This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2021/dec/13/australia-covid-news-corona-queensland-nsw-wa-victoria-borders-palaszczuk-mcgowan-morrison-frydenberg

The article has changed 23 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 7 Version 8
Australia live news update: Scott Morrison and South Korean president Moon Jae-in sign $1bn defence deal; Queensland border reopens Australia live news update: Scott Morrison and South Korean president Moon Jae-in sign $1bn defence deal; Queensland border reopens
(33 minutes later)
Follow all the day’s developmentsFollow all the day’s developments
Thousands of Queenslanders will be enjoying dinner in their own homes on Monday at last after spending months trapped across the border in New South Wales.
The border between the two states reopened at 1am Queensland time.
Queensland’s police commissioner, Katarina Carroll, estimated that 50,000 vehicles would be crossing in the early hours of Monday morning, with long delays expected.
All vehicles were required to present a border pass that was only made available to those travelling from hotspots one hour before the border opened, leaving many already anxious travellers more worried about getting home.
You can read the full report below:
On the day borders reopen, Queensland has recorded one new locally acquired case, as well as two overseas-acquired cases and seven interstate-acquired cases, detected in hotel quarantine.
Moon’s response, to paraphrase, was basically: “Dude, we have a rogue nation with a bunch of nukes right above us that we are technically still at war with - yeah we are going to try and be friends with as many people as possible, mate.”
Moon:
Morrison:Morrison:
Here is Daniel Hurst with a bit more information on those deals that were signed by Morrison and Moon this morning. Reporter:
Morrison jumped in to answer first (perhaps as the question was being translated?).
Moon says that this trip has nothing to do with China and Morrison immediately added:
Moon Jae-in has been asked by reporters if visiting Australia just days after the government decided on a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics was likely to upset South Korea’s relationship with China (which is always fairly strained anyway, given the issue of North Korea).
He was also asked if South Korea intend to issue a similar boycott.
Moon:
Moon:
South Korea and Australia are also apparently great space buddies now!
Moon:
If you were wondering whether this is all a thinly veiled front to send a message to China about who really has power in the Indo-Pacific, here is Moon:
Moon is now delivering his speech in Korean. Luckily I’m fluent! (I’m not, I shall be using the ABC translation.)
Morrison:Morrison:
Here is Morrison speaking, and yes, he did get the name of the Korean War wrong ... while speaking to the president of Korea.
Australia and South Korea have struck a $1bn defence deal as leaders Scott Morrison and Moon Jae-in hold formal talks in Canberra, reports Paul Osborne from AAP.
The South Korean president and first lady Kim Jung-sook were welcomed to Parliament House, where they signed the official visitors book, by the prime minister on Monday.
Australia and South Korea will upgrade their ties to “comprehensive strategic partnership” status during the visit.
The $1bn deal - under which Korean defence company Hanwha will provide 30 self-propelled howitzer artillery weapons, 15 ammunition supply vehicles and radars to detect enemy artillery - is the largest defence contract struck between Australia and an Asian nation.
The new vehicles will be able to quickly fire and move to avoid enemy counterattacks.
Defence minister Peter Dutton touted the deal as a boost for Australian firepower and security in the Indo-Pacific.
The deal is expected to create at least 300 jobs in the Greater Geelong region, where the manufacturing facility will be based. Construction is due to start in 2022.
Morrison said the relationship continued to grow, underpinned by trade, shared values, common regional strategic interests and a commitment to an open, inclusive and prosperous Indo-Pacific region.
This year mark 60 years of diplomatic relations between the two nations.
Moon is the first international leader to visit Australia since borders reopened.
So Moon and Morrison are signing some partnerships and deal first, and I assume will speak after that.
We are standing by for Scott Morrison and the South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, to give a joint address from Parliament House in Canberra.
A flood warning and total fire ban in the same state on the same day has pretty big “post-apocalyptic” energy, doesn’t it?
It’s time to have a chat about what’s going on at The Sydney Morning Herald.
Overnight, the newspaper posted an article confirming that newly appointed editor, Bevan Shields, had called longtime opinion columnist Elizabeth Farrelly and ended her arrangement with the paper after she “failed to disclose that she had registered as a candidate for the Labor party in the Strathfield local government elections when she wrote a piece criticising Liberal and independent councillors in the electorate”.
The writer has now issued a statement on the situation via a Facebook post, stating that it was “an oversight on my part” not to disclose her registration, but says she never actually intended to run for local government.