Australia news live update: nation to pass 80% vaccination target today, PM says; WA reopening roadmap revealed; Melbourne Cup Covid scare

Ambulance Victoria has doubled the capacity of its triple zero call triage service, which is aimed at freeing up ambulances for only the sickest patients, by directing people who don’t need emergency services elsewhere.

It reported improved response times, saying that its average response time to life-threatening emergencies was 13 minutes and 29 seconds, which was an improvement of five seconds on the previous quarter.

The Ambulance Victoria chief executive Prof Tony Walker said the emergency service had effectively adapted to the surge in calls that comes with the pandemic:

We’ve expanded our secondary triage service with an additional 97 paramedics and [57] nurses – effectively doubling the size of the referral service for less urgent triple zero calls.

This vital service frees up ambulances for the sickest patients by connecting patients who do not need an emergency ambulance with alternative care.

Earlier today, Northern Territory authorities warned against any anti-lockdown protesters from taking to the street over the weekend, after Darwin entered a three-day “lockout” on Friday morning.

Police commissioner Jamie Chalker said police would not tolerate anyone not complying with the restrictions, amid reports of a rally to be held tomorrow.

If people continue to act without compliance, then we will be forced into a position where [arrests] may have to be done.

If they are unvaccinated, if they’re not willing to demonstrate what the five reasons are, and they’re not going to be sound and reasonable, then they may force us into action.

Just building on that announcement about the light rail shutdown, the NSW shadow minister for transport Jo Haylen has released a blistering statement, saying the government’s procurement policy was “in tatters”.

She says passengers will be forced to wait “years” for a reliable light rail and that thousands of passengers across the city’s inner west will experience delays and “unreliable services” for up to 18 months.

The government’s transport procurement policies are now in tatters. Every single overseas-built tram the government bought has had to be decommissioned.

An entire light rail line is now completely out of action. This will cost taxpayers millions of dollars. This is a debacle.

It’s time for the government to draw a line in the sand. They bought trains that don’t fit the tracks, ferries that can’t fit under bridges or operate at night, and an entire fleet of trams that simply don’t work. It’s time we started building transport infrastructure right here in Australia again so we can get a quality product and value for money.

Two positive Covid cases at the Melbourne Cup this week will not stop Stakes Day at Flemington racecourse on Saturday.

In a statement, Victoria Racing Club said the two cases were a contractor working at the course and a racegoer, and that both were fully vaccinated and unlinked.

The contractor who tested positive worked two full days in the Arbour in the purple zone on the ground floor of the Club Stand. The Department of Health has advised the VRC that patrons and staff who attended the Arbour on Cup Day are considered at low risk.

The patron who tested positive attended the deck bar within the green zone on Cup Day and the Department of Health is in direct contact with the patron and their two social close contacts, who are also fully vaccinated.

Patrons who attended the deck bar on Cup Day are being contacted directly via SMS by the VRC and staff have also been contacted. Patrons are advised to monitor their health and get tested if they develop any symptoms.

The two venues have been deep cleaned and will be ready for safe operation for Stakes Day on Saturday.

AAP is reporting that a maximum-security prison in regional New South Wales had to be emptied of inmates after it fell victim to a “horrendous” mice plague.

Rodents have been devouring crops and cutting a destructive swathe through properties in the state’s west and south since spring 2020.

In June, they caused all 420 inmates at Wellington Correctional Centre in the state’s west to be sent to other facilities after they damaged the building, a budget estimates hearing heard on Friday.

Prison staff were working in buildings where cavities and ceilings were full of dead mice, Acting Corrective Services NSW Commissioner Kevin Corcoran told the hearing.

“I got gravely ill after attending there and I know others did too,” Mr Corcoran told MPs.

There were problems with mites and faeces falling down when he toured the site, he said.

“Some of the buildings I went into were just horrendous. I mean, the smell,” he said.

“You’re almost throwing up just going into the places people were living. It’s just completely unacceptable.”

The mice, which first arrived at year ago, chewed through internal wiring and ceiling panels.

Mr Corcoran said the problems were most acute in the staff areas, and the situation “wasn’t so bad” in the inmates’ cells.

Nevertheless, Corrective Services Minister Anthony Roberts said removing the inmates and most of the staff was the best solution so remediation works could be done urgently.Asked how he could lose a maximum-security prison to mice, Mr Roberts replied: “We build prisons to keep people in.”

Medical device manufacturer Johnson and Johnson has failed in its bid to overturn a landmark ruling about harm caused by pelvic mesh implants, AAP reports.

The high court on Friday refused special leave to appeal a ruling finding the company acted negligently and concealed the true extent of complications from the pelvic implants.

It means Johnson and Johnson remains liable for millions of dollars in compensation to Australian women.

The federal court in 2020 awarded three lead litigants a combined $2.6m in damages over the implants manufactured by Johnson and Johnson subsidiary Ethicon.

The court was told the women’s surgeons weren’t warned about or aware of the extent of risks from the devices including severe chronic pain.

Johnson and Johnson earlier this year failed in its appeal of the original 2019 finding before heading to Australia’s highest court.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce has called for fully vaccinated travellers to no longer face Covid tests “at every turn”.

Joyce was speaking at the airline’s annual general meeting and made comments on measures still in place for international arrivals, who must submit a negative test in the first 24 hours of arrival, and again after seven days.

Joyce said the measures were frustrating for travellers, who would “reasonably expect to move freely and easily”.

Hopefully these conditions, particularly PCR testing at every turn, is dispensed with as Australia becomes more confident living with Covid.

Surely that’s something we’ve all earned.

Police have seized cocaine and more than $250,000 in cash in their hunt to find fugitive Mostafa Baluch, who allegedly cut his ankle monitor after being granted bail for a drug importation charge, AAP reports.

NSW police Det Supt Rob Critchlow said two Sydney homes – one in Yagoona and another in Potts Hill – were raided on Thursday night.

“What we are finding as we chase this man to bring him back to justice is we are identifying a whole range of offences and a wider criminal group,” Critchlow said on Friday.

“The longer he is out the more pressure he is placing upon those he cares about including his family, his friends and his associates.”

Baluch, 33, was last seen on the night of 25 October on Sydney’s northern beaches.

Last month he was granted bail and released from custody, with strict bail conditions, after he was charged with a string of drug offences over a 900kg shipment of cocaine into Australia.

Police believe Baluch is “most likely” still in Sydney. “We are pretty sure we’re not far away,” Critchlow said. He said there were cars linked to Baluch at the properties.

Police seized more than $250,000 cash, about 200 grams of cocaine, 485 grams of an unknown substance, mobile phones, and an electronic money counter.

So, the WA premier Mark McGowan has released a TikTok video that resembles a Bunnings ad, to encourage people to get vaccinated at particular Bunnings locations across the state.

It’s … something to behold really:

The Australian Medical Association’s president Dr Omar Khorshid was on the ABC earlier, discussing hospital wait times.

The group has released a report card that looks into public hospitals, and found that despite a drop in patient numbers due to the lockdowns, public hospitals still struggled to see people on time.

Khorshid said the pandemic had revealed the limited surge capacity public hospitals currently have:

Last year, when of course we were all in lockdown, the demand on emergency departments really plummeted and of course elective surgery was paused and yet the performance of hospitals in some states barely improved and in others it actually continued to decline.

When it comes to emergency departments, it is ACT at the bottom of the pile. And the sad thing about this report is it really does show, as it does each year, how much it matters where you live in Australia as to what access to public hospitals you have. When it comes to elective surgery waiting lists, it is Tasmania that has the worst performance in our report card this year.

We would like to see the long-term trends reversed. Rather than continuing with a way of funding public hospitals, it really only looks at throughput and where the states pick up the bulk of the tab or just over half the commonwealth a little bit less than half.

It’s a system that doesn’t actually in any way encourage state governments to build new hospitals, to employ new nurses and new doctors in order to meet that demand.

So we would like to see the funding package actually change in its nature so that it does encourage investment. And also reward hospitals for better performance.

And with that, the premier wraps up the presser, but took one final question: How did he feel in Carnarvon yesterday?

It was a very uplifting experience.

I really like the police officers. They were great people. The commissioner ushered me into a room and there was about 60 men and women in suits, a good-looking group of people, he then invited me to speak to them.

They did a wonderful job and everyone I spoke to was nice and had an underlying professionalism that you could feel, when I went to the house.

I met Cleo Smith and her family, they were just lovely, kind people … They were positive. And they were happy. Their daughter has been brought home. She was a happy little girl.