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Watch: NSW and Victoria’s COVID-19 updates
By Broede Carmody
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews and COVID-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar are due to provide their state’s coronavirus update from 11.15am AEST.
Watch that press conference live below.
Meanwhile, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, Deputy Premier John Barilaro, Deputy Chief Health Officer Dr Marianna Gale and Deputy Commissioner Gary Worboys have finished providing their coronavirus update.
‘Not how Australia wanted it to end’: Taliban takeover will profoundly affect Australia’s national security, Opposition says
By Jennifer Duke
Opposition leader Anthony Albanese, who also paid tribute to the 41 Australians, said the events in Afghanistan had been devastating for local people, traumatic for veterans and dangerous for those who remain in the country.
“This is not how Australia wanted it to end,” Mr Albanese said.
Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
“And it will have profound implications for the standing of democracy in the world, for global geopolitics, and for our own national security, which will reverberate for the decade to come.“
He said he did not understand why the government didn’t evacuate Australian nationals in Afghanistan at the same time as evacuating official personnel three months ago when the embassy was closed.
“We honour those who went. Those who never came home. Those who never came home the same. And those who are there now trying to salvage some good out of the chaos of Kabul Airport.”
‘We did the right thing’: PM says Australia’s longest war was worth it
By Jennifer Duke
Mr Morrison said more than 700 Australians were involved in the mission to evacuate people from the country, including from Foreign Affairs and Trade, Home Affairs, Australian Border Force and the Defence Force. More than 1000 people have been evacuated since Wednesday.
“I thank our state and territory leaders also for the reception arrangements they have so quickly and instinctively put in place, without having to be asked, to support the returning evacuees,” he said.
He honoured the sacrifice of the 41 Australians who have died in Afghanistan in service of the nation and the loss of their families.
“Today, we recall the cost of this, our longest war ... I know many of you are asking a simple question - “Was it worth it?” Yes, it was. We did the right thing.”
Prime Minister commits to increase humanitarian intake for Afghan nationals
By Jennifer Duke
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has committed to increase the nation’s intake of Afghan nationals for years to help those wanting to leave the country under Taliban rule.
Mr Morrison, standing up in Parliament this afternoon to move a motion acknowledging the efforts and sacrifices of Australian troops and the people of Afghanistan, said the overall program will be expanded if needed to accommodate more people.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison says Australia will welcome more Afghan nationals.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
At the moment 3000 spots of the existing 13,750 for humanitarian intake have been set aside for Afghan nationals but this is a “floor”.
The motion calls on any future government of Afghanistan to “respect the human rights of all its citizens, especially women and girls, and for the international community to hold any future Afghan government to account”.
He said tens of thousands of Australians have served in Afghanistan and it is right for an account of recent events to be given and a reflection of the last 20 years in the country.
“Liberal democracies do not shy away from history. Debate, accountability and responsibility are fundamental to who we are,” he said.
‘You are not a cow’: Americans warned over use of livestock anti-worm drug to treat COVID
By Ian Fisher
The US Food and Drug Administration has issued a strong and unusual warning: “You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y’all. Stop it.”
On Friday, Mississippi’s health department issued a warning that more than 70 per cent of recent calls to the state’s poison centre came after people took ivermectin bought at livestock supply centres.
Some people are taking veterinary ivermectin (a South African brand is pictured) to treat COVID-19 even though there’s no evidence that it works or is safe. Credit:AP
The FDA was reacting to alarms from Mississippi, the state with the worst outbreak in the US, that people have been taking ivermectin to treat or prevent COVID-19.
The drug is often used against parasites in livestock. Thomas Dobbs, the state health officer, said earlier this week he knew of only one hospitalisation but was hearing reports of people taking the drug “as a preventative”.
Read the full story here
Please Explain: When will kids be vaccinated?
By Bianca Hall
There have been growing tensions between state governments and the Commonwealth about the national road map to reopening the economy and the country.
With most of the eastern seaboard still in lockdown, Prime Minister Scott Morrison stressed on Monday we “can’t stay in the cave forever” once vaccination targets of 70 per cent and 80 per cent are reached.
But those targets only include the eligible population, currently those aged over 16, which would leave millions of children unvaccinated.
Today on Please Explain, federal health reporter Rachel Clun joins Bianca Hall to discuss the federal vaccination rollout, and when we can expect younger children to be eligible for vaccines.
More federal support for childcare sector
By Jennifer Duke
Support for the childcare sector has been expanded following directives from the Victorian and NSW governments that only essential workers should send their kids to childcare.
Minister for Education and Youth Alan Tudge said this direction changes the dynamics for childcare centres in terms of their financial viability and the dynamics for families.
Federal Minister for Education and Youth Alan Tudge. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
“As a consequence, today we have decided to announce additional financial support for the childcare sector, as a result of those decisions,” Mr Tudge said.
Childcare centres will be provided with 25 per cent of their pre-lockdown revenue if they are in areas where the limit to only the children of essential workers applies.
After-school hours providers will be given 40 per cent of pre-lockdown revenue.
“This will also apply to any childcare centre which has been … in a locked-down area for four weeks or more. So, it will apply automatically and instantly if a childcare centre is subject to an instruction from their premier that children ought not to go,” he said.
This will cover about 4800 services and 380,000 families.
He said this support would be on top of existing assistance including gap fee waivers, so those parents whose children are not attending do not have to pay fees.
‘Kick in the guts’: Liberal MP and former soldier in Afghanistan, Phillip Thompson, speaks about Taliban takeover
By Jennifer Duke
Liberal MP Phillip Thompson who was deployed to Afghanistan in 2009 and injured in action has described the Taliban takeover as a “kick in the guts”.
Mr Thompson told the ABC it was hard to see places where Australia fought the Taliban and lost soldiers being taken over.
Herbert MP and Afghanistan veteran Phillip Thompson has described the Taliban’s Kabul takeover as a “kick in the guts”.Credit:Australian of the Year Awards
He also said he doesn’t believe the Taliban’s statements that women and girls will be treated differently now than in the past.
“You know, it does feel a bit like a kick in the guts. It’s hard to see. We’ve spent two decades there. My role when I was there was to train the Afghan National Army to be able to fight, to be able to hold and defend their nation wherever the day may come when we would leave,” he said.
He wasn’t critical of the government’s handling of the situation instead pointing to the difficulties getting people out of Kabul but he wanted to ensure people were helped especially those who had supported Australia.
“It was the wild west when I was there. It would be more chaotic now, people trying to get out, people are nervous, scared for their families,” he said.
“My thoughts are with them. And can we do better? We can always do better.”
Push for live events underwriting in NSW
By Sarah McPhee
Independent Sydney MP Alex Greenwich and federal Liberal MP Dave Sharma, who holds the eastern suburbs seat of Wentworth, have jointly written to NSW Arts Minister Don Harwin seeking more concrete support for the live events sector.
The pair believe there is merit in an underwriting or similar insurance policy from the NSW government, “to give confidence and stability” and ensure the sector can recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
There are fresh calls for the NSW government to support the live music industry.Credit:AAP
They point to a cost indemnification scheme in the United Kingdom which they say addresses “persistent uncertainty”.
“The UK’s Live Events Reinsurance Scheme will run until September 2022 and cover costs incurred in the event of cancellation due to the event being legally unable to take place as a result of government restrictions,” the MPs state in their letter.
“Event organisers are able to purchase this government-backed cover, alongside standard commercial events insurance, providing the certainty and safety-net they need to plan future events and incur the outlays which go with such planning.”
Mr Greenwich and Mr Sharma urged Mr Harwin to consider the suggestion.
“Even when restrictions are lifted and live events can resume, the uncertainty is likely to continue to pose a significant hurdle for those who stage and underwrite live performances, which will have flow-on and detrimental effects throughout the sector,” they said.
Splendour in the Grass music festival at North Byron Parklands was recently rescheduled to July 2022, marking a fifth date change, while Bluesfest was postponed for a second year, until the 2022 Easter long weekend.
Melbourne anti-lockdown protesters wanted to ‘punch on’: Victorian Premier
By Cassandra Morgan
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says some anti-lockdown protesters who hit Melbourne’s streets on Saturday “wanted to punch on, plain and simple”.
Last week he warned Victorians against making bad decisions over the weekend as the state was “right on the edge” of the COVID-19 situation getting away from it.
Anti-lockdown protesters in Melbourne on the weekend.Credit:Justin McManus
On Monday, he said that - aside from the protests - the majority of Victorians did the right thing on Saturday and Sunday.
“Notwithstanding the disgusting scenes we saw at - I won’t even call it a protest, it was just a mob, really, protesting all manner of different things … and a whole lot of them intended to have a fight, almost [regardless] what had brought them together,” he said.
“[There was] a few there that … wanted to punch on, plain and simple.“Notwithstanding that disgusting behaviour and illegal behaviour that will be punished … I think buy and large, we didn’t see kind of pop-up pub crawls, we didn’t see some of the stuff we had seen the previous weekend.
“I thank every single Victorian who spent the weekend following the rules despite the brilliant weather and despite the fact that we would all desperately love to be doing different things.”
COVID-19 outbreak forces closure of three regional Victorian schools
By Cassandra Morgan
Meanwhile, three schools in Shepparton in regional Victoria are closed because of a COVID-19 outbreak that has swelled to 26 cases.
Victorian COVID-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar said during Monday’s coronavirus update the three schools were Notre Dame College, Greater Shepparton Secondary College, and St Mel’s Primary School.
“My message to parents in particular is ... if you’re concerned about the kids [or think] your child may not be 100 per cent right, if you’re concerned about yourself - the quicker we catch hold of that, the better we can protect the rest of your family,” Mr Weimar said.
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2021-08-23 04:53:34Z
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