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| 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 |
| (31 minutes later) | |
| Follow all the day’s developments | Follow all the day’s developments |
| In other news, John Gerrard has now officially taken up his position as the new Queensland chief health officer after Jennette Young moves on an up to the governor role. | |
| A small word of caution on the defence announcement out of the Scott Morrison/Moon Jae-in joint presser. | |
| The Morrison government has confirmed that a $1bn defence contract for new Self-Propelled Howitzers for the Australian Army has been awarded to Hanwha Defense Australia. | |
| From Morrison’s release: “Based in Greater Geelong, the contract will procure Self-Propelled Howitzers and Armoured Ammunition Resupply Vehicles, under the LAND 8116 Phase 1 project. The Government committed to this project in May 2019.”The then defence minister, Linda Reynolds, announced in September last year that Hanwha Defence Australia had been chosen to build 30 self-propelled howitzers for the ADF, to be built in the Geelong region, as you can see from this story at the time. | |
| The contract signing was witnessed by Morrison and Moon before their joint press conference in parliament house in Canberra this morning.In today’s release, the government says the initial contract “covers 30 Self-Propelled Howitzers, 15 Armoured Ammunition Resupply Vehicles, and weapon locating radars that help find enemy artillery, collectively referred to as the Huntsman family of vehicles”. | |
| The defence minister, Peter Dutton, said: “The prime ability of the new vehicles is to fire and move quickly, avoiding enemy counter-attack. This project will mean a significant increase in the level of firepower and security for Australian artillery capability.” | |
| A group of male koalas from Victoria’s Strzelecki Ranges will be brought to Adelaide as part of a new breeding program aimed at securing the survival of the species. | |
| The koalas are expected to arrive in coming weeks to join a group of disease-free male and female koalas at the Cleland Wildlife Park in the Adelaide Hills. | |
| The Cleland population, including some koalas rescued from the 2020 Kangaroo Island bushfires, is considered to be the only sanctuary-managed colony free from both chlamydia and koala retrovirus in Australia. | |
| Environment minister David Speirs says the transfer of the koalas is part of a bold conservation initiative that will help secure the survival of the species. | |
| The Victorian koalas are being taken from a private forest plantation after assurances from wildlife authorities their removal was in the interests of conservation. | |
| Koala Life, an independent not-for-profit organisation set up for the conservation and research of koala diseases, said the relocation would increase the number of disease-free genetically diverse animals, which would ultimately help to protect the species from future challenges. | |
| Chief executive Chris Daniels: | |
| 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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: | 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. | 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’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: | Moon: |
| Morrison: | Morrison: |
| Reporter: | Reporter: |
| Morrison jumped in to answer first (perhaps as the question was being translated?). | 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 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). | 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. | He was also asked if South Korea intend to issue a similar boycott. |
| Moon: | Moon: |
| Moon: | Moon: |
| South Korea and Australia are also apparently great space buddies now! | South Korea and Australia are also apparently great space buddies now! |
| Moon: | 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: | 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.) | Moon is now delivering his speech in Korean. Luckily I’m fluent! (I’m not, I shall be using the ABC translation.) |
| Morrison: | Morrison: |