
Two Sydney schools close after positive tests as PM outlines economic recovery plan. Follow today’s latest news
Updated
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9.33am BST09:33
NTEU abandons job plans after internal backlash
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6.56am BST06:56
One new case in South Australia
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6.19am BST06:19
Six people test positive on WA live export ship
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6.13am BST06:13
ACTU ‘welcomes the opportunity’ to discuss IR changes
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5.46am BST05:46
Pubs are back in the ACT – some venues can have up to 150 people
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5.28am BST05:28
Federal Labor would not sign belt and road deal with China, Richard Marles says
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5.00am BST05:00
Christian Porter does not rule out joining high court border case
Chief medical officer Brendan Murphy has faced several questions about the coronavirus outbreak on a Western Australian livestock vessel during a Senate select committee inquiry into Covid-19 on Tuesday.
Murphy said he only learned about the outbreak during a meeting of the Australian health protection principal committee meeting on Tuesday afternoon, and that he rushed from the meeting to the inquiry so had not had time to find out more information.
However, he acknowledged that the Australian Border Force, and ultimately the commonwealth, was responsible for cases to come into Australia from ships.
I don’t think it’s fair to comment on the circumstances of the Western Australian ship. I don’t know what that ship told agriculture, what they told border force … I really can’t comment without knowing the details.
We [the commonwealth] have absolute responsibility, but we do not have public health officers on the ground and we delegate under a usually extremely effective partnership with the state and territory public health officers, whom I appointed as chief human biosecurity officers, so it is a partnership.
I absolutely accept we need to look into what’s happened with this livestock vessel.
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at 8.09am BST