Good morning. Queensland is in lockdown and confusion continues for Australians seeking Covid vaccinations following the government’s backflip on AstraZeneca advice. Plus more than 200 teachers have shared their concerns with us about the state of the industry. In happier news, Australia’s Ash Barty has had success in the opening round of Wimbledon.
Some doctors who were blindsided by the government’s change in AstraZeneca recommendations are telling eager under 40s to cancel their Covid vaccination appointments because Scott Morrison’s comments on Monday do not accord with expert medical advice. The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners said it was given “no warning” of the announcement and was “scrambling” to work out what it meant for patients, while the Australian Medical Association said it would continue to endorse the advice that Pfizer was the preferred vaccine for under-60s. State premiers have also queried the AstraZeneca backflip and have demanded the Morrison government lower the cap on international arrivals for the next three months.
Large parts of Queensland entered a snap three-day lockdown yesterday, as an unvaccinated Covid-positive hospital worker was confirmed to have the highly contagious Delta variant after she moved in the community for 10 days while infectious. Queensland will now also move to dramatically cut the number of international travellers returning to the state, amid an ongoing row with the federal government about the need for a purpose-built quarantine facility. New South Wales recorded another 19 locally acquired Covid cases yesterday, and the state government moved to introduce a financial support package for businesses affected by the lockdown.
Ash Barty has beaten Carla Suárez Navarro in the opening round of Wimbledon 6-1, 6-7 (1-7), 6-1. Suárez Navarro received a standing ovation from Barty and the crowd after returning to the court for her 11th and final Wimbledon after cancer treatment last year. “She’s a hell of a competitor, a hell of a fighter,” Barty said. “I think all credit goes to her for her resilience and her nature as a competitor, to be able to come back from the adversity that she has, and to be able to have that moment with her was nothing shy of remarkable.” In the men’s, Roger Federer has edged through after Adrian Mannarino retired in the fifth set with an injury after a slip.
Australia
Chinese pro-democracy students in Australia are facing harassment and intimidation from classmates for criticising China’s government. Human Rights Watch says it has “verified three cases of students in which the police in China visited or asked to meet with their families regarding the student’s activities in Australia”.
Barnaby Joyce says Australia needs high-efficiency, low-emission coal power stations, as well as revenue from continuing exports of thermal coal, to bankroll social services. He has also backed nuclear power.
The retail sector in New South Wales is calling for clearer guidance around which businesses are “essential services” during lockdown after major retailers Harvey Norman and JB Hi-Fi were listed as casual contact locations for an active coronavirus case.
Labor MPs have criticised the Coalition’s $660m commuter car park fund, which allowed Liberal MPs and candidates to select and announce projects in their electorates, some of which were never and could never be built.
The world
A Picasso panting has been found after a builder admitted to stealing the masterpiece and two other artworks from the National Gallery in Athens nearly a decade ago.
Former South African president Jacob Zuma has been sentenced to 15 months in prison for contempt of court after failing to appear before a corruption inquiry earlier this year.
The private mobile number of the UK’s foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, has been online for at least 11 years, raising questions for the security services weeks after the Boris Johnson’s number was also revealed to be accessible to anyone.
Dissident leaders of Ethiopia’s war-hit Tigray region have dismissed a government ceasefire declaration and vowed to drive out “enemies” from the region, after rebel fighters advanced on the Tigrayan capital.
Recommended reads
Alan Cumming is, by his own description, a man with his “finger in a lot of pies”. His three-decade career has spanned film, theatre, music, writing and activism. He may also be the only person to ever launch a fragrance called “Cumming”. In 2021 he began recording the podcast Alan Cumming’s Shelves. Every episode of which sees Cumming reach for one of the curiosities, rarities, or oddities that he has collected throughout career to tell the story behind it. One of his most cherished items came not from a movie set but the gift shop of Disneyland Paris. Cumming tells us about it, as well as two other important belongings.
More than 200 people responded within three days to our callout on the effects of teacher shortages in Australia. “It is unsustainable and if teachers actually worked to the hours we are paid, the whole system would collapse,” says secondary school teacher Janet. Teachers tell us the stresses on the system are creating huge workloads and leading many to consider leaving the profession, to the detriment of a generation of schoolchildren.
In a pandemic, messaging matters. Journalists, public health experts and politicians are wrestling with how to exercise responsibility without becoming censors, writes Margaret Simons. “Is it serving the public interest to publish prominently every report of an AstraZeneca vaccine recipient getting blood clots – even though we know the risk is rare, and the risk of vaccine hesitancy is greater? Should we not report it at all? Or just with less prominence? It is not an easy question … Some reporting has almost certainly fed vaccine hesitancy – which is also a life-threatening phenomenon.”
Listen
Since she was a teenager Nikki Marshall remembers having painful periods and for decades has received treatments for a variety of chronic pain conditions, including fibromyalgia, endometriosis and migraines. But it’s only recently that Nikki became aware that the different types of pain she’s suffered throughout her life may all have been related. In this episode we explore Nikki’s story and speak to Dr Susan Evans about the source of chronic pain and what can be done to treat it.
Full Story
Fibromyalgia and treating chronic pain
Full Story is Guardian Australia’s daily news podcast. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any other podcasting app.
Sport
Basketball star Ben Simmons has committed the ultimate sporting sin by withdrawing from the Australian Olympic squad – and in doing so has become public enemy No 1. He shouldn’t be.
Last week Dave Rennie urged the Wallabies to find their “dark side” in the three-Test series against France. This was not a throwaway line, but seemingly an official command to the Wallabies to show more ruthlessness.
England has bested Germany in the Euro2020, winning 2-0.
Media roundup
The Australian has obtained correspondence from health officials approving “ a nationwide Covid-19 pharmacy vaccination program”, which would see 207 pharmacies around the country offering Covid vaccines. The SMH reports on the four events that locked down Sydney, and put 5000 in quarantine.
Coming up
A NSW inquiry is set to hand down its report into coercive control.
The Crown Perth royal commission interim report is due.
And if you’ve read this far …
Over road traffic? Good news! Flying cars will be a reality in cities around the globe by 2030, according to Hyundai chief executive Michael Cole. He said the firm had made some “very significant investments” in urban air mobility, which could could free up congestion and help with emissions in cities.
