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| Victoria reports three new Covid cases and no deaths as federal parliament resumes – politics live | |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Emails tendered during extraordinary hearing appear to contradict the Victorian chief health officer’s earlier testimony. Follow live | Emails tendered during extraordinary hearing appear to contradict the Victorian chief health officer’s earlier testimony. Follow live |
| Just what the beleaguered NSW Premier, Gladys Berejiklian needs! | |
| Her mercurial deputy, John Barilaro is back from three weeks’ mental health leave. | |
| The loyal deputy just did a press conference at Parliament House in Macquarie Street to report on his condition. | |
| “You think you can’t get out of it,” Barilaro said before announcing that he felt much better.“If you had asked me three weeks ago, I felt like I was never coming back.” | |
| Hard to say what the koalas will think. | |
| The Berejiklian government made changes to koala protection laws while Barilaro was on leave in a bid to smooth over the rift the issue had caused in the Coalition. | |
| Lawyers acting for the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services have defended the omission of emails about the use of private security from the hotel quarantine inquiry, stating the emails did not shed light on who made the decision for the hotel quarantine program. | |
| The inquiry on Tuesday has sought an affidavit from the chief health officer, Prof Brett Sutton, after DHHS discovered an email chain from the day the hotel quarantine program was announced where a senior DHHS officer outlined to a Commonwealth official at the behest of Sutton how the program would operate. | |
| Sutton replied to the email with “thanks so much”. Sutton has maintained that he was not aware private security was being used in the program until the outbreak in late May, and did not remember seeing this detail in the email. | |
| In a letter from DHHS’s lawyers made public by the inquiry late on Tuesday evening, that the emails were not provided to the inquiry earlier because, among the 500,000 documents reviewed, it was deemed not relevant because the decision at the time of the email had already been made. | |
| “The email does not add in any way to the range of other evidence on the issue of who determined that security guards should be used in the program, but refers to a decision already made to use private security by 6.43pm. | |
| The email only records that ‘private security [was] being contracted to provide security at the hotels with escalation arrangements to VicPol as needed’” | |
| The law firm also said that even if Sutton was aware private security, it wouldn’t have given him enough information about the suitability of private security in such an environment, and Sutton did not believe the emails needed to be provided to the inquiry | |
| “In short, the effect of Professor Sutton’s evidence was that even if he had been aware of the use of private security in the hotel quarantine program at that time, based on what he knew at the time, he would not have been in a position to foreshadow issues with the workforce,” the firm said. | |
| “Professor Sutton further instructed us that he did not consider he needed to clarify his evidence and therefore the email did not need to be provided to the Board for that reason.” | |
| Sutton is likely to face questions again on this matter at the daily Victorian government press conference later this morning. | |
| Martin Pakula has admitted he was at fault for the Cox Plate racing crowd decision which lasted all of four hours last night. | |
| He told ABC radio he had made the decision, and then had made the decision to reverse it, using language we last heard from Stuart Robert after he blamed hacking for the Centrelink system crashing – and later had to admit it was just overwhelmed. | |
| About half of the 52 people on board the livestock vessel Al Messilah docked at Fremantle port have tested positive for Covid-19. | |
| Two Australians who were onboard the ship had been granted permission to disembark before the outbreak – one drove alone to her property in regional western Australian to self-isolate but has since been placed in hotel quarantine. | |
| The other boarded a flight to Sydney and is isolating – both have tested negative for the virus. | |
| Christian Porter’s department is in estimates this morning. | Christian Porter’s department is in estimates this morning. |
| The Attorney General’s Department can expect a lot of “where is the federal integrity commission”-type questions, given it has been two years since it was promised. | |
| Porter has blamed Covid. But it was delayed even before the pandemic. | Porter has blamed Covid. But it was delayed even before the pandemic. |
| Alan Jones broadcast his radio show from his southern highlands home when the pandemic was at its peak in Australia. But sure, go off. | |
| All three of those cases have had contact with a previously known case. | All three of those cases have had contact with a previously known case. |
| That is excellent news – it shows that the number of unknown/ mystery transmissions is also dropping. | |
| The 14-day average for metro Melbourne is now 6.2. | |
| We have the tweet. | We have the tweet. |
| This petition is certainly gathering pace. | |
| In terms of the border bubble with Victoria, Steven Marshall says: | In terms of the border bubble with Victoria, Steven Marshall says: |
| South Australia’s premier, Steven Marshall, wants New Zealanders to be able to come to South Australia without having to quarantine on their way back. | South Australia’s premier, Steven Marshall, wants New Zealanders to be able to come to South Australia without having to quarantine on their way back. |
| He tells the ABC: | He tells the ABC: |
| Further to that AFR story, Lindsay Fox is speaking to the ABC’s Radio National. | Further to that AFR story, Lindsay Fox is speaking to the ABC’s Radio National. |
| A short story: | A short story: |
| 6.11pm | 6.11pm |
| 6.47pm | 6.47pm |
| 10.08pm | 10.08pm |
| The Australian Financial Review is reporting that the CEOs of some of Australia’s largest companies have written to Daniel Andrews saying current restrictions are “not sustainable”, and the lockdown is taking too great a toll on people. | The Australian Financial Review is reporting that the CEOs of some of Australia’s largest companies have written to Daniel Andrews saying current restrictions are “not sustainable”, and the lockdown is taking too great a toll on people. |
| From the AFR: | From the AFR: |
| A state funeral will be held for the Honourable Susan Maree Ryan on 23 October in Sydney. | A state funeral will be held for the Honourable Susan Maree Ryan on 23 October in Sydney. |
| You can read more about this remarkable woman here: | You can read more about this remarkable woman here: |
| The New South Wales upper house has taken the unusual step of expelling a minister, Don Harwin, over the government’s failure to produce documents relating to the $252m Stronger Communities grants scheme. | The New South Wales upper house has taken the unusual step of expelling a minister, Don Harwin, over the government’s failure to produce documents relating to the $252m Stronger Communities grants scheme. |
| The removal of Harwin from the house, which has not happened for two decades when Labor’s Michael Egan was removed, marks a significant escalation of tensions between the government on the one hand and Labor and the minor parties on the other. | The removal of Harwin from the house, which has not happened for two decades when Labor’s Michael Egan was removed, marks a significant escalation of tensions between the government on the one hand and Labor and the minor parties on the other. |
| It comes as the premier, Gladys Berejiklian, faces her most significant political challenge over her secret relationship with the disgraced MP Daryl Maguire, who is under investigation by the Independent Commission against Corruption. | It comes as the premier, Gladys Berejiklian, faces her most significant political challenge over her secret relationship with the disgraced MP Daryl Maguire, who is under investigation by the Independent Commission against Corruption. |
| Harwin is one of Berejiklian’s most loyal supporters. The changed numbers in the upper house mean she could face another no-confidence motion, which would be likely to succeed without Harwin’s vote in the chamber. While an upper house vote would not prevent her attending parliament because she is a member of the lower house, it would be a significant blow to the government’s attempts to fend off discussion of the Maguire affair. | Harwin is one of Berejiklian’s most loyal supporters. The changed numbers in the upper house mean she could face another no-confidence motion, which would be likely to succeed without Harwin’s vote in the chamber. While an upper house vote would not prevent her attending parliament because she is a member of the lower house, it would be a significant blow to the government’s attempts to fend off discussion of the Maguire affair. |
| The expulsion of Harwin was due to the government’s failure to produce any paperwork to justify how $252m in grants were allocated. So far the government has produced a handful of emails from the premier’s staff directing how the grants should be madehanded out. | The expulsion of Harwin was due to the government’s failure to produce any paperwork to justify how $252m in grants were allocated. So far the government has produced a handful of emails from the premier’s staff directing how the grants should be madehanded out. |
| More than 90% of the money went to Coalition seats. | More than 90% of the money went to Coalition seats. |
| At Senate estimates on Tuesday afternoon the Liberal senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells asked Austrac about the “alleged transfer of 700,000 euros from Vatican funds to person or persons in Australia” in connection with the Pell court matters. | At Senate estimates on Tuesday afternoon the Liberal senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells asked Austrac about the “alleged transfer of 700,000 euros from Vatican funds to person or persons in Australia” in connection with the Pell court matters. |
| Nicole Rose, Austrac’s chief executive, replied: | Nicole Rose, Austrac’s chief executive, replied: |
| We’ve contacted Victoria police and the AFP to ask if there are active investigations. | We’ve contacted Victoria police and the AFP to ask if there are active investigations. |
| Happy 43rd hump day! | Happy 43rd hump day! |
| We move into Wednesday with Victorian chief health officer, Prof Brett Sutton, asked to provide an affidavit about why he said he was unaware of the decision to use hotel security until late May, when he was part of an email chain that included the information in March. Those emails were not originally included in the information the Victorian health department gave to the inquiry. Their discovery, first printed in the Age newspaper, prompted an extraordinary session of the hotel quarantine inquiry yesterday afternoon. | We move into Wednesday with Victorian chief health officer, Prof Brett Sutton, asked to provide an affidavit about why he said he was unaware of the decision to use hotel security until late May, when he was part of an email chain that included the information in March. Those emails were not originally included in the information the Victorian health department gave to the inquiry. Their discovery, first printed in the Age newspaper, prompted an extraordinary session of the hotel quarantine inquiry yesterday afternoon. |
| Sutton now has a week to explain what happened. | Sutton now has a week to explain what happened. |
| Daniel Andrews will be up again today – we should learn more about whether or not Victoria had it first zero infection day yesterday (the one locally acquired case may actually have been shedding dead virus) as well as what happened with the Moonee Valley Cox Plate decision. First it was on, with people, then it was still on – but without the crowds. Five hundred people at a horse race when you can only have 10 at a funeral doesn’t exactly sit right. And anyone who says you get close at a funeral has obviously not spent a lot of time at the races, if you don’t think people get close there too. There should be a bit more information on when restrictions are being eased again, as well. | Daniel Andrews will be up again today – we should learn more about whether or not Victoria had it first zero infection day yesterday (the one locally acquired case may actually have been shedding dead virus) as well as what happened with the Moonee Valley Cox Plate decision. First it was on, with people, then it was still on – but without the crowds. Five hundred people at a horse race when you can only have 10 at a funeral doesn’t exactly sit right. And anyone who says you get close at a funeral has obviously not spent a lot of time at the races, if you don’t think people get close there too. There should be a bit more information on when restrictions are being eased again, as well. |
| The House of Representatives is sitting and budget estimates resumes – we will bring you all of that, and more, as it comes. | The House of Representatives is sitting and budget estimates resumes – we will bring you all of that, and more, as it comes. |
| You have Amy Remeikis with you for most of the day. Ready? | You have Amy Remeikis with you for most of the day. Ready? |