it had been aware of 104 people with “acute respiratory infections” on the Ruby Princess. Leaked emails show the ship’s doctor told authorities on 18 March that people who had presented at the onboard medical clinic with flu-like symptoms had tested negative for influenza.
Continue reading...Maritime union said the requirement for ships to ‘self-declare’ illness was ‘woefully inadequate’ 50 days before Ruby Princess allowed to offload sick passengers in Sydney
The New South Wales Port Authority ignored warnings in January of the need for tighter biosecurity checks, the Maritime Union of Australia says.
In an email seen by Guardian Australia, MUA secretary Paul Garrett warned the NSW Port Authority chief executive, Philip Holliday, that ship captains could not be relied upon to self-disclose illnesses on board.
Continue reading...It will take a full inquiry to determine what really happened, but clearly Australia’s protocols for assessing disease risk were inadequate
There is nothing more unedifying than different levels of government finger-pointing during a crisis.
In the aftermath of the bushfires, there was sniping via the media as the prime minister’s office blamed the New South Wales premier, Gladys Berejiklian, for refusing offers of defence help.
Continue reading...Former NSW Labor MPs allegedly conspired over mining properties in Bylong Valley, near Mudgee
The federal opposition leader, Anthony Albanese, a former New South Wales premier, Morris Iemma, mining figures and public servants are expected to give evidence in the trial of former mining ministers Eddie Obeid and Ian Macdonald.
The former state Labor MPs – with Obeid’s son Moses, 50 – are being tried in the NSW supreme court over their alleged conspiracy to commit an offence between 2007 and 2009, when Macdonald was mineral resources minister and the Obeids owned land in coal country.
Continue reading...Victorian premier Daniel Andrews declares state of disaster for East Gippsland, urging people to flee bushfire zones, while Scott Morrison is abused by fire victims in Cobargo. Follow today’s live news and latest updates
Pity the poor #Australians, their country ablaze, and their rotten @ScottMorrisonMP saying, “This is not the time to talk about Climate Change. We have to grow our economy.” What an idiot. What good is an economy in an uninhabitable country? Lead, you fuckwit!!
Greg Mullins says he has never seen a bushfire situation this serious. He was in Batemans Bay on New Year’s Eve in charge of an RFS crew and, “I’m still shocked.”
This is what 29 other fire and emergency chiefs, former chiefs, and I, tried to warn the prime minister about back in April and May. And we weren’t listened to.
Continue reading...All of New South Wales, South Australia, large parts of Queensland, and northern Victoria were under a total fire ban on Thursday amid extreme weather
We will leave our live coverage of the bushfire crisis here for tonight.
This is what happened today:
What a difference a day makes. These photos are from Lithgow.
Yesterday:
At my place yesterday or thereabouts. #NSWfires pic.twitter.com/eGmWFHI9k3
At my place right now. #NSWfires pic.twitter.com/OWLqefZ05T
Continue reading...Gospers Mountain, Paddock Run and Little L Complex, Three Mile and Thompson Creek fires overlap, and there are now seven emergency warnings in NSW as fire conditions worsen along Australia’s New South Wales and Queensland coasts. This blog is now closed
We are going to wrap the live blog up here. As of almost 7.30pm AEDT there are still seven fires at emergency warning level across NSW.
They are:
Related: Australia fires: five blazes merge north of Sydney as conditions forecast to worsen
Some more photos from photographer Matthew Abbott out at Kulnura:
Continue reading...Exclusive: email from government directs attendees at conference on climate adaptation to stay quiet on bushfire-climate link
As bushfire conditions were declared “catastrophic” on Tuesday, New South Wales bureaucrats attending a conference on adaption to climate change were directed not discuss the link between climate change and bushfires.
Bureaucrats from the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment were sent an email soon after the AdaptNSW 2019 Forum began, causing consternation among some attendees who saw it as tantamount to gagging them.
Continue reading...