POINTED COMMENTS
NSW’s vaccination rate is now one of the fastest in the world, and life could look very different for the vaccinated when the state reaches its vaccination target — thought to be met mid-September, ABC reports. But not everyone is happy.
The issue is this: national cabinet agreed at the end of July that once states and territories vaccinate 70-80% of their adult population, lockdowns can effectively become a thing of the past. NSW’s Gladys Berejiklian is sticking to this, but daily cases in her state are now above 800. Guardian Australia spoke to James McCaw, who worked on our roadmap, and he said that was way too high to abandon lockdowns (in fact, this morning The Guardian reported that under this plan 25,000 people could die). Then, Prime Minister Scott Morrison hit back, arguing on Sunday that the starting point (NSW’s high cases) doesn’t change the modelling. And Doherty Institute director Sharon Lewin agrees, as the SMH reports. But other state leaders — two of the Labor ones, worth mentioning — are irate.
Queensland’s Annastacia Palaszczuk disputed Morrison’s claim yesterday, saying extra modelling had to be done because “it was premised on there being 30 cases in the community”, as The Courier Mail ($) reports. WA’s Mark McGowan said the modelling is out of date and called NSW’s approach a “catastrophic failure”, The West Australian ($) says. They’ve both said basically they won’t lift their borders in response. SA’s Steven Marshall has sided with Berejiklian and Morrison, saying he was committed to reopening at 70-80%. But SA’s COVID-19 coordinator said the risk of interstate infections from NSW meant SA’s restrictions probably can’t ease further right now, as The Advertiser ($) reports. So who’s right? Katharine Murphy published a useful explainer overnight which delves into it.
[free_worm]
GREEN AROUND THE EDGES
In some positive climate change action news, Australian electric car charging network JOLT has confirmed they will install 5000 free fast chargers across Australia’s capital cities. In the new plan, Aussie drivers will get about 45km of driving for free, and will be charged after that, The Age reports.
The ABC is reporting on an interesting experiment conducted across two rooftops in Barangaroo — both had solar panels, but one of the panels was surrounded by plants. The researchers found that, over nine months, the roof with greenery generated an additional $2595 worth of renewable energy. All the more reason to get some succulents living on your roof — or what about a hive? Beekeepers have bounced back from the devastating Black Summer bushfires, enjoying two bumper honey years as happy bees get on with it, the SMH says.
And newly appointed Regionalisation Minister Bridget McKenzie is encouraging city-dwellers — and particularly those in tech — to go bush, The Australian ($) reports. It comes after 45,000 people moved out of the cities in the year to March, amid pandemic lockdowns. McKenzie, who is returning from nearly 18 months on the backbench after her notorious sports rorts saga, named Townsville, Toowoomba, and Wagga as towns with good growth prospects. Among the industries in her plan to diversify employment was tech which can “go anywhere”, she said. With Scott Morrison saying our climate change action will be tech-driven, hopefully they’ll delve into the renewable projects that McKenzie shrugged off responsibility for.
IT’S GAMES TIME
The Paralympic Games are kicking off tonight with an opening ceremony in Tokyo. Around 180 of our most powerful athletes are prepping to compete across 18 sports, and we have quite the reputation to uphold — Australia has long been one of the top countries in the Paralympic Games. We topped the medal tally at the Sydney 2000 Games, Guardian Australia reports, and have finished in the top five at every Paralympics since.
Guardian Ausrtalia spoke to triathlete Emily Tapp (of her injury, “I think you can always find a silver lining”), runner Jaryd Clifford (of his personal best being too fast for a helper, “I’m pretty much forced to go solo because we’re only allowed one guide runner”) and swim coach Yuriy Vdovychenko (of being told her job is her hobby, “When we sit in on the weekend at our dining table making training programs … it is just a joy for us”). Meanwhile The Australian ($) spoke to our flagbearers, veteran Paralympian Danni Di Toro and dual wheelchair rugby gold medallist Ryley Batt, who said the Games were “a hugely positive thing for Australia” at the moment.
ABC published an explainer on how to watch the action, with events beginning tomorrow.
ON A LIGHTER NOTE
Politicians aren’t usually the recipients of our compassion — in fact, they are the number one least trusted group globally, according to a multi-country poll. But they are human and the pressure can get to them, particularly during the pandemic when they face a tough crowd in press conferences on a daily basis. In New Zealand, Chris Hipkins (who is charged with the country’s COVID response) was delivering a rather routine spiel when the wrong word slipped out.
Hipkins was reinforcing instructions on how to socially distance when outside when it happened. “It is a challenge for people in high-density areas to get outside and spread their legs when they are surrounded by other people,” Hipkins said with a straight face. It took a fraction of a second for the Labour politician and Leader of the House to realise his gaffe. The typically composed director of health Ashley Bloomfield’s head snapped up as he rose his eyebrows tellingly.
An ashen-faced Hipkins was a great sport, telling reporters he realised they “would all have fun with him later”. And then came the memes. The hashtag #spreadyourlegs started trending in New Zealand. Some said it was on message with the government’s lockdown attitude, “go hard and go early”. Others got outside and dutifully followed instructions.
Sometimes these moments remind us how healing a laugh can really be. Hope the laughs come easily today folks.
THEY REALLY SAID THAT?
It is always darkest before the dawn, and I think these lockdowns are [a] demonstration of that, but the dawn is not far away and we are working towards that dawn and we are hastening towards the dawn. We should not delay it. We should prepare for it. We should not fear it. We should embrace it. And we should move forward together.
Scott Morrison
The prime minister got a little wrapped up in his metaphor (which some said sounded more like a verse in Poison’s Every Rose Has Its Thorn than the crisis rhetoric of a country’s leader), but people were also quick to point out that the darkest part of the night actually isn’t before dawn. It’s usually around midnight, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson says.
CRIKEY RECAP
Afghan voices: Taliban’s ‘framework’ means the death of freedom for women
“In Kapisa, the most densely populated province outside Kabul, an 18-year-old student tells me she desperately feared for her future. She says women are no longer allowed to go to school in her area. Before the Taliban, women had all kinds of freedom, but now those freedoms are gone. ‘The existence of women today within the city is invisible’, she said. “Islam never said to hit and imprison women … Life under the Taliban government is hell.
“A university student in Kabul tells me the Taliban’s PR spin on education and employment ‘is a lie’ and the role of women ‘will be reversed back to 1996’. Another woman, a 26-year-old university graduate, says ‘it is better to die’ than accept life under the Taliban’s ‘radical’ sharia law.”
Faking it: loophole revealed in Australia’s vaccine certificates
“A local software developer has found a simple way to create a fake COVID-19 digital vaccine certificate using the official government app, one that’s indistinguishable from the real thing. His discovery raises concerns about the security of the vaccine passport certificate system.
“Richard Nelson, a Sydney-based software developer, reported the vulnerability to the Department of Health late last week. He also showed video proof of ‘his’ COVID-19 digital certificate on a mobile device, even though he has not been vaccinated.”
There’s no ‘shift of focus’ without some accountability for a COVID disaster
“That of course suits the interests of the Berejiklian and Morrison governments, who are jointly responsible for the NSW outbreak through Berejiklian’s lockdown hesitancy, Morrison’s rollout debacle and their joint failure on quarantine. A focus on the case numbers serves up a reminder every day of a staggering failure of government that has left thousands sick and scores dead.
“But the call for a ‘shift of focus’ away from the source of embarrassment to new measurements and a new approach lacks credibility when the two governments involved can’t be trusted. Can anyone trust that Berejiklian will make decisions based on hard evidence, rather than the Liberal Party’s business base pressing for reopening? Does anyone trust that this isn’t just another Morrison announcement designed to get him out of political trouble?”
READ ALL ABOUT IT
US regulators give full approval to Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine (The SMH)
The ABC’s big lie and the madness of Four Corners (The Australian) ($)
Ex-president’s son on trial over $2b tuna scandal (BBC)
Israel struggles with COVID surge despite mass vaccinations (Al Jazeera)
ASX ends higher; Bitcoin tops $US50,000 for first time since May (AFR)
Thousands of Australians targeted by Flubot malware phone scam (news.com.au)
At least 21 in Tennessee and 5 in North Carolina are dead after floods overwhelm rural communities (The New York Times)
Citing vaccine inequality, WHO head argues against booster shots (Al Jazeera)
Luxury belief systems and economic stagnation: the recipe for our discontent (Quillette)
China reports zero local symptomatic COVID cases for first time since July (The Guardian)
NYC will require shots for all education staff, including teachers and principals (The New York Times)
THE COMMENTARIAT
There’s so much to love about the Paralympic Games, here’s why it holds a special place in my heart — Kurt Fearnley (ABC): “The Paralympic Games are the greatest sporting event on Earth, perhaps even beyond (hear me out). I love them. The sights, the sounds, the smells. I even love the taste. For me, the Games were always salty with sweat. Steaming in a roaring stadium or on the streets as I flew by the burning sands of Copacabana Beach, into the original Olympic stadium in Athens, or even past Big Ben in London.
“At times the Paralympics are deafeningly loud. The cheers at the pool as athletes who seemingly should be swimming in circles actually fly to the wall in less than 30 seconds. Or the clattering of wheelchairs at the rugby … We’ve loved and celebrated the Olympics together this year, but the Paralympics will bring something else. Conversations about disability. Discussions around access and opportunity. About equality. Dreams of competing in Brisbane 2032 for kids with disability. Or making our plans to experience the assault on our senses first-hand together.”
The simple truth? Afghanistan just wasn’t worth it — Greg Sheridan (The Australian) ($): “We had good intentions, but it’s by no means clear we did anything for the long-term benefit of Afghans. To create a tiny liberal elite, and a slightly wider smattering of people with better and broader horizons than previously, and then throw them back into the maw of the worst Islamist terrorists in the world — did that really help them? And the Afghans who helped us whom we can’t evacuate — what is our moral ledger with them?
“And the effect on us? We now have a land force well designed with billions of dollars worth of useless heavy armour, to play a moderate supporting role in strategically irrelevant side shows that will never come up again. It wasn’t worth it. And we should have the honesty to say so. For the last person you should ever lie to is yourself.”
HOLD THE FRONT PAGE
WHAT’S ON TODAY
Australia
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The FearLess National Conversation on PTSD 2021 kicks off, including sessions on the impact of COVID-19, the bushfire crisis, domestic violence, and research/treatment updates.
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ABC’s Norman Swan will host a webinar panel discussion on equity and health in Australia with Cohealth CEO Nicole Bartholomeusz, CHETRE director Evelyne de Leeuw, NSW Health manager Erin Miller, and NATSIHWA policy officer Nicole Kilby.
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NSW Building Commissioner David Chandler will speak on the overhaul of the state’s building and construction industry in a webinar for the Urban Design Institute of Australia NSW.
Yuggera Country (also known as Brisbane)
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Artist and writer Sarah Walker will launch her debut book, The First Time I Thought I Was Dying, a collection of essays, at Avid Reader.
Whadjuk Noongar Country (also known as Perth)
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Shelter WA will host a breakfast with Minister for Housing and Local Government John Carey, with an opportunity for questions.
“70-80% for reopening” :- translated = “70% for reopening”?