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Australia Covid news live update: Queensland reopens its border after nearly five months; WA to learn its roadmap out of lockdown Australia Covid news live update: Queensland reopens its border after nearly five months; WA to learn its roadmap out of lockdown
(32 minutes later)
Follow all the day’s developmentsFollow all the day’s developments
Watch out, Queensland! Anthony Albanese is in your state now and is bringing the election campaign with him!
Here’s what he had to say to the ABC before jumping on his flight to the sunshine state.
A total fire ban has been declared for north-western Victoria, AAP reports.
The Country Fire Authority says the Mallee and Wimmera regions will be subject to a total fire ban on Monday,
It means no open-air fire can be lit or remain alight, and strict rules apply for the use of farm machinery, chainsaws and lawnmowers.
“CFA advises people living in areas at risk of fire to activate their bushfire plan,” the authority said.
Temperatures are expected to reach the mid to high 30s in the two regions, with strengthening north-westerly winds forecast early before a blustery southerly change crossing the state throughout the day.
There is also a low risk of dry lightning in the area.
A high fire danger rating applies for central, north-central, northern country and south-west regions, while the eastern parts of the state are of low to moderate risk.
It is only the second total fire ban of the season, thanks in part to cooler and wetter-than-average weather in November.
The outlook for this fire season indicates a lower threat of prolonged bushfires but grass and crop blazes remain a high risk across the state after average to above-average rainfall and strong fuel growth.
CFA acting chief officer Garry Cook said:
A person in New South Wales has been admitted to hospital infected with the Omicron variant of Covid-19, the first Omicron patient to be hospitalised since it arrived in Australia last month.
It comes as thousands of protesters marched through capital cities yesterday to oppose vaccine mandates, and Western Australia and Queensland prepared to reopen their borders.
After two years of border closures, the WA premier, Mark McGowan, is today due to announce when the state’s borders will reopen to domestic and international travellers, after reaching the 80% vaccination milestone at the weekend.
And “tens of thousands” of people are expected to cross into Queensland after its borders reopen at 1am on Monday. It will be the first time in 229 days people will not need to quarantine on arrival, provided they are fully vaccinated.
You can read the full report below:
Of course with Queensland’s border opening, tourism minister Dan Tehan is out and about this morning taking a victory lap (even though the decision to open the border has nothing to do with the federal government).Of course with Queensland’s border opening, tourism minister Dan Tehan is out and about this morning taking a victory lap (even though the decision to open the border has nothing to do with the federal government).
Here he is chatting to ABC radio:Here he is chatting to ABC radio:
Things seem to be getting pretty loose over in the Barnaby Joyce isolation suite, with the deputy prime minister placing his phone inside a microwave to get the perfect camera angle for his Sunrise interview.Things seem to be getting pretty loose over in the Barnaby Joyce isolation suite, with the deputy prime minister placing his phone inside a microwave to get the perfect camera angle for his Sunrise interview.
I feel like there is a joke about radiation frying your brain in there somewhere, but I’ll just leave that up to you.I feel like there is a joke about radiation frying your brain in there somewhere, but I’ll just leave that up to you.
China has responded “irrationally” to the Aukus pact between Australia, the US and Britain, defence minister Peter Dutton says.China has responded “irrationally” to the Aukus pact between Australia, the US and Britain, defence minister Peter Dutton says.
The conservative Australian minister continues to mount forthright criticism of the Chinese government, accusing it of “bullying” countries that stand up to it.The conservative Australian minister continues to mount forthright criticism of the Chinese government, accusing it of “bullying” countries that stand up to it.
Yesterday Dutton said the Australian government had formed the Aukus partnership with the US and the UK because it wanted to see “see increased stability and peace in our region”.Yesterday Dutton said the Australian government had formed the Aukus partnership with the US and the UK because it wanted to see “see increased stability and peace in our region”.
“The response by China to that, I think, was irrational,” he told Sky News Australia.“The response by China to that, I think, was irrational,” he told Sky News Australia.
You can read the full report below:You can read the full report below:
Time to chat about next year’s election, and the battle the treasurer is facing from an independent in his home seat.
Michael Rowland:
Josh Frydenberg:
Rowland:
Frydenberg:
ABC News Breakfast host Michael Rowland:
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg:
The Queensland premier taking a victory lap as the borders reopen this morning.
Federal treasurer Josh Frydenberg is chatting to media this morning, discussing the Queensland border reopening.
He was asked if he is “absolutely confident” that state border closures are now a thing of the past.
The NBN has announced plans to switch to 100% renewable electricity by the end of 2025 and use electric or hybrid cars where possibly by 2030, reports AAP. Australia’s NBN Co has announced a “towards-zero carbon ambition”, with the company outlining a plan to use electricity exclusively from renewable sources by the end of 2025.
As well as purchasing 100% renewable electricity from December 2025, an initial three-year roadmap works toward switching to electric or hybrid cars were possible by 2030, and reducing annual energy use by 25 gigawatt hours by the end of 2025.
Total electricity generation in Australia was estimated to be 265,232 GWh in 2020, according to government numbers. More than 8.3m premises are connected to the NBN network, and the company says it will seek a “more efficient use of energy as data demand and the number of connected premises continues to grow”.
NBN Co chief executive Stephen Rue said:
The company has already entered into a renewable power purchasing agreement intended to deliver almost 20% renewable energy to the network by the 2o23 financial year. It plans to reach the 100% target through further power purchase agreements and contracts for renewables.
The announcement comes as NBN Co becomes the first Australian telco and government business enterprise to join RE100, a global initiative joining “the world’s most influential businesses committed to 100% renewable power”.
RE100 Australian co-ordinator Jon Dee said:
Between them, Australian members of RE100 use more than 5.5 terawatt hours of electricity a year, enough to power 800,000 Australian homes.
The towards-zero carbon ambition is part of NBN Co’s second sustainability report released toay, which also looks at social and economic impacts.
With 33% of management positions held by women, NBN Co outperforms the national average, it notes. Additionally, as at 30 June 2021, NBN Co had a gender pay gap of less than 1%.
Good morning everyone and welcome to the new week! It’s Matilda Boseley here on the blog with you today and I have some good news to start us off.
After nearly five months the Queensland border has finally opened!
As of this morning, anyone from Victoria and NSW can enter the sunshine state as long as they are fully vaccinated and have proof of a negative PCR test before beginning their journey.
With tens of thousands of people expected to travel today, Jen King is up on the NSW/Queensland border this morning to bring us all the updates.
Let’s go west now because Western Australia’s premier is set to finally reveal when the state’s borders will open, ending months of speculation.
Mark McGowan is expected to announce a firm date for the reopening, this morning, likely in late January or early February.
The state’s borders are closed or heavily restricted to every other state or territory except Tasmania. It’s anticipated the vaccination rate will have climbed to 90% by the time the borders finally reopen.
Once the borders come down, transitional restrictions will come into effect. This will likely include mask mandates in high-risk indoor settings, and proof-of-vaccination requirements for large events with crowds of more than 1,000 people, nightclubs and casinos.
Entry to remote Indigenous communities will remain restricted and contact registers will still be used.
OK! With all of that out of the way, why don’t we jump right into the day?