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Luke Henriques-Gomes (now) and Michael McGowan, Matilda Boseley and Josh Taylor (earlier)

Chief medical officer says global cases could be 5 to 10 million – as it happened

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Summary

We might leave it there for the night. Thanks so much for reading today.

Hopefully you’re enjoying your Friday night, despite these strange times.

Before we let you go, let’s recap today’s main developments.

  • The national death toll now stands at 28
  • The chief medical officer believes global cases could actually be as high as 5-10 million (global count is 1m)
  • Scott Morrison says the government will release details of the Covid-19 modelling on Tuesday
  • NSW Health has been blamed for letting the passengers of the Ruby Princess disembark
  • The government has suspended welfare debt recovery for six months
  • ASIC warned of fines for real estate agents telling tenants to use their super to pay rent

And with that, good night. See you tomorrow.

Here is the latest Covid-19 update from Queensland:

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has applauded Queenslanders for responding positively to community measures in the joint battle against COVID-19.

“I see people are doing the right thing. They are social distancing. They are staying close in their suburbs and that is what we need people to do,” Palaszczuk said.

However the premier encouraged the public to stay disciplined for the long haul.

“The evidence is telling me we are about two to three weeks behind New South Wales and the peak could be in July, August or September,” she said.

“I know this is a lot of change to take in but we’re all going through it together.

“If we get through this over the next six months, I hope to see that things can start returning to some kind of normality.”

The government has confirmed that despite border closures, the Easter bunny has been granted an exemption.

  • There are 39 new cases in Queensland
  • In total, 873 recorded
  • Four deaths
  • And more than 53,000 tests

The majority of cases are patients who have travelled overseas or had direct contact with a confirmed case who had travelled overseas.

Updated

NSW Health cleared Ruby Princess to disembark

The NSW Health statement – which is very, very long – appears to be in response to a story from Nine News.

Among other things, the authority says that it was notified by the Ruby Princess of “104 acute respiratory infections [on board] of which 36 people had presented to the ship’s clinic with influenza like illness”.

Nine reported tonight that NSW Health cleared the Ruby Passengers to disembark, citing emails obtained by the network that say NSW Health assessed the Ruby Princess as “not requiring onboard health assessment in Sydney”.

“You are free to disembark,” the email to the Ruby Princess’s physician adds.

NSW Health said that the ship had reported that there were “104 acute respiratory infections of which 36 people had presented to the ship’s clinic with influenza like illness”.

The authority said that these numbers “fell short of the definition of an ‘outbreak’.”

It said: “The Commonwealth Department of Health protocol on managing novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19 risk from cruise ship) states ‘provided there are no concerns about the Covid-19 risk profile of the ship or suspected Covid-19 cases reported … the ship may be allowed to continue voyage while samples are tested’.”

NSW Health said of the emails obtained by Nine News that the “illness and test results identified on board was consistent with influenza.

“This is reflected in email correspondence between NSW Health and the ship’s doctor on the Ruby Princess who confirmed influenza was circulating on the cruise. However, in two sick patients referenced in the email, although they had tested negative to influenza, the cause of their respiratory infection was consistent with influenza for which they were receiving treatment.”

Updated

NSW Health defends handling of Ruby Princess

NSW Health has issued a statement defending its handling of the Ruby Princess cruise ship.

The statement says there have been 342 confirmed cases of Covid-19 diagnosed in NSW from passengers who were on board the Ruby Princess cruise ship, and 11 probable cases of secondary transmission.

In a lengthy statement, the authority says that transmission among these passengers “could not have been prevented by NSW Health staff”.

“No cases of COVID-19 were identified on board the ship before it docked,” a spokesperson said.

“The vast majority of these passengers reported they did not develop symptoms until after leaving the Ruby Princess.”

The Guardian reported this week that about 10% of all cases in Australia were from passengers on board the cruise ship. The NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian, and the home affairs minister, Peter Dutton, have both been under pressure to explain why passengers were allowed to disembark the ship.

Defending its handling of the situation, NSW Health said passengers were advised to self-isolate for 14 after leaving the ship.

“International experience shows Covid-19 can rapidly spread among passengers if left on board, so self-isolation at home is a much safer option than leaving passengers on board,” the spokesperson said.

“NSW Health had prepared plans in the event Covid-19 being identified on a cruise ship.

“On this particular voyage, it was known that influenza activity had been identified on the ship.”

The spokesperson said that a risk assessment process showed that it was preferable to remove passengers from the ship.

“Rapid influenza tests identify only a proportion of people who actually have the infection, meaning some people return a negative result even though they are infected with the flu,” the spokesperson said.

“The illness and test results identified on board was consistent with influenza.”

Updated

Something a bit more cheery. Here is Mark McGowan melting down over the Man With The Kebab.

This is just awful.

After saying that WA’s trajectory as far as Covid-19 cases goes is promising, McGowan turns to rental arrangements. He says he will make announcement on this soon but says “rents will need to come down” for commercial tenants.

Work is continuing through the national cabinet on new commercial tenancy regulations. We hope to come to a resolution next week on this. It is important we have commercial rents reflect the commercial realities of today. Many tenants, many businesses, have had their incomes collapse. Commercial rents should reflect that simple fact. Rents will need to come down – it’s as simple as that. We will work through the detail and make an announcement soon.

The Prime Minister has said that we want a moratorium on evictions and I support that. That doesn’t mean those businesses who are still in a position to pay rent stop paying rent. But this initiative is about looking after the little guy. We need to be kind and be compassionate to our tenants. We encourage landlords to work with their tenants to come up with a workable and practical outcome that reflects the economic reality of today. Those discussions should already be occurring.

Updated

McGowan stresses that Western Australians who are outside the state need to return before Sunday (when the border closes).

He addresses the details here:

After the deadline, West Australians will only be allowed back into the state if they meet one of the exemptions. The Police Commissioner or his delegate will be the final decision-maker, including on specific compassionate grounds. I do want to clarify one element now for those West Australians currently in forced hotel quarantine over east. Under our border closure if a WestAustralian is self-isolating in an eastern states hotel under a direction, an exemption will apply. For them to return home to WA directly from that hotel, after they have completed their 14 days of quarantine. They would then be required to self-isolate for a further 14 days in Western Australia.

Updated

As he did yesterday, McGowan acknowledges that WA’s decision to close its borders will frustrate people.

But he says the trade off will be worth it.

“We have an advantage here inWestern Australia – it is our isolation from the rest of Australia. It would be irresponsible of me as premier not to use our best advantage in this fight.”

Updated

Cruise ship passenger dies, death toll hits 28

McGowan begins by acknowledging the death of a passenger from the Artania cruise ship. That takes the national death toll to 28.

“Sadly, a male in his 60s passed away last night at Joondalup health campus after testing positive for Covid-19.”

ABC has reported that the man was a foreign national.

Updated

Thanks to Michael for his efforts today. We’ll get straight into it with the WA premier, and Michael’s namesake, Mark McGowan, who is speaking in Perth right now.

Updated

I’m going to hand over to my colleague Luke Henriques-Gomes, who has drawn the short straw and is on the Friday night shift. Not that Friday really means anything anymore. Thanks for reading as always.

Updated

Amnesty International Australia has backed calls from doctors for the Australian government to release detainees held in immigration detention centres into the community.

Amnesty said close living conditions inside detention centres and “alternative places of detention” – known as Apods, and often commandeered hotels – made social distancing impossible.

“The people being held in places like the Mantra hotel in Preston Victoria, were brought to Australia because they needed urgent medical help. To leave them in a situation where their already fragile health is further imperilled is just cruel,” Amnesty International Australia refugee advisor, Dr Graham Thom, said.

Medical experts have advised the government that these people pose no risk at all if they are housed in the community.

Professor David Isaacs, clinical professor in paediatric infectious diseases at the University of Sydney, wrote a letter – signed by more than 1,200 medical professionals – to the home affairs minister, urging the government to free those held in detention.

“Social distancing measures which are being required of the rest of us simply aren’t possible in Apods where we have evidence of people being crowded in rooms of 20 or more people for extended periods of time.”

“While the response to Covid-19 needs to be speedy and by nature restrict movement, it shouldn’t come at the expense of the most vulnerable people in our community, nor should it be at the expense of Australia’s obligation to upholding basic human rights, like the right to health,” Professor Isaacs’ letter said.

Moz, an Iranian refugee held for seven years in PNG and medevacced to Australia for respiratory care, said detainees in Apods were held inside, in cramped conditions, 24 hours a day.

“There is no space for social distancing. The guards come and go and do not have masks or anything. I am terrified of what will happen in here, and also worried for the health of Australians if this becomes a Covid-19 hotspot.”

Talks between refugee advocacy groups and government on the temporary release of detainees into the community – to live with their families or with advocates who had volunteered to house them – have broken down. The government is planning to move some detainees from detention centres to Apods, taking over larger and larger parts of city hotels.

Updated

The senior executives at La Trobe University in Melbourne have announced they’ll take a 20% pay cut, with half of that to go to a fund for students affected by the pandemic. The university estimates it is facing an estimated loss in revenue of between $120m and 150m in 2020.

Updated

Queensland Health has confirmed it has 39 new confirmed cases of coronavirus, raising the state’s total to 873. The majority of those cases are in Brisbane, the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast.

“The majority of cases are from patients who have travelled overseas, or have had direct contact with a confirmed case who had travelled overseas,” the health department says.

“The number of confirmed cases we see each day is expected to vary as we continue to respond to the Covid-19 situation across the state.

“We want everyone to know they can play their part to protect themselves and the more vulnerable in our community. Please follow the recommended advice from us and our federal counterparts in regards to social distancing, public gatherings and general wellbeing.”

Updated

Indigenous affairs editor Lorena Allam and I have been speaking with Aboriginal medical services in rural New South Wales about their preparedness for Covid-19.

They report serious problems in accessing personal protective equipment such as surgical masks, which are crucial in treating coronavirus patients. In towns such as Coonamble, in the state’s west, frontline health workers say they’re about to run out.

No new supply is imminent, despite confirmed Covid-19 cases in the area. The Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council of NSW chair Phil Naden has warned the provision of health services may need to be restricted if more PPE is not received soon.

“We’re down to two weeks PPE, at the most, in a lot of our clinics,” he told the Guardian.

“It’s a bit catastrophic at the moment, particularly with everything happening and the need for it.”

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are considered an at-risk group for Covid-19.

Updated

The prime minister’s office has also provided a bit more information on that modelling Morrison mentioned earlier.

From next week the health department will begin releasing “a national daily dashboard of data and key facts”.

National cabinet will review up-dated health system capacity modelling at its meeting next Tuesday. The modelling will look at the trajectory of the outbreak in Australia, the capacity of the health system and measures put in place to suppress the spread of the coronavirus.

Updated

On commercial rental tenancies, national cabinet has agreed to a mandatory code of conduct which will be discussed at its the next meeting on Tuesday. The code will be legislated by state and territory governments to apply for situations where tenant is eligible for the government’s jobkeeper program and has a turnover of less than $50m.

The principles that guide the code will be:

  • Where it can, rent should continue to be paid, and where there is financial distress as a result of Covid-19 (for example, the tenant is eligible for assistance through the jobkeeper program), tenants and landlords should negotiate a mutually agreed outcome
  • There will be a proportionality to rent reductions based on the decline in turnover to ensure that the burden is shared between landlords and tenants
  • A prohibition on termination of leases for non-payment of rent (lockouts and eviction)
  • There will be a freeze on rent increases (except for turnover leases)
  • There will be a prohibition on penalties for tenants who stop trading or reduce opening hours
  • There will be a prohibition on landlords passing land tax to tenants (if not already legislated) by states or territories
  • There will be a prohibition on landlords charging interest on unpaid rent
  • There will be a prohibition on landlords from making a claim to a bank guarantee or security deposit for non-payment of rent
  • Ensure that any legislative barriers or administrative hurdles to lease extensions are removed (so that a tenant and landlord could agree a rent waiver in return for a lease extension)

National cabinet has also agreed to consider a three-month land tax waiver for landlords and tenants that sign up to the code. This only relates to commercial leases, however, which Morrison says has been prioritised over residential tenancies.

Updated

The prime minister’s office has released more detail on some of the announcements Scott Morrison made earlier today. I’ll split them up for the sake of brevity.

On religious worship, national cabinet has agreed that churches and other places of worship can now be considered places of work so that services can be live-streamed to the community.

This will ensure that religious services, including Easter services, remain accessible to congregations. National cabinet agreed that providing access to services is important for a sense of continuity and social connection.

Services may be conducted and live-streamed providing only essential staff are present, the venue/facility remains closed to the public, and social distancing principles are adhered to.

Any church wishing to conduct religious services, including Easter services, must use the minimum number of participants required to deliver and live stream the service, which may include a priest, attendants, organist, videographer and sound recordist.

Updated

The premier of Western Australia, Mark McGowan, who I am pretty sure I am not related to, has signed a special “eggs-emption” allowing the Easter bunny to travel to WA despite border closures in the state.

Bit grim, really.

Updated

A number of parks in Victoria have been closed. You already couldn’t sit in them, now you can’t exercise in them either.

The finance minister, Mathias Cormann, has signed off on an additional $800m in funding for masks and other emergency medical equipment to address shortages in personal protective gear for health workers.

“The funding requirement is urgent and was unforeseen in the context of the continued rapid spread of Covid-19 across the globe, with possible supply shortages due to increasing international demand and domestic manufacturing capability,” he said.

The funding was drawn from the government’s advance fund, a legislated funding source of last resort, which enables the finance minister to withdraw money from the government’s consolidated revenue fund.

Updated

The Northern Territory chief minister, Michael Gunner, has been speaking about the NT’s new border closure measures, which came into place on Tuesday. The new rules mean all access points – road, rail, air and sea – are closed, and anyone arriving from interstate will be required to quarantine for 14 days.

Gunner was blunt in his delivery. He said he had wanted to close the borders entirely but that “unfortunately the Constitution got in my way”.

The biggest threat to the territory is clear. It is not us, it’s them. The rest of the country is full of coronavirus hot spots. We are a safe haven [and] are trying to stay that way ... We have said to the rest of the country, we [welcome] you back one day but for now, you need to stay away. You are too dangerous.

He said that since the announcement daily arrivals into the Northern Territory had fallen by 75% compared to last Sunday. In the last 24 hours, he said, just 11 people had come through the Stuart Highway from South Australia.

From midnight tonight, we’re getting even tougher. If you come to the territory, we will put you in a room, keep you there and then we will give you the bill. If you don’t want to be locked in a room and don’t want to pay a massive bill, it is simple, don’t come, stay away.

Updated

The government’s decision to pause Services Australia’s debt raising and recovery activities will be welcomed by welfare groups, Labor and the Greens, who have been demanding the agency focus on dealing with an unprecedented number of jobseeker payment claims during the Covid-19 crisis.

Last week, the Guardian revealed that although it was working on a secret plan to refund people hit by the botched robodebt scheme, Services Australia staff were continuing to pursue people over potential debts, just as thousands of Australians were queuing around the block outside Centrelink offices.

That is despite the government assuring Greens senator Rachel Siewert that all resources had been directed to helping process new dole claims.

The announcement today of a six-month pause in debt recovery means people should no longer be contacted by Services Australia over alleged welfare overpayments. And it means that staff who were working on issuing debts to Australians can now be redeployed to help deal with the increased demand for assistance.

It also means that people who are currently repaying a debt – either directly or by having their welfare payments docked – can apply to have these arrangements paused.

However, the minister’s press release also notes: “Work relating to fraud and serious non-compliance will continue in order to maintain the integrity of the welfare system.”

The pause will last for an initial six months.

Updated

Chief medical officer says global coronavirus cases likely to be “five or 10 times higher” than being reported

Something I missed from Scott Morrison’s press conference earlier (sorry, lots happening) was chief medical officer Brendan Murphy’s comment that the true number of Covid-19 cases worldwide was likely to be “five or 10 times higher” than the global figure of 1 million cases recorded on Friday.

As I wrote earlier, Murphy said he was only totally confident of infection rates in Australia because of our high rate of testing. He said the US in particular was likely to have a much higher rate of infection than the 236,000 cases currently being reported.

Updated

Commonwealth announces pause on Centrelink debt recovery

The government has announced a six-month “pause” on Centrelink debt raising and recovery, the minister for government services, Stuart Robert, has announced.

The government had previously suspended mutual obligation appointments for jobseekers, but on Friday Robert said it would also pause debt recovery

Robert says the debt recovery pause will “allows Australians to focus on their personal situation during these difficult times, and supports the government’s priority to get assistance to people as quickly as possible”.

However, the pause will not come into place automatically and people in existing repayment arrangements will need to contact Services Australia.

“During disaster events, such as the recent bushfires, debt raising and recovery activities are routinely suspended within the affected areas. The coronavirus pandemic falls into this category, however its impact is nationwide,” Robert said.

“Pausing certain debt activity also enables the redeployment of staff to assist in areas of critical need, like claims processing for those Australians impacted by the pandemic.”

Updated

A flagged change to Victoria’s Public Health Orders is now confirmed. People are allowed “to visit a person with whom they are in an intimate personal relationship”.

Police in New South Wales have charged two men in relation to two separate coughing incidents yesterday.

Police say a 22-year-old man from Plumpton near Mount Druitt in western Sydney “allegedly ran at the officers and coughed towards their faces” after they attended reports of a domestic-related incident.

Police will allege in court that the man assaulted a 13-year-old boy inside the Plumpton home before the coughing incident. He’s been charged with intimidating a police officer, resisting an officer, damaging or destroying property and common assault.

Separately, a 48-year-old man has been charged after allegedly coughing at supermarket employees and shoppers on the Central Coast. Police say that at about 4.40pm yesterday officers were called to a shopping centre in Lake Haven “following reports a man was coughing on people”.

Updated

Scott Morrison speaks after national cabinet meeting

A few highlights from the prime minister’s press conference this afternoon:

  • The government will begin releasing modelling on its projections of the likely spread of the virus in Australia from next week. Morrison said that had the virus kept growing at the same rate it was 12 days ago, there would now be an extra 5,000 cases in the country.
  • Local government employees will not be eligible for the government’s Jobkeeper program but will have to rely on support from state governments.
  • On the government’s six-month moratorium on rental evictions, Morrison said the government was working on a mandatory code between landlords and tenants but did not want to be “prescriptive” about arrangements.
  • He also said national cabinet’s priority had been on commercial tenancies, not residential leases. He said the moratorium on evictions “doesn’t mean there’s a moratorium on rents”.
  • Morrison suggested the government would have more to say on various visa holders in coming days, but asked about international students who may have lost employment he said: “If they are not in a position to support themselves there is the option for them to return to their home countries.”
  • Asked whether he trusted low infection rates being reported in China, chief medical officer Brendan Murphy said the only figures he had total faith in were Australia’s, because of our high rate of testing. He said infection rates in the US were likely higher than those being reported.

Updated

That’s the end of the press conference.

He’s asked about reports in Queensland that renters have had to use the state’s administrative tribunal on rental claims because their landlords say the eviction moratorium is not law. Morrison tells landlords to “do the right thing”.

We are in in this together. Sit down with your tenant who has been paying you rent, working in their business week after week after week. Respect each other’s livelihoods and support each other’s livelihoods whenever you can. This is going to be a tough time. Whether you’re a tenant, and I know landlords will feel it as well.

It is not about picking sides but making sure Australians work together to solve a problem that they share together.

Updated

Asked about historic unemployment figures being reported in the US and whether he’s concerned about their impact in Australia, Morrison says it’s why the government announced the $130bn jobkeeper program.

This is going to save tens and tens and tens of thousands of jobs immediately and hopefully millions more as we go through the many difficult months ahead. Now, our scheme was designed for Australia. It is Australian-made forAustralian circumstances.

Updated

Brendan Murphy is asked whether he trusts the very low infection rates being reported in China. He says he only trusts infection rates in Australia.

Look, I think the only numbers I have total faith in are the Australian numbers, frankly. Because we have the highest testing rate in the world. I think China is in a really difficult position. They did clamp down incredibly hard and they stopped transmission. But their population is not immune. They still have a lot of people in their population and they are, obviously, trying very hard to prevent second waves. I think they have been pretty transparent but as I said, I’m only confident about our numbers. I’m certainly not confident [that] even the numbers out of the US aren’t much higher than being reported because nobody else in the world has been doing testing like we have.

Asked about residential renters, Morrison says the government has been more focused on commercial tenancies given the pressure on the business sector.

“The priority has been on commercial tenancies ... that’s where the national cabinet has put its first attention ... On residential tenancies we’ve already announced a moratorium on evictions – that doesn’t mean there’s a moratorium on rents. We won’t have anyone thrown out of their homes.

Updated

Morrison is asked whether his comments about national cabinet moving into a new phase suggests future updates will be more focused on progress reports than major changes, such as stimulus measures like the Jobkeeper program.

Says “as a general rule that’s a pretty reasonable summary”.

Doesn’t rule out further measures, however.

Updated

Asked about international students, Morrison says the immigration minister “will have more to say about other visa holders and the arrangements the government is coming to for those” in the coming days.

But, he also says students who come to Australia in their first year “have to give a warranty that they are able to support themselves in their first year of study. That is not an unreasonable expectation of the government.”

If they are not in a position to support themselves there is the option for them to return to their home countries.

Updated

Morrison now being asked about what workers should do before Jobkeeper begins on 1 May. He says employers should speak to their banks if they do not have the cashflow to begin payments before then.

The prime minister is asked why, if churches are workplaces, the parliament cannot sit.

He says parliament “will resume next week” and be called as it is needed.

Updated

Chief medical officer Brendan Murphy speaking

Chief medical officer Brendan Murphy is now speaking. Says he’s “quietly pleased” with the trend of new cases but says community transmissions “have been growing and are still growing slowly”.

That means, he says, there are people in the community “who have Covid-19 who don’t know it and that is why we introduced these social distancing measures we’ve all been taken to heart very well”.

Updated

On rules around the ban on rental evictions, Morrison says a “mandatory code” is being worked on, but he wants landlords and renters to reach their own arrangements.

One way to achieve that would be to extend the overall lease on six months on the other side [but] we do not wish to be prescriptive about this.

People in Australia on working holidays can self-isolate where they currently are and after a 14-day isolation travel to rural and regional communities in order to assist with primary production work like fruit picking, Morrison says.

Updated

Local government workers, Morrison says, are not eligible for the Jobkeeper program. He says that instead any support necessary for those workers will be provided by state and territory governments.

That modelling Morrison referred to earlier will not be released until Tuesday, he says.

Updated

Morrison says that national cabinet has decided to expand those able to conduct religious services, particularly over the Easter period. That doesn’t mean places of worship are open, but that “priests and others formally involved in conducting the services” will now be classified as essential workers.

Updated

Morrison says modelling done for the government shows that “at the current rate” Australia is “tracking well”.

At the current rate if we keep doing what we’re doing and keep doing the work to upgrade ICU capacity and secure the extra ventilators then right now that trajectory is promising, it’s encouraging, but there are no guarantees. This virus writes its own rules.

Morrison begins by saying national cabinet is “moving into a new phase” where it will review measures taken to stop the spread of the virus “and make such adjustments as is necessary”.

I can say this, that had the virus kept growing at the same rate it was 12 days ago, we would now have more than 10,500 cases in this country.

Updated

Scott Morrison speaking now

The prime minister, Scott Morrison, is speaking now.

Updated

75-year-old Ovation of the Seas passenger dies in New South Wales, the 27th coronavirus death in Australia

The New South Wales health department has revealed that a 75-year-old man died at Wollongong Hospital overnight. He was a passenger onboard the Ovation of the Seas cruise ship.

That’s the state’s 12th death and the 27th nationally. We earlier heard a 74-year-old woman died at the Albury Base Hospital.

NSW Health also says two radiation therapists from Westmead Hospital in Sydney have tested positive for Covid-19. Contact tracing is underway. The department says 14 staff and all but two of the 24 patients who have come into contact with them have been contacted.

Updated

We mentioned a little earlier that the South Australian government has extended the state’s major emergency declaration until 1 May.

The government there has also announced today that it will provide “fee relief” for the minerals sector in the midst of the coronavirus.

SA’s minister for energy and mining, Dan van Holst Pellekaan, announced today that mining companies would have fees waived for exploration and licence fees for the minerals and petroleum sectors “to alleviate the impact on industry of coronavirus containment measures”.

“While the South Australian government continues to implement rigorous measures across the mining and resources sector to reduce the risk of coronavirus spreading among the workforce, it is also important to provide financial assistance to those companies doing it tough during this time,” van Holst Pellekaan said.

It means the immediate deferral of mineral exploration licence fees until 21 December, and a 12-month waiver of expenditure for all mineral exploration licence holders.

Updated

A German tourist from one of the cruise ships off the coast of Perth has died, the West Australian reports. The tourist had been on the Artania cruise ship and was one of 42 people on board who had tested positive to the virus.

The passenger had been treated at the Joondalup health campus, where they died.

I’ll try to get you more on this soon.

Updated

The prime minister, Scott Morrison, will hold a press conference at 1.40pm. National Cabinet has been meeting today. I’ll bring you the latest as it happens.

Good afternoon,

This is Michael McGowan taking over from Matilda Boseley.

NSW records 11th coronavirus death

NSW Health has confirmed the state’s 11th death.

A 74-year-old woman died overnight in the southern NSW town of Albury.

The Murrumbidgee local health district, which includes Albury, has had 41 confirmed Covid-19 cases.

Updated

South Australia extends emergency declaration

South Australian premier Steven Marshall has extended the state’s major emergency declaration. It now is effective through to at least 1 May.

Currently South Australia’s physical distancing laws are some of the most lenient in the country. Residents will currently be fined if they are gathering in groups of more than 10, however Marshall urged that groups are limited to two and unnecessary socialising is avoided.

Updated

It seems mandatory quarantine hasn’t dampened some people’s desire for party drugs. A man in Sydney has been arrested allegedly trying to sneak MDMA to travellers trapped inside a CBD hotel.

Via the AAP:

A man has been charged for allegedly using a box of fresh fruit to try and smuggle drugs to a traveller quarantined inside a Sydney hotel.

The 37-year-old was arrested after delivering the fruit box to the Elizabeth Street property on Thursday afternoon.

Police searched the box and allegedly found a single capsule of MDMA stashed inside a white envelope.

The delivery man from Lane Cove was arrested and police officers found a bag of white powder – believed to be cocaine – when they searched him.

He is due to face Downing Centre Local Court on 19 June.

Updated

Those stuck at home in NSW may be curious to know what the Sydney CBD looks like in the middle of this crisis.

Never fear, we have created a video that will show you exactly that.

Sydney radio shock jock Alan Jones has taken the New South Wales police minister, David Elliott, to task this morning over the enforcement of public health orders that ban people gathering in groups of more than two or for being outside of their homes without a “reasonable excuse”.

Breaching the orders is punishable in NSW by fines for individuals of up to $11,000 or six months in prison. We have reported today that a 21-year-old man eating a kebab on a bench in Newcastle and two people sitting in a stationary car without “a reasonable excuse not to be at home” are among those already fined.

Jones, who is often outraged but generally not known to be soft on law and order, told Elliott this morning he believed the laws were a “terrible, undemocratic mess” and read out a letter on air from a listener who compared them to Nazi Germany and the USSR.

“I’m talking about [fining] a 21-year-old man eating a kebab on a bench in Newcastle, I mean what the hell?” Jones said.

Elliott said the police commissioner, Mick Fuller, would be reviewing fines issued for breaching public health orders.

“Nobody likes these laws. Nobody wants to see the pubs and the clubs open more than me. Nobody wants our lifestyle returned more than me, which is why I’m thrilled and relieved this is a short term scenario,” Elliott said.

Jones repeatedly accused Elliott of being “alarmist” on the threat of coronavirus, and questioned why the government hadn’t been as “fastidious” in relation to the Ruby Princess cruise ship. He also prompted an admission from Elliott that “with hindsight I think we would have closed the borders a lot earlier”.

Updated

My colleague Ben Butler has more details on the warning real estate agents received from ASIC.

You can read his full story here.

The Gold Coast Bulletin is reporting that cars have been spotted driving around barriers at the NSW/ Queensland border.

Non-Queensland residents are now barred from entering the sate without an essential reason.

The Bulletin has posted photographs of a car with NSW licence plates mounting the footpath to avoid water-filled barriers at the Ducat St border in suburb of Kirra.

You can read the story here.

Updated

Victoria update

The Victorian health department has released the day’s Covid-19 numbers.

In the last 24 hours, 49 new cases have been reported, bringing the state’s total to 1,085.

This increase is less than those of the last three days. There were 68 yesterday, 51 on 1 April and 96 on 31 March.

Victoria also reported its seventh death, a man in his 80s who died in hospital overnight.

There are currently 37 people in hospital for Covid-19 in Victoria, seven in intensive care.

476 people have now recovered.

Updated

Victoria Police say they have conducted 1,542 physical distancing spot checks at homes, businesses and non-essential services across the state, in the last 24 hours

Officers issued 16 fines, bringing the state’s total to 39.

Updated

NSW records its 11th death

The ABC is reporting a 74-year-old woman from Albury died overnight.

She is believed to have contracted the virus overseas.

This brings NSW’s death toll to 11, and nationally, 26.

Updated

Victorian real estate agents are using the coronavirus crisis to push for delays to laws improving the lives of a lot of renters in the state.

Real Estate Institute of Victoria president Leah Calnan says landlords need to focus on dealing with the crisis and wants the start date of the new rules, which include a ban on rental bidding, more security for tenants and limits on rent increases, from 1 July to 1 January next year “at the earliest”.

Laws that make it easier for tenants to keep pets that are part of the package are already in place.

Updated

The Australian Payments Network today announced they will be increasing the limit you can tap to pay without entering your pin from $100 to $200.

They say this is in an effort to help people stay safe while shopping by limiting the number of people who need to touch Eftpos machines.

The new $200 limit is expected to apply for a three-month period and will be extended if required. Similar increases have been implemented or are under consideration in other countries around the world in response to Covid-19.

Updated

Anthony Albanese made these comments in relation to the Ruby Princess cruise ship:

We are seeing now the figures up around 600 for people directly linked to the Ruby Princess and people being allowed, 2,700 being allowed off that ship.

That is a diabolical circumstance typical of the government’s handling of this, I think people just shake their head when we see federal coalition government criticising the state coalition government and vice versa.

What they want is for this to have not happened. The federal government has control of our borders so they are responsible.

They are responsible for these issues and, yet, the federal government has refused to take responsibility for it.

Updated

When asked if Labor would consider supporting an extension to the free childcare program past the current crisis, Anthony Albanese said:

We do not want to try to predict too far into the future.

If you predicted that a government that described our childcare policy at the last election as ‘communism’ would be implementing free childcare, you would have been buying some lottery ticket because you could have predicted the outcome of the lottery.

Truth is that this government has acted in ways in which they have contradicted not just their recent history but for many of them, years of their rhetorical position.

Updated

Shadow minister for housing and homelessness, Jason Clare added this example:

Most real estate agents are doing the right thing, they are professionals and doing a great job of the course of the last few days we have seen a few bad examples of real estate agents doing the wrong thing.

One example is the woman from Queensland that contacted us, told us that she had been sick in bed with flu-like symptoms for the last two weeks.

She had been tested for Covid-19 and got a phone call while she was waiting for the results from her real estate agent telling her to get out and go for a walk because he needed to take a prospective buyer in to look at the property and he didn’t want someone in there that was sick at the time.

The good news ... is she doesn’t have Covid-19 but that is not really the point here. The real estate agent doing that is reckless and irresponsible and really needs to pull his head in.

Updated

Opposition leader Anthony Albanese also criticised real estate agents encouraging renters to dip into their super funds to pay for rent:

Not only is it financial advice, it will be bad financial advice because Labor has pointed out our concern with the super arrangements.

When you have the bottom of the market as we are seeing at the moment, it is not individual superannuation’s interest to take this about because it will lead to much lower retirement incomes and our concern is also there for the superannuation industry which may well be forced to sell assets at the bottom of the market.

Updated

Labor leader Anthony Albanese says the national cabinet should come up with specific policies around stopping evictions and how to protect renters.

“We need clarity on those issues. And we need real estate agents to reduce the pressure and not add to it.”

The national cabinet is meeting this morning to discuss commercial and residential tenancies.

Guardian Australia understands that – in addition to a 6 month moratorium on evictions for residential tenants in Covid-19 related financial hardship – the states and territories are likely to agree to waive land tax to encourage landlords to offer rent reductions.

Under the plan, landlords that offer rent reductions will be able to share the pain 50/50 with the state or territory government, capped at the amount of land tax they pay.

The Australian Capital Territory has already announced such a scheme as part of a $214m support package on Thursday.

In a statement, the ACT chief minister and treasurer, Andrew Barr, said:

With a number of renters expected to receive financial support through the commonwealth wage subsidy scheme, the ACT government will encourage landlords to reduce rents by at least 25% for tenants under rental stress by sharing the cost reduction of the rental on a 50/50 basis, capped at $1,300 per quarter (around $100 a week). This could result in rental relief of up to $200 a week for tenants who have lost income due to Covid-19.

Updated

Education minister Dan Tehan has confirmed in a statement this morning that the government would continue to fund early education into 2021.

“The federal government will provide $453.2m for preschool funding in 2021 to support almost 350,000 children to access preschool,” he said.

However, unlike yesterday’s announcement of free access to childcare for all Australians, this is simply a rollover of the 2020 early education funding and isn’t expanding the program.

It does, however, provide some certainty to an industry that is struggling in the Covid-9 crisis.

Updated

The coroner’s court in Victoria has suspended all in-person hearings, which means that inquest findings, summary inquests, directions hearings and mention hearings will all be held by teleconference or video conferencing.

Inquest hearings have been adjourned for a date to be fixed, which will not be before 31 May – and could be much later than that, depending on the unfolding coronavirus crisis.

This is a big deal for families which often wait months or years for a hearing date and to get the outcome of a coronial inquest.

In particular, it could impact the handing down of findings in the inquest into the death of Yorta Yorta woman Tanya Day, which we understood was expected in the next few weeks.

Incidentally, the coroner’s court has said it will not generally be investigating deaths arising from Covid-19 because they are considered to be deaths from natural causes.

The usual exemptions apply: if a person in custody or in care dies after contracting Covid-19, or a person with Covid-19 dies in violent or suspicious circumstances, the coroner will investigate.

Updated

Here is a look at some of the water-filled barriers that went up around suburban streets in Coolangatta. The Gold Coast suburb straddles the New South Wales border and will undoubtedly be one of the most difficult places to enforce new travel restrictions.

Updated

Queensland update

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has tweeted that Queensland has confirmed 39 new Covid-19 cases, taking the state’s total to 873.

Updated

The NRL players’ union say they are willing to consider all the game’s stars living in a bubble together to ensure the 2020 season can restart.

There seems to be some confusion at checkpoints between NSW and Queensland. This morning’s rush hour is the first test of Queensland’s new hard border restrictions.

An update on the Kimberley region

As well as introducing a hard border with the eastern states, the Western Australian government has clamped down on travel within the Kimberley region after six residents tested positive for Covid-19, five of whom were health workers.

From midnight last night, Kimberley residents are unable to move outside of their own local government area, unless it’s for work, education, compassionate reasons, or some other essential purpose.

Premier Mark McGowan said he had “grave concerns” for Kimberley residents.

“The situation unfolding in the Kimberley is extremely serious, and we need to implement drastic measures to protect the community.

“We cannot take any chances here. Kimberley residents living in remote Aboriginal communities are particularly vulnerable to Covid-19, and they need to be protected.”

Forty percent of the population of the Kimberley is Aboriginal, and 93.5% of the land has been recognised under native title law. People often move between communities and towns like Broome and Halls Creek, and often have family spread across the two. That movement is now banned.

Elders are vulnerable to the virus, as are people with chronic heart or kidney conditions, and about 400 people, including younger people, have rheumatic heart disease.

But ABC Kimberley reporter Erin Parke has reported that the government has not done enough to provide essential information to communities. They are reliant on local police officers and medical workers, who are delivering the information on foot (while standing a safe distance back).

Updated

That is where I leave you for this morning. My colleague Matilda Boseley is now on deck for all the latest updates.

Victorian chief health officer Brett Sutton says there is concern about a cluster of cases at The Alfred Hospital, with three of the seven confirmed deaths of coronavirus patients at that hospital.

Via AAP:

Another two patients from the haematology and oncology ward have tested positive for the virus but are in a stable condition, while 10 staff members who have the virus are recovering at home.

The hospital has introduced further restrictions on visitors and put in place temperature screening of all visitors.

Prof Sutton said the source of the cluster of infections isn’t known, but the hospital is doing “everything possible to get on top of it” and he believes that they will.

“It does illustrate the fact that when you are looking after very vulnerable patients in hospital, settings like this, you have to be absolutely strict about everything, including visitors and the screening of visitors.”

Everyone in the community also has a role to play in keeping the illness away from vulnerable people, he stressed.

“It starts with us, the more that we can apply the social distancing measures that we are all talking about, the fewer cases we will have, the less likely the introduction into our hospital and aged care and other settings will be.”

This is Victoria’s first weekend since harsher social distancing laws were implemented, and will start with a ban on all but the most basic outdoor activities.

All recreational activities beyond basic exercise are not allowed during the pandemic, with fishing, hunting, boating, camping and golf among activities that are barred.

Updated

Gutwein on national cabinet discussing rent says it’s important to get the right landing between landlords and renters so that businesses can “reactivate” when on the other side of this crisis.

He says foreign workers and visa holders will also be discussed on how they can be supported.

Updated

Tasmanian premier Peter Gutwein said the current “Fortress Tasmania” restrictions will last for four weeks but could last for longer.

He says Tasmania is below the national daily rate of new confirmed coronavirus cases at around 5%.

But he says people shouldn’t get complacent and likens it to a football match not even being halfway through the first quarter.

Updated

The parliamentary library has a useful guide on the sittings of parliament, federally and for the states/territories.

ASIC has told real estate agents not to advise renters to access their super in order to pay the rent.

There’s been a number of stories about real estate agents responding to tenants arguing financial hardship and for a rent reduction/freeze by suggesting they access their super to keep up rent payments.

In a letter sent out to real estate agent institutes today, the financial regulator has said such advice could constitute unlicensed financial advice in breach of the Corporations Act:

Financial advice must only be provided by qualified and licensed financial advisers, or financial counsellors, not by real estate agents who neither hold the requisite licence, nor are an authorised representative of an Australian Financial Services Licensee.

Real estate agents who are doing so could face five years in jail, or fines of up to $126,000 for individuals or $1.26m for companies:

Tenants facing financial difficulty need sound financial guidance and potentially debt counselling. Specifically pointing them to and recommending them to consider the specific possibility of accessing superannuation is, again, likely to amount to a breach of the Act.

Updated

Victoria records seventh death

Victorian chief health officer Brett Sutton has told Seven’s Sunrise program there are now 1,085 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the state, up 49 from yesterday.

Another man in his 80s who had coronavirus has died in the state, in intensive care, bringing the total number of deaths related to coronavirus in the state to seven.

There are another seven people with coronavirus who are in intensive care in Victoria.

He said there had been some flattening of the curve in the state.

“We need to do more, we have gone from doubling numbers every three or four days to doubling every seven days. It is an improvement. We don’t want to be doubling every seven days, we need to keep at it and flatten the curve.”

Updated

NSW announces $750m small business support fund

The New South Wales government will offer grants of up to $10,000 for small businesses struggling to stay afloat during the coronavirus shutdown.

The scheme is based on a similar one put in place during the bushfire season.

NSW treasurer Dominic Perrottet said local cafes, restaurants, corner shops, gyms and small accomodation providers could all apply.

Eligible businesses will need to have between one and 19 employees, a turnover of more than $75,000 and a payroll below the payroll tax threshold of $900,000.

The money will need to be used for funding unavoidable business costs like utilities, overheads, legal costs and financial advice.

Applications will be available through Service NSW within a fortnight and remain open until 1 June 2020.

Updated

The Courier-Mail has a strong story this morning that has cast doubt on Queensland’s ability to enforce a “no evictions” rental policy without recalling parliament.

Last month Queensland decided it would suspend parliament until 28 April – potentially extending up to six months – amid the coronavirus outbreak. Of course, while parliament was apparently an unsafe environment the state was happy to send millions of voters to the polls for a local government election, but that’s another story.

More than a week ago, the Greens were going hard about the closure of parliament, claiming it meant the state could not pass laws to protect renters and homeowners.

“I’m hearing from lots of worried renters who fear they don’t have that long before facing homelessness,” Greens MP Michael Berkman said on Monday.

And it seems that now the body that settles disputes between renters and landlords, the Queensland civil and administrative tribunal, believes it cannot act to enforce the eviction ban without approval from parliament.

The Courier-Mail says it has seen a letter from the tribunal to a renter telling them that it was aware of the federal moratorium on evictions, there was no corresponding state law and the tribunal would have to “apply the law as it stands”.

The LNP and the Greens both want parliament recalled to deal with the matter, which leaves tenants at risk of eviction without the protections announced by the prime minister, Scott Morrison, last week.

Updated

NSW cruise ship stand-off ends

The stand-off between cruise ship companies, the New South Wales government and Border Force appears to be over, with two ships departing overnight and another five expected to leave after refuelling and restocking this weekend.

NSW Police commissioner Mick Fuller confirmed at a press conference on Friday morning that two Carnival ships departed overnight and five Royal Caribbean ships will depart after refuelling and restocking on the weekend to head back to their port of origin.

“A wonderful outcome for all,” he said.

A man was taken off the Ruby Princess overnight for more medical assistance, Fuller said.

“We will continue to take anyone off those ships who requires NSW Health assistance. We’re waiting for an update from Aspen in relation to the Ruby Princess and the condition of the crew. However, again, I can say that after their initial inquiry, no additional crew members needed to come off.”

There are still six cruise ships off the coast of NSW and 19 across Australia.

Updated

Just on those two cruise ships that departed NSW to return to their port of origin, it reduces the number of cruise ships off the coast of NSW to six and the number of ships around Australia from 21 to 19.

Updated

NSW reports 91 new cases

There are now 2,389 confirmed cases of coronavirus in New South Wales, up 91 overnight.

This continues the trend of a reduction in the number of new cases.

There are 209 people being treated, some in hospital and some at home. There are 42 people in the ICU and 22 of those are on ventilators.

There are 336 cases of locally acquired infection, which is a cause for concern for the state.

Updated

NSW police commissioner Mick Fuller says 3,700 people are in hotels in NSW in quarantine after flying back to Australia and 400 are expected today.

He thanks Carnival for getting two ships leaving NSW overnight. He says one man was taken off the Ruby Princess yesterday because he needed more medical treatment. He says they’re waiting for an update from the cruise company on the status of the crew and it’s being monitored regularly.

Updated

Berejiklian says it is not her intention to impose further restrictions, but says people should follow the rules and not leave the house unless they have to.

“If we can’t identify the source it means we can’t deal with the spread. That is something we’re worried about.”

She says NSW is the first jurisdiction to have postcode-level data available for cases.

“It’s better for the public to have the information. All of us can handle the information, we want to know what’s going on and so working through Service NSW, we made sure there is data available which reduces everything to the postcode. You can look up a postcode to see what is happening in your community.”

Updated

NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian says the public order (90 days) is just a legal guideline and it comes down to the health experts, so it could change.

But she says the crisis will be for at least six months and we have to get used to that.

Berejiklian says the number of new cases has stabilised, but community to community transmission is a concern now.

Updated

Queensland’s hard border closure is in place this morning. For the first time, people turning up at the border without excuse will be blocked from entering the state and turned around.

This morning police have closed off eight Coolangatta streets. We wrote last week about the nature of the twin communities of Coolangatta and Tweed Heads, where the state border runs between homes and divides suburban streets.

Water barriers are now blocking traffic. New South Wales residents can cross the border at three police checkpoints – at Griffith Street, the Gold Coast Highway and northbound on the Pacific Motorway, just north of the border.

“Community members should avoid all non-essential cross border travel,” Gold Coast police chief superintendent Mark Wheeler said.

Updated

As I mentioned earlier, over 100 Australians on board the Rotterdam and the Zaandam cruise ships finally allowed to dock in Florida will be back in Australia in the next 24-48 hours. Here is our full report on that news:

Updated

The e-safety commissioner has released a guide for frontline domestic and family violence workers. We already know that the social distancing and isolation requirements will exacerbate family violence situations, and technology facilitated abuse will go up too.

The guide helps workers to look for the signs that a device may be compromised and other technology related issues that may come up.

Updated

A bit more on the national cabinet discussions today, via AAP:

While the federal government’s decision to create a jobkeeper payment for workers and business cash flow measures would assist, there would still be “significant disruption” to tenancies, prime minister Scott Morrison said.

He urged landlords and tenants to work together.

“I tell you what the great incentive for a landlord is, if that tenant goes bust and can’t pay rent. Then they’ve got no one paying rent and they’ll be looking for a tenant in a very bad market six months from now.”

The leaders agreed on a set of principles last Sunday including a six-month moratorium on evictions for non-payment of rent.

As well, landlords have been asked to provide relief through temporary amendments to leases, with the financial cost shared between governments, banks, landlords and tenants.

Some states have also moved to bring in their own measures.

In NSW, rents for commercial tenants with fewer than 20 employees in government-owned properties have been suspended until the end of September.

Queensland is providing relief for businesses who rent premises from the state government.

Updated

We are expecting a press conference from NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian at 8am.

The NSW government is expected to announce $10,000 grants for small businesses that employ up to 19 people with a turnover of over $75,000 per year.

The hard border between Queensland and NSW is now in effect.

Updated

Jones asks why public servants, the ABC, and politicians haven’t had a pay cut.

Morrison says people are taking a hard hit every day, but it’s not helpful for people to turn on each other during a crisis over who is getting what.

Updated

Morrison says it is still very early days of the social distancing rules, and we need to give police “a fair go” because they won’t have a perfect implementation of the rules.

Morrison says it could be longer than even six months, so he is trying to prepare people for the long haul.

“We need [people] to be patient, and not to get frustrated.... we’ve been able to get the growth in the virus down, but we need to get that down further.”

Updated

Jones asks about two Chinese companies buying goods to ship back to China. “Are we too soft on these people?”

Morrison points out the cases were in early February and the situation was different then. He says the government has changed the rules and Australia is in fact getting a million masks out of China now.

“It’s a day by day challenge,” he says to get PPE and ventilators.

He pointed out the daily rate of increase of confirmed cases was 6% yesterday.

Jones returns to the Chinese companies and the apparent links to the Chinese government.

Morrison says when it is exposed, it’s a reminder to have strong laws in place, which he says we do.

Jones again returns to China and complains about wet markets being open and asks what the world should do.

Morrison says wet markets are a problem across the world (not just China). He says the World Health Organisation should do something about it because it is a serious health risk.

Updated

The prime minister, Scott Morrison, is talking with 2GB host Alan Jones.

He’s asked about what he makes of around 16,000 Australians heading overseas after the travel advice was changed. Morrison says he is “bewildered and frustrated”.

He said some people would leave for legitimate reasons like aide, but 16,000 shows a “wilful defiance”.

He says those who try to come back will find it difficult and “won’t be high on the list” of priority for government assistance to return.

Updated

Australians on cruise ships in Florida to return home

Foreign minister Marise Payne is on ABC News Breakfast providing an update on the Australians stuck on cruise ships in Florida.

The Zaandam and the Rotterdam are carrying hundreds of passengers and have not been able to dock in Florida, with nine passengers testing positive for coronavirus and four dying, according to CNN.

Payne said that they’ve now been allowed to dock and those Australians on board will be home in the next 24-48 hours.

Updated

Good Morning

I’m Josh Taylor and I will be taking you through the morning on our live updates on the coronavirus pandemic.

Tighter controls about who can enter Queensland came into effect overnight aimed at stemming the spread of coronavirus. Only Queensland residents or those with an exemption will be authorised to enter as of 12.01am on Friday.

Stricter measures around Coolangatta and the southern Gold Coast will be taken, said state disaster coordinator deputy commissioner Steve Gollschewski.

“We’re going to a hard border closure so people can expect to see a change to some of the streets that they would normally go through, and some of those places will be blocked,” he said on Thursday.

This will include physical barriers cutting off some roads.

The deputy commissioner said introducing tighter controls at other popular border crossing areas like Goondiwindi were also being discussed. Fly-in-fly-out workers who are not working on essential projects will be banned from entering the state from 11.59pm on Saturday.

In other developments both here and across the world:

  • Total number of confirmed coronavirus cases passes 1m worldwide, as the death toll passes 50,000.
  • National cabinet meets today, where it is expected Year 12 exams and rental relief will be discussed.
  • Ruby Princess cruise ship now accounts for over 500 cases of coronavirus in Australia.
  • The federal government announced free childcare.
  • The United States reports 6.7m seeking unemployment benefits.

Updated

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