Australia news live update: Victoria to debate controversial pandemic laws; NT records first Covid case in remote Aboriginal community

Good morning everyone, it’s Matilda Boseley here, ready to take you through all the news of Tuesday.

Let’s start off in Victoria where the state government has made several changes to its controversial pandemic legislation to address legal and human rights concerns after it was criticised for being too broad and lacking in parliamentary oversight. This comes as the bill is headed for debate in state parliament’s upper house.

A controversial clause that gave the Victorian health minister the ability to make orders based on a person’s “characteristics, attributes or circumstances”, such as age, location, vaccination status and occupation, also raised concerns.

After negotiations with some key crossbench MP’s, the Public Health and Wellbeing Amendment (Pandemic Management) Bill 2021 has been altered to clarify that the premier will need “reasonable grounds” to declare a pandemic and that the application of orders based on characteristics “must be relevant to the public health risk”.

The health minister will be required to confirm the role the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities has played in their decisions.

The advice behind any orders issued must be made public within a week rather than a fortnight, while the parliament’s Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee will be given the power to consider any order when it is made, instead of after it is tabled.

Maximum fines for people who breach public health orders have been halved.

Meanwhile, further north, the communities of greater Katherine and Robinson River in the Northern Territory have entered a 72-hour lockdown.

NT chief minister Michael Gunner announced the lockdown on Monday after two people tested positive since spending time at the Robinson River remote community.

One of the two new positive cases, a 30-year-old Aboriginal woman, lives in Robinson River about 800km from Katherine. It is believed she has been infectious since November 11.

The woman’s case is the first Covid-19 infection reported in a remote Aboriginal community.

A 43-year-old Aboriginal man, who lives with seven others in Katherine East, also tested positive on November 13, just four days after testing negative. Health officials believe the man has possibly been infectious since November 10, spends time in Robinson River and is a household contact of the woman.

Alongside the lockdown, health officials have already been deployed to affected areas for a testing and vaccine blitz.

Well, I will keep you up to date with that, and all the other important news of the morning, so grab yourself a coffee and why don’t we jump into the day.