Good morning, it’s a new dawn, it’s a new day, it’s a new life and I hope you are feeling good!
Matilda Boseley here and before we jump into the morning of news, why don’t I get you up to speed on the situation in Western Australia.
At the moment it’s all a bit of a waiting game at moment with people in Perth and the Peel region are waiting to see which restrictions will be extended beyond midnight tonight. Many are fearful the snap lockdown in its entirety will continue if more cases are found today.
Yesterday the premier Mark McGowan flagged that some social distancing rules would persist:
I’m sure there will be some further measures that continue …
What they are, we won’t know until tomorrow morning. We’ll get health advice … and I think people should get used to the prospect that there will be some further measures continue beyond Monday …
If there’s further cases what we do will be more than perhaps there is now. It all depends on the circumstances. I can’t predict what will happen. There will be an extension of some form of controls.
Yesterday there were no new local cases of Covid-19 discovered.
I’ll give you the whole lowdown on McGowan’s ongoing fight with the federal government later this morning, but why don’t we pivot to another situation in Canberra.
Former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins will meet with Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese next week to discuss ways to improve workplace culture in Parliament House, it was revealed on the weekend.
Newswire AAP reported the separate meetings will be held in Sydney on Friday. Higgins wanted to meet the prime minister in Canberra but it is understood she was not given a choice.
Higgins has become a powerful voice calling for reform in Parliament House after she went public with allegations she was raped by a colleague in a federal minister’s office two years ago, and criticised the government’s lacklustre efforts to support her in the aftermath.
Last month during an interview on A Current Affair, Morrison stated he would meet to speak with Higgins, but since reaching out, Higgins says it has been a struggle to lock the prime minister down on a time.
Now that the details are set, Morrison has described the meeting as “important” and said he was looking forward to it.
OK, with that why don’t we get started.
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.