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| Australia news live update: Qld and NT pass 80% vaccinated; Victoria records 1,232 Covid cases and nine deaths; 420 cases and one death in NSW | Australia news live update: Qld and NT pass 80% vaccinated; Victoria records 1,232 Covid cases and nine deaths; 420 cases and one death in NSW |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| A trivia night at a Sydney pub is the source of a new Covid cluster after 44 people were diagnosed with the virus. Follow live | A trivia night at a Sydney pub is the source of a new Covid cluster after 44 people were diagnosed with the virus. Follow live |
| Labor Leader Anthony Albanese appeared on Sky News this morning. | |
| Asked about Barnaby Joyce’s Covid diagnosis, Albanese said “I wish him a swift recovery.” | |
| Anthony Albanese also voiced support for the diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics that the government announced yesterday. | |
| (We should point out Labor gave bipartisan support to this move in a press release yesterday, but Albanese was asked at his press conference about it.) | |
| The Labor leader said he supported the government’s call not to send officials to the Games. Albanese cited concerns about China’s human rights record, particularly the treatment of Uyghur minority and the undermining of Hong Kong’s freedoms. Albanese said the US had led the diplomatic boycott and Australia had followed. He noted Canada had announced a similar move. | |
| Asked about Scott Morrison’s attempt to paint Albanese as weak on national security, the Labor leader said the prime minister would “come up with a range of scare campaigns”, adding: “Scott Morrison isn’t up to the job of running his own government at the moment.” | |
| Albanese said the Australian government needed to address climate change as a national security issue. | |
| The Australia Institute has joined calls for the NSW government to limit flood plain harvesting. | |
| TAI Research Director Rod Campbell said: “This is a big deal for the whole Murray Darling Basin and all of its rivers and people. It must not get lost in the end of year scramble. | |
| “Floodplain harvesting reform needs oversight from the highest levels of government as there are big implications for the state budget, employment, human health and more. | |
| “Without attention from the public, the Premier, Treasurer and other MPs, this huge reform could be derailed by the powerful agribusinesses that benefit from the status quo.” | |
| Nature Conservation Council Acting Chief Executive Jacqui Mumford said: “Floodplain harvesting works against the best principles of water sharing and the common good. | |
| “It is so harmful to the ecosystems we all depend on that it should be considered not just illegal but anti-social.” | |
| The environmental groups have also been backed by the Southern Riverina Irrigators. | |
| “This is important not just for us, but for all the rice mills, wine makers and other processors that we supply,”Chairman, Chris Brooks said. | |
| “The cotton grown with unregulated floodwater in the north, by contrast, is exported with almost no processing done in Australia.” | |
| Southern irrigators and a coalition of environmental groups are calling on the NSW government to limit flood plain harvesting – a practice which has been blamed for the reducing flows in the Murray Darling river system by as much as 20%. | |
| A NSW Upper House report on flood plain harvesting is due out next week and will explore in detail the impact of irrigators in the northern basin diverting flood waters into large storages using channels and levee banks, which is then manly used for cotton growing. | |
| Irrigators are currently able to do this for free and without a licence, but there is a proposal from the NSW government to issue licences based on historical take by irrigators. | |
| This has prompted a fierce debate on exactly how much should be permitted to be taken, its lawfulness and its impact on the environment and downstream flows. | |
| The practice has been blamed for contributing to the 2019-20 fish kills at Menindee which saw hundreds of thousands of fish die, and for reduced water availability for downstream irrigators. | |
| The groups want licensing of floodplain harvesting at “lawful, sustainable volumes” which they say would be a major environmental, social and economic reform for the NSW Murray Darling Basin. | |
| In particular they do not want the licensing to result in an increase in the sustainable diversion limit – water taken for agriculture – that was agreed under the Murray Darling Basin plan. | |
| Barnaby Joyce was also asked about George Christensen’s recent appearance on far-right US talk show InfoWars. | |
| Joyce said that he has spoken to Christensen “numerous times”. | |
| Asked whether Christensen will refrain from making further comments, Joyce said “that’s a question you have got to bring up with George”, before quickly adding “or probably don’t bring up with George because then he will say something to you”. | |
| Deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce spoke to ABC News Mornings from Washington DC, where he has tested positive for Covid-19. He said that he probably won’t be home for Christmas. | |
| During his press conference in Geelong this morning, Scott Morrison was asked what he thought about the idea of a “giant ute on a pole” to be built as a tourist attraction in the area. | |
| Morrison seemed keen: | |
| But he managed to pivot the conversation back to government policy. | |
| Now the Australian Electoral Commission has weighed in on where this big ute on a pole could be built. | |
| Albanese said that he has asked firefighter Trevor Ross to run against Liberal MP Melissa McIntosh for the seat of Lindsay at the federal election. | |
| Albanese is speaking about Labor’s “A Future Made in Australia” plan. | |
| Albanese says that the plan will “deliver 465,000 free Tafe places ... to make sure we train and skill up Australians for the jobs of today and as well as of tomorrow”. | |
| Oppositio leader Anthony Albanese is speaking to reporters in Sydney, | Oppositio leader Anthony Albanese is speaking to reporters in Sydney, |
| The father of deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce’s partner will stand at the next election for Clive Palmer’s United Australia party, contesting MP Bob Katter’s seat of Kennedy. | |
| Our friends at AAP have the story. | Our friends at AAP have the story. |
| This brings the total number of Omicron cases in the state to 42. | This brings the total number of Omicron cases in the state to 42. |
| Morrison has been asked whether three Covid-19 vaccine doses will be required to be considered fully vaccinated against the virus. | Morrison has been asked whether three Covid-19 vaccine doses will be required to be considered fully vaccinated against the virus. |
| Morrison says “we will continue to listen to the medical advice on that”. | Morrison says “we will continue to listen to the medical advice on that”. |
| Morrison has been asked why Australia hasn’t accelerated its Covid-19 booster program, given new evidence that three Pfizer doses are required to protect against the new Omicron varient. | Morrison has been asked why Australia hasn’t accelerated its Covid-19 booster program, given new evidence that three Pfizer doses are required to protect against the new Omicron varient. |
| Morrison has been asked about Barnaby Joyce testing positive for Covid-19 in the United States. | Morrison has been asked about Barnaby Joyce testing positive for Covid-19 in the United States. |
| He said that Joyce was in the US and UK to talk about the Australian government’s proposal to hold social media companies liable as publishers for defamatory comments by anonymous users. | He said that Joyce was in the US and UK to talk about the Australian government’s proposal to hold social media companies liable as publishers for defamatory comments by anonymous users. |