Gladys Berejiklian has resigned as premier of New South Wales following the announcement of an Icac investigation into whether she “exercised public functions” in a position of conflict given her secret five-year relationship with ex-MP Daryl Maguire, revealed at Icac hearings in late 2020.
The treasurer, Dominic Perrottet, is considered the frontrunner to replace her in a party meeting on Tuesday. Perrottet said on Friday he would speak with his family and colleagues over the coming days on “how I can best serve the people of NSW”.
Planning minister Rob Stokes and environment minister Matt Kean are also believed to be contenders, as well as tourism minister Stuart Ayres, transport minister Andrew Constance and attorney general Mark Speakman.
The state recorded 864 new Covid cases and 15 deaths on Friday. There are currently 1,055 Covid-19 patients in hospital in NSW, with 210 in intensive care units and 104 on ventilators. The death toll for the current NSW outbreak is 352.
The suburb of Casino was placed into lockdown from midnight last night until 11 October when the rest of the state will begin reopening gradually. The stay-at-home order applies to anyone who has been in Casino since 24 September.
The Victorian city of Shepparton is under stay-at-home orders for seven days after 24 new cases were identified in the area.
A vaccine mandate has been introduced for all mandated workers in Victoria on a day the state recorded 1,143 new local cases. All Victorian authorised workers must have their first vaccine dose by 15 October and a second by 26 November to keep working on site.
The Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, played down the possibility the broader mandate could spark more anti-vaccine protests, with another three demonstrators arrested on Friday.
The federal government announced a reopening plan to international travel in November. Qantas has brought forward the restart of its international flights to 14 November, announcing the resumption of two international flights – Sydney to London and Sydney to Los Angeles.
Queensland recorded three new local cases, with the NRL final still scheduled to go ahead on Sunday. The ACT recorded 52 cases and two deaths. South Australia recorded the second positive Covid-19 case detected in a truck driver in a week.
