“I had tested myself daily since Sunday, including this morning, with all tests returning a negative result.
“I took a further test this evening after developing a fever late today. The test was inconclusive so I took a PCR test tonight which returned a positive result late this evening.”
Morrison, who is triple vaccinated, had been scheduled to attend an event in Sydney on Tuesday night alongside NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet as the Opera House was lit up with the colours of the Ukrainian flag, but cancelled shortly before 8pm.
Earlier on Tuesday, the PM took part in a meeting of the federal cabinet’s national security committee and held a press conference with Defence Minister Peter Dutton.
He also met Nauru President Lionel Aingimea in Sydney, according to a post on his Twitter account.
Morrison said he was isolating at home in Sydney and “continuing to follow health guidelines”.
He said his wife and two children had tested negative and will isolate for seven days at home as close contacts.
“While in isolation I will continue to discharge all my responsibilities as Prime Minister… focusing on our emergency response to the devastating floods in Queensland and New South Wales, and ensuring we stand with each and every one of the affected communities both now and as the waters eventually recede,” he said.
Libs pledge $38.8m to ditch transportable classrooms
The Liberals are pledging to allocate nearly $40 million towards upgrading transportable classrooms at 20 schools across South Australia if re-elected on March 19.
The project to remove old transportable classrooms will see new “high-quality modular learning spaces” put in their place.
However, the $38.8 million in funding is not an additional investment. The State Government says the money comes from previously unallocated Education Department funds.
“These upgrades will be delivered over the next four years and represent the first stage in what will become an ongoing program for retiring outdated facilities and upgrading school learning environments around South Australia,” Education Minister John Gardner said this morning.
“We want to make those tired transportables from the ’50s and ’60s a thing of the past. I look forward to seeing these outdated buildings transported to their final resting place.
Gardner also pledged to invest $8 million towards the purchase of 25 new large buses for regional school routes which are experiencing increasing demand, and the maintenance of the current school bus fleet.
Labor chooses Whyalla for $593m hydrogen project
Labor has revealed Whyalla as the preferred location for the $593 million Hydrogen Power Station it plans to build if it wins this month’s state election.
The project, which forms the centrepiece of Labor’s energy policy, was first flagged as an election promise in March last year but no location was revealed at the time.
The Opposition said it had received a “comprehensive submission” from the City of Whyalla to host the project, with the area chosen due to its status as a “large industrial city” with a “highly trained workforce and service industry”.
Labor also touted the Eyre Peninsula town’s proximity to a deep-water port along with its air and rail infrastructure.
If elected, Labor says it will form a panel composed of various stakeholders, including the Barngarla people, Whyalla Council, Infrastructure SA and the Mining and Infrastructure Departments, to determine exactly where in Whyalla or Port Bonython the project will be built.
Labor says the project – consisting of a 200MW hydrogen power station, 250MWe worth of hydrogen electrolysers and a hydrogen storage facility – will create up to 300 jobs during construction and 900 jobs through the creation of a hydrogen export industry.
Opposition leader Peter Malinauskas said Whyalla was “the perfect location for our Hydrogen Power Station, given its prime location, proximity to key infrastructure and diverse skills base”.
“South Australia already has a strong reputation for leading Australia and the world when it comes to renewable energy – and this is our next big leap forward,” he said.
SA outback search ends in tragedy
Searchers have found the body of a man who went missing on a motorbike in South Australia’s far north on Saturday.
The 29-year-old had set off on his bike to get help when the 4WD he and a woman were in got bogged near Junction Dam on Stuart Creek Station, 90km north of Roxby Downs, on Saturday.
Police were alerted when family were unable to contact the pair.
“After waiting several hours for his return, the woman left the 4WD on foot,” SA Police said.
She was found on Monday afternoon in a creek line about 100km north of Roxby Downs by a search aircraft and taken to hospital where she was treated for dehydration.
An air and ground search was intensified on Monday with local police, PolAir, family members, local station owners and aircraft involved.
“Sadly, the body of the 29-year-old Roxby Downs man was located near Gregory Creek about 100km north of Roxby Downs, just before 2pm,” SA Police said in a statement on Tuesday evening.
There are no suspicious circumstances and police will prepare a report for the coroner.
Crows post $1.24m profit as new board members elected
The Adelaide Football Club has posted a statutory profit of $1.24 million for 2021, while long-time 7News anchor Graeme Goodings and former Crows player Rod Jameson have been elected to the club’s board.
The financial results, announced by Adelaide Chairman John Olsen at the club’s annual general meeting last night, are in stark contrast to the club’s $2.84m statutory loss recorded FY20.
The profit comes off the back of a 25 per cent increase in revenue to $48.11 million and a cash operating profit of $3.59m, with the club touting its “football-first approach” following the sale of its short-lived baseball and esports ventures.
The club’s debt remains at $4.5 million, although Olsen said the club was committed to being debt-free by 2025.
“Ultimately, our top priority is winning games of football and we will invest with a view to ensuring our players, coaches and high-performance staff have all that they need to deliver success,” he said.
“Establishing a state-of-the-art facility will also create a destination for our Members and supporters where they can engage with the Club in a more meaningful manner.”
The club is still on the hunt for a new home after the State Government knocked back their bid to build a facility at the Brompton Gasworks site in favour of a Melbourne-based developer.
Adelaide’s membership base also increased 10 per cent to 60,232 people.
Meanwhile, the results of the club’s board elections were also announced last night, with media personality Graeme Goodings winning comprehensively with 31.8 per cent of the vote.
Former Crows premiership player Rod Jameson was also re-elected to the board, garnering 30.6 per cent of the vote share in the seven-way contest.
Govt, union at odds about ‘sharp decline’ in ambulance ramping
The paramedics union says the ambulance service entered a critical “Opstat White” status last night, just hours after the State Government trumpeted a “sharp decline” in ramping since October last year.
With Labor vigorously campaigning against the State Government’s record on ambulance response times, the Liberals released new figures on Tuesday afternoon – a month earlier than scheduled – showing ambulance ramping has nearly halved compared to October 2021.
According to the government’s mediaxjmtzyw release, 1522 Transfer of Care hours were lost at hospitals across the state in February – down 47 per cent from the ramping “peak” in October.
“While Labor wants to fearmonger, the latest data is proof that we are making significant progress on reducing ramping in South Australia,” Health Minister Stephen Wade said.
But the Ambulance Employees Association reported that the South Australian Ambulance Service had been forced to declare an “Opstat White” designation at 7pm last night due to stress on the service.
🚨Tue 7pm: SA Ambulance now OPSTAT White across Adelaide due to insufficient resources and ramping. ‘Operational capacity, capability and/or resources are insufficient to maintain effective service delivery for high acuity cases’ … ‘Patient safety is directly affected. #saparli pic.twitter.com/FZRl6pd7OW
— Ambulance Employees Association (SA) (@aeasa1981) March 1, 2022
The union also hit back against the State Government’s figures, claiming the decline in ramping can be primarily attributed to the temporary halt on elective surgery – which ended on Monday.
“Ramping primarily results from lack of bed capacity. In Jan/Feb elective surgery was cancelled – in April 2020 elective surgery was also cancelled which showed a temp reduction in ramping,” the AEA tweeted last night.
“With elective surgery resumed ramping has already worsened.”
SA Health has previously stated that it will only release ramping statistics on a quarterly basis. The next data release was not due until April.
Russia must stop bombs before new talks: Zelenskyy
A woman walks her dog near a damaged residential building in Mironova Street in Donetsk after a shelling attack on February 27 Photo: Ryumin/TASS/Sipa USA.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russia must stop bombing Ukrainian cities before meaningful talks on a ceasefire can start, after a first round of negotiations this week yielded scant progress.
Speaking in an interview in a heavily guarded government compound, Zelenskyy also urged NATO members to impose a no-fly-zone to stop the Russian air force, claiming this would be a preventative measure and not meant to drag the military alliance into war with Russia.
Zelenskyy, who has refused offers to leave the Ukrainian capital as Russian forces advanced, said Ukraine would demand legally binding security guarantees if NATO shut the door on Ukraine’s membership prospects.
Setting out his conditions for further talks with Russia, Zelenskyy told Reuters and CNN in a joint interview: “It’s necessary to at least stop bombing people, just stop the bombing and then sit down at the negotiating table.”
Just as he was speaking, news emerged that a Russian missile had struck a TV tower in Kyiv and killed five people, according to Ukraine’s civil defence authority.
Earlier on Tuesday, missiles struck the heart of Ukraine’s second-largest city Kharkiv.
Ukraine has received weapons shipments from NATO members to help withstand a full-scale military invasion unleashed by Russian forces last week while several countries have also introduced swingeing sanctions on the Russian economy.
But Ukraine has pressed NATO to accelerate its entry, a move fiercely opposed by officials in Moscow and cited as one of Russia’s reasons for launching its campaign.
“Our partners, if they are not ready to take Ukraine into NATO… because Russia does not want Ukraine to be in NATO, should work out common security guarantees for Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said.
