Australia news live updates: singer Judith Durham dies at 79; Penny Wong calls for restraint on China’s exercises; at least 89 Covid deaths
Judith Durham #JudithDurham
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What we learned today, Saturday 6 August
With that, we will wrap up the blog for the evening. We’ll be back first thing tomorrow, stay safe, enjoy your evening, and make sure you pump The Seekers extra loud tonight.
Here were today’s major developments:
Updated at 03.59 EDT
Here’s Judith Durham in 1968 at the Lodge, with the then prime minister John Gorton.
Updated at 03.51 EDT
‘Icon of our music’: arts minister Tony Burke pays tribute to Judith Durham
Australia’s minister for the arts, Tony Burke, has posted a tribute to Judith Durham on social media following the news of her death, describing her as an “icon of our music”.
Once, the best known Australian voice was Judith Durham’s … What a contribution. What a loss.
Updated at 03.47 EDT
Australian singer Judith Durham of The Seekers dies at 79
The Australian singing great Judith Durham has died aged 79.
Durham was best known as the voice of The Seekers, who she performed with from 1963 until 1968.
The band rocketed to worldwide success and had a number of international hits, including I’ll Never Find Another You, The Carnival is Over, A World of Our Own and Georgy Girl. They’ve sold more than 50m records worldwide.
In 1995, Durham received the Medal of the Order Of Australia (OAM) for services to music, particularly as an entertainer and composer. In 2003, she was awarded the Centenary Medal by the governor general for service to Australian society through music.
Updated at 03.26 EDT
Authorities concerned about low uptake of Covid vaccine third dose
State and federal authorities are concerned the number of Australians getting their third dose of Covid-19 vaccine is flatlining, AAP reports.
To date, 71.4% of eligible Australians, or just over 14.1 million people, have received a third dose. But there are more than 5.6 million yet to get their booster.
Queensland is the worst-performing state, with 64.5% of eligible residents boosted, while the ACT has the best coverage (79.9%). The booster rate is 55% for Indigenous Australians nationally.
New third doses are barely rising each day, ranging from NSW recording 2,075 on Friday and the Northern Territory 45.
Information campaigns are being rolled out but there is a persistent problem with the slow rate of uptake by under-65s. The federal opposition health spokeswoman, Anne Ruston, says the government’s response to the Omicron wave is “worrying”. She told AAP:
They have ended a range of supports that have helped Australians through the pandemic and have been forced to backflip on the pandemic leave disaster payment.
With no explanation and no apparent advice or modelling to support their decisions, 70 Covid-related telehealth items, free RATs for concession card holders and aged care homes, and Operation Covid Shield have all ended.
Updated at 03.39 EDT
Chinese embassy responds to Penny Wong call for restraint in Taiwan Strait
A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy has responded to comments made by the foreign minister, Penny Wong, regarding the situation across the Taiwan Strait.
Yesterday, Wong issued a statement expressing concern about the launch of ballistic missiles by China into waters around Taiwan’s coastline, urging restraint and de-escalation.
The spokesperson said the tensions were “fundamentally caused” by the US House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan.
This is a major incident that seeks to upgrade the substantive exchanges between the United States and Taiwan. It causes serious harm to the one-China principle and to China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity … if the US continues down the wrong path, then all consequences arising therefrom shall be borne by the US.
The one-China principle is the important precondition and political foundation for the establishment and development of diplomatic relations between China and Australia … Australia’s commitment to one China principle is clear in both concept and content. We hope the Australian side could get a clear understanding of the cause and nature of the current crisis, show its respect to the facts and abide by its solemn commitment to the one China principle in both word and deed.
Updated at 03.40 EDT
Victoria’s elective surgery waiting list could face a long road back
Returning to the hospital data in Victoria, by estimates it will take almost six years to return to the rate the state was at at the same time last year unless elective surgery rates are significantly ramped up.
As noted, some hospitals delayed or cancelled surgeries this quarter due to the current Covid wave and flu rates placing pressure on staff.
Updated at 02.26 EDT
Man found after three days in north Queensland bush
In Queensland, a 60-year-old man missing in rugged bushland for almost three days has been found. The Aurukun community banded together in a massive community effort to find the man.
Search and rescue operations began on Wednesday after his family raised the alarm. Yesterday, more than 40 volunteers, public, council staff, business owners, family and friends were out scouting.
Aurukun officer in charge, Senior Sergeant Amit Singh, said it was a coordinated effort through “some very tough and rugged terrain”.
All I did was ask from help and everyone just jumped in. The local council knocked their staff off early on Friday to help, even the teachers finished early and jumped in again today on their days off.
The man was found in swamp area near the airport just after 11am.
Singh said he was exhausted but stable and transported to hospital for further treatment.
This is the worst thing that can happen in the unit, so I’m relieved it was a good outcome.
Updated at 02.28 EDT
NSW Labor accuses Coalition of burying flood response report
New South Wales Labor has accused the state government of attempting to bury an independent report recommending the shutdown of Resilience NSW.
The report, led by former police commissioner Mick Fuller and chief scientist Mary O’Kane was handed to premier Dominic Perrottet three days ago.
Details have since been leaked to the media including a recommendation for the introduction of a scheme to buyback properties of those who own homes in flood-affected areas and the dismantling of Resilience NSW.
These would form part of a $3bn flood response following the deadly Northern Rivers floods in which 13 people died and over 4,000 homes were lost.
This delay has prompted accusations from Labor leader Chris Minns that the report is “being buried by the NSW government”.
Firstly, there are many public servants that work in that agency that deserve to know what the future of that agency is.
Secondly, we can expect more natural disasters in the coming months. There’s a worrying report from the Bureau of Meteorology about flooding in the back half of 2022 [and] we’re of course concerned about bushfire seasons.
Resilience NSW was created following the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires to coordinate disaster and emergency recovery efforts but has faced criticism in the wake of the 2022 flooding in the state’s north.
– With AAP
Updated at 02.21 EDT
Number of NSW Aboriginal deaths in custody in 2021 double the previous high
The number of Aboriginal Australians who died in custody or as a result of a police operation in New South Wales in 2021 doubled the previous high set 25 years ago, prompting furious calls for reform to the state’s justice system.
Amid rising incarceration rates and a series of legislative changes making it harder for alleged offenders to be released on bail, data provided by the state’s coroner’s court revealed 16 Aboriginal people died while caught up with the justice system last year.
The previous record – eight – was set in 1997.
The revelation prompted an angry response from the Aboriginal Legal Service, as well as the families of the deceased.
For more on this exclusive story from the Guardian, read the full report here.
Updated at 00.54 EDT
Police seize 700kg of cocaine worth $280m on ship at Port Botany
Police are asking the public for help to bust a criminal syndicate behind the importation via cargo ship of 700kg of cocaine with an estimated street value of $280m, AAP reports.
Australian Border Force (ABF) officers found the drugs on 22 July while inspecting containers on the vessel Maersk Inverness at Port Botany in Sydney.
Australian federal police (AFP) officers seized 28 denim bags, each holding about 25kg of cocaine in brick form, the AFP and ABF said in a statement on Saturday.
Forensic examination identified different emblems on the bricks, including the numerals 5 and 365 and the word Netflix, the agencies said.
AFP Detective Inspector Luke Wilson said the ship, which had been allowed to continue its journey, had stopped at ports in Central America and South America before making its way to Australia.
Wilson said the interception of the drugs would be a significant blow to what was likely a well-resourced criminal syndicate.
We are still investigating where the drugs were loaded and who was planning to collect them in Australia.
The AFP estimates this seizure has saved the community more than $451m in drug-related harm.
Updated at 00.44 EDT
NSW premier Dominic Perrottet calls for party unity ahead of election
The New South Wales premier, Dominic Perrottet, has promised to deliver a grand “vision” for the state as he attempts to rebuild his fractured party ahead of next year’s election.
Speaking to Liberal delegates at the state council in western Sydney on Saturday, Perrottet said the party was built around the values “freedom, family and faith”.
It is up to us, the party of all, to unite around those Liberal values.
The call for unity comes after a year beset by scandal and crises.
Dominic Perrottet speaks at the Liberal party state council at Rosehill Gardens in Sydney. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAP
Perrottet promised the state party would decide which candidates would run and there would be more women and culturally diverse candidates.
He also attacked union groups pushing for better pay and working conditions for nurses, teachers and rail workers.
We’re reforming our education system that is built around our children and not around the demands of union bosses.
We need less ideology in schools and more reading, writing and arithmetic.
Perrottet finished his address with a pitch to voters, saying his party offered stability at a critical moment.
NSW faces a choice; our party of progress and Labor’s party of protest.
– With AAP
Updated at 00.25 EDT
Newcastle man charged with drink driving on mobility scooter
A 65-year-old man has been charged with “high-range drink driving” after police stopped him while allegedly driving an e-mobility scooter erratically on the road.
Authorities say police stopped the man after reports from members of the public over safety concerns.
The man was taken to Newcastle police station where he was subject to a breath analysis which allegedly returned a reading of 0.154.
He is expected to appear in court on 11 August 2022 and has had his licence suspended.
Updated at 00.28 EDT
National Covid summary: 89 deaths reported
Here are the latest coronavirus numbers from around Australia on Saturday, as the country records at least 89 deaths from Covid-19:
ACT
NSW
Northern Territory
Queensland
South Australia
Tasmania
Victoria
Western Australia
Updated at 23.49 EDT
From Adelaide to Ukraine: what drove one Australian to join someone else’s war?
Matt Roe was devastated when he discovered a medical condition would prevent him joining the Australian military.
“It took me years to get over it … if I ever did,” the South Australian landscaper says.
“It’s all I ever wanted to do.”
But now Roe, 36, has found a different – though potentially illegal – way to become involved in a military campaign, by leaving Australia to join the Georgian National Legion, a unit formed to support Ukraine’s struggle against the Russian invasion.
Roe is not Georgian, or Ukrainian.
He grew up in the north-east of Adelaide, and says that in a lot of ways, he “was living the dream”, earning good money as the owner of a small gardening and landscaping business.
But when the war began, the footage and reports coming from Ukraine kept Roe awake at night.
“It was really eating me up inside just sitting back at home, you know … drinking beers and plodding along enjoying my three-day weekends, whilst people over [there] were suffering.”
For more on how Roe is risking his life and prosecution to serve on the frontline in Ukraine, see the full story by Noah Nicholls.
Updated at 23.34 EDT
Northern Territory records no new Covid deaths
No one with Covid-19 has died in Northern Territory overnight, with the state recording 231 new cases on Saturday morning, 43 people in hospital, and one in ICU.
Updated at 23.28 EDT