Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
World
Luke Henriques-Gomes (now) and Ben Smee and Amy Remeikis (earlier)

Government releases Covid-19 app legislation – as it happened

default

That concludes our coverage for the day. Thanks for reading. Stay safe.

Labor candidate in Eden-Monaro confirmed

Kristy McBain has been confirmed as Labor’s candidate for the upcoming by-election in Eden-Monaro.

The contest was triggered by Mike Kelly’s resignation.

You can read my colleague Katharine Murphy’s story on that news here.

In a statement, the Bega Valley Shire mayor said tonight:

I’m honoured to be endorsed as the Labor candidate for the upcoming Eden-Monaro by-election.

The last six months have been a tough time for communities right across Eden-Monaro, and people feel like they’ve been forgotten.

Our experience of the drought, the devastating bushfires and now Coronavirus has made me more determined than ever to stand up for our community.

I was here during the bushfires. I saw the devastation first-hand. I saw how much being here mattered, I saw how much leadership matters – and how much national leadership matters.

I was so proud of the people of our region and how they responded to such a huge threat and such terrible tragedy. I love these people and want to keep working for them, in the same way Mike Kelly worked tirelessly to deliver for the area.

Our community can’t be forgotten again – we need a strong voice in Federal Parliament. I want to be that voice.

NSW state transport minister Andrew Constance and former Liberal senator Jim Molan are expected to contest preselection for the Liberal party.

Updated

Summary

Let’s wrap up some of the main developments of the day.

  • The NZ PM Jacinda Ardern will join Australia’s national cabinet meeting tomorrow
  • The government released legislation for its Covidsafe tracing app
  • Victoria recorded a spike in active cases following the emergence of a cluster at a meat processing facility in Melbourne
  • A 15th person died at the Newmarch House nursing home in Sydney

My colleagues Paul Karp and Josh Taylor are flipping through the Covidsafe app legislation now.

This might derail the NRL’s plans to restart the league on May 28.

Covidsafe app legislation released

The government has released draft legislation that will put in place privacy protections for the Covidsafe tracing app.

“The draft bill I have released today will enshrine these protections in primary legislation and gives Australians confidence to download Covidsafe, continue the fight against Covid-19 and get our nation back to business as usual,” said the attorney general Christian Porter.

He said the bill would put in place a “clear process showing how the government would delete all Covidsafe data from the National Covidsafe Data Store once the pandemic is over”.

As the final step of our ‘triple lock’ of privacy protections, this draft bill will build upon the Biosecurity Determination and agreements with the states and territories to comprehensively guarantee that Australians’ data is in safe hands when they download and use Covidsafe.

The draft bill clarifies the enforcement mechanisms for the penalties that are already in place against misuse of data from the Covidsafe app. Criminal offences under the bill can be investigated by the Australian Federal Police.

Individuals can also have their complaints heard by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner or the relevant state or territory privacy regulator if appropriate.

More than 4 million people have now registered to use the app.

The legislation, which can be viewed here, will be introduced in parliament on Wednesday.

The government says the legislation will “reinforce” an earlier Biosecurity Act determination made by the health minister Greg Hunt that made it a criminal offence to collect, use or disclose Covidsafe app data for a purpose that is not related to contact tracing.

Updated

Sports minister 'wouldn't rule out' crowds at AFL grand final

The federal sports minister, Richard Colbeck, was on Melbourne radio station 3AW earlier today, where he said he “wouldn’t rule out” the possibility of the AFL grand final being played in front of a crowd.

“I’d love to see that,” Colbeck said, though he described it as “less than a 50-50 chance”, according to 3AW.

The Victorian meat processing company where a cluster of Covid-19 cases has been confirmed insists its products remain safe to eat.

The Victorian chief health officer, Prof Brett Sutton, said the facility began moving towards a shutdown when the outbreak was identified and is now closed, AAP reported.

“It’s not a risk to the general community and it’s not going to get out of control,” he told reporters on Monday.

The factory could not close immediately because of animal welfare issues, he said.

The bulk of workers who tested positive over the weekend were asymptomatic and were in quarantine before receiving the result.

Cedar Meats general manager Tony Kairouz said the company found out a staff member had Covid-19, after being admitted to Sunshine hospital for an unrelated matter on 27 April.

Two days later, the company found out that four staff who worked in one area of the plant had the virus.

All 350 onsite staff were tested for Covid-19 by 1 May.

“For the past few days our focus has been 100 per cent inward - on closing down the processing side of our business, taking care of staff and animal welfare,” Kairouz said in a statement on Monday.

The company had not tried to hide the outbreak, he added.

He told Melbourne radio 3AW earlier in the day that all the meat processed was in line with Australian food safety standards.

The health department is working with the company, which has agreed to close its facility for 14 days and undergo a deep clean..

Updated

Sports-loving South Australians have been told to be patient, with a decision on relaxing restrictions on training expected by the week’s end.

Health chief medical officer Nicola Spurrier says although local training is not off the cards, South Australians need to wait until Friday’s national cabinet meeting for more information, AAP reports.

“You need to be patient because we have one chance at this,” she said.

“It’s more damaging to lift things too quickly and then have to shut things down again.

“Working through all the ways to reduce the risk of transmission when people participate [in sport] and train is important.”

Premier Steven Marshall said the SANFL was in a good position to begin the season because it did not require players to travel interstate.

“We’d all like to see sports resume in SA,” he said.

“Competitions like the SANFL don’t have games interstate so they can get back to training as soon as it’s allowed.”

It comes as the state recorded its 12th consecutive day of no reported coronavirus cases, with the total remaining at 438.

Updated

My colleague Paul Karp has been looking at the submissions to the so-called ‘sports rorts’ Senate inquiry, including the suggestion that the program could be saved from constitutional challenge by being rebadged as a coronavirus stimulus scheme.

In case you doubted the authenticity of the text messages that many of you will have received today urging you to download the Covidsafe app.

Thanks to Ben Smee for his efforts before the tea break. If you want to get in touch, you can email me at luke.henriques-gomes@theguardian.com or on Twitter @lukehgomes.

Thanks for the past two hours, I’m passing the blog to Luke Henriques-Gomes, who will see you through to stumps.

Go well.

It has taken Labor’s Stephen Jones several nanoseconds to bring up Liberal Eden-Monaro candidate Andrew Constance’s comments about Scott Morrison earlier this year: that the PM “got the welcome he deserved” during the bushfire emergency earlier this year.

Of course, there’s no guarantee the pair will campaign shoulder-to-shoulder, or that there will even be a physical campaign, in Eden-Monaro.

But expect to see that clip played about 2bn times between now and the byelection.

Updated

Chief nursing officer, Alison McMillan, on the potential to allow international travel between Australia and New Zealand:

Both countries are comparable in what we’ve seen in our ability to prevent ... transmission. These discussions are preliminary and we would expect to see ongoing sustained reduction of the spread in both countries.

My understanding is these negotiations are very early and we’d need to consider them very carefully.

Updated

A little smirk here from Zed, upon being told Andrew Constance has got the Eden-Monaro gig.

And just as that last bit of news about Andrew Constance seeps through, Liberal senator Zed Seselja is live on the ABC being asked about the by-election.

Zed tells Patricia Karvelas: “What I wouldn’t want to do is dictate to the NSW Liberal party who they should preselect.”

Updated

And the Liberals have picked Andrew Constance, the NSW transport minister for Eden-Monaro. Fascinating contest.

Breaking. Labor preselects candidate Labor was expected to preselect.

AAP has an interesting new report about potential legal action for anyone who booked travel and has been asked to take a voucher, rather than a refund.

This follows some great work from my colleague, Christopher Knaus, on the subject.

AAP reports: Australians whose travel plans were cancelled due to coronavirus and offered a voucher instead of a refund could join a legal fight.

Tens of thousands of travellers have been short-changed by airlines, travel agents and tour companies, a lawyer says.

Lawyer Andrew Paull said major travel industry players may have breached their legal obligations by putting in place travel voucher schemes amid the pandemic.

“What we have found is disappointingly, some of Australia’s biggest travel companies, including Qantas and Jetstar, have been forcing their customers into taking severely restricted travel vouchers when those people are entitled by law to a full cash refund.”

Updated

The SA Premier, Steven Marshall, is the latest to the podium to provide a coronavirus update.

South Australia has now had 12 days of no new cases, with just seven active cases remaining in the state.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, the boffins at Liberal party headquarters created a meme that would save the Australian people and restore freedom to the galaxy

Somehow I don’t think this one (from a year ago today) is getting recycled this May the Fourth...

The Australian chief nursing officer Alison McMillan is giving us the daily coronavirus update from Canberra.

Here are the highlights:

  • 4.5 million people have downloaded the CovidSafe app
  • There are 6,825 coronavirus cases
  • 95 people have died
  • 28 people remain in intensive care

Updated

Good afternoon!

Ben Smee here, keeping you company from a sunny (but slightly cold) Brisbane for the next couple of hours.

I’m certainly no Amy Remeikis, who has put in another stellar shift, but at the very least hoping to get you through to knock off time without major incident.

We are about to get a national update on the Covid situation, and I will leave you with Ben Smee for that.

I’ll be back early tomorrow – thank you again for joining me – and take care of you.

Updated

Labor is calling for the aged care royal commission to investigate the Covid-19 outbreak at Newmarch House.

The calls from opposition aged care spokeswoman Julie Collins come as the western Sydney facility recorded its 15th death on Monday afternoon, less than a month after a part-time care worker at the home was diagnosed with coronavirus on 11 April.

Collins said:

The residents of Newmarch House and their loved ones, and the staff at the facility, deserve answers about what has gone wrong.

The royal commission has the necessary investigative powers to get to the bottom of what has happened, with concerning reports of infection control failures at Newmarch House.

While the royal commission is rightly looking at aged care and Covid-19 more generally, a deeper investigation into what happened at this facility is warranted.

All Australians must be assured we have the very best infection control practises in aged care.

There are now 63 confirmed cases among staff and residents at Newmarch House, with a surge medical workforce operating a “mini-hospital” in the facility, according to the aged care minister, Richard Colbeck.

On Saturday, the NSW chief health officer, Kerry Chant, announced that a further infection control review of Newmarch launched after a wave of infections last week had shown breaches of safety protocol “amongst particularly the staff”.

As a result of that review, workers at Newmarch House will now be subject to daily coronavirus testing.

Updated

A reminder that it is illegal for a business (or anyone, really) to deny you service or entry if you do not have the app.

It does not stop you from getting Covid-19. It does not alert you to Covid-19 in your area. It helps authorities with contact tracing in the event of a positive diagnosis.

Updated

This is not going anywhere soon, either.

Updated

The latest Newmarch house death brings Australia’s death toll to 96.

Jacinda Ardern says NZ is interested to hear about Australia’s work with the Covid tracing app – but that NZ is not relying on it as a “silver bullet”.

Updated

But don’t start dreaming of a New Zealand ski season just yet.

Jacinda Ardern:

I want to moderate expectations. The fact that we are in a position to have this conversation is a huge advantage to both of us.

In terms of opening up further travel, Ardern says:

At the moment we are focused on Australia but, it is fair to say, there would be, obviously, a special advantage for Pacific Islanders, but that’s a conversation we need to have directly with them.

There is huge risk if Covid-19 finds its way to Pacific Island nations untouched by Covid-19. I would want us to act cautiously and in unison with the leaders of those countries.

Updated

Jacinda Ardern says her attendance at the Australian national cabinet tomorrow (via teleconference, which is how the leaders are meeting) is, to her knowledge, the first time something like this has occurred. Australian prime ministers have sat in on NZ cabinet meetings, but Ardern says this is an “unprecedented gathering”.

Updated

New Zealand has been big on the concept of “bubbles” since it went into lockdown.

In terms of this one – the trans-Tasman travel bubble – she doesn’t expect it to be in the “very, very near future” but sees “a lot of opportunity”.

Ardern says there are a lot of advantages for New Zealand in a trans-Tasman travel line opening up – not just in terms of domestic tourism, but also business and trade and visits between family.

But she is not talking weeks here. She doesn’t expect this to happen for quite some time.

Updated

Division with greatly reduced numbers in the house of representatives, Canberra, on 8 April
Division with greatly reduced numbers during a special sitting in the house of representatives at Parliament House, Canberra, on 8 April. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

Updated

Anglicare reports 15th death in Sydney's Newmarch House

Anglicare has confirmed the death of a 15th resident at its Newmarch aged care facility in Kingswood, western Sydney.

From its statement:

The person had no immediate family and was well cared for by the dedicated staff of Newmarch House.

On behalf of our resident, we grieve for his death and we value that he was part of our Anglicare family while we cared for them.

His passing highlights how terrible this virus is and how devastating it is for the elderly in our community.

The impact of Covid-19 on older people is increasingly evident in Australia and internationally and this is extremely distressing for other residents, their families and members of the wider community.

Anglicare appreciates the support of the commonwealth government in assisting us to source an infection control specialist who is currently onsite this week, monitoring and reviewing all current contamination and infection control procedures.

We also appreciate government support in implementing the family support program, which will enable registered nurses to communicate regularly to families about their loved ones.

Updated

Jacinda Ardern says next Monday, New Zealand will look at whether it can relax restrictions even further.

Updated

It is Labour Day in Queensland, but of course there is no march.

So, instead, union members are showing their support on their driveways and fences.

Updated

Just a reminder – parliament is back next week, for a regular (non-Covid) sitting, where we will get a statement on the state of the budget.

Also watch out to see what is tabled – don’t be surprised if you see the unredacted royal commission into childhood abuse report in terms of the investigation into how George Pell handled abuse claims, released to the parliament after the Victorian authorities cleared it.

And Josh Frydenberg will be the National Press Club’s guest this Wednesday.

Updated

Centrelink will soon stop backpaying jobseeker payment claims to a recipient’s first contact with the agency, unwinding a policy change that eased access to welfare for the newly unemployed during the Covid-19 pandemic.

From 8 May, the government will remove the “intent to claim” provisions that allow people claiming a Centrelink payment to be paid from the date they register with the agency, rather than from when they complete their application.

The provision had been scrapped as part of budget savings in 2018 but was reintroduced in late March as Centrelink was swamped with a deluge of new jobseeker payment claims.

The government insists the change was also temporary and that Centrelink claimants had been informed of the 8 May deadline.

A spokesman for the government services minister, Stuart Robert, said:

Services Australia has gone to significant lengths to directly contact all customers who lodged an intention to claim, either via phone, SMS, myGov letters or a combination, to ensure they knew how to complete their claim and to notify them of the 8 May deadline.

Services Australia made more than 800,000 outbound calls to people who registered an intention to claim last month, and sent more than 1.2m MyGov messages, which noted the 8 May deadline.

Updated

The ACT can’t claim to be completely Covid free any longer – a returned traveller has tested positive for the virus.

Updated

They all seem very polite?

On the question of research Australian and international researchers have and are doing on bats, the science minister, Karen Andrews, says:

What I can say is that currently there is no research being undertaken at the facility in July that has bats involved. But it also is very important for us to note that 75% of viruses do come from animals and bats are certainly one of the sources of that. And the classic example is the Hendra virus, which went from bats to horses to humans.

So you cannot criticise it as a standalone batch of research, you actually have to look at it in context. And it’s very important that we make sure that we have in place all of the tools that we can to make sure that we are doing the research properly and managing the risks.

Updated

Karen Andrews says:

Until we have a vaccine, life is not going to return to normal. So whilst we have seen easing of restrictions, particularly over the last weekend, we still have a long way to go and it’s important that we all take baby steps.

Updated

Vaccine 'possible' in 10 to 15 months

Karen Andrews says the CSIRO is testing two vaccines - one from the US and one from the UK.

But she adds that it is at least 10 months away – at the very least – before there is reasonably a chance of a vaccine being made available.

Updated

Of course they’ll keep in touch. That’s their job.

Updated

This is the worst timeline’s Tarantino films come to life

I mean ... do we want to be a nation of stormtroopers?

Updated

The Morrison government will consider whether “policy adjustments” are required when it begins reviewing its free childcare package this week.

We asked the education minister, Dan Tehan, to shed light on what aspects he was looking at fixing.

In a written response today, he said the government continued to engage with peak bodies across the childcare sector to resolve issues as they arise.

A review of the package is currently being undertaken and will consider the extent to which the objectives of the package are being achieved and whether policy adjustments are required.

As it stands, the overhaul of childcare funding is budgeted to remain in effect until late June, but the government was always planning to review how it was operating one month in.

The shakeup has led to complaints from some families that they have struggled to access care for their children, while there have been a range of cases of services warning of funding shortfalls, including in the family daycare sector.

Tehan defended the package, saying it had been put in place quickly because services had been experiencing mass withdrawals that threatened their ability to provide care and continuity of education.

He said that as of 23 April, 96% of all childcare subsidy-approved services had kept their doors open.

The minister pointed to several recent announcements, including Friday’s move to expand eligibility for additional supplementary payments for providers not eligible for the jobkeeper wage subsidy.

Updated

The Greens senator Dr Mehreen Faruqi has responded to that issue Paul just told you about:

The government is bending over backwards to deny universities access to the jobkeeper wage subsidy. This is farcical and sinister stuff.

Universities have been dealing with huge uncertainties for months now. Constantly shifting the goalposts is not only enormously unfair to them in this crisis, but reveals the Liberals’ malice towards higher education.

The clear intent to lock universities out of jobkeeper can only be explained by the Liberals’ ongoing hostility to higher education and their commitment to starve universities of funding.

The government is fully aware that up to 30,000 university jobs are on the line, but they just don’t seem to care.

In addition to jobkeeper, the government must back universities through a new package which would massively boost funding, save jobs and improve universities for staff and students.

Updated

The Australian government’s chief nursing and midwifery officer, Alison McMillan, will be giving today’s national Covid-19 update.

That will be at 3.30pm.

Updated

University of Sydney vice-chancellor Michael Spence has complained to staff that the government has moved the goalposts for the $130bn jobkeeper program, making it ineligible for wage subsidies.

In an all-staff email, Spence wrote:

Late on Friday the government amended the criteria for universities to qualify for jobkeeper.

For all organisations [with a turnover of $1bn or more] there is a one-month period in which they must be able to demonstrate a revenue loss of more than 50% when compared with the same period last year, to be eligible. We made our application on the basis of the significant loss of revenue from student suspensions and withdrawals in March for semester 1.

The government has changed this rule for universities and extended the period in which to demonstrate revenue loss to a six-month period in order to qualify. This means we will no longer be eligible to receive jobkeeper funding.

Spence reassured staff that anyone who was paid a top-up in anticipation of receiving jobkeeper funding would keep the payment.

Updated

The Transport Workers Union is lobbying the government over an exclusion to the $130bn jobkeeper wage subsidy program.

Apparently, the scheme does not allow companies owned by foreign governments to access the program, and this is particularly problematic in the aviation sector.

Dnata, owned by the Emirates Group and which carries out 90% of catering needs of airlines in Australia, has told its 5,500 workers in Australia that they will not receive jobkeeper. For workers, that will mean the difference between a $1,500 fortnightly wage subsidy and the less generous $1,100 fortnightly jobseeker payment.

Michael Kaine, the TWU national secretary said:

This is a devastating blow for thousands of workers in Australia who have been assuming up to now that their jobs were secure and their income was certain because of the jobkeeper payment. We are writing to the treasurer today to urgently examine this loophole and its unintended consequences. There are specific cases, such as the Emirates Group, where foreign governments still retain a big stake in their aviation sectors which now employ many workers in Australians. We are hopeful the Government can recognise this situation and rectify it ...

“Not only will this hurt workers in Australia it will also hamper efforts to get air travel back up and running when restrictions lift, impacting on our economy. Companies like Dnata carry out behind the scenes work at our airport which gets airlines into the sky. Their work is vital and thousands depend on it.”

Dan Tehan is playing it safe today, responding to Queensland’s school opening announcement (for on-site learning) in a written statement (no chance for personal frustrations to slip in, that way).

He said:

Today’s announcement that Queensland students will return to classroom learning is fantastic news for students, teachers, parents and principals.

It is particularly good news for vulnerable, poor, remote and Indigenous students because they are the ones whose education suffers the most from remote learning.

Our government has taken a consistent position to follow the expert medical advice and the expert medical advice has been consistent that schools are safe for students and teachers with the right protocols in place.

Queensland has developed a plan that will see all year levels return to the classroom over a period of time and sets out sensible arrangements for students, teachers and parents to enable this to happen.

Updated

Government services minister Stuart Robert says 4.44 million people have now downloaded the Covidsafe contact tracing app, but it’s not yet being used by health officials.

That is because the states and territories need to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the federal government essentially promising to use the data only for its intended purpose, as will be enshrined in the legislation to be introduced into parliament.

Robert told 2GB’s Ray Hadley it was a “matter of days” until the app was fully operational:

The back end is how state health officials access data. And as part of the triple privacy lock, we’re legislating on the 12th of May, when parliament goes back. There is biosecurity advice that has gone in by the health minister, that’s the second lock. And the third lock is the states’ MoU with the commonwealth, which outlines T&Cs by how they’ll use the data.”

In the meantime, the app was still collecting the data for when it was needed, he said.

It is going as fast as humanly possible and remember, the app’s still operating in the background – it’s doing the job. This is just access of state of health officials to augment the manual process.

On other outstanding issues to do with the app, Robert’s office told Guardian Australia that the source code for the app would be released “in the coming weeks”, subject to advice.

We understand, in the Australian community, there is great interest in the functionality of the Covidsafe app and the Australian government intends to release the source code in coming weeks, subject to final advice from cyber security agencies.

There’s no timeline on when the Google-Apple API might be implemented to fix issues with the iPhone version of the app, but Robert’s office insists the app can be run in the background on iPhones and still operate, despite independent researchers suggesting it cannot work that way.

Updated

This tweet, from our former foreign affairs minister and man in London, continues to age well:

Updated

Get used to these figures:

Updated

New Zealand is in stage-three lock downs (what Australia has now).

If the situation in both countries continues – in terms of low case numbers – trans-Tasman travel is on the agenda.

That will just take a tad bit longer.

Updated

This shouldn’t come as a surprise to people – and you should expect it to continue, despite state government’s best efforts to boost construction.

From AAP:

Home building approvals dipped by 4% in March as the nation braced for impact from the coronavirus pandemic and adjusted to social-distancing restrictions.

Units and homes other than houses had the biggest fall, dropping 8.2% to 6,538, according to seasonally adjusted data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

There was a 1.2% drop in houses built to 8,520.

There were 15,279 homes built in total.

Updated

It’s been a busy 12 hours for Scott Morrison

Jacinda Ardern to join Australian national cabinet meeting

Just further to that post comes this news from Katharine Murphy: New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern will join tomorrow’s national cabinet meeting to discuss the Covid-19 response and the Australian Covidsafe app.

Updated

National cabinet to meet Friday to discuss how to lift restrictions

So for everyone wondering when the roadmap for lifting restrictions coming, you’ll have a much better idea on Friday.

That’s when the national cabinet will meet to discuss how to lift the restrictions, in terms of winding them back.

Updated

“Tasmania will continue to march to the beat of its own drum” on this, Peter Gutwein says.

“We have an older and more vulnerable population.”

He says that from next Friday, he expects to be able to start talking about how to lift restrictions.

Updated

Tasmania to keep existing restrictions until 15 May

All existing restrictions will remain in place in Tasmania until at least 15 May (next Friday).

Tasmania’s stricter aged care rules will remain in place for another week, before the state starts to transition to what the rest of the nation has (visits where safe).

Updated

On Friday Scott Morrison gave an update of the number of employers enrolled in the jobkeeper program, but didn’t know how many employees are receiving the payment.

A spokesman for the treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, told Guardian Australia that as of midday Friday the figure was “740,871 employers covering more than 4.4m employees”.

The $130bn wage subsidy program can cover up to six million employees, but Morrison gave some pretty big hints if it falls short of that the program won’t be expanded.

He said:

And at this point it is too early to make estimates about what the final reconciliation would be against the budgeted amount. And there are many calls, there are many calls on the budget in relation to Covid-19 and we do see some movement between jobseeker and jobkeeper. Remember the jobseeker payments, that costing related to the additional payment and there is also the uplift in costs for the commonwealth in relation to many other welfare payments that are happening at the moment as well, what’s called the automatic stabilisers.

So I can assure you the commonwealth will be footing – that is, the commonwealth taxpayer – will be footing a very big bill and they understand that.

And that’s why every single element of that we are considering very carefully and we’ve set the parameters for jobkeeper and for jobseeker and we have no plans to change that, apart from the administrative changes like the ones the treasurer announced last week.”

Updated

Over in Tasmania, Peter Gutwein is giving an update.

He says that the north-west additional restrictions have now been lifted – but the others remain in place.

The statewide rules remain in place – if you don’t need to go out, don’t.

The education department will spend more than $60,000 on the helpline it has set up for parents looking for free childcare during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to contract records.The government has previously said it was setting up a helpline – 1800 291 041 – to give families advice on services that have capacity in their local area, including centre-based daycare, family daycare, outside school hours care and vacation care.

A contract notice published on the AusTender website shows the department is set to provide $61,526 to the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority to run the helpline. The contract is due to run for about six months.

It follows reports of families having problems accessing the care they need, as some services impose limits on attendance due to the limited funding currently available under the childcare relief package or because they miss out on the jobkeeper wage subsidy.

Services are allowed to restrict attendance based on the funding they have at their disposal, but with priority given to the children of essential workers or from vulnerable home environments.

We reported last week that the education department had emailed childcare providers to warn their funding could be cancelled if they were found to be excessively limiting their capacity during the coronavirus pandemic – a message that apparently didn’t go down well with service operators, who say they have been struggling to make the numbers add up.

The helpline for parents is separate from the education department line that is taking tips from parents and other childcare providers on services that may be suspected of artificially restricting capacity.

Updated

The Queensland police commissioner, Katarina Carroll says of the 146 fines issued for ignoring physical distance rules on the weekend, included a group of people in their 20s who were having a party at an AirBnb home in Carrara twice (western Gold Coast).

That resulted in $3,300 in fines.

Signage is also going up at Burleigh Hill to stop people from gathering – but when people were asked to move away, they did.

Updated

Oh – and I have had a few questions on this – if you are in Queensland and want to visit friends or family who live further than 50km away from you, you can. (As long as physical distancing is maintained.)

The 50km travel radius is for recreation.

Updated

Annastacia Palaszczuk says Queensland is looking at relaxing restrictions “one step at a time”.

Cafes and restaurants are probably next.

“We’ve got to take a couple of steps, see how that goes,” Palaszczuk says.

The border restrictions will be reviewed “every month” but “at the moment there are no plans to change that” because of community transmissions in NSW.

Both Annastacia Palaszczuk and the Queensland education minister, Grace Grace have repeatedly mentioned that they have spoken to “all” stakeholders when making the decision to reopen schools – which includes the Queensland Teachers’ Union, which the LNP opposition and Peter Dutton accused of “holding the state to ransom” over schools.

Palaszczuk says she has always listened to the health advice.

“I think everyone understands that we’ve got to get the balance right. As I’ve always said, I take the advice of Dr [Jeanette] Young and Dr Young is one of the most respected health medical officers in the nation. And if you’re not listening to the experts, I don’t know who you are listening to.”

Updated

People who are concerned about returning their children to school can continue remote learning, after speaking with their schools.

Updated

Queensland school return timetable:

So to recap, in Queensland:

11 May: Kindy students, prep students and years one, 11 and 12 students will return to on-site learning.

25 May: All other students (years two to 10) will return to school.

Updated

The Queensland premier continues - on 25 May “we should, where practical, have all of our schools operating in Queensland”.

“And of course, I say that with caution, because if there is any rise between now and May 25, we have to act cautiously.”

Annastacia Palaszczuk says to remember that “every state is different and every state has different levels of Covid-19 cases and they are at different stages.,

“So you can not compare different states together”.

Updated

Queensland schools in staggered return from 11 May

Annastacia Palaszczuk says today (a public holiday in Queensland) is the day to talk about the “back-to-school plan”.

“This has been an issue for a lot of people and I know it has been really tough on many parents at home, who have been juggling working and also juggling the balance of at home learning,” she says.

She says after “extensive discussions” from 11 May, kindy, prep and Year 11 and 12 will be going back to on-site learning.

Updated

Meanwhile, if you get a chance, have a listen to the latest Full Story podcast:

There have been some move to help temporary migrants who are stranded in Australia (and a reminder they still pay taxes), as Ben Doherty reported last week.

Updated

The Refugee Council of Australia has written this open letter to the prime minister:

We, the 186 organisations listed below, write to you to urgently address the gaps in the current Covid-19 responses and ensure that nobody is left behind.

We welcome the Australian government’s recognition of the needs within Australia and its action to minimise the health and economic impacts of the global pandemic. We need to ensure that all people in Australia are considered in Covid-19 policies and stimulus packages, especially the most vulnerable who currently are not able to access basic levels of support. Currently, there are highly vulnerable groups who have been left behind, including:

• People seeking asylum on bridging visas.
• Temporary visa holders including refugees, temporary migrant workers and international students.

As Australia and the world suffers the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, it is clearer than ever that how we treat the most vulnerable in our society directly impacts the health and wellbeing of all of us. If anyone is left destitute, with no access to affordable medical help or unable to minimise the risk of catching the virus, all of us are at greater risk.

Covid-19 does not discriminate, and neither should access to a safety net or improved assistance during this time. We are in this together and there must be support for all who need it, regardless of visa status.

You can find the whole letter here.

Updated

Meanwhile, as AAP reports, new polling from refugee support group AMES Australia found more than two-thirds of migrants are worried about Covid-19 – a higher rate than other Australian residents.

A separate YouGov poll found 57% of Australians were concerned.

Nearly 70% of new migrants surveyed were worried about losing their job or being unable to pay rent or buy food, compared to just under half of Australian residents.

Updated

Over on Sky News, minister for population, cities and urban infrastructure Alan Tudge said the government is not going to extend government support to people on temporary visas because it would cost an additional $20bn and the government wants to “maintain the expectation” temporary visa holders should support themselves.

He says those people who have lost their job and don’t have family support in Australia are encouraged to go home.

Updated

13,000 tests in one day – Victoria’s new record – is the biggest day of testing Australia has seen since the pandemic began.

Updated

While Dan Andrews is speaking, the president of the royal Australian college of GPs is having to remind people that celebrities are not health experts.

The college has also put out a factsheet on the Covidsafe app.

Updated

Minister for Education Dan Tehan speaks to the media at a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra.
Minister for education Dan Tehan speaks to the media at a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Updated

Dan Andrews message in this press conference is – I’m not thinking about Dan Tehan, but I am also quite happy for him to sit in the comments he made.

Andrews says national cabinet continues to work well, and takes the advice of “experts” – and is not letting “personal frustrations” get in the way of good decision-making.

Andrews says other countries haven’t had options available to them “because it has just got away from them” and he doesn’t want to see Victoria go down that route.

Updated

“Naming it is not required for us to do our work,” says professor Brett Sutton on why Victorian authorities are not naming the meat processing plant.

He says schools are named because they are frequented by people that authorities can’t immediately identify, unlike something like the meat works.

The Victorian chief medical officer, professor Brett Sutton, says as soon as the meat processing plant cluster was identified, it was moved to essential workers only. He says there was not a risk to the public.

Dan Andrews says the Australian public and Victorians do not need politicians fighting among themselves.

“We have policy settings in place,” he says.

Updated

“Comments were made yesterday morning, a statement was issued, that was the end of the matter as far as I was concerned ... while they were out doing that, I tell you what we were doing – testing 13,000 people,” Dan Andrews says of the “ancient history” of Dan Tehan’s comments on Insiders.

He says he has not heard from Tehan, but is “not particularly worried” about him either.

Updated

Victorian meat processing plant latest Covid cluster

Victoria’s spike in cases (22 cases is a lot these days, and the biggest in Victoria in two weeks) can be put down to 19 cases at a meat processing plant.

Daniel Andrews says it is a reminder of how quickly cases can add up.

Some 56,000 people have come in to be tested since the tests were expanded Sunday week.

Updated

Victorian premier Dan Andrews says the state recorded 22 cases from 13,000 tests yesterday, which is a great result.

“If we follow the rules, if we stay the course, if we stay at home, then we will have options,” he says.

He then gives Dan Tehan a not-so-subtle nod by reminding people that “just because we might be personally frustrated” it is no case to relaxing restrictions without evidence.

Westpac reports 70% drop in cash earnings

Westpac has joined the list of big banks reporting profit slumps – the Westpac Banking Corporation says it anticipates a 70% drop in its first half cash profits to $993m.

It’s deferring its dividends.

The bank has reported it has put 105,000 mortgage accounts on hold – that is $39bn in loans.

Some 31,000 Australian business loans are also on hold – that’s $8.2bn.

Updated

Gladys Berejiklian said just one person in NSW had recorded positive for Covid-19 overnight but warned parents that case numbers would probably increase. She said schools would need to be closed for cleaning more frequently as they transitioned back to on-site learning:

I anticipate it will happen more frequently but please have confidence we’ve gone through the processes and we know what takes to keep everyone safe when this occurs.

Updated

The deputy chief medical officer Dr Nick Coatsworth (who shares the jobs with Prof Paul Kelly) told the Nine network this morning there had been 12 new cases of Covid-19 in the last 24 hours.

The national cabinet and its medical expert panel want to see a run of under-20 case days before getting serious about lifting restrictions.

Updated

Here is his whole statement on that:

After taking the weekend to contemplate a tilt for the seat of Eden Monaro, I have decided that I will not run as a candidate.

In politics, ego can quickly skew decisions, and sometimes make you forget what is best for yourself, your family and what could be the best outcome for the people of Eden Monaro.

I have always worked and strived for outcomes, not titles – making a difference, not just accepting the status quo, and in this time of self-contemplation, it is clear I can do more as NSW Deputy Premier, Leader of the NSW Nationals and as the Member for Monaro.

My decision was difficult but at the heart of it, I love NSW, and the incredible job we have done so far and I want to be here to face the challenges ahead as we rebuild from drought, bushfires and COVID-19.

I want to say thank you to everyone who has reached out, supported and encouraged me to go on this journey, but at the same time reaffirmed their support in whatever I decide.

I especially want to thank Gladys Berejiklian for her gracious and gentle counsel, and my National Party colleagues who have supported me in every step of this decision making – I express my utmost gratitude.

To the people of Eden Monaro, know that as the State Member I will continue to fight for you, regardless of boundaries, and as NSW Deputy Premier, I will continue to make our region the best it can be, for today and for our incredible tomorrow.

Updated

NSW deputy premier rules out jump to federal politics

The NSW deputy premier and Nationals leader, John Barilaro, has (officially) announced he won’t be running for the federal seat of Eden-Monaro (yet).

Updated

Not sure Australia will be thrilled at being namechecked here, to be honest.

Updated

It’s a long weekend in Queensland, which coincided with the relaxing of a few restrictions – people were allowed out to have picnics and go to the beach with members of their households, and travel 50km outside their home, which of course meant crowding on the beaches.

Police issued 146 fines.

Updated

Victoria is sticking to 11 May as its potential “pivot” day on restrictions, but it won’t be going earlier. As AAP reports:

Premier Daniel Andrew’s cabinet has stood firm on their intentions to keep Victorians partially locked down.

Whether this changes will heavily depend on how the fight against the pandemic moves forward this week.

The state’s testing blitz that aims to complete 100,000 tests before May 11 will help in making that decision.

Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said the more people were tested, the more the health department could know about the virus and how it spreads in the community.

Anyone with even mild symptoms of coronavirus has been encouraged to get tested.

Updated

Good morning and welcome to today’s coverage of the coronavirus pandemic in Australia.

A Sydney school has closed for intensive cleaning and contact tracing after a student tested positive to the coronavirus, AAP reports this morning. Warragamba public school will be “non-operational for on-site learning” on Monday, with all students undertaking at home learning.

Here are some of the key developments you might have missed yesterday:

  • In the 24 hours up to Sunday afternoon 18 new cases were reported, pushing Australia’s national total over 6,800. The national death toll from Covid-19 reached 95, after the death of an 83-year old in WA and a 76-year-old resident at the Anglicare-run nursing home, Newmarch House, in western Sydney.
  • Some 4.25 million people have now registered for the CovidSafe app.
  • A primary school in Melbourne will be closed for three days from Monday for cleaning and contact tracing after a teacher tested positive to Covid-19. The school’s principal said the staff member was a music teacher who is experiencing mild symptoms and hasn’t been in contact with students in person this year.
  • Queensland police issued more than 30 infringement notices for breaches of coronavirus restrictions on the first day of easing such curbs that allowed residents to travel up to 50km from their home.
  • South Australia recorded its 11th consecutive day of no new cases on Sunday, allowing the state government to give local councils the green light to reopen playgrounds and skate parks. The premier said he wanted to see regional tourism resume soon.

We’ll have rolling coverage of the day’s events, as they happen. You have Amy Remeikis with you for most of the day. Ready?

Updated

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Couples share 30% of their gut bacteria. Here’s how that may affect health
When living with a partner, you might be sharing more than just the same home, lifestyle and interests. You might also share various microscopic organisms residing on and in you.
The Conversation
The Conversation
Valerie Perrine, Superman and Lenny actor, dies aged 82
Perrine gained notoriety for a naked TV role and was acclaimed for her roles opposite Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman and Jeff Bridges
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
4chan Sends Hilarious, Hamster-Filled Reminder That U.S. Companies Need Not Follow British Speech Regulations
"We are not in the mood to discuss the matter further, and have not been in the mood for 250 years."
Reason
Reason
‘Riding Shotgun’
With Free Range Productions, Michelle Pitcher digs deep into a conviction involving a dubious hypnosis technique.
Texas Observer
Texas Observer
21 Times Celebrities Shamelessly Lied And People Did Not Go Easy On Them
Celebrities probably lie all the time – it's part of their job. However, sometimes they get caught in a lie by experienced internet sleuths who will stop at no lengths to fact-check their problematic faves. Remember that time Kylie Jenner claimed to have never tried cereal? Or when Soulja Boy…
Bored Panda
Bored Panda
Jon Stewart jokes about chaos as ‘The Bachelorette’ season gets pulled after scandal
Jon Stewart opened his latest commentary by welcoming viewers back from the weekend, though his greeting quickly turned into a sharp jab at the state of current events.
The Fashion Central
The Fashion Central
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.
Download on the AppStore Get it on Google Play