Ok, that’s a wrap of the Need To Know blog for today.

Here’s the highlights:

• The Morrison government finally released its net zero emissions by 2050 modelling. It showed the value of Australian exports could triple under the federal government’s plan to reach net zero emissions by 2050.

  The new modelling predicted Australia’s hydrogen sector could rapidly grow to provide about 10 per cent of global supply by 2050, generating substantial export revenue in coming decades. The share of electric vehicles is expected to increase from 1 per cent to 90 per cent by the middle of the century.

• The Morrison government could face difficulty in getting its voter ID laws through the Senate before the election.

  One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has claimed credit for the plan, but now says she will boycott government legislation to protest vaccination mandates.

• The PM has had to spend another press conference defending his trustworthiness.

  More than a week after the French President Emmanuel Macron accused him of lying over pulling out of a $90 billion submarine deal, Morrison said he could be trusted by the Australian people.

• Another 162,003 vaccine doses were completed in Australia in the past 24 hours. The national rollout stands at 37.3 million doses.

  The first dose rate for Australians 16 and older is now 90.1 per cent, while 82.4 per cent are fully vaccinated.

• Liberal Party preselection for the next federal election will be fierce in the key Sydney seat of Bennelong, after longtime MP John Alexander confirmed on Friday he would retire in 2022.

• Popular Australian entertainer Bert Newton has been farewelled at a state funeral in Melbourne.

  A host of entertainers and politicians, including Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews and federal Labor leader Anthony Albanese, attended the ceremony at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne’s CBD.

• Victoria has recorded 1115 new cases of coronavirus overnight, just below the seven-day average of 1152. NSW has recorded 286 new local cases of COVID-19 overnight.
• Queensland Health authorities are worrying about the current COVID-19 outbreak on the Gold Coast, just a few weeks before the annual schoolies gathering for school leavers.