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New Zealand is forced back into panic and despair as Jacinda hits the red light for Omicron. Record inflation is starting to do permanent damage in both Australia and NZ. Join Tim Wilms and Dieuwe de Boer.

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Not only has Jacinda Ardern put the whole of NZ back into red light restrictions but introduced a new phased change to testing and isolation protocols as the Omicron outbreak progresses. Speaker of the Parliament Trevor Mallard has continued to incite panic buying in NZ describing his weekly shop in a bare shelved supermarket. Jacinda’s Omicron response has got the endorsement of her number one Australian fan Project co-host Lisa Wilkinson who describes Australia’s Omicron response as a binfire.

Australia Day 2022 saw Tennis player and disability advocate Dylan Alcott named Australian of the Year. He replaces outgoing Australian of the Year Grace Tame who pulled a sour face when she met Scott Morrison at an official function. The Federal Government said it had bought the copyright to the Aboriginal Flag from its creator Harold Thomas but Flagworld still has the exclusive manufacturing rights.

Director-General of Public Health NZ Dr Ashley Bloomfield has denied the government is “requisitioning” RATs from private supplies but “consolidating” their own supplies. Scott Morrison has stated reports that the Federal Government has been requisitioning RATS are not true. The NSW and Victorian Governments have been engaged in what’s been described as a military-style operation sending RATs to every school for the start of Term 1 next week.

With many people obtaining natural immunity from recent infection booster uptake in Australia has been slow. Dan Andrews has stated he hopes the definition of fully vaccinated will change to three doses so he can mandate the booster. Victorian hospitals continue to operate under a code brown which is seeing elective surgery that could be performed still banned. Mainstream media websites have reset their vaccine bars to include the third dose rate. NSW has extended its mask mandate, QR codes, and singing and dancing ban for another month. WA’s hard border continues with Mark McGowan this afternoon unveiling his own Omicron close contact and testing rules.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s government is involved in an integrity scandal with three of her anti-corruption and integrity officers State Archivist, Mike Summerell, Integrity Commissioner, Nikola Stepanov and CCC Chair Alan MacSporran all resigning. This new scrutiny stems from the fact that Palaszczuk wasn’t investigated when she pulled a Hillary Clinton and used a private email server for official government business.

In the sports report, Tennis Australia has backflipped on their ban on Where’s Peng Shuai t-shirts. Members of Drew Pavlou’s Democracy Alliance still plan to hand out 1000 of the t-shirts for the finals weekend. The atmosphere of the Australian Open has turned around after the Novak Djokovic deportation with Australian Ash Barty in the women’s final and an all-Aussie men’s doubles final.

AFLW Muslim player Haneen Zreika won’t play in the competition’s LGBT Pride Round on religious grounds, an Instagram post said she respects and accepts everyone. She hasn’t received the same hate that Christian Rugby player Israel Folau did. The Melbourne Victory A-League club has been fined $5000 for alleged homophobic abuse their fans directed at gay A-League player Josh Cavallo.

Inflation in NZ is at a 30-year high of 5.9%. Jacinda “absolutely refutes” that high government spending has led to high inflation. In Australia inflation is at 3.5% unemployment continues to fall now at 4.2%

The Project: Lisa Wilkinson dubs Australia’s Covid situation a ‘bin fire’ – news.com.au
Graceless act draws criticism for ‘immature’ Australian of the Year – Rebel News
Aboriginal Flag Media Release – Flagworld
Premier fends off attacks on integrity, urges public servants to come forward – Brisbane Times
We’re not confiscating, we’re consolidating!!! – KiwiBlog
‘NOT TRUE’: Scott Morrison hits out at rapid test ‘lie’ – Yahoo News
Don’t Let Them Tell You Inflation Is Good for the Poor. It’s Not – The BFD
AFLW player breaks her silence after withdrawing from match over pride shirt – SBS News
Melbourne Victory fined over fans’ homophobic abuse towards Adelaide player Josh Cavallo
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern ‘absolutely refutes’ that high spending led to record inflation – Newshub

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