Australia news live: NSW to pay Chinese company Shenhua $100m to exit coalmine; Victoria to make mRNA Covid vaccine | Australia news

You might have seen the story in the Daily Telegraph, or blazoned on commercial breakfast news shows about outrage over Black Lives Matter posters with anti-police comments written on them being put up in a year 5 & 6 classroom in Lindfield Learning Village, in northern Sydney.

The posters were taken down, a review has been called, and it prompted the NSW police minister David Elliott to call for the teacher to be sacked.

One Nation MLC in the NSW Parliament, Mark Latham in the inquiry looking into his anti-trans education bill referenced the story and asked NSW Teachers Federation officials if it showed the need for his bill to remove “political, ideological, hateful dogma” from classrooms, and then later admitted he was the source of the story in the Telegraph.

“I refer to the poster I gave the Telegraph, so I’ve seen the poster, pictures of the poster…Impeccable sources.”

The Australian Medical Association says the “reset” of the vaccine rollout needs to have clear targets, including bringing forward vaccinations for over-50s.

The AMA president, Dr Omar Khorshid, said ahead of Thursday’s national cabinet meeting that the primary healthcare network was ready to vaccinate Australians 50 years and over but it needed the supply of the vaccine to improve.

It is reassuring that national cabinet has already reiterated that general practice remains the primary model of rolling out vaccinations for Australians 50 years of age and older.

GPs have a proven record of vaccination, and are ready, willing and able to vaccinate many more people. We are seeing vacant appointment times and we need to ensure that these are filled each and every day.

The AMA also wants the Medicare system to recognise patients can spend extra time with their doctors if they have concerns about the vaccine.

Khorshid said:

We know that once patients have the chance to discuss their concerns with their GP, vaccination is more likely to occur.

Brittany Higgins says she is still waiting to hear back from the prime minister’s office regarding a meeting with Scott Morrison that was offered on 6 April.

The NSW government will pay Chinese-owned mining giant Shenhua $100m to withdraw from its Watermark coal mine project on the fertile Liverpool Plains in the state’s north-west slopes, AAP reports.

The government in mid-2017 announced it would buy back more than half of Shenhua’s licence for more than $262m to protect farming land.

It agreed on Wednesday to buy back the remainder of the licence, which had been initially approved in 2008.

Shenhua will withdraw its mining lease application and surrender its development consent for the site, and the NSW government will cancel the exploration licence for the site.

Deputy premier John Barilaro said the NSW government needed to “find a balance” between key regional industries such as mining, agriculture and horse breeding.

The government argued the Liverpool Plains region contained “prime agricultural land” which could not be blighted.

Barilaro said in a statement:

This decision will deliver certainty to farmers and the Liverpool Plains community, while guaranteeing protection to parcels of land with high value biodiversity.

The Nature Conservation Council said it welcomed the cancellation of the exploration licence and argued it was the best outcome for nature, local farmers and the climate.

Council chief executive Chris Gambian said in a statement:

This will mark the end of a 12-year campaign by locals and conservation groups to protect rare woodlands and threatened species, including a colony of 250 koalas and endangered swift parrots and regent honeyeaters.

It is regrettable that local communities had to endure more than a decade of stress and anxiety for a project that should never have been approved.

If it had gone ahead, this mine would have been devastating for threatened woodlands and wildlife and resulted in millions of tonnes of coal being dug up and burned for the next 30 years.

AAP is reporting a Queensland police officer is being treated for blood clots following getting the Pfizer vaccine, but I think it’s important to note no link has been drawn between the two yet.

The 40-year-old man who worked patrolling the state’s quarantine hotels received the vaccine on Sunday, Nine News reported.

He was rushed to hospital after developing the clots on Wednesday and is being treated.

It is understood Queensland Health and the Therapeutic Goods Administration are investigating, but they have not made any formal statement.

If confirmed it will be the first reported incident of a patient developing blood clots after getting the Pfizer vaccine in Australia.

People aged under 50 are being advised to take that vaccine over the AstraZeneca jab amid concerns over rare blood clots.

So far three people have developed clots in Australia after being given the AstraZeneca vaccine. They include 48-year-old Genene Norris, who died in NSW last week after developing blood clots.

The TGA said her death was likely linked to her vaccination.

There’s a prime minister’s press conference from Berkley Vale, NSW, scheduled for 2.30pm AEST.

Newly-appointed former Liberal minister turned small business ombudsman Bruce Billson has called on Australia Post to defer plans to stop delivering perishable goods such as foods.

Australia Post announced it would cease delivering perishables from 30 June, blaming complex food safety regulations that differ in various states.

Billson said it should be delayed so Australia Post can work through issues with the businesses that rely on Australia Post to deliver food across Australia.

Given Australia Post has 80% share of the total delivery market, this abrupt decision could prove to be devastating to those small business food producers who rely on this essential postage service.

So many small businesses moved to selling their products online as a result of the Covid crisis. They need some additional time to consider what options they have to fulfil their orders.

We strongly encourage Australia Post to consider the impact this will have on their small business customers and to work with regulators to find a way to continue this essential service.

The foreign minister, Marise Payne, has launched the “International cyber and critical technology engagement strategy” today.

By the sounds of it, a lot of it is focused on helping countries in our region out with cyber security, with the backdrop being Australia feels the need to invest heavily in technology in the nations of our Pacific neighbours in particular lest that space be filled by China.

Payne’s office said the strategy had several pillars including:

• Australia will co-sponsor a proposal to establish a new United Nations program of action for responsible state behaviour in cyberspace
• The flagship cyber cooperation program will become the cyber and critical tech cooperation program, including an additional $20.5m to strengthen cyber and critical technology resilience in south-east Asia
• We will contribute a further $17m to support neighbours in the Pacific to strengthen their cyber capabilities and resilience, including to fight cybercrime, improve online safety, and counter disinformation and misinformation
• Australia will also support a partnership with Standards Australia in south-east Asia, a partnership with the University of Technology, Sydney, in south-east Asia and a partnership with Trustwave in Fiji, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu

Victorian Nationals MP Tim McCurdy’s court case over alleged real estate fraud has been dismissed.

The ABC reports the judge found there was no evidence that a jury could find McCurdy guilty of the charges.

With that, I might leave you for the day. Josh Taylor is here to carry on through the rest of the afternoon!