Australia COVID LIVE updates: Delta takes its toll on the economy as governments look to future

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Morning

Good morning and welcome to our national news blog. My name is Fergus Hunter and I’ll be handling the blog through the AM today.

To get started, here’s a rundown of what’s in the headlines this morning:

  • The COVID-19 outbreak in NSW has put an $11 billion hole in the NSW economy in three months, with the state government forecasting a $19 billion budget hit. A record number of positive cases were recorded on Friday.
  • Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced her daily press conference appearances would end. As her government looks to move beyond the outbreak, some of her senior colleagues are nervous about whether the state can pull it off.
  • In Victoria, health and education experts are calling for students to return to face-to-face learning next term as Premier Daniel Andrews faces pressure to reveal his plans for schools.
  • New Victorian Opposition Leader Matthew Guy wants to boost the number of women in Liberal Party ranks. He will call for quotas and other mechanisms if numbers of women in winnable seats don’t increase before the next election.
  • Australia’s medical regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration, is preparing to take legal action against federal MP Craig Kelly over a text message campaign that could have misled millions of people about COVID-19 vaccines.
  • Prime Minister Scott Morrison is preparing to use his first one-on-one meeting with US President Joe Biden to push for efforts to challenge the rising influence of China in Australia’s region.
  • In Sydney, house values are increasing by $850 a day and there are growing fears a real estate obsession will hurt Australia’s living standards. In Melbourne, values are growing by almost $457 a day.

A dramatic sunrise in Avalon on Sydney’s northern beaches on Friday. Credit:Nick Moir

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