As it happened: NSW records one new local COVID-19 case in Bondi; restrictions ease in Victoria as state records three new cases

Thanks for following along today, I’m Natassia Chrysanthos signing off the blog for another evening. Here’s a recap of the major developments:

• NSW recorded one new case of COVID-19 in eastern Sydney this afternoon, after 40 days without community transmission. The driver, a man in his 60s, attended several venues in the eastern suburbs and one in North Ryde while potentially infectious. “Urgent investigations into the source of the infection and contact tracing are underway, as is genome sequencing,” NSW Health said in a statement.
• Victoria recorded three new cases and eased several restrictions. Melbourne’s 25km travel limit will be removed and Melburnians will be able to visit regional Victoria from 11.59pm on Thursday. Gatherings of up to 20 people will be allowed outside in Melbourne, while household gatherings can involve two visitors per day plus dependents. Gyms, indoor entertainment venues, electronic gaming venues can open.
• Greens Senator Larissa Waters was set to introduce a bill in Parliament to establish an inquiry into Christian Porter’s fitness to be a minister into Parliamen. At a press conference this afternoon she said a rape allegation still hung over Mr Porter’s head. He denies it and pursued a defamation claim against the ABC over the claims.
• Australia’s new free trade agreement with the UK received mixed feedback. Business groups were impressed but unions were furious at the announcement of a new agricultural visa accompanying the deal, which will no longer require British backpackers to do farm work but instead brings in workers from 10 southeast Asian nations.

• And finally, Australia’s minimum wage will go up by almost $20 a week after the independent umpire decided that the economy had improved dramatically. The absolute minimum wage will be $772 a week or $20.33 an hour. It will come into effect from next month for most industries but be delayed until September for retail and November for aviation and tourism.

Have a lovely evening - we’ll be back again early tomorrow morning.

Anyone who attended a screening of the Salma Hayek and Ryan Reynolds movie, The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard, at Bondi Junction on Sunday has been asked to immediately get a COVID-19 test after a man in the audience tested positive today.

Those who were at the 1.45pm screening of the film at Bondi Junction Event Cinemas must immediately call NSW Health on 1800 943 553, get tested and self-isolate until Sunday week (June 27).

People who were at the cinemas between 1.30pm and 4pm on Sunday but did not see that particular screening should still call NSW Health and get a test.

The man, a driver in his 60s whose work involved transporting air crew, also attended a number of other locations at the Westfield, as well as along New South Head Road in Vaucluse, between Friday and Tuesday.

Anyone at the following venues at these times should call NSW Health, and immediately get a COVID-19 test.

NSW Health said close contacts were being urgently contacted, and asked to get tested and isolate.

The judge presiding over a Twitter defamation case brought by Defence Minister Peter Dutton against a refugee advocate has told the parties the lawsuit is not “amongst the biggest defamation cases” ever seen in the Federal Court and ordered the men to attend mediation.

Mr Dutton filed Federal Court proceedings in April against Shane Bazzi over a tweet on February 25 this year labelling him a “rape apologist”. Mr Bazzi was knocked back in his bid to apply for a visa to visit asylum seekers on Nauru in 2016 by the Nauru Consulate-General.

Defence Minister Peter Dutton on Wednesday.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

In his tweet, Mr Bazzi posted a link to a Guardian Australia article reporting Mr Dutton’s assertion on Sky News in 2019 that some women on Nauru “have claimed that they’ve been raped and came to Australia to seek an abortion”. Mr Dutton suggested they were “trying it on” in order to secure a medical transfer to Australia.

Mr Bazzi wrote above the link: “Peter Dutton is a rape apologist.”

The tweet was published in the wider context of reporting on allegations made by former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins, who has said she was raped by another former staffer in Parliament House in March 2019.

At a preliminary hearing of Mr Dutton’s case on Wednesday, Federal Court Justice Richard White said “without meaning any disrespect to anyone ... this would not be amongst the biggest defamation cases that have come before the court”.

Read the full story here.

Australia’s minimum wage will go up by almost $20 a week after the independent umpire decided that the economy had improved dramatically.

The absolute minimum wage will be $772 a week or $20.33 an hour. It will come into effect from next month for most industries but be delayed until September for retail and November for aviation and tourism because they have suffered greater damage from the coronavirus.

Fair Work Commission President Iain Ross cautioned that the threat of future outbreaks and the pace of the vaccine rollout presented risks to the economy.

Fair Work Commission president Justice Iain Ross heads the minimum wage panel.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

However, he said, “the broad consensus is that the performance of the economy has exceeded expectations and the economic recovery is well underway”.

Up to 2.5 million people are paid minimum wages, with about 180,000 on the absolute minimum of $19.84 an hour and more than 2 million on industry minimums, which are higher. The minimum wage was $753.80 a week, but will now increase by $18.80 a week.

The unions had asked for a 3.5 per cent rise starting next month while industry groups wanted no more than 1.1 per cent with delayed starting times for some industries such as tourism that had seen their business reduced more than most because of the coronavirus.

You can follow that story here.

NSW Health is investigating after a man from Sydney’s east tested positive to COVID-19 on Wednesday, the state’s first local case in 40 days.

The man, in his 60s, works as a driver in a role which includes transporting international air crew.

He had a saliva test on Tuesday which returned positive, and was confirmed by a second PCR test on Wednesday.

“Urgent investigations into the source of the infection and contact tracing are underway, as is genome sequencing,” NSW Health said in a statement.

A number of locations visited by the man in Sydney’s east and north have been identified as potential exposure sites.

Anyone who attended a screening of the Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard at Event Cinemas, Bondi Junction on Sunday, June 13 at 1.45pm is considered a close contact. They must get tested, self-isolate for 14 days regardless of the result, and call NSW Health.

For the following exposure sites, people should call NSW Health, self-isolate and get tested until they receive further information:

• Belle Cafe, Vaucluse, Friday 11 June, 9.15am to 9.50am
• Sourdough Bakery, Bondi Junction, Friday 11 June, 12.40pm to 1.10pm
• Belle Cafe, Vaucluse, Saturday 12 June, 10.20am to 10.45am
• David Jones, Bondi Junction, Saturday 12 June, 11am to 11.40am
• Myer Bondi, Bondi Junction, Saturday 12 June, 11.40am to 12.15pm
• Washoku Vaucluse, Vaucluse, Saturday 12 June, 12pm to 1.30pm
• Belle Cafe, Vaucluse, Saturday 12 June, 1.20pm to 1.50pm
• Belle Cafe, Vaucluse, Sunday 13 June, 11.30am to 12pm
• Events Cinema (all screenings other than the Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard), Bondi Junction, Sunday 13 June, 1.30pm to 4pm
• Rocco’s, Vaucluse, Monday 14 June, 10.55am to 11.30am
• Belle Cafe, Vaucluse, Tuesday 15 June, 9.50am to 10.25am

• Celeste Catering Macquarie Park Cemetery Cafe, Macquarie Park Cemetery, North Ryde, Tuesday 15 June, 1pm to 1.20pm

The state had previously reported no new local cases on Wednesday as investigations continue into whether a returned traveller caught COVID-19 within a Sydney quarantine hotel.

Greens Senator Larissa Waters will introduce a bill to establish an inquiry into Christian Porter’s fitness to be a minister into Parliament later today.

At a press conference this afternoon she said a rape allegation still hung over Mr Porter’s head. He denies it and pursued a defamation claim against the ABC over the claims.

Jo Dyer, a friend of the late woman who accused Mr Porter, said that defamation action had ended “not with a bang but with an embarrassing whimper”.

Jo Dyer feels that she and other friends of the woman who has accused Christian Porter of a decades-old rape have been entrusted with her story. Mr Porter strenuously denies the allegations.Credit: Roy VanDerVegt

Senator Waters said she hoped to have a Senate inquiry into her bill, which could act as a de facto inquiry itself.

But she predicted the government would use its numbers to ensure there would be no hearings.

“The women of Australia deserve better, Kate deserves better,” Senator Waters said.

Nine News is reporting that one new COVID-19 case has been detected in the eastern Sydney suburb of Bondi this afternoon.

We’ll bring you exposure site details and any further information once we have confirmation from NSW Health.

A COVID-19 testing clinic at Bondi Beach.Credit: Brook Micthell

A record number of vaccine doses were administered in Queensland yesterday, the latest health department data on the rollout shows.

A total of 30,676 received a COVID-19 vaccine shot yesterday, the first time the state had recorded more than 30,000 doses in a single day.

The ACT also racked up a record day for vaccinations, with 3160 doses carried out on Tuesday.

You can see how the rollout is progressing in your state or territory using the interactive below.

As it stands, about 21.4 per cent of Australia’s population has received their first COVID-19 vaccine dose and 2.3 per cent of the population has been fully vaccinated.

But the true percentage of the population that has been fully vaccinated is higher than 2.3 per cent due to patchy reporting of second doses.

In his earlier press conference, Acting Victorian Premier James Merlino admitted that Victorian residents who have gone a week without power after last week’s storms have paid a heavy price.

Mr Merlino, whose state seat of Monbulk is among the locations worst affected by storm damage, power outages and now water contamination, said he would be attending meetings today to discuss what more could be done to aid the recovery.

As of this morning, 10,000 homes were still without power and several thousand residents were ordered not to drink or boil tap water as it had been contaminated.

Les Davidson sweeps water in the front yard of his Traralgon home.Credit: Blake Bourne

Some residents are disappointed Mr Merlino hasn’t been more visible in his electorate since the storm, although access to some communities remains difficult due to fallen or falling trees and blocked roads.

“This is my community, it is where I live, where my extended family live,” Mr Merlino said. “We got the message this morning not to drink the water in the house… When I was talking to the SES chief officer the other day, he described it as tree carnage. That is exactly what it is.”

Mr Merlino said he had been speaking with officials, volunteers and emergency services to find out what further support the region needs. He will also be holding an emergency cabinet meeting today.

“Seven days is an incredibly long time [to go without power], and for some households it may be longer than that,” Mr Merlino said.

But he would not be drawn into whether the ADF or other government bodies could be brought in to clear fallen trees, and said it was too early to talk about the extent of damage.

Mr Merlino said emergency management commissioner Andrew Crisp was the person who would decide whether additional agencies were called in.

“He will make the assessment about what additional resources need to be brought in, whether that is our forest fire management resources within the state government, whether that is asking for ADF support,” Mr Merlino said.“That assessment is being made.”

The Christian Porter saga is not over.

Greens Senator Larissa Waters will be holding a press conference in Parliament House later this afternoon alongside Jo Dyer, the director of Adelaide Writers Week and a friend of the late woman who accused Mr Porter of raping her when she was 16 and he was 17.

Mr Porter has vigorously denied those allegations and pursued the ABC for defamation over the claims in a dispute that settled.

Senator Waters will be introducing a bill to set up an inquiry into whether Mr Porter is fit to be a minister. Ms Dyer is in Canberra to lobby for support.

Without government backing — and there is no sign that will happen — the bill will not get up but it could force Labor to clarify its position.

The press conference is at 3.10pm.