But the newly elected Premier also used the rare national platform to restate his intention to examine a merger of two of SA’s big three universities, calling for federal support in the pursuit.
“Every thinking person at home knows we need to at least examine having two unis, not three,” he said.
“No one’s done it and we’re going to.
“I really hope I have a Federal Education Minister who can see the opportunity that will create.”
The most recent attempt at creating a “super university” in South Australia by merging the University of South Australia and the University of Adelaide was killed off in October 2018 after UniSA decided it was not in its interests.
But Malinauskas argued the state needs a top 100 university and was currently “punching below its weight” in research and development.
“It’s been talked about a lot … and it’s always a can that seems to get kicked down the road.
“I want to ask the question if we started over again with higher education would we end up with three different universities doing three very different things … at the expense of efficient investment.”
Malinauskas also vowed to advocate for an increase of Australia’s humanitarian intake cap of 13,750 refugee places.
“If we can’t at least double that, I think that would reflect a lack of national pride and contextual understanding of exactly who we are as a country and what our values are,” he said.
South Australia’s new Liberal Opposition – which is still yet to elect a new leader to replace ousted premier Steven Marshall – fired one of its first shots at Malinauskas yesterday, accusing him of being “more focussed on self-promotion in Canberra than dealing with the pandemic”.
“Peter Malinauskas says he is doing everything within his power to increase health system capacity but one of the first things he does as Premier is jumps on a plane to Canberra to chase the spotlight,” an Opposition spokesperson said.
“With cases rising, more and more hospitalisations and schools closing, the Premier should be in South Australia addressing these issues as a priority.”
Asked about the criticism yesterday, Malinauskas said: “I think health needs to be a debate we have on the national stage.”
“Having the opportunity to contribute to this important debate on the national stage is fundamentally in my state’s interest,” he said.
SA Health reported a record 5784 new COVID-19 cases and two deaths on Wednesday.
Bid to question Spurrier in court over vax mandates
| Deni Varnhagen vaccine mandate trial 10 News First Adelaide – Disclaimer |  |
Nicola Spurrier could be hauled before the Supreme Court to help explain the state’s COVID-19 rules after a challenge by AFLW player Deni Varnhagen.
The chief public health officer is due to learn on Thursday of the court’s decision on her proposed cross-examination.
Lawyers for Adelaide Crows midfielder Varnhagen want to question Spurrier about SA’s vaccination mandates which have kept their client off-field and lost her casual shifts as a registered nurse.
The legal case is challenging the state’s vaccine requirements for healthcare workers.
Lawyers for the government tried to block Spurrier’s appearance in court, arguing that expert evidence had already been provided and that the chief health officer would be appearing against her will.
Varnhagen’s lawyers told the court the application was not an effort to grandstand or “turn the court into some kind of royal commission” and would be conducted with the utmost courtesy.
Varnhagen has been forced to work as a labourer after losing her regular work for refusing a COVID-19 vaccination, the court was told.
The decision to impose the vaccination mandate for state health workers and other public sector employers was made under the SA Emergency Management Act.
Varnhagen said she had received no nursing shifts since November 2021 after refusing the vaccination despite receiving text messages asking for all eligible nursing staff to help fill shortages.
The Crows also shifted Varnhagen to the inactive list after she refused to be vaccinated.
Varnhagen has been joined in the matter by fellow nurse Courtney Millington.
Change flagged to COVID death reporting
Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly during Senate Estimates at Parliament House in Canberra on Wednesday Photo: Mick Tsikas/AAP
Australia may shift to reporting “excess deaths” from COVID-19 instead of total fatalities, with the country’s chief medical officer saying the time is right to change.
Chief medical officer Paul Kelly said the new reporting concept of “excess deaths” is the difference between the number of people expected to die over a period of time, or as a result of an event like a pandemic, and the actual number of deaths recorded.
“On this metric, Australia has performed extremely well throughout the COVID-19 pandemic,” Kelly told a Senate estimates hearing on Wednesday.
“Although every death from COVID-19 is a sad event for family and friends and as a country, this is an outcome we should acknowledge.”
Kelly encouraged Australians to continue to get vaccinated against COVID-19 for the best protection.
Meanwhile, confusion and complacency is causing a large group of Australians to not come forward for their COVID-19 booster, according to the country’s vaccine chief.
COVID-19 task force commander Lieutenant General John Frewen said the under-40 age group is lagging behind in booster uptake which is concerning ahead of winter.
Elements of confusion and complacency regarding the booster rollout were a factor.
“It comes down to people being no longer as fearful of Omicron as they were with previous variants,” he said on Wednesday.
A new advertising campaign will be targeted towards the age group ahead of winter to encourage higher uptake.
“It’s really about reminding that age cohort that their social life, their fitness routines, their businesses, all of those things are underpinned by the maximum possible take-up of vaccines, including boosters,” Frewen said.
2007 preselection contest continues to haunt PM
Scott Morrison is facing yet more allegations of racial vilification as he continues to wait on calling a federal election.
The prime minister has repeatedly denied claims he racially profiled a fellow candidate for the Sydney seat of Cook during a 2007 pre-selection battle.
But the man he ousted, Michael Towke, tells a different story.
He says Morrison was at the heart of a smear campaign against him in 2007, and members of the Liberal Party pressured him to withdraw from the pre-selection, threatening to “ruin him” and his employability if he didn’t.
“At the time (Morrison) was desperate and it suited him to play the race card,” he told Network Ten’s The Project on Wednesday.
“I don’t like saying he is a racist, I don’t know him well enough. But he has certainly used racism, Islamophobia, bigotry, with refugees … with migration policies, and he’s been dumped on by his own side.”
Towke also said a current cabinet minister recently sent him a message of support.
“I’ve got text messages from a cabinet minister telling me ‘I believe you and do what you need to do, just be careful’,” he said.
Towke also claims he did not know the preselection story would be aired in parliament by outgoing Liberal Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells on budget night.
“I have moved on, but the more that this is unfolding and watching the prime minister’s very non-credible responses, I’ve chosen to not remain silent anymore,” he said.
He also categorically rejected the idea of entering politics again.
“I have no interest in ever going to that sausage factory, or cesspool which is getting worse by the day, ever again,” he said.
Walker backed for Crows return after racism ban
Adelaide’s Taylor Walker is being backed to overcome possible hostility and lack of match fitness when he makes his AFL comeback from a racism ban this weekend.
Walker returns to face an away Essendon crowd at Marvel Stadium on Sunday, having served his six-game suspension for making a racist remark last August.
Walker hasn’t played at any level this year, with the AFL blocking an Adelaide request to allow him to play trial matches.
His lack of match play was weighed against his status as a former skipper and the club’s all-time leading goalkicker at selection, assistant coach Nathan van Berlo says.
“We will back him in, not having any match fitness to date,” van Berlo told reporters on Wednesday.
“But obviously he has been in the system for a long time now and we back in that experience to help him.
“He brings a lot to our forward group – understanding he has missed a fair bit of footy, but the way that he has trained and his experience will help complement our mix.”
Captain Rory Sloane appears set to return from an abductor injury while Walker replaces Darcy Fogarty, who has been goalless the last two games.
Last August, Walker was banned by the AFL for six games for his racist comment to a teammate about North Adelaide’s Robbie Young at a state league game.
The former club captain took some time to decide to play out the final year of his contract in 2022.
The Crows expect to manage the game time of Walker, who also performed Indigenous community work during his ban.
“Tex, his nature is he is always up and about,” van Bexjmtzywrlo said.
“He’s a fair barometer for the group in terms of our energy so he will certainly be excited to get back out there.
“I know he has been itching to play a game of footy at any level for the last probably few months and he hasn’t been able to do so.
“He will be ready to go come Sunday.”
Russian bombardment continues as US imposes new sanctions
Russian forces have continued to bombard cities in Ukraine as the US imposes more sanctions in the wake of civilian killings widely condemned as war crimes.
The sanctions, which include action against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s two adult daughters, came as Ukraine’s President called for a decisive Western response on Wednesday amid divisions in Europe.
Russia’s 42-day-long invasion has forced more than four million people to flee abroad, killed or injured thousands, left a quarter of the population homeless, turned entire cities into rubble and prompted a slew of Western restrictions on Russian elites and the economy.
The new measures announced by Washington came days after the grim discovery of civilians shot dead at close range in Bucha, north of Kyiv, when it was retaken from Russian forces.
“We’re going to keep raising the economic costs and ratchet up the pain for Putin, and further increase Russia’s economic isolation,” US President Joe Biden said.
The United States wants Russia expelled from the Group of 20 major economies forum, and will boycott a number of meetings at the G20 in Indonesia if Russian officials show up, according to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was critical of some in the West and said he could not tolerate “any indecisiveness”.
“The only thing that we are lacking is the principled approach of some leaders – political leaders, business leaders – who still think that war and war crimes are not something as horrific as financial losses,” he told Irish lawmakers.
European Union diplomats on Wednesday failed to approve new sanctions, as technical issues needed to be addressed, including on whether a ban on coal would affect existing contracts, sources said.
