Good morning, Matilda Boseley here on this beautiful Wednesday morning.
Get your coffee, get your Weet-Bix and buckle in because there is a lot going on.
One of the main things to watch out for is the sheer number of high-profile politicians off sick today.
Victoria’s premier Daniel Andrews has been moved to a specialist trauma facility after breaking ribs and damaging vertebrae after a fall.
Andrews was staying at Mornington Peninsula holiday rental over the long weekend and was preparing to return to work when he slipped on wet stairs outside the home.
The 48-year-old was expected to be transferred from Peninsula private hospital to the Alfred Trauma Centre in Melbourne on Tuesday evening after specialists assessed an MRI scan.
He is set to remain in intensive care for a few days on medical advice, before providing an update on his health later in the week. It’s now unclear if he will be back at work for the next sitting of state parliament.
Victoria’s minister for police, emergency services and Covid quarantine, Lisa Neville is also on extended sick leave.
On a federal level, we already know that attorney-general Christian Porter is on stress leave after he vehemently denied accusations that he raped a 16-year-old girl when he was 17. Defence minister Linda Reynolds is off due to an underlying health condition and now health minister Greg Hunt has been sent to the hospital with a suspected infection. (Which his office has been quick to clarify is not related to the Covid vaccine he received this week.)
Fingers crossed no one else gets sick today!
Also this morning, Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce is pushing for the easing of border controls as Covid vaccines roll out. (No surprises there.)
Speaking at yesterday’s AFR business summit, Joyce warned that tourists and students could abandon Australia and investors pull out if border closures remain a long-term plank of pandemic proofing.
The travellers will go elsewhere. The students will go elsewhere …
We need to be part of the world economy again. What are we waiting for?
Joyce questioned why the focus shifted from ensuring hospitals were not overwhelmed to stamping out any local transmission, suggesting states should end the practice of shutting borders after just one case.
That’s enough to get us started, so let’s jump into the day!
If there is something you reckon I’ve missed or think should be in the blog but isn’t, shoot me a message on Twitter @MatildaBoseley or email me at matilda.boseley@theguardian.com.