Australia news live: health officials say hotel quarantine ‘fit for purpose’; Port Arthur massacre commemorated
Port Arthur #PortArthur
7.25pm EDT 19:25
Wildlife authorities and police are investigating the mysterious deaths of hundreds of short-tailed shearwater birds in Hobart, reports AAP.
The seabird carcasses were discovered last week at Cameron Bay near the suburb of Berriedale.
Tasmania’s wildlife and parks department has called for anyone with information to come forward.
“The matter is being investigated with support from Tasmania Police,” the department said in a statement on Wednesday.
“Killing or interfering with native wildlife is illegal in Tasmania unless a person has the relevant licence or permit. Significant penalties apply for wildlife offences.”
People convicted of aggravated cruelty under the Animal Welfare Act face fines up to $34,000 and up to five years’ jail.
Penalties under other acts and regulations may also apply.
7.15pm EDT 19:15
The World Health Organisation issued its latest epidemiological update overnight, and it makes for concerning reading. It says that globally, new Covid-19 cases increased for the ninth consecutive week, with nearly 5.7 million new cases reported in the last week – surpassing previous peaks.
The number of new deaths increased for the sixth consecutive week, with over 87,000 new deaths reported.
The report said:
While a number of countries in the region are reporting upward trends, India accounts for the vast majority of cases from this regional trend and 38% of global cases reported in the past week.
Similarly, all but two regions, south-east Asia and eastern Mediterranean, reported declines in new deaths this week.
The highest numbers of new cases were reported from India (2,172, 063 new cases; 52% increase), the US (406,001 new cases; 15% decrease), Brazil (404,623 new cases; 12% decrease), Turkey (378,771 new cases; 9% decrease), and France (211,674 new cases; 9% decrease).
Virus evolution is expected and the more the virus circulates, the more opportunities it has to mutate, the report says.
An elderly Indian man pushes a Covid-19 patient on a stretcher in a government hospital. Photograph: Avishek Das/SOPA Images/REX/Shutterstock
Updated at 7.25pm EDT
7.13pm EDT 19:13
The Crown Resorts executive chair, former Howard era minister Helen Coonan, has responded to the Victorian casino regulator slapping the company with a $1m fine for failing to properly control junket operators yesterday.
You may remember that in February an inquiry in NSW found that junket operators who brought high rollers to Crown’s Melbourne and Perth casinos were linked to organised crime.
In a statement to the ASX, Coonan said:
Crown continues to engage with the VCGLR and the Victorian government in relation to its reform agenda.
These reforms and changes to our business are aimed at delivering the highest standards of governance and compliance as we restore public and regulatory confidence in our operations.
As part of this reform agenda, Crown has already ceased dealing with all junket operators.
Updated at 7.26pm EDT
7.10pm EDT 19:10
As mentioned earlier in the blog, the chief medical officer Professor Paul Kelly fronted the Covid committee hearing last night, saying while hotel quarantine could be improved, the system was nonetheless fit for purpose and he was not aware of any plans to create new purpose-built facilities, despite estimates from the Australian Medical Association president that the system might be needed until at least the end of next year.
The chief medical officer Professor Paul Kelly. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian
He was also questioned about airborne transmission, which has been a hot topic following the latest hotel quarantine outbreak in Western Australia. Kelly told the committee:
There is no question, and never has been a question, right throughout this pandemic that aerosols do play a part in the transmission of this virus.
This was particularly the case indoors when many people were positive with the virus and in places with inadequate ventilation – such as some hotel quarantine facilities. But, Kelly said, it was not the key form of transmission.
This idea that the commonwealth government … are all denying that aerosols are important is ridiculous and false.
You can read our explainer on aerosol spread and why it’s become a topic of discussion again here:
Updated at 7.28pm EDT
7.08pm EDT 19:08
Queensland reports no local Covid cases but nine in hotel quarnatine
While Queensland has recorded no locally acquired cases of Covid-19 today there were nine more overseas acquired cases.
This Queensland premier Anastacia Palaszczuk has expressed concerns over the number of returned travellers carrying high contagious variants of the virus in the quarantine system, urging the commonwealth government to step up and establish federal facilities.
Updated at 7.10pm EDT
7.02pm EDT 19:02
Victorian off-duty police suspended after chase
Two off-duty police officers are under investigation after a car chase in central Melbourne, reports Callum Godde from AAP.
The pair were allegedly among five men in an unregistered Mercedes-Benz that fled from police after running a red light early on Saturday morning.
It stopped on Little Bourke Street with its occupants fleeing on foot.
The first off-duty police officer, a senior constable from northwest metro region, was arrested nearby before being released.
He is expected to be charged with drug possession and has been suspended with pay.
The other off-duty officer, a 28-year-old recruit, was spoken to by police and also suspended with pay.
Two of the three other men in the car have been identified.
Victoria police’s Professional Standards Command is investigating the incident.
Updated at 7.11pm EDT
7.00pm EDT 19:00
Former prime minister John Howard has spoken to Radio National about why he took action cracking down on guns in the wake of the Port Arthur massacre.
Howard said he was counselled by some not to, but he thought given he had been elected in 1996 with a “huge majority” that wouldn’t last, he should use his political capital for a “good cause”.
He said:
I thought if I couldn’t do something I wasn’t up to the job … I thought the country should be given a greater assurance of safety – we deserved better. If the political system couldnt’ rise to the occasion, then something was wrong. But it did, I had bipartisan support from [Labor leader] Kim Beazley, and we got states together [to pass stricter gun laws].
Howard acknowledged that stricter gun laws were tough for the Coalition partner, the National party, and he thanked its leaders Tim Fischer and John Anderson for the support they gave him.
Howard acknowledged that firearms control had helped spur support for One Nation, and the National party had also seen an erosion in their vote to the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party although he said this was for “broader political reasons”.
Given the growth in the vote and lobbying efforts of people who resent the laws, Howard said these should be resisted, and it is “up to current and future governments to ensure there is no erosion” in the laws.
We’ve secured a safer community, we mustn’t do anything to unpick that.
Former Australian prime minister John Howard. Photograph: Dave Hunt/AAP
Updated at 7.16pm EDT
6.45pm EDT 18:45
Just for everyone who thought the mouse plague was over, here is a rather concerning pic from Dubbo.
6.40pm EDT 18:40
Ongoing black deaths in custody are a “national crisis” that requires urgent action, the Greens senator, Lidia Thorpe, has said, after confirmation of deaths in Victoria and NSW.
Seven Aboriginal people have died in custody across Australia in the past two months. Four of the deaths were in NSW jails.
An Indigenous man died at Port Phillip prison in Melbourne’s west on Monday night, Corrections Victoria said. It is believed he suffered a medical episode. A smoking ceremony was being arranged.
Separately, NSW authorities confirmed that a 37-year-old man had been found dead in his cell at Cessnock correctional centre on Tuesday morning.
“Another two people dead. More suffering and more pain,” said Thorpe, a Gunnai Gunditjmara DjabWurrung woman.
You can read the full report below:
Updated at 6.52pm EDT
6.38pm EDT 18:38
Man dies during arrest in Victoria
A man has died while being arrested by police in Melbourne’s south-east, triggering a homicide investigation, reports AAP.
Police patrolling High Street in Cranbourne spotted a 32-year-old man walking in traffic just before midnight on Tuesday.
The man was asked to get off the road but didn’t follow the request and allegedly became aggressive towards the officers.
When they tried to arrest him, the man appeared to suffer a medical condition and died at the scene, despite resuscitation attempts.
Homicide squad detectives will investigate the death, with oversight from Victoria Police’s Professional Standards Command.
“This is standard protocol when a person has died in police custody,” police said.
Updated at 6.54pm EDT
6.33pm EDT 18:33
An environmental consultant who holds interests in a property that made more than $40m selling conservation offsets to governments is part of a consortium that has made tens of millions of dollars more, Guardian Australia can reveal.
Steven House is a former director of Eco Logical Australia, a firm that advised governments on major projects in western Sydney.
He is also a director of Meridolum No 1 – a company that Guardian Australia revealed had made more than $40m selling offsets for infrastructure projects that Eco Logical, which employed two of Meridolum’s directors, provided offset advice on.
The directors denied any suggestion of wrongdoing or conflict of interest and said they had made the appropriate declarations.
You can read the full report below:
Updated at 6.54pm EDT
6.24pm EDT 18:24
Victoria records no local Covid cases
No new local cases of Covid-19 in Victoria today!
Updated at 7.07pm EDT