Good evening and thank you for reading our live coverage of the day’s events. If you are just joining us now, here’s what you need to know.
Australia will experience a La Nina weather pattern that will increase the risk of widespread flooding and severe tropical cyclones this summer, Laura Chung and Mike Foley report. The Bureau of Meteorology declared on Tuesday that a La Nina event was in full swing, with climate scientists saying it would bring cooler temperatures, more rainy days and higher risks of extreme weather.
- Prime Minister Scott Morrison has told colleagues he wants to introduce a new religious freedom bill into Parliament within days, in a sign of his personal commitment to the change. David Crowe reports that Mr Morrison’s commitment comes amid warnings from Liberal MPs who believe it could weaken laws meant to guarantee equality.
- Felicity Caldwell reports that Queenslanders will be banned from leaving the state for a short business trip or weekend holiday until 90 per cent of the population aged 16 and up is fully vaccinated against COVID-19 – a milestone that is not expected to be reached until January.
- Under the state’s road map to easing coronavirus restrictions, people will be allowed to enter Queensland from another state from next month, but must return a negative coronavirus test 72 hours before arrival. (The test must be the “gold standard” PCR test and not a rapid antigen test).
- Those rules are due to come into effect on December 17 or at an 80 per cent vaccination target, which could be reached as early as December 6 to 12, according to recent predictions. On Tuesday, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk was asked whether someone would be allowed to get a negative COVID test in Queensland, travel to COVID hotspots in NSW or Victoria for fewer than 72 hours, and then return to the state with the same negative result. She confirmed the loophole would be slammed shut. “At the moment, going to Sydney for a day or two would be out of the question until we get to that 90 per cent double-dose [rate],” she said. Read the full story here.
South Australia reopened its border today to fully vaccinated people from the coronavirus hotspots of Victoria, NSW, and the ACT. To enter the state, visitors from those areas must apply for a permit on the EntryCheckSA website and must come from a council area where at least 80 per cent of people aged 16 and up are fully vaccinated. Travellers must also have a COVID-19 test in the 72 hours before arrival and may be required to undergo further testing on arrival and monitor for symptoms, depending on where they live. You can read more about the requirements here. Unvaccinated travellers aged over 12 years and 2 months cannot enter South Australia without either a medical exemption, or an approved exemption for specific reasons, such as a funeral or end-of-life visit.
Clearer boundaries for consensual sex have been enshrined in law after the NSW Parliament passed historic consent reforms to ensure more effective prosecutions of sexual offences, Lucy Cormack reports. Under the changes, a person must show they took active steps to find out if a person consented to sex before they can rely in court on a mistaken but reasonable belief in consent. The affirmative consent reforms mark a major overhaul in the state’s laws. NSW Attorney-General Mark Speakman said the new laws passed on Tuesday would simplify sexual consent legislation in a “common sense” way, for both victim-survivors and the judicial system.
- Residents in the NSW town of Denman, about 250 kilometres north of Sydney, were issued an early morning flood evacuation order as emergency services warn the town could be cut off by rising waters. Daniella White reports that the order was issued by the State Emergency Service at 2.30am AEDT this morning, telling affected residents in low-lying areas of the Upper Hunter town to evacuate by 3.30am.
- NSW recorded 173 new COVID-19 cases and two deaths. There are 196 coronavirus patients in the state’s hospitals, including 34 in intensive care. Vaccination rates continue to rise: 91.9 per cent of people aged 16 and up are fully vaccinated against the virus while 94.4 per cent have received one dose. Booster shots are now available for people who received their second jab at least six months ago, and some immunocompromised people are now receiving a third dose as part of their primary course. Both of the people who died after contracting COVID-19 were aged in their 80s and were not vaccinated. One was a resident of Presbyterian Aged Care nursing home at Ashfield in Sydney’s Inner West, where she contracted the virus. Her death is the second linked to an outbreak at this facility.
- NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet maintained the government got the balance right when it enforced tighter coronavirus restrictions on west and south-west Sydney than the rest of the city, Daniella White reports. He made the comments amid revelations the state’s Chief Health Officer, Kerry Chant, advised that the rules should be implemented consistently across Greater Sydney. Emails sent between health officials and Health Minister Brad Hazzard in mid-August, when Gladys Berejiklian was premier, show Dr Chant recommended that “consistent measures” be implemented across all of Sydney. Labor says it shows some of the most disadvantaged communities in the state were unfairly targeted. Mr Perrrottet this morning said the government didn’t make a mistake in choosing to impose harsher restrictions on 12 local government areas. “We seek to get the balance right and I believe that we did,” he said. “I said at the time I didn’t want to see a tale of two cities, and we have not. I see one NSW and not two cities. I’m very proud of the fact that the government has had to make decisions to keep people safe.”
- Cassandra Morgan reports that Victoria has recorded 827 new coronavirus cases and 19 deaths. There are now 303 coronavirus patients in Victorian hospitals. Of those, there are 44 active cases in intensive care. Twenty-three are on a ventilator. Victoria is just shy of its 90 per cent double-dose vaccination target for people aged 12 and up, according to state data.
- Victoria’s Chief Health Officer, Brett Sutton, said in a tweet this morning that 17 of the 19 people who died overnight were not vaccinated against the virus. “It’s encouraging that ICU numbers have dropped below 100 and we push on to 90% double dose [vaccination] for 12+,” he wrote.“But the 19 lives lost are a real tragedy.“There are legitimate reasons why a few individuals can’t be vaccinated, but 17 of 19 had no vaccines recorded. Entirely preventable.” Professor Sutton urged people who were yet to be vaccinated to get their jabs as soon as possible, and fully vaccinated people to get their booster shots as soon as they were eligible.
David Estcourt and Erin Pearson report that detectives have made an arrest over the disappearance of campers Russell Hill and Carol Clay, who vanished in Victoria’s high country in March last year. Police confirmed a 55-year-old Caroline Springs man was arrested about 5.30pm on Monday. The man is yet to be interviewed by police and no charges have been laid.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk urged Gold Coast residents to come forward and get vaccinated against COVID-19 ahead of the border reopening on December 17, Matt Dennien reports. Across the state, 73.4 per cent of Queenslanders aged 16 and up are now fully vaccinated against the virus and 84.6 per cent have received one dose. But Ms Palaszczuk warned those in the Gold Coast region that the rates there (72.9 per cent residents aged 16 and up are fully vaccinated against the virus, and 84.1 are partially vaccinated) were still much lower than authorities hoped. “Time is running out here with the vaccines. Because when we get to that 80 per cent double-dose, we are going to see a lot of people coming into Queensland,” Ms Palaszczuk said. “And the best way that we can protect ourselves is to go and get vaccinated.” The state recorded no new local cases of the virus today.
- The ACT recorded 19 new cases of COVID-19 since yesterday’s update. There are six coronavirus patients in hospital in the nation’s capital. Of those, three are in intensive care. Two are on a ventilator. The ACT continues to lead the nation in vaccination rates: 97.3 per cent of residents aged 12 and up are now fully vaccinated against coronavirus.
Maverick Morrison government backbencher George Christensen says the federal government cannot rely on his vote until it moves to end state coronavirus vaccine mandates and passports, Nick Bonyhady reports. Mr Christensen’s threat means the government will need the support of an independent or opposition MP to get bills through the House of Representatives. Two government senators, Alex Antic and Gerard Rennick, have already said they will not support government legislation in the upper house over the issue and five government senators sided with One Nation on an anti-vaccine mandate bill on Monday. If Mr Christensen makes good on his threat, which he issued via his newsletter late on Monday evening, the government will struggle to pass laws such as its proposed religious freedom, voting and class action changes.
One Nation has helped sink a government-backed Senate inquiry into the ABC and SBS’s complaints handling processes by denying the Coalition crucial votes needed to defeat a motion to suspend it, Lisa Visentin reports. In a move condemned by the Coalition, the inquiry was postponed until the next term of Parliament, with Labor, Greens and crossbench senators teaming up to outvote the government. One Nation leader Pauline Hanson and senator Malcolm Roberts abstained from the vote on Tuesday, helping deliver ABC chair Ita Buttrose’s plea for the Senate to abandon the inquiry while the broadcaster was conducting its own external review into the issue.
This is Michaela Whitbourn signing off on the blog for today. My colleague Broede Carmody will be back with you early tomorrow.