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NSW records 25 Covid deaths and 1,320 people in hospital

Government withdraws controversial cost provision from Respect at Work bill

Paul Karp

Victoria records 68 Covid deaths and 430 people in hospital

Central west NSW flooded, wet summer ahead

Summer months are tipped to be soggy, as the flood response shifts to Euabalong, where the Lachlan River is set to peak.

The State Emergency Service has teams deployed into Euabalong, along with emergency crews from New Zealand, and Singaporean Civil Defence Force personnel.

NSW SES deputy commissioner Dean Storey said resources were being focused on towns including Condobolin and Euabalong along the Lachlan River, Bourke on the Darling River, and Deniliquin and Moulamein on the Edward River.

He said:

NSW SES members conducted community liaison in preparation for this predicted major flood in Euabalong.

NSW SES continues to undertake resupply for essential goods and medication while they remain isolated, and sandbag requests.

Premier Dominic Perrottet will be talking with locals and assessing the devastation at the flood-hit central west town of Condobolin today.

The SES told residents they can return to Condobolin with caution, but 83 warnings remain in place.

Perrottet said fixing 10,000km of damaged roads battered by the floods remains a priority in the reconstruction process.

The Bureau of Meteorology says major flooding from the Murray River is occurring at Wakool Junction, Boundary Bend and Euston – all cross-border towns with Victoria.

In Bourke, the main Barwon-Darling river flood peak is approaching levels above the 1998 flood record, with a peak also expected overnight

The Murrumbidgee River at Balranald Weir is also heading towards a 7.3m peak.

The bureau is also warning summer will be soggy, with more rain and inevitable flooding yet again.

It said December to February rainfall was likely (greater than 60% chance) to be above average for the north coast and southern NSW.

– from AAP

Guy believes in Coalition’s chances of forming government

Guy is still talking up the Coalition’s chances of forming government, saying “I know it’s real.”

Millar then asks him about the threat of the independents:

What do you reckon the impact is going to be of teals and independents? Six months ago they ate away at the Liberal party vote. Are we going to see that again?

Guy:

Well, I’m not sure. I’m not Nostradamus on these things. We put our best foot forward in every seat in those states, we got great candidates like Jess Wilson in Kew, John Pesutto in Hawthorn and I say to Victorians, you know, if you vote for one of these candidates, you’ll just get the Labor government. Because all of them will back the Labor if they get the chance.

Victorian Liberal leader promises to drive down state’s debt

Lisa Millar:

Well, you have talked about debt, so let’s move on to that because costings from both the parties indicate that contingency funds are going to be raided, that there’s no moves to try and have fiscal responsibility. You’re telling everyone else to tighten your belts. What’s the message that you’re sending promising spending like you’re drunken soldiers?

Guy:

I committed to Victorians to put forward a plan that was independently costed, that would add up and that would lower debt.

And all of those things, costed our policies and our commitments costed by the independent Parliamentary Budget Office at $28bn. Our savings measures coming in at $38bn. Driving down debt by $10bn over that forward estimates four-year period because Victoria’s debt is greater than New South Wales, Queensland and Tasmania combined so we must do something.

And importantly bringing our budget back to surplus a year earlier than what the government says it can do. They are sensible and reasonable policies that we have had independently costed and I say to all Victorians – it’s a sensible and reasonable way forward. Please don’t waste that chance on Saturday.

Slogans won’t fix Victoria’s health system: Matthew Guy on why Victorians should reject Labor

Speaking of the Victorian elections on tomorrow, this is what Liberal leader Matthew Guy had to say to ABC Breakfast News this morning from Ballarat.

First question Guy is asked about why Victorians should vote for him this time around when he was so soundly rejected in 2018.

Well, so was Mark McGowan at his first election, he came on and won the next one. What we are saying to Victorians is now is the chance to move on, don’t waste it.

Now is the chance to vote him out and to get a new government that is positive, that does have an agenda to fix our health system once and for all. You know, the premier’s slogans won’t fix our health system. It won’t actually build the hospitals that are necessary.

We can actually provide genuine cost of living relief but you actually have to pay for it and our plans will lower debt by $10bn over the forward estimates period because that’s a sensible and reasonable thing to do but we have got costed, sensible, realistic, reasonable plans that are actually good for our state, none of this is slogans unlike the premier.

Ley questions why Daniel Andrews voted early in Victorian election

Sussan Ley is asked about the Victorian election, and how the Liberal brand will go in those seats which turned away from the party during the federal election.

Ley uses the question to stir up a bit of trouble questioning the Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, defying the tradition of casting his vote on election day. Patricia Karvelas shuts her down pretty quickly with the fact the Liberal state leader did the same.

Ley:

By the way Patricia, did you not think it was odd that the premier voted I think two days before the election? What’s he hiding from?

Patricia Karvelas:

Matthew Guy has also pre-polled.

Ley rapidly moved on:

Well, I, you know … I think premiers should be right out there.

Floods disaster support payments are not enough: Ley

Ley has said the disaster support payments are not enough considering the unprecedented scale of devastation of these recent floods.

Ley on the public hearings element of the bill

Ley:

I think there’s a really important balance to be struck between the commission doing its work and actually getting to the heart of the matter and public hearings that can damage people’s reputations, when in fact there are no findings against them.

Remember, the anti-corruption commission is not a legal court. And yet when people view its activities, they often feel that it is. So I’m committed to the Nacc, as I said, doing the work that it’s been set up to do.

But do we need all of that to be in public? Do we need public hearings, no I don’t think necessarily do, so I think we need to get that threshold right.

I think it’s important that we don’t default to public hearings, more of the time.

Because something’s not public doesn’t mean that you haven’t got commissioners working hard to get as I said to the heart of the matter and to make the necessary findings.

Ley questions why Labor didn’t support Dai Le’s amendment to anti-corruption watchdog bill

The anti-corruption watchdog has just passed the house of representatives and will go to the Senate in the next week.

The Coalition did move some amendments but supported the bill in the end when those amendments were voted down. However, Ley expresses her shock Labor did not support Dai Le’s amendment.

We support the anti-corruption commission, there was significant areas of agreement between us and the government. I must admit Patricia, I was very surprised that the government do support Dai Le’s amendment yesterday, which was about people for whom English is not their first language, struggling with some of the ramifications of being caught up in any of these activities and Dai Le made a very impassioned speech with the background that she has about how frightening this can be for Australians of different backgrounds, who’ve come from countries where the consequences of these conditions can be absolutely awful. Now see, that’s not the country we live in. But I was just sitting there listening to her and thinking how can Labor not support this amendment? There was a series of amendments that we didn’t support. We did support that one. And we’ve given broad agreement to the the Nacc as it’s going to be called going forward.

‘Friendship in politics is important’: Ley on her support for Morrison

Unlike her Coalition colleague Karen Andrews who called for Scott Morrison to resign, Ley indicated she is happy he remains in parliament:

Scott remains a good friend of mine and a good colleague … and I just won’t be offering the public reflections that you might be seeking at this point in time.

Karvelas:

Is part of the reason you’re reluctant because of what you just described – friendship?

Ley:

I think friendship in politics is important.

Karvelas:

But so is holding people to account, transparency.

Ley:

The other thing I would say is that the former prime minister is elected by the people of Cook and he sits in this parliament now representing them and their interests. And I’m sure he’s very responsive to how they see his role for them and that is the relationship that is the most important.