We’ll leave it there for now. Thanks for joining us today. We’ll see you tomorrow.
Summary
Let’s take stock of some of today’s coronavirus news.
- Australia has 20 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, with one in NSW, two in WA and another 17 in Victoria, more than doubling that state’s active cases in a week to 130.
- Victoria has carried out almost 25,000 Covid-19 tests in 48 hours as the state marks a week of double-digit growth in cases.
- Testing delays remain, and businesses say they are frustrated that Covid outbreaks have scuppered this week’s planned loosening of restrictions.
- About 800 Australians from South America, India and Indonesia will fly home from overseas into Adelaide by 28 June.
- Australia has recorded 7,494 cases, with at least 475 still active. There are no active infections in SA, Tasmania, ACT or the NT.
- The national death toll remains at 102: NSW 50, Victoria 19, Tasmania 13, WA 9, Queensland 6, SA 4 and ACT 3.
Updated
Fraudsters taking advantage of coronavirus stimulus measures have been put on notice, reports AAP.
The tax office is cracking down on people exploiting jobkeeper payments, early superannuation release and business cash-flow schemes.
Anyone caught breaking the law could face massive fines or jail time.
The ATO has uncovered intelligence about a number of dodgy tactics, including people withdrawing super and redepositing it to receive a tax deduction.
Others are fudging their personal finances to apply for the hardship program.
The tax office is also eyeing employers manipulating their turnovers to receive jobkeeper wage subsidies, along with businesses pulling tricks to maximise cash flow injections.
Deputy commissioner Will Day said on Tuesday the ATO generally worked on the assumption that people acted honestly, but would conduct checks later.
If you’ve received a benefit as part of the Covid-19 stimulus measures and we discover you are ineligible, you can expect to hear from us.
It is much better to come forward to make a voluntary disclosure than waiting to be audited.
Updated
The Victorian federal Liberal MP Jason Wood has accused the state Labor government of using a spike in coronavirus cases to distract from its own political trouble.
The state Labor government is now using the current spike in cases to get attention away from branch stacking and their own failures on handling the Covid-19.
They should not dare to blame the increase in new positive cases with local council areas arguing placing local restrictions due to families ‘failing’ on hygiene.
At the weekend, the premier, Daniel Andrews, reversed plans to ease restrictions after a notable uptick in community transmission cases.
Wood represents suburbs in the local government areas of Casey and Cardinia, which have been designated as Covid hotspots.
Updated
On the ABC, Bill Shorten says he thinks a lot of people are “very cheesed off at the people who did go” to the Black Lives Matter protest.
He adds:
Mind you, I can understand that IndigenousAustralians and supporters say: well, what does it take to get the message through about what is happening to our First Nations people here?
Updated
Tim Kennedy, the national secretary of the United Workers Union, has called for unemployment benefits to remain at the current level “at a minimum”, rather than dropping back to $40 a day in September.
In an emphatic pitch to the Senate select committee on Covid-19 this afternoon, he said an elevated payment was needed to ensure “a floor of dignity”.
As it stands the Cover-19 supplement – which effectively increased the rate of jobseeker – is due to expire in late September, but the government has been tight-lipped on whether it could reach some sort of compromise rate into the future.
When asked by the Greens senator Rachel Siewert what level jobseeker should be maintained at, Kennedy said forcing people to live on about $40 a day was “inhumane in a society as wealthy as ours”. He said it had also been a disincentive for people being able to find work.
We need to maintain the rate that it is at the moment ongoing as a minimum.
Kennedy also called for another review “and we may need it to move further upwards because we need to put a floor of dignity into the community so people can actually learn, and improve their skills, so we can actually have a highly skilled workforce of tomorrow”.
Kennedy also spoke to the committee about the jobkeeper scheme, saying it was important to remember many people were underemployed through no fault of their own coming into the crisis. He cautioned against focusing on certain workers who may be receiving more than they had in the past.
It’s immaterial in terms of the cost of the scheme. But it is material in terms of those people surviving from week to week.
Updated
People who live along the border of New South Wales and Victoria were left confused about bushfire movements because the fire-tracking apps produced by the Rural Fire Service of NSW and Emergency Management Victoria did not share information, used different colour-coding systems, and used different symbols, the bushfire royal commission has heard.
The chief executives of Towong shire council, in Victoria, and the Snowy Valley and Snowy Monaro councils, both in Victoria, told the inquiry on Wednesday that the apparent lack of information sharing between fire agencies in Victoria and NSW meant some residents were confused about what was happening, because the apps did not show fires burning on both sides of the border.
Matthew Hyde, chief executive of the Snowy Valleys Council, said that if a fire started in NSW, “the RFS maintained the fire information until it crossed the border and then it didn’t maintain that information”.
And vice versa in Victoria, so there were significant issues about the movement across the border.
Peter Bascomb, chief executive of the Snowy Monaro Regional Council, said the different colours used by the two apps to indicate fires that were at an emergency warning, watch and act or advice level also left them open to misinterpretation.
Both the Emergency Vic app and the RFS’s Fires Near Me app use red to indicate fires under an emergency warning level. But NSW uses blue for watch and act and yellow for advice, and Victoria uses yellow for watch and act and blue for advice. If you’re constantly switching between apps to track a fire moving across the Murray River, Bascomb said, that can get confusing and people could be “potentially misled about what is actually happening”.
There were also significant differences in how emergency evacuation centres were managed. Victorian authorities set up an evacuation centre at Delegate, which is just on the NSW side of the border, for people fleeing the East Gippsland fires. It was fully established and stocked by state government services. But a NSW-run centre, at Coomba, was not fully stocked.
Bascomb said:
I actually contacted the salvation army who brought the mattresses from their local supply store and a supply of linen to go with them to establish that.
At one point Bascomb called the NSW welfare agency to send someone to support the Delegate centre, but neglected to tell them ahead of time that the evacuees were Victorian.
It turns out that the person, once they arrived at Delegate, indicated that they could not provide support to Victorian residents and turned around and left.
Updated
Turnbull apologises for robodebt
Malcolm Turnbull has also apologised for the robodebt scheme, saying he is “very sorry that it worked out the way it did”.
Turnbull was the prime minister at the time the program was introduced, while the current PM, Scott Morrison, was the social services minister.
He says he regrets they way it “worked out”. Asked if he sought legal advice at the time, he said he assumed that the cabinet ministers involved had gone through all the correct processes.
I am very sorry it has created the dismay and distress that it has.
Turnbull says income matching was “not new” but that the way the program was “designed and, I think, in particular implemented, left a lot to be desired”.
Look, it failed and it obviously had serious issues of legal validity, so yes I am very sorry that that worked out the way it did.
Labor today called for a royal commission into the scheme.
Updated
Turnbull says government's uni changes 'baffling'
Malcolm Turnbull has said he cannot see the “rationale for increasing, doubling the cost of humanities degrees”, as proposed by the Morrison government.
He tells the ABC:
History, you know, if you overlook the lessons of history, you are just doomed to repeat the mistakes that have been made in the past.
I studied history at university – I particularly loved mediaeval history, I must say. And I’d just don’t understand the rationale for it.
I think it is baffling. They’ve got a point about law, but apart from that, I find the changes very puzzling.
I certainly would encourage people to do quantitative subjects.
Updated
Malcolm Turnbull says he was “absolutely shocked” by the allegations of sexual harassment levelled at former high court justice Dyson Heydon. (Heydon denies the allegations, which were upheld by an inquiry established by the court.)
Turnbull said:
The key here is, this is about power. This is about men abusing their power over women and we must have zero tolerance for it.
Updated
The former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull is on the ABC. He’s taking questions from Patricia Karvelas about reports of cyber attacks, which Scott Morrison referred to at a press conference on Friday.
Turnbull thinks it can be “very valuable” to name the attacker – in this case believed to be China – but he also acknowledges that managing that relationship is complex.
In general, Turnbull says Beijing has been guilty of a “series of overreactions”.
Updated
The South Australian police commissioner, Grant Stevens, says about 800 people will arrive in Adelaide by 28 June as repatriation flights continue.
One flight will come from South America, potentially two will come from India, and a defence force contingent will arrive from Indonesia.
Stevens said on Tuesday:
There will be a strict regime in place to ensure that they are properly processed at the airport, loaded onto buses [and] conveyed to a supervised quarantine location, where they’ll undergo health checks.
Updated
The Tasmanian government is expected to reveal on Friday when the state’s borders will reopen.
Peter Gutwein, the state’s premier, said he was worried about the situation in Victoria, where cases have continued to rise.
What occurred in Victoria this week is of real concern.
I believe we do need to move towards opening our borders [but] we have to be cognisant with what’s happening on the other side of the fence.
Gutwein has spoken with the South Australian government, which has allowed Tasmanians to enter the state.
Tasmania moves to stage 3 restrictions on Friday.
Updated
Australians spent 19 % more on alcohol last week than they did a year ago, with bottle-shop spending up 42%, Commonwealth Bank data reveals.
The bank said spending at bottle shops was up 42% last week, compared with the same time last year.
In a new weekly report on consumer behaviour, the bank said spending on both food and alcohol for the week ending Friday was up 19%.
It said consumer spending overall continued to improve last week, albeit at a modest pace, AAP reported.
The bank’s weekly report on credit and debit-card spending said:
Consumers are slowly returning to in-store shopping.
But spending on recreation (including air travel and accommodation) was down 9%, and spending on transport was down 7% as more people work from home.
Spending on household furnishings and equipment was up 42%, and personal care spending was up 13% as beauty and barber shops reopen.
Updated
The head of the retail workers’ union has floated giving shopping centre security guards temporary powers to crack down on social distancing.
The Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association national secretary, Gerard Dwyer, also wants a national rollout of public health officials to police shopping precincts, AAP reports.
Dwyer told the coronavirus Senate inquiry on Tuesday:
Can there be temporary powers given to security guards for the life of Covid? I don’t know.
We are happy to have the conversation, but something has got to be done – this is a health risk for our members.
Updated
Testing delays are continuing in Melbourne. For those not in Victoria, Fountain Gate and Chadstone are not close – about 25km by freeway apart, in fact.
Dozens of cars align the outskirts of Highpoint as its carpark turns into a COVID testing site.
— Nine News Melbourne (@9NewsMelb) June 23, 2020
Patients at @WestfieldAU Southland have been warned they could be waiting up to 4 hours, and patients arriving at Fountain Gate have been redirected to Chadstone. #9News pic.twitter.com/i6a5zJ0pmN
Updated
Hi everyone. Thanks to Amy for her work today. If you want to get in touch, you can email me at luke.henriques-gomes@theguardian.com or via Twitter @lukehgomes.
On that note, I am going to leave you in the very capable hands of Luke Henriques-Gomes for the next part of the afternoon.
Thank you so much for joining me for my stint today. I’ll be back with you early tomorrow morning. Make sure, as always, you take care of you.
Updated
Ahhhhhh nothing like appealing to the base when you’re in the middle of a preselection battle.
Give me strength. https://t.co/BnTTAvjwfP
— Senator James McGrath (@SenatorMcGrath) June 23, 2020
Updated
Murph has written on some of the very awkward dynamics at the Scott Morrison Eden-Monaro press conference:
Cafe owners inside Melbourne’s Covid-19 hotspots say business has slowed since the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee advised against travel to and from the areas on Sunday.
“In the last couple of weeks everyone started to relax a lot, and that anxiety really has come back up,” said Alex Killerby, the floor supervisor at Lobbs cafe in Brunswick, located in the Covid-19 hotspot areas of Moreland.
Several blocks away, the Brunswick East primary school was shut down this morning after a student tested positive.
There has been a spike in community transmission of the virus around Melbourne’s northern and western suburbs.
Killerby said:
I was off yesterday but when I came in today I really noticed that everything had gone right down ... People don’t seem to be coming in for the big lunches any more as they had started to, and [the virus is] definitely a big topic of conversation with the takeaway customers.
Lobbs had planned to open up from 24 seats to 40 when restrictions were set to ease this week, but those plans have now been put on hold.
I think we are actually really lucky because there are so many people who live in this area that are now working from home ... We have really relied on those regulars.
Anthony Raji from the iconic A1 bakery on Sydney Rd says the team was all set-up to re-open their dine-in floor when the news came through on Saturday that the lockdown laws would not ease. He says they are lucky, with a dedicated fan base to keep them afloat regardless. pic.twitter.com/gg3u87KONb
— Matilda Boseley (@MatildaBoseley) June 23, 2020
Several doors down at the A1 bakery, manager Anthony Raji said being unable to reopen was frustrating but he was still feeling optimistic.
It’s sad not having people coming in as often, but the locals have shown their support and kept us going the whole way through.
We were pretty much open and ready to go when they released the news Saturday night that we couldn’t do so ... Now with the second wave, it isn’t really showing too much yet, but hopefully the next couple of weeks we’ll be able to tell.
Updated
Woolworths announces redundacies as it moves to automation
Spoke too soon on the cheery news in retail. Woolworths has now announced mass redundancies.
The company has reported to the ASX that it plans to develop “an automated regional distribution centre and a semi-automated national distribution centre at Moorebank Logistics Park in Sydney.”
That’s going to mean job losses of more than 1,300 people, with the company announcing it expects to pay out more than $170m in redundancies.
Meanwhile, the cost of repaying staff who had been underpaid has risen by $90m to $390m from its initial estimate last year.
Woolworths shares were down by 0.5% after the supermarket giant revealed the cost of repaying underpaid workers had blown out to $390m, up from its initial estimate of $300m last year.
It said:
The group continues to review the estimated payment shortfall liability, which is based on calculations involving a high degree of complexity, and which remains subject to further analysis of historical years and the completion of the review of all awards applicable across the group.
The total cost of remediation is expected to be approximately $390m (excluding interest and other costs).
Woolworths Group CEO Brad Banducci said: “The group remains committed to fully rectifying any payment shortfalls across all group businesses as quickly as possible. We thank everyone for their patience through this process.”
Updated
AAP has more on WA’s offer to the AFL (and the two west coast teams):
West Coast and Fremantle players are rejoicing after confirmation they won’t have to quarantine in a hotel when they go back to Western Australia.
With both of WA’s AFL clubs in a month-long hub on the Gold Coast, there were fears players would have to spend 14 days quarantining in a Perth hotel on returning to WA.
But premier Mark McGowan says that quarantine period can be served at their regular homes, subject to strict conditions.
The two clubs can train during their quarantine period and are also free to play each other in a western derby.
There’s still a chance Fremantle and West Coast will need to spend an extra week or two in their Gold Coast hub before a similar Perth set-up is established.
Crowds of up to 30,000 will be able to attend games from Saturday at Perth’s Optus Stadium.
There will be no limits by 18 July, meaning up to 60,000 people will be allowed to go to games in Perth.
That is a juicy carrot for the AFL, which has lost millions of dollars through the coronavirus pandemic.
Updated
Another passenger on the Ruby Princess has said a doctor onboard took a swab from him and told him “you don’t have coronavirus”, even though they did not have coronavirus testing capacity onboard.
Paul Reid, who later tested positive for Covid-19, said he was given the impression he had been tested and “cleared of coronavirus” after his encounter with the ship’s doctor.
Reid fell ill while on the trip. He went to the ship’s medical centre with a sore throat and a fever and raised the possibility he had Covid-19.
He told the NSW special inquiry that a male doctor took a swab from his nose and throat, put the swab “in a mixture”, then “came back five minutes later and told me ‘You don’t have coronavirus, you have the common cold.’”
However, the ship’s own records show Reid was not tested for coronavirus but was tested for influenza A and B. He was negative for both.
Reid said he believed he had been tested and cleared for Covid-19, and he told other passengers and family he was negative. He told the inquiry he wasn’t asked to self-isolate, and he continued to go to the ship’s buffet, though at a later time, to avoid crowds.
When he arrived in Sydney on 19 March, he said, he took an Uber home.
I told the Uber driver I had been tested and was sweet, so she had nothing to worry about.
Updated
A worker at the Coles Laverton distribution centre, south-west of Melbourne, has tested positive for Covid-19.
A small number of people who worked with them have been asked to self-isolate.
Workers at the distribution centre do not handle individual grocery items – they move the crates and cartons around with machinery, so your groceries are safe.
The centre is being deep-cleaned as a further precaution.
Updated
For those who have been asking, “routine testing” are positive tests which have popped up at one of the testing clinics but have not yet been classified as community transmission or traced back to a source.
#BREAKING Victoria has counted 11 new cases of community transmission today, where a source of coronavirus infection is unknown.
— casey briggs (@CaseyBriggs) June 23, 2020
This likely includes some cases that were announced as ‘under investigation’ in previous days.
Yesterday there were 12 community transmissions.
Updated
New South Wales is also overhauling its HSC curriculum in another “back to basics” change.
Gladys Berejiklian:
The purpose of this is to improve standards across the board. It’s to improve core competencies in English, maths and science in particular, right from kindergarten all the way up to Year 12.
The three main planks of this reform in relation to the curriculum review are firstly to declutter the curriculum.
Over 30 years, subjects have kept creeping in, which means that especially youngsters are getting a bit of information about a lot of things, rather than at the depth that is required to really ensure key learnings in key areas such as literacy and numeracy.
Secondly, we want that depth of competency in that in English, maths and science. And in older years, STEM has to be the main planks of the education system, and that’s what the reform will do.
And finally, in the critical senior years, we need to make sure that the pathways are modernised for students who are intending to go to university, intending to get a job, or intending to do further education through Tafe and other VET courses.
It’s really, really important for us to get those pathways right. So they’re the three key elements of this reform. We’re certainly not sitting on our hands.
The reform starts from next year when a number of subjects which we don’t believe should form part of the curriculum in the senior years won’t be available any more.
Of course, we appreciate that individual students may wish to pursue some of those specialities, but they shan’t be part of the formal curriculum.
Updated
The union representing the arts and entertainment industry has warned that Australia “will be immeasurably poorer” and jobs will be lost without urgent targeted assistance for the sector.
The government is understood to be close to announcing a support package for the struggling arts and entertainment industry, as Katharine Murphy reported last week.
Paul Murphy, who heads the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance, stressed the importance of that support being rolled out urgently in an appearance before the Senate’s Covid-19 select committee this afternoon.
He said arts and entertainment were among the first industries to shut down due to the Covid-19 restrictions, meaning that for many of the union’s members “all income for the foreseeable future vanished”.
Paul Murphy said hope turned to disappointment when it became clear many in arts and entertainment would not be eligible for the jobkeeper wage subsidy. He pointed to analysis indicating employment in arts and entertainment may not recover until the end of 2025.
Calling for urgent targeted assistance for the sector, Murphy said: “In the absence of that, many businesses will not survive, a generation of creative workers will be lost to the industry, and our country will be immeasurably poorer for all of that.”
Other witnesses are now giving the committee an explanation of how the pandemic has affected arts and entertainment workers.
In his opening statement, Murphy said the pandemic had also brought to a head dramatic challenges facing the media industry, with the loss of advertising revenue causing a “tipping point” for many businesses.
He said analysis suggested there had been 200 newsroom contractions since January 2019, including more than 100 regional mastheads closing, suspending, moving to online-only or merging. “This is a huge issue for our democracy,” he said.
Updated
It seems a long bow to draw, but anyways:
(via AAP)
Hosting the 2032 Olympics in Queensland would be a critical part of Australia’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, according to Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates.
Coates said on Tuesday the $4.5bn cost of hosting the Games in the Sunshine State will be covered by the International Olympic Committee, sponsors and ticket sales.
I have always believed in making necessity a virtue. There is already a need for jobs and growth in the Queensland economy arising from the impact of Covid-19.
Our partner three levels of government recognise a potential 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games as a critical part of the state and nation’s economic recovery in the short term, quite apart from all of the long-term health, wellbeing, economic and sporting legacies.
Coates, speaking at a launch of a Parliamentary Friends of the Olympic Movement, said the south-east Queensland bid, with Brisbane as its central hub, was a “clear and exciting” opportunity for Australia.
For any of you who may be concerned about the $4.5bn cost of conducting the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the IOC has already committed $2.5bn at least, being the amount of its contributions to the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.
The balance will be covered by national sponsorships and ticket sales.
And I stress, these days the IOC encourages, requires, the use of existing and temporary community and sports venues – for which, in the case of south-east Queensland, with Cairns and Townsville for football preliminaries, 85% are existing.
Accelerating the Queensland bid had been put on hold amid the coronavirus pandemic, which forced the Tokyo Olympics to be postponed from this year until 2021.
Coates said an IOC decision on the 2032 host could be made “as early as 2022 or 2023”.
Other bids were expected from Germany, India, Spain and, jointly, South and North Korea.
Updated
For those wanting to follow along with the Covid-19 committee:
The COVID-19 Select Committee is holding a public hearing this afternoon
— Australian Senate (@AuSenate) June 23, 2020
Live: https://t.co/9Lgw5iFZlr
More information: https://t.co/kjFKySE11i pic.twitter.com/m1Tb2XDe6G
Updated
Ruby Princess passenger says waitress sneezed on her days before she became ill
A passenger on the Ruby Princess, who contracted coronavirus and was put in an induced coma for eight days, said a waitress on the ship sneezed in her face days before she became sick.
Ann Kavanagh, who contracted Covid-19 and was put on a ventilator, told the NSW special inquiry into the cruise ship, that she was sneezed on a few days before the ship docked in Sydney on 19 March.
She said she “didn’t associate anything with it”, but began feeling sick while on her flight home to Perth, and was shivering on the plane.
Kavanagh, who said she had taken 14 previous cruises, also said the disembarkation was done so quickly on 19 March that it was unprecedented.
“We hadn’t known anything like it,” she said. “We got off the ship so quickly. There was no queuing, no passport control, nothing, we just got in a taxi, got to the airport ... very quick.”
Updated
Gladys Berejiklian’s warning to New South Wales businesses to “not interact” in any way with Melbourne travellers follows this warning from the NSW premier yesterday:
It’s the border closure when you don’t actually close the border -warn your citizens from travelling there, as well as ask them to “not interact” with citizens travelling to you.
Well that was quick.
Donald Trump says the trade deal with China is just fine.
The China Trade Deal is fully intact. Hopefully they will continue to live up to the terms of the Agreement!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 23, 2020
As with yesterday, testing sites in Melbourne are struggling to keep up with demand:
Four-hour wait times at some in-car COVID testing sites. At others, like Craigieburn, hundreds are being waved past and told to come back later. pic.twitter.com/uuPUIjeYa7
— Paul Dowsley (@pauldowsley7) June 23, 2020
Meanwhile, the White House trade advisor says the free trade agreement the states have with China “is over”.
Peter Navarro made some pretty strong comments in this Fox News interview:
Updated
NSW premier advises businesses to 'not interact' with Melbourne travellers
In New South Wales Gladys Berejiklian has warned NSW businesses to be careful of accepting Victorian travellers at their accomodation hubs
The ABC reports the NSW premier as saying:
I call on all organisations not to interact with citizens from Melbourne at this stage.
Berejiklian also reminded NSW businesses they have the liberty “to accept or reject any traveller”.
That’s mostly aimed at the ski fields, where NSW and Victorian travellers are most likely to mix.
I would definitely encourage organisations to consider who to allow on their premises and where they’re coming from,” the ABC reports.
I think it’s the prerogative of every business, every organisation not to accept anyone from these hotspots at this time.”
NSW will not be closing its border with Victoria though.
Updated
South Australia to further ease restrictions
South Australian premier Steven Marshall has announced SA will be moving to its next stage of easing restrictions.
From next Monday, social distancing measures will be reduced from one person per four sq metres to one person per two square metres.
But there will be additional police on SA’s border with Victoria.
Updated
For more information on what is happening in Victoria, Mel Davey has put this together:
The ABS has the latest trade figures – both imports and exports are down. Particularly with cars and petroleum.
Imports of cars and petroleum at near record lowshttps://t.co/IiAigHHaav
— Australian Bureau of Statistics (@ABSStats) June 23, 2020
The preliminary figures show that the value of imports fell $2.2bn or 9% from the revised April figure of $24.1bn to $21.9bn, and also declined $4.8bn or 18% on the May 2019 figure. The decline in imports was driven by a large drop in the value of imports of both road vehicles and petroleum.
The value of imports of road vehicles has declined significantly since March 2020 and is the lowest value since April 2011. Large declines were recorded in imports of passenger vehicles and four-wheel drives.
The value of imports of petroleum in May 2020 was at the lowest level since February 2005, with imports of crude petroleum and aircraft fuel most significantly impacted by the decline in demand due to Covid-19 restrictions and lower oil prices.
Updated
Geoff Raby, Australia’s ambassador to Beijing between 2007-11, has given an interview to the South China Morning Post saying “Australia derives its strong economy from China” and it needs to repair bilateral ties.
Updated
Greg Hunt warns international borders will be closed for a long time
Greg Hunt spoke about a Covid-19 vaccine this morning. The World Health Organisation has warned it may take two-and-a-half years for a vaccine. On Australia’s international borders, Hunt told Fran Kelly on ABC RN this morning:
I do think that the border – the international border closures – will remain in place for a very significant time.
On the vaccine timetable:
I won’t put a timeframe on it, because there are differing views as to vaccines. For example, the University of Queensland molecular clamp is one of the world’s leading vaccine candidates, it’s progressing.
There are others out of Oxford, the United States, Europe, Asia that are all progressing. However, we have to adapt to this new situation, which is very difficult for businesses, for workers, for families.
Updated
The press conference ends after a “how is this not pork barrelling?” in regards to the primary producer grants.
Scott Morrison:
I think that’s a pretty offensive question to people who have lost everything in bushfires.
These measures are targeted to areas that have been affected by the bushfires.
In Victoria, in New South Wales, in South Australia, in Queensland. Now, Eden-Monaro is a big electorate but it’s not that big, to cover four states. This is about helping communities rebuild, rebuild their communities, rebuild their industries, regather their jobs and these investments are part of a broader plan that started with the disaster recovery payments, the grants to support small businesses and primary producers and the grants now supporting the re-establishment and growth and investment in industries sitting alongside the local economic recovery plans that have been recently announced.
This is about rebuilding communities. This is about rebuilding economies
Updated
Asked if Dyson Heydon’s Australian honours should be revoked in light of the findings of the independent inquiry ordered by the high court after allegations of sexual harassment Scott Morrison says:
Allegations of this sort are obviously very disturbing and very concerning and they’re incredibly serious and the high court has been dealing with that and the chief justice has made her comments about this, as I understand, and there will be a proper, formal process that will be followed, I’m sure, in addressing those allegations.
And, as you know, people’s awards and honours, if those processes end in a place where people have ... where those allegations have been upheld, there’s a normal process for honours to be dealt with at that time. It’s not appropriate to presuppose those processes. That’s not the way these things should be handled. There should be a proper process to deal with this. There will be. They’re very serious allegations. They’re very concerning. And very disturbing. And I’m – or – on that basis, I would expect those processes to do their job.
Updated
Scott Morrison says no to a robodebt royal commission
The prime minister responds with a terse ‘we’re fixing the problem’ when asked why he won’t consider a royal commission into the robodebt debacle:
Because we’re fixing the problem. We’re aware of the issue and we’re fixing the problem and we’re getting payments made and we’re working through that process now. Let’s not forget what this issue is about is the use of income-averaging as the primary reasoning for raising a debt. That is the main practice used by the Labor party as has been used by the government. That is the legal issue and it’s what we’re fixing with those who have been impacted by it.
(The difference was, the Coalition took away the human checks when it came to income averaging.)
Updated
Asked to clarify what will be happening beyond the September sunset for jobkeeper and the Covid supplment of jobseeker, Scott Morrison says:
Look, all I’m saying – and I don’t want to say anything that isn’t very clear.
What I’m trying to say to people is we understand that different sectors and different parts of the country are going to be impacted far worse than others.
And we have demonstrated right from the get-go that those that are really needed the help, we’ve been there, straightaway. Didn’t have to wait for figures to come in.
We were in there and for long. Six months is our program. Similar programs overseas went in for three months.
We went for six months to give people certainty. And that’s been incredibly important for confidence.
We’ve seen consumer confidence rebound almost, I’d say, completely to the levels lost when Covid hit. Business confidence is also climbing and it climbed almost to the day of when we put jobkeeper in place.
A key reason is that people understood that the government was going to be there and I can assure you we’re going to continue to be there for those who will continue to need that support. And how that is delivered and how it’s calibrated and how it’s paid for – they are the issues that we’re working through at the moment.
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And as reported by Murph, the arts and entertainment package *is* coming.
Scott Morrison:
It’s good to see that in parts of the country they’re opening up again and people are getting back to their employment coming in and they’re in a better position than they were back in March when we set that program up.
There are many others that aren’t in that position. If we go into the creative and entertainment industries, they have seen no change and that’s not surprising, given the social distancing rules that apply. So we [are examining] and targeting how we’re going to provide that support and we’re working on those responses right now and we’ll announce them in July.
'Next phase' of government support coming, says Scott Morrison
The prime minister takes a question on what more can be done for businesses suffering in the area and pivots it to the future of jobkeeper for the nation:
We’re in the process of making decisions about supports that can continue to be provided after that time and we’ll be making those decisions and handing that down with the economic statement in late July.
One of the things I would stress is the uncertainty around the outlook is difficult to contend with when you’re making decisions that involve programs that are running at a cost of almost $11bn a month.
So you need to consider those carefully and you need to target your support where you need to send it. I’ve always said, right from the outset, that there will be parts of this country that will feel the impact of the Covid-19 recession far longer than other parts, whether that’s here or whether that’s up in North Queensland or parts of Western Australia or other parts of the country.
And it’s predominantly in regional areas that proportionately will feel that pinch. And that’s what the treasurer and I and the cabinet are working closely on to make sure we get the of supports right as we move into the next phase. There will be a next phase.
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But of course, the questions are about the bushfire recovery in the area. Asked if the deadline for the clean-up for properties destroyed in the blaze has been pushed back to 31 July, David Littleproud says:
Obviously, the New South Wales government is running it.
The Australian government is partnering it and paying half the bill. It’s an unprecedented measure that the New South Wales government and the federal government went into, to put more money back into people who lost their homes so their insurance would pay for more of the improvements they need to rebuild.
The New South Wales government told us 30 June.
They’ve come back to 31 July. I don’t think that’s passing aspersions on them. You’ve got to understand, as we heard before, the building behind you has asbestos in it.
These are complex arrange amendments in which the New South Wales government is working through with their contractor, as quickly as they can, but as safely as they can. You’ve got to understand you cannot put your fellow Australians at risk and New South Wales has put the foot on the accelerator. Victoria won’t be finished until August. South Australia’s homes have been completed, but New South Wales is on track to complete by 31 July as the last information we provided.
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The Eden-Monaro press conference is about this program:
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Meanwhile, Scott Morrison’s press conference has got off to an interesting start:
Interesting in Eden. Andrew Constance (not running in the by-election) is kicking off Scott Morrison's press conference with a homily about the power of incumbency #auspol
— Katharine Murphy (@murpharoo) June 23, 2020
Kezia Purick resigns as Speaker of NT Legislative Assembly after a corrupt conduct finding
Kezia Purick has resigned as the Speaker of the NT Legislative Assembly, after a finding of corrupt conduct was made against her.
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As for advice on what to do with the school holidays coming up, for those in one of the Victorian hotspots, Daniel Andrews says:
To be honest, it’s not that different to the advice that’s provided to every single Victorian. All of these rules apply, no matter where you are. Because if they break down, even gradually, even slowly, even in isolated instances, we will see more and more of this virus spread. And you can’t rule out, you know, that second wave. If everyone just pretends that the rules don’t matter anymore, and ‘I desperately want this to be over, so I’m gonna pretend that it is’, that’s where we end up in real trouble.
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The CSPU is calling for support for the National Gallery, which, due to funding cuts and Covid, is struggling to make ends meet:
The National Gallery of Australia has today announced they will cut over 12% of staff in 2020 due to a $3.6 million funding shortfall.
The union representing National Gallery of Australia workers, the CPSU, is calling on the government to exempt Australia’s cultural institutions from the efficacy dividend and restore funding of the National Gallery.
Over the next five years the NGA will be forced to find $6.8m in savings to be sustainable. The gallery is struggling with rising utility costs, building maintenance, falling interest rates and the ongoing efficiency dividend implemented by the federal government.
The gallery’s pre-existing budget woes have been exacerbated by Covid-19. Travel restrictions and a downturn in tourism have hit the NGA, with 80% of the NGAs audience coming from outside Canberra. Whilst the gallery remains open, serious measures to ensure public and staff safety mean that access is restricted and the future exhibitions uncertain.
A voluntary redundancy process will be open this week and will run for three weeks, following this process further staff cuts may need to be considered.
This latest round of cuts is on the back of a 10% cut in staff only four years ago
Updated
Some good news for Bomber fans (although it’s against Carlton, so they’ll be fine).
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Is there a timeline on the threat of further restictions?
Daniel Andrews:
I wouldn’t put a timeline on it. And I’m acutely conscious that, for people in those suburbs, and there’s no joy in having your suburb or your local government area talked about in these terms.
This is no reflection on the suburb. I want to be really clear about that. This is just where the virus is.
And we will take appropriate action if and when we need to, and we will try and give those families and communities all the notice they need, and it will be done simply on the epidemiology of this, the science, where the virus is actually presenting. It’s no judgement beyond that.
But, again, … if I get advice that those sorts of steps, a stay-at-home order, for instance, again, in parts of Melbourne will be effective in driving these case numbers down, well, then, I’ll look at that very, very carefully and I’ll make announcements if and when I need to.
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After receiving some criticism that the decision to not push ahead with easing restrictions was made too late for some businesses to react, the Victorian leader says the decisions were based on facts, not feelings and they had to wait for the data:
And when you see multiple days where you’ve got community transmission, so cases that you can’t track back to a source, then you’ve got no choice but to make the tough calls.
Now, would you like to perhaps give people even more notice?
Well, you always would.
But the alternative – I’ll sort of flip your question over. So, what’s the alternative?
So as to avoid that inconvenience, we go to 50, we allow people still to have 20 people in a home, be even though we know the evidence is very clear that a number of people were well and truly breaching that, and putting all of us at risk.
I don’t think that would be leadership. Again, I’ve made it very clear, this is not about being popular.
It’s a pandemic. And it’s about making the tough calls and doing everything you can to get this right. And this is not exact, it’s not precise.
One thing for certain – this is wildly infectious. And if people do the wrong thing, even in limited numbers for a limited time, it will spread. We know that.
We absolutely know that.
You can only follow the data. And whether that makes people happy or otherwise, you know, that’s where we’re at. The alternative is to, I think, be focused on considerations that are not scientific and that will not serve us well.
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On that point, Daniel Andrews says:
We’re not arguing about it. What I’m saying is I don’t think we need to get to that point. But I’m very grateful to the prime minister’s offers of support right across the board. There will be more staff in those settings, and I think that probably the best staff to have in those settings, more of them, are people that have got a clinical background. So, I think you’re gonna see more and more nurses, for instance, in that hotel quarantine system, and I think that will serve us well.
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At this stage though, Daniel Andrews says Victoria does not need to take up the federal offer of ADF staff to help with quarantining procedures.
On the virus transmissions which have been traced back to hotel staff, such as those working in the quarantine hotels at the Stanford and Rydges, Daniel Andrews says:
It’s a challenging thing to do from a very practical point of view. I don’t think that you could ever rule out, just like you can’t rule out in a health setting, people who are running the service can potentially contract the virus.
And in turn, anyone who is positive has the direct risk, the direct likelihood, almost, of infecting others. Well, that’s under constant review.
That is a process that we continue to learn from every single day because you know, any activity that involves literally thousands and thousands of people, you will get varying degrees of compliance.
You’ll get variability in many different ways. But I’m confident that those processes, whether there’s been a lunch of reviews a whole lot of work has been done to make sure that that is as good as it can possibly be.
But that’s not a risk-free activity. But it is certainly much, much lower risk than if we had, for want of a better term - just done an honestly policy and said, “OK, you’ve returned from a country that is in a very bad place in terms of cases, so it’s rampant, and we’ll just ask you to go home and of course, you’ll never leave your house for 14 days, nor will you have a visitor.”
We do know, go back pre-hotel quarantine there, were some people who thought it was OK maybe to not stay at home. And I think that the risk if you were to rate the two risks, hotel quarantine is much, much lower and is one of the reasons why we have low-level cases as opposed to much higher cases.
Daniel Andrews repeats that the community transmissions are being traced back to large family groups who are not obeying the social distancing restrictions:
We made the point on Saturday, and again I’ll reference it today, there are a number, but it’s a small number. A small number of people who have tested positive and have then gone and pretended that they didn’t test positive.
That is not a large number of people, but then, again, makes the point - it only takes one or two people to do something like that, and all of a sudden, you’ve got many cases.
But again, this is not about necessarily just focusing on that one person or the small group of people. There is a broader problem, and that’s evidenced by the fact that in today’s numbers, there will be a significant number of these cases that are attributable to family activity.
...They are transmission within family groups, and of course, I’ll take you back to that point that since June, we’ve had more than... sorry, about half of our new cases where the transmission of the virus can be tracked back to families.
I understand why families want to get together. I understand why people are deeply frustrated that this virus is with us. But there are ways to do that. And everyone has to make a contribution, otherwise, we will all suffer because we won’t be able to contain this.
Daniel Andrews says he is not going to speculate on why people are ignoring the recommendations in Victoria:
Well, I think that it’s clear that if you go from an order to stay in your house, and then you move to an easing of restrictions, completely consistent... in fact, a little slower than the National Cabinet timeline, for which we’ve been criticised. And that’s fine.
Then, you know, there are some who I think perhaps think that this is not as serious.
Rather than speculating on what might have motivated some of this behaviour, I’m just really clear to call it out. You can’t have large groups of people in your house. You can’t go to work if you are sick. You can’t send your kids to school if they are sick. All of these... this is not an ordinary winter. And I’ve made many, many times - we can’t just flick a switch and go back to normal. We’ve got to find a covid normal.
Daniel Andrews also details the doorknocking campaign public health authorities are embarking on:
There has been very deep engagement with localised communities, multicultural communities, multi-faith communities.
We think that that is appropriate, and we’re really, really working hard to make sure that every Victorian, regardless of their circumstance, knows and understands the rules, knows and understands how serious this is, and knows and understands that their conduct, the conduct of each of us, will have a direct bearing on what all of us have to deal with.
I can also confirm for you that there is literally an army of people going out door knocking. There will be hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people from our expanded public health team out there door knocking in hot spot suburbs and other areas if that’s deemed appropriate.
They will do that job in providing public health advice and making sure that everybody, where language and other issues like that won’t be a barrier.
It will be - it is standing up now, but it will certainly expand in the next couple of days.
And I would encourage people, if you get that door knock, take the time to have a conversation with the dedicated public servant who is going to speak to you, because they’ll give you some information that you can in turn pass on to other, and that might lead to better behaviour.
It might lead to people doing the right thing across-the-board, and that’s critical in order to get on top of this.
Victorian premier threatens to reintroduce lockdowns if recommendations are not followed
We’ve been talking about this all morning, but the Victorian premier just confirmed that lockdowns – potentially across the entire state – are on the cards if the virus is not contained.
Daniel Andrews:
We have seen, as we said on Saturday, many families, large families, who have gathered in numbers beyond the rules.
That is just not on. It is not acceptable.
Particularly if anybody in those family groupings has even mild symptoms – let alone if anybody in those family groupings has been told to quarantine as a close contact, or even a positive case.
Now, just on homes, it’s really important again, and I would be grateful to you again remind all of your listeners and viewers and readers – it is your household and five guests.
And, again, some common sense. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you have five guests around to your house every single lunch and every single dinner.
Try to be sensible about this given that regardless of small numbers who are doing the wrong thing – although I do think that there are perhaps larger numbers of Victorians, who perhaps think that this is a new phase and we can do things a little differently.
It doesn’t matter how many people are doing the wrong thing: everybody – everybody – will pay the price if we get to a point where restrictions either localised or across the state need to be reintroduced.
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He says the contact tracing authorities are beginning work on finding the close contacts of the two primary school students at Brunswick East and Keilor Views schools who tested positive for Covid:
If you’re sick, you can’t go out. If you’ve got even mild symptoms – you have to come forward and get tested. And if you’re asked to quarantine – you need to do as you are asked. Not just for you, because it’s not just about individuals.
This is about all of us. Everyone following the simplest of rules – cough etiquette. Not going anywhere other than to get tested if you are unwell. Keeping your distance.
Not shaking hands. Not greeting people with hugs and kisses. Not pretending, essentially, that this is gone – because it isn’t.
It is here, and whilst I’m confident that our public health team is doing everything they possibly can, they simply won’t achieve the outcome that we want if people don’t support them.
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On rough estimates, Daniel Andrews says Victoria has tested between 16,000 and 18,000 people in the last two days.
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Victoria records another 17 covid cases
The Victorian premier is speaking to the media:
There is one from hotel quarantine. Two that are associated with known outbreaks. Three that are the subject of routine testing, and 11 that are still under investigation.
So what we can be certain of is that there will be some significant community transmission within those numbers. The exact amount of that will be determined following those processes that I’ve just alluded to. As we said on Saturday, and indeed again yesterday, this is still with us. This is not over. And I know and understand that so many Victorian, perhaps all Victorians want this to be over. But we simply can’t pretend that the virus is gone. That the virus is somehow not in our state. It is here. It travels so fast. It is so infectious. If people do the wrong thing, if people, for instance, have a positive test or are asked to quarantine because they’re a close contact and don’t do that, and then go and spend even a modest amount of time with others, it is almost certain that they will give the virus to other people.
Gladys Berejiklian says there was just one positive result from a Covid test in NSW in the last 24 hours (and that person is in hotel quarantine).
In the last 24-hour batch, we, again, had more than 8,000 people who got tested and there was only one positive, which was from an overseas traveller.
So I can’t thank enough our citizens for coming forward and getting tested.
Also I know that there will be pressure on our testing because, obviously, as the colder months are here, the mildest symptom does mean you have to go and get tested.
So what could otherwise be a cold or flu could, in fact, be Covid. It’s because of our consistent testing, because our community has consistently respected the rules, that New South Wales is in the position we are in and we want to stay that way.
We also need to remember that when, back in March we had cases in excess of 200 in New South Wales, all of our borders open and we’ve seen, as the number of cases have reduced, the ability of our New South Wales health system to cope with reducing the spread and getting out that messaging and also, most importantly, having our community come together and really respect the rules.
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James Packer’s Crown Resorts is re-opening its Perth casino on Saturday after the WA government eased coronavirus restrictions.
It will operate under restrictions including a maximum of one person per two square meters (including staff), reduced numbers at gaming tables and “enhanced hygiene protocols”, which appears to be corporatese for more cleaning.
It’s not all doom and gloom on the retail front.
AAP has this update on Woolworths’ results:
Woolworths says trading so far in the June quarter has continued to be strong with food sales in Australia up 8.6 per cent, and in New Zealand up 15.1 per cent.
Sales at Big W jumped 27.8 per cent in the 10 weeks to June 14, while its Endeavour drinks business saw a 21.4 per cent growth for the same period.
The retail giant said it expects full year earnings before interest and tax to be in the range of $3.2 billion to $3.25 billion, compared to $3.29 billion for a 53-week period last year.
The group also outlined extra costs worth $460 million for the second half of the financial year on account of transformation costs for its supply chain, Endeavour Drinks, and remediation of staff underpayments.
Daniel Andrews, who did not do a press conference yesterday (it was health minister Jenny Mikakos and CMO Brett Sutton who stood up) will hold a media conference at 10am.
Meanwhile, the Victorian health department is working with the education department to investigate whether any staff or students at Brunswick East and Keilor Views primary schools need to self isolate after a student at each school tested positive for Covid.
The schools are closed for cleaning.
Helen Sullivan has the international coronavirus blog up and running.
Updated
Two schools closed in Victoria after positive tests
We’ll be getting more detail on the Victorian situation very soon.
Brunswick East Primary School and Keilor Views Primary Schools both closed today after a student at each tested positive to COVID-19, DHHS has confirmed @theage
— Rachael Dexter (@rachael_dexter) June 22, 2020
Both schools in hotspot areas.
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Katharine Murphy has the latest Essential poll findings, showing most of us think there will be a “second wave” of Covid in Australia:
A majority of Australians surveyed in the latest Guardian Essential poll believe it is likely there will be a second wave of Covid-19 infections as a consequence of restrictions being eased, with only 13% of the sample dismissing that probability.
With the rates of infection increasing around the world, and with Victoria now battling a new outbreak of infections and an uptick in community transmission, 63% of the sample of 1,079 respondents believe a second wave in Australia is either very or quite likely. Women were more likely than men to fear that prospect, and voters over the age of 34 were more likely to hold that view than younger voters.
Public health measures are now beginning to ease in most states, but Australians remain unconvinced that life will return to normal any time soon. More than 60% of the sample believe that international travel will take between one and two years, or possibly more than two years, to return without restrictions.
Expectations about unemployment are similarly low, with 70% of the sample believing it will take between one and two years or longer for the joblessness rate to return to where it was before the pandemic hit, and more than 60% believing the negative impact on the housing market will be prolonged.
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In terms of the AFL, Roger Cook says WA is still in talks with the sporting body over turning the west into a sports hub.
The two WA teams, the Dockers and the (ugh) Eagles are currently based on the Gold Coast, as part of the season. Cook says the state is trying to find a balance between keeping the hard border closure, and bringing (the best) sport back to the west:
Well, what we’re doing at the moment is having extensive conversations with the AFL and with our two local teams to see what we can do to accommodate them and their needs around, I guess, a truncated or a modified season.
We would welcome - obviously welcome our teams back here to Western Australia. But we’d also welcome eastern states’ teams to come to Western Australia as part of the hub model. This was something that we agreed with the AFL early in the piece. They’ve taken a different course of action. But we’re now actively engaged with the AFL to see if we can accommodate both their needs, but also to make sure that we maintain the integrity of our hard borders.
WA to end all social distancing in three weeks
Roger Cook then tells the ABC he is quite confident WA will move to stage five – no social distance restrictions – quite soon:
Look, we’re very confident. We’re confident for two reasons. One, because we’ve continued to listen to the best medical advice in terms of what we need to do to continue to keep this disease under control.
But, two, we’ve also seen Western Australians embrace all the measures that are necessary, the physical distancing, the good personal hygiene, and observing all the rules that have been in place, which has allowed us to get to this point in time.
So, we will now wait another four weeks. The phase four measures take place this Saturday, and we’ll wait another three weeks after that. So, we’re looking forward to the further easing of restrictions on 18 July.
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Victorian police to be sent to hotspots to enforce social distancing
Victoria has launched its “action plan” to combat rising Covid-19 case numbers.
Victoria police issued more fines than any others state during the height of the pandemic. This tough law and order response had since eased but over the weekend the government said police would again ramp up their enforcement of physical distancing.
Police commissioner Shane Patton said officers would be conducting more doorknock checks on those meant to be isolating.
“Those tests will be ramped up, if you like, as well as a focus for us will be absolutely making sure that when people say there are more than five visitors to a house we’ll be going and checking that out. Where there is going to be more than 10 people gathering in a public place, we’ll be checking them out, and we’ll be enforcing. Because everybody should have no doubt the other two key areas of focus for us, as well as the isolation and the quarantine that people must stay at home.”
He said there would be an increased presence at school holiday hotspots such as camping grounds and caravan parks.
On Monday, the state’s health minister, Jenny Mikakos, also announced a number of community measures to increase testing rates and awareness.
We are going to offer widespread testing to school communities, at Keilor Downs secondary college and Albanvale primary school, students will be tested regardless of whether they have symptoms. We will be offering a pop-up clinic that is open this morning in the Keilor Downs community ... We are establishing a pop-up testing clinic in Dandenong and they will be roving testing squads on the ground this week in Cardinia and Brimbank as well as a pop-up clinic in Sunshine ...
We are also stepping up our community engagement in our hotspot areas. We have a team of 50 starting from today to do doorknocking. We are going to start with Brimbank and Cardinia, and they will be people clearly identifiable as public health officials who will be able to provide the community in those hotspot locations with more information and advice about symptoms”
Updated
Stadiums allowed to host 30,000 in WA
Western Australia is moving to stage four restrictions, which means, for those in WA, life almost looks normal.
From this weekend, all existing gathering limits will be scrapped, although a two square metre rule will apply to indoor and outdoor venues, and major venues will be able to operate at 50% capacity.
That means stadiums like Optus Stadium can hold up to 30,000. If there is ever a concert again, it can hold 35,000.
Drinks at the bar will be back and you won’t have to register your name and number with the venue.
But the borders, deputy premier Roger Cook tells the ABC, will be closed for some time.
Well, we know the borders have done two things. They’ve kept Western Australians safe, but they’ve also allowed us to open up our economy and really get Western Australia moving again. So, what we will be doing is obviously looking closely at how the situation unfolds in Victoria.
We were looking at an August 8 opening of the borders, but we’ve now put that date on hold while we see how things unfold in Victoria. We wish the Victorian Government all the best in their struggles in relation to that, and we know that they’ll get it under control soon. But just at the moment we think it’s prudent to leave those hard borders in place, because we know it’s the best thing for Western Australia.
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Scott Morrison will be in Eden-Monaro as part of the byelection campaign at 10am.
For those who have forgotten, the byelection is 4 July
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Melbourne Storm moving to Sydney 'indefinitely' due to Victoria outbreak
The Melbourne Storm are making the move to Sydney “indefinitely” because of the Victorian outbreak.
The team has been given its orders to get out of Dodge by Wednesday.
As AAP reports:
ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys said Melbourne Storm will need to relocate indefinitely because of a new spike in coronavirus cases in Victoria.
The state’s active Covid-19 case numbers are the highest they have been in more than two months after six days of double-digit growth, including 16 new cases on Monday.
Storm’s NRL home game against the New Zealand Warriors on Friday night has already been moved from AAMI Park to Sydney because of the surge in cases in Victoria.
The match will now take place at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium, with the league’s Apollo team saying the health and safety of players, staff and the wider community remains paramount.
The Storm were due to fly to Sydney later this week to complete preparations and all players and football staff will undergo Covid-19 tests to ensure no risk to the competition.
Craig Bellamy’s team were preparing for an indefinite move but V’landys confirmed they will now be required to relocate from Wednesday to either NSW or Queensland for an indefinite period.
“We’ve based every decision on risk analysis, and the risk is too high to leave them in Melbourne,” V’landys told 100% Footy on Monday.
“Where the players are actually living is a high infection rate area, so when we looked at it with the biosecurity expert today, his strong recommendation was to bring them to Sydney or possibly Queensland and minimise that risk.
“We appreciate the support from the Melbourne Storm because they’re going to have to sacrifice a little bit because they’ll be up here till further notice.
“We hope to get them back as quickly as we can, but it’s all on the risk analysis.”
Updated
Again, those areas which Victoria has designated a “hotspot” for Covid are:
Hume
Casey
Brimbank
Moreland
Cardinia
Darebin
Between them, there are more than 160 suburbs across 2,000 sq km.
There are more than 1,000 close contacts of the the 133 people who have been diagnosed in the latest outbreak.
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Greg Hunt also acknowledged what a few of you told us yesterday – that testing sites in some parts of Melbourne were having trouble keeping up with demand, or needed to extend their testing hours:
I do know that they were looking to extend hours imminently on those fronts. But around remember, there are multiple testing sites and destinations. For example in the west, you have Alton North, you have Coolaroo, multiple different places where there are either commonwealth or state testing clinics.
And the other thing is to see if there is another clinic that is you can go to. Because we’ve established well over 100 clinic around the country, collectively.
More than 500 clinics at different stages have been expanded by the commonwealth or commonwealth and state partnerships.
And our testing results around Australia with more than 2.1m tests and one of the world’s highest rates of testing, and most importantly, it’s been recognised as one of the most accurate testing systems in the world.
So it’s doing its job. It’s now responding to a local outbreak, and I want to thank the community. They’ve been doing exactly what is needed and I thank them also for their patience.
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WA is still showing no signs of wanting to open its borders. Mark McGowan said he was considering August, but the Victorian situation has him rethinking even that far off date.
Greg Hunt takes a conciliatory approach while on ABC News Breakfast:
Look, Western Australia is opening up their restrictions very shortly this week, which we welcome.
We are encouraging all states to work to the national plan, and the national plan has three steps which includes the opening of borders.
Individual states have to make their own decisions.
But the national cabinet has set out a three-stage plan which includes the opening of borders, and we’ve respected the rights of states to make their decisions, but we’re encouraging them to move forward.
And I’ve got to say – if you’ve got Roger Cook on – well done Roger, well done WA. As with all the other states, people have contributed to a globally leading outcome. So there is a spike at the moment in one state. Already, we’ve seen that the Sunday numbers were lower than the Saturday. But as we mop up the cases, there will be more. But it’s one single country achieving an extraordinary outcome, and we’ll get through this.
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Will Victoria move to actual localised lockdowns, if the cases aren’t contained by 19 July?
Greg Hunt says that is an option being very carefully examined:
I think Victoria is approaching this in the right way. Nationally, we’ve established testing, tracing and local response.
That includes the potential for travel warnings in and out of the local government area, or going further as we did in north-west Tasmania.
So we effectively implemented this same approach where there was a significant outbreak around Burnie.
It was very difficult for the local population, but ultimately, it led to the control of what was a far greater outbreak in terms of cases to population number. And Tasmania has been doing extraordinarily well since.
We brought in the Australian medical assistance teams, coupled with the military, to support the hospital, to support the population.
Here, Victoria has significantly greater resources, but with support from other states and the commonwealth where required. So I think they’ve set the right structure in place, and we’ll continue to support. And that remains an option. But I am hopeful that with this level of testing, and this level of awareness and the relatively small number of unidentified cases, that we will be able to control and suppress those cases.
Updated
Good morning
It’s still all about Victoria when it comes to Australian Covid-19 news, but as the chief health officer said yesterday, with this virus, it could be any state.
Victorian police, who issued more fines for social-distancing breaches than any other jurisdiction, may be sent to ensure locals in the hotspot areas are sticking to the rules.
Meanwhile, the Sydney Morning Herald reports NSW is keeping an eye on the Victorian situation, particularly at the ski fields, as it walks the line between not wanting to close the border and not wanting community transmission in its own state.
The Senate committee looking at the Covid-19 response is holding a public hearing today featuring business and industry groups.
We’ll cover all of the Covid-19 news, and more, as it happens. You have Amy Remeikis on the blog for most of the day.
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