And that’s where we’ll leave you on this Saturday evening. Here’s what we learned today:
Death numbers from Covid remain high across the country, with 97 nationally – just shy of yesterday’s total of 98, a grim record for the pandemic. All the main statistics from each state are in our National Covid summary, which you can find pinned to the top of this blog, and you can read more about what’s happened in Covid news today in our wrap.
Wild weather has caused damage and flooding across the country, with parts of Victoria, NSW and Queensland cleaning up today after being hit by torrential rain on Friday afternoon, with homes being left without power, properties flooding and widespread damage.
Flooding in South Australia has damaged rail infrastructure and cut food supply lines to the Northern Territory and Western Australia. Shortages of food and essential supplies are now a concern in Darwin, Western Australia and remote towns including Coober Pedy, but the federal government has sought to reassure people they will not go without food.
The federal government has announced it will spend an extra $50m over the next four years to pull east coast koalas back from the brink. The money will underpin a national koala recovery plan, promised after the devastating 2020 bushfires.
Kanye West will have to be fully vaccinated if he wants to give concerts in Australia, Scott Morrison said on Saturday, after reports the hip-hop artist was planning an Australian tour in March.
Thanks so much for sticking with us and enjoy your Saturday evening. See you next time.
Listening to the New South Wales premier, Dominic Perrottet, speaking on Friday, you’d be forgiven for thinking Victoria was a new member of his cabinet.
Perrottet said the NSW government had “worked alongside” Victoria to deliver thousands of rapid antigen tests before schools resume next week. They were “the only states in the country” that could boast as much, he said.
On the business support package likely to be announced in the coming days, Perrottet again referenced Victoria – the NSW treasurer, Matt Kean, was working “very closely” with his southern counterparts “because we’re in a very, very similar situation”, he said.
The bonhomie is apparently shared. On Thursday the Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, said the two premiers “work together as close as we can”.
For anyone who lived in NSW or Victoria through the first two years of the Covid-19 pandemic, this developing bromance between leaders from opposite ends of the ideological divide is a jarring shift.
Benita Kolovos and Michael McGowan have more here:
Requiring three doses for full Covid vaccination would “send a clear signal that it is essential, rather than simply a matter of choice and personal responsibility”, a member of a World Health Organization advisory group said.
Though the national cabinet is still awaiting advice from Australia’s independent expert group on vaccination, Atagi, as to whether people should only be considered fully vaccinated against Covid after three doses, the Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, had been pre-empting Atagi’s advice.
“International evidence, our own experience, the views of experts and hopefully the confirmation of both Atagi and national cabinet later today will mean that everyone knows and understands that this is a three-dose project,” he said on Thursday.
Given Atagi is yet to release its advice, the matter was not settled at a meeting of the national cabinet later that day.
But on Friday the New South Wales premier, Dominic Perrottet, backed Andrews, saying he thought the proposal “makes sense”, and that even without a decision by the national cabinet three doses should be required to be “up to date” with vaccination.
Read the full story from Melissa Davey, Michael McGowan and Benita Kolovos:
Hip-hop artist Kanye West will have to be fully vaccinated if he wants to give concerts in Australia, Scott Morrison said on Saturday, after media said the performer planned an Australian tour in March.
“The rules are you have to be fully vaccinated,” Morrison told a news conference on Saturday. “They apply to everybody, as people have seen most recently. It doesn’t matter who you are, they are the rules. Follow the rules – you can come. You don’t follow the rules, you can’t.”
The federal government has sought to reassure people they will not go without food, after severe flooding cut major transport links in the centre of the country.
Inland floods damaged rail infrastructure in South Australia and cut food supply lines to the Northern Territory and Western Australia this week.
Shortages of food and essential supplies are now a concern in Darwin,parts of Western Australia, and remote towns, including Coober Pedy.
The federal emergency management minister Bridget McKenzie said on Saturday:
Our first concern is for the safety and needs of those directly affected and we know that through working together we can keep the wheels turning and restore supply chains across the country.
The community has a role in this too, by buying what you need and not hoarding. This unnecessarily spikes demand and then directly impacts supply.
The government’s National Coordination Mechanism is working through options with states and territories to keep essential supplies stocked and carry out repairs quickly, McKenzie said.
A 14-day major emergency was declared in South Australia on Friday, allowing the state’s police commissioner Grant Stevens to direct the movement of freight and improve SA food security.
The Stuart Highway, the main link between Adelaide and Darwin, remains underwater on Saturday and there is no time frame for when it will reopen.
The disruption to the supply chain is the biggest upset to food supply in Western Australia in “living memory”, Richard Forbes from the Independent Food Distributors of Australia told the ABC:
This is a very serious situation. Thousands of tonnes of food are transported every day from the eastern states to the west.
He said the damage to infrastructure meant 6,500 venues serviced by IFDA, including nursing homes, cafes and restaurants, were immediately going without food.
Coles trucks heading towards communities in Australia’s south-east coastal area. Photograph: Rick Rycroft/AP
The investigation is now being led by the major crime division with the support of the homicide squad and district detectives.
The exact cause of death and the circumstances will be thoroughly investigated and this will take some time. But I can tell you, at this stage, we are treating this incident as a double murder suicide.
Police are still at the scene, trying to scour the home and collect some evidence and look into any sort of clues into what would have happened leading up to the depths yesterday evening.
They are appealing for public information for anyone, close family, relatives, neighbours, friends, to report to police about anything they might know about what might have led to the tragic deaths. They want anyone with any sort of information to call Crime Stoppers.
Western Australia police have issued a statement regarding the discovery of three bodies at a home in Perth.
Officers from the major crime division are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of an adult male and two children at a home in Huntingdale on Friday 28 January 2022.
About 6.35pm, police were called to the home by a family member. Upon attendance a 40-year-old man, a six-year-old boy and a four-year-old girl were located deceased.
The 40-year-old man is the father of the two children.
Investigations into the circumstances surrounding the deaths are ongoing.
A large police presence including detectives and forensic officers will remain at the scene.
WA Police will continue to provide support and assistance to the family, friends and first-responders affected by this tragic incident.
The Northern Territory has recorded 828 new cases of Covid-19.
There are currently 4,650 active cases in the NT, most in the top end of the state.
There are 111 people hospitalised in the Northern Territory with Covid, 10 of those are receiving oxygen therapy, and five are in intensive care units.
The health minister, Natasha Fyles, said from 6pm this evening, all of the territory will be placed under a seven-day mask mandate out of doors.
The mask mandate applies to anyone aged over 12 who cannot physically distance. Those who are exercising or who can maintain physical distance from other people do not need to wear a mask.
Alice Springs prison has recorded 154 new cases, bring the cluster inside that prison to 274.
