Well, this has a certain odour about it.
Coronavirus fragments are being found across the country in waste water testing, even as Australia continues its run without any locally acquired cases.
The Victorian towns of Castlemaine, Cowes and Pakenham have turned up virus fragments in sewage tests, while Canberra has also made a positive discovery.
The positives could be from people shedding the virus after having already recovered from COVID-19, which presents no risk to the community.
But the detection can also indicate unknown active cases lurking in the community.
The message from public health officials remains clear: get tested, even for the mildest of symptoms.
But some good news: travellers from Queensland and Victoria won't have to self-isolate when they arrive in Western Australia from next week.
That tough border to the west will be eased a fraction more.
Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan says his state has decided to relax coronavirus border restrictions, unless there are any further outbreaks.
"We won't hesitate to reinstate more stringent measures if we need to," he said on Saturday.
New South Wales marked its 13th day without a locally acquired COVID-19 case on Saturday, but the long-running border spat between Premier Gladys Berejiklian and her Queensland counterpart continues.
Ms Berejiklian on Friday reacted with bemusement to Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk's suggestion JobKeeper should be extended to help the northern state's struggling tourism industry.
It came a day after Ms Palaszczuk said 10,000 businesses in the state's far north were on JobKeeper and needed help while international borders remained shut.
"The whole point NSW has been so strong on, keeping borders open, is to prevent exactly what the Queensland premier is now complaining about," Ms Berejiklian said.
"[Ms Palaszczuk] is now the victim of a policy she put in place herself."
The Queensland premier has pointed to a lack of international visitors rather than a domestic downturn.
There's no love lost in this federation.
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Jasper Lindell
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
