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Australia has smashed its own record for new coronavirus infections as the death toll exceeded 1000 and the disease claimed its first Indigenous victim.

There were 1375 new local cases across the nation on Monday with 1290 detected in NSW, where there were also four deaths.

That took the national toll to 1003 since the start of the pandemic.

A unvaccinated man in his 50s who died at Dubbo hospital was Australia's first Indigenous coronavirus death.

There were 73 new cases in Victoria, which has been unable to stamp out an outbreak despite an extended lockdown.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg wants business leaders to join the government's push to open state borders and reduce lockdowns when vaccination coverage reaches 70 and 80 per cent.

But Labor has accused the coalition of using debate over the reopening plan as a distraction from the current crisis.

Mr Frydenberg said state and territory governments would not receive the same levels of lockdown support when the thresholds were met.

"You could have the ridiculous situation where somebody in NSW could travel to Canada before they could go to Cairns," he told the Seven Network.

"Somebody in Victoria could travel to Singapore and Bali before they could go to Perth."

WA Premier Mark McGowan, who has signalled he will maintain border restrictions even at higher vaccination rates, described the treasurer's comments as odd.

"NSW is in a catastrophic situation and he's worried about people flying to Bali," Mr McGowan said.

"Perhaps instead of attacking us they should show a bit of gratitude and appreciation for what Western Australia has done."

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese said the focus on the reopening agreement was a distraction from problems with the vaccine rollout and quarantine.

"This government has not looked at where the mistakes have been and set about correcting them," he told ABC radio.

"They've been too busy with their spin and marketing to worry about that."

Mr Albanese said the plan was silent on interstate borders but insisted WA's zero-case goal was not in conflict with the agreement.

Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox said state governments needed to change strategy and loosen some restrictions while vaccination rates rise.

"These are desperate, desperate times for business. We're probably at crunch point now," he told Nine.

Australia has fully vaccinated 34.41 per cent of its population aged 16 and over, while almost 55 per cent have received one jab.

ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr said Friday's national cabinet meeting of leaders focused on significant risks associated with opening at 70 per cent vaccine coverage.

"Even the prime minister is now changing his language and tone that 70 per cent is not the magic number, it's a very gentle step forward," he said.

He expects the ACT, which recorded 12 new cases on Monday, to reach the targets well ahead of the rest of Australia based on current trajectories.

"Let's stop talking about 70 because it's not safe at 70, but 80 is the more realistic step," Mr Barr said.

© AAP 2021

The lead guitarist of INXS suffered a career-ending finger severance on a boat because he wasn't taking reasonable care around the anchoring equipment, a Sydney court has been told.

Tim Farriss, 64, is seeking medical, economic and other damages in his negligence claim against a boat company after his left ring finger was hacked off on Pittwater Bay on the Australia Day weekend in 2015.

From a home office adorned with INXS memorabilia, the Perth-born musician is due to tell the NSW Supreme Court on Monday the incident ended his career and his ability to compose music.

"It is useless," barrister Adrian Williams said of his client's reattached finger.

"He is unsurprisingly depressed."

Farriss argues that on January 24 in 2015 he and his wife, Beth, sailed into Akuna Bay but struggled to set anchor because the chain was "prone to 'kinking'".

They telephoned a Church Point Charter employee for assistance after the anchor motor stopped operating and then reset the circuit breaker.

The motor restarted but it didn't halt the kinking of the chain.

In his claim, Farriss says he attempted to realign the chain only for it to start spinning out of control.

He suffered a severed left ring finger and serious injuries to his index and middle finger. There was a minor injury to his pinky finger.

But the boat company, and its owners John and Jill Axford, dispute the claim the anchor chain and its motor were damaged.

Their lawyer said Justice Richard Cavanagh would have to decide whether the musician was in the vicinity of two foot pedals near the anchor motor that mechanically moved the anchor up and down.

"Our case is there was no damage - at some point, Mr Farriss must have loosened the clutch and he stepped on the up button, or perhaps the down button," John Turnbull SC told the court on Monday.

"But, of course, only he knows."

Farriss told the ambulance officers as much when being treated, Mr Turnbull said.

If you place your fingers near the winch, they could get hurt.

"But a reasonable person had other options available to them," Mr Turnbull said.

There is no dispute over the extent of Farriss' medical expenses but the Axfords dispute claims about the extent to which INXS could have toured after 2015.

The hearing is expected to run until Friday.

© AAP 2021

Ed Asner, who played a gruff newsman for laughs and for drama in the classic TV series The Mary Tyler Moore Show and its spinoff Lou Grant in the 1970s and 1980s has died at 91.

Asner, whose diverse credits also included a key voice role in the acclaimed 2009 animated film Up, died at his home surrounded by his family, his publicist told media outlets.

His family confirmed the death on the actor's Twitter feed, writing, "We are sorry to say that our beloved patriarch passed away this morning peacefully."

"Words cannot express the sadness we feel. With a kiss on your head- Goodnight dad. We love you," his family said.

Asner was known for his liberal politics and his stint as Screen Actors Guild president in the 1980s when he criticised US involvement in Central America during the administration of a previous head of the actors' union, President Ronald Reagan. In a career of remarkable longevity, Asner acted into his 90s.

Asner was integral to the success of the sitcom The Mary Tyler Moore Show, which ran from 1970 to 1977 and boasted one of the best assemblages of actors and writers in US TV history.

Asner was not known as a comic actor before landing the role but demonstrated deft comic timing in working with a cast that included Ted Knight, Betty White, Valerie Harper, Gavin MacLeod and Cloris Leachman.

"I didn't really put my toe into the water of comedy until I went up to read for 'Mary Tyler Moore.' I was afraid of it," Asner said in a 1995 Montreal radio interview.

"Not that I couldn't do an initial spark of humour but I didn't know how to maintain it."

The series ran for seven years and won the Emmy for outstanding comedy series three straight years starting in 1975. Asner won three Emmys for his work on the show.

The show spawned a number of spinoff series. After the show ended, Asner brought his Lou Grant character to a series of his own. Whereas Mary Tyler Moore was a fun sitcom, the new show, Lou Grant, was a drama with Asner's character relocated to Los Angeles to become city editor of a daily newspaper.

The series ran from 1977 to 1982 as Asner became the first actor to win an Emmy - two of them, in fact - playing the same character in both a comedy and a drama. Asner asserted that Lou Grant was cancelled by CBS due to his outspoken political views, not due to ratings.

"I have no proof. But most insiders seem to think that the show would not have been cancelled had it not been for the controversy that arose over my stand on El Salvador," Asner said in an interview for the Archive of American Television.

As head of the actors' union from 1981 to 1985, Asner also clashed with conservative actor Charlton Heston.

Asner also won Emmys for his work in two miniseries - Roots in 1977 and Rich Man, Poor Man in 1976 - and his total of seven was more than any other male actor. He was nominated for an Emmy 20 times.

Later in his career, Asner became a successful voice actor for animated TV shows and films and played Santa Claus in several projects, including the 2003 Will Ferrell comedy Elf.

He remained a busy actor into his 90s with appearances in such series as Dead To Me and Cobra Kai.

Asner, born in 1929, became a regular on television and later the movies starting in the 1950s. Before their series began, he starred with Moore in the Elvis Presley movie Change of Habit (1969) although they never met on screen. Asner also appeared in the film They Call Me Mister Tibbs! (1970) with Sidney Poitier.

Asner also was instrumental in the 2017 creation of the Ed Asner Family Center, founded by his son and his daughter in law, to help children with special needs and their families.

© RAW 2021