As it happened: The Endeavour shipwreck found in US; NZ border to reopen to vaccinated Kiwis living in Australia; COVID-19 cases grow across the nation

Good evening and thank you for reading our live coverage of the day’s events, here’s what has been happening:

• Australia’s announcement that scientists had confirmed the final resting place of Captain James Cook’s most famous ship has been vehemently disputed by archaeologists in Rhode Island, where the shipwreck lies, who said, “RIMAP recognises the connection between Australian citizens of British descent and the endeavour, but RIMAP’s decisions will be driven by proper scientific process and not Australian emotions or politics.” The Australian National Maritime Museum said it “is confident that the preponderance of evidence identifies shipwreck site RI 2394 in Newport Harbor as the last resting place of Endeavour.”

• An elite soldier who has alleged war veteran Ben Roberts-Smith was involved in the execution of two Afghan detainees has denied lying about the incidents, but admitted he drank from a prosthetic leg that he was told had been taken from one of the men’s bodies.

Ben Roberts-Smith outside Federal Court.Credit: Kate Geraghty

• The right of church schools to expel LGBTIQ students will be scrapped as part of the government’s push to legislate religious freedom laws, as Prime Minister Scott Morrison tries to lock in the support of moderate Liberal MPs ahead of a potential vote on the bill in the next sitting fortnight. The federal government will seek to amend a contentious section of the Sex Discrimination Act alongside its religious discrimination bill, in a move that follows lengthy discussions between the Prime Minister’s office and key backbenchers over the past week.

• The Attorney-General’s department has signalled that it won’t intervene in a dispute before the workplace umpire brought by Qantas trying to end an enterprise agreement with its long-haul cabin crew. The airline last month said it had applied to the Fair Work Commission to scrap the agreement, as a “last resort to change restrictive and outdated rostering processes”, after workers voted overwhelmingly against it.

• Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says rising COVID-19 case numbers are the “cost” of getting students across the state back in classrooms, but the quicker the cases are detected, the fewer additional infections there will be. About 1000 Victorian school students and 79 staff tested positive for COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 4pm on Wednesday, the state government has confirmed. A Victorian government spokeswoman said the detections, through the voluntary twice-weekly rapid antigen testing program, shows it is working, “catching cases before they enter the classroom to keep school communities safer”.
• New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has today announced some changes to international borders. From February 27, vaccinated New Zealanders living in Australia will be able to return home without the need to enter government-run quarantine. Traveller has done an Explainer on what it means for people heading across the Tasman.
• In NSW, Tourism Minister Stuart Ayres says he is confident the ban on singing and dancing will be lifted by the end of February. About 300,000 eligible people aged 70 and over are yet to receive their booster. Elderly people are among those most at risk from COVID-19, and have made up the majority of hospitalisations and deaths as the Omicron wave has swept through the state. The state has recorded 12,632 new cases of COVID-19 and 38 deaths. Today’s tally is up from yesterday’s 11,807 cases.
• Victorian surge payments aimed at encouraging healthcare workers to take on risky shifts on the coronavirus frontline will be extended for another two months. No major changes should be made to Victoria’s COVID-19 restrictions for the next fortnight, leading epidemiologists say, as state authorities wait to see how the return to school affects case numbers and hospitalisations. Victorian COVID-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar says coronavirus-related hospitalisations could rise in coming weeks, but pressure on the state’s health system has eased since the declaration of a “code brown” last month. Victoria has recorded 12,157 cases of COVID-19 and 34 deaths, aged in their 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, and 100s. Their deaths bring the total number in the state since the pandemic began to 2088. According to the Chief Health Officer’s update, 17 of the people died in the past two days, and the majority died in the past week. Four of the deaths were historical cases and occurred in November, December, and mid-January.

Mark McGowan has thanked Scott Morrison for his support over WA’s border closures. Credit: Peter De Kruijff

• Prime Minister Scott Morrison has commended West Australian Premier Mark McGowan’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and backed his decision to keep the state’s borders shut. WA recorded 29 new cases today.
• The powerful Central Land Council says new travel restrictions in remote Northern Territory communities will save lives, as the federal government works to provide oral COVID-19 medication to Aboriginal communities in the coming weeks. The Northern Territory has reported 922 new cases and one death.
• Tasmania has recorded 656 new cases of COVID-19 and one death. There have been nine deaths from COVID-19 in Queensland, and 8643 new COVID-19 cases recorded. The ACT has reported 529 new COVID-19 cases and no deaths. South Australia has recorded 1583 new cases and one death, a woman who was aged over 100.

Thanks for reading, and we look forward to seeing you back with Broede Carmody tomorrow morning.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has commended West Australian Premier Mark McGowan’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and backed his decision to keep the state’s borders shut.

Speaking to Perth radio station 6PR this afternoon, Mr Morrison said he believed Mr McGowan had done the right thing by putting the reopening on hold indefinitely.

Mark McGowan and Scott Morrison. The Prime Minister told Perth radio the federal election was not a competition between himself and the Premier.Credit: Peter De Kruijff

“That’s the Premier’s call. That’s what I’m saying. And he has to make that decision based on what he thinks his health system is ready to absorb,” he said.

“At the end of the day, Mark McGowan’s got to make that call and we’ve been supporting him.”

Mr Morrison said WA’s experience during the pandemic had been vastly different from that of the eastern states and the state should open “when they are ready”.

“The point is that when they’re ready they will move, but ultimately, they need to get ready and learn lessons. The west has done incredibly well and I commend Mark for that,” he said.

“It’s been good to have him around the table [at national cabinet] and to have that perspective and for the eastern states to understand that perspective so it’s not just me standing up for Western Australia.”

Asked by Breakfast host Gareth Parker about his prospects of securing WA’s vote ahead of the federal election, Mr Morrison said the following:

“Whichever way you’re voting, Mark McGowan’s the Premier the next day. It’s not a state election. It’s a federal election. It’s about who you want to be Prime Minister.

“You’ve got Mark McGowan, he was strongly supported at the last election and he’s Premier either way, and the next day after, and we’ve always worked very well together.

“It’s not [a contest] between Mark and I any more than it’s a contest between me and any other Premier.”

Relations between WA and the federal government have been at times strained during the pandemic, with Mr McGowan accusing Mr Morrison of being in a “mission to bring COVID into WA”.

Australia Post has been ordered to pay a Melbourne couple more than $3000 after repeatedly failing to deliver parcels to their home during the pandemic, instead leaving them at the local post office.

Wade Short, of Eltham, in Melbourne’s outer north-east, took the national postal service to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal last year after growing increasingly frustrated by the poor delivery service to his address.

A Melbourne couple has won $3100 in compensation after Australia Post repeatedly failed to deliver parcels to their address during the pandemicCredit: Jessica Shapiro

Deliveries were not made when Mr Short and his partner were at home. Instead, cards were left at their address, instructing them to pick up the parcels at the post office, a practice known as “carding”.

Some parcels were left at the front door without their doorbell being rung, while others were flung up the external stairs to the couple’s front door.

VCAT found the pair spent half an hour every week attending their local post office to collect parcels that Australia Post failed to deliver.

Read more: Australia Post ordered to compensate couple for failing to deliver parcels

Beijing: A total of 55 new COVID-19 infections were found among Olympic Games-related personnel on Feb. 2, the chair of the Beijing 2022 medical expert panel said on Thursday, the highest daily tally so far.

Twenty-nine cases were found among new airport arrivals, Brian McCloskey told the International Olympic Committee session the day before the Games’ official opening, while 26 were among those in the “closed loop” bubble that separates all event personnel from the public.

Workers wearing protective gear walk through the airport ahead of the 2022 Winter Olympics.Credit: AP

Since January 23, there have been 287 positive tests among Games-related personnel from a total of 610,000 tests.

“The numbers are very small,” McCloskey said. He said once all participants arrived the numbers would start to drop.

“We are confident that the system will work. But we are not relaxed. We keep all measures in place,” McCloskey said.

Participants in Beijing are confined to a “closed loop” in order to prevent contact with the general public, moving between accommodation and Olympic venues on official transport.

Every Games participant is also tested on a daily basis in an effort to identify any infections within the loop quickly.

In contrast to many countries seeking to live with COVID-19, China has adopted a zero-tolerance policy, which has involved strict border controls and cancelling nearly all international flights.

All Olympic participants are arriving on charter flights.

Reuters

The powerful Central Land Council says new travel restrictions in remote Northern Territory communities will save lives, as the federal government works to provide oral COVID-19 medication to Aboriginal communities in the coming weeks.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt used his biosecurity powers on Wednesday night to prevent people from entering or exiting dozens of communities across the NT as the jurisdiction battles an escalating outbreak of the virus.

A COVID-19 testing site in the town of Katherine, in the Top End.Credit: Krystle Wright.

Mr Hunt said the determination had been made at the request of the NT government and local Aboriginal land councils.

“One principle that I’ve maintained is that before bringing in these declarations, which are very significant movement restrictions … that it would have to be with the consent of the community and with the consent of the [territory] government,” he said.

The NT recorded 1133 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday. There are 129 people in hospital with the virus, with five of those in intensive care.

Read more: Federal lockdowns welcomed by Aboriginal group as COVID-19 spreads in NT

The right of church schools to expel LGBTIQ students will be scrapped as part of the government’s push to legislate religious freedom laws, as the Prime Minister tries to lock in the support of moderate Liberal MPs ahead of a potential vote on the bill in the next sitting fortnight.

The federal government will seek to amend a contentious section of the Sex Discrimination Act alongside its religious discrimination bill, in a move that follows lengthy discussions between the Prime Minister’s office and key backbenchers over the past week.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has flagged an amendment to the government’s religious discrimination bill to protect students from discrimination.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Moderate Liberal MPs Dave Sharma, Katie Allen, Fiona Martin and Angie Bell are pushing for the provision to be immediately scrapped as part of the religious bill’s passage, but the detail of the amendment is still being worked out.

Scott Morrison confirmed the amendment in a radio interview on Thursday, where he opposed the decision by Brisbane school Citipointe Christian College to issue contracts requiring students to agree to specific gender roles and denounce homosexuality or face expulsion. The school has now withdrawn the contracts.

“My kids go to a Christian school here in Sydney, and I wouldn’t want my school doing that either,” Mr Morrison told Brisbane’s B105.3 radio.

Read more: Church schools will lose right to expel gay students as PM deals with moderate Liberals

Audio streaming service Spotify has been making headlines this week after folk rock legend Neil Young asked the service to remove his music.

The Canadian-American songwriter took umbrage to episodes of The Joe Rogan Experience, a podcast Spotify reportedly paid around US$100 million to host exclusively on their platform.

Young said the podcast aired “dangerous life-threatening COVID-19 falsehoods”.

In the wake of his request, Spotify’s share price tumbled, other artists including Joni Mitchell joined the exodus, and thousands of Spotify customers cancelled their subscriptions.

The streamer has since made its COVID-19 policies public and promised to add content advisory warnings to any podcast episodes discussing the pandemic. Rogan himself has said he is a Neil Young fan and will endeavour to balance things out in the future.

Today on Please Explain, senior culture writer Karl Quinn joins Nathanael Cooper to look at the controversy between Neil Young and Spotify.

The Attorney-General’s department has signalled that it won’t intervene in a dispute before the workplace umpire brought by Qantas trying to end an enterprise agreement with its long-haul cabin crew.

The airline last month said it had applied to the Fair Work Commission to scrap the agreement, as a “last resort to change restrictive and outdated rostering processes”, after workers voted overwhelmingly against it.

Qantas is trying to end an enterprise agreement with long-haul cabin crew. Credit: Brendon Thorne/Bloomberg

The Transport Workers’ Union says the new arrangement would have cut pay and conditions for some workers and doubled standby times in rosters.

After unions wrote a letter to Attorney-General Michaelia Cash, urging her to intervene in the dispute, senior bureaucrats in her department on Thursday watered down any expectation the government would step in.

Jody Anderson, first assistant secretary of the safety and industrial policy division told a Senate committee discussing job security there was no intention for the government to intervene, stating it was a matter of the parties.

When questioned by Labor senator Tony Sheldon, Anne Sheehan, first assistant secretary of the industrial relations legal division, repeated Ms Anderson’s assertion, adding the government assessed interventions in Fair Work disputes on a case-by-case basis.

NSW Tourism Minister Stuart Ayres says he is confident the ban on singing and dancing will be lifted by the end of February.

Restrictions were imposed in December in response to the Omicron wave which mandated masks indoors, imposed two square metre density limits for hospitality venues, and banned singing and dancing at pubs, clubs and music festivals.

NSW Tourism Minister Stuart Ayres with Premier Dominic Perrottet. Credit: James Brickwood

They were extended last week until at least February 27.

Speaking at the launch of the 2022 Great Southern Nights festival line-up, Mr Ayres said he was “pretty confident” the restrictions won’t be extended past that date.

“We think that we’re getting through the worst of Omicron,” he said on Thursday.

“We have to live with COVID, we can’t let this lock us in our homes.”

Surge payments aimed at encouraging healthcare workers to take on risky shifts on the coronavirus frontline will be extended for another two months.

A Victorian Department of Health spokesman confirmed the Hospital Surge Support Allowance, which was introduced in October, would now run until March 31 this year.

Health professionals’ surge payments will be extended.

The surge allowance – which equates to about $60 per shift or payments of up to $300 a week – was due to end this month.

The allowance is paid to healthcare workers working in high risk areas including emergency departments, ICUs and on coronavirus wards, as well as working paramedics.

“Our dedicated nurses, doctors, allied health professionals and our entire health workforce have risen to the challenge of the COVID pandemic, working day in, day out to keep Victorians safe and healthy,” the spokesman said.

“We’ve backed our hard-working health workforce with funding for more wellbeing support, investment in more training and the extension of the surge allowance which was provided last year.”

Victorian Healthcare Association chief executive Tom Symondson welcomed the extension of the surge payments, but said he wanted to see it expanded to other healthcare workers in patient-facing roles including at hospitals and community healthcare centres.

“Many healthcare providers are struggling to retain staff, let alone recruit them, so the next critical step is to expand this payment to other healthcare workers,” he said. “They need to feel valued during this public health crisis.”