Australia Covid live news update: Melbourne lockdown to end from Friday; NSW students prepare for school | Australia news

Some have expressed concern online about NSW’s decision to reopen schools to all students by 25 October.

Children under the age of 12 are not yet eligible for a Covid-19 vaccine.

NSW premier Dominic Perrottet also confirmed today that primary school students will not be required to wear a mask, though they are encouraged.

The Australian government chief medical officer, Prof Paul Kelly, has confirmed the commonwealth hotspot declaration in New South Wales will end at 11.59pm tonight, after the state hit the 80% double-dose vaccination target.

That means commonwealth pandemic support for NSW will end in two weeks.

NSW was declared a hotspot for the purpose of receiving commonwealth support on 14 August 2021.

Justine Landis-Hanley is back to take this esteemed blog , I’ll see you later this afternoon friends.

This all seems a little quaint: 50 people in South Australia are undertaking a pilot of an app that will allow them to show their vaccination status and check in to businesses. AAP reports:

South Australians will soon have an easier way to show their vaccination status ahead of the state hitting its target to open its domestic borders.

As of Sunday, more than 58 per cent of South Australians over the age of 16 have been fully vaccinated, and more than 75 per cent have received their first dose.

Fifty people are now taking part in a three-week pilot test of VaxCheck, a function inside the mySA Gov app that should eventually allow people to show their vaccination status and check-in to a venue through the same app.

Currently, digital vaccination certificates are available through myGov and the Express Plus Medicare app, which generate certificates that can be saved to a smartphone wallet.

South Australian Premier Steven Marshall said the pilot test “will ensure that the process is secure and convenient and that we are ready when the time comes to reopen our state in the safest way possible”.

Mr Marshall wants the state to reach 80 per cent double vaccination status before opening domestic borders, a target it is on track to hit in December.

A similar function allowing people to check-in and confirm vaccination status was added to the Service NSW app on Friday.

And to reiterate, Joyce was quite strong on the unlikelihood of an increase commitment on Australia’s 2030 target.

Bit more Barnaby. He denied he’d told the prime minister, Scott Morrison, he would be able to get the Nationals to agree to any particular climate policy. He also said the party would not be beholden to any threats that its stance could harm the Coalition in an upcoming federal election, which is expected before the second half of next year.

Joyce:

We are not being held hostage … we are in the National party. In the Nationals, we will make a crucial decision, a national decision like we have in the past. And yes, we’re informed. We are not in the Liberal party room. We are the Nationals. We will not be held hostage to what other people wish.

Here’s the AAP report on the news from earlier that Jodi McKay was leaving NSW parliament:

Former NSW Labor leader Jodi McKay has announced she will resign from state parliament, the latest in a string of MPs to quit in recent weeks.

The Strathfield MP, who led the party for two years, on Sunday revealed her decision to quit, saying Sydney’s Covid lockdown had given her time to reflect and consider her future.

“It was an honour to be the first-ever NSW Labor leader democratically elected by party members,” she said in a statement.

McKay said her achievements included championing internal reform within the party, embracing multicultural communities and rebuilding Labor’s relationship with the bush.

“Above all else, I wanted to be a leader of a party and member of parliament where everyone mattered and was valued,” she said.

The 52-year-old relinquished her position as NSW Labor leader in June after a damaging byelection loss in Upper Hunter.

In a tearful press conference at the time, she said she felt forced to quit, alleging she was destabilised by some within her party despite having majority support. Chris Minns was elected by the party as her replacement.

McKay is the fifth MP to quit this month after previous premier Gladys Berejiklian resigned when Icac announced she was being investigated by the anti-corruption watchdog.

Deputy premier John Barilaro followed two days later, saying he wanted to pursue other career options.

Holsworthy MP Melanie Gibbons announced she would quit to run against Craig Kelly for the federal seat of Hughes, while former transport minister Andrew Constance also announced a federal politics tilt. He wants to win the seat of Gilmore back from Labor.

The resignations will trigger five byelections at a date still to be determined.

That’s the end of the short Barnaby Joyce appearance. I’ll go back over the transcript and see if that provides any further clarity.

Again, the Joyce conference was a little hard to follow because (a) the questions were not audible and (b) it’s Barnaby, but he had this to say in response to a question that seemed to be about whether he would personally negotiate a climate agreement with the prime minister, Scott Morrison, after hearing from his party. He said that after the party meeting the answers would be:

There is yes, no and maybe. And I suppose maybe leads to further discussions.

Asked about the process in the party room, and whether there will be a vote, Joyce responds:

I think generally in these meetings, people understand the temper of the room and that is basically the way of cabinet. You don’t have votes in cabinet. People will see the room and people have an opportunity to have input and in outcomes they want to see their input and if they do I think that they are pretty happy with that. OK, we’re going for a couple more [questions] and then I’m going to quit.

Joyce goes on, saying in explaining the global coal market, that:

…the truth of the demand for coal is floating on Gladstone Harbour. The truth of the demand for coal is floating at […] Newcastle. And when those ships don’t turn up, or when they start slowing down and not wanting a product, of course, that is the world global market. But right now, that is not the case.

Joyce is a little hard to follow here, but he’s made reference to, among other things, the fact the party was “swindled” by changes to land management laws (this happened years, if not decades, ago) to explain why the party will be cautious on backing climate targets.

Joyce adds he thinks it will be “highly unlikely” to reach an agreement on a 2030 target. He says:

When Mr Taylor [energy minister Angus Taylor] comes I will sure he would give a decision about how he sees that going forward and there will be a type of questions for Mr Taylor. Once he had left the room and people have the capacity to have a discussion with party members within the nationals, they will decide whether – how formative that deal is.

Joyce is speaking ahead of a meeting of his party on climate change targets.

He says:

Something as important as this is a decision that is not made by one person, it is not even made by the leadership movement. It is made by the party in general – the National party.

The deputy PM and Nationals leader, Barnaby Joyce, is speaking.

An update on the Covid situation in the Hunter region of NSW:

An emergency physician on how health care workers take news on a day like today, when Victoria announces it’s opening up: