Health News at Your Fingertips

With that, we’ll wrap up our live coverage for the day. Here’s a summary of the main news developments:

• A coroner investigating the deaths of Hannah Clarke and her children recognised the mother’s “astounding” bravery, saying it was unlikely anyone could have stopped Rowan Baxter’s murderous plans.
• The New South Wales government has agreed to demands from the state’s rail union to make hundreds of millions of dollars in modifications to a new train fleet after a years-long industrial dispute.
• Businesswoman Jenny West was given a “verbal offer” for a New York-based trade commissioner job, but the head of Investment NSW, Amy Brown, was told to “unwind” the process after an instruction from the office of the then deputy premier John Barilaro, an inquiry has heard.
• The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has met with his British counterpart, Boris Johnson, on the sidelines of the Nato summit in Madrid.
• Australia’s governor general, David Hurley, has apologised for a decision made “on the spur of a happy moment” to pose for a photo with and provide a testimonial for a builder who completed his home renovation, which was later used in the company’s advertising material on its website and social media.
• Australia recorded at least 59 deaths from Covid-19.

Thanks for reading. We’ll be back tomorrow to do it all over again. Have a pleasant evening.

Social media users report Service NSW app glitch preventing voucher use

Social media is awash with New South Wales residents complaining about a glitch with the Service NSW app, as millions of dollars of government-issued restaurant and entertainment vouchers are set to expire on Friday.

On Wednesday night, several Twitter users reported that when they went to access their vouchers, they were met with a screen that said “something went wrong”.

The message said: “We’re unable to load your vouchers. Try again later.”

The error also appeared multiple times when Guardian journalists attempted to open the app.

Some Twitter users complained the issue occurred at the point of sale, forcing them to pay for their bill without the voucher.

Guardian Australia contacted Service NSW for clarification.

Penny Wong says Australia is considering imposing sanctions on Myanmar

At a media appearance in Kuala Lumpur earlier today as part of her visit to Malaysia, the foreign minister, Penny Wong, signalled that the Australian government is actively considering imposing sanctions on Myanmar.

More than one year on from the military coup that overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi’s government, the junta continues to detain Australian Sean Turnell despite pleas for his release.

Asked if there was any move to impose sanctions against Myanmar, and whether she had sought advice on any military figures who would be best to target, Wong said:

I said clearly before the election that was something we thought was necessary, and you should anticipate that that’s a matter under active consideration.

But what I would say on Myanmar is this: obviously, Myanmar has been a topic in the meetings I’ve been having in the region. I have been struck by the extent to which members of Asean with whom I have met are realistic about, and share our frustration about, the lack of progress in relation to the five-point consensus.

It’s important for us to engage with regional leaders about the next steps we wish to take as well as others seek to take in Myanmar.

Wong later said:

Prof Turnell is our first priority when it comes to Myanmar and we have obviously engaged with regional counterparts about this issue.

Wong also noted she engaged with the National Unity Government of Myanmar – a government in exile formed by politicians ousted by the coup – while in opposition and said: “I can flag to you that it is my intention to do so again.”

Daniel Hurst

Ownership of Darwin port Australia’s decision as sovereign nation, US Marines commanding officer says

The US respects Australia’s right to make its own sovereign decisions about the ownership of the Port of Darwin, according to the commanding officer of the US Marines in Darwin.

With Anthony Albanese flagging a fresh review of a Chinese company’s long-term lease over the port, US Marines Corp Col Christopher Steele said he had not encountered any practical hindrances from the ownership arrangements.

Steele, who is commanding officer of the 2022 Marine Rotational Force-Darwin Rotation, told reporters in Canberra this afternoon:

I’m certainly aware of the ownership of the port. The perspective that we have is that Australia is an ally, Australia is a sovereign nation and it has made the decision … I have not had a problem not being able to do something in Australia. I think my only problem is I want to do too much.

The Northern Territory’s then Country Liberal party government granted a 99-year lease over the Port of Darwin to Landbridge Group in 2015.

The previous Morrison government last year ordered a review of any national security implications surrounding the Port of Darwin, but this did not lead to any action.

Albanese, who was previously critical of the sale, said during a visit to Darwin earlier this month that “we’ll have a review of the circumstances of the port”. The prime minister added that this work would be done “in an orderly way”.

Speaking to reporters at the US embassy today, Steele said there were currently about 1,800 Marines in Darwin as part of the latest rotational force, but the numbers fluctuated because the US also brought in a “surge force” for specific named exercises.

At the same press event, US Marines Corp Capt Joseph Di Pietro voiced support for increased trilateral exercises with Japan and Australia:

These are two of our most important allies. They are very closely related and we absolutely cherish any opportunity to train with them from a tactical level. The opportunity to do that at Southern Jackaroo a few months ago was critical.”

Paul Karp

The independent MP for Fowler, Dai Le, has commented on the cuts to crossbench staff.

With staff being cut from eight to five, attention has turned to two apparent anomalies:

• The fact regional MPs (Helen Haines, Rebekha Sharkie and Andrew Wilkie) will keep six staff.
• The fact senators receive the same as MPs, despite senators being in balance of power (and needing to scrutinise more legislation).

Le told Guardian Australia:

From my perspective, each electorate has its own challenges. Once you accept the challenge of distance [for regional MPs], what about electorates like mine, with the distance of language, and different cultural and social needs?”

MPs and senators will seek a meeting with Anthony Albanese when he returns from his Nato trip. Albanese spoke to a few before he left, including Kate Chaney, Kylea Tink and senator David Pocock, and claimed the ones he spoke to had been more “constructive” than some others complaining in the media.

How to win friends and influence people, or divide and conquer?

Michael McGowan

The New South Wales government has agreed to demands from the state’s rail union to make hundreds millions of dollars in modifications to a new train fleet after a years-long industrial dispute.

On Wednesday the transport minister, David Elliott, announced the government would make changes worth about $260m to the new intercity fleet (NIF) in a bid to avoid the union taking further industrial action later this week.

The decision is a major backdown by the government, which is facing industrial action by a range of public sector workers, including a planned teachers’ strike and stop-work meetings by nurses on Thursday.

The NSW Rail, Tram and Bus Union had refused to operate the intercity fleet without the modifications, claiming the trains were unsafe to run.

Read more:

Paul Karp

ACT Senator, David Pocock, has commented on Andrew Barr’s call to give the ACT more senators.

He said:

The Census data provides a solid evidence base for increasing the ACT’s federal representation in the Senate. This is something we should have a conversation about to ensure the ACT is adequately represented as a territory.

While that’s an important discussion, my priority remains restoring territory rights.

Enabling the ACT government to have a mature debate on important issues like Voluntary Assisted Dying is what the community wants to see urgently delivered given the Canberrans facing these difficult decisions.”

Melissa Davey

Longer ambulance offload times are associated with greater 30-day risks of death and ambulance re-attendance, according to Victorian research published today by the Medical Journal of Australia.

Improving the speed of ambulance-to-emergency transfers is urgently required, the authors of the paper concluded.

Researchers from Ambulance Victoria, Monash University, Royal Melbourne hospital, Alfred Health, and the Baker Heart Research Institute analysed data from adults with non-traumatic chest pain transported by ambulance to Victorian emergency departments between 1 January 2015 and 30 June 2019.

Lead author Dr Luke Dawson, a cardiologist at Alfred Health and Monash University, said the study included 213,544 people with chest pain transported by ambulance to emergency departments over that time period.

“The median offload time increased from 21 minutes in 2015 to 24 minutes during the first half of 2019,” Dawson said.

“… The risks of death and ambulance re-attendance with chest pain within 30 days of initial ED presentation were higher when the offload time exceeded 17 minutes, and that longer offload times were associated with presentations by people over 65 or women, at hospitals with larger total bed numbers, and presentation between 8 am and midnight, on weekdays, or during winter or spring,” Dawson and colleagues wrote in the paper.

Read more here:

We just saw live images of prime minister Anthony Albanese meeting with his British counterpart Boris Johnson on the sidelines of the Nato summit in Madrid.

The pair shook hands and smiled as cameras snapped pictures of them in front of each countries flags.

As they sat down, Albanese pointed out that Australia has been the largest non-Nato contributor of aid to Ukraine.

That was about all we heard. We’ll have more from that meeting later.

Public servant first offered Barilaro’s New York job to give evidence at inquiry

Michael McGowan

Jenny West will be called to give evidence at the inquiry investigating the plum $500,000 New York trade job given to former New South Wales deputy premier John Barilaro.

A former public servant and businesswoman, West was originally offered the job in August of last year. She will be called to give evidence at the inquiry’s next hearing on 6 July.

At the first public hearing of the inquiry on Wednesday, the CEO of the agency responsible for making the appointment, Amy Brown, revealed she had verbally offered West the position before being instructed to scrap the recruitment process.

The Guardian has previously revealed the offer took place. It has also previously been revealed that after her offer was rescinded, West wrote a detailed memo to the head of the Department of Premier and Cabinet, Michael Coutts-Trotter, raising concerns about the process.

Brown told the inquiry that she had been instructed to “unwind” the offer after a “government decision” to instead make the role a ministerial appointment.

She was informed of the decision by Barilaro’s office, who at the time was the minister responsible for overseeing the appointments.

Brown told the inquiry that West was “extremely upset” when she was told of the decision on 1 October last year.

A few days later, on 4 October, Barilaro announced he was resigning from parliament and the new minister, deputy Liberal party leader Stuart Ayres, decided not to go ahead with making the roles ministerial appointments.

When asked during the inquiry why she didn’t reoffer the job to West, Brown said that the situation had become “quite irreconcilable” because West was “very unhappy”.

Brown said:

The relationship declined quite quickly once she was informed that she may not be going to New York so by the end of the first process I’d formed the view there was no suitable candidate.”

Regulators to scrutinise impact of social media algorithms

Josh Taylor

The Australian regulators responsible for overseeing Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social media networks say they will be focusing in the next year on the impact of algorithms, and what the platforms are doing to protect consumer data and reduce harm.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (Acma), the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), the eSafety commissioner, and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) met on Tuesday to determine their focus for the next financial year.

They said improving transparency around how data is held, how users are protected from harm, and misinformation is a key focus.

The regulators also said they would examine the impact of algorithms in how they recommend what people see, how they profile people, how they work in moderation, and the promotion of disinformation or harmful content.

There will be workshops and stakeholder meetings held throughout the next year.

Here are the latest coronavirus numbers from around Australia today, as the country records at least 59 deaths from Covid-19:

ACT

• Deaths: 0
• Cases: 1,458
• In hospital: 116 (with 1 person in ICU)

NSW

• Deaths: 11
• Cases: 11,067
• In hospital: 1,526 (with 40 people in ICU)

Northern Territory

• Deaths: 0
• Cases: 334
• In hospital: 20 (with 4 people in ICU)

Queensland

• Deaths: 20
• Cases: 5,366
• In hospital: 597 (with 11 people in ICU)

South Australia

• Deaths: 0
• Cases: 2,847
• In hospital: 235 (with 8 people in ICU)

Tasmania

• Deaths: 1
• Cases: 1,174
• In hospital: 38 (with 5 people in ICU)

Victoria

• Deaths: 23
• Cases: 10,777
• In hospital: 463 (with 25 people in ICU)

Western Australia

• Deaths: 4
• Cases: 5,921
• In hospital: 229 (with 14 people in ICU)

Victoria’s new planning minister, Lizzie Blandthorn, will make independent decisions despite a potential conflict of interest with her lobbyist brother, the state government says.

Blandthorn, who took over the planning portfolio this week as part of a cabinet reshuffle, is the sister of Hawker Britton director John-Paul Blandthorn.

Hawker Britton’s clients include construction company John Holland, which is tasked with building the West Gate Tunnel, as well as developers Mirvac and the Dennis Family Corporation, and Melbourne airport.

The planning minister has the power to make decisions around permits and land rezoning, but the state government said arrangements would be in place to ensure any potential or perceived conflicts of interest were managed.

A government spokesperson said:

All ministers are expected to act with integrity as they manage their portfolios to deliver the best outcomes for Victorians.

The secretary of the Department of Premier and Cabinet, the secretary of the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, and the Victorian Public Sector Commissioner are developing a robust management plan to ensure the independence of the minister for planning’s decision-making process.”

Blandthorn referred to the government’s written response when comment was sought from AAP.

Read more:

Morrison government ‘couldn’t be bothered to act’ on gig economy regulation, Tony Burke says

The Albanese government has congratulated ride-sharing giant Uber and the Transport Workers’ Union for striking a landmark agreement on proposed employment standards and benefits.

Tony Burke, minister for employment and workplace relations, issued the congratulations for the “significant deal that recognises gig workers need more rights” as his government plans to legislate to give the Fair Work Commission new powers to set minimum standards for gig workers.

Burke accused the previous Morrison government of saying regulating the gig economy was “too complicated”, and said the agreement struck by Uber and the TWU “shows that’s not the case at all” and that the Coalition “just couldn’t be bothered to act”.

Burke said:

We don’t want Australia to be the sort of country that allows workers to earn less than the minimum wage or be subjected to dangerous, unregulated conditions.

Australians want the flexibility and the convenience of the gig economy but they don’t want the people on the other end of the app getting ripped off or dying on our roads.

Without proper regulation, even if a platform tries to do the right thing by their workers – as Uber has today – the risk is they will be undercut by a rival that turns up on the market.

That’s why the government will extend the powers of the Fair Work Commission to be able to set minimum pay and standards for gig workers. It is the appropriate independent body to do this job. This will deliver a national approach that gives the commission the scope and flexibility it needs to deal with “employee-like” forms of work”.

You can read more about the landmark agreement here: