What we learned today, Monday 31 August
That is where we will leave the live blog for this evening. If you want to follow the latest global coronavirus news, you can follow our other live blog here.
Here’s what we learned today:
- Victorian premier Daniel Andrews will outline a roadmap out of Melbourne’s stage 4 restrictions on Sunday. Today the state recorded 73 new Covid cases and 41 deaths from the virus. Twenty two of those deaths occurred in aged care in the weeks leading up to 27 August and were reported by facilities yesterday.
- NSW reported 10 new coronavirus cases, six of which were in hotel quarantine.
- Queensland recorded one new case of coronavirus.
- The federal Coalition announced an additional $563.4m funding for aged care, as pressure over its handling of Covid-19 in the sector continues. Aged care minister Richard Colbeck said he believed he had the confidence of the prime minister after recent calls from Labor for his resignation. The opposition used question time in parliament to again to pursue the government over aged care.
- The royal commission into national natural disaster arrangements published its interim observations this afternoon, suggesting the ABC should be embedded in state emergency centres during disasters.
Updated
Australia is unlikely to see a return of the historic and widespread bushfires of the 2019 spring over the next three months thanks to wetter conditions lowering the risk of major fires, an official outlook report has said.
My colleague Graham Readfearn with this report:
This report from AAP earlier today:
NSW deputy premier, John Barilaro, is calling for a national code to allow agricultural workers to cross state borders without permits.
NSW agriculture minister Adam Marshall will attend a national agricultural ministers’ meeting on Tuesday seeking consensus on the code, he says.
It would allow agricultural workers such as fruit pickers to become an “essential service” akin to freight workers and permit them to freely cross state borders amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Should the code find agreement among Australia’s agriculture ministers, Barilaro said, it would go to national cabinet later this week for approval.
He said the initiative was critical as Australian farmers enjoy a bumper 2020 harvest.
Our farmers have gone through the worst drought for, in some cases, up to five years, for two to three years ... They have a cash drought at the moment. A lot of farmers have put their last savings into this season’s crops.
If agriculture isn’t classified as an essential service, we’ve lost our way as a nation.
Barilaro said the code would come with several responsibilities for agricultural workers and employers, including PPE requirements and a Covid-19 testing regime.
He also said an announcement was imminent on the extension of the NSW-Victoria “border zone” from 2.5km to 50km, easing travel restrictions for border communities.
Updated
Twenty Victorian aged care providers have been found to be non-compliant with standards under the Aged Care Act since July.
My colleague Melissa Davey has this report:
#BREAKING: NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian will be in Albury tomorrow where she is expected to make an announcement about changes to border restrictions.
— Chelsea Hetherington (@chelsea_hetho) August 31, 2020
On that note, I am going to pass the blog off to Elias Visontay for the evening and go stare at a wall and rethink every decision which has led me to this moment.
I’ll be back tomorrow morning - it is party room day, so there should be something in that, and of course, we’ll have the latest on parliament and Covid. Hopefully we will hear a little more good news from Victoria as well.
Thank you again for joining me today - it means the world. We couldn’t do it without you. Get some rest and take care of you. Ax
I’ve asked how long it has been since a sitting was suspended because there was no quorum – it looks like it has been years, but I’ll let you know if I find out.
Updated
It looks like Amanda Rishworth called for a quorum at 4.33pm and then at 4.38pm, the sitting was suspended.
We are now back at 4.52pm.
Updated
This is still happening
Well, this is embarrassing... #auspol @InsidersABC pic.twitter.com/UA3rColVl1
— Paul Osborne AAP (@osbornep) August 31, 2020
Manager of Victoria quarantine hotel contracts did not receive cleaning advice until after Covid-19 breaches, inquiry hears
The manager of quarantine hotel contracts in Victoria has said he did not receive specific advice on cleaning requirements until mid-June, after Covid-19 breaches had already occurred in the program, the Victorian hotel quarantine inquiry has heard.
Unni Menon, the executive director of the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions (DJPR), said in his submission to the inquiry that although the contracts for hotel quarantine beginning in late March had a requirement for cleaning to be “to a standard consistent with the most recent recommended public health standards in respect of Covid-19”, no information was provided from the department to the hotels about those standards early on.
He said the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) provided a leaflet on Covid-19 for hotels and staff, but that was not forwarded on because the hotel association said they already had the information.
In emails read out at the hearing by Arthur Moses SC, acting for Unified Security, Menon had sought clarification from DHHS on April 1 for specific advice on hotel cleaning because hotels were seeking clarity on the requirements.
Menon, who was seconded from aviation strategy in the department in March, said it wasn’t until 17 June that DHHS provided a document on cleaning and disinfection procedures for quarantine hotels and quarantine red hotels (where Covid-positive people are held), and required DJPR to distribute it to the hotels and make sure they understood it.
In the hearing on Monday, Menon said he couldn’t say whether or not the cleaning requirement of the hotel contracts had been satisfactorily met prior to 17 June, stating it was not something he was actively administering.
“A lot of the day-to-day issues were actually managed on the ground between the onsite management teams from both DHHS and DJPR and the hotels,” he said.
A family of four who tested positive to Covid-19 in early May at the Rydges on Swanston were connected to an outbreak at the hotel where more than a dozen people had tested positive for Covid-19 by mid-June.
Lawyer acting for DHHS, Claire Harris QC, pointed out to the inquiry that specific cleaning information, including for hotels, was available on the DHHS website from 22 March, and two cleaning protocol documents were sent by DHHS to another person in the department on 8 April.
The inquiry continues.
Updated
The Global Times (one of the particular hawkish state-affiliated papers) has decided to take an interest in rugby league.
#Huawei has announced it will no longer be a major sponsor of #Australian professional rugby team Canberra Raiders after nearly a decade together, citing #5G ban and continued negative business environment in Australia. (Photo: VCG) pic.twitter.com/bDIlhflsNH
— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) August 31, 2020
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Meanwhile, the House sitting has been suspended for about 10 minutes now, because it doesn’t have a quorum.
(There are not enough government MPs for the sitting to go ahead, so the chamber has to wait for some to turn up.)
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I missed this one:
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Mike Bowers was given special access to the floor of the parliament for question time today, so here are some different angles of familiar faces.
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David Littleproud is up now – he’s talking more on the interim bush fire royal commission report Calla reported on a few posts down.
The harmonisation in the preparedness in the fighting of the fires and the disaster recovery is so important.
While states have always had the operational management around that nationally coordinated approach of assets and particularly around aerial assets, AFAK, the peak body that represents the fire commissioners, has been tasked with the responsibility of securing the fleet of aircraft that’s required in the past.
So, obviously we want to work and make sure with the fire commissioners around what that would look like in the future. You have to understand there [have been] only recommendations as of yet around that.
The commission’s observations did say that there needs to be better harmonisation at all those levels, and we obviously will now wait for the commission consults with key stakeholders to give us some firmer recommendations.
But a lot of that had already been sorted through and I think there’s – the fire commissioners themselves had lent in again this year in making sure the preparedness of fleet, of 150 aircraft has already been secured.
Updated
Chris Bowen is on the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing, and is asked about compliance checks at aged care homes:
The aged care minister admitted today that that practice had ceased, that no-notice inspections had ceased during the pandemic.
That just beggars belief. That should be – that should be – I would have thought – right at the very top of things the aged care regulator should be doing.
No notice or very short notice inspections of aged care facilities. It ceased at one point. The government’s been shamed into admitting that they had ceased. Of course, it should be a fundamental part of the response.
With all due respect to everyone involved, if you know the regulator’s coming, with great notice or they’re not coming at all, then the regulator is not working as it should. This has been another deeply concerning failing at the federal government administration level.
Updated
Of course Bob Katter has crocodiles on his face mask.
Of course he does.
Here is a bit more of what Mike Bowers saw today:
Updated
David Littleproud said the federal government has already made changes to how it responds to major natural disasters, such as bushfires, but there were further challenges:
The bureau of meteorology tells us that we have to be prepared to pivot somewhat away from a significant bushfire threat to that of a La Niña event.
That would in fact mean more cyclones and a greater chance of flooding. That agility within our emergency management system has already developed and is in fact already mature. And I have to say that the states have done an outstanding job in making sure that has happened in terms of preparedness and the build-up of resources.
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These two are going to have to work very close together to fix the immense damage the bushfires caused, so this is nice.
Congratulations to @KristyMcBain on an excellent inaugural speech. I look forward to working with you on our mutual interests in bushfire recovery, regional growth, youth development & bringing people together to build stronger country & coastal communities #auspol #lovegippsland pic.twitter.com/FS0YmA3tE9
— Darren Chester MP (@DarrenChesterMP) August 31, 2020
ABC should be embedded in state emergency centres during disasters, royal commission says
The royal commission into national natural disaster arrangements published its interim observations this afternoon.
It’s not supposed to be a list of findings, but some are made explicit. One of the most significant is the recommendation that a manager from the ABC be embedded in the emergency management centre of every state and territory while a national disaster is occurring.
The report says:
“The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, alongside community radio, is acknowledged as a trusted broadcaster of emergency messages and warnings. It is a role that the ABC has fulfilled over many years and in which it has an established reputation. ABC managers are embedded in some but not all emergency centres. To assist with the timely delivery of critical information to the public, we see a need for all state and territory emergency response organisations to consistently embed ABC managers within state and territory emergency management centres.”
The interim report also takes aim at poor information recording and sharing systems in different states and territories. It says it still doesn’t know how much land was burned in the 2019-2020 bushfires, putting the figure at between 24-40m hectares, which is quite a large margin of error. It says:
“We have experienced real difficulties in developing a clear national picture of the impact of the 2019-2020 bushfires across the nation ...
Standardised impact data collection and improved data-sharing platforms, at all levels nationally, could help improve the delivery of recovery services and facilitate improved assessment of the effectiveness of resilience measures.”
Other recommendations included upgrading the radios in firetrucks to make them inter-operable between different state and territory fire agencies; creating nationally consistent standards for fire warnings, and finishing a review of the fire danger rating system, which has been on the books since 2014.
The report said that having different symbols and instructions for each warning level in different jurisdictions caused confusion. You can see why.
The #bushfireRC released its interim observations today, and one of the issues raised was the bushfire warnings system, where "the symbols used and the corresponding action required under each alert level varies across states and territories". pic.twitter.com/EGO1Zl4KLd
— Calla Wahlquist (@callapilla) August 31, 2020
They wrote:
“We have heard that the middle-level warning, ‘Watch and Act’, causes confusion – could it mean ‘wait and see’ or ‘act now’?”
The final report is due on 28 October, and hearings resume on 21 September.
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The public galleries in Parliament House are closed, due to COVID-19. They have relaxed the rules for Kristy McBain's first speech. pic.twitter.com/Qnko737Q4I
— Malcolm Farnsworth (@mfarnsworth) August 31, 2020
“Grand theft, Liberal party style” is how Paul Keating has described treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s apparent moves to abandon legislated increases to superannuation.
The ALP had legislated for a 3% point increase in super contributions but delivered 0.5% before losing office.
Now there are signs that despite committing to it in the last election Frydenberg will abandon the commitment in the coming budget.
Not known for holding back, Keating delivered a both-barrels assault on the Liberals saying that it amounted “to robbing young people of 2.5% for the rest of their lives”.
“It will be a case of criminal negligence,” he said. “This will be the dipstick as to whether this government has any ideas for the future.
“The Liberal party’s view is that people can live on 9.5% super.”
He said a person born in the 1970s is likely to live to 100 to 115 and it was completely unrealistic to think 9.5% super would be sufficient for 40 years of retirement.
The argument that business and the economy couldn’t afford it was flawed because wage earners were not getting any wage growth anyway.
He said the Liberals has deliberately countenanced an unfair system where all gains in the economy had gone to profit.
“That’s why the sharemarket is at 6300 today,” he said. “They are softening people up. This is grand theft Liberal party style.”
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Kristy McBain is delivering her first speech to the parliament, after winning the Eden-Monaro byelection.
In the past hour, the interim report into the bushfire season which destroyed much of her electorate was handed down. One of its suggestions is to use the national cabinet during disasters.
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Earlier this afternoon, we heard from Linda Burney on the Aboriginal flag:
The matter I want to speak of that has caught national attention is the ownership of the Aboriginal flag and the use of its copyright by a private company for profit, not pride.
The Aboriginal flag was first flown in Adelaide on National Aborigines Day in 1971 – a very long time ago – at Victoria Square, also known in the Kaurna language as Tarntanyangga.
In 1972 the flag became the national flag of the Aboriginal tent embassy in Canberra after it was flown there. I know that Harold Thomas and Gary Foley took that flag to the tent embassy. The upper, black half of the flag represents the Aboriginal people of Australia. The lower, red half represents the red ochre – earth. The yellow circle at the centre represents land and sun, the giver of life and protector.
The federal court has recognised Harold Thomas as the author of that flag, and that is an important point in this discussion. Harold is a deeply respected Luritja man from central Australia. He was the first Aboriginal person to graduate from an Australian art school, and he holds an honorary degree at the University of Adelaide.
We understand that Harold has absolutely every right, as the copyright holder, to do as he wishes in terms of the flag. But we also say very much that, while we recognise Harold’s copyright, Australia is made up of many Aboriginal nations –hundreds, as well as the Torres Strait – and the Aboriginal flag is one symbol that unites those Aboriginal nations. It is such a universal and important symbol that I actually have it tattooed on my left arm.
I’m not going to show you, Mr Deputy Speaker, but I promise you it’s there. Aboriginal people across this country display the flag with pride, as do many non-Aboriginal people who share this land and acknowledge and celebrate the oldest living culture in the world.
It is for all of these reasons that so many people have been shocked and appalled by the restrictions which have recently come into force about the use of the flag. WAM Clothing and its associated entities assert that they hold the right to use the flag on clothing and in digital form. It is a matter of public record that Aboriginal organisations – including health and community organisations, which I’m sure the member for Lingiari will address – have been sent cease and desist orders and letters demanding that they stop putting the flag on clothes and uniforms unless they pay WAM to do so and have been told they can’t use the flag online or on social media.
This came to a head on the weekend when the AFL could not use the Aboriginal flag for the Dreamtime round which was played in Darwin. There was no flag on the guernseys and no flag on the ground, but there were thousands of flags in the crowd as people, in an act of defiance, reclaimed this important symbol, a symbol which is protected under the Flags Act of this country. The takeover of the flag by private interests has appalled so many people, particularly because WAM Clothing has publicised links to another corporate entity, Birubi Art, a company which was last year fined $2.3m after being prosecuted by the ACCC for selling fake Indigenous art made overseas.
I have spoken to very many people who have one simple question: how could this happen? How could the Aboriginal flag be held hostage? How could a company engaged in exploitation of the flag for profit be able to stop local Aboriginal organisations using it as they long have? This is an issue of morality in my mind, and the question is: how is this right? WAM Clothing should do the right thing and give the flag back, because just because something might be legal doesn’t always mean that it’s morally right. The government should work with all parties to free the flag. Surely it is not beyond our collective will to fix this.
Mark Dreyfus picked this up a little later at the end of his speech:
I will conclude by briefly discussing another issue of importance to First Nations people and, indeed, to all Australians – that is the need to defend the Aboriginal flag from the current constraints on its use. This is yet another matter which the federal government should have resolved long ago, because it is clearly within their power to do so. An Aboriginal-owned and -led social enterprise and fashion label, called Clothing the Gap, have been running a Free the Flag campaign since being sent legal threats for using the Aboriginal flag on their clothing by the current copyright licensee.
Clearly this is an entirely unacceptable situation. As my friend and colleague the member for Barton, just last week, said:
It’s heartbreaking to see a private company holding this symbol of incredible strength for its private profit.
The Aboriginal flag is a national symbol, but it’s not being treated like one.
Clearly this matter can and must be resolved, and resolved in a manner that respects the copyright interests of the designer of the flag, Mr Harold Thomas.
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Question time is over
Question time ends.
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I’m not sure what the point is in regards to Labor not announcing any more aged care in-home packages or spending at this point – given that since then we have had an aged-care royal commission called, and a pandemic.
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Labor's Madeleine King challenges PM on aged care
Madeleine King to Scott Morrison:
The [evidence presented at the] the royal commission has said if the Australian government had acted on previous reviews on aged care, the suffering of many people could have been avoided.
Why is the prime minister refusing to take responsibility for the avoidable suffering and death which his failures have caused?
Morrison:
(After saying he has apologised numerous times, and once again laying out what the government has done and spent.)
There are many more measures, and I know they have all been done with the support of those opposite – I understand in most cases not all cases.
These are the actions we continue to take. This is, since only the royal commission was announced, and that demonstrates the government will continue to take action each and every day as we have again today, with over half a billion to further extend the Covid-19 supplementary arrangements for aged care support to make sure those facilities are supported from a viability basis and from, when I say viability basis make sure they have the additional resources to provide the Covid-19 support for those facilities in the workforce support.
To retain that work so necessary.
We are investing more than $1bn in extra and aged care every single year, and I returned to the point I made earlier today: at the last election when we set our care plan, when we set the aged care in-home care places particular policies, we thought were necessary to address the additional demands of aged care, they were supported by the Labor party at that election. And they did not offer one extra cent, they did not suggest one extra cent.
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Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:
Why is the prime minister spending his time fighting with state premiers instead of fixing and ecosystem that is in crisis and an economy that is in recession for the first time in 30 years?
Scott Morrison:
Throughout this Covid-19 pandemic, states and territories, together with the commonwealth have been able to put Australia in a position where not only when you look at the international comparisons has Australia fared well – almost better than every other developed nation in the world – but also when it comes to the economic outcomes, the response has been put in place, led by the commonwealth, with over $300 billion of support, which I note in a report conducted by the Australian National University found that in the absence of those policy interventions, the number of persons and property would have increased from 1.6 million to 3.8 million people, so 2.2 million people have been through the research done by the ANU, identified, saved from poverty as a result of the responses we have put in place.
Across the states and territories, we have worked together as a national cabinet to achieve many things together.
There have been some areas of disagreement, I grant you that, but compared to the way the states and territories and the commonwealth would argue under Coag, and issues went largely to retire rather than be promoted, the national cabinet has gone the other way.
Whether it is the achievements we have been able to make on the reduction of regulation in the work of the Western Australian government working with the commonwealth government, whether it was the billion dollars in skills funding agreement that will see 340,000 additional training places put in place, whether it was the national freight code or the agricultural code which will be considered by the national cabinet, the occupational licensing agreements that have been put together, we will continue to work together on these important issues, but what is really important now as we go forward, that there is no dispute from the commonwealth about the powers that the states and territories have.
When it comes in relation to borders, there is no dispute about those powers. But it is also the point that what we want to be able to achieve together is the road back. The road back for our economy to ensure that we can see the jobs continue to come back to our economy, whether it is in NSW, Queensland, Western Australia, Tasmania or anywhere else, just as the national cabinet work together to put three-step plan in place that was overwhelmed by the resurgence of the virus in Victoria, we will build the plant again, we will together get the road back, and we will continue to outline those plans, and together with the states and territories, on how the economy can open up again, because that must be our goal.
We cannot retreat, we must always go forward when it comes to battling this virus, and that is what the commonwealth government is doing a partnership with the states and territories.
Updated
Joanne Ryan to Scott Morrison:
One hundred metres from where I ask this question, in the heart of my electorate, is Baptcare Wyndham Lodge. How many residents at this facility have died from the Covid outbreak? Is the prime minister [accepting] responsibility for his failure which left all aged care residents more vulnerable to the deadly Covid virus?
Scott Morrison:
There have been 10 deaths at the Baptcare Wyndham Lodge. There have been 80 residents that have tested positive for Covid-19, 86 staff. I understand the number of residents currently in hospital is four.
This was one of those very significantly affected facilities that are referred to in response to answers last week, Baptcare Wyndham Lodge notifed the Department of Health that it had a positive case on 16 July ...
Testing the residents and staff commenced at Wyndham Lodge on the 18 July. The Australian government provided a range of staff including through the aged care and emergency response team from 24 July, including a clinical first respondent nurse. Ausmat teams also provided on-site advice to the service regarding the planning, infection control, and waste management.
An independent adviser has been appointed to Wyndham Lodge. These are the responsibilities that we have and as I said in a post to those families and the residents of the most affected, there were four in particular that were acutely affected with unacceptable outcomes.
As difficult as it has been, our concern frankly with the rate of Covid infection that was occurring in the community in Victoria was that this may have spread to many more facilities as we have seen overseas.
In the United Kingdom, some 56% of facilities have had Covid infections among staff and amongst residents.
In Australia, that figure is 8%. What has occurred at Baptcare Wyndham Lodge is very concerning and very troubling, but I have set out the actions the government has taken in relation to that and the families of those 10 Australians who passed away as a result of Covid-19. I extend my sincere condolences.
Updated
Paul Fletcher is delivering a dixer answer on the NBN.
My internet has frozen twice while trying to type this out, so I’ll have to pass on this one.
Josh Wilson to Scott Morrison:
This is from Jane speaking about the moment she was told her father had died from Covid-19 in aged care.
“I started crying and I said: ‘Why didn’t anyone call? I have been ringing and ringing.’ They said he was fine this morning and fine this afternoon, but when I checked on him, he had passed away.’
Why are aged care residents and their families not getting the support and information they need and they deserve?
Morrison:
I thank the member for his question and the Jane [he] referred to. I would be very grateful if you could let me know what facility you are referring to. I am happy to provide a further response to the response I will give now, but it is difficult to do that without knowing what facility you are referring to, and I appreciate that maybe for privacy reasons that you didn’t want to raise that in this forum, and I would be happy for you to raise that through to the minister of health in terms of his response abilities in this house and we can provide a further response.
One of the key lessons out of the Newmarch report was the provision of communications, and I want to thank particularly the member for Lindsay who was rostered to be in the chamber today, but that was one of the issues she worked closely on in dealing with that issue of Newmarch.
That is why, as part of our response across all the acutely affected facilities in aged care in Victoria, there was additional funding and support provided to Services Australia to provide the process of having outward calls to people and to all the families to give them a daily update because it wasn’t just the aged care workforce on the nursing side that was actually depleted in the number of these cases, but it was also the support teams in the administrative areas that was also affected. That is why the Services Australia support was put into action to ensure outward calls were occurring, and there were many facilities where that was done, and that is why I am keen to know in which facility you are saying this so we can follow that matter up.
Of all the 457 deaths that have occurred, the passing of any loved one, even in better times, these are very difficult issues for any family to deal with, and I pass on my condolences to Jane and her family and we will look specifically at the issue you have raised and I will be pleased to take that up and come back to you.
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Chris Bowen challenges PM on aged care
Chris Bowen to Scott Morrison:
After hundreds of deaths, why are commonwealth government-funded and -regulated aged care facilities still unprepared for an outbreak of Covid-19?
Greg Hunt gets this one too:
I will direct your question to the national standards that were established in conjunction with the states and territories as part of the Australian health sector emergency response plan or novel coronavirus - released on the 18 February, activated on the 27 February.
In the section that addresses the relationship precisely between the state and territory, that says, the Australian government will also be responsible for residential aged care facilities working with other healthcare providers to standards to promote the safety and security of people in aged care and other institutional settings.
It goes on to state, state and territory governments are responsible for the operational aspects of public health responses. This document was passed through...the AHPPC or the medical expert panel.
In state and territory governments will implement infection control guidelines and healthcare safety and quality standards will.
They will establish systems to promote the safety and security of people in aged care and other institutional settings and support outbreak investigation management in aged care facilities, schools, prisons and other institutions.
Equally, specifically and exclusively in relation to aged care, a national aged care plan published on the 13 March 2020, developed through the network of Australia it is a subcommittee of the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee or medical expert panel, said very clearly that in relation to the reflective response abilities of the Commonwealth state and territory that the state and territory departments of health or public health section of the Department of Health will act in an advisory role to assist residential care facilities detect, characterise a major COVID-19 outbreaks.
That includes assisting facilities to confirm outbreaks, providing advice on obtaining testing samples, providing guidance on outbreak management, monitoring for severity of illness, including recording deaths and hospitalisations, informing relevant stakeholders of outbreaks, informing clinical care providers and the local health district. Both of these are the foundation of documents of the national aged care preparedness open plan.
Both were developed in conjunction with the states and territories, both share and assign responsibility appropriately across Commonwealth and state and territory bodies. Both are published documents, both have been available since February 18 and March 13 respectively.
Both are available and most significantly they had actually provided the framework for cooperation which has allowed thousands of lives to have been saved. We grieve every life lost, every single life lost, but we also know that what we have done through containment and capacity has made a profound difference.
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Julie Collins to Scott Morrison:
The NSW government says it was forced to take assertive action to clarify the responsibility of the commonwealth and the commonwealth regulator during the deadly covert outbreak at Newmarch House. Why did NSW government have to tell the commonwealth to do its job and protect our frail and vulnerable aged care residents?
Scott Morrison:
The responsibility of the commonwealth has been well set out. I have sent them out of this house on many occasions, and they are well understood. We are responsible for the regulation and funding of aged care facilities, and that is why we continue to invest $1bn or more every year in our responsibilities to ensure that our elderly residents and our communities are looked after as best as we can possibly in their homes or in those facilities themselves.
Those responsibilities are very clear, and when there is an overlap with public-health responsibilities, whether it is in NSW and Victoria or any other place, we have worked very constructively with the Queensland government when it comes to these matters, and the Queensland government’s response plan has proved very effective, working within the federal government’s planning that has ensured in relation to outbreaks that we have been able to limit any further impact in those places, so Mr Speaker, our plan, our responsibilities are very clear and we will continue to fill those responsibilities with more than $1bn every single year in support for the aged care sector.
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Labor’s Don Farrell has asked the sports minister, Richard Colbeck, why he blocked Sport Australia from giving its legal advice on the community infrastructure sport grant program to the Senate inquiry.
Colbeck replied he decided to make a public interest immunity claim “some time ago” on the basis its release “would prejudice pending legal proceedings” – a reference to the federal court case brought by Maurice Blackburn on behalf of Beechworth Lawn Tennis Club against the legality of Bridget McKenzie’s administration of the program.
Colbeck said this is a “longstanding practice” not to disclose the fact or content of privileged legal advice on the basis it is “not in the public interest” to reveal confidential advice.
He said he had “good grounds” and he had done so “appropriately”.
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Labor's Julie Collins challenges PM on aged care
Julie Collins to Scott Morrison:
In its response to the House, the NSW government said it had to step in and ensure aged care facilities could deal with Covid-19 outbreaks because of lack of preparedness. Why ... did the prime minister [leave] residents vulnerable to the Covid-19 virus because he did not have a plan?
Greg Hunt gets this one too:
As I tendered to the parliament last week in reading from both the pandemic health plan, which was published on February, and on aged care plan which was published on the 13 March and activated as of the day following the advice of the communicable diseases network in Australia and addition to that, the Australian health protection principle committee, there is a fundamental pairing of actions here.
Firstly, overall responsibility for finding an regulation on aged care sits with the commonwealth, overall response to public health in any circumstance where there is an outbreak rests with the states, and therefore there is close cooperation, in particular, that is why we set up four fundamental pillars in response to this risk to Australians in aged care.
Firstly on the 11 March, we set up the surge workforce capacity with $101m. Secondly on the 13 March, we set up the public hospitals response and the public hospitals agreement, which has been used widely in Victoria.
Thirdly, on the 31 March, we set up the national partnership on Covid-19 response which brought 50,000 nurses and 104,000 private hospital staff into the fight to protect our hospitals and our aged care residents, and fourthly, in April we also set up the national testing contract for every site around Australia with even one positive case, to have every worker and every resident tested.
As part of that, in relation to Newmarch, we did work very closely with the NSW government and the public health unit which did take the lead as per the cDNA and also the public agreements ...
I also want thank the independent assessor, Prof Gilbert, who at our request inquired into the responses in Dorothy Henderson Lodge and Newmarch House, in particular. The important thing here is that what we have been able to see an outcome and we have been able to build with those four pillars on the protection.
Every day we fight to protect these lives, and every day we recognise that there is a global pandemic which targets the elderly by the very nature of this disease, which is why we have taken the measures which have been so difficult and challenging for Australians, and it’s also why we have focused so specifically from the outset, with the first of the major actions with regards to aged care occurring on the 31 January.
We will continue fighting to help protect and save every life.
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Meanwhile ...
By destroy, he means fix. It’s a mess.
— Senator Andrew Bragg (@ajamesbragg) August 31, 2020
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Yup, Labor has landed on its attack line.
Scott Morrison just stood up in Parliament and questioned why Labor is holding him to account over aged care.
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) August 31, 2020
Because you didn't have a plan for aged care.
Because more than 450 aged care residents have died.
Because their families deserve answers.
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Labor's Ged Kearney challenges PM on aged care
Ged Kearney to Scott Morrison:
Given the opportunity he had over the weekend, can he now advise the number of aged care workers still working across multiple facilities?
Greg Hunt gets this one:
As I advised in the press conference previously, we have multiple workers that are working across a variety of facilities in Victoria ...
These are people working in aged care, precisely because they need to deliver services to different facilities on different sites ...
Following agreements between the unions and the providers, the work with the commonwealth and Victoria, the commonwealth scheme was put in place. That is a system designed to ensure the overwhelming majority of workers to work on one site.
The reason provision is made for individuals and I think it is very important to be upfront about this, to be able to do that is to leave no facility short of workers.
I am sure that not one person here would support the concept that a facility should be left short of workers.
So the design that was adopted came from the sector in conjunction with the unions with strong support to make sure that each individual facility was able, to the best of its ability, adopt a single site worker program.
With ADF, with Ausmat, with nursing support third staff, for example, from western health which has worked across I believe over 30 different sites, and with the testing facilities needing to work across a variety of facilities, it is fundamental that that flexibility is in place.
However, having said that, the design of the overarching system was agreed with, the workforce was agreed with, the providers, it was developed with the Victorian government and designed to make sure that two things occurred. The possibility of workers working across multiple sites was dramatically reduced, but the capacity for each and every facility to have an unbroken workforce was maintained.
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Someone’s microphone just cut across Josh Frydenberg’s dixer answer there, with “Ohhh nooo” very loudly shouted across the broadcast.
Just a 2020 mood, really.
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Michael McCormack is now giving the parliament a lesson on the Bradfield scheme, as well as showing he knows the population of Charters Towers in Queensland, in response to a question from Bob Katter.
My eyeballs are now running around Charters Towers so I might have to skip the rest of this answer while I go find them.
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Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:
My question is to the prime minister and I refer to his previous answer when he questioned why Labor was raising the aged care question in this parliament. Does the prime minister seriously not understand that it is legitimate for Labor to be asking questions in this parliament on behalf of the more than 450 families who are grieving lost loved ones who have been lost during the Covid-19 crisis?
Morrison:
I do acknowledge that, Mr Speaker. I do acknowledge that.
What I was implying. .. Maybe I can be more direct.
The leader of the opposition is not confused about my position. In my answer to the last question, I set out very clearly that at the last election the government took a policy to that election which set out some 10,000 additional home care places to people who are elderly in this country to ensure they get the care.
Every single death in aged care, whether it has been through this Covid-19 crisis or at any time, is of great grief to the families who are involved.
And I am not suggesting that there is one person in this place that does not grieve with those families and extend our sympathies to each and every one of them.
What I was simply noting was that at the last election, in fact, at the last election, we took to that election some $725m in additional commitments in the aged care sector, which included the additional 10,000 in-home care places.
That was followed up after the election by a plan that we have taken which the opposition actually agreed to as to what was necessary for aged care, but in addition to that, we provided an additional $624m, in my midyear statement that followed, in the recent July document, a further $813m.
Our government has been responding to those needs.
Those opposite may seek to come into this place and politicise aged care in the way they have been doing now for some time, but the truth is the plans we have put in place, they have supported those plans, and they did not offer one cent, one extra place on [any] occasion ...
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Michael McCormack is speaking.
Did you know that Chrishell Stause (an American soapie actress turned reality TV personality) got her name after an attendant named “Chris” called for help when her mum went into labour at a Shell service station?
I just thought I would tell you something equally as useless – but at least interesting.
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Anthony Albanese challenges PM on aged care minister
Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:
The aged care minister has boasted that he has responded incredibly well, I quote, that Australia is in a quote, good position and that we are extremely fortunate to have had a, I kid you not, high water mark on aged care.
Why is the government congratulating itself on a job well done when over 400 aged care residents have died?
Scott Morrison:
Every single one of those deaths is a great heartbreak every single of those families and for the member to suggest that the government doesn’t feel that way, I don’t think is an honest reflection of the government’s position or the minister’s position. That is not my view, not the minister’s view, not another members of our government’s view.
We then get a rundown of the funding which has been announced.
And then this:
At the last election we took to the budget, we took to the election a policy that was set out in our budget of 10,000 additional aged care places.
That is what we set out. It was about 18 months ago when we set that out, and we took that to the Australian people. Those opposite at the same election agreed with that plan.
They thought the 10,000 figure was exactly the right plan because they did not offer one additional place as part of their election plan, despite raising some $387bn in additional revenue that could have provided for additional places.
What did our government do? We not only committed those 10,000 places, Mr Speaker, we provided an additional 10,000 beyond that, in addition of more than 6,000 beyond that, bringing the total to more than 26,000. So those who come into this place and want to make recommendations about aged care need to look at what they put to the people at the last election.
They supported the government’s plan at the last election before the Covid-19 crisis and I will leave others to conclude as to why they are raising these issues in this context now.
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Question time begins
Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:
Under John Howard, Bronwyn Bishop lost her job when aged care resident died in connection with the kerosene bath scandal. Aged care residents are now so neglected that up to half are suffering from malnutrition; one had ants crawling from open wounds, and over 400 have died from Covid-19. Why does the current aged care minister still have his job?
Morrison:
Because under this aged care minister, $1.5bn of additional support has been put into the aged care sector during the Covid-19 crisis.
When additional resources are required to address the significant challenges in aged care sector, the minister has consistently brought forward submissions for additional support to be provided right across the board in aged care sector, whether it is to ensure the viability of the sector, to ensure there is additional appropriate training that has been provided, there is additional work for support, $1.5bn, including more than $500m announced by the minister for health and the minister for aged care today, just today, to ensure the extension of Covid-19 arrangements which is necessary.
This is a challenging process, I think we all understand that, and what we always do when it comes to the support that we are providing, whether it is directly to Australians through things like jobkeeper or jobseeker, or the support that are necessary for the aged care sector, as we address the significant challenges there particularly in Victoria where we have had the significant outbreak of community transmission.
On each occasion we will continue to assess the needs and the supports will be provided as the announcement of an additional half a billion collars for aged care support which extends the current arrangements of additional support further because of the situation, particularly that we have seen in Victoria, where there has been additional challenges on the system following the significant community outbreak that has occurred.
In addition to that, it is also the strong advocate work the minister does to ensure that government has kept pace with continuing to increase the number of in-home aged care places in this country. 10,000 additional places we took to the last election and since then we have not only provided those 10,000 places, but an extra 16,000 on top of that, and that was done with the full support and advocacy of the minister for aged care.
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Question time is about to begin.
Just ahead of QT, a fun little tidbit: Mark Dreyfus, who is appearing in parliament virtually, created history last week when he appeared on the video link. He had the Aboriginal flag next to him, which is the first time it has technically appeared on the floor of parliament.
There has been a long-running debate about whether or not the Aboriginal flag should be displayed on the parliament floor (it should be) so this is a small slice of history (albeit, virtually).
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China’s commerce ministry has broadened its investigation into Australian wine imports to include whether the sector has unfairly benefited from Australian government subsidies.
This move was already on the cards, given that the commerce ministry had already launched an “anti-dumping” investigation into allegations Australia may have sold wine into the Chinese market at artificially low prices.
On the day of that first announcement – 18 August – Australia’s trade minister, Simon Birmingham, said that the authorities in China had also given Australia a heads-up that they were considering a request to launch a countervailing duties investigation (looking at the alleged impact of government subsidies). The government has rejected both allegations.
China’s commerce ministry said the new investigation targets wine in containers holding 2L or less and was expected to end before 31 August 2021, Chinese state media reported.
Australian Grape and Wine, the national association of grape and wine producers, issued a statement today saying the sector was “well placed to respond to this investigation”.
“Australian Grape and Wine will collaborate with wine businesses and the Australian government to ensure we cooperate fully throughout the investigation process.
“China is an important market for Australian wine and our wine is in demand from Chinese consumers. Australia has a large number of exporters with close cultural ties to China. The Australian industry welcomes the opportunity to build on these ties and work with the Chinese industry and government to further technical cooperation and develop lasting relationships.”
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Richard Colbeck also admitted in that press conference that unannounced visits from the regulator to aged care centres were ceased, based on medical advice, during the pandemic (and remain stopped in Victoria).
So the quality and safety commission has a number of mechanisms to investigate and to check on residential aged care facilities. It’s not a one-touch regulator.
And the cessation of unannounced visits was taken at the time on medical advice. Those unannounced visits have recommenced in all states except for Victoria where we’re doing short notice visits.
But we are also with the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission at the moment and our defence force teams undertaking tests visits to providers, particularly those that don’t have Covid-19 outbreaks, to test on site the Covid-19 infection control preparedness. And those have been going for about three or four weeks now.
To ensure their infection control plans are up to speed and their staff are in a situation where they properly understand the processes.
So there’s a range of mechanisms that are being undertaken by the quality and safety commissioner to ensure that providers are in the situation where they’ve got, they’re meeting the quality standards.
It’s not just about unannounced visits – and the cessation of unannounced visits was done on medical advice at the time, being concerned about taking Covid-19 into facilities.
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Kevin Rudd is now delayed until 3pm.
Paul Keating will be going ahead at 2.30pm.
You are going to be seeing more of a focus on India in the coming years as the trade dispute with China sees Australia start putting toes in other trade waters.
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Marise Payne announces Australia-India Council appointments
The foreign affairs minister, Marise Payne has made some appointments to the Australia-India Council. You’ll notice more than one familiar name.
I am pleased to announce four appointments to the board of the Australia-India Council. Mr Ashok Jacob has been reappointed as chair, and will be joined by three new board members: the hon Lisa Singh, who will serve as deputy chair, the hon Ted Baillieu AO, and Mr Matthew Hayden AM.
The council plays an important role in advancing Australia’s foreign and economic policy interests with India, including through supporting the implementation of the comprehensive strategic partnership and the India economic strategy.
Mr Jacob has served with distinction as chair of the council since 2014, and is the executive chairman of Ellerston Capital, with more than 33 years of investment experience, including with India.
Ms Singh represented Tasmania in the federal Senate from 2010 to 2019. In 2014, the president of India conferred on her the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman award for exceptional and meritorious public service as a person of Indian heritage in fostering friendly relations between India and Australia.
Mr Baillieu was premier of Victoria from 2010 to 2013 and a member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 1999 to 2014. Mr Baillieu is the recipient of the 2013 Ashoka medal from the Australia India Business Council Victoria in recognition of his contribution to Australia-India relations.
Mr Hayden is a former international cricketer who played 103 Tests for Australia and scored 30 centuries. Mr Hayden was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for service to cricket in 2010. He has been a board member of the Institute for Australia India Engagement since 2018.
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Paul Keating and Kevin Rudd will be holding a joint-but-separate press conference on superannuation today, at 2.30.
(It’s virtual, so they are in two different locations.)
I’ll be knee deep in the muck of question time, but will do my best to keep abreast of what’s going on.)
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Richard Colbeck then leaves the press conference while questions are still being asked.
Updated
Richard Colbeck says he never considered resigning:
The responsibility for funding and regulating the aged care sector, is a commonwealth responsibility.
But we are also in a global pandemic here. We have a significant public health emergency in Victoria – that’s why the public health emergency has been declared by the Victorians. This is a joint effort that is why we have set up the Victorian health response centre to make sure the systems come together to provide the support required for all Victorians and residential aged care, and I have to say, the Victorian aged care response centre, an initiative of the commonwealth, has been an absolute success and has assisted enormously to bring the situation back under control.
So I thank the commonwealth, working with Victoria, has put all of its efforts – this is a conversation I had with my counterpart in Victoria on a regular basis. We are putting all of our effort together to make sure that we can provide appropriate service, for all residents and residential aged care together, because we need the public health system in Victoria working with the residential aged care system in Victoria to do that.
No, I haven’t considered my resignation.
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Greg Hunt is asked how families can have any confidence the government is addressing issues in the aged care sector – not just those which have been laid bare by the pandemic:
The investments now are about supporting and saving lives. Right from the outset in this pandemic, when we closed the borders with China on 1 February, we recognised that this was a global pandemic.
A highly infectious disease, which could also be highly deadly, most specifically for the elderly.
The greatest protection of any society, as we have seen, on seven out of eight states and territories, is keeping community transmission low. And the reason why?
It is because of the work that Paul [Kelly] and others have shown that they have witnessed throughout, and that is with asymptomatic transfer, whether in hospitals, such as the hospital, in which I was born, Frankston hospital, magnificent workers but with a huge outbreak, despite some of the finest infection control teams in the country. We have a highly mobile disease, and the best protection is firstly, the crushing of community transmission.
And that’s around the world what has worked, that has worked on seven out of eight states and territories, that is why tracing and testing and isolation have been so important. At the same time all of the other measures have helped assist; without those we would have lost thousands and thousands of lives, thousands of lives when you look at what has occurred in Canada, the UK, France and Spain and Italy, have been saved.
So that is very much what has happened. At the same time each life lost as a source of immense grief, immense agony, but it comes from the fact, community transmission, and we have one of the finest protection mechanisms in the world even with that.
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Greg Hunt, the health minister, is asked whether or not he is disappointed in Craig Kelly’s continual push of hydroxychloroquine conspiracy theories.
This is the answer equivalent of the shrug emoji:
There are many sides of this parliament who express individual views. We see that in relation to all parties at all times. That’s one of the democratic freedoms. But our medical decisions are based on medical advice. We followed those throughout.
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Aged care minister believes he has the PM's confidence
Richard Colbeck, the aged care minister, says he believes he still has the confidence of the prime minister.
He is asked, again, whether Australians should trust him:
As I said in my statement last week, and as I said in the Senate last week, I should have had the data in front of me when I required it.
That is not an indication of the work that I’m doing more broadly in the portfolio.
And I think today’s announcement demonstrates the work that I am doing to ensure that residents in aged care across Australia get the support that they need through this Covid-19 pandemic.
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This was announcement was made over the weekend but here it is officially:
It has been an incredible privilege to represent the Greens as a Senator for WA and I want to thank you all for your very kind words about my decision not to stand in the next election.
— Rachel Siewert (@SenatorSiewert) August 30, 2020
I still have a lot of work to get done before then!
👇
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The government doesn’t look like it will be picking up the recommendation it increase the Medicare levy to pay for aged care improvements.
Greg Hunt:
Firstly we have increased funding from just under $13bn to $23bn, $24bn, $25bn approximately. During the course of Covid we’ve added $1.5bn of funding to the aged care sector. And of course in relation to the royal commission, as the prime minister has said ... there would inevitably be additional investments over and above the continuing ones which we’ve made since we called it, over and above what obviously we’ve announced today and other things with Covid.
So there will be additional elements. In terms of the Medicare levy, that’s not something the government is proposing.
Richard Colbeck:
Can I add the measures we’re announcing today are to deal with Covid-19 and to assist the sector to deal with Covid-19.
They’re an extension of the measures that we put in place earlier in the year as part of our overall Covid-19 plan.
Clearly we have a royal commission in place which the prime minister called. The work that has been published by the commission we welcome because that will make an important contribution to the royal commission’s response when it reports on 26 February ... but also we’re watching the royal commission closely and what they’re putting out in their reports. It will assist our planning so we’re in a situation to be able to respond quickly to the royal commission report in our May budget.
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This was always going to happen.
You know what they say about assuming something.
"Maybe Senator Faruqi should study a mathematics unit." – The Education Minister.
— Mehreen Faruqi (@MehreenFaruqi) August 31, 2020
You don’t need a PhD in Engineering to know the Liberals’ uni fee hikes and funding cuts don’t add up. But lucky for Dan Tehan, I do have one.
Coalition pledges $563m more to aged care
Greg Hunt and Richard Colbeck are announcing another $563.4m in funding for aged care.
Hunt:
Firstly, continuation of the Covid supplement to provide for an additional six months to the end of February 2021.
This is support for facilities and it comes as a cost of $245m. It assists them as we announced on 1 May with the ability to develop their workforce, to provide for PPE needs and for other elements relating to the fight against Covid-19.
Secondly, we’ll be extending the support for aged care workers in Covid-19 areas to operate on a single workforce basis. That will be extended as an entitlement from previously eight weeks per facility to 12 and it’s always to review if required.
And the program itself will now be extended as an available option until 30 June 2021, at an investment of $92.4m.
Thirdly, we will be expanding the short-term home support for older Australians who are on leave from residential aged care, the ability for families to care for older residents who will take time away from an aged care facility.
And that will be extended until June 2021 at a cost of $71.4m.
And then fourthly, the extension of the Covid-19 aged care workforce retention payment. This continues on the $235m measure announced on 20 March. In particular, that will involve an investment in supporting our aged care workers of $154.5m.
As I said at the outset, all of these measures together will constitute a $563.4m extension. And expansion of our support, taking total Australian investment in Covid-19 aged care support to $1.5bn.
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Here is the explanation on how the previous aged care deaths were reported:
On Monday 31 August, 41 deaths from Covid-19 were reported in Victoria. Eight occurred yesterday.
The deaths total includes 33 people who died in previous weeks and were reported by a number of aged care facilities to the health and human services department yesterday.
The retrospective reports today were due to amended reporting obligations and between state and federal reporting methods for aged care facilities.
The families and aged care facilities were aware of the deaths.
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The way the One Nation vote in the Senate goes at the moment (given they are appearing remotely) is that Pauline Hanson and Malcolm Roberts are both paired to the government - meaning they vote with the government, unless they state otherwise.
It has been very rare One Nation votes against the government in anything that actually counts. More often than not, they will abstain.
So yeah, I don’t see them writing that letter asking for the vote to be changed
The Greens have just made this announcement.
But they will not have the numbers.
The Greens have circulated a second reading amendment in the Senate to the Government’s Coronavirus Economic Response Package (Jobkeeper Payments) Amendment Bill 2020 seeking the support of the Senate to continue the current rate of the $550 coronavirus supplement.
It is untenable to cut the Jobseeker payment by $300 in September, taking it below the poverty line.
There are 1.8 million people on Jobseeker and Youth Allowance and we are looking at a 13% effective unemployment rate by Christmas.
There is very clear evidence that the coronavirus supplement has kept 2.2 million Australians out of poverty and almost eliminated it amongst Jobseeker recipients, with poverty rates down from pre-pandemic levels of 67% amongst recipients to less than 7% now.
The cruelty of low income support rates has been laid bare by this pandemic.
What kind of Government wants to go back to an income support system that condemns people to poverty?
I ask the Senate to show their support for our community and support the Greens amendments calling on the Government to keep the Jobseeker above the poverty line.
Second reading amendment to be moved by Senator Siewert on behalf of the Australian Greens reads:
(a) end its plans to reduce the coronavirus supplement by $300 a fortnight which will cause millions of Australians to fall below the poverty line;
(b) continue to provide the current $550 coronavirus supplement throughout the pandemic to ensure unemployed Australians receive adequate support;
(c) commit to a permanent and adequate increase to Jobseeker Payment that allows unemployed Australians to live above the poverty line.
Oops.
Isn’t it such a pain when the figures you use to prove your point, aren’t actually the right figures?
Dan Tehan forced to correct "sloppy or mischievous" figures claiming humanities grads had worse job outcomes than science. #auspol https://t.co/aTSNQCL4E0
— Paul Karp (@Paul_Karp) August 31, 2020
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You may have noticed that Craig Kelly has pulled down some of his most erroneous hydroxychloroquine social media posts in recent days.
We are told the Hughes MP will also be having a briefing with the deputy chief medical officer, Dr Nick Coatsworth, later this week, after he ramped up the hydroxychloroquine conspiracies in parliamentary speeches.
Kelly’s habit of jumping on conspiracy bandwagons has been an issue for the government. Climate change is another.
He has also had his preselection saved, twice – once by Malcolm Turnbull and once by Scott Morrison.
Not stepping in when his branch is attempting to punt him might be one way to solve that problem, but what do I know?
Updated
Auckland out of lockdown
AAP has an update on New Zealand. Auckland is out of lockdown, but masks will be mandatory:
Aucklanders have returned to freedom after a 19-day Covid-19 lockdown, returning to streets, workplaces and schools.
And many have used the easing of restrictions to promptly get out of the city, with Auckland airport packed to the rafters with departing residents.
Jacinda Ardern’s government moved the city of 1.6 million people from level three settings to level two at midnight last night, which removed barriers on inter-regional travel.
That prompted Air New Zealand to return many regular flights to their travel network, which Aucklanders jumped at, judging by photos on social media of the full-to-the-brim domestic terminal.
For the first time in the pandemic, masks will now be compulsory in New Zealand for public transport.
Ardern has shifted the city out of lockdown despite a tail of cases still being reported there.
On Saturday, there were 11 community cases; on Sunday there were two; on Monday there were five.
Back in May, Ardern moved the country from level three to level two after a week of case numbers lower than four each day – making the move somewhat at odds with previous decision-making.
Much-admired University of Auckland microbiologist Siouxsie Wiles, who has championed Ardern’s health-first approach through the pandemic, said the PM was moving too soon.
“I would have preferred we stay at level three for just a little longer because I feel that might have helped us get back to a level one much more quickly,” Wiles told Radio NZ.
“Now we’re all moving around there is the opportunity if there are people who are infectious and don’t know it yet that they could spread it somewhere else.
“But I understand that businesses are hurting and everyone wants to get us moving around more.”
Ardern said her health officials supported the shift based on the “trajectory” of case numbers.
“Our system is designed to be able to manage cases within a level that Auckland is at,” she told Radio NZ.
“We just need to ensure we’re playing our part. So masks, social distancing … extra restrictions on aged care facilities and making sure you’re not going to work or going to school if you’re feeling unwell.”
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So that is the three main state press conferences today.
Victoria
73 new cases; 41 deaths (including 22 previous deaths in aged care centres, now counted among the Victorian numbers). A roadmap for restrictions lifting will be presented on Sunday.
NSW
10 new cases – six in quarantine. Mask use is strongly, strongly encouraged. Aged care restrictions may be lifted in time for Father’s Day.
Queensland
One new case – a close contact of a known case, already in self-isolation. New tourism package announced. Mask use is strongly encouraged.
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'I'm not here to argue with Josh Frydenberg': Daniel Andrews
Q: What do you make of treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s comments this morning? He said the situation here in Victoria is the biggest public policy failure in living memory by a state government.
Daniel Andrews:
I’m not here to argue with Josh Frydenberg. I haven’t got time to have an argument with him or a debate or even a discussion. I’m very focused on getting the job done.
Q: Are you disappointed though? Does that widen the gap between the federal government stance and your stance?
Andrews:
No, what I’d say – the things I’m disappointed about, and motivated by, the things I’m concerned about, are driving these case numbers down.
Every time we have someone pass away, every time we have someone break the rules and potentially contribute to the virus spreading, every time that, you know, we have one of these challenges, that’s what motivated me.
That’s what I’m concerned about. I make the point I made yesterday: none of us, none of us, have the luxury to be playing politics with these things. That’s – I’m just not going to do that. I’m just not going to do that.
Our nation and our state requires all leaders of all political persuasions to work together.
That’s what I’m doing and that’s what I’ll continue to do. I’m just not interested in having an argument or a fight with anything or anybody other than this wicked coronavirus.
That’s where my focus is and I think that’s where Victorians want my focus to be.
Q: He is Victorian. He lives in Melbourne. Do you think those comments are helpful?
Andrews:
Again, I’m not here to have a debate with anyone really. And I’m not going to be engaging in those terms. My focus is exclusively on fighting this virus.
Updated
What is Daniel Andrews’s message to planned protesters? (There is a push to protest against the lockdowns as well as 5G and other issues within the QAnon insanity platform.)
I make the point – I say it’s not appropriate to protest anywhere. It is not appropriate to protest anywhere. And you know what disappoints me more than anything? That the behaviour of some of those people takes away from the amazing work, the absolutely amazing work, that the vast majority of Victorians are doing and I just don’t think that’s fair.
They’re the people we should be focused on. It’s not a criticism, but we should be focused on those Victorians who are not enjoying this, certainly not, but they’re getting the job done. I’m proud of them; I’m grateful to them.
There will always be some who do the wrong thing, but no matter what your postcode or purpose, protest is not safe, it’s not smart, it’s just not right, because it potentially puts at risk everything that people have worked so hard to achieve.
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Will Christmas look different?
Daniel Andrews:
I’ll make this point to you. We had a different Mother’s Day. No one was happy about that. We’re going to have a different Father’s Day.
I want to make sure we have a Christmas day as close to normal as possible.
If we do this too quick, if we do this chasing something that might be popular for a few weeks, if we forget it’s a pandemic and think it’s a popularity contest, well, then Christmas won’t look normal at all ...
It will be up and down, in and out of different restrictions and different lockdowns. I don’t want that.
I want to find a Covid normal based on the best of medical advice where there will still be some rules but where we can lock that in for months, not weeks, months.
Now that won’t be easy. That will mean because there’ll be inevitable cases and outbreaks, we need to pounce on those, and we will. You can be guaranteed – as uncertain as this is, you can be certain of this: if we open up too quick, then we will lose control of this.
The numbers will explode and all the sacrifice and hard work that I’m so proud of Victorians for making and contributing will have been worth nothing.
Updated
What about for people who live alone.
My heart goes out to anyone in that situation – this is hard enough as it is, but for people who have had no human contact for four weeks now – ugh. I am so sorry. It must be so hard.
Daniel Andrews:
As soon as it’s safe for us to potentially have a different set of rules for those who live on their own, we will make those announcements and we’ll try to bring those changes in as quickly as we can.
But again that has to be done safely too because whilst a sense of loneliness and a sense of isolation is a very real thing and we accept that and understand that and we’re motivated to try to do anything we can about that, the fact you live alone doesn’t mean you’re immune to spreading this to someone else if you have visitors coming in.
We think there’s a way forward there and as soon as we’re able to make announcements about that, we will
Updated
What will the road map cover?
Daniel Andrews:
It will cover industries in the first instance, industries that have been closed as part of stage 4.
It will then cover all the usual settings that we have all become well and truly accustomed to.
Things like the cafes, bars, restaurants, retail, personal care, all of those sorts of different categories that we have used.
The degree or the amount of information we can provide for each of those may vary – I want to be clear about that. We’re not going to be able to necessarily give every single sector a hard and fast date at which they’ll be reopening, some will have to be subject to the data and the case numbers a week after we begin reopening, two weeks after we begin reopening, so on and so forth.
I think that logic can tell you that’s the only way we can do it.
The nature of this virus means that it is very, very difficult to make predictions for the future. It’s very, very difficult to provide certainty even though people quite legitimately want it. It is very challenging to provide that.
Except for this: there are a number of settings, there are a number of ways you could go where you can have complete certainty that case numbers will explode. No one wants that. Nobody wants that.
Because that would be far from finding a locked-in Covid normal for months and months and months until we get the vaccine that would be bouncing in and out of rules and restrictions, open one minute, closed the next. We don’t want that.
We’re doing everything we possibly can – a big team, a big team is doing everything it possibly can to avoid that and thanks for what they have already done, because we worked very, very closely with business, very closely with community groups, very closely with unions and workers. I thank them for that, but in anticipation of the really important consultation that will occur this week, on very practical issues but very important issues, I thank them in advance for that because it’s only through that understanding and that collaborative, cooperative approach to these things that you can get the best settings.
Updated
Brett Sutton expects more aged care deaths to be reconciled with the Covid total in the coming days.
Daniel Andrews:
Can I add to that. Again reaffirming to everybody so there’s complete clarity, our government, the federal government, public providers, they’re working together closely as possible with one focus and that’s simply to provide the very best care and support to residents – some of whom become patients because they need to be transported to hospital.
Some are treated and cared for in place and, of course, their families, that’s our clear priority and that won’t change at any point.
So there’s no sense of critique or commentary or criticism. We just need to reconcile those numbers but we thought it was appropriate to put some context to that number today. They’re not all people who have tragically passed away yesterday – albeit even one death is one death too many – but we thought it was fair and reasonable to make that point. Don’t anyone read into that anything other than all governments, prime ministers, premiers, all of us, we’re all working together.
Updated
Meanwhile, over in the House, Anthony Albanese is attempting to suspend standing orders to discuss aged care.
The government has very quickly shut that motion down.
On the state of emergency bill, Daniel Andrews says:
What I can say today is we are continuing very productive productions with the crossbench and we’re confident we’ll be able to get a result that fairly balances the protection of public health.
But also gives us the legal certainty not to draft a plan to keep the place closed but, indeed, the legal certainty that is essential to a plan to open up.
That’s what we are working towards and I’m very grateful to the crossbench for their constructive way in which they have engaged with us.
I’ll just give you that example; I have used it for a few times – just imagine how difficult it is to craft a plan to open up when you can’t be certain that every single person who’s got coronavirus in October, November, December, you know, May next year, whenever it might be, can’t be required to isolate at home.
That becomes incredibly difficult and I think a number of whether it be the police association or others have made that point – that it just gets really, really hard to plan for opening up if you don’t have a legal framework and that’s what the bill is all about and when those negotiations are concluded, and when the votes are cast, I’m confident we’ll finish up with a plan that protects public health, but rules that allow us to open the place up.
That’s what we want to do in a safe and steady way.
Updated
Brett Sutton hopes for 40-50 cases by week's end
Prof Brett Sutton is asked where he expects the numbers to go, given he said case numbers were “on track” with the modelling:
I would hope we are in the ballpark of 40 or 50 by the end of the week.
We will see if that is the case. Again, there is a great deal of uncertainty around the tail of any epidemic.
We are in a way that is more complex than the first one we tackled that was international travellers and their close contact by and large with a little bit of community transmission.
We have had substantial community transmission, but as we get down to the 60, 70 numbers, we know that the number of mystery cases, community transition cases where we don’t know where they have acquired it, is getting to single figures.
It gives us a little bit more confidence that we can get on top of it, and with smaller numbers, we have greater and greater clarity around whether transmission is occurring.
What we don’t know is where we can’t see where transmission is occurring, and that is why the call for testing is so critical every day, and why the call for people to hold the course even as we get very low numbers is also absolutely critical, because holding the course is exactly the thing when we are getting down to those very low numbers that means that we can look at a summary that has some familiarity to us, we can see friends and family, we can go out to dinner, where we can have a Christmas dinner together, where we can enjoy those sunny days.
So the pain that is happening every day now, we are all fed up with it, absolutely fed up with it.
But holding the course, even as we get down to these very low numbers, is absolutely critical to get that control that we can be confident that we will maintain.
And our contact tracing now is at a point where every case is contacted within 24 hours.
Almost every case is interviewed within 24 hours. The only ones not interviewing others not answering the phone and can’t be found at home, or who are aged care residents who are a known part of an outbreak ...
Every close contact is contacted within 48 hours so we have got robust contact tracing that is built over time and is now more than enough capacity for the numbers that we are seeing.
But we have to have both. Both in place and low enough numbers for it to be manageable on a day-to-day basis into the long-term, including when we had outbreaks, because a single case can cause 100 cases in a week.
A single case can cause 1,000 cases in a couple of weeks.
So we have to be mindful that even low numbers do not give you that absolute confidence that everything is in control and it is all going on the right direction.
Those critical settings are the ones to keep an eye on and we don’t know what we don’t know.
So testing has to happen and those difficult to identify populations who may or may not be presenting for care are also ones that we need to understand and reach into.
Updated
Daniel Andrews then cites the prime minister when asked where he needs numbers to be to look at lifting restrictions:
We have always resisted putting a number on this. The prime minister was very clear a couple of months ago that the strategy is a zero community transition strategy for the weather that is possible – then we just have to see that unfold.
But we want these numbers down as low as they can possibly be, and there will be a point where we have to make a decision and there will be a lot of work done this week based on the data that comes in every day as well as the modelling and the trend work – rather than two weeks back it will be last week and this week happening now so it will be a more accurate picture.
We will be able to then make a really difficult choice.
So with numbers at X level by Friday this week, various models, there is different options for opening up. They will all come with a risk that we lose some control. None of those models will be 100% safe.
The question is, calibrating that right, getting that right, during the detailed work and having the lowest risk possible of not being able to deliver that multi-month stable Covid normal where we can pounce on individual cases and outbreaks and not have to go to suburb wide, citywide, statewide rules. That is the basic logic to this. And we are very confident we can have much more to say and to provide people with a clear sense of a pathway, a road map on Sunday.
Updated
Stage two and three. Will they look different?
Daniel Andrews:
Yes, they will. They will be a substantially different framework. This will be a traffic light system and we will move through different phases and there will be some elements that might be similar to the stages that, as we went into stage four, but it will be very different and we will have more to say about that obviously on Sunday, and waiting until Sunday means that we can have those next round of detailed consultations, very practical things, what is actually achievable and deliverable and a business by business, sector by sector level, as well as community groups, workers, unions – we will be talking to all of them.
It also means we have another week’s data, and the week’s data is very precious. It just means that our modelling and all the number crunching that goes on is never certain, but it will be a more accurate picture of the way the virus is presenting and it is a more accurate description of our enemy, and therefore will lead to a more successful fight against it.
Updated
So Melbourne residents should expect to stay put these September holidays (as in not leaving Melbourne).
Daniel Andrews:
I think that we will jealously guard the low numbers in regional Victoria, and I think every regional Victorian would want us to do that.
At the same time, I think people in Melbourne know and understand that Melbourne is in a different place, a different ... The science and the presentation of the virus is very different in metropolitan Melbourne than it is in regional areas, and keeping those numbers low in regional areas is very, very important, not just for us in a strategic or academic sense – it is absolutely critical to us being able to open the whole state in a steady, cautious, but in a progressive and sustainable way. (A covid normal.)
I can only stress again, a Covid normal that lasts for months, not just a few weeks.
A sense of control and stability that I think – and businesses certainly tell me – is critically important to the most effective recovery and repair that we can possibly have.
Updated
Is it possible stage four will be extended beyond the next two weeks?
Daniel Andrews:
We can’t rule out settings in two weeks time, it is very difficult to know what those settings will be.
They have to be guided by the data, the science and the very best medical advice.
What we will provide on Sunday will be the plan that we intend to put in place, the plan that all things being equal, we will put in place, but again, it has never been my habit or my practice to be making commitments that we can’t keep.
So everything has to have that asterix next to it. I know that is deeply frustrating, it is frustrating for all of us, but as the Deputy Chief Medical Officer has noted today, as Brett notes, as we all think deep down we know and understand that if we were to open up with numbers anything like what we have had, even with a really positive trend, then those numbers will explode.
You will lose control of this again, and instead of having the long-term stable COVID normal where businesses can return, where customers can be out there purchasing, where people, workers can get back to work, when profitability can come back to so many businesses, I’ve being saved and livelihoods, we won’t have that.
We will have a seesawing effect where the rules are on and off, that will do enormous damage and it of course means also that we are likely then to have many many thousands of people needing hospitalisation and many people dying.
On the number of deaths linked to aged care we have seen today, Prof Brett Sutton says:
On the aged care outbreak deaths, as you know, 41 deaths reported today.
There is a reconciliation that we needed to go through.
These are deaths that have happened over previous weeks, including going back to late July.
There are commonwealth reporting obligations, state reporting processes, and we need to reconcile those cases, so that whatever the Victorian aged care response centre is reporting is absolutely consistent.
The commonwealth has strengthened the reporting obligations in early August based on a need to have absolutely definitive data on deaths that have occurred in residences that have coronavirus, and so in early August, there was a mandatory reporting to the commonwealth that also goes to VARC on that basis. But that is being caught up.
It is not about deaths having occurred just now or in the last week. They are deaths that have occurred over several weeks.
Of course all of those deaths have been known to the facility, they have been known to the families of those residents, but it is heartbreaking to see a number of that magnitude, but it is a reflection of just how vulnerable those populations are and why we need to be mindful of the danger of this virus, especially in aged care settings, but also in disability settings and other places where individuals vulnerable to severe illness reside.
Updated
Prof Brett Sutton addresses the media
Victoria Deputy Chief Health Officer, Prof Brett Sutton takes the stand at the Victorian press conference:
Certainly 73 new cases and an actual overall increase of 65 is good news, but it is not better or worse than has been modelled.
It is more or less on track.
But it is a track that is a good track in terms of where we are headed, and we have seen a steady but gradual decrease in numbers right through the last week, and is expected to continue from here. It does mean that we are easing active cases that are in the community, we are easing the pressure on our hospital system in terms of hospitalised cases and ventilated cases, and the number of aged care active cases and disability cases continues to drop.
Regional Victoria is equally on track in that regard. As you would know, there were over 500 active cases at one point in regional Victoria, so to be at the 150 mark is a very gratifying figure to see.
Updated
Daniel Andrews continues:
I know and understand that just as the vast, vast majority of Victorians are doing the right thing, and that is central to the strategy working, I know that Victorians also want the clearest picture possible of what the next phase looks like.
We cannot provide that certainty today. We cannot provide a detailed roadmap today, but we will provide that on Sunday – another week’s data is almost invaluable. I know a week feels and indeed is a long time locked at home, but it is also a very lengthy period of time when it comes to understanding what this virus is doing.
It moves fast, it does so silently, and as we have seen quite a bit of commentary today, particularly comments made by the deputy chief medical officer in Canberra, the numbers are too high for us to open at this time.
It is also very, very challenging for us today to predict with any certainty where we are going to be in a week or two weeks.
But there is an enormous amount of work going on, modelling scenarios being run through various supercomputers ... and we will be in a position to be able to share that roadmap, what it will look like, its various components and phases with the community on Sunday.
If we could do that today, and what’s more, if we could be completely certain that on a given date we would have ... with 100% certainty, a given set of rules, then of course we would be sharing those with people today.
That is not the nature of this virus, though. It moves so rapidly, it is dynamic, and wicked in many ways.
And that is why a further week’s data plus consultations on many of the practical issues, I stress adding to the many thousands of discussions that we have already had will mean that we can put forward a blueprint, a road map that has more certainty.
I will just say ahead of that, though, it cannot be 100% certain, because everything must be based on case numbers, everything must be based on data and science and the very best of medical advice provided by our expert public health team.
So they are significant announcements, that is a clear timeline, and one that I think will be very well received by the Victorian community. This strategy is working, but it is too early for us to either open up right now, or put forward a detailed roadmap as to what that opening up will look like.
Updated
So this is an announcement of an announcement, but much like the knowledge it is the last day of winter, will hopefully provide some hope to our Melbourne readers.
Daniel Andrews:
It is too early today to settle that roadmap and to lock that in as it were.
Another week’s data is critically important to make sure that the strategy continues to work and for us to have a better sense of how long it will take to drive these numbers down to very, very low numbers so that they can be contained uncontrolled without the need to put restrictions back on over not just weeks and months, but over a longer period, finding that Covid-19 normal and looking at in for many months.
That is the aim, and that is what the strategy is working towards.
Now there will be a number of key principles, and as I foreshadowed yesterday we will be engaging from later on this afternoon, adding to the enormous number of meetings and discussions that have been held with business, with unions, with community groups over these last six months, and certainly quite intensively in recent times, we will begin a fresh round of important consultation to talk about many of the practical issues that will be central to the decisions that we announced, and the roadmap that we foreshadow on Sunday.
There will be a number of key principles that underpin this opening up roadmap.
Firstly, we have to ensure that physical distancing including following density requirements, making sure staff work from home wherever possible, eliminating the total number of staff and customers in any enclosed area, and stopping carpooling.
It has to be a feature of opening up and getting people back to work.
Wearing a face covering at all times in the workplace and ensuring that PPE is used, particularly in those higher risk industries.
Requiring hygienic workplaces, so things like high touch points being regularly cleaned, staff regularly washing their hands, the availability and the use of hand sanitiser, so on and so forth.
And finally, continuing to act quickly if a staff member becomes unwell, and having a policy that can be fairly described as strict when it comes to keeping staff at home if they are unwell, and making sure that they are not at work between when they have a test, because they have the onset of symptoms, and when the test result comes back. They are commonsense principles, but they are very important and they will have to underpin each and every one of the decisions that we will announce, and the pathway that we will share with Victorians on Sunday.
Updated
Melbourne restrictions roadmap to be announced 6 September
There are 2,620 active cases in Victoria, which is falling. Just 154 are in regional local government areas under stage three.
So the roadmap out will be announced on Sunday after another week of data has been recorded.
Updated
Daniel Andrews press conference
The Victorian premier has stepped up:
First things first. There are 19,080 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Victoria, 73 new cases since yesterday. There have been, sad to say, 565 deaths due to this global pandemic.
This an increase of 41 on yesterday’s update. However, 33 of those deaths occurred prior to yesterday and eight of those deaths occurred in the past 24 hours.
Of course, our thoughts, our prayers, our best wishes and our sincere condolences are with each of the families.
I can provide some breakdown to the group: three males and four females in their 70s, and one female in her 100s ...
At least 37 of those are linked to aged care facilities and outbreaks and this will be reconciled in the chief health officer’s media release a bit later on today.
There are 453 Victorians in hospital, 21 of those are receiving intensive care and 13 of those 21 are on a ventilator.
A total of 2,248,814 test results have been received since the beginning of the pandemic; that is an increase of 14,435 since yesterday.
There are 4,338 cases with an unknown source, with 112 added via that coronavirus detective work they have closed out effectively and been added since yesterday’s report.
There are 378 healthcare workers who were active cases so those numbers continue to fall, and again, I will take this opportunity to thank and to congratulate every single member of our health workforce who are working so hard to provide care and attention and love and support to every patient, every resident, every client that needs that care and support, and we send our best wishes to those who have contracted this virus and wish them well.
Updated
Pop quiz, hotshot:
NSW chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant recounts the plot of Speed (1994) pic.twitter.com/SOyR7qkepA
— Naaman Zhou (@naamanzhou) August 31, 2020
Keanu Reeves will also be riding Sydney buses to make sure people are wearing masks*.
*I may have made this up.
Updated
Gladys Berejiklian on why she is not mandating masks, but really, really, really wants you to wear one:
I did a spot check on a bus I was next to and everybody had a mask except one person.
If I was catching a bus or a train today I would 100% be wearing a mask.
You shouldn’t be catching a bus or train and not wear a mask. It is not more simple than that. We have to put our response of the pandemic into good comparison to what we’re experiencing in the community.
If you look at the rate of transmission in restaurants, hotels and gyms, this is potentially the first on public transport and I say potentially because health is doing their advice still. You have to look at the overall picture.
When you adjust policy you have to do it across the board.
You can’t prevent transmission in other venues where people are mixing. And the mask is very important but it is the fourth line of defence. You have to consider a whole range of options and consider where you are, what stage you are at in the pandemic.
The health advice is always evolving and it is evolving on the percentage of people complying.
If you recall, we said to businesses if you don’t show greater compliance in being Covid safe we have to put in more restrictions.
And we had to tell people on public transport please demonstrate compliance, and we have seen it happen but we wouldn’t hesitate to change our advice.
But we have to assess the risk overall, assess people’s behaviour, and even when you do make things mandatory, as we have seen, people don’t comply – only a small percentage but it only take a few not to comply.
Please know if the health advice changes we will not hesitate to act but you need to put it in perspective which stage we are at in the pandemic and the number of cases and how they are spreading and the greatest risk to getting the virus is someone you know well. A household contact or someone you are socialising with.
We know because of the data. The random contraction is the least risk, it is a risk but it is a greater risk to get the virus from a household contact or somebody you are socialising with. That is why our response has to be commensurate with the risk.
Our advice on masks can’t be stronger. If you’re going grocery stronger, at a crowded supermarket, on public transport, somewhere where you can’t guarantee social distancing, wear a mask.
If you are going to a place of worship you should wear a mask.
If you go anywhere where social distancing could be compromised and not only through your own actions but somebody else’s wear a mask.
To date, I want to thank the community who have taken the opportunity to update and as I said I’ll get a further update on Wednesday but the last update had mask wearing increased substantially and that is the trend we want to see continue.
Updated
Dr Kerry Chant is asked why NSW isn’t making mask wearing on public transport (and other areas) mandatory.
She basically says it is because authorities are worried about turning it into another flashpoint issue:
We need to work with the community and take it along with us. Once we make it mandatory it means there will be no exceptions to the rule and we need to give the community time to embrace masks, get used to them and to acquire them.
Clearly I’m strongly saying that mask wearing – it is one additional layer.
It already complements the key message which is do not go out and about if you have got symptoms. Please stay home and get tested.
We need good, strong hand washing and mask wearing is something I strongly recommend for all settings including where you cannot socially distance. We know on certain times on public transport that is challenging.
When you’re in supermarkets or other crowded environments that’s the time to wear masks.
I would like to see that raised across the population, not just only on public transport.
Q: What is the difference between strongly recommending it and making it mandatory? It doesn’t seem that different?
Chant:
Certainly in terms of enforcement it means the person would not be able to get on the bus without the mask.
We need to work with the community to increase access to masks and take the community on a journey and explain the importance of masks and why we’re recommending them at this time.
We clearly have seen greater acceptance and the data indicates there is a greater acceptance of mask wearing and I have been out for the last four weeks stressing the importance of masks as a complementary action.
When we’re battling Covid we should use all of the tools we have available to us to tackle this quite insidious and stealthy virus.
Q: The question as well, are you worried about the public pushback? Is there a medical reason not to make it mandatory?
Chant:
They are believed to be effective, particularly if you are infectious, in blocking the transmission, which is why we encourage people to [use them while] out and about. Once there is a decision around making it mandatory it has consequences for people who are not wearing masks and we have to work through those issues.
Q: When you say consequences, what do you mean?
Chant:
Consequences [such as] you can’t get on the bus or the train. We need to look at age cut off and some members of the community who won’t tolerate masks for a variety of reasons and we need to work through those issues.
Our advice, I think one of the lessons we learned with Covid, it is important to talk openly with the community about the evidence and I have been so pleased with the response of the community when we’ve given advice and at a certain point we have to make those decisions of when it moves from advisories – but in general the community has responded incredibly well to advice and that is indicated by some of the data we’ve seen from Service NSW where the community over recent weeks has continued to adopt mask wearing.
Updated
Dr Kerry Chant says she hopes to be able to lift aged care restrictions in NSW ahead of Father’s Day.
Updated
Dr Kerry Chant on the NSW cases:
All four locally acquired cases are linked to the CBD cluster and this includes two who are households contacts of previously reported cases and two close contacts of previously reported cases.
There was one previous case from south-eastern Sydney linked to the CBD cluster and the passenger was on a bus at the same time as a previously reported case and may have shared other exposures.
That investigation is under way and we have used the Opal card to identify people on the bus.
Pleasingly, 10 of the 11 other passengers had their registered Opal card details and we made contact with seven of them through their mobile phones and have left messages for the remainder.
One passenger on that bus did not have a registered Opal card and therefore we are still making the public aware of the bus route and the details.
In terms of cases, under care, we’ve got 66 Covid cases being treated by NSW Health, including six in intensive care, four of whom are ventilated.
There were a couple of other localities we wanted to highlight. Anyone attending the following venues is considered a casual contact and monitor for symptoms and be tested immediately.
After testing you must remain in isolation until a negative test is received. Woolworths Balmain from 10am to 11am. The Chemist Warehouse at Balmain on Friday 28 August ... from 2 to 2.30 pm. Sushi Rio at Chatswood and Coles St Ives shopping centre on Friday 28 August at 1 to 2pm. Anyone who attended those venues is considered a casual contact and must monitor for symptoms and get tested immediately if they develop.
After testing, you must remain in isolation until a negative result is received – and that is essential.
Updated
Gladys Berejiklian:
Pleasingly, police gave very positive reports about people’s behaviour about social distancing and I think this augurs well for the future.
Today is the last day of winter and I’m pleased we got through the winter months as well as we did, and now that the warmer weather is upon us can I please ask everybody to think about their activities when they’re out of doors.
As Dr [Kerry] Chant tells us, to be outdoors enjoying the sun is a healthy experience; just make sure you keep your social distance.
If you enjoy the time with your family and friends and with others keep your social distancing – and in the main that was the case.
To date, NSW is holding our own. Every day is a battle and that’s why it’s really important to encourage people who have the mildest of symptoms to come forward.
Normally August-September is the peak time for the flu but because we’re hand sanitising and keeping our distances those numbers haven’t materialised, but that means if you do have a symptom you should assume it’s Covid and not the flu.
If you do have the mildest symptoms, you need to assume it is Covid and not the flu. As we said last week, please don’t wait until day or two three. Go the day you have the symptoms and go home and wait for the results from health.
Updated
NSW records 10 new cases
There are 10 new cases of Covid in NSW. Six of those are in quarantine though.
Updated
Adem Somyurek will make speeches from the Victorian crossbench, but not vote.
#springst pic.twitter.com/rpCfU991h2
— Adem Somyurek (@AdemSomyurek) August 31, 2020
Death toll in Victoria now 565
Victoria’s death toll is now 565. The national death toll is 652.
There were 382 deaths linked to aged care as of yesterday. Adding in the 22 deaths which occurred before 27 August but have just been reported by aged care facilities to Victoria Health yesterday, that brings the total number of deaths linked to aged care to 404.
Most of the remaining 19 deaths will also be linked to aged care.
Updated
I am still reeling from that number.
That is so many families who have lost so much.
And so many families throughout this pandemic.
Updated
Daniel Andrews will hold his press conference at 11am.
Updated
The National accounts is out on Wednesday. I think you can accurately predict they are not looking good.
It's almost like someone needs a different conversation to be happening. https://t.co/0pkuWA2n1U
— Katharine Murphy (@murpharoo) August 31, 2020
Updated
41 deaths include 22 not previously recorded – 19 in past 24 hours
The figure includes 22 deaths which have been reported to Victoria Health by aged care facilities over the weekend.
That means 19 people died in the past 24 hours.
And another 22 people died in aged care facilities in the past couple of weeks which were NOT reported as Covid deaths by the facilities until yesterday.
So yes, aged care will be a big issue again today.
Updated
73 new cases, 41 deaths in Victoria
#COVID19VicData for 31 Aug 2020. There were 73 new cases and sadly 41 deaths. Today's deaths total includes 22 people who died in the weeks leading up to 27 August and were reported to DHHS by aged care facilities yesterday. More info will be available later this morning. pic.twitter.com/yDzeMKzYqE
— VicGovDHHS (@VicGovDHHS) August 31, 2020
Given the delay in the numbers, we are back to this – early reports ahead of the official reports.
Hearing a #COVID19Victoria number in the 70s
— Rafael Epstein (@Raf_Epstein) August 31, 2020
Been told 74 & 75
But sadly it may be a day for a very high number of deaths
A high fatality number can delay the release of official figures. #springst
Updated
This was the last tweet from Victoria Health.
We are still waiting on the numbers.
Do you know someone from a multicultural community?
— VicGovDHHS (@VicGovDHHS) August 31, 2020
We have translated materials about #coronavirus (#COVID19) in 56 languages including videos about wearing masks.
Click through to view >> https://t.co/lQ1DjLOV1X #COVID19Vic pic.twitter.com/mfhUMuOsCL
Updated
Meanwhile, the tinfoil hat brigade’s cheerleader-in-chief continues to mouth off from the backbench.
This is dangerous, and Scott Morrison is still silent.
— Bill Shorten (@billshortenmp) August 31, 2020
The PM needs to stop allowing unchallenged, unproven health advice from his backbench. https://t.co/XLVn3GybUT
Huawei ends Raiders sponsorship
This sponsorship was announced with a photo shoot outside parliament.
And now it is over.
And what timing.
BREAKING: RAIDERS have lost their major sponsor. pic.twitter.com/EtmBPmMAJx
— Julian Abbott (@JulianBAbbott) August 30, 2020
Updated
The Senate sits at 10.
This bill is abhorrent and does nothing except continue to perpetuate harm against children who need more support than ever. Children are not being indoctrinated.
Last week, Pauline Hanson attended parliament remotely, to avoid the quarantine she would have to undergo on her return.
This bill is just aimed at energising her base ahead of the Queensland election in October. Once again, we are seeing the use of parliament as electioneering.
The first bill on the #Senate's agenda today is Senator @PaulineHansonOz's Australian Education Legislation Amendment (Prohibiting the Indoctrination of Children) Bill 2020https://t.co/RAbewgUlQq
— Australian Senate (@AuSenate) August 30, 2020
Updated
Meanwhile, in some sectors of the backbench, super remains the number one fight.
Advertising by Super funds is a misuse of funds - it’s called the sole purpose test - funds must only be used for the benefit of members
— Senator Gerard Rennick (@SenatorRennick) August 30, 2020
The Victorian numbers are quite late today.
We are keeping an eye on it and will let you know as soon as we have them.
I guess this depends on whether or not we listen to the health advice anymore though.
We need to open borders when it is safe to do so. That's why it would be totally irresponsible and economically dangerous for Victoria to open up until it is appropriate to do so.
— Prof. Peter Doherty (@ProfPCDoherty) August 30, 2020
Updated
Labor will also be keeping the pressure on over aged care this week.
The Morrison Government and the failed Minister for Aged Care should be ashamed that they still don't know how many aged care employees are working across multiple sites. #auspol pic.twitter.com/d6VYWFNcfr
— Julie Collins (@JulieCollinsMP) August 30, 2020
Queensland will set up a unit within its health department to deal with specialist medical appointments from interstate. The unit will sit within the chief medical officer’s office and include social workers.
Annastacia Palaszczuk:
I understand it is a very difficult time for people.
It’s a very emotional time for people and what I have asked the deputy premier as health minister and also the department to do is to actually set up a unit where they can deal with these specialist appointments in a coordinated manner.
I also want to have a social worker working in that unit as well because it is a very distressing time for families.
Of course, it’s going to be like this for some time because our borders are closed to protect the health of Queenslanders.
But we are not going to deny emergency treatment to people in New South Wales and we are not going to deny specialist appointments to people who need the specialist appointments in Queensland. Let me make that very clear.
And I understand how distressing this is. So we’re going to set up this hotline to make sure that we can deal with these – to coordinate with the families in a timely manner and then they’ll be prioritised with the chief health officer.
As you appreciate, our chief health officer, Dr Young, has a lot to do at the moment, focusing on keeping Queenslanders safe, and by setting up this coordinated response by the end of the week, I actually think that it will help alleviate a lot of concerns.
Updated
Queensland reports one new coronavirus case
There has been one new case of Covid recorded in Queensland in the past 24 hours.
They are a close contact of an existing case and has been in self-isolation.
Updated
Annastacia Palaszczuk says she “will not be moved” on border closures while the health advice is to keep Queensland closed.
Let me say this very clearly – that Queensland will continue to have our borders closed to keep Queenslanders safe.
I’m not going to be moved on this.
So the federal government can throw whoever they want at that, we can have Clive Palmer as well, but I’m not going to be moved because fundamentally the health of Queenslanders is my number one concern and you can’t have a strong economy, you can’t have the economy growing unless you have the health under control.
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Deputy CMO says 'hard to see' Melbourne lockdown lifting in two weeks
Deputy chief medical officer Dr Nick Coatsworth was asked about the likelihood of Melbourne coming out of stage four restrictions in two weeks time while on the Nine Network this morning.
His response was not overly positive:
Well, it’s hard to see that happening. I have to be honest with you and honest with the people of Victoria. I think that we’re going to have to see the numbers down where they’re controllable.
And that is the numbers that you are seeing in NSW and Queensland at the moment. You can see the effort that it takes to control numbers between about five and 10 per day. It’s quite clear to people.
But then again the rate of the numbers dropping is getting faster in Victoria. So, you never know. And we just have to look on a daily basis.
So it would need to be single digits?
Coatsworth:
I think we need to see what happens to the numbers. I think the numbers need to be a lot – a lot less than they are now. Whether that’s staying in stage 4 or stage 3, that staying in stage 4 or stage 3, that – moving to a stage 3 restriction that will be up to the Victorian chief health officer. And what I would say, though, is the numbers are coming down at an increasingly rapid rate. We might over the next week or two see numbers get low. We have to wait and see.
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Western Australian man given GPS ankle bracelet after skipping out of quarantine
A Western Australian man who allegedly skipped out of quarantine (he has been charged) after returning home after a visit to Queensland will be the first Australian given a GPS ankle bracelet for the rest of his time in quarantine.
Cool beans.
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NSW Nationals leader and deputy premier John Barilaro wants a national agricultural code established, which would allow the free movement of people who are in the agricultural industry, navigating the border closures.
He sees a proposal is being sent to national cabinet this Friday – and says it is a test for the national cabinet.
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Jim Chalmers kindly stepped by doors to let us know Labor’s theme for the week:
This week we’ll get the national accounts for the June quarter. We don’t need to wait for these national accounts to know that we have a jobs crisis in this country. We have a jobs crisis but we have a government without a plan to deal with it. We have a jobs crisis but we have a government which says that we have to wait until the October budget before they’ll put forward some ideas for how to deal with it. Australians are tired of being told by this government how bad things are going to get; they want to know what the government is actually going to do about it.
This Morrison government has a plan to wind back jobkeeper, to cut super, and to freeze the pension but they don’t have a plan for new jobs in this country. It’s a new plan which is desperately needed for jobs. We know now that a million Australians are unemployed and that the government expects another 400,000 Australians will join the jobless queues between now and Christmas, but we don’t know what the government intends to do about it.
We have a government which spends all of its time blame shifting and finger pointing. The treasurer Josh Frydenberg was at it again this morning. This guy only ever talks about the Labor party or the Victorian state government, and that’s because he has no ideas of his own for how to deal with this jobs crisis which has emerged on his watch. He actually said this morning that with numbers as bad as they are in Victoria, we can’t wait any longer for a plan. The same logic applies to his lack of a plan when it comes to this jobs crisis in Australia more broadly. He is the sort of treasurer that spends all his time chasing headlines and not enough time chasing jobs. That’s why his colleagues have started to criticise him so openly in the newspapers in recent days.
This is a government which is long on marketing, but short of a plan. We do have a genuine jobs crisis in this country. We need a government chasing jobs, not just chasing headlines. Unfortunately we don’t have that right now. This government, which wants to freeze the pension, cut super, and wind back jobkeeper will spend most of this week telling us how bad the economy is and trying to pretend that it’s all about Victoria. But I think Australians know, understand, and appreciate that it is long past time for the Morison government to come up with a plan for the jobs crisis which has emerged on their watch.
Updated
Annastacia Palaszczuk will hold her press conference at 9.15am.
Josh Frydenberg has spent the morning making sure that everyone is totally across what the theme of the week is for the government.
"This has to be the biggest public policy failure by a State government in living memory" - Treasurer @JoshFrydenberg's strongest language yet on the health and economic situation in Victoria #auspol @SBSNews pic.twitter.com/7E8UTt4pED
— Brett Mason (@BrettMasonNews) August 30, 2020
There are a few theories floating around as to why the Morrison government is now going so hard against Victoria and Daniel Andrews: one, distracting from aged care; two, the backbench is very, very pissed and wants the leadership to remember who it is actually aligned with (that would be the Coalition party room, and not the national cabinet); three, the Melbourne lockdown may be lessened but not lifted, meaning it’s trying to get out ahead of whatever stage three is.
Like I said, these are theories not absolutes. We will let you know when we get any concrete mail either way.
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The government has taken control of the push for an inquiry into allegations of foreign interference at Australian universities, with Peter Dutton announcing the government will establish the inquiry. Bob Katter had been pushing for that – the government has moved to stop backbenchers, including Barnaby Joyce, Craig Kelly and George Christensen from crossing the floor.
Updated
The royal commission into the bushfire season will hand down its interim report today.
That comes after the NSW inquiry reported back last week.
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Post-lockdown traffic gridlock could hit Melbourne as people shy away from public transport
When Melbourne eventually reopens (remember stage three follows stage four, so “back to normal” is still some time away, I am sorry), it looks like the traffic is coming with it.
As AAP reports:
The Monash Public Transport Research Group says once restrictions ease, public transport usage might only return to 80% of pre-virus levels.
“If these numbers are correct, we’re going to see an awful lot of gridlock,” Professor Graham Currie said.
The survey predicts trains will only have 69% of their pre-virus usage.
It also flags that one in five commuters are less likely to travel into the CBD, mainly as more will work from home.
But Currie also said if there is gridlock, it might eventually encourage commuters back to public transport.
“Hopefully, this idea that it’s better to travel by car because it’s safer could disappear,” he said.
Updated
We are expecting Victoria’s Covid case numbers from the last 24 hours very soon.
There have been 382 deaths linked to aged care as of yesterday.
Previously, Daniel Andrews has said he has been unable to provide the road map out, as he is taking advice from the medical experts and it’s too early, although over the weekend, the premier said he would have some updates for industry.
Melbourne is entering its fifth week under lockdown.
Updated
Meanwhile, the latest Newspoll is out.
As AAP reports, the two major parties are locked at 50:50 – perhaps people are OK with the premiers calling the shots after all?
Labor and the Coalition are deadlocked 50:50 on a two-party-preferred basis after a four-point turnaround in Labor’s favour over the past three weeks, the latest Newspoll shows.
The poll published in The Australian shows popular support for prime minister Scott Morrison has fallen for the first time since the height of the pandemic.
A special poll also showed 80% of Australians support border closures if the health situation demanded it, with Victorians, who remain in stage-four lockdown, the least enthusiastic.
Morrison remains at record high popularity but his approval ratings fell for the first time since mid-April, dropping four points to 64%.
Dissatisfaction with Morrison’s performance rose three points to 32%.
Opposition leader Anthony Albanese had a two-point rise in approval rating to 43% but dissatisfaction with his performance jumped three points to 41%.
Morrison’s rating as preferred prime minister fell two points from a high of 60 three weeks ago to 58%.
The Labor leader’s fortunes rose four points to 29%, the highest support for Albanese since May.
The swing to Labor of three primary vote points to take it to 36% came with no change to the Greens on 11%, no change to the other minor parties at 9% and a single point drop to 3% for Pauline Hanson’s One Nation.
At 41%, the Coalition is back to the level of support it had near the end of April.
Updated
Josh Frydenberg has led the charge in criticising Daniel Andrews.
Today though with the release of the Treasury analysis and the morning media blitz (he has been everywhere) marks the beginning of a new ramping up in attacks.
Before the pandemic hit, Victoria had seen a fairly stable unemployment rate (hovering around 5%, although youth unemployment was higher, as it is around the country) and an annual growth increase of 2.2%.
That Treasury advice Josh Frydenberg was referring to there can be found in this story from Murph:
The number of people claiming unemployment benefits in Victoria has increased by 7.2% since the end of June, and household spending in the state has slumped during stage four restrictions, according to analysis from Treasury.
The new analysis comes as the Morrison government is working to develop guidelines for Covid-19 hotspots as part of an effort to persuade the states to end state border closures in favour of localised lockdowns.
While the Morrison government is now openly campaigning for state governments to reopen their borders, and is emphasising the accumulating economic costs of the lockdown in Victoria, the premier Daniel Andrews warned on Sunday infections would “explode” if the state eased restrictions too quickly.
Updated
The interview ends on this question:
Q: You tweeted last night, “the Morrison Government will do whatever we can to support Victorian families, workers and businesses”. Why, then, are you cutting the level of jobkeeper for Victoria?
Frydenberg:
That statement is false.
Q: You’re not cutting the level?
Frydenberg:
It was legislated for six months. We’re extending it for another six months.
Q: So just to clarify for the viewers – it goes down. You are cutting it from the current level in September?
Frydenberg:
It goes from $1,500 down to $1,200 in the December quarter and then down to $1,000 in the March quarter and there is a two-tier payment. Originally, it was scheduled for just six months. It’s now going for 12 months.
I mean – the Labor party, themselves, had call for this payment to transition. At $101bn, it’s the single largest economic support program any Australian government has ever undertaken. In the words of the governor of the Reserve Bank, “It’s a remarkable program”.
We will have more Victorians on jobkeeper than the rest of the country combined. The damage to the Victorian economy will go for years, and it’s worse than first thought. And that is why the Victorian premier needs to provide a road map out of stage 4.
Updated
So yeah, does Victoria just let those infection numbers go nuts?
Josh Frydenberg:
What we need to hear from Daniel Andrews is: what is the appropriate level of new cases in Victoria for him to open up stage four restrictions? It’s only two weeks to go. The mental health impacts are immense.
I was talking to one of Melbourne’s leading restauranteurs with 1,000 employees.
Most of those are under the age of 35. He’s had to bring in two psychologists to assist his staff. He was planning to invest tens of millions of dollars in opening new restaurants in Melbourne, but that is obviously now all been put on hold.
There is so much uncertainty there, and as you know, when Victoria went into stage four restrictions, business reached out to us, the federal government, because they weren’t getting a proper hearing in Victoria. There was so much confusion around the supply chains – those interventions saved thousands of jobs. What we now need to know is the road out. We need to hear more from Daniel Andrews about the message of hope, not about an extended road in.
Updated
There were 114 people diagnosed with Covid-19 in Victoria yesterday.
Josh Frydenberg says there needs to be a plan to open up the economy.
So he’s asked about aged care:
Q: One of the reasons it’s a problem in Victoria more so than other states is the havoc this virus is causing in aged care centres, and that is on you, treasurer. Your very own colleague, Richard Colbeck, accepted accountability for the failings, the many failings in aged care?
Frydenberg:
We’ve heard that the deaths in aged care, the deaths across the community, have started with community transmission. And you saw advice. You saw medical expert advice based on genomic testing that 99% of those cases in Victoria’s second wave can be traced back to hotel quarantine.
Q: We agree on that, but the problem with the aged care sector is, and this was highlighted by the interim report of the royal commission – there haven’t been enough plans and protocols in place to stop the spread of the virus in such a vulnerable part of society.
Frydenberg:
You’re right. They’re absolutely vulnerable. The people in aged care ...
Q: And they’re not being protected properly.
Frydenberg:
They’re certainly the most vulnerable and we’re working day and night to ensure that they get the protections that they need. We have 1,700 Australian defence force personnel deployed to Victoria.
You’ve heard the premier contradicted on the issue of whether defence force personnel were offered to Victoria. They were and that was rejected. Now, we have a testing and tracing system which is not up to the standard of other states. And Victorians are looking elsewhere across the country and saying – why not us? Yet, we don’t hear about a definite plan.
I mean, kids are not seeing their friends. Grandparents are not seeing their grandchildren. Families can’t go to work. Businesses have their doors closed.
We’re subject to curfews in Victoria. You can’t move more than 5km from your home. The damage is immense. Yet, the premier has not provided a road map out.
Now, if these statistics from the Australian Treasury are not enough to bring forward an economic plan from Daniel Andrews to take Victorian out of stage 4 restrictions – I don’t know what will.
Updated
So should Daniel Andrews just stop listening to the medical advice?
Josh Frydenberg:
What we need to do is focus on the medical advice, but we haven’t been told by the premier what is an acceptable level of new coronavirus cases.
Q: OK, what is the medical advice you’re getting? What is an acceptable level?
Frydenberg:
Again, we need to hear that from the premier. What I do know is that yesterday, there were seven cases in New South Wales. Yet, that economy is open. That with the top testing and tracing that they’ve had there, they’ve been able to manage the virus.
Yesterday, there were four cases in Queensland. Outside of Victoria, jobs have come back and the virus has been controlled.
In Victoria, the testing and tracing has not been up to the standard in other states. Quarantine has had huge mistakes, and we’re waiting now until November to hear the outcomes of that inquiry. In the meantime, hundreds of people have lost their lives and hundreds of thousands will lose their job. We now need the Victorian government to provide more detailed answers and a more detailed road map.
Updated
Josh Frydenberg is asked whether he believes Daniel Andrews will keep Melbourne under a lockdown “an hour longer” than is necessary.
He tells the ABC:
We haven’t seen a definite plan from the Victorian premier, and just yesterday, he said it’s too early for that. I disagree with him on that and so do Victorian businesses and many Victorian families, because they need to hear more about the road out as opposed to a longer road in with the talk of the extending emergency powers for 12 months.
If you’ll remember back on in crisis, we worked on a three-stage process for easing restrictions. It had detail about the nature of the activities that were allowed, the number of people who could gather.
It related to retail, to recreation, to restaurants. We haven’t seen any of that detail from the Victorian government. And I know, as the federal treasurer – the cost to the economy is immense.
And we’re seeing up to 400,000 people lose their job or see their hours reduced to zero.
We’ll have more Victorians on jobkeeper than the rest of the country combined. We know where this all started. It started at quarantine. We’ve heard expert medical evidence on that. What we now need to hear from the Victorian premier is about the road out, about getting people back to work, businesses reopening and, of course, kids back to school.
Updated
Good morning
Welcome to the first day of the second sitting week and day 478 of 2020.
The jobseeker rate is on the agenda within the parliament this week, with the government and Labor locking horns over whether the current rate should be continued beyond December.
Social services minister Anne Ruston will table legislation to extend the income-free threshold for the unemployment benefit jobseeker (and youth allowance) from just over $100 a fortnight to $300 a fortnight to try and get people back into the workforce.
There are one million Australians unemployed, and 13 job seekers for every one job ad at the moment, so this isn’t going to be a problem which is solved by December, when the rate begins to taper off.
Labor wants amendments as part of the jobkeeper extension, which is aimed at protecting low-income earners who are receiving the wage subsidy through their employer, but have already indicated it will pass the bill if its amendments are opposed by the government. Which doesn’t seem the most winning of strategies, but here we are.
Meanwhile, Covid-19 continues to impact the states.
In Queensland, Staines Memorial College in Redbank Plains has been closed for 14 days for deep cleaning after a senior student tested positive for Covid-19. That was one of four positive cases in the state yesterday, which are all stemming from the youth detention centre cluster.
Queensland’s chief health officer, Dr Jeannette Young said it was “time to put on the masks”.
Speaking of masks, Gladys Berejiklian is facing more calls to mandate them on public transport after a smattering of Covid-19 cases from community transfer.
As AAP reports:
A Sydney bus route, a popular gym and a pub are the latest subjects of urgent public health warnings as a Covid-19 cluster in Sydney’s CBD spreads.
Commuters who boarded the same Sydney bus as two confirmed Covid-19 cases have been told to immediately self-isolate.
Passengers on the X39 bus that left Pitt Street opposite Australia Square at 6.08pm on August 20 and arrived at Randwick’s Clovelly Road at Carrington Road at 6.40pm are considered close contacts.
They all must isolate until midnight on 3 September and be tested for Covid-19 regardless of symptoms.
A previously reported case linked to Sydney’s CBD cluster took the bus as did a second passenger who was confirmed as having the virus on Friday.
The NSW opposition leader Jodi McKay has reiterated her call for premier Gladys Berejiklian to mandate mask wearing for everyone on public transport.
“We now have an entire busload of passengers forced to self-isolate. Premier, please bite the bullet and make face masks mandatory on public transport. The dithering has gone on too long,” Mckay tweeted on Monday.
We’ll bring you all the news as it happens. You have Amy Remeikis with you for the day.
Ready?
Updated
