Australia news live updates: NSW government drops case against rail union; 33 Covid deaths recorded

Good morning everyone, it’s Matilda Boseley here with you this morning, and by golly it’s already a big one.

Let’s start our day in Sydney, where limited train services will run this morning after the network was shut down yesterday amid an industrial dispute between the New South Wales government and a transport union.

After the rail union ruled that workers would only do tasks as they were set and would refuse to work overtime, Transport for NSW cancelled trains for Monday, saying it was impossible to safely operate services with union bans in place affecting rosters.

Then last night NSW transport minister David Elliot said reduced services would return across all lines on the Sydney Trains network from 5am on Tuesday, running at a minimum 30-minute frequency:

Sydney Trains encourage commuters who typically rely on the rail network to find alternative travel options, if possible ...

These limited services are there to support essential workers and commuters who have no other options to get to where they need to go.

Now heading (much) further south, the prime minister, Scott Morrison, will today announce $804m for strategic and scientific programs in Antarctica over the next decade as the government flags its intention to increase Australia’s role in the increasingly contested region.

The package will include $136m for charting activities, mobile stations and traverse capability, and $109m for a new drone fleet, autonomous vehicles and medium lift helicopters.

Basically, this will let Australia map “inaccessible and fragile areas of east Antarctic”, and set up a new “Antarctic eye” program to parts of the continent. The helicopters, which have a range of 550km, will also allow researchers to travel to parts of the continent that have not previously been accessible.

It will come as a surprise to no one that this actually has a lot to do with China – specifically about making it harder for it to make a territorial claim on the southern continent some time in the future.

OK! With that, why don’t we jump right into the day!