‘Error’ behind elite school’s shots

Authorities have apologised over an “error” that saw Pfizer Covid-19 vaccines given to students at one of Sydney’s most expensive private schools.

What we know:

• NSW Health said 163 year 12 students at St Joseph’s College were accidentally given the vaccine in June (SMH);
• An unnamed private girls school was also given access to the Pfizer vaccine (The Guardian); 
• NSW Teachers Federation president Angelo Gavrielatos was “speechless” that some private school students received the jab before most teachers;
• St Joseph’s College allegedly asked about inoculating its Indigenous year 12 students and was invited to vaccinate all its boarders; 
• Most Australians aged under 40 are not yet eligible for a Pfizer shot, but all Aboriginal people aged 16 can as an at-risk group for Covid-19;
• Greens MP David Shoebridge asked why more vulnerable schools weren’t prioritised, such as Brewarrina Central School students, 97% of which are Indigenous;
• Only about 4% of St Joseph’s College students are Indigenous.

Sydney’s lockdown is set to continue for another week, following the NSW government’s crisis cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

The existing lockdown of the Greater Sydney region, which was due to end this Friday, is set to be extended to July 16 (ABC). 

Premier Gladys Berejiklian is expected to provide details of the plan this morning, which will include online learning for students following the school holidays.

Schools will be open for children of essential workers, but no child will be turned away.

NSW reported 18 new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, 11 of which were in isolation for their entire infectious period.

The far northern regions of Nordic countries are sweltering through extreme heat, as temperature records continue to be shattered across the world.

What we know:

• The city of Kevo in the northern Finnish province of Lapland hit 33.6C, the hottest day in Finland in more than a century (The Independent); 
• Norway registered 34C in Saltdal, a county near the Arctic Circle;
• Sweden reported its third-hottest month of June since records began;
• Monash University professor of meteorology Michael Reeder said the Nordic heatwave is linked to extreme North American temperatures via a disturbance to the jet stream caused by a tropical low in the western Pacific;
• Record-breaking heatwaves in the US led to 95 deaths in the state of Oregon alone (USA Today); 
• Roughly 180 fires are burning in the Canadian province of British Columbia (CBC); 
• New Zealand experienced its hottest June ever recorded (Channel News Asia). 

It comes as new research finds that metallurgical coal produced in Queensland’s Bowen Basin generates 47% more methane emissions than the global industry average, further fuelling global warming (Bloomberg). 

The Nationals’ top pick for the Senate in NSW was the subject of an apprehended domestic violence order application.

Senior figures were aware of the 2014 ADVO application made against Ross Cadell as part of the vetting process, but did not let the grassroots party membership know before the vote (The Guardian). 

The order was withdrawn by Cadell’s ex-wife who is listed in the court file as a “protected person”.

Cadell denied any wrongdoing.

The former state director of the NSW Nationals oversaw the Barnaby Joyce sexual harassment investigation, which was unable to reach a conclusion.

Cadell beat five other candidates to take the second spot on the Senate ticket, including rural industry leader Alison Penfold, who has spoken about the need to listen to the concerns of women in the wake of the Brittany Higgins revelations.

Penfold was relegated to the unwinnable sixth position.

Mining giant Glencore has apologised to traditional owners for its treatment of land around the NT’s McArthur River lead and zinc mine, as it pushes for a new expansion.

The apology was made to Gudanji, Garrawa, Yanyuwa and Marra traditional owners at a federal parliamentary inquiry on Tuesday into the destruction of sacred sites around Australia (NITV). 

Impacts from the mine include diverting part of the river to access the ore body and destroying the back of the Rainbow Serpent dreaming site.

The company wants to increase the height of a volatile waste rock dump, which traditional owners say would block the view of the sacred Barramundi dreaming site.

Glencore added it may withdraw its appeal to the NT government over the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority rejecting the expansion application over inadequate community consultation.

Northern Land Council CEO Marion Scrymgour welcomed the apology but said “actions speak louder than words” in regard to a new agreement.

With Australia’s vaccination drive yet to get out of first gear, Formula One chief Stefano Domenicali will shift the Melbourne Grand Prix to somewhere that understands that the vaccine rollout really is a race (Fox Sports).

Barrett Moore ordered 2 million N95 masks, held enough freeze-dried food to feed families hiding from global Armageddon for decades, owned a small arsenal of guns, and fortified a pole barn in which to wait out the collapse of civilization ... the best hope your family had was holing up in his northern Michigan compound while things fell apart. The price for this service would run in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, to be paid in instalments (The Intercept).