Victoria’s most infectious day in over a year; NSW records 1,281 cases, five deaths – as it happened

“Morrison seemed to grasp on Monday that a number of women were still angry. But the prime minister seemed to think the solution to the tempest was that he should be forgiven.”

Political editor Katharine Murphy on today’s National Summit on Women’s Safety.

Scott Morrison has travelled to Sydney and back to the ACT over the father’s day weekend. Morrison flew to Sydney on Saturday and returned on Monday morning with an exemption from ACT chief health officer, Kerryn Coleman.

ACT Health strongly advises residents against travelling into NSW and the ACT usually requires residents returning from NSW to undergo a two-week quarantine period, although Morrison and other federal parliamentarians are classed as essential workers and can apply for exemptions.

The ACT chief minister, Andrew Barr, was asked about the prime minister’s travel at the Covid briefing earlier today. Barr said:

I understand he may have travelled back to Sydney ... I’m sure he has abided by the requirements.

In July Labor queried whether Morrison was pushing the bounds of home quarantine at the Lodge, by holding outdoor press conferences there despite advice from Australia’s chief medical officer that anyone who attends his Canberra residence should be vaccinated against Covid-19 and take daily saliva tests.

Hi, this is Michael McGowan, back in the chair.

Incredibly distressing news here from our Indigenous affairs editor Lorena Allam, who reports that more than a thousand Aboriginal people in NSW now have Covid-19, with half of those cases in the west and far west of the state.

It comes after a 70-year-old woman from the small town of Enngonia who has been described as a “much loved elder” became the second Indigenous person to die from the virus during the outbreak.

Residents of rural New South Wales who have to self-isolate will be able to do so at NRMA Dubbo Holiday Park from today.

The holiday park will be used by NSW Health as “special health accommodation” for individuals, couples and families who may not be able to immediately return home to isolate because they live in a rural or remote area.

Residents will be provided all meals, internet access for school and work, and medical care as needed.

NRMA Parks and Resorts CEO Paul Davies said the organisation was pleased to become part of the western NSW effort against the pandemic.

“NRMA has a long history of be helping out in a crisis and we are pleased to be able to offer a well-suited option for people needing to safely isolate while we are unable to accommodate regular guests,” Mr Davies said.

There’s also been some good news out of Victoria today with this in from the AAP:

There has been a booking frenzy among Victorian year 12 students and teachers ahead of a priority Covid-19 vaccination blitz.

Victoria wants to get all year 12 students vaccinated with at least one dose before their final exams through a 10-day priority access scheme beginning on Tuesday.

Pfizer bookings opened for year 12 students, teachers, exam supervisors and assessors on Monday, with a dedicated hotline fielding 30,000 calls across the morning.

Hi all, this is Royce Kurmelovs, I’m stepping in for the next 45 minutes to give Michael a break.

As I get situated here, I note Senator Matt Canavan is currently doing an interview on ABC news where he said he opposed mandatory vaccines for bus workers. I haven’t been following it closely, but if you want a sense of tone, I caught words like “medical apartheid” and the “laptop class” sprinkled in.

Sorry to all of my single friends.

The minister for women’s economic security Jane Hume is speaking on the ABC following the national summit on women’s violence today.

She’s asked why the federal government has only implemented six of the recommendations of the Respect@Work report, after Scott Morrison previously said the government would implement all of them. She says:

Well, that’s important. I’m very glad you asked this. It’s really important to clear up. Of the 55 recommendations, not all were directed to government, some were directed to state governments and some were directed to businesses. Of the 15 that were to government, there were a number that were legislated last week and they’re really about strengthening the framework around sexual harassment and sexual violence, which is really important to do. There are some recommendations that are more complex and more work is required on those and more work is currently being done. They’ve taken on them immediately. The others should be directed to business. There’s some that didn’t require legislative change, things like the Respect@Work council, that’s something we’ve already implemented. This is one part of the puzzle.

Host Patricia Karvelas asks about the recommendation for 10 days’ domestic or family violence leave, which the government hasn’t yet supported. Hume says it is “not a policy that’s without implications, both for business and for individuals”.

“It’s quite a complex decision. It sounds easy, but it in fact is complex. There are implications,” Hume says.

Karvelas asks whether the main complication is that it will cost business money, which Hume agrees with. She suggests it could lead to people hiring fewer women, which Karvelas points out is illegal.

There’s a bit of pushback around today about the appointment of Murdoch University legal academic Lorraine Finlay to the Australian Human Rights Commission by attorney general Michaelia Cash.

Crikey has written an excellent report detailing Finlay’s Liberal links – including that she was a former upper house candidate in Western Australia and president of the state’s Liberal women’s council.

In 2017, the Institute of Public Affairs publicly spruiked for Finlay to be appointed to the AHRC. She shares the IPA’s views on abolishing section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act, which prohibits speech that offends, insults or humiliates a person based on their race; and also opposes Indigenous constitutional recognition on the basis the constitution should make no distinctions based on race.

Most of the criticism is not the substance of Finlay’s views – but rather the fact the AHRC vacancy created by Ed Santow leaving the commission was not advertised.

Human Rights Law Centre executive director Hugh de Kretser, said:

Fair, open and merit-based selection processes for commissioner positions are critical in ensuring the commission’s independence and effectiveness. Instead, it appears that this is a hand-picked appointment that goes completely against best-practice processes. We don’t prejudge Ms Finlay’s contribution to the commission. The issue is how Senator Cash came to the conclusion that she is the best person for the job.

Before her appointment as human rights commissioner, Finlay was a senior human trafficking specialist with the Australian Mission to ASEAN and a state prosecutor at the WA Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Back to superintendent Tracy Chapman, she’s asked about some reports that CCTV footage on the property has been damaged. She says that will form part of the ongoing police investigation.

“No, I don’t understand what has happened with some footage [but that will form] part of our subsequent inquiries”.

And that’s all from the press conference.

Gerry Pyke from NSW Ambulance says Anthony Elfalak’s conditions was “quite remarkable actually”. Calls him “a survivor” and says he had some cuts and a nappy rash.

He’s been taken to Maitland Hospital for observations and to check for infection given it’s possible he has been drinking contaminated water from the creek bed. Pyke says his “spirits are high” and that he’s been eating banana and some pizza in hospital.

“He persevered, he had a will to survive,” Pyke says.

A SES member who was nearby was the first to get to Anthony Elfalak after he was spotted by the helicopter.

SES chief inspector Simon Merrick says the SES member found him kneeling in a riverbed. Anthony gave him a “massive smile”.

The SES member was able to walk to him and put his hand on his shoulder. He turned to him with a massive smile on his face that he will not forget.

She says the “assumption” is that Anthony ‘AJ’ Elfalak was in the bush on the property for the entire three days. There are some questions about searches at other properties nearby, and Chapman says that was because a local community member had heard “sounds and noise that person felt may have been a child crying or screaming and we investigated that”.

She says police will continue to investigate “to understand what has occurred over the past three days ... how it came to be [and] what occurred during the course of those three days”.

“I know everyone has lots of questions,” she says.

Interesting information for the residents of western Sydney.

Over to the Senate hearing into media diversity, where the Australian Communications and Media Authority are showing their worth.

Cheng Lei, the Australian journalist detained in China for more than a year, has thanked supporters for reminding her that she’s “not alone”.

Friends, former colleagues and other media industry figures were among 60 people to sign a statement of support for Cheng, published on 13 August, the first anniversary of her detention in China on national security grounds.

Cheng, an Australian citizen who was business anchor for the state-owned China Global Television Network (CGTN), was told about the letter of support at her most recent visit by Australian consular officials, and is said to have become visibly emotional. The following message was taken down by consular officials:

“It means so much that I’m not alone and that I’m remembered and thought about. The appreciation I feel is too big to put into words.”

Gareth Ward, a former Liberal party minister now on the crossbench, raising concerns about the functionality of NSW QR codes.

Meanwhile in Victoria, several outlets are reporting that there will be a leadership spill in the opposition Liberal party tomorrow morning.

The chief of the Australian defence force says he was surprised by the speed of Afghanistan’s collapse to the Taliban – but it was accelerated by “some interesting force deployment choices”.

General Angus Campbell made the comments amid intense discussions in the UK and the US about intelligence failures over the speed of the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban, which culminated in the Islamic fundamentalist militants taking the capital city on 15 August.

Daniel Hurst has the full story:

This is very cool. An interactive that lets you search NSW Covid vaccination rates by suburb. Mine is not very good! (20% - 29% fully vaccinated).

The ministers for women from all of the Labor states and territories (so, Victoria, Western Australia, Queensland, the ACT and the Northern Territory) have released this statement following the Women’s Safety Summit today. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it seems to be directing blame towards the federal government.

The statement calls for a number of short-term commitments from the commonwealth including more investment in housing for women escaping violence, more funding for legal services for victim-survivors and “action to support women on temporary visas who are fleeing violence”.

The Women’s Safety Summit represents an opportunity for all governments and decision makers to listen to victim-survivors and their advocates. State and territory governments are committed to playing our part in working to address family, domestic and sexual violence.

For years the commonwealth’s contribution to national gendered violence efforts has fallen short of what is needed to address the scale of the problem. It is time for the commonwealth to step up to its responsibility, and act on the issues that are within its capacity to change.

The father of Anthony “AJ” Elfalak – also named Anthony – is speaking to reporters now. He says his son has been taken to Singleton hospital to be assessed.

He has been bitten by ants and he has fallen over but he is alive. He is alive. It’s amazing. My leg, my hips, my ankles, I can’t walk. I have been in the bush for four days with no sleep. We didn’t stop.

He says AJ was found near a creek drinking water.

He was all wet and he was drinking water. The creek is probably 500m [from the house]. We have searched that area head to toe, SES, police the first day it happened, I went around with the police, I don’t know. It’s a miracle.

He’s just clinging to [his] mum. As soon as he heard his mum he opened his eyes and looked at [her] and fell asleep.

This piece, written by a Melbourne ICU clinical assistant, puts the experiences of our frontline health workers during this pandemic into sharp relief.

There is no pandemic loading on our pay, no bonus, no official recognition – the only form of reward seems to be an influx of sweet buns and packaged hospital food being made available. Is it possible to imagine, in any other industry, having equivalent types of stress suddenly put on you without any consequent remuneration?

Some remarkable scenes here. The family of Anthony “AJ” Elfalak react to the news he’s been found safe and well on their property near Singleton in the NSW Hunter Valley.

Prime minister Scott Morrison made a (remote) speech to the National Women’s Safety Summit earlier today. Here’s some of what he had to say:

We need to change behaviours and attitudes so that we stop violence before it starts. Our country must become a place where every woman feels safe and can live free of fear. That’s what freedom is. That’s every woman’s right. But it’s far from every woman’s reality, as we know. Right now, too many Australian women do not feel safe, and too often, they are not safe. And that is not OK. There is no excuse and sorry doesn’t cut it. They are not safe at home. They are not safe at work. In broad daylight, you are not safe. In public space, you are not safe. You are not safe. Here in this place, even this place, where I speak to you from today, you are not always safe. And what started as a conversation about longstanding and serious failings in this very workplace, in this Parliament House, turned into a conversation necessarily about women’s experiences everywhere. It’s not a new problem and it’s not a simple problem. But Australia does have a problem.

Victoria’s Covid response commander Jeroen Weimar has dismissed suggestions that contact tracing is falling behind in Victoria.

He says every positive case is “interviewed and engaged with, within 24 hours”.

We do our best to get as hold of as many primary close contacts as we can and to make sure they isolate.

He says all the national and state metrics for contact tracing “continue to be green”, meaning they are hitting their KPIs for contacting people in set time frames.

With significant community transmission in those northern and western suburbs in particular, the number of people in isolation becomes an increasingly less important metric because actually we’re dealing with significantly large groups of households, significant transmission in public settings and an increasing number of people who are active in the community whilst they’re infectious.

Weimar said they are now dealing with pandemic fatigue, which is making people less vigilant.

I think everyone in Victoria has had enough of this entire discussion. Everyone in Victoria wants this to be over.

We’re absolutely seeing people saying: it’s just too hard, I can’t do this anymore. And we’re seeing small breaches here and there of all those rules that have held us back [from high Covid numbers] for so long … We are battling fatigue and frustration at this same time. This is collectively within our ability to slow down and to control. Whilst that vaccination program drives on, the small breaches will continue to spread the virus and we’ll spread beyond the inner northern and western suburbs. The consequence of that [will be] far larger numbers of people being positive, far larger numbers of people going to hospital, and far larger numbers of people ending up in intensive care and in a really bad place.

Good afternoon, let’s get straight into it.

The ACT’s chief minister Andrew Barr says there are 11 people hospitalised with Covid-19, but only one person in intensive care. That person is on ventilation.

Barr says he’s concerned that there is “still a proportion of the community who are delaying getting tested when they’re developing symptoms”.

They’re waiting a day or two. This is one of the major reasons why there are still cases infectious in the community. So, if you have any symptoms, please come forward for testing.

With that, I shall pass you over to the truly amazing Michael McGowan who will take you through the afternoon!

See you bright and early tomorrow!

Victorian press conference:

Victorian health minister Martin Foley said the first of the 4m Pfizer doses from the UK are arriving this week.

One flight has arrived, but over coming days and weeks, they go through a batch processing check with the TGA at the commonwealth level. We’re hopeful they will be landing in Victoria and into arms both through our GPs and our state run clinics by the end of this week.

Foley said the priority booking line for year 12 students this morning had been “extremely busy” with an “extremely enthusiastic group of year 12 and year 11s”.

Please hang in there. There’s heaps of resources going in to make sure that targeted group of somewhere between 50,000-67,000 young people can get booked and get the certainty they’re looking for.

Victoria’s Covid testing commander Jeroen Weimar said there were 30,000 calls to the dedicated vaccine booking line for year 12 students between 8am and 11am today.

He said:

Can I just assure every VCE student, I’ve got one at home myself, there’s a dose set aside for you.

If you’re a year 11 student taking a VCE subject, you can phone from Wednesday. We’re trying to get the year 12s booked in. But you can book in today, tomorrow, Wednesday, as a year 12 student. There’s no frantic rush. The doses are set aside for you. Everyone who wants to get it done can get it done.

Victorian Liberals update!

Yet to be independently confirmed by Guardian Australia, but other media are reporting that missing three-year-old AJ was spotted from the air near the family property in thick bushland scrub.

Victorian press conference:

Half of the new cases reported in Victoria on Monday were reported in the northern suburbs, Victoria’s Covid response commander Jeroen Weimar said.

Of the 246 cases, 126 are in the northern suburbs, 71 are in the western suburbs, 21 are in the southeast, nine are in the inner city and inner south, and eight are in the eastern suburbs.

There were also two cases in the Mornington Peninsula, identified and isolating close contacts of another case elsewhere in the city; one case in Greater Geelong who was isolating as a known close contact of another case, and four more in Shepparton that were again identified close contacts.

Weimar said:

We’re continuing to see significant household transmission particularly in our northern and western suburbs. We’re also seeing a number of small community businesses with very high levels of positive cases both amongst their customer base and amongst staff.

He said cases are also spreading among essential workers, including construction, with 81 active cases linked to a construction site at Box Hill.

If essential workers aren’t on top of their symptoms, are not out getting vaccinated and not testing regularly, that presents a significant risk in terms of onward transmission.

Among the positive cases reported today are a woman who works at a Covid testing site on Hampstead Road in Maidstone. She was partially vaccinated and contracted the virus in the community not at work, Weimar says.

The testing station is closed today for deep cleaning and to test other staff working at the centre.

Weimar said there are also two separate instances of Victorian truck drivers who have tested positive and are believed to have acquired the virus NSW, not in Victoria.

It’s genetically different to the strain currently circulating in Victoria, he says.

We believe both have acquired their infection interstate, in NSW, as a part of their normal work duties.

He thanked the truck drivers for testing as soon as they experienced symptoms and for isolating early.

The Mooroopna truck driver has passed the virus on to one person in their household, who was also isolating.

Back to the NSW press conference and NSW Health’s Dr Nhi Nguyen is being asked about regional hospital capacity.

Reporter:

Do we have a breakdown of how many of the 1,550 surge capacity beds are beds in major regional hospitals? And what the contingency plan is for transfer to the city?

Nguyen:

That’s a good point. We talk about a whole-state capacity. But the work behind that has been at the hospital level and how many beds they can ramp up.

As you would imagine, we know that the ability for Broken Hill to ramp up quadruple capacity is not possible. Alright? So, we know that. We appreciate it. We talk to our clinicians. So, there is a breakdown, but it’s a combination of they may have a lot of operating theatres that they can move into and make into an intensive care, but as we say, it’s limited by staff. Alright?

So, in regards to contingency plans, we have aeromedical services, extra helicopters and planes and teams out over in western New South Wales.

Victorian press conference:

Victoria has announced a rent relief package for people who are paying more than 30% of their income in rent, and have lost at least 20% of their income due to the pandemic.

It’s a one-off payment of $1,500.

Which, if you are paying 30% of your income in rent and have lost at least 20% of your income, is not a lot.

Victoria’s housing minister, Richard Wynne, announced the package at Monday’s press conference.

He said:

We’re also asking the landlords, as they did last year, to show a level of compassion to people who find themselves in sometimes very, very desperate circumstances, unable to work – they have lost their hours. And we think that this is an important initiative, a targeted initiative that is actually going to make a significant difference to people’s lives because we absolutely understand just how critical it is that particularly those who are vulnerable have safe, affordable and secure housing in the private rental market.

Victoria also extended its homelessness program until 30 June next year.

To date, 1,100 people have been moved from hotels into longer term secure housing, but there are still 1,600 people living in hotels, Wynne said.

I usually would wait a little longer for confirmation to post this, but given it was mentioned on live TV at the presser it’s worth adressing.

Nine news says they have “unconfirmed reports” that the missing three-year-old child in the Hunter region of NSW has been found alive on the family’s property.

This obviously has not been independently confirmed by Guardian Australia.

Here is prominent sexual assault survivor advocate Saxon Mullins’ reaction to the prime minister’s keynote address at the national woman’s summit.

Some potential breaking news coming through. The premier has been asked about reports that the missing three-year-old, AJ, in the Hunter region of NSW has been found alive.

Reporter:

Premier, can I just ask you a question?... My information is that the child has been found alive up at Putty at the moment. If that’s the case, your reaction to it?

Berejiklian:

Oh, look, I’m sorry, I don’t know if that’s the case, but if it is, I would be absolutely delighted.

I mean, I think all of us have been crossing everything to make sure AJ is brought back safely.

And if that’s the case, it’s a much-needed good news in otherwise difficult circumstances.

Reporter:

Based on the modelling, it looks like it’s a couple of weeks after that we reach these peaks to when we reach 70%. Can you guarantee those changes for freedoms are still going to occur at 70%, even though we won’t have peaked?

Berejiklian:

Yeah, absolutely.

And the reason why it’s really important for us to get this information available to all of our citizens is that the biggest determinant of whether someone ends up in hospital or not...is whether they have been fully vaccinated.

Reporter:

Is this [modelling] based on New South Wales still being closed? So pubs and clubs and restaurants and things being closed? Or does it take into account the fact that we are going to open up, so that on 1 November we’re going to have some things open?

Berejiklian:

Yeah, but obviously when we do open about 70% double dose, anyone who interacts with each other will be completely vaccinated.

So that massively reduces the chance of anybody acquiring hospitalisation. So what you have in front of you is what we best anticipate will occur, but that is why the Doherty modelling, the plan that the national plan is based on, the modelling, the research the national plan is based on assumes, which is the case, that higher rates of vaccination prevent people from coming into hospital...

You will note that it is very rare for somebody with no underlying conditions, with double dose vaccination, to end up in ICU. It does happen occasionally but it is extremely rare.

Here is that data, in case you are interested.

Berejiklian has been questioned over this modelling, which appears to have been produced on 25 August, based on data from 23 August, two weeks ago.

The best modelling I received last Friday is an indication of what the numbers, the projections are likely to be. So what you have in front of you is the best and most recent advice I received on Thursday and Friday last week.

I am just telling you that I asked for the up-to-date modelling last Thursday and Friday, so I could relay it to the public.

We are hearing a lot about the intensive care system in NSW at the press conference now, but the long and short of it is, “it’s a challenge, it will be hard, but we are ready for it”.

NSW Health’s Susan Pearce:

What we are experiencing now is not normal for our community, it is not normal for our hospital system, but we will get through this as the wonderful health system that we are, and that we have always demonstrated we are for our community.

My message is to reassure the community that anyone who requires ICU care during this period will get it, and it will be continued to be delivered by exceptional staff who are out there working every day...

At least 90% of people with Covid are cared for in the community and that is also a very important reminder.

Barilaro:

Can I put a call out to the people in the community of Narrabri and Wee Waa. That had one of the lowest vaccination coverage over the weekend, and we set up walk-in clinics over two days.

Almost 1,000 people were vaccinated and that is an unbelievable result for the communities of Narrabri and Wee Waa. We are still there today and I call out to everybody to get vaccinated. Vaccination is the key to protect regional and rural communities from these outbreaks, more importantly about our path into the future.

Here is the NSW deputy premier John Barilaro with the regional update:

In western New South Wales...there were 44 cases, 35 cases were in the Dubbo local government area, six cases in Burke, two in Orange and one in Narromine.

Seven cases overnight in the far west, six in Broken Hill and one in Wilcannia. Southern New South Wales has seen an increase in cases as well, three cases in the Queanbeyan area, two cases in Goulburn, and we have been notified of an additional two cases and 8pm last night, one Cooma and one in Batemans Bay.

Five new cases in the Hunter New England area, one in Port Stephens, one in Maitland and three are from the lake Macquarie local government area.

The Illawarra Shoalhaven area is starting to be an area of concern, nine cases, 21 cases all up, nine in the Wollongong area, eight cases in the Shoalhaven local government area and four cases in the Shellharbour local government area.

And again, eight new cases on the Central Coast.

It’s worth noting that NSW vaccination levels seemed to have dipped significantly from last week.

Last Monday the number of doses administered was around 49,000, today they are just under 32,000.

Just back to the prime minister’s speech, here is Australian of the Year Grace Tame’s response.

Berejiklian is reassuring the NSW public that the state’s ICU surge capacity can handle the current outbreak.

Dr Chant will outline that we have 177 patients in our intensive care units with Covid. At any given time in our hospital system, there would be around 400 people with non-Covid related issues in ICU.

And so our surge capacity including staff in our intensive care units is 1,550. Just to give people that reassurance.

We certainly don’t want to have to use of all those beds and staff, because we know what pressure it will put on the system but we want everybody to be reassured that the capacity is there.

Berejiklian:

Last week I received modelling on when our health experts think the peak will hit in terms of the number of cases, what ICU requirements might be and what the number of people in hospital might be.

And I am pleased to say that today we will be making all of that public, but I do want to qualify a lot of that to say that modelling depends on a number of things, a number of variables. If too many of us do the wrong thing, there are too many super spreading events, we could see those numbers be what they are.

Five people have also died due to Covid-19 in NSW.

Here is former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins response to the prime minister’s keynote address at the national women’s summit.

If you or someone you know is experiencing violence you can get assistance by calling the national help line 1800Respect.

In Australia, mental health support is also available at Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636, Lifeline on 13 11 14, and at MensLine on 1300 789 978. In the UK, the charity Mind is available on 0300 123 3393 and ChildLine on 0800 1111. In the US, Mental Health America is available on 800-273-8255.

Morrison is wrapping up now:

So, over these two days and, indeed, the roundtables before, we want to hear from you, your perspectives. I want to hear from you, your perspectives, your ideas, your wisdom, for how we go forward on this together because with your help we can create the national plan that sets a course for a country and a culture of Australians that knows not violence in the future, one that honours respect – that is our task.

By the way, NSW’s press conference will be held at 11am as normal.

Victoria will follow at 11.15am.

Some more reactions from the summit’s Twitter hashtag (it’s pretty unanimously negative about Scott Morrison’s speech over there).

Morrison is now discussing what his government is doing to help prevent sexual assault and harassment in Australia.

In March, senator Payne and I launched the cabinet women’s taskforce with which we co-chair and which has women’s safety and economic security at its very heart. In April we responded to the Respect@Work report and last week we passed legislation to implement our response to that report. More than $64m was committed in the 21-22 budget to support the implementation of the roadmap including additional legal assistance for specialist lawyers and workplace and discrimination law expertise...

Our response to the Respect@Work inquiry led by sex discrimination commissioner Kate Jenkins is about creating a new culture of respect and Australian workplaces. It is based on values we all believe in that unite us. Respect, dignity, choice, equality of opportunity and justice. Preventing and addressing sexual harassment in the workplace is central to boosting women’s economic participation.

But in turn, a lot of people are pointing to this headline from last week.

Morrison’s speech is already copping criticism online.

Jumping back to Covid for a second.

Box Hill hospital in Victoria was listed as a tier 1 exposure site on Sunday by the department of health and human services, before being removed from the list altogether later that day. A reader contacted Guardian Australia to ask why the site was removed.

The time of concern was between 5.30pm and 9.30pm on 3 September, in the emergency ward.

Guardian Australia asked the hospital why the exposure site is no longer listed, and a hospital spokesman said:

The Covid positive case that attended the Box Hill hospital was managed in the appropriate areas and under appropriate precautions.

As such, it was identified that no significant exposure has occurred and the site was removed from the list.

Morrison goes on to describe some of the letters he has received from women this year.

Through all the letters and emails, I felt that rage. The dread and the frustration that our culture is not changing.

And there was something more. It was quieter. There was fatigue. One letter explained. ‘I’m exhausted just thinking about these things, I’m exhausted making what is now automatic adjustments to my behaviour. I’m exhausted having to try to explain why I’m exhausted. I’m so sick and tired of being scared,’ she said.

Something I have been pondering even more after reading these letters is this. In various ways, we have become a more tolerant and enlightened society over recent decades, that is true. And yet Australian women still don’t feel safe, and indeed they are not safe.

Every day they are forced to change their own behaviours because men won’t, holding their keys like a weapon. Going for their run before it gets dark. Having to say to their friends, message me when you get home, ignoring a new window and putting up with the boys clubs.

The foundation of respect for women in Australian society is not what it should be. All of us, but Australian men in particular carry both private obligations and public duties to build those foundations every day. And so to all who wrote to me, again, I’d say thank you.

Scott Morrison has touched on why we are having this summit in the first place, as a response to allegations and criticisms of the behaviour from within Parliament House and within the Liberal and Labor party ranks:

We need to change behaviours and attitudes so that we stop violence before it starts. Our country must become a place where every woman feels safe and can live free of fear. That’s what freedom is. That is every woman’s right. But it is far from every woman’s reality as we know.

Right now, too many Australian women do not feel safe and too often, they are not safe and that is not OK. There is no excuse, and sorry doesn’t cut it. They are not safe at home. They are not safe at work. In broad daylight, you are not safe. In public space, you are not safe. You are not safe.

Here in this place, even this place where I’d speak to you from today, are not always safe, and what started as a conversation about long-standing and serious failings in this very workplace, in this Parliament House*, turned into a conversation, necessarily, about women’s experience everywhere. It is not a new problem and it is not a simple problem. But Australia does have a problem.

*A reminder that the subject of some of these allegations (which have have been denied) still sit in Morrison’s Liberal government, even in his cabinet.

Scott Morrison:

This summit is a gathering of Australians from different backgrounds and experiences lived. It is a place for sharing, it is a forum for listening. It is a platform for change.

Your stories, your expertise, your experiences are critical to the next national plan. A national plan that seeks to end violence against women and their children, a national plan that builds on the outstanding work of my predecessor prime minister Gillard who set us on this course more than a decade ago. A bipartisan course, I’d go further, an anti-partisan course that has taken us through the last 10 years and establishes the platform for us to go further. It is a big goal that we share and it is a shared goal to end violence against women and their children.

Prime minister Scott Morrison is speaking at the national women’s summit now.

A child was one of the cases in the Queensland cluster, requiring 900 families associated with the child’s school to go into isolation.

Chief health officer Jeanette Young says almost all close and casual contacts have tested negative, but two testing holdouts mean it isn’t safe to release the school’s population out of quarantine.

We’re just working with the last two children, two young girls who, at this stage, their family does not want them to be tested. So we’re just working through with the family until we get those results.

Unfortunately, those 900 families will need to remain in quarantine until we get those results...

If [the two girls] get tested and they test negative, they, of course, will have to stay in quarantine because they were at the childcare centre, but it means all those other families who go to the Windaroo State School will be able to be released from quarantine, but not yet.

Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says “the risk is decreasing” from a small Covid-19 cluster associated with an infected truck driver, confirming the state will not go into lockdown.

Dr Young will talk to you about the situation of the Beenleigh cluster, but the risk is decreasing which is good news.

I know a lot of people were coming up to me on the weekend, concerned about whether or not we were going into a lockdown, but we have less risk now that is easing and Dr Young will go through that.

So, another reminder again – use that check-in app. Remember, we had the issue at the nail salon where people were not using the check-in app, and I will remind business owners again: please, make sure people are checking in before they come and use your services.

We are just standing by for the Queensland Covid-19 update now.

I mentioned Scott Morrison was speaking this morning (at 10.15am) but I didn’t mention why.

Well, the prime minister will be kicking off the two-day online national woman’s summit, which will canvass topics including preventing and responding to violence, the specific needs of Indigenous women and financial independence – will be used to inform a new national plan on women’s safety.

Check out Daniel Hurst’s post from earlier this morning for all the details.

Google executives Lucinda Longcroft and Samantha Yorke are the first witnesses at today’s media diversity inquiry which is examining YouTube’s suspension of Sky News Australia for a week for breaching its Covid-19 misinformation policy.

Longcroft told committee chair Sarah Hanson-Young a total of 23 Sky News videos were removed, the majority due to the violation of Covid-19 and two were removed due to violations of the platform’s election integrity policy.

Google is proud to be one of the first signatories to the Australian Code of Practice on misinformation and disinformation and we continue to take additional steps to reduce the spread and the visibility of harmful misinformation...

Over the course of the last 18 months we’ve worked with, and relied on information from health authorities from around the world to combat false and harmful claims and getting certain treatments and public health issues, as well as basic information about Covid-19 vaccines.

Sky News Australia chief executive Paul Whittaker will give evidence later, followed by former prime minister Kevin Rudd.

In case you were wondering how the Victorian Liberals’ leadership spill was going:

Looks like we will also be hearing from Queensland at 10am (AEST). I’ll try to bring you updates from both Palaszczuk and the prime minister.

Indigenous affairs minister Ken Wyatt and the head of the national peak body for Aboriginal medical services, Pat Turner, have met with religious leaders to encourage them to counter misinformation about coronavirus vaccines that have been spread by fringe Christian groups in remote communities.

Guardian Australia has reported on how misinformation spread by Christian groups is driving vaccine hesitancy in remote areas. The head of the Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Service in WA told us last week that people were being told “you don’t need to have the vaccine because God’s going to save you”. WA senator Pat Dodson, who is also based in the Kimberley, said such messages were “as evil as the evil that they purport to be defending people from”.

Wyatt said the meeting he hosted on Friday was about getting “advice” from religious leaders “on how to talk in a way that is respectful of people’s beliefs while keeping people safe from serious illness and death”. They will meet again this week to finalise the messaging for an anti-misinformation campaign.

Wyatt said:

Indigenous vaccination rates are increasing but I remain very concerned about reports that vaccines are being rejected as a result of conspiracies and misinformation stoking fear and doubt.

Our spiritual leaders will be crucial in ensuring positive messages succeed. To that end, uniting faith-based and medical messaging will be key to stamping out the dangerous rhetoric and boost vaccine uptake in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

Turner, the CEO of Naccho, said Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities should be aiming for 100% vaccination rates, which would be “very challenging in the face of this dangerous misinformation”.

She said:

Social media might be the vehicle for anti-vax messaging in urban areas, but in regional and remote areas, word-of-mouth is also incredibly powerful, which is why positive messaging straight from our pastors will be key.

A senior UN official has warned the climate crisis will “wreak havoc” across the Australian economy if coal is not rapidly phased out, and joined those explicitly calling for the Morrison government to adopt more ambitious emissions reduction goals.

In a pre-recorded speech to an Australian National University forum to be held on Monday, Selwin Hart, the UN’s assistant secretary general for climate action and special advisor to the secretary general, reiterated calls for OECD countries such as Australia to stop using coal by 2030.

Hart, a former top diplomat and climate official for Barbados, highlighted the extent to which the Morrison government has become isolated by resisting calls to set a net zero greenhouse gas emissions target for 2050, but said greater action this decade was just as important.

You can read the full report below:

A heads-up: the prime minister is expected to give a keynote address about 10am (AEST).

We’ll bring you the updates here.

Oooft, you can really see that jump up in Victorian cases on the Guardian’s Covid-19 graph.

We should be hearing more from Queensland at their press conference sometime this morning. I’ll bring you all the updates as soon as they step up.

Speaking of Queensland, their health department still trying to track down five to eight people who were in a nail salon at Beenleigh with a known Covid-19 case, a 46-year-old truck driver, last Monday.

Chief health officer Jeannette Young said the people didn’t use the government’s check-in app and may still be in the community while infectious, reports Marty Silk from AAP.

So I’m very worried that there are a lot more people who went and attended last Monday morning and we need to get hold of you,” she told reporters on Sunday.

So we’re using the check-in data that we’ve got, but it’s not enough.

Another close contact of the truck driver was recorded as a locally acquired case on Sunday.

She is the mother of a four-year-old girl, who also caught the virus from the truckie, and was in-home quarantine when she tested positive.

Queensland has placed more than 1,000 families in home quarantine after they may have been exposed to the girl at a primary school and a daycare centre in the Beenleigh area.

And speaking of Victorian disasters:

For reference, that daily total of 246 local Covid-19 cases is the most infectious day Victoria has had in over a year, and by far the worst day so far in the current Delta outbreak.

Now the wait is on for the Victorian Covid-19 numbers. Oooh, I forgot how suspenseful the 8.45-9am hour is.

Blue-tongue lizards have developed a resistance to the venom of the red-bellied black snake, according to new research.

The largest animals in the skink family, blue-tongues seem to have evolved a chemical resistance to the snake venom, while carnivorous monitor lizards – goannas – that feed on Australia’s venomous snakes have not.

Researchers at the University of Queensland have analysed the effects of seven snake venoms on the blood of two species of blue-tongues – the common blue-tongued skink and the shingleback – and three goanna species, all of which would interact with these snakes in the wild.

In a study published in the journal Toxins, they found the blue-tongues seemed to have evolved a specific blood component – a serum factor – that prevents their blood from clotting when exposed to red-bellied black snake venom.

You can read the full, delightful, report below:

OK, let’s talk about the hot mess that is the Victorian Liberal party!

Basically, the Age and Herald Sun have both led their papers today with news that former state Liberal leader Matthew Guy (you might remember him from such hits as “lobster with the mobster” and “losing the last election in a landslide”) is putting out feelers hoping to gain support for a coup, hoping to oust current leader Michael O’Brien.

Well, as is customary when a leadership spill is on the way, everyone is denying it.

Federal assistant treasurer, Michael Sukkar, who is from Melbourne, was asked about the drama going on in the state factions while speaking to ABC News Breakfast.

Host Michael Rowland:

Do you have confidence in state leader Michael O’Brien?

Sukkar:

I’m not going to engage. These are all matters for the ...

Rowland:

You must have a view. You’re engaged in the Victorian Liberal party. Should he have the right to contest the next election?

Sukkar:

I’m not going to engage. These are all matters for the state parliament.

Rowland:

You don’t have a view on Michael O’Brien at all?

Sukkar:

I’m not going to share any views on the state parliamentary party with you. These are matters for the state parliamentary party.

Rowland:

Michael Sukkar, thanks for joining us this morning.

Host Lisa Millar to Rowland:

That’s called dodging the question, Michael.

Here is that full chat with lieutenant general John Frewen in case you were interested.

To be clear, premiers being “locked in” to the national plan doesn’t actually mean anything by the way, given that states have control over their borders and health order.

Western Australia and Tasmania have already started talking about wanting double vaccination rates of 90% to open up; Queensland seems like they might even want more.

So you know take what the deputy premier has to say with a grain* of salt.

*Maybe a few grains. A small pinch.

Even as the Taliban swept across Afghanistan, overrunning cities and ultimately seizing the capital, the Australian government was telling some Afghan asylum seekers they should leave Australia and return to a country plunging back into civil war.

As late as 28 July this year, with the Taliban brutally ascendant across Afghanistan and days from capturing the capital Kabul, Afghan nationals were told by the Department of Home Affairs they were “expected to depart Australia”.

After the subsequent rapid fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban, the Australian government announced “no Afghan visa holder currently in Australia will be asked to return to Afghanistan while the security situation there remains dire”.

You can read the full report below:

Universities have begun a new national survey to collect data “on the scale and nature” of sexual assault and sexual harassment on Australian campuses.

Universities Australia, the peak body, says the 2021 National Student Safety Survey “deploys today across Australian universities as a crucial step in preventing sexual violence and supporting those who have experienced it in their communities”.

The survey, to be conducted online by the Social Research Centre in partnership with violence prevention expert Dr Anastasia Powell of RMIT University, will run until 3 October.

It will randomly sample students from universities across the sector, with up to 10,000 students asked to participate from each university, depending on its size, according to a statement issued by Universities Australia today. It will also allow all current and recent university students enrolled in the past five years to share their story anonymously online.

The chief executive of Universities Australia, Catriona Jackson, said any incident of sexual violence that occurred inside or outside of Australia’s university communities was “one too many”.

Our universities recognise their responsibility and are determined to build on their commitment to prevent sexual violence and support those who have experienced it.

A little more from Frewen:

Look, I think that the waiting times are very different around the nation. In some places, the waiting times are already pretty good. But I think now with these amounts of supply over the next couple of weeks, people should be able to get bookings within a fortnight or so.

We also have 12- to 15-year-olds from next Monday. They’ll be able to access the Pfizer doses but we, of course, also will have pharmacies coming on with Moderna – another mRNA vaccine – in the next couple of weeks also.

So that will be a lot more opportunity and a lot more places and I think that there’s a really good chance to start moving things along more quickly.

Speaking of the new Pfizer vaccines, Lieutenant General John Frewen (he is that the army guy that kinda popped out of nowhere and seems to be in charge of the vaccine rollout) is speaking with ABC News Breakfast now.

He confirmed the new vaccines will be distributed on a per-capita basis, rather than preferencing heavily hit areas in Sydney.

There will be another set of flights in a couple of days, but we’ll pretty much be getting a million of the four million every week over the next four weeks ...

This will be twice the mRNA [vaccines] we were looking to have this month. Around about the level we were hoping for in October. And we also have a million doses of Moderna turning up in a week or so. So this is going to be great news. It means that there will be plenty of mRNA vaccines. We’re bringing on additional points of presence.

Interestingly, Frewen says the main obstacle to overcome now isn’t the supply chain, but convincing people to actually put their arm out.

Supply isn’t the great challenge now. It really is about people coming forward and I really encourage everybody who hasn’t done so to get a booking and get vaccinated.

Good morning everyone and welcome to the new week!

It’s Matilda Boseley here, back in the saddle and ready to bring you all the news of the morning.

Now for those of you not yet fully vaccinated, I have something exciting to tell you.

Two flights from London carrying 164,970 and 292,500 doses of the Pfizer vaccine landed in Sydney on Sunday evening, representing a significant injection of supply into the Australian system. (Get it, it’s a vaccine, and I said “injection”. Do you get it?)

The prime minister, Scott Morrison, announced the 4 million dose deal with the UK last week. Originally we thought we would only get 190,000 jabs in the first shipment, but we now have a batch of 450,000 to work with, with the rest due to arrive through September.

And that’s not all! Some 500,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine secured by the federal government from Singapore are now being dispatched around the country after getting the nod of approval from the Therapeutic Goods Administration.

We have Pfizer galore this morning!

And while we are on that emotional high, why don’t we jump into the day!