Summary
We’re going to close up our live Covid-19 coverage. Here are the day’s key developments:
- The country recorded its lowest count of new cases since early March. WA, Qld and SA recorded zero new cases. Victoria and the ACT just one each, with NSW adding 6. Tasmania had 9 new cases.
- Reports that airline Virgin Australia could go into administration sparked fears for thousands of jobs.
- Australian stocks saw their worst drop in three weeks.
- Unemployment in Australia could hit 16% according to a report from think tank the Grattan Institute.
- National Rugby League CEO Todd Greenberg stepped down amidst a financial crisis for the game.
Take care of yourselves, take care of others and stick to the rules. Have a good night.
Jimmy Barnes is still knocking out tunes from his lounge room, with wife Jane on guitar.
And so [adopts voice of 1970s radio disco jockey] here’s Jimmy Barnes with Creedence Clearwater Revival’s 1970 track Have You Ever Seen the Rain. Take it away Jimmy.
Here’s a song for you on a cool Monday night, funny but it still seems like a Saturday to me. I liked seeing all your food pics yesterday, looks like you’re all pretty handy in the kitchen. Full video on my Facebook page pic.twitter.com/oP5ybUbrh5
— Jimmy Barnes (@JimmyBarnes) April 20, 2020
Updated
The Transport Workers’ Union national secretary Michael Kaine says reports airline Virgin Australia is heading for administration is a “terrifying moment” for thousands of workers.
The TWU said a crisis roundtable had been held earlier on Friday with Virgin CEO Paul Scurrah and all trade unions representing airport workers.
The TWU said the roundtable “heard a call for the federal government to take an equity stake in return for bailing out airlines.”
In a statement just released, Kaine says if administrators are appointed, the federal government should work with them to find a solution. Kaine says:
The airline has two decades of providing decent jobs, a safe working environment and excellent service for the travelling public. It is a viable and much needed business and without it Australia will struggle to get its economy back on track once the crisis abates. There is still time for the federal government to work on an investment plan to get through this period of crisis and taxpayers will get a double benefit.
The government will retain a competitive aviation market and they will get a return on their equity stake.
The prime minister has promoted the concept of hibernation, of keeping viable businesses afloat through this crisis. That must include Virgin and the only way to do that is a government equity stake in this business.
Countries around the world have recognised the extraordinary circumstances that the aviation is in and where they have stepped in and saved jobs. If the federal government does not move to save Virgin the prime minister must explain why Virgin workers don’t matter? Why don’t their families who depend on them matter?
The union said it had urged the Victorian, NSW and Federal Governments to financially assist Virgin, following a pledge by the Queensland Premier for $200m aid for the airline.
A letter from the union read:
While all of Australia is experiencing the stresses of altered life, with many people stood down from their jobs, the anxiety among Virgin staff is heightened given the airline’s difficulties and the fact that they worsen in a very public way on a daily basis.
We ask that you consider these workers and to examine your state’s capacity to give them and their families the certainty they need about their future. We believe it is also in the interest of the travelling public that Virgin remains a viable airline to ensure an efficient, reliable service right across Australia. A monopoly by one airline after this crisis ends will hamper the nation’s ability to restart and get back to where it was.
Updated
Paul Scurrah is to keep his job as chief executive of Virgin Australia, at least for the short term, when insolvency practitioners from Deloitte are appointed as administrators, Guardian Australia understands.
The shape of the administration, which has yet to be confirmed by Virgin Australia, is still far from clear.
But as we’ve previously reported at least one bidder, BGH Capital, thinks something can be salvaged from the collapse.
Aussie stocks plunge in worst loss for three weeks
Australian stocks had their worst loss in three weeks.
“There’s a lot of pain out there today,” CMC Markets chief market strategist Michael McCarthy told AAP.
The S&P/ASX200 benchmark index finished Monday down 134.5 points, or 2.45%, to 5,353 points, while the All Ordinaries index was closed down 130 points, or 2.34 %, to 5,414.
AAP reports the plunge wiped out last week’s gains and was the ASX200’s worst loss since a 5.3% drop on March 27.
US oil benchmark was smashed to its lowest level since 1999, hitting energy stocks. Woodside Petroleum dropped 4.4% to $20.15, Santos fell 3.7% to $4.13 and Oil Search dropped 2.9% to $2.66.
Caltex Australia fell 7.8%to $21.72 after Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard put its $8.8bn takeover proposal on hold, given the uncertainty over the coronavirus pandemic.
Updated
No word yet from Virgin Australia regarding our report that the airline is headed for voluntary administration, with a company spokesman declining to comment.
Administration doesn’t necessarily mean the end for Virgin Australia - it, or potential buyers, could use the process to get rid of bits of the airline they don’t like and shed some of its $4.8bn debt mountain.
We set out one of the ways that could happen, a deed of company arrangement, here.
Sources say one of the potential buyers, private equity group BGH Capital, is confident Virgin Australia will come out the other side.
In what sort of shape is another question.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk made some comments earlier that rugby league fans might have missed. Asked about the State of Origin series and restarting the NRL season, she said:
Of course we’re open to look at any plan (but) there has been no plan submitted, there have been no phone calls.
But in relation to the State of Origin, yes, of course I have spoken to the QRL and as I said from day one, towards the end of the year we would be open to that if the health advice said that we were in the situation to do so.
Maybe the reason for the lack of contact from the game’s administrators had something to do with today’s revelations? Earlier today, the NRL announced it had parted with CEO Todd Greenberg as Covid-19 sends the game into a financial crisis. Here’s more on that.
Updated
Prof Peter Doherty, Australian immunologist and Nobel laureate, has been talking to the Australian Academy of Science about Covid-19, our immune systems and why some people may respond to the virus in different ways.
In comments just released, Doherty says despite claims that many products you can buy from pharmacies can “boost your immune system” there’s little evidence that any of them actually work.
The best way to boost your immune system, he says, is just to stay fit and healthy and have a good diet.
Doherty has also been talking about the history of vaccine developments and how things are progressing on that front for Covid-19.
You can watch the whole 13-minute video here.
With that, I will hand over to my colleague Graham Readfearn.
Stay safe, stay well.
There are alarming signs of a sharp slowdown in the property market thanks to the coronavirus, with the number of residential listings down nearly 30% for the month before Easter, and sharp drops in searches being conducted on property information group Corelogic’s site.
In the 28 days to Easter Sunday 2020, the number of new residential listings advertised for sale across Australia was 24,051.
“This is by far the lowest level of listings for this time of the year in years, and is 27.3% below the equivalent period last year,” Corelogic said.
The company has also been tracking weekly data on requests for information from its site by real estate agents.
These take place in the early stages of preparing a property for sale and provide a glimpse of the future.
The number of comparative market analysis reports generated by real estate agents using the RP Professional platform to get information on an individual property has slipped 20% in the week to 5 April and continued into the week leading into Easter.
A second early indicator is requests for valuations over its platform. The number of valuations began declining in mid March but has continued and was down 24% over the last week and 19.2% over the year.
The only good news is that most of the valuations were done for refinancing purposes, indicating that people are taking advantage of low interest rates and trying to reduce their housing costs.
There is no sign that there has yet been a surge in requests from mortgagees in possession, but it’s probably too early for that.
Updated
The ABC has issued a statement defending the integrity of health reporter Norman Swan, who has been repeatedly criticised in the pages of the Australian.
A recent report highlighted Swan’s involvement in Tonic Health Media, a private health media company which unsuccessfully pitched for a government contract to produce videos about the coronavirus.
It should be noted that Swan’s criticism of the federal government’s response, and call for Australia to take a “go hard, go early” approach to suppressing Covid-19, dates back to January.
In a statement, the ABC said:
Dr Norman Swan is a highly experienced ABC journalist and health professional who offers informed insights and analysis as part of the ABC’s coverage of Covid-19.
Dr Swan is doing invaluable work briefing the community on the implications of Covid-19 and helping answer people’s questions, including in the Coronacast podcast.
This has included setting out scenarios on what might occur as a result of the pandemic given various different assumptions, primarily using international information because Australian data have not been available. This work has been to the highest scientific standard.
Dr Swan has worked with the ABC since 1982. His contract allows him to undertake external work. All such external work is subject to approval to ensure it does not create any conflicts with the individual’s work for the ABC.
As has already been publicly disclosed in past years, Dr Swan’s external work includes Tonic Health Media, which produces fact-based, independent medical content that streams on video screens in GP waiting rooms and is used by Aboriginal medical services. Dr Swan is a minority shareholder and sits on the board.
Its clients include commercial organisations and government agencies ... Dr Swan’s involvement is to ensure such programming is evidenced-based, accurate and of value to consumers.
Any accusation of a conflict of interest between Dr Swan’s contribution to the community about Covid-19 as a journalist and the work of Tonic Health Media is unfounded.
Dr Swan is a valued member of the ABC Science Unit. Rightly, he is highly regarded and respected for his commitment to independence and integrity.
Updated
Speaking of Virgin Australia, the Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk just tweeted the following clip of state development minister Cameron Dick saying that it was prepared to fight NSW to keep the headquarters of the airline in Brisbane.
Says Dick:
Now NSW may want to bring a peashooter to the fight, that’s fine, we’ll bring a bazooka and we’re not afraid to use it.
According to Guardian Australia business editor Ben Butler’s report, they could be scrapping over a carcass.
Virgin Australia belongs in Queensland.
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) April 20, 2020
We will fight any attempt by New South Wales to take the airline’s HQ to Sydney.
Read more: https://t.co/FsCREd7ZA1#qldjobs pic.twitter.com/DXdqsVJsL3
‘The reality is I am writing history’: Turnbull
Malcolm Turnbull has argued he was “writing history” as he defended the level of detail his memoirs contain about his colleagues and cabinet discussions.
The former prime minister — whose book was officially released today despite unauthorised copies being in circulation ahead of time — also told The Australian newspaper that Scott Morrison would not be prime minister if Turnbull had not “gone to great lengths” to ensure Peter Dutton did not win the leadership contest of 2018.
Some conservatives have reacted angrily to the book’s publication and argued Turnbull should be expelled from the Liberal party.
In the interview with The Australian — published a short time ago online — Turnbull said he had included information that was vital to telling the story of his government:
The reality is I am writing history. My government is over. We are in a different government, different political era and of course with the Covid pandemic it is, you know, we are crossing what is going to be quite a watershed.
There is not much point in writing a memoir if you cannot write it truthfully. OK, sometimes you have got to use discretion and judgment but it’s important that people know what happened. And, you know, I’ve given a truthful account.
Updated
NRL CEO Todd Greenberg has quit, effective immediately
NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg has quit his post in the latest blow to rugby league amid the coronavirus epidemic.
Pressure had been mounting on Greenberg after the sport was plunged into a financial crisis by the suspension of the 2020 season due to the outbreak.
Greenberg steps down with immediate effect, with Andrew Abdo taking over on an interim basis.
“It has been my great honour and privilege to be the CEO of the NRL for the last four years,” Greenberg said.
“Despite the variety of challenges and pressures I have loved every single minute of the journey. Our growth over the last four years has been extraordinary and I am very proud of my contribution to the game.”
Updated
Deloitte understood to be appointed administrator for Virgin Australia
It is understood big four accounting firm Deloitte will be appointed as Virgin Australia’s administrators.
The move comes after the federal government rebuffed the airline’s request for a $1.4bn emergency loan as part of a wider industry bailout package and despite duelling aid offers from NSW and Queensland, each of which wanted to host Virgin Australia’s HQ.
It is not clear what will happen to the approximately 10,000 people who work for Virgin Australia if it goes into administration.
Also unclear is what will happen to its fleet of 130 planes, many of which are heavily mortgaged.
The company has been crushed by a $4.8bn mountain of debt and has been burning cash while the fleet is grounded.
A busy few minutes.
BREAKING: Todd Greenberg to stand down as CEO of the NRL effective immediately #NRL #COVID19Aus
— Jake Duke (@JakeDuke1) April 20, 2020
Virgin Australia expected to go into administration
Virgin Australia is expected to go into administration shortly in what would be the biggest airline collapse in Australia since Ansett.
We’ll have more as it happens.
Updated
Spurrier said South Australia had been doing some “very intensive planning to see what restrictions should be lifted and when”.
Spurrier said there would be some announcements about those decisions at the national cabinet meeting tomorrow. (It’s not clear if she’s talking here about the elective surgery measures, which the national deputy medical officer Nick Coatsworth mentioned earlier.)
But for now, she said, they had to remain in place.
On the situation in SA, Spurrier said 85% of people who have tested positive to Covid-19, or 369 people, have now recovered, meaning there are only 62 active coronavirus cases in the state.
There are still only four cases with an unknown epidemiological link so, really, no evidence at all of community transmission.
South Australia, WA and Queensland report no new coronavirus cases
Not to be outdone by WA and Queensland, which both reported no new cases in the past 24 hours, South Australia has reported no new cases of Covid-19 for the third day in a row.
Australia’s total case increase today is just 26.
SA’s chief public health officers, Associate Professor Nicola Spurrier said she was “very pleased to have that news”.
This is in the context of many more tests being done in South Australia, so thank you to all those people who have developed a mild cold in the last three or four days and have come forward and had a test done.
Spurrier said SA tested almost 2,000 people on both Thursday and Friday last week, another 1,000 on Saturday and 968 on Sunday — a record for testing in that state on a Sunday.
It is all very reassuring because if we were getting very low numbers but our testing rate was dropping then we would be concerned so please keep up the good work.
Updated
South Australian premier Steven Marshall is talking in Adelaide now about the repatriation flight from India, which landed at Adelaide airport with 370 passengers on board earlier today.
They will undergo a 14-day mandatory quarantine at hotels in Adelaide, at the state government’s cost.
Marshall said SA was proud to play its part in the national repatriation effort.
Updated
McGowan also announced a new app that will allow West Australians who want to move between districts to have that travel approved online. WA’s travel restrictions include intra-state travel bans, so movement between regions is only allowed for set reasons.
The app allows people who have legitimate reasons for travelling between regions — like truck drivers — to apply through the app. They then get a QR code on their phone, kind of like an electronic plane ticket, that can be scanned at the checkpoint.
Updated
Western Australia reports no new cases of Covid-19 in 24 hours
Let’s go now to Western Australia, where the premier Mark McGowan has announced that they have recorded no new cases of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours.
It’s the first time since 21 February that WA has recorded no daily change in the number of cases.
McGowan has credited his state’s border closures with this result.
I want to acknowledge the efforts of every West Australian through this pandemic crisis, the overwhelming majority of the community have in listening to the advice and following the new rules, for that I cannot thank you enough, Western Australia has done an incredible job but we can’t let it go to waste now, we need everyone to stay the course.
I know it’s easy to think we have succeeded and we can just get back to normal, but we need to continue to be very cautious, we can’t get complacent.
McGowan said people are continuing to arrive in the state. Five domestic flights and one international flight — one cargo, one passenger plane from Doha — were scheduled to land at Perth airport today.
In the past 24 hours, 176 people arrived in WA from overseas and interstate, of which 72 were essential workers exempt from quarantine, and 82 were placed in 14-day mandatory quarantine.
Updated
Scott Morrison said on the weekend that the proposed coronavirus tracking app would not be made mandatory. A reporter asked what the utility of the app would be if the uptake is as low as 1%.
Coatsworth says that even if only 1% of Australians sign up to the app, that will be “more useful than if no one takes it up”.
We have a very well-oiled machine at the moment which is about people calling Australians and determining whether they have been contacts. And what the app will do is just provide an added layer but if you want the icing on the cake to enable more, a greater percentage of people, to work out whether they are at risk or not.
And that is the purpose of the app. It is the case that if you put the app out and even if only 1% of the population take it up, it will be more useful than if no one takes it up.
Coatsworth said he thinks that Australians “will come with us” on signing up to the app.
They will see the inherent value in having a mechanism that helps those disease detectives do their work.... we have been very clear on what the app is about, this is not a geolocation app, for example.
This is about letting those disease detectives know who someone has been in contact with for greater than 15 minutes and basically to help with our memory, if you will, because we cannot remember everyone we have been in contact with for over 15 minutes.
Updated
Elective surgery may resume within the month: Coatsworth
Deputy chief medical officer Nick Coatsworth says there may be a “safe and cautious reintroduction” of elective surgery over the next month, before other social and physical distancing measures are lifted.
All elective surgery other than category one and urgent category two has been suspended to free up hospital capacity for dealing with the coronavirus. Coatsworth said the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee discussed the issue today, and is considering what rules might underpin “a very cautious and safe but ultimately consumer and patient focused reintroduction of elective surgery into Australia”.
Coatsworth would not preempt the national cabinet’s decision on elective surgery but said it was “not something we are going to sit on for many weeks”.
... There are Australians out there who are in pain and have disability, cannot be in the workforce, they need to take very potent pain medication and they need their elective surgery done.
He said that the availability of PPE was not a restrictive factor in reopening elective surgery, but that having adequate levels of the appropriate PEE was “a key requirement”.
Updated
Coatsworth says he was comforted, when he and his family went outdoors for exercise in Canberra this weekend, to see people obeying social distancing laws.
What I observed was Australians in pairs, in family groups, maintaining their physical distance, getting out for exercise. I saw some small businesses that were open and I saw some small businesses that had instituted some very practical and easy to follow measures to keep physical distance and to help their customers adhere to the guidelines that we have asked them to do.
And that was such a comforting thing for me to see. And the reason it was comforting was because I know how hard it is now that we are approaching just over one month of these really stringent physical distancing measures and restrictions that we have placed on our usual lifestyle. But to see people still adhering to those guidelines, to see small businesses assisting their customers and being quite creative about those processes and I know it is not just going on in Canberra, I know that it is going on around the whole country.
Australia reports 26 new cases of Covid-19 in 24 hours
The deputy chief medical officer Nick Coatsworth is giving an update in Canberra.
He says Australia has reported 26 new cases of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours.
That “demonstrates that the physical distancing measures that we have asked of Australians and that Australians have really embraced are still paying dividends for us and still keeping our numbers of Covid-19 very low indeed,” Coatsworth says.
Updated
Labor’s employment spokesman, Brendan O’Connor, has used an ABS survey released today to argue for the extension of the jobkeeper payment to cover a wider range of industries and casual workers.
The ABS Household Impacts of Covid-19 Survey found that 3% of Australians who had a job in the first week of March had lost that job by the first week of April, and one in four people had their hours cut.
O’Connor:
When unemployment spikes in the next few months remember hundreds of thousands of job losses could have been prevented if Josh Frydenberg had used his power to extend jobkeeper to millions of workers, which he can do at the stroke of a pen.
Australia entered the crisis from a position of relative economic weakness not strength, including record high underemployment before the worst of the virus outbreak, which makes much-needed support even more urgent.
Federal Labor will continue to work constructively with the government to ensure Australians have the best possible response to the health crisis we are facing.
Updated
The Law Council of Australia says there must be strict limitations placed on the kind of data that can be collected from the government’s proposed coronavirus tracking app and the uses to which that data can be put. It has also called for the release of the full privacy impact statement “as a matter of urgency”.
In a statement, Law Council president Pauline Wright said that the desire to improve contact tracing of coronavirus cases had to be balanced with privacy concerns.
She said:
If privacy protections are built-in to the app, it will provide the public with greater confidence. There must also be strict limits on what kind of data can be collected and the uses to which it can be put and there must be clear limits about how long data can be kept and when it must be deleted. It must also be made clear how the collection of data be limited to ensure that only the required or necessary data points to address Covid-19 are being collected.
The Law Council commends the government’s announcement of their intention to publicly release a privacy impact assessment for the app before it is rolled out, as well as the source code to be utilised by the app. Open source enables the source code to be independently inspected and audited, and this is something we would vigorously support.
We understand that the government is working with the Australian Signals Directorate and some members of the private cyber security industry on the security of storage arrangements for data transmitted by the app ... it is imperative and particularly important that a comprehensive privacy impact statement is released publicly, as a matter of urgency, and that Australians are given an opportunity to comment.
Only then will Australians be able to make an informed decision about whether to use the app. As with any measure taken to combat the pandemic, the functionality of the app should be proportionate to the risk posed by the pandemic and should be temporary, with clear time limits.
Updated
New South Wales treasurer Dom Perrottet has poured water (or is it oil?) on suggestions he is engaged in a round of fisticuffs with his Queensland counterpart over the future of Virgin Australia.
Perrottet says NSW is not in a fight with Queensland, it is “in a fight to keep people in jobs and business in business”. (And to keep both those jobs and that business out of Queensland and in NSW.)
A lot of talk about #VirginAustralia today. And it's a complex situation.
— Dom Perrottet (@Dom_Perrottet) April 20, 2020
But let me be clear - we're not in a fight with Queensland; we are in a fight to keep people in jobs and business in business.
As Anne Davies reported, the NSW and Queensland governments are in a bidding war over who gets to bail out Virgin Australia, because both governments want the airlines headquarters to be in their state.
Queensland offered Virgin $200m if it keeps its headquarters in Brisbane, and Perrottet said he was considering making an offer for the airline to move its headquarters Sydney’s new, still under construction second airport at Badgerys Creek. That prompted Queensland’s state development minister, Cameron Dick, to tell Perrottet and his entire state to “back right off”.
Not fighting at all.
And with that news, I’m going to leave you in the hands of my colleague Calla Walhquist.
Stay safe.
WA's takeaway alcohol restrictions lifted
The WA government has now lifted restrictions imposed on takeaway alcohol in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
“The temporary restrictions were put in place in late March to ensure the state was well prepared to respond to Covid-19 as increased social distancing measures were applied,” a statement said.
“The restrictions were designed to minimise alcohol-related problems in the community, ensuring the health system, police and community services could focus on the response to the virus.”
The government said existing takeaway alcohol restrictions unrelated to Covid-19 in particular communities would remain.
Updated
In New Zealand, the prime minister Jacinda Ardern has announced the country will move out of the level four lockdown at 11.59pm on Monday 27 April.
“We will then hold at alert level three, for two weeks, before reviewing how we are tracking again,” she says.
Updated
ACT update
The ACT has recorded one new Covid-19 case in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number to 104.
“The individual is a male in his 40s who acquired the virus overseas,” a government statement said.
The statement said 91 people had recovered from Covid-19 and have been released from self-isolation.
One Covid-19 patient is currently being treated at Canberra Hospital.
Authorities confirm 19 new Ruby Princess cases
NSW Health has confirmed 19 new cases of coronavirus on the Ruby Princess cruise ship. A total of 202 crew members now have COVID-19. The ship is currently docked at Port Kembla, south of Sydney.
— ABC NewsRadio (@ABC_NewsRadio) April 20, 2020
Updated
Some more details from AAP on the repatriation flight that arrived in Adelaide today.
The first of two flights bringing Australians home from India has landed in Adelaide with about 370 passengers facing a 14-day period of mandatory quarantine.
The first of two flights bringing Australian citizens home from India has landed in Adelaide.
The Lion Air flight touched down on Monday morning carrying more than 370 passengers after leaving Chennai and travelling through Denpasar.
It was met by police and SA Health officials.
From Adelaide airport, the repatriated Aussies will be taken by buses to a local hotel to begin a 14-day mandatory quarantine.
A second flight, carrying about the same number of people, is expected in Adelaide from Mumbai on Tuesday.
SA chief public health officer Nicola Spurrier said the arrivals would be tested after they disembarked and monitored daily for symptoms.
“We will not be risking the health and wellbeing of our population,” she said.
Police commissioner Grant Stevens said about 45 officers would monitor the building to ensure people don’t leave prematurely.
“Given the excellent results we’ve seen in terms of limiting the spread of the virus in South Australia, we’re taking the security of these people extremely seriously,” Stevens said.
No new cases of coronavirus were recorded in the state over the weekend despite a testing blitz in recent days.
The total remains at 435 and only 89 cases are active.
Updated
The shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers is speaking to the media in Brisbane.
He is sharply criticising two aspects of the government’s economic response:
If the treasurer was doing everything he can he wouldn’t be denying jobkeeper payments to more than a million casuals and other workers. If the treasurer was doing everything he can to prevent job losses, he wouldn’t be ignoring the plight of something like 15,000 workers at Virgin Airlines.
We don’t yet know how deep this economic downturn will be or the precise number of Australians who will lose their jobs or add risk of losing their jobs. We do know the unemployment queues will be longer than is necessary because the treasurer refuses to step in and expand eligibility for the jobkeeper program.
Updated
Meanwhile, if you’ve missed some important news from Adelaide.
HOP TO IT: A kangaroo had the run of the city of Adelaide as residents stayed inside to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. https://t.co/hhunOkr7Hq pic.twitter.com/0O4ZAw1Sa1
— ABC News (@ABC) April 20, 2020
Protective Security Officers tracked a suspect wearing a grey fur coat hopping through the heart of the #adelaide CBD this morning. He was last seen on foot heading into the West Parklands 🦘🚔👮#animaltakeover #whatsthatskip #kangaroo #cityslicker pic.twitter.com/JPyVXIYQRw
— South Australia Police (@SAPoliceNews) April 19, 2020
Responding to the government’s plans for a code for tech giants, the Greens communications spokesperson Sarah Hanson-Young said:
Finally the government is doing something, albeit late and after much suffering for Australian media and creators. Waiting until November for tech giants and media companies to reach a deal was never going to cut it and would’ve seen more news outlets hit the wall.
Australian media outlets were already under pressure because of this content theft before Covid-19, but the loss of advertising revenue during this crisis has been the last straw for many.
The key issue now is what the code will look like and how it will be enforced. Other jurisdictions have been grappling with this issue and Australia must learn their lessons.
Updated
Tech companies to pay 'in the millions', govt says
Asked how much tech giants will need to pay for the news and media content they use, Frydenberg says:
Hard to be specific about it because right now, we know that this is very lucrative for the media companies - sorry, for the tech titans to use the original content on their web site but, in terms of the actual numbers, it is going to be in the millions but it is hard to the explicit about the exact number.
Updated
The treasurer Josh Frydenberg and communications minister Paul Fletcher are addressing the new mandatory code of conduct that the government will impose on tech giants such as Facebook and Google.
“The government’s taken a decision to move to a mandatory code, with a draft mandatory code to be released by the end of July and to be put together by the ACCC,” Frydenberg says.
“We hope it will be legislated soon thereafter. We are very conscious of the challenges we face and that we are dealing with some of the most valuable and powerful companies in the world.”
Updated
Mutual obligations for welfare recipients should be suspended for six months, the Greens say.
“The current suspension of mutual obligations requirements for people on income support operates until Monday 27 April, that is the beginning of next week,” Greens senator Rachel Siewert said.
As it stands, the government advice is still stay at home unless you are going to work or education (if you are unable to do so at home), shopping for essential supplies such as groceries, going out for personal exercise in the neighbourhood on your own or with one other, attending medical appointments or compassionate visits.
Social distancing and isolating is especially important for older Australians, those with existing health concerns, First Nations peoples, disabled people, carers, many of whom access our social safety net.
Now is not the time to be penalising people and suspending their payments for choosing not to put their safety at risk by requiring them to attend appointments and face to face meetings.
With the unprecedented number of people now applying for income support, and the strain this will place on employment service providers it is the ideal time to reset how we support jobseekers.
We need to ditch the punitive approach and move to a supportive model that meets peoples needs and doesn’t focus on compliance over support.
Updated
Labor demands Virgin bailout
The federal opposition has stepped up its calls for the Morrison government to bail out Virgin Australia.
Victorian-based Labor MPs have gathered at Melbourne airport to call for immediate action. Catherine King, the shadow transport minister, said 16,000 jobs were at stake if the airline went into administration.
“Australians need Scott Morrison to step up and take an equity stake in Virgin to get the airline through this crisis,” she said in a statement issued ahead of the event.
“If the company falls over, thousands of jobs will be gone overnight and all Australians will be worse off with higher airfares and fewer services.”
Updated
At 12:30 we’ll hear from treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, and communications minister, Paul Fletcher, about the move to make digital giants share revenue with media companies.
In a statement, Facebook has announced it is disappointed.
Will Easton, managing director of Facebook Australia and New Zealand said:
We’re disappointed by the government’s announcement, especially as we’ve worked hard to meet their agreed deadline. Covid-19 has impacted every business and industry across the country, including publishers, which is why we announced a new, global investment to support news organisations at a time when advertising revenue is declining. We believe that strong innovation and more transparency around the distribution of news content is critical to building a sustainable news ecosystem. We’ve invested millions of dollars locally to support Australian publishers through content arrangements, partnerships and training for the industry and hope the code will protect the interests of millions of Australians and small businesses that use our services every day.
Updated
The Australian Council of Social Service chief executive Cassandra Goldie says today’s Grattan Institute report warning of widespread unemployment shows the government must avoid “throwing up barriers to income support” in the future.
Goldie welcomed the temporary boost to welfare payments, but said: “... we can never go back to the low rate of the old Newstart payment of just $40 a day or the punitive approaches that punished and demonised people locked out of paid work.”
This included what Acoss considered past approaches such as “denying payments to people with a small amount of savings, or imposing Work for the Dole and unrealistic job search requirements; the government should meet its own obligations to secure employment for people”.
“We need to raise the rate for good so those without paid work can cover the basics – food, housing, electricity – and they can make the most of job opportunities as the economy rebuilds,” she said.
Acoss also wants an expansion in infrastructure investment, such as social housing and improvements in the energy efficiency of homes, to restore growth in employment as the lockdowns are eased.
“We need to fix our employment services system to create pathways to jobs for people who are unemployed long term and those at greatest risk, including people leaving education without Year 12 qualifications, older people, people with disability and people with caring responsibilities,” she said.
Updated
As we reported earlier, the Victorian government released some modelling today which estimate the impact on the state if authorities did not implement physical distancing measures.
It includes the chart below.
Victorian government says 36,000 people could have died of coronavirus (up to 650 per day at peak) if not for restrictions like closing businesses and lockdowns.
— Josh Butler 🏉🏝️ (@JoshButler) April 20, 2020
Interesting that some are still calling these rules an "over reaction" https://t.co/8oBleA0mVD pic.twitter.com/ERB8kT6Nda
An Australian Bureau of Statistics survey into how households are responding to the coronavirus pandemic has found nearly a quarter of Australian adults with a job are now working fewer hours.
But the survey also found 12% were working more hours than usual as a result of Covid-19.
The ABS surveyed 1,059 people aged 18 and over via telephone between 31 March and 6 April to gain a snapshot as to how Australian households are responding to the pandemic, AAP reported.
“The survey found that around 3.0% of people who had a job in early March no longer had one by early April,” said Michelle Marquardt, ABS program manager for household surveys.
One in six Australians – 17% – said they were wearing a face mask to help prevent the spread of the virus.
Updated
Royal Flying Doctor Service given $53m boost
The Royal Flying Doctor Service has been handed $53m to boost its capacity during the coronavirus pandemic.
It will be used to deliver personal protective equipment for frontline medical staff and fly-in GP clinics for testing if there is a broader outbreak.
The service will airlift suspected and confirmed virus patients from regional areas.
“It will give an area of comfort and assurance to the people in the more remote parts of Australia that should an outbreak occur in their communities, there is assets available to help them at their time of need,” said federal regional health minister Mark Coulton.
Updated
Victoria’s chief health officer, Brett Sutton, has said the AFL would need to demonstrate how it can play games during the Covid-19 pandemic before it can restart the season.
“My suggestion was it needs to be a national conversation because it does relate to how teams can move around the country,” said Sutton, who has been in regular discussions with the AFL boss, Gillon McLachlan.
“We don’t want a situation where everyone’s in quarantine crossing a state border for 14 days. The AFL can’t work in that regard.
“But it needs a detailed proposal that works through exactly how this is managed, how the physical distancing will be in place and surveillance for illness of any players is managed so that’s still to come through.”
McLachlan said he could deliver definitive details around the competition’s resumption date by the end of April, AAP reports.
But the AFL is preparing for an entire season without spectators.
“I take a line through what Brett Sutton said … [and] I think that’s going to be challenging [to host crowds] this year,” McLachlan told 3AW on Monday.
“That doesn’t mean it won’t happen later in the year, but certainly not contemplating crowds at the start.
“And I think if you take a line through what Brett Sutton said, who in Victoria will be the guy making the decision, I think it’s a challenge to have [crowds] at all this year.”
Updated
There has been a debate in Victoria (helped along by some elements of the media and the state opposition) about the decision to close golf courses. People in other states are able to play.
The premier, Daniel Andrews, has addressed this today, saying no one would “like to be on the golf course more than me, but I don’t need to play golf”.
He said no one needed to play golf.
"Governor Cuomo wishes he was having a debate about golf, many many world leaders, in jobs like I've got, wish they were having a debate about golf. They're not. They're having a debate about where the temporary morgues will go," the premier says.
— Benita Kolovos (@benitakolovos) April 19, 2020
This was never just about golf. This is about an un-elected official having huge control over our lives and making decisions that are inconsistent with the rest of 🇦🇺.
— Tim Smith MP (@TimSmithMP) April 18, 2020
Victorians have a right to ask questions, and not be shouted down, given huge sacrifices people are making.
Updated
The Tasmanian health minister, Sarah Courtney, is addressing the media.
The state has reported six new cases of coronavirus.
Courtney says:
- There were over 270 tests in the north-west over the last 24 hours and 309 tests across the state.
- There have been 40 emergency room presentations at the North-West regional hospital.
- A new section at the Royal Hobart Hospital, K Block, has opened.
Updated
Updated
Victoria police says in an update that up to 11pm officers conducted 819 spot checks at homes, businesses and non-essential services over the past 24 hours.
- 91 fines have been issued in the past 24 hours
- Since 21 March, police have conducted a total of 24921 spot checks.
Police say examples of fines issued included:
- Five people sitting in a vehicle drinking
- 16 people gathered at a private residence for a party
- 20-year-old male from Mildura who was spoken to by police five times in five hours for breaches of the chief health officer’s directions
The Mildura man was arrested and charged in relation to these breaches and bailed to appear at Mildura magistrates court on 15 July.
Updated
Queensland's online education portal crashes
AAP reports that Queensland’s online education portal has crashed on the first day of term two, leaving parents and students unable to access remote learning.
Only the students of essential workers, as well as vulnerable children, were required to attend school when school returned on Monday.
High demand had resulted in a “temporary disruption” to the Learning@Home website, the Education Department tweeted, and it was working to resolve the issue.
The online portal is a vital resource tool for students to learn remotely under adult supervision.
Parents and carers took to social media wanting to know when the portal would be back online.
“We apologise for this short term interruption as we adapt to the learning at home model. Please remain patient as we work through it. Thank you,” the education department has tweeted several times.
High demand on some DoE web servers has seen a temporary disruption to the learning@home website this morning. Every effort is being made to restore services. The Department is working with IT partners to resolve this issue urgently. We apologise for this short term interruption.
— Queensland Department of Education (@QLDEducation) April 19, 2020
Earlier, the premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, said she was not aware of the crash.
She said Queenslanders were living through an unprecedented period and her government was doing its best to facilitate remote learning for all students.
“We are providing everything we possibly can to ensure our children are still getting educated,” she told 4BC radio.
“Let’s see how the next few weeks ago.”
Updated
Hi everyone. Thanks to Michael for his efforts today. I’ll be with you through the rest of the morning.
That’s me done for the morning. I’ll hand you over now to my colleague Luke Henriques-Gomes. Thanks for reading.
Novak Djokovic says he wouldn't want to be forced to be vaccinated for Covid-19
Novak Djokovic, the 17-time grand slam tennis champion, says he’s “opposed” to vaccination and would face a difficult choice if one became available for Covid-19.
Reuters reports that during a live Facebook chat with several fellow Serbian athletes, Djokovic, who won the Australian Open in January, said he “wouldn’t want to be forced” to receive a vaccine.
“Personally I am opposed to vaccination and I wouldn’t want to be forced by someone to take a vaccine in order to be able to travel,” Djokovic reportedly said.
“But if it becomes compulsory, what will happen? I will have to make a decision. I have my own thoughts about the matter and whether those thoughts will change at some point, I don’t know.
“Hypothetically, if the season was to resume in July, August or September, though unlikely, I understand that a vaccine will become a requirement straight after we are out of strict quarantine and there is no vaccine yet.”
Updated
Aboriginal people in remote communities under lockdown are still going without food and essentials, two weeks on from a meeting of the big supermarket chains and the federal government designed to sort it out, and after already enduring months of critical shortages due to the coronavirus pandemic.
A coalition of 13 Aboriginal health, housing and medical organisations of the Northern Territory want the national cabinet to “immediately” guarantee an agreed proportion of essentials set aside for the independent suppliers of community stores.
“We are getting daily reports of remote stores struggling to supply basic goods. Some stores are running out of fresh food three days after their weekly delivery,” said the chief executive of the Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance of the NT, John Paterson.
“Small, community owned stores must suddenly meet 100% of people’s needs across a much greater range of products. In some stores this means a tripling of their usual orders.
“In recent weeks the big supermarkets have responded to panic buying down south by sweeping up the bulk of goods from manufacturers and producers. Independent suppliers are struggling to get what they need for remote stores.
“This issue can’t be solved through donated goods. It needs a systemic response from government.”
The coalition wants a 20% point-of-sale subsidy of essential food, cleaning and hygiene products, as well as winter bedding and clothing.
“A direct consumer subsidy is the best way to guarantee that residents who are no longer able to shop around can afford the basics,” Paterson said.
The NT coalition wants to stop people taking backroads into towns to buy the essential and affordable supplies they can’t get at home.
“We urge the national cabinet to take action, before it is too late, because time is all remote Aboriginal communities have on their side in their fight against the virus.
“We are all affected by this crisis, some more than others when it comes to accessing affordable food,” said the chief executive of the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress, Donna Ah Chee.
The minister for Indigenous Australians, Ken Wyatt, has been sought for comment.
After the initial meeting, Wyatt said there had been “immense goodwill” to resolve the problem but said the group would “meet again in two weeks time to see how the goodwill is translated into outcomes.”
The national Covid-19 coordination commission has been asked to work with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to monitor the cost of goods in remote communities.
Updated
Victoria would have seen 650 deaths a day without restrictions, chief health officer
Victoria’s chief health officer, Brett Sutton, has told media that modelling prepared for the health department shows that without the current restrictions in place 650 Victorians would have died each day at the peak of the virus.
Sutton says the modelling, prepared by the Peter Doherty Institute, Monash University and the Victorian Health department, shows “what might have occurred” if the state had maintained only case isolation.
He says Victoria would have had 58,000 infections a day at the peak, and would have required 7,000 ventilated hospital beds.
It would have peaked at 650 deaths per day, so not dissimilar to what’s being seen across Europe in a number of countries ... You can see that Victoria has taken a different trajectory. We did, along with all the states and territories of Australia, take an early robust measure with the physical distancing restrictions in place. It has pushed our curve on a very different path way than other countries.
Updated
But Andrews again says it’s too early to think about reopening bars or restaurants, though he does flag the possibility of relaxing some rules.
I want to make it clear though that the notion that pubs are opening any time soon, restaurants, bars, cafes – I don’t think that will be [happening]. The risk will be far greater than any reward. I think there are some areas where we might be able to make changes in around the way people interact, around some of the ... social measures ... I’m trying to give people a sense that there is hope here. These numbers are good. This strategy is working. It’s as much to avoid the alternative as it is to then relax all these rules. That would be exactly the wrong thing to do.
Updated
Victoria’s premier, Daniel Andrews, who is having a busy morning, has been updating the media after earlier announcing only one new case of Covid-19 in his state in the past 24 hours.
Andrews says it’s too early to talk about rolling back restrictions on movement, but that the national cabinet tomorrow will discuss what the “prerequisites” for rollbacks should look like:
National cabinet tomorrow will have a discussion about some of the prerequisites for relaxing any of the rules. That means you have to have the right amount of testing being done, the right number of coronavirus detections, the contract tracing [so that] if there is an outbreak in a given community, you can have a squad as it were go in there and lock the community down so you don’t get another that runs rampant. We saw in north-west Tasmania how quickly these things can get away from us. We see every day tragically what is occurring in so many parts of the world.
Updated
Let’s take a quick look at what the newspapers are reporting today. The big news, which you can read about here, is that Facebook and Google will be forced to share advertising revenue with Australian media companies after the treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, instructed the competition watchdog to develop a mandatory code of conduct for the digital giants amid a steep decline in advertising brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.
It’s the splash on most of the major mastheads including Nine’s Sydney Morning Herald and the Age, the West Australian, the Courier-Mail, the Herald Sun and Sydney’s Daily Telegraph.
The Hobart Mercury has a “virus hell” story about a couple who were stranded on board a Coronavirus-stricken cruise ship, while the Canberra Times has a special edition thanking frontline healthcare workers.
#Frontpages 🗞Monday @smh pic.twitter.com/LU0iB364pD
— John (@John_Hanna) April 19, 2020
#Frontpages 🗞Monday @westaustralian pic.twitter.com/rpO0zfJtih
— John (@John_Hanna) April 19, 2020
#Frontpages 🗞Monday @theheraldsun pic.twitter.com/XxDIi0lFi3
— John (@John_Hanna) April 19, 2020
#Frontpages 🗞Monday @australian pic.twitter.com/uhpFfdexai
— John (@John_Hanna) April 19, 2020
#Frontpages 🗞Monday @themercurycomau pic.twitter.com/T4ZAdeGtPw
— John (@John_Hanna) April 19, 2020
#Frontpages 🗞Monday @canberratimes pic.twitter.com/7yMpgUc8eJ
— John (@John_Hanna) April 19, 2020
Updated
Daniel Andrews cautions against relaxing restrictions, saying situation 'very fragile'
In Victoria, where only one new Covid-19 case was recorded overnight, Daniel Andrews has warned it will be some time still before life returns to some kind of normality.
Speaking to Melbourne radio station 3AW the premier said while it was a “positive result” the situation was still “very, very fragile”. With Victoria’s state of emergency in place until at least late May, he said the state had to “stay the course”.
“It’s not just a theory, there are countries who have relaxed the rules and now they’re in a harder lockdown because it [the virus] moves so fast,” Andrews said.
“If [the virus] gets away there’s no pulling it back and then we have people using machines to breathe and we can’t have that happen.”
He also talked down the possibility that cafes, restaurants and bars could reopen in the near future.
“They were closed for a reason. There might be some things we can do, some rules we can let off a little bit, but we have to be careful,” Andrews said.
Updated
Queensland tells NSW to 'back right off' over Virgin Airlines bailout conditions
Hoo boy. And some fighting words from the Queensland minister for state development, Cameron Dick, over some comments from the New South Wales treasurer, Dominic Perrottet, yesterday on Virgin Airlines.
Perrottet told Sky News on Sunday that NSW would consider a bailout for the beleaguered airline if it based itself at the new western Sydney airport.
“Virgin should have their headquarters for both Virgin and Tiger in Sydney,” Perrottet told Sky on Sunday night.
The premier, Gladys Berejiklian, echoed that this morning, though she did not provide any details on what a potential bailout for the company would look like.
Virgin is now based in Brisbane, and Dick has not held back in blasting NSW, telling his southern counterparts to “back right off”.
Dick said no one fought like “a Queenslanders with their backs to the wall” and that NSW could “bring a pea gun to the fight, we’ll bring a bazooka”.
“Back right off,” Dick said. “Just don’t go there.
“There is nothing more dangerous than Queenslanders with their backs to the wall.”
Not totally sure what that means, but reading between the lines it seems Queensland ministers are not too happy with their NSW counterparts this morning.
Updated
Queensland premier 'overjoyed' as state reports no new cases in past 24 hours
Big news out of Queensland, where the premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, has just announced no new cases of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours. She says she’s “overjoyed” by the result and flags easing of restrictions in the coming weeks.
This is an absolutely tremendous effort, so our total still sits at 1,019 and, if we can keep this up over the coming weeks, I’m sure that that is going to mean that we will be able to make some changes and ease some of those restrictions on the populations. So thank you Queensland for the enormous effort you are doing. This is tremendous news but we want to see this over a period of weeks and I just, I’m overjoyed we’ve seen this result.
Updated
The head of the Australian Medical Association, Tony Bartone, has told Seven’s Sunrise program this morning that a major delivery of personal protective equipment announced by the health minister, Greg Hunt, on Sunday should allow elective surgery to resume. Yesterday Hunt said he believed elective surgeries and IVF could continue sooner than previously expected.
Certainly, the shortage of masks is one of the reasons why elective surgery was put on hold. It was also about ensuring that we had bed capacity and we had the time to prepare for that Covid-19 surge in demand. We’ve been so successful so far that that’s given us the opportunity now to plan a sensible, safe, graduated return into the low-risk procedures which provide clinical benefit to patients and allow us to not ensure we don’t have, you know, ramping up waiting lists when we come out of the Covid-19 crisis.
Updated
Just briefly, the Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, has confirmed in a commercial radio interview this morning that he was not one of the people who received a leaked copy of the dformer prime minister Malcolm Turnbull’s book.
We revealed yesterday that lawyers acting for Turnbull’s publisher had fired off a letter to a staff member in Scott Morrison’s office alleging he hd been “responsible for unauthorised distribution of my client’s book”. The staff member has since apologised, but it seems the book was shared widely among journalists and MPs before its release.
But Albanese says he wasn’t one of the recipients.
I did not. I am not on the prime minister’s office’s email list, obviously. But it seems to be a pretty childish thing to do and I am not surprised that it’s been taken seriously by the publishers.
You can read the full story from yesterday here:
Updated
A new report out from the Grattan Institute today warns that Australia’s unemployment rate could go as high as 16% due to Covid-19. The report says that in the weeks ahead as many as 28% of Australians could be out of work, although the impact of the wage replacement schemes will keep the official unemployment rate lower.
Updated
The first of two planes repatriating Australians stranded overseas has landed in Adelaide, the Advertiser reports.
The aircraft, carrying 374 passengers, landed at a largely deserted Adelaide airport at 7.20am. A second flight will arrive tomorrow.
Updated
Our Indigenous affairs editor, Lorena Allam, tells me a group of 13 Aboriginal organisations in central Australia will meet at 9.30am to condemn the lack of action on food security in remote communities. That’s despite a big roundtable chaired by Ken Wyatt, who brought together Coles, Woolies, outback store owners and the Northern Territory chief minister, Michael Gunner, two weeks ago.
The organisations want a 20% government subsidy on essentials at point of sale and guaranteed supply – they say the big supermarkets are hogging supply chains and they’re left struggling to source essentials which are now way more expensive than they used to be.
Stores in the bush are empty within days of supplies arriving and consequently people are sneaking into towns on backroads to stock up and getting caught and fined, and risking contracting Covid-19.
Updated
Victoria reports one new case of Covid-19 in past 24 hours
Over on Nine’s Today Show, the Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, has revealed his state recorded only one new case of Covid-19 overnight.
That’s a 24-hour period with only seven new cases in the two states which have experienced the largest outbreaks of the virus. Andrews said about 7,000 people in the state had been tested at the weekend.
“We need to be proud of the progress we’ve made but we need to know it’s very, very fragile,” Andrews said.
Updated
Penny Wong says China needs to be more transparent
Labor’s shadow foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, is on RN Breakfast. She’s asked whether she “trusts” China.
I think transparency and openness are the basis for trust and the world wants to trust China, China wants to be trusted, and that requires China to be more transparent. I think we all want to trust China and that requires China to be more transparent. Trust isn’t set and forget, it’s derived from and built on actions.
This is the same question the foreign affairs minister, Marise Payne, was asked and sidestepped yesterday. The shadow health minister, Chris Bowen, got it at a press conference too. If you’re wondering why we’re suddenly asking every Australian politician about trust and China, it’s off the back of Payne’s call for an independent international investigation into the spread of Covid-19 and concerns about China’s transparency during the outbreak.
Updated
Residents in NSW coronavirus hotspots urged to get tested
The NSW chief medical officer, Dr Kerry Chant, has listed areas in the state where she wants people to be tested for Covid-19 based on cases without identified sources. That is, they want people in areas where there may be community transmission to be tested.
They include the local government areas of Blacktown, Canada Bay, Cumberland, Goulburn, Mulawarie, the inner west, Liverpool, Parramatta, Penrith, Randwick, Ryde, Waverley and Woollahra .
Anyone in those areas that have symptoms of fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose should present for testing and we are trying to have high testing rates in those areas to again assure us that we are not missing more widespread community transmission in those areas. What has prompted us to nominate those areas is that we have a weekly review of cases, where we haven’t got identified sources and this allows us to focus on those target areas.
Updated
NSW reports six new cases in 24 hours – the lowest total in five weeks
The New South Wales premier, Gladys Berejiklian, says there have been only six new cases of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours. It’s the lowest number of new infections since four were recorded on 10 March.
There has been one death in the state in the past 24 hours – a 94-year-old man from the Newmarch House aged care home in western Sydney who we reported on yesterday. There are two additional cases of Covid-19 at that home, taking the total to 41 including 14 staff.
Berejiklian has also announced a $140m boost for primary industries such as forestry and agriculture.
Updated
Over on the commercial network breakfast shows, the treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, is also talking apps, saying the Covid-19 tracing app would “trace the so-called digital handshake”.
“Of course we have looked very closely at the privacy issues, the security aspects of it,” Frydenberg told Seven’s Sunrise.
Updated
Stuart Robert, still doing the rounds, was just on RN Breakfast repeating a lot of the same lines about Australians downloading the Covid-19 tracing app because we “want to get back to the footy and want to get back to the beach”.
Fran Kelly pushed Robert on whether the app would be effective if it failed to meet that 40% take-up threshold the government has been talking about. Robert said effectiveness “is a scale”.
“Any digital take-up to assist current manual tracing effort is of great value,” he said.
Less than 15% of students expected as Queensland schools return
Roughly 100,000 students are expected to attend schools across Queensland on Monday amid closures due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Authorities estimate about 10% to 15% of students enrolled across the state will attend school for the first day of term two.
That figure would be spread across the whole state as schools open only for the children of essential workers and vulnerable children as part of the response to the coronavirus outbreak, said the education minister, Grace Grace.
“We’re expecting somewhere around 10, maybe 15%,” Grace told media on Sunday. “We really don’t know but whatever happens we’ll be able to accommodate.”
All other students will be required to learn remotely, based on medical advice.
But parents who have children at home with them were not required to take any classes, Grace said.
That’s a job for teachers and teacher aides employed across the state who will help children learn via digital devices and hard copies of the curriculum.
“This is remote learning,” Grace said. “No parent is required to be a teacher.”
Updated
Tracing app will let us 'get back to life' quicker, Stuart Robert says
The government services minister, Stuart Robert, has been on the ABC this morning defending the government’s proposed Covid-19 tracing app. The app hasn’t been released yet but is already facing pushback. Within the government, the former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce is among a few who have publicly said they won’t download it because of privacy concerns.
Robert told the ABC the app would reduce contact tracing on confirmed Covid-19 cases from “days to minutes” and allow Australians “to get back to life quicker”. The government though says it wants at least 40% of Australians to download the app to make it successful. Robert dodged questions about whether the government would consider making the app mandatory if they failed to meet that target, saying he’s a “glass half full guy”. He said:
Our memories fail us, Michael. Think about if you got the virus and state health asked who you were with 10 days ago, you wouldn’t know. You can’t remember the name of the lady in the queue behind you at Woolies. If everyone is running the app, the data is securely on the app and only goes to state health officials if you test positive for the virus. No commonwealth agency sees the data. It’s only used for health, and it’s only used to protect you.
This would reduce the time from days to minutes. So it’s a massive productivity saving and, frankly, it’s going to allow us to get back to life quicker. It will allow us to get back to the footy quicker. It will allow us to get back to work quicker. It will allow us to resume the economic activity of the nation quicker. And we need to do this for the country. There are a lot of people unemployed now and hurting. And the prime minister has made this clear – this is one of the key conditions we need to get economic life back into the country.
Updated
Good morning and welcome to today’s coverage of the coronavirus pandemic in Australia. I’m Michael McGowan and I’ll be taking you through the morning news.
Today some 100,000 kids (or about 10% to 15% of the school population) in Queensland are expected to return to school for the first day of term two today. A repatriation flight from India carrying 440 people is also expected to arrive in Adelaide.
And in some good news for swimmers in Sydney’s east, beaches in the Randwick council areas – Clovelly, Coogee and Maroubra – have reopened for exercise only this morning, adding further fuel to the debate about when and how to lift lockdown restrictions.
Here’s a quick summary of what else you might have missed yesterday:
- Australia recorded two new Covid-19 deaths. One, in New South Wales, was a 94-year-old man. He was a resident at the Newmarch House aged care facility in western Sydney. It is the second death from the aged care facility after a significant outbreak. A man in his 80s from Victoria also died.
- The foreign affairs minister, Marise Payne, called for an independent global investigation into the spread of Covid-19. Payne says she does not think the World Health Organization should run the investigation, saying she shares some of the concerns expressed by the US about the agency’s handling of the pandemic.
- The federal health minister, Greg Hunt, said elective surgery and IVF could resume sooner than previously expected, thanks to an increase in personal protective equipment equipment available to Australia’s healthcare system.
- The NSW health minister, Brad Hazzard, announced anyone who spat on a worker could receive a $5,000 fine. It’s an expansion of a previous decision to allow the fines for people who spat on health workers or police.
- Hazzard also said NSW had avoided some 700 deaths, based on projections during the peak of the outbreak.
Updated
