Morning mail: Melbourne Covid outbreak, early election ‘opportunistic’, 100 years of the Archibald

Good morning! Residents in Melbourne will be keeping a close eye on today’s new Covid case numbers after four new cases were detected yesterday. At least four Liberal MPs are in the firing line ahead of the next federal election, we can reveal today. And if you’re staring out at your lawn as you read the morning news with a cuppa in hand, check out our recommended reads for the perfect story to ponder the turf.

Victorian health authorities hope genomic sequencing will establish the source of four new cases of Covid discovered in Melbourne’s northern suburbs. The four positive cases belong to the same family, spread across two households, in the Whittlesea local government area. South Australia and NSW have already imposed new travel restrictions on people who have been to key sites in Melbourne. Victoria’s health minister said there was no current plan to impose a lockdown but as more information came to hand from contact tracers and genomic testing “the evidence will determine our response”.

A majority of voters think an early election this year would be opportunistic, according to the latest Guardian Essential poll. Sixty-one per cent of respondents characterised any post-budget sprint to the ballot box as political opportunism, and 39% said it would be reasonable because a lot has changed since the last federal election. The poll also revealed that a significant majority worry the Morrison government either lacks a long-term plan on a range of policy fronts or is failing to communicate its plans clearly. The Covid-19 vaccination rollout is the most significant practical and political challenge the government faces, but only 25% of respondents said they were confident the government had a clear plan.

The election headaches don’t stop there for the Morrison government, with preselection turmoil in NSW, where at least four sitting Liberal MPs facing an internal attempt to overthrow them. Despite Morrison saying he wants more women in parliament, the challenge to sitting members includes a push to oust female MPs in two key marginal western Sydney seats – Fiona Martin in Reid and Melissa McIntosh in Lindsay. Also being challenged are Alex Hawke and Trent Zimmerman.

Australia

Agriculture is seen as a key culprit in rising emissions but some on the land are aiming to lead by example. WA farmers have started AgZero2030: a movement to influence climate action and to lead by example by making their properties carbon neutral within the decade.

A Victorian police sergeant who was accused of verbally abusing his neighbours, including by yelling “dead cat” at them, has been denied his request to access all documents related to the complaints under freedom of information laws. The sergeant is now appealing the decision.

Sexual assault survivor Grace Tame says Scott Morrison told her, “Well, gee, I bet it felt good to get that out,” in response to her powerful speech at this year’s Australia Day awards ceremony. Morrison defended his comment by saying he meant Tame raising her voice “would have been great to so many victims”.

The world

The UK government has been urged to find out whether the Emirati royal Princess Latifa has been freed from house arrest by her father after a third Instagram photo appeare,d purporting to show her in a Dubai shopping mall.

The EU and Britain have put Belarus on notice of sanctions and punitive measures against its national airline as European flights over the country’s airspace were suspended in response to the detention of a dissident on a “hijacked” Ryanair flight.

Up to 8,700 UK patients died after catching Covid in English hospitals. More than 32,300 patients contracted Covid while in hospital as doctors struggled to stop the virus spreading because of shortages of single rooms, a lack of personal protective equipment and an inability to test staff and patients early in the pandemic.

Israeli police have shot dead an attacker who stabbed an Israeli soldier and a civilian in Jerusalem. The attack came as opposition parties restarted efforts to oust the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

Italy’s transport minister has vowed to establish the cause of a cable car disaster that killed 14 people, after the lead cable apparently snapped.

A missing man has been found dead inside a dinosaur statue. Police say it’s likely the 39-year-old got stuck trying to retrieve his mobile phone after dropping it.

Recommended reads

The Archibald portrait prize, which celebrates its centenary this year, has been a magnet for debate since its inception. This is partly because of what these paintings reveal about the country around it, and how that reconciles with the stories that Australians like to tell about themselves. To sift through the history of the prize, from the winners to the finalists, to consider the faces both recognised and neglected, is to encounter a wonderfully messy narrative, forever contested and evolving.

The humble garden lawn has come under increasing fire as people question its environmental impact – particularly water consumption. “Lawn gets a bad rap,” says Deryn Thorpe from the gardening podcast All the Dirt, and that’s not without reason. But while lawns have developed a bad reputation in Australia, with a bit of rethinking they can have a positive influence.

Australia has not had a gas-led recovery – not in jobs, not in tax receipts, argues Greg Jericho. Despite government money and hype about the power of gas to fire up the economy, the only thing that’s on the rise is exports.

Listen

Last week, in a landmark case, Australia’s Fair Work Commission ruled that Deliveroo rider Diego Franco was an employee – not a contractor. The case could have ramifications for the wider gig economy, where the use of contractors has led to widespread job insecurity, and workers are subjected to dangerous conditions. Reporter Naaman Zhou explains how the case unfolded and how, in the face of increasing pressure to give workers better rights, some companies are changing the way they operate.

Full Story is Guardian Australia’s daily news podcast. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any other podcasting app.

Sport

Melbourne City, the newly crowned A-League premiers, are on an upward trajectory. Jonathan Howcroft speaks to the main architects behind a transformative season.

Two Australian skateboarders are “devastated” after their hopes of qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics were ruined by testing positive for Covid-19 in the US.

Media roundup

NSW will adopt an affirmative consent model in a sweeping rape law reform, in which juries will be empowered to convict people accused of rape unless they have taken active steps to obtain consent for sex, according to the Daily Telegraph. The Australian embassy in Kabul is packing up, less than six weeks after the government announced it would pull the last troops of Afghanistan, reports the Australian. And bars and restaurants will continue seating diners on top of parking spaces permanently in Melbourne’s bustling inner-north, writes the Age.

Coming up

Australian federal police are set to face questions about Brittany Higgins at Senate estimates.

A Senate committee is poised to release its final report into Australia Post watch debacle.

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