Good evening, here are the latest developments on the coronavirus pandemic in Australia. This is Justine Landis-Hanley and it’s Tuesday 9 June.
PM warns ‘difficult decisions’ looming
Prime minister Scott Morrison told a Coalition joint party room meeting today to prepare for “difficult decisions ahead” as the government tries to salvage Australia’s economy while staying on top of the coronavirus crisis.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg told the room that the government could not afford to keep income supports in place indefinitely. This week, the government announced that the childcare sector would lose the jobkeeper wage subsidy, days after Morrison told reporters it was guaranteed until September.
Frydenberg warned the next federal election would be a battle about the role of government, claiming the Labor party sees it as “a limitless provider”, while the Coalition sees it “as an enabler”.
Australia records three coronavirus cases
Australia has recorded only three new coronavirus cases overnight, two in NSW and one in the ACT.
NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian said the two cases in NSW were both from overseas, meaning “there were no extra or new community transmission cases overnight”.
A foreign diplomat, who was exempt from the 14-day quarantine, is only the second ACT coronavirus case in weeks.
Australia has reported at least one new case every day since 29 February.
Government defends $60bn jobkeeper shortfall
Treasury secretary Steven Kennedy told the Covid-19 Senate committee today that he took full responsibility for overestimating the cost of jobkeeper by $60bn.
The Treasury originally budgeted $130bn for the program that it now expects will only cost $70bn.
Finance minister Mathias Cormann told the committee the underspend was an “estimates variation … not an accounting error, as it has been falsely described by some”.
“It is important that we erred on the side of prudence, rather than put ourselves at the risk of a potential deteriorating situation, [in which case] we might have been forced to make an estimates variation in the other direction, which would not have been good for confidence,” Cormann said.
Also appearing before the Covid-19 Committee, ATO commissioner Chris Jordan said the ATO believed many more employees were covered by the scheme due to errors in employers’ responses in their jobkeeper applications.
South Australia gives AFL green light …
The South Australian government will allow the AFL to host 2,000 spectators in the general admission section at Adelaide Oval for this Saturday’s “showdown” between the Crows and Port Adelaide.
Premier Steven Marshall said he believed it would be “the first time we have had a significant crowd at any sport in Australia for months and months and months”.
… but refuses coming Black Lives Matter rally
Meanwhile, South Australia police commissioner Grant Stevens said police would not allow a second Black Lives Matter rally in Adelaide to go ahead this weekend.
Protestors were allowed to gather in Victoria Square last weekend.
But Stevens said that “in this current context, and acknowledging the sentiments of the community, to continually allow people to disregard the restrictions we have in place would make a mockery of the good efforts of everybody else who are doing their very best to abide by the restrictions”.
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