Australia news LIVE Australians able to travel internationally without exemption from Monday COVID-19 cases continue to grow across the nation

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Labor’s climate change spokesman Chris Bowen has savaged the Government’s “Australian Way” net zero plan as “a steaming pile of nothingness”.

Speaking on ABC radio this morning, Mr Bowen said Labor was ready to take up Scott Morrison’s challenge to fight the upcoming election on climate change.

Labor’s climate change spokesman Chris Bowen. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

“The Australian people are entitled after yesterday to hold their hands up and say: is that it? After weeks of melodrama, after weeks of chaos and dysfunction, after eight years in office, we’ve got a slideshow and a sideshow,” Mr Bowen told RN Breakfast.

“If you’re asking: will there be a contest about climate policy? Yes, we’ll have one. The Government doesn’t have one. Yes, there will be a contest on climate at the next election.”

But Labor has also come under fire for its failure to lock in an interim target by 2030, or reveal detailed plans on how it will achieve net zero by 2050.

Picking up on this, Radio National’s Fran Kelly asked Mr Bowen: “Why do we have to wait until after the Glasgow Climate Summit for that. What can we possibly learn in the next few weeks that we don’t already know?”

“We wanted to give the Government a chance to get this right,” Mr Bowen replied.

But the MP says detail is on the way from Labor in the coming weeks.

“We’ll be announcing a very strong road map towards net zero by 2050. And importantly, we’ll be announcing all the plans which will actually achieve it. Not assumptions, not slogans, not mottos. We’ll be announcing policies to achieve it and the evidence to back it up.”

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has continued this morning’s media blitz with an appearance on Nine’s Today show.

He was asked where he stands on unvaccinated players attending next year’s Australian Open in Melbourne. You might recall that there was previously some speculation that players who haven’t had the coronavirus jab would be barred from competing. But it now appears likely that unvaccinated players will be allowed into the tournament, provided that quarantine upon arrival.

Here’s what the PM had to say:

“Unvaccinated people that come into Australia, there are exemptions that occur,” he said.

“If a steel miner has to go to fix a boiler in the mine, they can get an exemption. But if you are unvaccinated, you have to quarantine for two weeks. That is our view.

“If there is a special exemption that is warranted for an economic reason like that, that can happen, but you have to follow the health rules in that state.

“Two weeks quarantine for unvaccinated people, that is sensible.

“It is nice to have, you know, all clear and hard-and-fast rules, but there needs to be a little bit of flexibility so we can live with the virus.

“We want major events in this country. A lot of jobs depend on it.”

Australia’s quarantine-free corridor with Singapore will be launched on November 8.

The Singapore government announced last night that it was opening up new vaccinated-only travel lanes with Australia and Switzerland, adding to 10 previously established arrangements with European countries and the United States and another soon to open with South Korea.

The link will enable fully vaccinated Australian citizens, permanent residents and their family members to fly to Singapore and back without quarantining, although they will initially be able to land only in Sydney and Melbourne with other states yet to flag a reopening.

Beyond that, students from Singapore and travellers on business are expected to be able to use the travel lane “after Australia has finalised the arrangement for their entry”, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore said.

More on the travel bubble here.

Staying with the PM’s appearance on Sunrise for a moment, and one of the big issues of the week â€" if not the year â€" was brought up (that is, net zero carbon emissions).

Co-host David Koch pointed out that Australia’s plan, revealed yesterday, has been criticised by the likes of tech entrepreneur Mike Cannon-Brookes and American broadcaster CNN says it’s the weakest climate pledge of any rich country going to the upcoming climate talks in Glasgow. He added that The New York Times says Australia’s road map to net zero is based on “hope and little else”.

Here’s what the PM had to say in response:

I reject all of that.

There are people out there who want Australia to tax people, put regulations on them, shut things down, stop Australians doing things that are the lifeblood of rural and regional Australia.

We’re not doing that. We don’t have to. We have already achieved more than 20 per cent emissions reduction and grown our economy by 45 per cent. We have 1 million people working in manufacturing again.

They might not like how we’re doing it but we are getting the results.

You can read more reactions to the Government’s plan here.

Fully vaccinated Australians will be able to travel internationally without first seeking an exemption from the Department of Home Affairs from Monday, November 1.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed the news on Seven’s breakfast show Sunrise just now.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says fully vaccinated Australians can travel overseas without an exemption from next week. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

“I can announce today that last night the Health Minister signed off on the fact that, from November 1, Australians who are double vaccinated will be able to travel overseas,” he said.

“We are looking forward to that.”

Home Affairs had previously flagged on its website “this could start sometime in November”, after Mr Morrison flagged the imminent change on October 1.

“The government has announced that Australian citizens or permanent residents aged 12 and over who have received two doses of a recognised vaccine will be able to travel without needing an exemption,” the department states.

“Children under 12 and those who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons will also be able to travel overseas without an exemption.”

Travellers will need to show their international COVID-19 vaccination certificate at the airport check-in. There are differing quarantine requirements across the states and territories on return, with NSW and Victoria scrapping quarantine for fully vaccinated returning Australians on November 1.

Rapid antigen tests will be available in major supermarkets from next week, with Coles the first to stock the 15-minute turnaround kits across 700 stores nationally.

The supermarket intends to sell the Chinese-manufactured Hough Pharma COVID Antigen Nasal Test, one of eight rapid antigen tests approved by the medicines’ regulator for at-home use in Australia, a spokesperson confirmed.

Coles will stock rapid antigen tests for at-home use from next week.Credit:Louie Douvis

The spokesperson said the tests would be available in packs of two and five through the supermarket’s service desk and online.

A Woolworths spokesperson said it was also looking to stock the at-home testing kits “in selected stores from early November”.

At-home COVID-19 testing may be conducted in Australia from November 1, using the select list of Therapeutic Goods Administration-approved kits. It is estimated the tests could cost between $10 to $30 each.

Read the full story here.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison is promising billions of dollars in further spending on climate policies to reach a new official target to slash greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050, opening a battle with Labor over who has the better plan to achieve the goal.

Mr Morrison set the 2050 deadline in a major shift in federal policy that also promised more investment in low-cost solar energy, hydrogen projects to create cleaner fuel and farming schemes to store carbon.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison will promise billions of dollars more in spending on climate policies ahead of the next election.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The new spending will be unveiled in a series of policies ahead of the federal election next year, adding to $20 billion already promised and incurring debt that will require greater tax revenue over time to cover the cost.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese slammed the statement as a “scam” rather than a plan, while industry leaders said the policy remained “incomplete” because it did not have enough detail about how each measure would work.

Read more about the net zero by 2050 plans here.

Former premier Gladys Berejiklian lied to her then-chief of staff and friend about the duration of her secret relationship with ex-MP Daryl Maguire in a private phone call more than two years before it was exposed to the public, a corruption inquiry has heard.

In explosive evidence to the Independent Commission Against Corruption on Tuesday, Sarah Cruickshank said Ms Berejiklian first disclosed the relationship to her on July 13, 2018.

Sarah Cruickshank, former chief of staff to Gladys Berejiklian, arrives at the ICAC on Tuesday. She is not accused of wrongdoing.Credit:Janie Barrett

The 2018 disclosure came hours after damning evidence from Mr Maguire in a separate corruption probe that saw him eventually resign in disgrace from the Liberal Party and later NSW Parliament.

Ms Berejiklian has previously said she acted in the best interests of NSW and is yet to give evidence. The inquiry continues.

Read the full story here.

People found guilty of “intentionally and recklessly” breaching public health orders in Victoria could face two years in jail or a $90,000 fine, the premier will get sweeping powers to declare pandemics and the public’s right to privacy will be enshrined in law under pandemic legislation introduced by the Andrews government.

The state opposition labelled the Public Health and Wellbeing Amendment (Pandemic Management) Bill 2021, which was tabled in Parliament yesterday, “draconian”, while civil liberty groups welcomed stronger safeguards on QR code check-in data.

Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton will no longer have authority to sign public health orders. Credit:Joe Armao

The new pandemic-specific laws, which will replace state-of-emergency powers when they expire on December 15, curtail the chief health officer’s powers, giving the premier authority to declare a pandemic and the health minister the role of making public health orders.

Premier Daniel Andrews said the new legislation, which was informed by similar laws in other states and overseas, would provide a greater degree of transparency, accountability and oversight.

Read more about the new laws here.

Queensland and NSW authorities are working to trace the contacts of a 17-year-old Gold Coast boy who tested positive to COVID-19 after presenting at a hospital with a headache.

The teenager was a close contact of someone from NSW who visited relatives on the Gold Coast while infectious.

People line up to receive a COVID-19 jab at a Bunnings store in Brisbane.Credit:Getty

A NSW Health spokeswoman said authorities there were working with Queensland contact tracers to get to the bottom of the case.

“A NSW resident tested positive to COVID-19 after visiting family on the Gold Coast,” she said. “Close contacts have been identified and NSW Health is working with its counterparts in Queensland Health on contact tracing.”

The 17-year-old, who went to the emergency department of a hospital with a headache, was one of two new local cases reported on Tuesday. The other was a truck driver who tested positive after visiting a regional centre.

More on the situation in Queensland here.

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