Australia news live: NSW reports no new local Covid cases; part of ABC’s Christian Porter defamation defence to be suppressed for now
Christian Porter #ChristianPorter
9.57pm EDT 21:57
Glitch at SA hospital adds digits to medication dosages 
The electronic health record system used at hospitals in South Australia accidentally changed patient’s doses for prescriptions, forcing the staff to conduct manual checks.
The ABC reported the Sunrise EMR system was adding an additional number to people’s doses at the Queen Elizabeth hospital, Royal Adelaide hospital and Noarlunga hospital.
So for example, if people were supposed to get 10mg, it was stating the dosage would be 100mg.
A spokesperson from SA Health said it was an “intermittent issue” but that once identified, all sites using the Sunrise system were notified and implemented risk mitigation strategies, including additional prescription reviews while the issue is being investigated.
We are not aware of any adverse clinical outcomes at this time.
The Sunrise EMR system is used at the Queen Elizabeth hospital, Royal Adelaide hospital, Noarlunga hospital, Mt Gambier and Districts health service and Port Augusta hospital.
The state government in South Australia is still in the process of rolling out the system elsewhere, with $200m in funding in the last budget for the project.
It came after a review of the system found major changes were required but recommended the software be updated rather than replaced entirely.
Updated at 10.04pm EDT
9.53pm EDT 21:53
$760m to fix Victorian health system amid ambulance ‘crisis’
The Victorian government has committed $759m to help paramedics and hospitals cope with “unprecedented levels of demand”, reports Benita Kolovos from AAP.
The package, part of the state’s 2021/22 budget, was unveiled by health minister Martin Foley on Friday.
He said the state’s health system had been dealing with challenges “the likes of which it’s never had to deal with before”, since emerging from a prolonged coronavirus lockdown late last year.
We’ve seen unprecedented levels of demand over the course of 2020 and now in 2021, where we’ve seen just in the quarter gone, the highest level of demand in our public health services’ history.
Foley said the funds helped deliver more paramedics and nurses as well as freeing up space in the state’s emergency department from next month.
The package includes $266m to expand Ambulance Victoria’s triage services to divert people away from emergency rooms, $205m to bolster the services’ resources and $200m to open new hospital facilities and create new beds. The government will also spend about $89m to better resource emergency departments.
Prof Christine Kirkpatrick from the Royal Melbourne Hospital said emergency departments were back to pre-Covid levels, but people were coming in sicker.
This reflects the impact of Covid – during the pandemic people for obvious reasons deferred care…
So now they’re coming into hospital sicker and really with higher acuity presentations.
This means patients are staying in emergency departments for longer.
In addition, Kilpatrick said staff were “understandably tired” and many were on sick leave after the hospital became the epicentre of the state’s second wave of Covid-19.
All of these factors are playing into a more complex situation.
Foley has been under pressure to act all week from the state opposition, which has described the situation as a “crisis”.
Victorian ambulances: in high demand. Photograph: James Ross/AAP
Updated at 10.16pm EDT
9.48pm EDT 21:48
Part of ABC’s Christian Porter defence to be suppressed – for now 
Despite Christian Porter’s counsel’s claim that there is “very little” by way of truth defences in the ABC’s defence to his defamation claim, the ABC has disputed this.
The ABC’s counsel, Renee Enbom, said its defence will consist of:
At the conclusion of the hearing, justice Jayne Jagot granted Porter’s wish to suppress parts of the ABC’s defence until she can hold a hearing into whether they can be struck out.
She impressed that this was “not about holding a hearing in secret” but only protecting material that could be scandalous or vexatious from entering the public domain until she can determine the merit of that claim.
So – we’ll have a strike-out hearing in late May/early June before a trial that could last up to six weeks in September/October. Strap in!
Christian Porter has sought to have parts of the ABC’s defamation defence struck out. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAP
Updated at 11.00pm EDT
9.37pm EDT 21:37
It’s my favourite time of the day! It’s “weird pictures of Scott Morrison in an aeroplane” time.
(What does it say about our country that this is such a common occurrence?)
Updated at 9.40pm EDT
9.33pm EDT 21:33
Federal trade minister Dan Tehan has wished former Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed a “speedy recovery” after he was injured in a blast outside his family home.
Tehan said he was “shocked to learn about this terrible attack”.
Updated at 9.35pm EDT
9.17pm EDT 21:17
Police have begun their inspection of the tanker truck that crashed into a traffic light pole at a busy Southbank intersection in Melbourne, leaving two pedestrians in a critical condition and injuring three others.
If you want to learn more about this Melbourne truck crash from overnight, see our article below:
Updated at 9.45pm EDT
9.07pm EDT 21:07
No new locally acquired cases in NSW today
There have been no new locally acquired Covid-19 cases in NSW today.
This might seem like good news, but it does mean the “missing link” case is likely still out there.
Updated at 9.42pm EDT
9.03pm EDT 21:03
Oh, apparently I was wrong about the 11am press conference.
Gladys Berejiklian will not be standing up just yet, but we should still be getting a case number update any minute.
Updated at 9.06pm EDT
9.01pm EDT 21:01
Jarryd Hayne to appeal against sentence for sexual assault
Convicted sex offender Jarryd Hayne, the former NRL player, is reportedly appealing against the prison sentence handed down to him yesterday.
Having spent his first night behind bars, Hayne has lodged a notice of intention to appeal in the New South Wales supreme Court, according to the ABC.
Hayne was jailed for a minimum of three years and eight months on Thursday after being sentenced to a total of five years and nine months. He was convicted in March of two counts of sexual intercourse without consent.
In handing down Thursday’s sentence, Newcastle district court judge Helen Syme noted he only stopped attacking the victim when she started to bleed, not when she was telling him no and stop.
After being found guilty in March this year, Hayne said he would “rather go to jail knowing I spoke the truth than be a free man living a lie”.
He told reporters outside court at the time:
It’s unfortunate, it’s disappointing but at the end of the day they’ve come to a decision and I respect that.
Jarryd Hayne arriving at court in Newcastle for sentencing on Thursday. Photograph: Darren Pateman/AP
Updated at 9.09pm EDT