Australia news update live: Christian Porter to retire at next election; Coalition MPs cross floor to support Craig Kelly vaccine mandate motion

Christian Porter announces retirement on Facebook; George Christensen and Llew O’Brien cross floor after question time; sixth case of Omicron variant confirmed in NSW; Indigenous woman dies in custody in Melbourne; Victoria records 1,179 new Covid cases and six deaths; NSW records 251 cases; ‘significant flooding’ across Queensland town of Inglewood – follow the day’s news live

• Christian Porter bemoans ‘harshness of politics’ as he announces he’ll quit parliament
• Health minister Greg Hunt expected to quit politics at 2022 federal election
• Australia’s GDP falls by 1.9% as Covid contraction less severe than feared
• NT police arrest three people who escaped from Howard Springs Covid quarantine facility
• What does the new variant mean, and how worried should we be?
• Where has Omicron spread, and why are scientists so concerned?
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Scott Morrison was asked about his senator David Van’s interjections in the Senate yesterday and he had this to say:

I expect all parliamentary leaders to be seeking to be uphold those standards have been in the parliament a long time. Just last week the interjections that I was hearing in the chamber coming across, I mean, these are things that all parliamentary leaders continue to have to uphold the standards of and I expect that of my team and I was very, very disappointed about that.

In February this year, I spoke about integrity and conduct. Politics is about perception, and, regrettably, the public perception of our politicians is not good. Repeatedly, politicians from local, state and federal ranks have acted without integrity and contributed to the ongoing and deteriorating perception of the body politic.

In any survey about the most trusted professions in our society, politicians usually rank amongst the lowest, and why wouldn’t this be the case, given the continued exposure of questionable activities over the years? Whether it’s alleged lies in election campaigns, dodgy preselections, misappropriation of public monies, personal benefits resulting from insider information, monies sequestered in overseas tax havens, abuse of office for personal advantage, dodgy land deals or connections with foreign governments, the list goes on and on.

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