Australia news live update: more than 32,000 new Covid cases recorded nationwide; NSW hospitalisations pass 1,000

There may be few or no official restrictions, but word is it feels very much like a “soft lockdown” in Sydney today.

Residents in Melbourne’s outer south-east are being urged to move at least two streets away from an out-of-control grassfire, AAP Reports.

A Watch and Act emergency alert has been issued for a grassfire on Ryan Road in Pakenham, with residents and anyone who lives in nearby Nar Nar Goon warned to move away from the fire.

“If you live directly next to grassland, you may need to move two or more streets away from the fire. Grassfires are unlikely to spread past the first row of houses,” the alert, sent just after 3pm on Sunday, said.

The fire is travelling north down Ryan Road towards Princes Highway, with firefighters requesting a firefighting aircraft for assistance.

Firefighters were battling a number of fires across Victoria on Sunday, following several days of hot weather.

A grassfire in Melbourne’s west just after 1pm covered 2 hectares.

About 40 firefighters attacked the blaze, on Sheahan Road in Truganina, bringing it under control just before 2pm.

A historic Manly ferry has sunk in Sydney Harbour overnight putting an end to a decades-long campaign to restore it to its former glory.

Two men called NSW Fire and Rescue for help in bailing water from the MV Baragoola at 10.30pm on Saturday night but were forced to escape on a small boat when the vessel began to take on water.

By the time police arrived the 99-year-old boat had sunk 10 metres at its mooring on the former wharf at Balls Head Bay and had begun to break apart.

Efforts to conserve the ferry – the last built in Sydney – had been under way for the last two decades with the vessel passing through the hands of several owners before landing with the Baragoola Preservation Association.

A post to the group’s Facebook page last night said they had “received word” of the sinking but that the group had “handed the vessel over to” another as “as Covid and lack of access made it untenable”.

Efforts are being made to stop debris and other pollutants from escaping into the bay, while people are being asked to stay away from any salvage operation.

In more Covid news, an unofficial account tracking the spread in Tasmania puts the test positivity rate in the state at a whopping 26% – though this can be accounted for by the recent changes to testing.

You may have seen in the last few days several stories from my colleague Anne Davies exploring the newly released 2001 cabinet papers to understand what the government of John Howard was thinking on issues like social security, refugees and climate change.

But did you know that Howard personally reviewed the visa application of Eminem after a campaign by conservative family groups to have him barred from entering into the country? Howard ultimately deferred to immigration minister Philip Ruddock but regretted the decision wasn’t his.

The daily release of the latest exposure sites may be a thing of the past across most of the country, but not so in Western Australia where health authorities have added almost two dozen new locations this morning.

There are too many to list in full, but most appear to be clustered south of Perth around Bunbury.

Find the full list here.

Federal communications minister Paul Fletcher is responding to Labor’s high-speed rail pledge, calling Anthony Albanese’s speech an “election stunt”. Fletcher says Albanese should explain how he intends to pay for the project and suggests Labor would look to raise taxes. It is perhaps a good reminder that a federal election needs to be held by May.

Get the full story on Labor’s proposal below:

Glenn McGrath has tested positive for Covid-19, three days out from the start of the SCG Test, AAP reports.

McGrath, who has helped turn Australia’s year-opening Test into a fundraising drive to support those with breast cancer, is isolating at home and feels well.

There is hope McGrath will return a negative test in time to attend day three of the SCG Test, now known as Jane McGrath Day.

The former paceman will have a virtual presence at the ground on Monday, when both sides are presented with their baggy pink caps.

For decades, wave riders have blazed a trail into little-known coastal towns – and in their wake come the planners and developers.

When Clint Bryan bought his house 40 minutes north of Perth city, one consideration was paramount: it had to be near his favourite surf break.

And sure enough, his Kallaroo home is just five minutes’ walk from the Indian Ocean. The suburb name is a Noongar word meaning “road to the water”.

But by the end of this summer, the waves that Bryan built his life around will disappear as the beach is redeveloped for the $252m Ocean Reef Marina.

To read Narelle Towie’s summer feature on the battle to protect Australia’s surf breaks, click below:

Marshall says he believes transmission rates will be lower in South Australia than other places:

It’s probably one of the safest places to have been in the world over the last two years. Now we are confronted with a mighty battle on our hands but just like we’ve risen to the challenge with previous waves, we will do exactly the same with this one.

By my count, the South Australia premier has used the word “flex” eight times during this presser to describe efforts to ensure the state’s health system can cope with an influx of cases.

Some have noticed this and have thoughts …

Speaking about a situation that developed yesterday among the Indigenous community in Port Augusta, Marshall says there are three people in the area with confirmed cases but the situation now appears less serious than initially thought.

“We’ve dodged the bullet with a very vulnerable community in Port Augusta.”

On prisons, however, things are not so good:

“We now have 60 COVID positive patients within the prison system at the moment. The majority of those are within the Adelaide women’s prison as well as other locations in Adelaide. We now have one positive case among a worker at the Port Augusta prison.”

South Australian premier Steven Marshall speaking now, kicking off his press conference with a call for people to get vaccinated as Omicron spreads.

The state had 21,140 tests yesterday, with 2,298 cases and 82 people in hospital. Seven people are in ICU.

As we’re waiting for the South Australia presser, the ACT have released its numbers. There are 506 new cases in the territory making a total of 1,827. Nine in hospital, one in ICU and one person on ventilation.

Victoria’s early childhood minister Ingrid Stitt said the state’s testing system was managing to cope despite “unprecedented demand” in recent days.

AAP reports:

Despite reports that some people were waiting up to four days for their Covid-19 test results, she said results were “overwhelmingly” still coming through within 24 to 48 hours.

I think yesterday’s heat, which affected some of our centres, may have something to do with some of the longer waits.

We are committed to making sure that we continue to deliver results as quickly as possible and I know that our hardworking pathology services are working really closely with us on that.

She said the state’s health minister will make an announcement on widening access to rapid antigen tests within days.

We will have more to say in the next few days about how we will distribute rapid antigen tests for those who are eligible to use that as a way of ensuring they remain Covid-safe.

If you’re looking to get tested in South Australia today, wait times at sites across the Adelaide metropolitan area are looking pretty friendly:

The speech is interesting as Albanese is laying out his pitch for the prime ministership, outlining a vision for a more active government, an expansion to Medicare and a plan to encourage Australian manufacturing and better services. He has been at pains to pay tribute to coal mine workers, while attempting to thread the needle on climate change:

Coal and coal work will continue to play an important part of your economy. But there are opportunities to diversify the products that you export and sell. The energy mix of this region of our country will change. That’s a simple inescapable reality of trading on the global market. Decisions get made in boardrooms in Beijing, New York and Tokyo that directly affect us here. But it’s also the opportunity in front of us now.