Australia news live blog: Qld eases Covid border restrictions; Scott Morrison speaks; new evidence in search for William Tyrrell

November 14, 2021
| No Comments



8.07pm EST20:07

Let me bring you this update from the Senate committee today where they are just releasing the news that water is wet.

David Taylor
(@DaveTaylorNews)

And there you go..

RBA just acknowledged (to Senate Committee) children of parents who rent will find it much harder to get onto the property ladder

But also didn’t provide any solutions to that

RBA assistant governor just said it was worth of more consideration


November 15, 2021

Updated
at 8.10pm EST



8.02pm EST20:02

This morning NSW police said they were searching three new areas for the remains of William Tyrrell.

We have the full details here:

Updated
at 8.05pm EST



7.58pm EST19:58

Tasmanian premier Peter Gutwein has announced there are no new Covid-19 cases after one was announced yesterday, but says 250 people have been identified as contacts.

Click here for a list of exposure sites.

Updated
at 8.09pm EST



7.50pm EST19:50

Daniel Hurst

Daniel Hurst

There are currently about 170 Australian citizens and Australian permanent residents in Afghanistan, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade says.

The total figure of people in these categories was 286 as of the start of October – but officials this morning gave an update to the Senate inquiry into Australia’s engagement in Afghanistan.

Simon Newnham, of Dfat, said there were 87 Australian citizens and 82 Australian permanent residents registered with Dfat as being in Afghanistan as of late last week. He said the department did not hold the number of Australian visa holders currently in Afghanistan, but it continued to assist “a great number” of individuals with respect to consular cases, including to expedite visa applications.

Newnham noted such figures were “highly fluid”. He said there were in excess of 4,100 evacuees in the Australian backed evacuation flights in August – but since then the total number of people who had departed Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover had risen to 5,150 – in increase of about 1,000.

He said Dfat was focused on flights out of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, and as that became a more commercially viable option the department expected to see an increase in the number of people departing on flights. He said there had been three flights chartered by the Qatari government with coordination from Dfat, with Australian officials able to secure a number of seats for people on those flights.

There had also been individuals presenting at the border, particularly with Pakistan. Newnham reaffirmed the travel advice about the dangers over overland travel in Afghanistan, and the propensity for border crossings to open and close at short notice, but it “is the case that we’re working very much through our embassies in the region, particularly out of Islamabad, to assist those that do present at the border”.

There have been just under 900 individuals who’ve been able to cross the border and be able to be assisted by our high commission.

The inquiry was told about 80 people with Australian citizenship, permanent residency or visas had arrived in European capital cities.

Updated
at 7.54pm EST



7.42pm EST19:42

NSW Health is changing the way it reports daily cases because the origins of where each case was acquired can no longer be determined immediately.

NSW Health
(@NSWHealth)

From today, NSW Health will no longer provide a breakdown of locally acquired and overseas acquired COVID-19 cases in its daily updates but will instead provide a total of all cases. Since the introduction of quarantine-free international travel for fully vaccinated travellers


November 15, 2021



7.41pm EST19:41

In NSW 94.2% of people aged 16+ have had one dose of a Covid vaccine and 91.1% of the state (aged 16+) is fully vaccinated.

Updated
at 7.47pm EST



7.39pm EST19:39

NSW records 165 new Covid cases and one death

We’ve got a breakdown of the Covid numbers from NSW – the state has recorded 165 new cases of #COVID19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night and one person has died.

There are currently 216 people in hospital and of those, 32 people are in ICU.

The total number of cases in NSW since the beginning of the pandemic to 78,367.

Updated
at 7.46pm EST



7.36pm EST19:36

We’re going to Queensland now, where the border rules will be relaxed from tonight.

Border passes will be available to anyone who meets the criteria from 5pm this afternoon.

I’ll get you a full rundown of what changes in a minute.

Updated
at 7.38pm EST



7.26pm EST19:26

The PM is now arguing that manufacturing is central to rebuilding Australia’s economy. That the Liberals have a better track record on … you guessed it … jobs.


I am just full of optimism about where Australia is and where we are heading, but I have to tell you, manufacturing, which is why we’re here today will play a huge role in Australia’s future.

We have a million Australians back working in manufacturing. Under Labor, one in eight manufacturing jobs went. We have restored that and you can see it here in western Sydney, you can see people are back on the tools, in manufacturing jobs occurring right across the country.

What’s driving it is lower taxes, we are keeping the pressure down on electricity and energy prices, what’s driving it is getting money into skills, so apprentices can learn what they need, (so) businesses like this can go for another 75 years.

Updated
at 7.32pm EST



7.23pm EST19:23

Scott Morrison says ABC not beyond ‘the scrutiny of the Senate’

Asked about criticisms from ABC chair Ita Buttrose over a senate plan for an inquiry into the broadcaster’s complaints handling process, the PM said: “That’s for the senate.”

There is no government agency that is beyond the scrutiny of the Senate.

It is a government agency, they have their independence and nobody is questioning that, but they are not above the scrutiny of how they conduct themselves, using taxpayers money from any other government agency.

That is business as usual for the Australian Parliament. I don’t know why they would consider themselves an exception to business as usual.

Updated
at 7.34pm EST



7.20pm EST19:20

And now we are on strong borders … the PM is asked about the number of illegal fishing boats off the west coast of Australia increasing.

In response, Scott Morrison is defending the government’s history of strict border policies.


We are not double-minded about that. We do not squirm about this.

Australians understand that if they want their borders … secured, only a Coalition government can give them that confidence. We have the runs on the board. We have the best border protection agencies of anywhere in the world.

Updated
at 7.22pm EST



7.17pm EST19:17

The PM is saying technologies (that have not been invented yet) are key for their climate policies.


What we want to do is ensure that we achieve our emissions reductions by growing our economy and seeing low emissions technologies be more and more cost effective and scalable, not just here in Australia, but around the world.

When that is achieved, emissions will reduce. So we’re to see emissions reduced.

I am not happy to tell Australians what to do through climate policies. I am not happy to tax Australians on those things. And Australians can have confidence about that.

… those last lines feels a bit like we’ve jumped back to 2013 …

Updated
at 7.19pm EST



7.13pm EST19:13

The prime minister, Scott Morrison, is talking about how businesses will lead the Coalition’s climate policy.


Our approach going forward to secure our economic recovery is to not tell businesses what to do, not tell customers what to do. Our plan is to ensure they can take the lead.

The Labor Party lost telling people what to do and the only thing they love more than that is taxing them.

Updated
at 7.18pm EST

Covid-19