As it happened: Scott Morrison wants to slash unemployment as Labor lashes government’s aged care bonus; total COVID-19 cases continue to grow across the nation

• And the head of Australia’s medical regulator says half of all rapid antigen test results would have been “garbage” if the tests were rolled out too early last year.
• This morning Lisa Visentin and Cloe Read reported that federal moderate Liberal MPs will renew their push for fast-tracked protections for LGBTQ school students after reports that Citipointe Christian College in Brisbane had issued contracts requiring students to agree to specific gender roles and denounce homosexuality. But Citipointe Christian College’s principal has pushed back on the Queensland government over its referral to have the school reviewed, and has instead extended the signing date for the controversial contract that sparked an uproar.

• Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe spoke at the National Press Club today, forecasting strong demand for labour, inflation of around 2.75 per cent and drops in both unemployment and underemployment.
• Former Australian of the Year Grace Tame has addressed last month’s viral photos of her standing next to Prime Minister Scott Morrison, saying “the survival of abuse culture is dependent on submissive smiles.”
• Victoria will build a rapid antigen test manufacturing and innovation plant in a bid to secure the supply of kits amid supply chain shortages. The state government will partner with industry to establish the facility, which will have the capacity to manufacture 50 million tests a year. If approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration, the plant will also produce diagnostic tests for infectious, tropical and chronic diseases as well as reproductive health.
• Also in Victoria, the state’s ban on elective surgery could be lifted as soon as next week, with private hospitals expecting to restart treatments at 50 per cent of pre-pandemic levels. Victoria has reported 14,553 official cases of COVID-19 and 25 deaths.
• NSW has recorded 11,807 new cases of COVID-19 and 27 deaths. Today’s tally is down from yesterday’s 12,818 cases. NSW Health says that of today’s tally, 6314 are self-reported rapid antigen tests and 5493 are positive PCR swabs.
• A child aged under 10 is one of 16 deaths recorded in Queensland, another seven were in aged care. The state recorded 9630 cases and has 764 people in hospital, including 49 in ICU.
• Tasmania has recorded 666 new COVID-19 cases, the ACT 549, Western Australia 29 and in the Northern Territory 1033 cases were recorded. There were no deaths in any of those jurisdictions.

The national blog will return in the morning with Broede Carmody and we look forward to you joining us then.

Morrison: Well, I remember in the vaccine rollout ... I said exactly that. I said that and then said, we’ve got to get on and fix it, and that’s what we did. And that’s one of the things I referred to yesterday when I said we didn’t get everything right. If we’d had Sir General Frewen’s operation there from the start, I think that would have made a big difference.

Lane: Former [Queensland] premier Peter Beattie made an art form of saying sorry, and voters seemed to really value that and reward him for it with re-election. Are you worried that voters might punish you for not saying sorry?

Morrison: I think I’ve been very honest with people. I was very honest with them yesterday where I thought the lessons were—

Lane: Sorry, usually when people do take responsibility for a problem, they say sorry.

Morrison: Well, what I think’s important is the experience that you get from working through those challenges. That is what helps people actually work through the next set of challenges. And that’s what I was explaining yesterday. Of course, nobody gets everything right, and I don’t think anybody expects everything to go perfectly for any government. And I think it’s an unrealistic expectation, as people would expect. And, so, look, I’m just getting on with the job. And, of course, as a government, we’re sorry for, you know, the impacts of the pandemic on everybody’s lives and livelihoods.

The TGA boss said detailed work was done and revised by the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee and other health advisory bodies around how and when rapid antigen tests should be used in the country.

“They were very aware of this problem that 50 per cent or more of our results would be garbage if we went into self testing at a stage where we had very low disease prevalence and we’re wanting to do individual contact and individual venue tracing,” he said.

Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly said PCR testing arrangements remain the gold standard for diagnosis.“I think it [rapid antigen testing] has its place, absolutely, in the context we’re in now,” Professor Kelly told the committee.

“It did not previously have such a place, except for very specific places of higher risks such as in aged care facilities.”