Australia news live: accused cabinet minister set to address rape allegation; international borders closed until June

Tropical cyclone Niran could be upgraded to a category three weather system with gale-force wind warnings issued for large areas of northern Queensland.

The slow-moving cyclone is around 350km northeast of off the Coast of Cairns this morning and despite moving away from land it’s still causing gusts of up to 130km/h for the regional city.

The Bureau of Meteorology has put out a gale warning for Cape Melville to Innisfail, including Cooktown, Port Douglas and Cairns.

Tropical Cyclone Niran is expected to remain slow-moving off the north Queensland coast while gradually intensifying over the next 24 to 36 hours…

People between Cape Melville and Innisfail, including Cooktown, Port Douglas and Cairns should take precautions.

Niran has already caused winds to knocked down power lines on Monday night, blacking out about 42,000 homes.

Two people were also saved from floodwaters west of Townsville that day.

The Canberra Times has the story today that the head of the defence force is defending his decision to warn cadets not to make themselves “prey” to sexual predators.

General Angus Campbell allegedly urged the first-year cadets to be wary of the “A’s” – consuming alcohol, being alone, being out after midnight and appearing attractive.

Unsurprisingly there has been some pretty swift criticism of these comments.

I mentioned before that landmark survey of the Chinese-Australian community that found nearly one in five have been physically threatened or attacked in the past year because of their Chinese heritage.

Political reporter Daniel Hurst has more this morning:

Researchers from the Lowy Institute said the “dispiriting” finding showed how the Covid-19 pandemic and worsening tensions in the relationship between the governments of China and Australia were spilling over into experiences of discrimination.

The comments coincided with a senior Chinese diplomat raising alarm about the current political and media climate in Australia, with the deputy head of the embassy in Canberra arguing it was becoming “really difficult to be China’s friend in Australia” amid growing “suspicion”.

You can read the full story below:

My esteemed colleagues Anne Davies and Lisa Cox have a story that’s really worth reading today, about NSW deputy premier John Barilaro:

An agricultural group associated with Angus Taylor’s family thanked the New South Wales deputy premier, John Barilaro, for a $107,000 grant that was used to fund research to support lobbying efforts for the watering down of protections for endangered native grasslands.

At the time, in late 2016, a separate Taylor family-controlled company, Jam Land, was under investigation for illegal clearing of native grasslands, in breach of the same grassland protections. It was facing potential fines of up to $1m.

Last April Australia’s environment department ruled that Jam Land had acted illegally and ordered the company to restore 103 hectares of native grasslands, but did not order any fines. That order is the subject of an ongoing ministerial review.

The whole story is well worth a read and can be found below:

Good morning, Matilda Boseley here and you will be pleased to hear that after riding my bike to the office, I am both out of breath and invigorated to bring you all of this morning’s news – and guys, buckle in, it’s going to be a big one.

There is a lot going on today so I’m relying on you all a little bit, if there is something you reckon I have missed or think should be in the blog but isn’t shoot me a message on Twitter @MatildaBoseley or email me at [email protected].

So in many ways today is a waiting game. The minister accused of a rape of a woman in 1988 is expected to identify himself today, after five days of huge public outcry for him to be named and aggressive (and legally risky) speculation gripping the internet.

He is expected to make a statement in which he is likely to declare his innocence, and take questions from the media, after engaging the services of well-known defamation lawyer Peter Bartlett.

As expected NSW police yesterday said they were unable to investigate the matter further given that the woman who made the accusation has since taken her own life.

This is what the police said:

Following the woman’s death, NSW police came into possession of a personal document purportedly made by the woman previously …

NSW police have since sought legal advice in relation to these matters. Based on information provided to NSW police, there is insufficient admissible evidence to proceed.

We don’t have a time for when this will happen but when it starts we will no doubt push out an alert so make sure you download the Guardian News app so you get that notification.

Some other things to look out for today:

• Health minister Greg Hunt has confirmed international borders will remain closed for at least another three months, much to the dismay of the more than 40,000 Australians who remain stranded across the globe due to Covid-19.
• Nearly one in five Chinese-Australians have been physically threatened or attacked in the past year, a landmark survey has revealed, with a suggestion that worsening China-Australia political relations could be filtering down into day-to-day society.
  
• A nine-month extension to the Victorian government’s state of emergency powers has passed parliament with the support of three crossbench MPs.
• Acting minister for defence Marise Payne announced from next week the Australian defence force will help administer Covid-19 vaccines in aged care homes, especially in regional areas. This comes as Australia lags slightly behind on the first phase of its rollout.
  
• We can also maybe expect a bit more news about the planned revamp of the Victorian mental health care system after a royal commission found the current system to be a catastrophic failure, woefully inadequate and operating largely in crisis mode.
• Oh, and obviously all the Covid-19 numbers as they come! (How wild that this can now be the last dot point!)

OK, let’s get started!