Good evening and thank you for reading our live coverage of the day’s events, here’s what you need to know:
- War veteran Ben Roberts-Smith executed an Afghan detainee and directed a soldier to kill a second man during a mission on Easter Sunday in 2009, a serving Special Air Service soldier has told the Federal Court. Mr Roberts-Smith is suing The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, owned by Nine, and The Canberra Times, now under separate ownership, for defamation over a series of reports in 2018 that he says portray him as a war criminal.
- Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has called on the minister who allegedly made derogatory comments about Prime Minister Scott Morrison in a text message conversation with the former NSW premier to identify themselves.
- From Senate hearings in Canberra we heard from Deputy Secretary for Social Policy Alison Frame that Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s department did not factor in the possibility of the PCR testing system collapsing and the rush for rapid antigen tests while planning to reopen the economy after COVID-19 lockdowns.
- Also from those hearings, Aged Care Services Minister Richard Colbeck says he stands by his decision to go to the cricket while a deadly Omicron outbreak swept through the sector, saying he “continued to pay attention to aged care” while at the three-day Ashes test.
- And the head of Australia’s medical regulator says half of all rapid antigen test results would have been “garbage” if the tests were rolled out too early last year.
- This morning Lisa Visentin and Cloe Read reported that federal moderate Liberal MPs will renew their push for fast-tracked protections for LGBTQ school students after reports that Citipointe Christian College in Brisbane had issued contracts requiring students to agree to specific gender roles and denounce homosexuality. But Citipointe Christian College’s principal has pushed back on the Queensland government over its referral to have the school reviewed, and has instead extended the signing date for the controversial contract that sparked an uproar.
- Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe spoke at the National Press Club today, forecasting strong demand for labour, inflation of around 2.75 per cent and drops in both unemployment and underemployment.
- Former Australian of the Year Grace Tame has addressed last month’s viral photos of her standing next to Prime Minister Scott Morrison, saying “the survival of abuse culture is dependent on submissive smiles.”
- Victoria will build a rapid antigen test manufacturing and innovation plant in a bid to secure the supply of kits amid supply chain shortages. The state government will partner with industry to establish the facility, which will have the capacity to manufacture 50 million tests a year. If approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration, the plant will also produce diagnostic tests for infectious, tropical and chronic diseases as well as reproductive health.
- Also in Victoria, the state’s ban on elective surgery could be lifted as soon as next week, with private hospitals expecting to restart treatments at 50 per cent of pre-pandemic levels. Victoria has reported 14,553 official cases of COVID-19 and 25 deaths.
- NSW has recorded 11,807 new cases of COVID-19 and 27 deaths. Today’s tally is down from yesterday’s 12,818 cases. NSW Health says that of today’s tally, 6314 are self-reported rapid antigen tests and 5493 are positive PCR swabs.
- A child aged under 10 is one of 16 deaths recorded in Queensland, another seven were in aged care. The state recorded 9630 cases and has 764 people in hospital, including 49 in ICU.
- Tasmania has recorded 666 new COVID-19 cases, the ACT 549, Western Australia 29 and in the Northern Territory 1033 cases were recorded. There were no deaths in any of those jurisdictions.
The national blog will return in the morning with Broede Carmody and we look forward to you joining us then.