This blog has now ended. Read on for all of today's updates.
Live breaking news: Australia wants to 'pursue peace' with China
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has delivered a huge clue about Australia's future with China amid growing talks of a war.
Scott Morrison has delivered a huge clue about Australia's future with China.
Speaking from the Northern Territory this afternoon, the PM made clear that a new $747 million funding package for military investment is not a sign to the nation that we're preparing for war, amid ongoing tensions with the region.
"All of our objectives through the activities of our Defence Forces is designed to pursue peace," Mr Morrison told reporters.
"That is the objective of our government That is the path that we are pursuing but to do that in a region as uncertain as this you need to ensure that you have the Defence capability that enables you to protect and defend Australia's interests in that region.
"And this enables us to ensure there's an appropriate balance."
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Updates
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Man placed fake QR code at store: cops
A South Australian man has been charged after allegedly placing a fake QR code over a store’s legitimate COVID-19 digital check in.
Colin Mark Davies, 51, was arrested and charged with two counts of obstructing operations carried out relative to COVID-19 under the Emergency Management Act.
Police attended his Edwardstown home today over the allegations that took place at Franco's Fruit and Veg in South Plympton on Sunday.
After officers searched his home, they allegedly found a double-side knife, which is classified as a prohibited weapon, and was further charged with possessing a prohibited weapon.
Mr Davies was refused police bail and appeared in the Adelaide Magistrates Court via video link later this afternoon.
– Additional reporting NCA NewsWire
Fears over surge in Sydney virus numbers
The alarming rise in hotel quarantine infections across multiple Australian states is expected to worsen, with NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian warning of a “double digit” spike.
NSW, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory have all experienced a surge in returned travellers testing positive to COVID-19 in recent days, with many cases linked to people coming back from coronavirus ravaged India.
So far today there have been 24 COVID-19 cases in hotel quarantine across Australia. However, not all states have released their daily figures so that number could grow.
Picture: Dylan Coker/NCA NewsWire
Today, NSW recorded nine new hotel quarantine infections, with Ms Berejiklian warning tomorrow’s figures are expected to exceed this number.
“I was just advised that overnight we have already had double digit new cases in our hotel quarantine system, which we will report on tomorrow,” she said during Wednesday’s press conference.
“The increasing incidents of disease in some parts of the world is very substantial, it is impacting us in our quarantine system.”
Star's foul-mouthed reply to abuse claims
Aussie stand-up comic Alex Williamson has furiously denied allegations of physical abuse and “predatory behaviour” in an Instagram rant posted to his legion of followers.
It comes after the 32-year-old’s ex-girlfriend, singer Peach PRC, shared a lengthy public statement claiming Williamson was “abusive, manipulative and predatory” throughout their relationship.
Williamson responded with several sexually-explicit comments about Peach. which cannot be published here, claiming she “threw herself” at him when she was 19 and he was 29.
Picture: Instagram
COVID pill could arrive 'this year'
A pill that’s being developed by Pfizer as a potential cure for COVID-19 could be ready later this year if the trials are successful, a report said.
The antiviral drug, PF-07321332, is designed to attack the “spine” of the SARS-CoV-2 virus to prevent it from replicating in the nose, throat and lungs, The Telegraph reported.
Picture: Getty Images
“We have designed PF-07321332 as a potential oral therapy that could be prescribed at the first sign of infection, without requiring that patients are hospitalised or in critical care,” Mikael Dolsten, who leads the company’s worldwide research, development and medical division, said in a statement.
Trials are already underway with volunteers between the ages of 18 and 60 in the US and Brussels, the newspaper reported.
– Jackie Solo, New York Post
Hotel quarantine will continue to serve 'significant purpose'
Infectious disease expert and Australia's deputy chief medical officer Dr Nick Coatsworth is speaking on the ABC's Afternoon Briefing about the safety of our nation's hotel quarantine system.
"Do we have the infrastructure in place to quarantine the 9000 Australians stranded in India and what would be needed to help them safely so the broader community is safe and so they can all come home?" host Patricia Karvelas asked Dr Coatsworth.
"The debate about the safety of hotel quarantine has been cast into sharp relief with the recent breaches in Western Australia," he responded.
"We have seen from the Prime Minister there will be a doubling of capacity in Howard Springs but I don't think we should be throwing the baby out with the bathwater with the hotel quarantine system.
"Sure, hotels were never purpose-built as quarantine centres but they have served a purpose. They have served a significant purpose and they will continue to serve that purpose going forward. They represent ongoing important capacity.
"We have to learn every time there are one of these breaches and we know there were ventilation issues with the Mercure Hotel and today I understand Premier Mark McGowan has closed three hotel facilities because it is not adequate.
"And that is a sort of learning but we need to keep the hotels to maintain capacity and broaden capacity like in Howard Springs."
Hackers threaten Victorian school
A hacker group has threatened to release information on a Victorian high school after it successfully penetrated its computer systems.
Newcomb Secondary School in the Geelong suburb of Newcomb was targeted by cyber criminals over the school holidays, it can be revealed.
At the weekend, the hackers posted a chilling ultimatum to school officials on the dark web, threatening to leak documents if Newcomb Secondary School didn’t “communicate and co-operate”.
Picture: Alison Wynd
Included in the post was excerpts of documents, including one that appeared to bear the name of a student, it is understood.
The hackers have set a ticking clock that was due to hit zero early next week.
They warned school officials to get in touch before then.
– Additional reporting NCA NewsWire
Man's body found at Brisbane property
Police are expected to announce later on Wednesday if they will further investigate the death of a man whose body was found earlier this week in a suburb on Brisbane’s northside.
The man’s body is believed to have been located at a property in a street off Webster Road, Stafford, about 7km north of the CBD.
Picture: Google Maps
A police spokesman said it was an “ongoing investigation” and they were hoping to release something official on Wednesday afternoon.
“We are still waiting to hear from the investigation team,” the spokesman said.
– Additional reporting NCA NewsWire
NRL star told woman 'don't stress babe'
NRL star Jack de Belin has denied in court a young woman who has accused him and his friend of rape had “no say” in what they were doing to her.
Mr de Belin told a Downing Centre District Court trial today that the woman knew full well about the planned sex and only appeared concerned about him having a girlfriend.
Picture: NCA NewsWire/Joel Carrett
The St George Illawarra forward said after the threesome at a North Wollongong unit he had a brief shower with the woman.
She got out before him, he said, and when he came back into the bedroom he overheard her talking with his friend Callan Sinclair, who is also on trial.
“I heard her say, ‘Oh my God he’s got a girlfriend’,” Mr de Belin said.
“I said words to the effect of, ‘Don’t stress it babe. We’re on the rocks anyway. It’s complicated’.”
– Additional reporting NCA NewsWire
India's horrifying new COVID spike
India has recorded its worst day on record as it reels from its latest debilitating coronavirus crisis, recording a whopping 360,960 new infections and 3293 new deaths in last 24 hour period.
The new figures mark an incredible jump after recording 220,000 fresh cases on Tuesday.
Picture: Anindito Mukherjee/Getty Images
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the world was doing everything it can to help the struggling country, which has spent the last week breaking global infection records.
“WHO is doing everything we can, providing critical equipment and supplies, including thousands of oxygen concentrators, prefabricated mobile field hospitals and laboratory supplies,” he said.
India has now reported a total of 18 million infections, an increase of more than 360,000 in just 24 hours, which is a new world record.
– with AFP
Granddad dies in alleged burglary
A great-grandfather killed during an alleged burglary was “so excited” to set sail on his dream cruise just days later.
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Man charged with 2yo’s murder
A man has been charged over the alleged murder of a two-year-old boy found unconscious at a regional home.
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‘Unsettling’: Dutton’s call on ‘terror’ caravan
Opposition leader Peter Dutton has called for an independent assessment of a communications breakdown involving the PM over a failed Sydney terror plot.
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