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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
World
Naaman Zhou (now), Amy Remeikis and Matilda Boseley (earlier)

Worksafe to investigate cluster at Cedar Meats abattoir – as it happened

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Summary

And with that, we’ll be closing the blog tonight. Thanks for reading and stay safe. We will be back covering all the developments tomorrow.

Here is what happened today:

Updated

Some NSW pubs to reopen on Friday

Pubs with restaurants and sit-down dining tables will be allowed to reopen on Friday, as part of the NSW government’s already announced easing of restrictions.

Cafes and restaurants were already slated to reopen – and the NSW treasurer, Dominic Perrottet, has clarified this includes the dining portions of some pubs.

But only 10 people will be allowed in the premises at one time. And tables will still have be 1.5m apart.

The rules are still unclear, and are a matter for the public health order, but a spokesperson for the Treasury told Guardian Australia that pubs would, most likely, not need an entirely separate restaurant section to be able to open.

Pubs in which they served food at sit-down tables near a bar area would likely be allowed to open and operate as a restaurant, the spokesperson said.

Alcohol could be served with a meal, but the bar itself would still be closed.

Updated

And from earlier, here is Paul Karp’s full story on Scott Morrison’s explanation today on the sports rorts saga.

Worksafe to investigate Cedar Meats outbreak

From our reporter Matilda Boseley, Worksafe in Victoria will investigate the coronavirus cluster at the Cedar Meats abattoir.

Updated

And on the news of Queensland’s bid for Virgin Australia, home affairs minister Peter Dutton has said the pitch is “laughable”.

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has called Labor’s shadow immigration minister, Kristina Keneally, a “closet One Nation supporter” after her recent comments and opinion article in the Sydney Morning Herald about reducing immigration.

In a speech in the Senate 30 minutes ago, Hanson said Keneally had proven that One Nation’s arguments were “so powerful” that “even a staunch opponent” would adopt them.

Hanson said:

Reading through some of the recent comments made by senator Keneally, I can only assume she has spent much of her time in quarantine reading through my speeches from 1996.

Perhaps senator Keneally might want to make an admission today that she is a closet One Nation supporter ... I know it took Mark Latham a couple of decades to come out of the One Nation closet.

I want to say thank you ... because I know she will not be getting much support from her Labor colleagues.

Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi tweeted that Labor had “normalised” anti-migrant politics.

Updated

Covid coordinator paid $267,000, not $500,000

The full statement on the remuneration of Nev Power, the Covid-19 coordination adviser, is now in.

The Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet has clarified that his true contract is worth $267,345 – almost half what the department told the Senate earlier today.

Earlier, Stephanie Foster, an associate secretary of the department, said Power had a six-month contract with “around $500,000” in allowances (not salary).

But in a fuller statement, the department said:

Mr Power’s flights, accommodation and other incidental travel costs are being covered in his role as NCCC chair – however he is not receiving a salary.

The PM&C estimated travel to and from Canberra valued at approximately $6,000 per return trip each week, $350 per night for accommodation and incidentals such as food and taxis, and additional extra expenses set to be incurred from other travel once internal border restrictions ease.

It is expected that Mr Power will perform his duties as chair of the NCCC for a period of approximately six months. This equates to $267,345 (plus GST).

Updated

Earlier today, officials from the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet told the Senate committee examining the government’s Covid-19 response that the chair of the coordination commission, the former Fortescue Metals chief, Nev Power, was being paid $500,000 for his advisory role, which was expected to run for six months.

The prime minister’s office has told me that figure is wrong, and the department will be issuing a statement clarifying the evidence. We’ll bring you an update when we have it.

Updated

In his statement, Cameron Dick also said that two airlines were “critical to Australia’s economy”.

The Queensland treasurer said:

We have the opportunity to retain not only head office and crew staff in Queensland, but also to grow jobs in the repairs, maintenance and overhaul sector and support both direct and indirect jobs in our tourism sector.

We saw the punishing increase to the cost of flights after the Ansett collapse, and this government will not stand by and let that happen again.

Queensland Investment Corporation, led by CEO Damien Frawley, will advise government on all aspects of the bid, including the optimal partner group, the quantum and structure of the state’s contribution, as well as probity and governance.

Updated

Queensland government to bid for Virgin Australia

The Queensland state government will bid for Virgin Australia, the new treasurer, Cameron Dick, has announced.

In a statement, the treasurer said he has appointed Queensland Investment Corporation, a government-owned investment company, to pursue a bid that could include a “direct equity stake” in the airline.

“The government’s investment could take the form of a direct equity stake, a loan, guarantee or other financial incentives,” Dick said.

Updated

Senate votes down bid to make jobseeker rate permanent

The Senate has voted down a motion to make the new jobseeker rate permanent.

The unemployment benefit, which was formerly called Newstart, was at $40 a day until it was doubled at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

The motion from the Greens senator Rachel Siewert called for the increase, to about $1,115 a fortnight, to be made permanent. The rate has not been raised above inflation since 1994.

Siewert said:

I can’t see how anybody can think that it is OK to return the jobseeker payment to the old rate of $40 a day.

We can and should choose to support people who are not in work, particularly when we know very well that we are in an economic downturn and it will be difficult for many people to find work.

Updated

Travel agent boss resigns over 'uppercut' comments

Hi everyone, it’s Naaman Zhou here. Thanks to Amy Remeikis and Matilda Boseley for their incredible dual coronavirus and parliament blogging.

In some breaking news from media correspondent Amanda Meade, the head of Australia’s peak body for travel agents has resigned after he said the A Current Affair host Tracy Grimshaw should be “given a firm uppercut or a slap across the face”.

Jayson Westbury made the comments in an industry webinar in which he criticised the show’s coverage of the travel industry.

Updated

On that note, I am going to hand you over to Naaman Zhou.

Your Canberra Guardian crew will be back with you from early tomorrow morning. As will whatever is left of me. Take care of you.

Updated

That feeling when it is the day after your birthday:

Bill Shorten and Amanda Rishworth during question time
Bill Shorten and Amanda Rishworth during question time. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

Updated

Triggered.

Still not using his elbow.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

Updated

That feeling when no one wishes you a happy birthday:

Prime minister Scott Morrison during question time
Prime minister Scott Morrison during question time. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

Updated

The president of the Australian Law Council, Pauline Wright, says the organisation has concerns about Peter Dutton’s latest security bill:

The proposal to reduce the age of minors who may be subject to questioning from 16 to 14 years and the conferral of powers on police to apprehend and detain persons for the purpose of bringing them in for compulsory questioning also requires detailed scrutiny by the Law Council, amongst the many other amendments.

The Law Council is concerned that the government is now rushing the Bill, despite having had over two years to develop the re-designed questioning legislation since the PJCIS tabled its report in May 2018.

Now there is a sense of urgency given that ASIO’s current questioning powers are due to sunset in 7 September, and the amendments are set to commence by or before that date.

This is not a Bill to be hurried through.

The Law Council will need to carefully scrutinise the Bill and we look forward to providing a comprehensive submission to the inquiry.

In a Sky News interview broadcast just now, the foreign minister, Marise Payne, has stuck to the government’s lines about taking a constructive and considered approach to the China relationship, while backbenchers speaking out are simply exercising free speech.

Interestingly, Payne said she had “never had a problem” trying to connect with her counterpart.

The signs are that the trade minister, Simon Bimingham, hasn’t had such luck, at least at this early stage.

Birmingham said during Senate question time today he was yet to secure a conversation with his Chinese counterpart, but hoped this could be arranged soon.

On the barley and red meat issues, Birminham told the Senate that China had made clear publicly and privately that these were “technical matters”.

Updated

So Christian Porter is talking on why the inquiry is necessary and Mark Dreyfus will respond on why it’s terrible and then we will go to a vote, which Labor will lose.

There is a division in the house as Labor tries to stop Christian Porter setting up an inquiry into class actions and litigation funding.

Here is Mark Dreyfus on why Labor doesn’t want the inquiry:

Litigation funding and class actions provide a vital path to justice for ordinary Australians trying to uphold their rights against wealthy defendants with vastly greater resources.

Just last November the federal court ruled in favour of the three lead applicants in a class action of more than 1,350 women who sued Johnson & Johnson and two subsidiaries for negligence in relation to pelvic mesh implants.

It’s no coincidence this inquiry was first proposed in March just days after 10,000 victims of the Morrison government’s cruel robodebt scheme signed up to a class action to defend their legal rights.

Contrary to government claims, research by commercial law firm Allens found the total number of class action filings was actually down 20% in 2019.

Shareholder actions were actually down 63% and so far this year there are just three new shareholder cases – none of which relate to Covid-19 matters.

Significantly, the biggest cause of new cases in 2019 came from consumer actions arising from the banking royal commission that the government voted 26 times to prevent.

Updated

Daniel Hurst is watching Marise Payne talk with Kieran Gilbert over on Sky on this same issue, so we’ll bring you that when the interview finishes airing.

Patricia Karvelas asks Simon Birmingham how he can say the relationship between China and Australia hasn’t soured, given China’s reaction:

I’ve simply highlighted what the Chinese government has said publicly and privately in relation to these matters – they are technical issues in relation to trade practices and processes, that they relate to matters that have been ongoing or under investigation for periods relating to 12 to 18 months.

They have said that.

We have to respond as best as we can in good faith in putting forward the arguments that address those technical issues. If we’re being told they are the reasons why these permits have been cancelled, or in relation to the barley dispute, here is the process it is being assessed under, well, the first port of response rightly for the Australian government is to engage in good faith, comprehensively, using evidence to refute any of the arguments put within those processes.

Updated

The NRL player Nathan Cleary has been fined $1,000 by New South Wales police for breaking social distancing rules following the TikTok drama that has earned him a two-game ban and $30,000 fine for misleading the league’s integrity unit.

Updated

He is asked whether there is any timing on that chat.

Simon Birmingham:

Well, look, the ball is very much in their court of the Chinese government.

We have made very clear that I am available and keen to have a discussion where we can discuss and canvas some of these trade-related matters.

There are other global issues in relation to WTO operation and the like that no doubt we will canvas as well during the conversation, but this is not the sole pathway for the Australian government to make representations to the Chinese government.

That is why we have a very active embassy in Beijing, with strong connections and engagement into other avenues and parts of the Chinese government, and of course it’s why we support industry in their direct engagement in response to the particular technical requests of what China has raised with us.

Updated

Simon Birmingham is on the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing.

Patricia Karvelas asks if he has heard back from his Chinese counterpart yet, about when is a good time to have a phone chat about the latest ‘issues’ that have flared up over trade:

We don’t have one scheduled as yet.

I hope China will be willing to engage in those discussions, but they’re not the only pathway we are pursuing to try to resolve these issues in relation to the beef sector and the barley industry and we’ll make sure we pursue every avenue available to us, starting very much with using the technical administrative pathways that are available because of the nature of the type of issues that China has initiated investigations or actions around.

Updated

Alternatively, before and after iso:

Updated

Labor clashes with government over bipartisan Covid meetings

Rewatching the end of question time, Tony Burke had a ‘personal explanation’ to make and spills some tea about the weekly meetings the opposition leadership has been having with the government leadership (which was the compromise offered after Anthony Albanese was denied a seat on the national cabinet, and the parliament wasn’t sitting). After this, I am not sure if those weekly catch-ups will be ongoing.

Asked if he had claimed to have been misrepresented (the standard reason for a personal explanation), Burke says he does:

Yesterday during debate on an amendment I had moved, which would have demanded the government produce the new sitting calendar, the leader of the House (Christian Porter) said statements I had personally made were inaccurate, by claiming that in private meetings, which I had personally attended, the government had, and I quote the leader of the House, ‘clearly explained there will be additional sitting weeks’, end quote.

This statement is false.

While I would normally not disclose the conduct of private meetings, given the leader of the House has made this false statement about me to the House, I wish to confirm the following four points.

One, in the meeting with the leadership of the government, on 7 May 2020, the government did not state that it would provide additional sitting weeks, but merely that it might.

Two, this was to be based on an assessment, that was to be taken, and I quote, ‘a couple of days’, end quote, after parliament had risen, based on whether there had been an outbreak of Covid-19 as a result of these sittings.

Three, given the virus has an incubation period of weeks not days, this position was always absurd.

Four, the minister’s misrepresentation of these statements also presumes the government has been forthcoming with accurate information at these meetings, which is challenged by the fact that on issues as straightforward as whether there would be changes to jobkeeper, the government has provided information at these meetings which was proven to be false the very next day.

Updated

Kristina Keneally has given Labor’s first response to Peter Dutton’s latest bill:

Labor is committed to the safety and security of all Australians and will always take the advice of our national security agencies.

The powers in this legislation are ongoing matters which have been extensively considered since they were first created by John Howard.

We would expect the legislation introduced today – including any new measures – to be considered by the Parliamentary Committee on Intelligence and Security, as is normal practice.

When the Government asks Australians to trust them – just like they have with the response to Covid-19 – it’s only reasonable for their actions to be properly scrutinised.

Updated

The NRL player Nathan Cleary could yet be fined by New South Wales police for breaching social distancing guidelines, despite having initially avoided any police sanctions, AAP reports.

The Penrith Panthers star is to be interviewed again today after it was alleged he left his home during the day in question in contravention of the Covid-19 measures.

“We are looking at it,” detective inspector Jason Pietruszka told AAP. “We’re reviewing his original information and we’ll be speaking with him later on today. And if that information is found to be false, then he’ll be issued with a ticket as per the health order. We’ll treat it for what it is and he’ll be given a ticket.”

Cleary was originally cleared by police of breaking coronavirus restrictions when he was photographed with friends at his house. Five women received $1,000 police fines for flouting government protocols. However, after video emerged of Cleary in TikTok videos with the same group, the NRL handed him a two-game ban and $30,000 fine for being “untruthful” in dealings with the integrity unit.

Cleary originally received a $10,000 fine, 60% suspended, as well as a suspended one-match ban after initial league investigations.

Updated

As I typed that, I had to reload the page three times in order for it to post.

For some reason, every single MP who asks a dixer is getting a herogram lately, about just how crucial a cog they are to Australia’s democracy.

Bert van Manen gets his for his “longstanding interest” in the NBN.

I also have a longstanding interest in the NBN. In that I would like it to work.

Updated

Government to 'refine' childcare package

After the second question on failures within the Covid childcare package, Dan Tehan admits there is a need for “refinements” (which is just a word for fixes):

What we have put in place was a significant, significant package, to enable the sector to get through the pandemic, and it included free childcare.

It had three priority areas that we wanted to achieve through this, including making sure parents stayed engaged with their childcare centre, so when we came out of this pandemic they would be able to go back to that centre as they went back into employment.

When we announced this, we said we would have a four-week review process.

And that four-week review process has taken place.

We are now looking at that review and we will have further refinements to make.

As you know, when you make a significant change like we did, we paused the existing system, and in the space of days, put in place a new system. And we knew, at that time, there would be certain unintended consequences that we would have to work through, and that’s why we put a four-week review process into play.

Updated

Labor’s deputy leader, Richard Marles, has asked about evidence from the audit office that on 26 March 2019 “the prime minister’s office had advised the minister’s office that it was expected that the minister would write to the prime minister to seek ‘authority’ on the approved projects and inform the prime minister of the ‘roll out plan’”.

In response, Scott Morrison doubled down on his statement to parliament that “no authorisation” was provided by him and Bridget McKenzie was the decision-maker on sports grants.

“The only authority sought was in relation to announcements,” he said.

So Morrison has produced a distinction between authority to give sports grants to recipient clubs and authority to announce the decisions. That is not a distinction made by the Australian National Audit Office in its evidence – which was that the PMO asked McKenzie to seek “’authority’ on the approved projects”, not authority on the announcements.

Let’s also remember that McKenzie said she signed the final brief on 4 April 2019, and yet a flurry of late changes were made, including on 11 April, the day the election was called, even after the government went into caretaker mode.

The question also got a try in the Senate, where Mathias Cormann employed the same defence that Morrison was responsible for “announcement arrangements” but the projects “had been approved by the minister”.

Updated

That’s it. One question on an issue which saw the government spend $100m in a way no one can explain whether they had the legal authority to do so.

In Senate question time, the Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young raises concerns about the conflict of interest arrangements for members of the Covid commission.

Hanson-Young tells the Senate the government “has stacked their Covid commission full of mining executives and developers who are hellbent on cutting green tape”. She asks what the government will do to “ensure their mates aren’t feathering their own nests”.

The leader of the government in the Senate, Mathias Cormann, rejects the arguments in the questions, arguing the membership is “a broad cross-section”.

He says individuals are required to declare their own interests.

Let me just say that the people who are serving on the National Covid Coordination Commission are distinguished Australians who are providing great service to our country at a difficult time.

Updated

Oh thank Beyonce. We get to sports rorts.

Richard Marles to Scott Morison:

Why did the prime minister tell the house on February 27 that in relation to sports rorts and I quote, authority for these decisions was the minister for sport, when in fact the audit officers told the parliament that the prime minister’s office told the minister for sports and I quote, it was expected that the minister would write to the prime minister to seek authority on the approved projects.

Morrison:

I refer the member to my many statements on this. The authority for making the decisions in relation to that program was the minister for sport. That is the fact, Mr Speaker.

It may be inconvenient for the opposition that that is the fact, that that is the fact, Mr Speaker. The only authority sought from the prime minister’s office and for myself was in relation to announcements.

Scott Morrison at the dispatch box during question time today
Scott Morrison at the dispatch box during question time today. Photograph: Sam Mooy/Getty Images

The questions move on to a dixer, giving Stuart Robert a chance to act like a minister.

Updated

“When the chips are down with Australians, all Australians chip in,” says Alan Tudge, sending me looking for chips to fill my existential despair at political discourse in this country.


Jim Chalmers to Josh Frydenberg:

Figures released today show annual wages growth slowed to a two-year low in the first quarter of this year before the worst of the coronavirus outbreak. Is this the kind of economy the government wants to snap back to?

Frydenberg:

As I said in the House yesterday, the impact on household consumption and household savings, there will be an impact on wages and there will be a significant, a significant impact across the economy.

But I do want to point out to the member for Rankin that under this government, the minimum wage has gone up every year, Mr Speaker. Every year, Mr Speaker. And the reality is ...

Chalmers: It didn’t go up under you!

Frydenberg:

The member for Rankin is getting angry because he is irrelevant to the debate. He has been talking down the economy before the crisis and he is now talking down the economy through the crisis and he will be talking down the economy after the crisis. The Australian people understand and trust the Coalition to manage the economy better than Labor ever will.

I mean, it is not talking down to point out what was actually happening. But ugh.

Meanwhile, not covered off, sports rorts or the Angus Taylor grassland questions, because it is much better to dress up political points as questions, then try to get the government on the record. Apparently.

Updated

Jason Clare to Michael Sukkar:

Will the government develop a housing construction industry stimulus plan to keep Australia’s almost 1 million bricklayers, carpenters, electricians and lots of other workers in the housing construction industry in a job?

Look. There are a lot of words Sukkar says in response here, but none of them are in the form of an actual answer and we only have one life to live.

Andrew Laming has now brought Christian Porter to the dispatch box, and he’s decided to use David Littleproud’s template of a loudly striped tie in lieu of a personality today, so I am going to go get a cup of tea.

Updated

And I thank the very fine member for Wentworth for that question,” says Karen Andrews to Dave Sharma.

Updated

Tony Burke to Josh Frydenberg:

Can the treasurer explain why an 18-year-old living at home and has been working a shift a week at a McDonald’s franchise is receiving the full $1,500 jobkeeper wage subsidy but a full-time Australian worker at Dnata providing catering services to Qantas with a mortgage to repay is not eligible?

Frydenberg:

Firstly, let me say we very much understand the difficult circumstances that businesses and workers right across the country are facing with this coronavirus pandemic. As the honourable member said himself in this House yesterday, this is a health crisis that has created an economic crisis.

Now, Mr Speaker, we responded with $130bn jobkeeper program, we set out very clearly what were the criteria for eligibility under that program including for full-time workers, for part-time workers, for long-term casuals based on a definition in the Fair Work Act as well we doubled the jobseeker payment effectively, the old Newstart, Mr Speaker, which is $1,100 a fortnight, Mr Speaker.

We have taken unprecedented economic steps. Some people will be eligible for the jobseeker program, others for the jobkeeper program. More than a million Australians are on the jobseeker program, and when it comes to jobkeeper program, over 800,000 businesses are formally enrolled, representing 5.5 million Australian workers.

Updated

Tanya Plibersek to Josh Frydenberg:

My question is to the treasurer: Can the treasurer explain why a university student working one shift per week receives the full $1,500 jobkeeper wage subsidy but their full-time university tutor with three kids to support is not eligible?

Frydenberg:

Well, Mr Speaker, we set out very clearly that with respect to universities that they would be subject to the threshold tests of 30% and 50%, depending on their turnover, but we also made the decision as a government to provide the commonwealth grants to the universities to ensure that they are receiving money equivalent to what their enrolments would have been pre-Covid.

Mr Speaker, that’s some $18bn. We will see government support for the university sector over this year, that’s very substantial indeed.

Sidenote – Frydenberg is showing as much enthusiasm to sit in the chamber today as I do to engage with Rick and Morty.

Updated

Nick McKim is one of the first out of the block to criticise the latest bill to expand the powers of Australia’s security agencies (the Dutton bill we have been reporting on in the blog today):

Yet again, Peter Dutton is trying to increase powers of security agencies without even trying to explain his reasons.

Nor has he tried to give any possible justification for the need to interrogate children as young as 14.

To use the pandemic as cover for the increased scope of the surveillance state is dangerous and cynical.

The National Terrorism Threat in Australia hasn’t increased for more than five years, and yet we have been confronted with wave after wave of legislation.

There have been more than 200 pieces of ‘counter terror’ legislation passed in Australia since 2001 and very few have been relaxed or withdrawn.

Australia desperately needs a Charter of Rights to protect our basic freedoms.

Updated

Every single dixer being asked just reminds me how many frustrated would-be school captains sit on the government backbenches.

Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:

How can the Australian people trust the prime minister with Covid-19 recovery when he was complacent in the lead up to the bushfires despite a clear warning from experts and months after the bushfires debris is still there but, more importantly, survivors are still living in caravans and showering in community halls.

Morrison:

This government, Mr Speaker, this government put in place the national bushfire recovery fund in January this year, Mr Speaker – $2bn was set aside to support the work of the national bushfire recovery agency, Mr Speaker.

That fund was intended to acquit some $500m by June 30 of this year. We estimate that that figure will exceed over $1bn by June 30 this year.

Small business support grants of some $10,000 have now been provided to over 170,000 small businesses affected across the bushfire-affected areas.

In total, small business support has been over $200m to support those small businesses that were so devastated. Mr Speaker, there has also been 1.5m approvals for small businesses on the grants up to $50m, $50,000 I should say, for small businesses seeking their support.

Primary producer grants have been provided to the tune of some $127m to primary producers who are affected by these arrangements.

The work is being done to clear debris and that estimated cost is over half $1bn, Mr Speaker, over $500m.

And as was reported earlier this week, South Australia will have largely completed that task very shortly. New South Wales, who are managing that work, will have completed that task by the end of June as indicated earlier this year. And in Victoria, we understand that that task will be completed by August of this year.

As the leader of the opposition knows, the matters of accommodation for those are affected and they are matters handled by the states and territories and we have not received, to the best of my knowledge, that any request outstanding from the commonwealth to provide support for accommodation in these communities, and I look to the minister for management and he indicates that is the case. Mr Speaker, we will deal with crises every time they impact on this country and we will do it methodically and steadily and Australians are seeing that in action. If the leader of the opposition wants to these things, that is a matter for him.

Updated

Bob Katter has the crossbench question today, and he uses the word ‘can’ to start his sentence, so you would assume it is a question, but it is actually just another Katter word-soup that leaves everyone looking like Bob Katter usually looks whenever someone asks him his name.

North Queensland is shovel ready and Covid-19 free. The rail line, the gasification. Not absorbing money but making money projects and back in black, highway to hell. Treasurer, cough up the money. Make money.

Josh Frydenberg barely even cracks a smile. He says the government is moving forward with north Queensland projects, before giving the nod to Angus Taylor, who, from the backbench, encourages Katter to keep talking to the Clean Energy Corporation.

Updated

Joel Fitzgibbon to Scott Morrison:

What is the government doing to assist red meat growers and producers affected by recent trade restrictions announced by China and to protect the thousands of jobs currently at risk including abattoir workers in southern Queensland and northern New South Wales?

Morrison:

We hold concerns for the way this issue is being progressed at this point in time. This is a matter that the government has been raising now for a considerable period of time.

In fact I have done so on several occasions in my direct meetings with the premier, most recently late last year.

So this is an issue that has been running for some time in relation to dumping. We reject any suggestion of those matters being relevant to Australia’s exports, particularly of barley.

Australian agriculture is not one supported by subsidy, it is one supported by the ingenuity and good management of the Australian agricultural sector. And so any suggestion that Australia’s agricultural exports are the subject of government subsidisation is rejected.

And these are the points that we make directly as part of a comprehensive and strategic partnership that was concluded many years ago and we are continuing to use the channels of that relationship and that partnership to be able to progress those matters as well as directly with the relevant authorities in China regarding their anti-dumping review in relation to barley.

Similarly, relations in matter to abattoirs are important to progress. They relate to what is claimed to be paperwork and administration issues in relation to Australian meat exports and we will continue to advocate and set out the Australian case clearly.

Let me be clear about one thing. Australia stands firmly behind our agricultural producers and we stand firmly about where we see the role of the Australian economy in the broader world. We have great confidence in our outlook as a trading nation and we engage with all partners in good faith with the purpose of ensuring the increasing global trade.

That is the basis for our relationship the Chinese government when it comes to a comprehensive strategic partnership. It works across many different areas and has been a highly successful agreement. From time to time there will be differences in views and we will progress them constructively in the national interest, always in the national interest.

Updated

Michael McCormack is at the dispatch box, talking about fibre and whatnot, but is only serving to remind me that his speeches are a pretty wonderful substitute for All-Bran.

Updated

And as you can see, we are back to the non-answers, non-acknowledgement, and the old ‘deflect and attack’ lines. Cool, cool, cool.

Updated

Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:

My question is addressed to the prime minister: Does the prime minister stand by his claim businesses, the economy and his budget will snap back?

Morrison:

I have every confidence in Australian businesses, Mr Speaker, and it’s more than confidence in Australian businesses to rebuild on the other side of this crisis.

I have confidence of businesses being at the centre of our economy and the regrowth that we will see in our economy that will support the incomes and livelihoods of Australians, not just now, but in the decades into the future because as Liberal and Nationals, we have never believed that government should be at the centre of the economy, that Australians should see a future for themselves, only being dependent on the support of other taxpayers, but seeing their own livelihoods being supported by businesses investing and creating jobs, Mr Speaker.

Some 1.5 million jobs created over these last six and a half years and those jobs have been decimated, Mr Speaker, by this terrible Covid crisis that has hit the world. But in the same way when we came to government and we rebuilt the nation’s finances and we rebuilt the strength of the economy, Mr Speaker, and, Mr Speaker, that led to 1.5 million Australians getting into jobs.

Australians can have confidence on the other side of this crisis the government, Mr Speaker, can apply the same discipline, the same faith and the same confidence in Australians’ spirits and the innovative nature that we have seen as businesses have adapted in the, in this crisis.

Now the leader of the opposition, Mr Speaker, may want to engage in the semantics of this, but I can tell you what I’m engaged in, Mr Speaker – and that is, that is, Mr Speaker – the fortitude and the strength of the Australian people and the strength of the Australian economy, which even still in the midst of this crisis, even still, with the delivery of the single largest income support package this country has ever seen.

Rating agencies around the world know we’ve got this covered and it’s true as we sought to raise the finances necessary to pay for that economic lifeline to Australians, then the subscription of our bonds, Mr Speaker, has been subscribed over and over and over again and the ... reason for that, Mr Speaker, is because people have confidence in this country.

I have confidence in ... this country and I believe this country will bounce back and bounce strongly under the leadership of this government.

Updated

Question time begins

Chris Bowen gets today’s first question:

The Australian Psychological Society, Headspace and other experts say many Australians will need more than 10 mental health consultations to cope with the flow-on effects of Covid-19. To the government’s credit, it adopted Labor’s suggestion to increase the cap on Medicare mental health services in response to this summer’s bushfires. Will it do the same in relation to Covid-19?

Greg Hunt:

One of the things we have done is invest very strongly in mental health.

There have been a range of inputs and I thank the opposition for their input and I thank all of those who have contributed. In relation to mental health and the coronavirus epidemic in Australia, in particular we have invested $669m in telehealth of which I’m advised 47.7% of all consultations in the previous week with regards to standard mental health items were conducted over the phone.

In addition to that, what we have also seen is that general telehealth items have very significantly been for mental health.

So it doesn’t have to be confined to the particular mechanism which the member outlines.

What we have opened up with telehealth is a much broader ability to access services in conjunction with the services provided through telehealth, we have also made sure that there were psychological and psychiatric items that were also made available. On top of that, there was a $74m investment focusing on support services for people, mostly online or through telehealth, through organisations such as the Black Dog Institute for healthcare workers, Origin for young people, Lifeline, Kids Line, so many other different support groups. And in particular, Beyond Blue has led the coronavirus activity.

So with to other proposals, the government will always consider them. What we have done already is on the advice of the mental health officers, the chief medical officer, in particular the chair – or CEO – of the National Mental Health Commission and the prime minister’s suicide prevention adviser, Christine Morgan, establish the arrangements which are in place. These have been critical to help save lives and protect lives during what is a difficult period and where there are proposals we’d always review them.

What we have done so far, I would say, is potentially world leading and in particular the national cabinet will be considering the national mental health pandemic plan this week and we are making very good process with the states and I want to thank the prime minister for his support and his leadership in drawing that into the national cabinet.

Scott Morrison arrives for question time in the House of Representatives this afternoon
Scott Morrison arrives for question time in the House of Representatives this afternoon. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

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Bob Katter is currently on ABC TV looking like he just heard audio of one of his speeches.

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We are on the downhill run to question time.

Given it is no longer economy day, expect to hear about some of the other issues which have not been given the attention they deserve.

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AAP has the deets on the new deputy chief medical officer for mental health:

Australia has a new mental health official to help prevent a spike in suicides related to the coronavirus.

Former chief psychiatrist of Victoria, Ruth Vine, has been appointed as the country’s first deputy chief medical officer for mental health.

Vine will listen to community concerns and provide advice to the federal government, with a focus on anxiety linked to social distancing and economic stress.

Health minister Greg Hunt announced the appointment on Wednesday, saying the Covid-19 pandemic, bushfires and drought had affected Australians’ mental health.

“These impacts will be felt by people of all ages and across all our communities,” he told parliament.

Hunt said the government was monitoring the use of mental health services so it can respond to demand.

Australia’s political leaders will discuss a national mental health pandemic response plan on Friday.

The minister also intends to make expanded access to telehealth services a permanent fixture.

Government modelling has forecast a 50% increase in suicide cases directly related to the economic shutdown and the associated distress.

The modelling also points to the possibility of suicides outstripping direct deaths from coronavirus.

“One of the things we are aware of is that whilst we’re practising physical distancing we should also be engaging in the social contact over the phone, in whatever way we can, to tell people that we’re there, we understand,” Hunt said.

“They may be isolated but they’re not alone.”

Professor Vine will sit alongside chief medical officer Brendan Murphy, who recommended mental health be treated as a priority.

Suicide Prevention Australia and the National Mental Health Commission both welcomed her appointment, saying it recognised the importance of mental health.

Lifeline 13 11 14

beyondblue 1300 22 4636

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'We need more democracy': Greens ramp up calls for parliament to return as usual

The Greens are getting louder in the calls to have parliament return as usual ahead of August. It was adjourned until August at the last emergency sitting, but given that the government is attempting to reopen the economy, it kinda has to reopen parliament too. So that’s why we are here in this sitting, which Scott Morrison called a “trial”, but is actually just parliament (trials are not a thing with parliament. It either sits or it doesn’t and the parliament decides how it makes that happen.)

Yesterday Christian Porter said a revised sitting calendar was being worked on to bring back parliament ahead of the August scheduled sitting, but there has been no word on when that will be made public.

Larissa Waters says parliament needs to be recalled after this sitting as soon as possible.

The Covid crisis response and the plan for recovery demand more transparency in government decision-making. The Senate Covid committee plays a critical role, but is no substitute for full parliamentary oversight.

We need more democracy during this time, not less. We need to ensure that Australia’s recovery is fair, effective, and guided by expert advice. We need parliament to return.

The Greens are calling for both houses to sit in June to fix gaps in the jobkeeper scheme, introduce rights to pandemic leave, consider banking royal commission legislation, and debate the merits of the government’s proposed gas-led recovery.

We must ensure we don’t come out the other side having brought this coronovirus under control but finding ourselves with our democracy eroded and hard-fought for rights lost.”

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The Community and Public Sector Union – which represents non-academic staff at unis – is pretty annoyed about a deal between the NTEU and management allowing pay cuts.

Troy Wright, the CPSU NSW assistant general secretary, said the deal was “cooked up behind closed doors between academics and universities” and will cut pay, particularly for the lowest paid staff.

He said:

A 15% wage cut may only be a haircut for high-paid academics, but for the professional staff of universities it is a life-altering cut to their pay packet.

There are a range of smarter cost saving measures universities could take before an indiscriminate slash to wages. But, it would seem the NTEU’s leather-elbow-patched-brigade would rather librarians, student services and admin staff on less than $70,000 take a 15% cut to their pay, than see their travel allowances reduced.

There is a better way to find savings and secure jobs. We’re going to each NSW university under pressure and asking them to open their books and demonstrate they’ve exhausted all their borrowings. We’re also calling on them to cease capital works, terminate contingent labour and have a through review of executive salaries before they begin slashing the take home pay of all employees.

This framework isn’t binding - it’s an entirely theoretical exercise that universities may or may not sign up to. Rather than going on a case-by-case basis to find savings and compromises, this is a knee-jerk response which leaves workers worse off.”

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ACT reports no new Covid-19 cases

The ACT remains active (and known) Covid-19 case free, with no one diagnosed with the virus in the last 24 hours.

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Victorian police change lockdown fine procedure

Police in Victoria now need approval from their supervisor before issuing a fine for breaching lockdown laws.

The change means that only two people were fined for breaching lockdown laws in the past 24-hours – and remember the relaxed restrictions only came into force at midnight last night.

Requiring supervisor approval is a significant change, when you consider how many people have been hit with $1,600 on-the-spot fines in the seven weeks since the first stay at home directions were issued. It also pretty much removes the “on-the-spot” element – police said it’s likely there will now be delays “in a breach being detected and a fine being issued”.

In a statement, Victoria police said the new process was due to the updated directions from the chief health officer, announced on Monday.

You can read those new directions here.

Police said:

“Victoria police recognises there may be some genuine ambiguity from the community and police members alike regarding the interpretation of the new directions.

“This new process will assist in providing a fair and balanced approach to all breaches and ensure accuracy in offence determination.

“It also ensures a heightened level of discretion.”

As we’ve previously reported, there was a fair bit of confusion in the public about what the previous orders meant and how they were enforced as well and accusations of “aggressive” policing.

The timing of the rule change by police, coming the day after police were criticised for not issuing more on-the-spot fines at an anti-lockdown protest, is probably going to ruffle a few feathers.

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Over in the Senate, Kim Carr is absolutely teeing off against the Daily Telegraph stories on the “Wuhan lab” stories.

The Sydney Morning Herald and the Age’s Eryk Bagshaw and Anthony Galloway did an excellent deep dive into the origins of those stories, here.

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Payne rejects suggestions government not setting right tone with China

The foreign affairs minister, Marise Payne, has pushed back at suggestions the government is not setting the right tone in its dealings with China.

Earlier today the Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, called on Payne and the government to “take control of this and exercise a little bit of discipline in their ranks” to avoid inflaming tensions.

“It would be pretty handy if we heard more from the foreign minister and less from people like George Christensen,” Albanese told reporters in Murrumbateman.

During an interview with Kieran Gilbert on Sky News – which will go to air later today – Payne said she did not want to be drawn into an argument with the opposition, but was focused on managing Australia’s “complex international relationships”.

She said the government was handling the issues in a considered way in the Australian interest.

I think the tone is being very carefully set by the prime minister and by me in my capacity and other ministers who are engaged on these issues,” Payne said.

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Peter Dutton reports the anti-fraud taskforce it established in relation to the bushfire and Covid-19 payments, “Taskforce Iris” has made its first arrest – a 34-year-old western Sydney man:

It is alleged that since January 2020, the man had assumed up to 11 identities as well as 53 fictitious identities to submit a number of claims for government benefits. These include:

    • 65 fraudulent claims for the Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment in the context of the summer 2019-20 bushfires;
    • 1 fraudulent claim for Newstart allowance;
    • 2 fraudulent claims for jobseeker payments, which includes the coronavirus supplement that is intended to support the rate of jobseeker payment due to the impact of the coronavirus.

The value of fraudulent payments the man allegedly tried to claim is approximately $70,550 in total.

The man has been charged with a number of commonwealth offences, including obtaining a financial advantage by deception. Some of these offences carry penalties of up to a maximum of 10 years in prison.

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OK, we have a little more information on what the Covid commissioners are being paid, following questioning from Katy Gallagher to Stephanie Foster from the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.

Here’s who is on it:

  • Neville Power. Chairman, National Covid-19 Coordination Commission (NCCC)
  • David Thodey AO, deputy chairman
  • The Hon Greg Combet AM
  • Jane Halton AO PSM FAICD FIPPA
  • Paul Little AO
  • Catherine Tanna
  • Peter Harris AO chief executive officer
  • Andrew N Liveris

You can find out more about who is on the commission, here.

Foster says there are five commissioners supporting the chair.

One has asked not to be paid, four are working for a day rate of $2,000, with three working around two days a week and one working one day a week.

Katy Gallagher asks what Nev Power is receiving as chair and is told that, as a full-time roll (for six months) he is receiving $500,000, which is also meant to cover his travel and accomodation costs.

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Labor also believes the government’s sudden interest in medical cannabis exports is related to One Nation’s position on the consultation period for enterprise agreements, Paul Karp tells me.

One Nation’s position on that was to push back by suggesting it will allow the shorter consultation (one day) but limit the effect of cuts to 12 months.

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Nev Power paid $500,000 to head Covid commission for six months

Nev Power’s salary has just been made public in the Covid committee. He will be paid $500,000 for six months work.

He is heading up the business link in the Covid Commission. Most of the other commissioners are being paid $2,000 a day. At the moment they are working about two days a week.

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So yes, that one will be sent to the parliamentary security and intelligence committee, I would suspect, but keep in mind it has been entered into the parliament with very little fanfare during a pandemic.

Given that it allows for 14-year-olds to be questioned by security agencies, increases surveillance, adds in “acts of foreign interference” and “politically motivated violence” into reasons for a questioning warrant, which are some pretty broad definitions, and makes it easier (streamlining is just another word for easier) for tracking devices to be used, including oral authorisations for a questioning warrant, there needs to be a lot more attention paid to this one.

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Peter Dutton bill allows for Asio questioning of 14-year-olds

In fact, the latest Peter Dutton bill does quite a bit:

1. The bill amends the compulsory questioning framework in the Asio Act by:

· enabling Asio’s continued use of questioning warrants, but removing its ability to use questioning and detention warrants;

· replacing the existing detention framework with a more limited apprehension framework to ensure attendance during questioning and to prevent contact with others or the destruction of information;

· enabling the use of questioning warrants in relation to espionage, politically motivated violence (including terrorism) and acts of foreign interference, as defined in section 4 of the Asio Act, rather than only in relation to terrorism offences;

· streamlining the process for requesting and issuing a questioning warrant by enabling the attorney general to issue questioning warrants directly, removing the role of the issuing authority;

· enabling Asio to request, and the attorney general to issue, questioning warrants orally in an emergency;

· amending the eligibility requirements for appointment of prescribed authorities, to enable a broader pool of qualified persons to be appointed to this role;

· providing the power for a police officer to conduct a search of a person who is apprehended in connection with a questioning warrant, and the ability to seize dangerous items and items that could be used to communicate the existence of the warrant or escape from custody, with an additional ability to seize items of intelligence relevant to the questioning matter, when authorised by the attorney general;

· introducing screening measures and person searches for people attending questioning, either as the subject of the questioning warrant or others involved in the questioning process such as parents, and the ability of a police officer to retain any dangerous items and communications devices found in order to ensure the safety of those involved in questioning, and the integrity of the questioning;

· subject to a number of safeguards – permitting Asio to seek a questioning warrant in relation to minors aged 14 to 18 years old, but only where the minor is themselves the target of an Asio investigation in relation to politically motivated violence;

· strengthening the right to legal representation during questioning while retaining the ability to prevent contact with specific lawyers due to security concerns, and to remove a lawyer who is unduly disruptive during questioning;

· introducing the ability of the independent prescribed authority to appoint a lawyer for the subject of a questioning warrant in certain circumstances; and

· enabling a questioning warrant to be executed following the laying of charges against the person who is the subject of a questioning warrant, or where charges against that person are likely, and allow for the questioning to cover matters that are the subject of those charges with appropriate protections in relation to the person’s fair trial.

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That new security bill Peter Dutton introduced into the parliament this morning includes a lot of amendments to “tracking devices” and internal authorisations within security agencies, for them to be used.

Which means security agencies could approve the use of tracking devices internally. They wouldn’t need a warrant.

From the explanatory notes:

The Bill also amends the surveillance device framework in the ASIO Act to promote increased operational agility, mitigate the risk to ASIO surveillance operatives engaging in physical surveillance and to help resolve the current disadvantage faced by ASIO when engaging in joint operations with law enforcement. The Bill amends the ASIO Act in this regard by:

· enabling ASIO to use tracking devices with internal authorisation in certain circumstances, rather than requiring a warrant;

· clarifying that the surveillance device framework is permissive and does not require ASIO to obtain a warrant where conduct would not otherwise be unlawful; and

· updating the definition of ‘tracking device’ and effectively modernising ASIO’s capabilities.

You can find the whole bill here.

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So that is a yes – Pauline Hanson is in the box seat for those disallowance motions Paul has been reporting about.

And on the same day, the government is just coincidently trying to rush through a piece of legislation on medical cannabis she has wanted, that it only just introduced to the parliament today.

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Centre Alliance’s Rex Patrick has confirmed that his party will support the Labor/Greens disallowance to help universities access jobkeeper, and the Labor motion to extend the wage subsidy to foreign government-owned companies with local workers.

He said:

The jobkeeper money is directed at Australian workers - not the companies.

That was the same argument the Liberal MP Craig Kelly made in the Coalition party room yesterday when sticking up for workers at the airline catering company Dnata.

The Transport Workers’ Union and Australian Council of Trade Unions are both lobbying senators to pass the disallowances.

No word on Pauline Hanson’s One Nation but, given that Lambie and Centre Alliance are on board, they are the swing votes.

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I am still making my way through reading this legislation, but yes, this is in there.

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The Liberal senator James Paterson gave an interesting adjournment speech in the Senate last night, blasting universities for over-reliance on China.

Paterson said:

One thing [Covid-19 has] made clear already is the overreliance of our higher education institutions on the international student market, and the Chinese student market in particular. Over the last few decades, our universities have bet big on the international student dollar. Their institutions have boomed from what has been a very lucrative business. But they have become badly overexposed ...

Universities argue that they’ve pursued this market by necessity. They argue insufficient government funding pushed them down this path. It’s a convenient story that attempts to absolve universities from responsibility for decisions they have made, and it’s a false one.

Paterson noted that increasing international enrolments coincided with uncapping of university places, growing domestic student places and government funding.

He reveals that he’s been sent details of the University of Queensland’s remuneration structure. He claims one of the vice-chancellor’s performance indicators is to “continue to work towards a sound and strategic positioning in China”.

UQ is also supposed to cultivate students from south-east Asia and India, but Paterson says it has had less success doing so.

Paterson argued that over-reliance on China particularly puts rights including “free speech, or the principle of free and open academic inquiry, or the right to protest for students” at risk, given the stance of the Chinese Communist party. He argued against direct funding of courses by the Chinese government and alleged inadequate protection of academic freedom at the Confucius Institute.

Paterson said:

Given that we now know that the vice-chancellor was financially incentivised to deliver closer relations with the CCP, it is no wonder that the University of Queensland has found itself in such a predicament.

It begs the question: is he the only VC in Australia to receive a bonus for exposing his university to financial and reputational risk by actively seeking dependence on the Chinese student market?”

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Western Australia reports no new Covid-19 cases

Western Australia has no new cases of Covid to report in the last 24 hours.

There are only six active cases in the state, although there is still one person in the ICU.

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I’ve confirmed that Senator Jacqui Lambie will be voting with Labor and the Greens to restore the consultation period for pay cuts back to one week (up from 24 hours under new government rules).

Lambie has discussed with Labor the disallowance to extend jobkeeper to more universities and foreign government-owned businesses, such as the airline catering company, Dnata.

She has concerns about job losses but hasn’t arrived at a final position.

A vote is expected at 6pm, although Centre Alliance and One Nation are the critical votes on that.

The Transport Workers’ Union national secretary, Michael Kaine, is urging a vote for the disallowance:

Dnata workers are ringing their federal MPs and senators urging them to support this motion because their families depend on it. We have workers who are struggling to pay bills, struggling to get medical supplies for their kids, eating whatever tinned food they have in their house to avoid buying groceries. They have been weeks without pay now and many fear they won’t even qualify for jobseeker. They are Australian workers who pay their taxes and feel very let down.

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The National Tertiary Education Union has announced a deal with university management that would allow pay cuts of up to 15% in return for saving jobs in the Covid-19 contraction.

It believes the emergency move could save 12,000 jobs.

In a statement the NTEU explained it had done so because:

Universities are looking at a sector-wide revenue loss of up to $5 billion during 2020 and more in subsequent years, due to a collapse in international and domestic enrolments. University employees are also excluded from the jobkeeper program.

Under the deal:

  • No university employee will be involuntarily stood down without pay.
  • On a temporary basis of one year, some staff at deeply affected universities will receive 85 per cent of their salary. The vast majority of affected staff will receive between 90 and 95 per cent of their former salary. People on lower wages will not be affected.
  • Temporary salary reductions will only happen after non-staff costs and management salaries have been reduced.
  • Non-wage conditions such as superannuation and leave continue to accrue at the standard rate.
  • Displaced casual and fixed-term staff will be prioritised for new work.
  • Redundancies will only happen in cases where a university can explicitly prove there is no work.

NTEU president, Alison Barnes, said: “There are no perfect options in a crisis. In the absence of a properly funded federal crisis package our Union has intervened to put income security and fairness at the centre of a national response.

“Without this agreement, we faced mass sackings which would have seen careers derailed and livelihoods destroyed.”

The deal will still have to be voted on by workers, and the NTEU dealing with management is very controversial in the sector.

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A couple more bills to keep an eye on.

This one from Peter Dutton.

And the payment reporting time bill from Karen Andrews, which is designed to:

The Payment Times Reporting Bill (the Bill) introduces a new Payment Times Reporting Scheme (the Scheme) which requires large businesses and large government enterprises with an annual total income of over $100 million to publicly report on their payment terms and practices for their small business suppliers. In identifying small business suppliers, the Scheme will draw on a taxation legislation definition of small business as those entities with an annual turnover of less than $10 million.

The objective of the Scheme is to improve payment outcomes for small businesses by creating transparency around the payment practices of large business entities. By providing access to information on large business payment performance, small businesses will be able to make a more informed decision about their potential customers. Greater transparency on payment practices and performance will also create pressure for cultural change to improve payment times.

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A federal court judge says he will make orders allowing Virgin Australia to start giving “conditional credits” for cancelled flights.

But at a hearing this morning John Middleton stopped short of allowing administrators of the largely grounded airline to avoid large swathes of the liabilities they’re running up while in charge of the company after the attorney general and the Taxation Office asked for more time to consider the issue.

As Guardian Australia reported, Virgin Australia’s administrators stopped giving refunds and flight credits for cancelled trips after they took control of the airline.

The administrators, partners at accounting firm Deloitte, did this because otherwise they faced being personally liable for the money.

But they’ve told the court the move put them at a competitive disadvantage.

The proposal Middleton said he would approve will allow the administrators to offer flight credits but not cash refunds.

Meanwhile, the Attorney General’s Department and the ATO have been given until Friday to decide if they object to other orders proposed by the administrators.

The AG’s department wanted the time to think about the administrators’ desire to disclaim personal responsibility for jobkeeper payments, while the issue for the ATO appears to relate to inter-company loans.

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An editorial in China’s state-backed English-language paper, Global Times, has sounded a warning to Australia, saying import suspensions and potential tariffs are not necessarily punishment but should serve as a “wake-up call”.

The editorial says Australia’s support for an inquiry into the source and origin of the virus has worsened a relationship already damaged by Australia’s “unfriendly actions” towards China, including the blocking of Huawei from the 5G network.

And if Australia is feeling worried about Chinese retaliation?

Well, it should.

“The latest meat import suspension and the possible imposition of major tariffs on Australia’s barley exports don’t necessarily represent China’s economic punishment for Australia, though they may serve as a wake-up call for Australia to reflect on its economic links with China,” it says.

“While China is the only choice for Australia’s massive commodity exports, Australia is not necessarily the only option for China.”

It also notes, just out of interest, that China could replace Australian meat imports with supplies from the US, the very country Australia has sided with.

“Of course, China’s willingness to maintain a cooperative relationship with Australia hasn’t changed, and it is now up to Australia to decide what to do next.”

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Paul Karp tells me the disallowance motion, which Labor, supported by the Greens, are putting forward to extend jobkeeper, is expected to be put to the Senate about 6pm.

Pauline Hanson’s two votes are enough to block it, if she is not on board. And suddenly, the government has a bill which she has been hankering for rushing through the parliament.

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What else have we learned in the Covid hearing this morning?

The secretary of PM&C, Phil Gaetjens, doesn’t have a lot of answers over how national cabinet works in association with the usual cabinet.

So he couldn’t answer whether or not the cabinet cabinet has to endorse the decisions by the national cabinet. He also couldn’t answer whether or not there was a handbook to guide national cabinet proceedings (a standard in the public service), and referred to the cabinet handbook, which wouldn’t mention the national cabinet, because as we keep hearing, we haven’t seen this level of cooperation in the federation before.

He told the committee to look at the PM&C website. Which also doesn’t seem to have the answers.

Obviously, this is, using the word of 2020, “unprecedented” – but it is not as though Gaetjens didn’t know he was appearing in front of this committee today.

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Brendan Murphy also just told the committee that he would be surprised if “the true international caseload isn’t closer to the 20m mark”.

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This is a little bit strange.

David Littleproud just introduced this bill into the House – Export Control Legislation Amendment (Certification of Narcotic Exports) Bill 2020 – which would make it easier for Australian companies to export medical cannabis.

That would be particularly good news for Queensland, which is building up quite the industry in that sector.

So normal so far.

It gets weird with the timing – despite introducing it today, Littleproud wants the parliament to be dealt with today. So the government wants it rushed through the parliament on the same day it is introduced, which is usually only reserved for emergency bills, or fixing messes.

This is not that.

But it is something that Pauline Hanson has been chasing for quite some time. And the government needs Hanson to vote to against extending jobkeeper to universities, extending jobkeeper to foreign government-owned companies with local workers and restoring the one-week consultation period for pay cuts.

Deidre Chambers!

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Chief medical officer warns border restrictions will be in place for some time

Victorians may be enjoying a few more freedoms today, and other states and territories have seen a slight relaxation of the restriction rules – but don’t expect travel to return to normal any time soon.

Australia’s chief medical officer, Brendan Murphy, was asked about the border closures in the Senate select committee hearing this morning and replied:

I cannot see border measures materially changing for some time and that presents a huge problem for the nation.

Australia is still seeing new cases of Covid-19 diagnosed each week from returned travellers, who are still being sent into forced quarantine.

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The Greens have advised me that they support Labor’s attempt to extend jobkeeper to foreign government-owned companies with local workers, like the airline catering company Dnata.

Labor and the Greens need four out of five crossbench votes for that motion and a bid to improve universities’ ability to access the $130bn jobkeeper wage subsidy. They’re lobbying the crossbench this morning.

There is further movement on the consultation period for employers seeking cuts to conditions in workplace pay deals.

Centre Alliance’s Stirling Griff told Guardian Australia that 24 hours is “not enough” but the party is “supportive of something closer to the three-day mark”.

That’s a new compromise, the rules now say 24 hours and Labor and the Greens are trying to restore a period of one week.

Griff also said there was “some merit” in One Nation’s proposal that emergency cuts should only last for 12 months.

Updated

The backbench has found its groove.

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Insert jokes here.

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The Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, is at the XXXX brewery because it is law that the Queensland premier stand in front of the XXXX sign wearing hi-vis at least once a year.

The state has no new cases in the last 24 hours, but an old case has been added to its total of 1,052 Covid cases. There are 18 active cases in Queensland.

Updated

Anthony Albanese is campaigning in Eden-Monaro – he lays out what Labor’s main byelection line will be:

I was say this to the people of Eden-Monaro. If you think the government has been perfect, then you will make that decision. If you think the government needs improvement, if you think they could have better prepared for the bushfires, if you think they could have dealt with the crisis while the bushfires were going better, if you think the recovery should have been better, then send them a message, send the Coalition government a message, because they, quite frankly, are taking the people of Eden-Monaro for granted. That’s why they’re engaging in all this self-indulgent behaviour.

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Victoria has recorded seven new cases in the last 24 hours. None have been come from Cedar Meats although three previous tests have been linked back to the meat-processing plants, so that cluster is now responsible for 88 infections.

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Still in the Covid committee, and Rex Patrick is asking about the denial of his FoI request – this is how he described it two weeks ago:

In anticipation of the Senate COVID-19 Committee inquiry, Senator Patrick lodged a Freedom of Information request for the early briefings provided to Prime Minister Morrison on the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak.

“I was hopeful that the Department would release some useful information that would shed light on the Government’s early assessments and responses in January. A high level of transparency is essential if we are to learn all the lessons we can from the experience of this terrible pandemic.”

However the Department of Prime Minister & Cabinet has refused access to all of the requested briefings given to the Prime Minister at the beginning of the crisis.

Patrick asks Phil Gaetjens if he can see the “hypocrisy” of denying the request while demanding China’s ruling party be transparent. Gaetjens says he does not see the hypocrisy.

Updated

Peter Whish-Wilson is trying to find out what documents from the national cabinet will be made “cabinet in confidence” – he is talking specifically of any advice from the manufacturing taskforce in relation to gas regulation, it seems.

The committee chair, Katy Gallagher, says he has run out of time.

Whish-Wilson is not happy.

Gallagher thanks him for the feedback: “It’s always welcome.”

Whish-Wilson is appearing via video link so he is at a disadvantage.

Updated

Fun fact, Michael Pezzullo, who heads up Home Affairs, also does not sit in on national cabinet.

Even though he heas up the National Coordination Mechanism.

Brendan Murphy seems to be the only first medical officer in the room – none of the other state or territory leaders take in their chief medical officers.

The Liberal senator James Paterson (who has used his lockdown time to grow an iso-beard) asks the chief medical officer, Prof Brendan Murphy, about Kawasaki disease – a rare, potentially fatal, disease in children, which has been linked to a small number of children diagnosed with Covid-19 internationally.

Murphy says there have been no cases linked to Covid in Australia but it is something they are watching, although he says the association between Covid and Kawasaki is not clear at this stage.

When you have millions of the population infected, there are obviously more children and there does seem to be an association between an increased incidence of this condition and potentially covered positive children, it’s probably a reflection of probably in New York City, for example, they’re likely to be several thousand children infected because you’re dealing with potentially hundreds of thousands of people.

So it’s it’s a very really rare association where it’s not clear. Kawasaki disease can be set off by other viral infections …

We think that it’s it’s one of those rare things that is emerged because of this the huge burden of the infected load. In those countries, it may appear in other countries with large, very large volumes of infected people, but because it’s so rare, it’s unlikely to be seen in Australia. But we’ll obviously, we’ve got alerts on us and we’re clearly watching it.

Updated

It’s Kopika’s fifth birthday.

It’s the third birthday she has spent in detention, along with her family, after they were taken from Biolela. She is now with her family in the Christmas Island detention centre.

Updated

So far, questioning of PM&C head Phil Gaetjens is around who attends national cabinet, in terms of public servants. Greg Hunt does not sit on the national cabinet (which we knew, given he has held press conferences, while national cabinet was being held)

Updated

Labor’s Katy Gallagher and Centre Alliance’s Rex Patrick will ask the Senate today to schedule Senate estimates in the week from 15 to 19 June. The Greens also support the motion.

If the motion is successful, Senate estimates committees will hear:

  • On 15 June and 16 June from the environment and communications, finance and public administration, legal and constitutional affairs, and rural and regional affairs and transport portfolios
  • On 17 and 18 June from the community affairs, economics, education and employment, and foreign affairs, defence and trade portfolios
  • On 19 June from the Indigenous matters and on Murray-Darling basin plan portfolios

Updated

The Senate select committee on Covid-19 hearing has begun – the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet secretary, Phil Gaetjens, is up first.

He is reading his opening statement, which is a recap of what has been done so far.

“This crisis will be a marathon not a sprint,” Gaetjens said of his message to Australia’s public servants.

Updated

Australia’s biggest bank, the Commonwealth Bank, has set aside an additional $1.5bn for loans that go bad due to the coronavirus crisis.

In a quarterly trading update out this morning, its chief executive, Matt Comyn, said despite the pandemic the bank had performed well in the three months to the end of March, making a profit of $1.3bn.

The bank is the last of the big-four banks to report on the impact of the virus on its business, and its provisions bring to a total of $5.8bn the amount the group – CBA, Westpac, NAB and ANZ – expects to suffer in bad loans due to the crisis.

Comyn said:

Today’s announcement of an additional credit provision of $1.5bn for the potential longer-term impacts of Covid-19 further reinforces our already strong provisioning and balance sheet settings.

The strength and resilience of the bank remained evident through the March quarter. Our people have continued to serve our customers diligently and professionally under challenging circumstances.

Updated

The Global Times newspaper tends to be the more shouty and hawkish of the Communist party of China-run state media.

So when it has an editorial slamming a particular country or action, it’s essentially treated as an angry diplomatic cable.

It turned that attention to Australia in its latest editorial, warning of economic consequences if relations continue to deteriorate:

Australian media outlets have shown great concern over the likelihood that China may soon impose major tariffs on barley exports from Australia, as the move could become the symbolic start to a series of retaliatory measures against the country.

Some Australian media have deliberately politicized the issue, describing it as China’s retaliation to Australia’s attempt to blame China for the pandemic by calling for an inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus outbreak. However, the fact is that the decision on Chinese tariffs will be based on an anti-dumping investigation into Australia’s exported barley that has been ongoing for almost 18 months.

If anything, Australia’s worries over potential tariffs underline the anxiety surrounding deteriorating China-Australia relations. Since China-US relations hit their lowest point in decades amid the Covid-19 crisis, relations between China and Australia have been heading in the same direction. Australian politicians have made no secret of their desire to follow the US, joining in on the China blame game. If China-US ties continue to deteriorate, the uncertainty surrounding China-Australia relations will also increase.

Such uncertainty will inevitably lead to economic repercussions. In this sense, it now seems necessary to advise Chinese people and companies to watch out for potential risks when it comes to doing business with or studying in Australia.

Fundamentally speaking, it is not in the interests of people in China and Australia if the latter’s politicians continue to take unfriendly actions and launch political attacks on the former. China-US relations are now in trouble, and if Australia chooses to follow, that would not only negatively impact its relations with China but would also come at the cost of its own economy and trade.

In fact, the importance of China to Australia’s economy may be far greater than some Australian politicians estimate. China is Australia’s largest export destination, with exports to China accounting for about one third of its total exports. China is the main buyer of Australia’s commodities, farm products and education services.

There is a need for Australia to reposition its role in regional geopolitics rather than becoming the lapdog of the US. It needs to rethink its relationships with the US and China at this juncture. Given its economic ties with Asian countries are closer than those it has with western nations, it may be more in its interests to focus on how to further integrate into the Asian industrial chain.

Updated

Amid all this, the Eden-Monaro byelection is still to be scheduled.

Labor isn’t messing around – Anthony Albanese will be out there this morning, with the party’s candidate, Kristy McBain, and Catherine King for a doorstop at Murrumbateman.

But then Labor can do that – it has a candidate. The Coalition is still trying to work out what to do, given the whole John Barilaro/Andrew Constance/Michael McCormack mess.

Updated

Soon, we shall all hear the bells.

Updated

The government is still attempting to navigate increasingly delicate trading issues with China, most recently how to work through the delisting of four major Australian abattoirs.

On this issue though, Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells has never been backwards in coming forwards.

Updated

The select Senate committee looking at the Covid-19 response will hold a hearing this morning from 9am, with the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet secretary, Phil Gaetjens, slated to appear.

It is pretty rare for the head of PM&C to appear in front of these committees.

The chief medical officer, Prof Brendan Murphy, will also appear. That’s less rare.

Updated

Australia's Covid-19 death toll rises to 98 after 22nd fatality linked to Ruby Princess

The NSW chief medical officer, Dr Kerry Chant, reported that an 81-year-old woman, who had tested positive for Covid-19, died overnight.

She had been a passenger on the Ruby Princess cruise ship and disembarked on 19 March.

It’s the 22nd death linked to that cruise ship and the 98th for the nation.

Updated

And a reminder that for a lot of other countries, life is very, very far from anything approaching normal.

Updated

Gladys Berejiklian:

Our success won’t be measured by the number of cases we get every day, our success will be measured equally by how many people keep their jobs and don’t experience the stress and diminishing quality of life that so many people have in the past couple of weeks and we want to focus on people having job security and have the good quality of life.

Of the six new cases of Covid-19 diagnosed overnight, three are still having their origins tested. That’s the number to watch – the community transmissions.

Updated

But the NSW premier says she expects the number of new Covid-19 cases will increase as restrictions are relaxed.

The number of patients in intensive care is very low with Covid but we know once we ease restrictions it won’t be the case.

But if you look around the world, many communities who are easing restrictions aren’t in the position NSW is in.

Many communities around the world easing restrictions still have the case numbers in the hundreds every day, which would be untenable for us, which means thousands of people would have been in ICUs and an untenable situation.

We should feel very fortunate we are in a position as we ease restrictions, to have the case numbers, it gives us options but it also means we have to maintain our vigilance and get tested if we have the mildest symptoms and stay home if we worry we have been in contact with somebody.

I can’t stress enough, when you are with people you know very well, even outdoors, you tend to forget to socially distance.

We can’t let it happen. Inside a household it is fine, but outside, with the people you live with, even if they are members of your extended family or very close friends, don’t think you can’t pass the virus to each other. Please be careful.

Updated

NSW reports six new Covid-19 cases

Gladys Berejiklian, right on Gladys Berejiklian time, is delivering the latest NSW update (it’s how I know it is time for my second coffee).

Six people in NSW tested positive for Covid-19 overnight.

That’s from 8,100 tests.

I was very pleased to have brought to my attention a number of international reports that says NSW has the highest rate of testing in the world. It is something we are incredibly proud of, something we need to maintain. I always say to our experts and my team here in NSW, there is no way we can’t lead the world in the way we deal with the pandemic moving forward, and give good advice to our citizens to keep us safe and look at parts of our community, parts of business in particular that we can activate without having any adverse impacts on health.

We know from Friday we will analyse the data closely because we appreciate once you ease any restriction, there is more activities and a chance of people getting the virus or passing it on to others.

Updated

Parliament is also ticking over, although there is still no word on what the revised sitting schedule will look like.

Budget estimates was scheduled from 25 May but it is a little hard to have budget estimates without a budget. Still though, there are quite a few MPs who would like the opportunity to scrutinise government spending and decisions.

You have Amy Remeikis and Mike Bowers to guide you through the parliamentary day, plus Katharine Murphy, Paul Karp and Daniel Hurst.

Thank you for joining us.

Updated

Today is also the first day of lockdown laws being eased in Victoria. Many have gotten up early to enjoy their newfound freedom in the dreary Melbourne weather.

Updated

Here are Hunt’s full remarks on a disease that has been popping up in small numbers in the US.

I mentioned tensions between Australia and China just before. If you want to get up to date with that branch of the Covid-19 tree, I can recommend this report by Daniel Hurst.

Updated

The Australian Council of Trade Unions president, Michele O’Neil, has spoken to the ABC this morning. She has criticised the government actions that have lead to increased tensions with China:

I think it’s really important that in a time of crisis that we don’t create new crises. It’s really important that we manage to continue to have good, strong relationships with where our goods are exported to, and our services.

Our views that the focus of the government the moment, the focus of everyone, should be on getting us through this pandemic, rebuilding the economy, supporting the creation of new jobs, and not putting at risk any of the trade arrangements we currently have in place.

Updated

Hunt has been asked about a disease potentially linked to Covid-19, which has reportedly been associated with the deaths of three children in the US.

Prof Brendan Murphy, the chief medical officer, has requested advice from paediatric experts around Australia.

He and Paul Kelly, the deputy chief medical officer, are also seeking advice from overseas. They’re providing a briefing to the national cabinet this week. At this stage, there has been no signs of that condition in Australia.

What they’re determining is the relationship between it and Covid-19, whether it’s in some way triggered or caused by Covid-19 or whether with the mass testing that has been done a condition which is otherwise there has been shown up.

But I’ll leave that to experts. We’ve taken it very seriously.

Updated

The federal health minister, Greg Hunt, is speaking on ABC News Breakfast now.

Hunt confirmed Assoc Prof Ruth Vine has been appointing as deputy chief medical officer for mental health:

We do know whenever there is an economic downturn there is strong evidence that mental health challenges rise.

As part of that, we’re preparing now on two fronts: one is to particularly focus on the mental health concerns during and potentially flowing from the pandemic. And they could be anxiety about health, anxiety or depression relating to the lockdowns, but they’re progressively lifting, and also economic anxiety which is what is so important to get people back to work.

At the same time what we’re doing is providing support through Beyond Blue, Lifeline, KidsHelp Line and Head Space and we’re making a permanent change which is the establishment of a deputy chief medical officer for health, which Prof Brendan Murphy has strongly supported.

Updated

The independent MP Zali Steggall says she is increasingly concerned about the Morrison government’s influential National Covid Coordination Commission, because there is “no transparency about its governance or processes”.

Guardian Australia’s political editor, Katharine Murphy, has the full report below:

Updated

Government to appoint first deputy chief ­medical officer for mental health

The federal government is expected to appoint Assoc Prof Ruth Vine to plan the mental health response to the coronavirus pandemic, reports the AAP.

The health minister, Greg Hunt, is expected to make a statement on mental health today while Vine, the former chief psychiatrist for Victoria, has been selected for the role, the Australian newspaper reports.

Government modelling forecasts a 50% increase in suicides directly related to the economic shutdown and the associated distress, with the possibility they could outstrip direct deaths from coronavirus.

“A priority on the road out of the pandemic is supporting the mental health and wellbeing of all Australians,” Hunt will say, according to the newspaper.

“Supporting the mental health of Australians is a deep personal passion of mine and a priority of this government.”

Vine will sit alongside the chief medical officer, Brendan Murphy, who recommended mental health be treated as a priority.

Updated

Good morning and welcome to our coverage of the coronavirus crisis in Australia.

This morning the treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, has revealed he has tested negative to Covid-19, after suffering a coughing fit in parliament yesterday.

If you missed the coughing fit that prompted the test, you can watch it here:

Here are yesterday’s major developments you might have missed:

  • China has suspended imports from four big Australian abattoirs, but the trade minister, Simon Birmingham, said it was a “technical” issue.
  • The foreign affairs minister, Marise Payne, said she was not consulted before George Christensen announced he wanted to summon the Chinese ambassador to face questions before a parliamentary committee.
  • The federal government’s budget update showed GDP is forecast to fall by more than 10% in the June quarter, the largest on record, and unemployment will reach about 10%, or 1.4 million people.
  • Eight new cases have been diagnosed linked to the Cedar Meats abattoir, taking the total to 85.

Updated

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