Australia news LIVE: Victoria records 1510 new local COVID-19 cases, four deaths as nation nears 80 per cent double dose vaccination target

Police have revealed they are yet to speak to everyone who was at the remote Western Australian campsite where Cleo Smith was last seen on the morning she went missing.

“We need to speak to every single person that was there, and we haven’t yet done so,” Deputy Police Commissioner Col Blanch said.

He called on land owners in the massive search area near Carnarvon to check their remote properties and abandoned sheds.

“You know we’ve got a large search area looking for Cleo or evidence, and ... we would ask everyone to check their sheds, cars their old cars, locations that might be abandoned,” he said.

Ellie Smith, mother of missing four-year-old girl Cleo, has posted a moving tribute to her daughter on Instagram as the investigation into her disappearance continues 10 days after she went missing.

The full story is available here.

The federal government is expected to release its plan to reach net zero today, including some details around the deal struck with the Nationals after the junior coalition partner agreed on Sunday to back the Liberal target for 2050.

But Finance Minister Simon Birmingham won’t reveal the price of getting the Nationals to back the target. Speaking on the ABC’s RN Breakfast earlier, the South Australian Senator said the Government would “continue to pursue” infrastructure investments that are good for the country.

“What we will always do with investment, particularly in infrastructure ... is seek to ensure we have the rules that guided that funding towards the maximum benefit when it comes to job creation, when it comes to community benefit,” he said.

“All of this is about ensuring that we achieve net zero by 2050 in ways that maximise the job opportunities for Australians, that deliver the type of support for regional communities to be able to adjust so that if countries like Japan and Korea, some of our major export markets, change their consumption patterns in terms of the resources and energy that they buy from Australia.”

When asked why the Government won’t commit to updated emissions reduction targets for 2030, given updated projections to be released today are expected to show reductions have exceeded the 26 per cent to 28 per cent target and will reach 35 per cent, Senator Birmingham said: “It’s what you do that matters most.”

“Unlike many other [countries], we will be able to demonstrate that we are on track to exceed those 2030 targets as well,” he said.

As mentioned earlier, Crown will today learn whether it will retain its Melbourne casino licence.

A royal commission heard the company failed to prevent money laundering as well as the infiltration of organised crime. The final report is due to be handed down around 9am AEDT.

Crown is one of Victoria’s largest employers, with more than 10,000 staff.

Below is a timeline of events.

Housing affordability across Sydney has collapsed to its lowest level in at least a decade and is on track for the same point in Melbourne as the benefits of record low interest rates are overwhelmed by soaring property prices and stagnant wages growth.

Analysis by Moody’s Investors Service shows the jump in Sydney’s median house price, now at $1.3 million, means a household with an annual income of $135,000 will spend more than 45 per cent of it servicing their new mortgage. In February, they needed 36 per cent of their income.

It’s little better in Melbourne, where the median house price is now more than $960,000, with households spending an average 32.1 per cent of their incomes on the mortgage. Melbourne households were paying 29.7 per cent of their incomes towards their mortgages in February.

The Reserve Bank last year cut the official cash rate to 0.1 per cent, taking mortgage rates to their lowest level on record. Federal and state government programs aimed at supporting the property market funnelled up to $88,000 to first-home buyers.

Coupled with the closure of the international borders, there has been a surge in house prices in the nation’s capital cities and across almost every region.

More on this issue here.

The federal government will rely on mammoth spending on new energy projects to cut greenhouse gas emissions to net zero levels by 2050 in a climate policy to be released as soon as today after a deal with the Nationals.

The policy will come with updated projections that show Australia will surpass its stated goal of reducing emissions by 26 to 28 per cent by 2030, factoring in the new measures to claim the cuts could reach as much as 36 per cent.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison is expected to outline the changes alongside Energy Minister Angus Taylor along with policies on fuel standards, electric vehicles, the use of hydrogen as a “clean” fuel and more spending of taxpayer funds on energy projects.

Read more about the Government’s plans here.

Victoria’s Chief Health Officer will no longer have the final say on how the state handles a pandemic, an independent committee will scrutinise key government decisions and public health advice will be consistently made public under a bill to be tabled in Parliament today.

The new pandemic-specific laws, which will replace sweeping state-of-emergency powers when they expire on December 15, also contain stronger safeguards to withhold QR-code check-in data from law enforcement and a tiered fines system that will lessen the burden on disadvantaged people.

The Premier will be given the authority to declare a pandemic, activating the government’s powers. That declaration must be reviewed every three months.

The tabling of the bill comes after months of negotiations between the Andrews government and three upper house crossbenchers.

Read the full story here.

GPs are preparing to alert patients they’re eligible for a coronavirus booster shot as pharmacists call for access to the Pfizer vaccine, with a decision on Pfizer boosters expected before the end of the week.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration’s vaccine advisory committee met yesterday to consider the use of Pfizer’s COVID-19 jab as a booster. The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation will then consider the benefits of a broad booster program later this week.

Health Minister Greg Hunt said last week the government was ready to roll out a booster program once it is approved by the medical bodies, and Deputy Chief Medical Officer Professor Michael Kidd said the Commonwealth was preparing to start a rollout on November 8.

Pharmacists are also keen to be involved in the booster rollout, but currently risk being left out unless the federal government allows pharmacists to dispense Pfizer doses, or unless Moderna applies for its vaccine to be used as a booster. Moderna is expected to submit data for consideration soon.

More on Australia’s vaccine rollout here.

The staggered return to face-to-face learning in Victoria is coinciding with high coronavirus case numbers in the community and more than 200 schools have been forced to temporarily close this month.

New COVID-safe protocols mean schools no longer have to close for 14 days, but can reopen the next day in some cases.

The new protocols enable more students to be in class, but also require schools to perform a new juggling act: educating both the students who are on campus and those who are in quarantine.

Berwick Lodge Primary principal Henry Grossek said the new protocols were particularly tough on primary school students, who are unvaccinated and so must spend 14 days isolating at home.

The large primary school in Melbourne’s southeast has been closed for the past week after 14 students tested positive last week, but will reopen today.

More on Victoria’s road map here.