What we learned on 28 May:
And that’s where we will leave it for tonight. You can keep up to date with everything happening around the world with our global live blog. And don’t forget our live coverage of tonight’s NRL resumption. Here’s a quick rundown on everything that happened today:
- News Corp Australia have announced the print closure of more than 100 local and regional newspapers, resulting in hundreds of job losses.
- Reserve Bank head Phil Lowe told a senate select committee into Covid-19 that the JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme may need to be extended.
- The Australian Paramedics Association accused the NSW government of showing “complete disregard” for workers in response to its decision to freeze public sector wages, including for health workers.
- Two security guards at a Victorian quarantine hotel for returned travellers have tested positive for Covid-19, after an employee earlier tested positive.
- South Australian health authorities have retracted their claim Victoria did not tell them about a British woman who arrived in Adelaide from Melbourne and later tested positive for coronavirus. The situation has also led premier Steven Marshall to declare a halt to international travel exemptions on compassionate grounds.
- Clive Palmer has decided he’ll take Queensland to the high court at the same time as he pursues WA over the border closures.
- Six more crew from the Al Kuwait live export ship docked at Fremantle have tested positive to Covid-19, taking WA’s total to 577.
Six more crew from WA live export ship test positive
WA Health have released updated Covid-19 figures for Thursday that reveal a further seven cases in the state, taking the total to 577.
A statement said:
Of these seven new cases, six are crew members from the Al Kuwait and one is a returned overseas traveller who is already in hotel quarantine.
Three of the Al Kuwait crew members tested positive while still onboard the ship and are being transferred to hotel quarantine. The other three crew members who tested positive are already in hotel quarantine after disembarking the ship yesterday.
An additional two crew members are being transferred from the ship into hotel quarantine as they had significant contact with crew members who have tested positive.
The 10 crew members remaining on the ship have been tested for COVID-19 and all crew members in hotel quarantine will also be tested.
There are now 18 active cases in Western Australia. Of the active cases one is a Western Australian, five are from interstate and 12 are crew members from the Al Kuwait.
Sports fans haven’t had much to get excited about recently, which might explain why my colleague Mike Hytner, Guardian Australia’s sport editor, is typing in caps lock over on our NRL live blog.
The season resumes tonight, in about two hours, with the Brisbane Broncos hosting the Parramatta Eels.
Catch all the pre-match action over at the blog:
Updated
For those of you curious about why Clive Palmer has been in the headlines recently, my colleague Ben Smee has written this piece, hot off the press.
Australian Associated Press has provided a brief markets report and it seems sentiment was buoyed by the Reserve Bank governor’s comments that the federal government may need to extend the jobkeeper program beyond its current cut-off date in September.
Shares in Australia’s big banks surged on Thursday following similar gains made by US banks on Wall Street overnight. The S&P/ASX200 benchmark index was up as much as 2.5% around midday, but finished the day 1.32% higher at 5,851.1 points. The All Ordinaries index rose by 72.9 points, or 1.24%, to 5,957.8. One Australian dollar was buying 66.28 US cents, down slightly from Wednesday.
Updated
Australia is still slated to host cricket’s T20 World Cup in November, but England’s skipper, Eoin Morgan, is doubtful ...
Morgan would be “surprised” if the T20 World Cup goes ahead as scheduled later this year but indicated any deferment will not shape his future as England captain.
The International Cricket Council on Wednesday rejected claims a decision had been made to postpone the tournament from its original slot of 18 October to 15 November in Australia and that all contingency plans were being explored.
However, the vagaries presented by the global coronavirus pandemic present significant obstacles, not least how the squads and support staff from 16 nations, including the hosts, can be accommodated without risking an outbreak.
And Morgan believes potentially exposing a country that has had just over 7,000 confirmed cases with a death toll of 103 presents a significant risk, as things stand.
Speaking to promote the British cricket charity Chance to Shine, Morgan said: “I’d be surprised if it goes ahead.
“My reasons for that would be if you look at how Australia have handled the pandemic, they’ve shut down the borders pretty early, had a limited number of cases and deaths in comparison to the rest of the world.
“Their biggest worry moving forward – a small negative to a huge positive – would be they almost don’t know what the immunity would be like if the virus does have an outbreak.
“Having 16 teams across several venues has the potential to expose something.
“It might only be a handful of cases to be spread, but when you look at how quickly it escalates, you weigh up the chance of playing a World Cup or postponing it, (which is) probably a bigger positive.”
Any alteration to the calendar lends itself to speculation about the impact on Morgan, who considered his position after leading England to a historic 50-over World Cup triumph last summer because of a back injury.
Last winter he announced his intention to captain England at the 2020 and 2021 T20 World Cups and he reaffirmed the desire to do so on Wednesday after revealing the current hiatus has left him feeling revitalised.
“I feel at that stage now where I want to pick up a bat again and I’m ready to go as opposed to picking up a bat because I’m playing in three weeks’ time. That’s always a nice place to be.”
Updated
Fraudsters have again targeted the Covid-19 early access to super scheme.
A tool used by Australians to consolidate their superannuation accounts has been shut down after fake accounts were set up.
The fraud was detected through the federal government’s early access to super scheme, which many people have been using to financially survive the coronavirus crisis.
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority deputy chair, Helen Rowell, has told a Senate inquiry the Australian Taxation Office’s SuperMatch tool has been suspended.
The tool helps people find all of their super accounts so they can be merged into one.
Fraudsters were using the tool to see what other accounts people had.
“We made the decision (with the ATO) to close the system down in order to engage with industry to tighten up the requirements around member account creation,” Rowell said on Thursday.
There’s no evidence money has been lost through the fraud.
Updated
Postcard from the pandemic:
An awful, awful tale of @AzimiMoz given protective status over 3 years ago, still trapped in an endless hell. A gentle artist. Writing songs, trying to survive. Each day he texts ‘I’m strong like a lion 🦁’. Stronger than me, Moz, and the rest of us 💜 #Gameover @BenDohertyCorro https://t.co/W7juhcnjVC
— Craig Foster (@Craig_Foster) May 28, 2020
Updated
Child abuse and the spread of child pornography are on the rise as more Australians access the dark web, exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. From AAP:
Police say there has been a disturbing increase in Australians downloading and sharing illegal images during the coronavirus lockdown period.
The Australian federal police is working with the Department of Home Affairs, telecommunications companies and other agencies on how best to “deliver a stronger punch into the dark web”, commissioner Reece Kershaw told a parliamentary committee on Thursday.
“The amount of, whether it be from guns to drugs to child abuse material that you can access within minutes, it’s not good at all for the health of our nation. It’s quite disturbing,” he said.
“We want to disrupt that.”
The rise in sharing child pornography has alarmed police and Kershaw said there had been a definite increase during the virus period because more people were using the dark web and spending more time there.
“We’re not alone – the rest of the western world has a real issue,” he told the committee.
“It’s not so great in some of our other (neighbouring) countries nearby, which is interesting in itself, but (offenders) have certainly taken advantage of those vulnerable communities offshore.
“I think it’s a real threat to the fabric of our society, young people being damaged through all of this.”
Police are also readying for an expected increase in organised crime once coronavirus restrictions ease around the world.
Kershaw said the AFP and overseas police forces had shared intelligence that while organised crime and international syndicates had gone quiet as movement was curtailed, they were planning multiple operations once freedom was restored.
“We’re taking advantage of this Covid-19 and we’re coming after all these groups,” he said.
“They probably don’t realise – and I’m probably giving away some of my strategies here – but we’re going to ... turn over every rock, dig underneath it and do whatever we can to prevent and disrupt these particular syndicates.”
Updated
I am going to hand you over to Ben Doherty now.
I’ll be back tomorrow morning, for what I believe will be Friday. Please – take care of you.
Updated
The Queensland group chats are filled with warnings to take it easy on the rums, so that’s how you know footy is back.
Updated
Jim Chalmers and Katy Gallagher really don’t want people to forget what the RBA governor just said about the potential need for the stimulus packages to be extended beyond September:
Echoing calls from experts, the business community and Labor, the RBA Governor today said the Morrison Government should consider an extension or modification of the JobKeeper scheme to ensure that vulnerable workers and businesses continue to be supported where necessary.
Noting that the Government’s September deadline represented a “critical point” in Australia’s recovery, Governor Lowe highlighted the need for ongoing fiscal support:
- “Right through the next year or so, the economy is going to need support from both monetary and fiscal policy.”
- “I’m hopeful that the fiscal support will be there for a long period of time.”
- “In the next little while, there’s not going to be very much scope at all to use monetary policy in that way so I think fiscal policy will have to be used.”
In contrast to Josh Frydenberg’s reluctance to release updated economic forecasts, the Governor emphasised the importance of releasing economic forecasts at a time of uncertainty, arguing that it is in the public interest to support confidence and promote an informed public conversation about the downturn and recovery.
Updated
The federal government has launched an inquiry into food prices and food security in remote Aboriginal communities, amid regular reports of people going without food and essentials, and having to pay exorbitant prices.
The inquiry terms of reference include investigating situations where prices are considered unreasonable and whether there is price gouging in remote community stores.
“There have been significant reports of very high food and grocery prices in remote communities and issues around the secure supply of fresh food,” committee chair Julian Leeser said.
“The inquiry will look at the situation in remote Indigenous communities, and the effect of supply chains and local businesses on the cost of food. The inquiry will also look at the role of regulators in dealing with the situation.”
“I strongly encourage Indigenous people and people in the food and grocery industry to make a submission to the inquiry.”
The committee will consult with communities, community stores and supply chain businesses, Government agencies and other stakeholders to determine Indigenous communities have access to reasonably priced healthy food.
The committee will present its final report by the end of October.
Updated
The ACT remains (known) active Covid free:
There have been no new cases of COVID-19 recorded in the ACT in the past 24 hours. The ACT’s total is still 107.
The number of negative tests in the ACT is now 16,962 with 494 test results received in the past 24 hours.
While it sounds stupid, the border challenges could have some pretty far-reaching implications if the high court decides states can’t actually close down their entry points, particularly when it comes to protecting Indigenous communities from these sorts of viruses.
By the time the high court decides any challenge, the states will most likely be ready to reopen. But that doesn’t mean the ruling won’t potentially have future ramifications for public health responses.
Updated
Clive Palmer adds Queensland to high court border challenge
Maybe Pauline Hanson doesn’t even need to bother with her crowdfunding now – Clive Palmer has decided he’ll take Queensland to the high court at the same time as WA over the border closures (from AAP).
Billionaire Clive Palmer is taking on his home state as well as Western Australia over their border closures.
Palmer announced the addition of Queensland to his high court challenge ahead of a directions hearing on Thursday afternoon, saying the border closures were unconstitutional and discriminatory.
He hopes documents and submissions will be filed by 26 June so the matter can be heard soon.
Palmer says he is confident the high court will agree WA’s border closure is an “act of stupidity” while the state government says it is also confident of defending the challenge.
Palmer says Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is “locking away the fruits of Queensland such as the Great Barrier Reef and other treasures from interstate visitors”.
Both states are adamant they will keep their borders closed for many months.
Updated
Australian researchers have halted recruitment of patients in more than 70 hospitals in every Australian state and territory, and 11 hospitals in New Zealand for its randomised control trial to explore whether hydroxychloroquine in combination or on its own can treat Covid-19 patients. The study, known as the Ascot trial, will help researchers see whether patients who receive specific drugs including hydroxychloroquine fare better, worse or the same compared to patients who received a different drug or standard of care.
But a study published in The Lancet on Friday found Covid-19 patients who received hydroxychloroquine were dying at higher rates and experiencing more heart-related complications than other virus patients. It prompted the World Health Organisation to temporarily halt its studies of the drug while it reviewed the data.
On Thursday a spokeswoman for the Ascot study said following meetings of the ethics and governance committee, patient recruitment had been put on hold.
“Following an observational study published in The Lancet, Ascot has paused patient recruitment pending deliberations by the governance and ethics committees overseeing the trial,” she said. “We expect these deliberations to occur rapidly and will provide further information as they arise.”
Updated
Basically, it should be common sense – and I doubt raises more than an eyebrow for anyone who has been following along, most especially economists, but people need to plan. So not having a plan of what is happening beyond September, tends to be a problem.
Katy Gallagher:
But we are saying to the government, at the moment, they’re not providing any information. Whether they’re prepared to taper, whether they’re prepared to target. We’re not having a budget until October. We’re saying you need to be clear about that.
You need to be up front, you need to be considering. We know the governor spoke today about the construction sector and professional services sector and about the challenges they’re going to be facing.
These are the challenges the government need to be talking about, even if they are just providing confidence at this point in time, before putting a dollar figure on it.
Updated
Katy Gallagher is holding a press conference now that the Covid committee has finished hearing its evidence. She says Phil Lowe’s evidence – that if the economy is still looking bad (which it most likely will be) the Covid stimulus package should be continued beyond September, is something Scott Morrison should listen to:
I think his evidence, along with a lot of other commentators, finally proves that Scott Morrison’s snapback economic recovery is simply not going to happen.
The governor spoke of September and October being a critical point in our recovery from Covid-19. And he expressed a view that fiscal policy was going to be required for some time over a number of years as we work through the economic impacts of the Covid-19 restrictions.
I think for a moment if you just think what is about - what is due to occur in September, about 3.5 million workers coming off jobkeeper, 1.6 million people keeping off the jobseeker extra corona supplement, you’re not going to have the $20bn in early access super going through, and we’ve also got as we heard today over $250bn at this point in time, in loan deferrals. So that is the fiscal cliff that we are facing.
It’s been confirmed today that there is a critical point in terms of Australia’s response.
And we would say to Scott Morrison, as we have been and others have been saying for some time, there is a need to target and taper the fiscal support going forward, to look after the economy, to look after jobs, to look after households.
Updated
SA to halt compassionate exemptions for international travel
From AAP:
South Australia has called a halt to granting international travel exemptions on compassionate grounds after SA Health bungled the case of a British woman who arrived on the weekend and tested positive to Covid-19.
Premier Steven Marshall says he wants to get to the bottom of the problem, which resulted in the woman presenting herself to authorities on arrival in Adelaide rather than being met by health officials, before allowing any further international travellers into SA in such circumstances.
“I don’t think we should be granting any further exemptions for overseas travel to South Australia until we’ve ironed out this administrative error,” Mr Marshall said on Thursday.
“We’re going to make sure we have airtight systems going forward before we grant further exemptions for people coming from overseas.”
But Marshall said he did not intend to “hang SA Health out to dry” and praised the department’s overall handling of the pandemic as well as the previous arrival of international travellers.
The premier also confirmed police commissioner Grant Stevens would meet the SA Health chief executive to develop new arrangements for future transfers.
Before Sunday’s case, 21 other people had come to SA from overseas on compassionate grounds, about half to attend a funeral and the others to visit a dying relative.
The British woman, in her 50s, was granted her exemption to visit a dying relative.
She had spent about a week in quarantine in Victoria after arriving in Australia from the UK and had tested negative while in isolation.
She wore a mask while travelling to SA and made herself known to airport authorities and was then escorted out by police.
When tested again, she returned the positive result, becoming the state’s 440th case of Covid-19 and the first for almost three weeks.
The woman was returned to quarantine while almost 20 close contacts were also ordered into self-isolation.
After initially saying Victorian officials did not tell them when the woman would arrive, chief public health Officer Nicola Spurrier issued a statement on Thursday conceding the flight information was passed on.
“Due to an administrative oversight, we can confirm the relevant flight details involving an overseas traveller arriving in South Australia were provided to SA Health prior to their arrival,” Spurrier said.
“What this issue has highlighted is the need to strengthen the processes involving travellers arriving from overseas and travelling between states during their quarantine period.”
After SA’s initial comments, Victorian chief health officer Brett Sutton said South Australia was told of the woman’s travel details and he had the email to prove it.
“I’m not sure why there is a misunderstanding about having been informed, but that email was sent and South Australian authorities were alerted about the time and flight details,” Sutton said.
Updated
The NT is changing its quarantine arrangements:
From Monday, 15 June, the Northern Territory will transition from mandatory, monitored quarantine to mandatory, self-quarantine.
- Arrivals from interstate will be able to choose their own quarantine arrangements – as long as it is appropriate, within the guidelines directed by the Chief Health Officer.
- Arrivals will not have to stay at accommodation selected and secured by the NT Government, and the $2500 quarantine fee will no longer apply.
Arrivals will be able to undertake the 14-day quarantine period in their own home, in private accommodation, or in appropriate commercial accommodation, at their own cost.
This change will not apply to people arriving from overseas, including overseas arrivals transiting from interstate.
Monitored quarantine will continue to apply for this cohort, given the much higher risk associated with international arrivals.
This decision applies to all domestic interstate arrivals, but it has been made for Territorians – to help Territorians return home.
This new arrangement will also include mandatory coronavirus testing regime for all arrivals going into quarantine.
- Arrivals will be tested for COVID-19 in the first 72 hours of their quarantine, and tested again in the final 72 hours of their quarantine.
- Ending their quarantine after 14 days will depend on returning two negative tests.
Police and Environmental Health Officers will be spot checking people at random points throughout their quarantine.
The existing penalties for breaches of quarantine will continue to apply.
Greg Hunt was also asked about Phil Lowe’s comments that Jobkeeper shouldn’t just be switched off, if the economy remains in need of stimulus:
In terms of JobKeeper, the Prime Minister, the Treasurer have been absolutely clear there’s a review in June. And beyond that, I’m not going to try to foretell or foresee the future, but the Prime Minister has said that all of these measures are temporary measures to get Australia through. That principle remains the case. The review is something where he will be looking at the needs.
Greg Hunt on the death of Nathan Turner in Blackwater, in Queensland, a region which has not had any other previous Covid cases:
I do have to say this - I think Queensland has responded rapidly and appropriately. One of the things we all have to be prepared for is there will be cases in unexpected places. This one is a case which is especially tragic, because it’s not just a death, it’s the death of a young man with a whole life ahead of him. But what they have done is respond in the way that Tasmania did in Burnie, and with the north-west region, where they’ve reacted quickly, they’re testing broadly, and they’re seeking the outcomes and they’re doing all of the contact tracing.
Just a point - it is an abiding feature. It’s the Council of Australian Governments – Coag – without the partisan bullshit. It was literally state and territory leaders working with a federal government for the national good, instead of allowing ridiculous political bullshit to get in the way.
For that to continue, well, that is probably up to the participants. A lot of the angst has previously come from the federal government – as the bank - not wanting to extend national partnerships beyond certain points.
National partnerships are also ridiculous and make long term funding plans in health and education almost impossible.
So for what we have seen in the national cabinet to continue, then leaders just need to leave the bullshit at the door at Coag.
And that seems to be the tricky thing.
Does Greg Hunt, health minister, want national cabinet (of which he is not a part) to continue beyond the pandemic?
Firstly, I think that the national cabinet has been an extraordinarily important part of the way that Australia has operated successfully as a country in helping to manage and contain coronavirus.
We do know that the history of not just the Spanish flu but also the depression was that, in times of extreme stress, the federation splintered.
And the prime minister came into this very aware of that history. We had talked about it and discussed it. And he set out to have not just a single, unified medical voice, but to have the unity with the states.
And I believe that that national cabinet process has been extremely valuable.
I hope that there is support for it from the states and the premiers and the chief ministers going forward. My personal view, looking at what’s happened with health, it’s allowed us to strike the private hospitals agreement, it’s allowed us to strike the public hospitals agreement.
It’s allowed us to work with the public health units on the contact tracing. So, it’s actually facilitated Australia’s response, and it’s been an immensely important, and I hope, abiding feature.
Updated
Greg Hunt wants people to go back to the doctor – and to get their tests done.
Do it. I just did a whole range of tests I had been putting off, and let’s just say it was lucky I put on my big girl pants and went and did it. Don’t put that shiz off. It literally can be life and death:
Hunt:
As we’ve flattened the curve, and now we’ve reached 40 days at less than 0.5% growth, with 10 cases in the period to 6:30am this morning in the previous 24 hours, at the same time we’ve built the capacity.
And our telehealth numbers have now reached 12 million. That’s an extraordinary achievement by our medical community. They’ve helped provide our general health support, but they can’t replace some things, such as pathology tests. In April, pathology tests dropped by 40%.
They’re now back up to being 3% below the normal rate for this time of year.
But that emphasises that we also should feel confident in seeing our doctors and our pathology services getting our screening, getting our blood tests, getting our X-rays and our diagnostic tests.
Those tests can also help save your life. And they’re equally important.
So, we’d encourage Australians to continue to go back to see the doctor, to see the pathologist, to see the X-ray or MRI providers face-to-face. They are fundamental and can’t be replaced by telehealth.
Yesterday was national sunscreen day (wear it and don’t forget your hands and feet) and today is also world burger day, which obviously should be a public holiday.
While Greg Hunt is making this (very important and necessary) funding announcement for endometriosis treatment and diagnosis, it is worth pointing out that today is World Menstrual Hygiene Day.
Plan International Australia has put together a report on how women have handled their periods during the pandemic. And for many, it has been a very stressful time:
· Just over half (51%) reported that period products had become harder to find during the pandemic.
· One in 4 (26%) said they had trouble finding facilities for changing and disposing of period products safely, privately and hygienically.
· One in five (20%) reported the cost of period products had risen since COVID-19 started.
· One in 10 (15%) said they had trouble knowing where they could comfortably dispose of period products.
· One in 10 (11%) said they’d encountered issues with finding information or people to discuss their periods with during the pandemic.
· One in 10 (10%) said they felt more embarrassed about their periods during the pandemic.
· Unlike in many other developing countries, access to clean and reliable water to manage menstrual hygiene was not reported as a major issue for Australian survey-takers, with only 5% of survey respondents reporting problems, mostly those who rely on tank water.
Maybe these things should be a phone call, rather than an email? I say that as someone who hates talking on the phone. But seriously.
The @VictorianCHO says South Australian Authorities were sent an email about a woman who’d returned from the UK & given a travel exemption to fly to SA and subsequently tested positive for #COVID19. “I don’t know where the breakdown of communication occurred” @abcmelbourne pic.twitter.com/qTfvZN2Gbb
— Bridget Rollason (@bridgerollo) May 28, 2020
Statement from South Australian health Department confirming it DID receive an email alerting them to an overseas traveller arriving from @VictorianCHO @abcmelbourne #springst pic.twitter.com/5Ljh6AnX1D
— Bridget Rollason (@bridgerollo) May 28, 2020
Greg Hunt is announcing $9.5m from the Medical Research Future Fund for endometriosis.
This is a condition which affects approximately a million Australian girls and women. It can be agonising, debilitating, it can have health and mental health effects. It can be profound in the way that a young woman’s life can be changed and altered. It can impact their fertility.
It can impact their general day-to-day existence, with chronic and agonising pain and debilitating conditions. So, all of these things are immensely important.
South Australia retracts claim Victoria did not notify it about woman who tested positive
AAP has an update on that South Australian Covid traveller case:
South Australian health authorities have retracted their claim Victoria did not tell them about a British woman who arrived in Adelaide from Melbourne and later tested positive for coronavirus.
After initially saying Victorian officials did not tell them when the woman would arrive, chief public health officer Nicola Spurrier issued a statement conceding the flight information was passed on.
“Due to an administrative oversight, we can confirm the relevant flight details involving an overseas traveller arriving in South Australia were provided to SA Health prior to their arrival,” Spurrier said on Thursday.
“What this issue has highlighted is the need to strengthen the processes involving travellers arriving from overseas and travelling between states during their quarantine period.”
Spurrier said she would work with her federal and state counterparts to ensure all cases involving interstate transfers were reviewed and managed to a consistently high standard.
The woman, in her 50s, had been given an exemption to come to SA last weekend on compassionate grounds to visit a dying relative.
She had spent about a week in quarantine in Victoria after arriving in Australia from the UK and had tested negative while in isolation.
She wore a mask while travelling to SA and made herself known to airport authorities and was then escorted out by police.
When tested again, she returned the positive result, becoming SA’s 440th case of Covid-19 and the first for almost three weeks.
The woman was returned to quarantine while almost 20 close contacts were also ordered into self-isolation.
After SA’s initial denials, Victorian officials said the woman’s details were passed on and they had the email to prove it.
“South Australian authorities were alerted about the time and the flight details,” they said.
Updated
An update on the media closures:
The number contractions in Australia’s public interest news landscape has grown to over 200 since January 2019, according to newly updated data from the Public Interest Journalism Initiative’s Australian Newsroom Mapping Project.
Fifty-two new entries were made today, including 19 masthead closures, four mergers into other newspapers and 29 print editions ended. Sixty suspended print editions announced in April were today changed to permanent digital-only editions. This takes total contractions to 213.
Of the 52 new entries, 41 were based in Queensland, making it the hardest hit state among the new data.
Updated
An update on that AAP story from earlier this morning.
#BREAKING: SA Health has admitted it was told the travel details of a UK resident who later tested positive for coronavirus at Adelaide Airport.
— ABC News (@abcnews) May 28, 2020
Updated
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission are appearing before the coronavirus Senate committee at the same time.
NSW senator Perin Davey (Nationals, nice house), tried to get Apra chairman Wayne Byres to reject a statement from the shadow treasurer, Jim Chalmers, that the early access to super scheme was “robbing them [workers] of a decent retirement”.
It backfired, with Byres pointing out that, yes, taking money out now would have an effect on what you had later on.
Like many things we’re grappling with in this environment, there are always trade-offs, nothing is free.
People are having to trade off some of their short-term financial needs for their long-term financial needs.
Murray Watt (Labor, Queensland, messy bookcase), has also grilled Apra over fraud in the early release scheme, which has caused the shut-down of an ATO service used to find lost super.
Apra member Helen Rowell, who is responsible for super oversight, said funds warned the regulator about the possibility of fraud before the early release scheme started.
She said that at the moment super funds were able to meet the withdrawals, but if the economy materially deteriorates “that could cause concerns for some funds”.
Watt also asked if there was a risk to ending the small business loan deferral scheme, under which Byres said repayments on some $60bn had been kicked down the road.
He joined the RBA’s Philip Lowe in indicating government money was going to be needed once the emergency measures end.
No one has an interest in going off the cliff so we have to work out what the next phase will be,” he said.
Watt asked if there was “a pretty serious risk to the economy and our banks through the ending of the loan deferral scheme”. Byres’ response:
I think the risks are there whether the loan deferral schemes end or not.
The risks are clearly there because we’re clearly in a very difficult economic environment and banks are just the arteries by which the economy operates.
Updated
It’s all happening in the Senate Covid committee.
According to APRA, there is evidence that people were creating new fake accounts with stolen details but wont confirm whether any money has been stolen or if any referral have been made to the AFP #auspol
— Katy Gallagher (@SenKatyG) May 28, 2020
Apra has informed the committee they needed to put a freeze on the SuperMatch scheme because of new fraud concerns over the early access to superannuation withdrawals.
It seems very complicated, but what my layperson brain picked up is fake accounts are being set up and then merged with existing, authentic accounts - which are then being targeted for the early withdrawals.
BREAKING: Last week the Government suspended the lost Super matching system because it has been used to fraudulently rort the early access scheme.
— Stephen Jones MP (@StephenJonesMP) May 28, 2020
Government can’t say if money has been stolen.
That’s separate to the news from a couple of weeks ago that accounts were being targeted by fraudsters withdrawing from accounts.
Updated
Greg Hunt will hold the national Covid-19 update with the chief nursing and midwifery officer, Alison McMillan, at 1pm.
Updated
Here is the official word from Victoria Health on those two cases at the Rydges’ hotel, which is being used to quarantine returned travellers:
A second case of Covid-19 has been detected in a staff member at the Rydges on Swanston, Melbourne.
The source of acquisition for both cases remains under investigation and all potential sources of transmission will be explored.
All close contacts of both staff members have been contacted and placed into quarantine. None of the close contacts identified are hotel guests at this stage
Thorough cleaning of relevant parts of the hotel has been undertaken, alongside other appropriate public health actions including contact tracing, isolation and quarantine.
The hotel is not currently open to the public. There are some returned overseas travellers observing their quarantine at the hotel.
Potential links between the staff members and positive cases among travellers at the site are being investigated. As a precaution, all staff who have worked in the hotel since early May have been offered testing.
Of yesterday’s other cases, three were detected in returned travelers in hotel quarantine, and six cases were detected in household contacts, including five members of one household. All household members are in isolation and contact tracing is under way.
There were no new cases linked to outbreaks in aged care centres.
Updated
Two security guards at Victorian quarantine hotel test positive
Looks like there are two staff members at Rydges – security guards – who have tested positive.
Prof Brett Sutton:
Obviously, we are looking into the circumstances on how these two cases might have acquired their infection.
The possible links between the two of them. There wasn’t very much overlap in their working schedules, but there is the possibility that they have overlapped at some point, but we are going to review all processes there, how they use the perform protective equipment, what their procedures are for wearing gloves, for cleaning, the shared spaces that staff have there and obviously there is very broad testing of staff there now to identify whether anyone else might have become positive.
We obviously will look into the genetics of those cases as well to see if it is linked to a particular individual on a particular floor who has been in quarantine there or who has been in isolation with illness …
They are security staff who have come down with illness. Normally with would have a security member at the front entrance, as well as a security guard on each floor to monitor all of those who are in quarantine there.
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Victoria’s chief medical officer, Prof Brett Sutton, is giving an update on the Victorian situation, including a worker at Rydges’ hotel, which has been housing quarantining travellers, testing positive for Covid-19:
There are six new cases who are household contacts’ previously confirmed cases, including five from the one household who were close contacts of a confirmed case.
The number of deaths fortunately remains at 19 and the numbers of cases in Victoria that we call “community cases” or those with an unknown source has decreased by 18 since yesterday.
So this means we have found a link with those 18 cases and I’ll be able to update in coming days on exactly what they might have been linked to, but it brings the number unknown course cases in Victoria down to 165.
Rydges has 13 people who are still suffering from Covid-19 and three people who are close contacts who are being isolated.
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Anthony Albanese also said that the coming IR roundtables need to ensure the 12% super guarantee is protected:
Superannuation is good for individuals and for the quality of life they enjoy once they retire. But it’s also good for the national economy. We have a $3tn bank of national savings that has served us well. It’s a ballast for the national economy that served us well, including during this crisis.
This government has used this crisis to once again undermine superannuation. All those people who because they’ve missed out on jobkeeper and jobseeker have had to withdraw their savings. For some young people, they’ve withdrawn all of their superannuation savings. And that will not serve them and will not serve the country well either. Because it will mean that they have less money when they retire.
And we are supporters of compulsory superannuation. It’s important that occur. We have a legislated 12% increase but no doubt the government has always taken every opportunity. They never supported at the beginning when it was introduced by Bob Hawke and Paul Keating. And they have undermined it ever since.
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Again, Queensland, which has a Labor government, has also done this.
But election campaigning can bring out all sorts of grey zones – here is what Anthony Albanese had to say about the NSW public servant pay freeze today:
Well, this is an outrageous slap in the face for those working people who’ve kept the economy and our society going during these difficult times. Our nurses, our police, our emergency service workers. They have put literally their own health on the line in order to support their community. And for a government to effectively have, bear in mind, a pay freeze is a real wage cut, is what the Berejiklian government is asking them to just accept, and it is unacceptable.
And I say to Scott Morrison, don’t just give a speech at the National Press Club saying that you recognise that working people actually have a role in our society. Step in here, pick up the phone to the New South Wales premier, and talk to her about why this is unacceptable.
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Further to Ben’s post on Phil Lowe’s advice not to withdraw the jobkeeper wage subsidy too early, here is what he had to say in full:
The key observation is that the world is very uncertain and I think it’s too early to say what it’s going to be, what the economy is going to be like in four months’ time.
But if we have not come out of the current trough in economic activity, there will be, and there should be, a debate about how the jobkeeper program transitions into something else, whether it’s extended for specific industries, or somehow tapered.
I think it’s very important we don’t withdraw the fiscal stimulus too early
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Tasmania has no new cases of Covid-19 and just eight active cases across the state.
Wage freeze infuriates NSW paramedics
New South Wales is not the only jurisdiction to freeze public servant pay, including for health workers. Queensland did the same thing.
The Australian Paramedics Association in NSW is not happy with the decision:
Freezing our wages shows complete disregard for us and our colleagues when we have risked our health and safety to keep New South Wales on its feet throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
The NSW Government says this is about saving jobs, but freezing wages of frontline public sector workers only makes us pay for this pandemic, when we have worked so hard to protect our communities.
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The governor of the Reserve Bank, Philip Lowe, is appearing before the Senate’s coronavirus inquiry this morning, calling for more support for workers once jobkeeper expires in September.
He’ll be followed by leadership of the other two of Australia’s regulatory triforce, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority.
After some cheery back and forth about the Aboriginal art in his office, Lowe said the economy may not be as bad as initially thought – although the numbers are still “shocking”.
He said the RBA had revised its estimate of working hours lost in May down from 20% to 15%.
But he warned that, although jobs were coming back in industries that were shut down due to the pandemic, such as hospitality and retail, the pipeline of work in industries that had kept going – construction and professional services – was starting to dry up.
Pressed by the WA Greens senator Rachel Siewert on whether jobkeeper would need to be extended, Lowe said: “If the labour market is not improving we will need to keep the fiscal support, some way or other.”
He said the government has to keep pumping money into the economy and has more capacity to borrow money cheaply.
“I think it would be a mistake to withdraw the fiscal stimulus too early,” he said.
He was also asked by James Paterson (Liberal, Victoria, holiday beard), about whether regulation was bad, and agreed.
“I fear that over time we’ve erred too far in the direction of regulation,” he said.
It’s less than two years since we had a royal commission that exposed vast wrongdoing in the banking sector, prompting a wave of new regulations that have yet to be fully enacted, but apparently that’s all forgotten now.
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NSW has recorded one new diagnosis of Covid-19 in the last 24 hours, Gladys Berejiklian says:
There was only one case identified, which was be someone in quarantine – ironically a Queenslander – and as soon as it’s safe for them to go home, they will.
Again, an encouraging result, but we can’t let down our guard. We always have to be vigilant because of the daily risk that the deadly virus poses to all of us.
(Side note, Gladys o’clock is all over the place now. Is it 8am? 11am? Monday? Who knows.)
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Jobkeeper may need to be extended, RBA head says
Phil Lowe is asked by the Labor senator Katy Gallagher if he has any views on what the end of the stimulus measures in September will mean for the economy. He says the measures may need to be extended but at this point it is too early to say:
Well, it’s clearly going to be a critical point when that scheme comes to an end and also when the deferral for six months of mortgage payments and other payments that the banks are offering ... so that’s a critical point for the economy.
I note the jobkeeper program, it’s six months, but a three-month review was built into that program and I think that was very sensible of the government to do that.
It will be important to review the parameters of that scheme. It may be in six months’ time we bounce back well and the economy is doing – doing reasonably well, and these schemes, which were temporary in nature, can be withdrawn without problems.
But if the economy is not recovered reasonably well by then, as part of that review we should be looking at, perhaps, the extension of that scheme or the modification in some way.
But I think at this point I think it’s too hard to say because the outlook remains very uncertain but it’s going to be a very critical point in the economy.
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Philip Lowe says the RBA is hoping it can revise its hours worked downturn forecast to something more positive – 15% instead of a 20% downturn:
We will see further declines in jobs. They will not be as stark as the declines we saw in April. I think the worst of it was the period up until mid- to late-April. Since then, there has been some stabilisation. In certain parts of the economy there has been a recovery in jobs. When we put out our statement on monetary policy in early May, we were expecting a decline in total hours worked in the economy of 20%. So a staggering number.
As they’ve come in, they’re progressively revising that number. I don’t have a firm estimate for you, but I’m hoping now that it will be not that declining but more 15%. It will be staggering but as the data has come in we’ve progressively likely downward.
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The National Gallery of Australia is set to reopen from next Tuesday, with two groups of 20 visitors allowed into the exhibitions each hour. Physical distancing rules will be in place and visitors will have to book online and follow a defined path through the gallery #canberra
— Tom McIlroy (@TomMcIlroy) May 28, 2020
This is a very good move, and one which will help a lot of people:
Today, Austrac announced a change to the AML/CTF customer ID and verification rule to help people experiencing family and domestic violence. Under the rule, if a customer cannot produce their driver’s licence or birth certificate, or show a different address, banks and other regulated businesses can use alternative ways to verify their customer’s identity.
Financial abuse is a form of family and domestic violence and will be experienced by over 2 million Australians over their lifetime, with 63% of women experiencing financial stress having a background of financial abuse. The abuser uses violence and intimidation to restrict access to a person’s bank accounts, prevent them from working or accessing benefits, or withholds living expenses from them or their children.
Austrac’s CEO, Nicole Rose PSM, said having a bank account independent of an abuser was essential for those who are leaving or have left an abusive relationship. This rule supports our regulated businesses to uphold their AML/CTF obligations while adopting a flexible approach to customer identity processes.
Austrac collaborated on the rule change with the Australian Banking Association and the Australian Israel Chamber of Commerce NSW who initiated the project and identified the opening of bank accounts as a significant barrier. Austrac consulted with the financial sector and community organisations including family violence services, community legal services and financial counselling services, many of who offer frontline services to people experiencing family violence and financial abuse.
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A reminder that the ABC is about to undergo more cuts as well, because of cuts to its recurrent funding.
Regional and rural communities are losing their voices all over Australia.
The Senate committee looking at the Covid response has Phil Lowe, the RBA governor, in front of it today, along with heads of Apra and Asic.
Together the troika make up what the business calls “the Regulators” (capital R) but in the least Warren G way possible.
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Lots more people are getting the flu vaccine this year, which is great, but GPs fear they are missing out on their allocation for their patients.
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners wants the government to prioritise GP clinics when distributing the stockpile:
In a survey in April 2020 of more than 1,100 GPs from every state and territory in Australia, 55% reported that they were unable to access enough stock to provide flu vaccinations to their patients.
The RACGP president, Dr Harry Nespolon, said the delay many patients faced to get their flu vaccine this year was unacceptable and needed to be urgently addressed:
The problem was never that there was shortage of the flu vaccine. The government secured enough of the special flu vaccine for over-65s, who are more vulnerable, for everyone in the country, and we commended them for this.
The problem is with the distribution of the flu vaccine and it has been a problem for a long time. Every year we see the same issue – the vaccine comes too slowly to GP clinics and we don’t get enough of it for our patients.
This year we saw increased demand due to the Covid-19 pandemic. We were glad to see people heeding our advice – the RACGP and other medical bodies advised people to get their vaccine earlier than usual to prevent the double whammy of the flu and Covid-19 and reduce pressure on the health system.
We could not have anticipated this pandemic but we learned a big lesson from it when we saw the impact it had on patients getting their flu shot – the cracks in the distribution system gaped open and many people had to wait far too long.
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Meanwhile …
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Queensland Health authorities still don’t know how Nathan Turner, the youngest person to die in Australia having tested positive for Covid-19, contracted the virus.
A second postmortem test for coronavirus tested negative, but authorities have discounted that test, as it was contaminated “with quite a lot of blood”. The coroner is investigating the death.
His partner remains in isolation, with symptoms of the virus.
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No one has tested positive for Covid in Queensland in the last 24 hours.
Queensland’s chief medical officer, Dr Jeannette Young, says more Queenslanders need to come forward for testing, for restrictions to be lifted:
For us to go forward and to lift those very onerous restrictions that have been in place now, we must do more testing.
We have the capacity in Queensland to test 10,000 Queenslanders every single day.
We have not even reached half of that number, so I implore Queenslanders, if you have any symptoms at all, or a fever of 37.5 degrees Celsius or above, or a history of fever, then please come forward and get tested.
There’s a number of reasons for that. First, it is vitally important for you.
Although we don’t have an effective pharmaceutical treatment, or a drug treatment for this virus, we do have really, really good supportive care we can offer here in Queensland.
We know of the 15 people who’ve been admitted to ICU in Queensland, 14 have survived, because we have great treatment available.
So please, come forward and get tested for your own sake. Come forward and get tested for your family’s sake, because we know the most likely transmission is within a household.
So if we can test you, we can stop you spreading it to other people if you have them in your household.
And come forward for your community’s sake. Because then, if you have got a case, we can contact-trace around you and make sure we don’t end up with an outbreak.
This is really, really important, as we lift restrictions going forward.
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News Corp slashes jobs across regional and community titles
There were 1,200 jobs in News Corp’s regional and community titles. In the press release announcing the changes to the publishing business, there will be 375 journalists left to cover regional and community news.
The loss to those communities is immeasurable. That is a lot of stories which are going to go untold.
News Corp Australia is announcing today that:
Our major regional titles – the Hobart Mercury, NT News, Cairns Post, Townsville Bulletin, Gold Coast Bulletin, Toowoomba Chronicle and Geelong Advertiser – will continue to publish both in print and digitally.
The following regional titles will become digital only: Queensland – Mackay Daily Mercury, Rockhampton Morning Bulletin, Gladstone Observer, Bundaberg News Mail, Fraser Coast Chronicle, Gympie Times, Sunshine Coast Daily, Queensland Times, Warwick Daily News, Central and North Burnett Times, Central Queensland News, Chinchilla News, Dalby Herald. Gatton Star, Noosa News, South Burnett Times, Stanthorpe Border Post, Western Star, Western Times, Whitsunday Times, Whitsunday Coast Guardian and Bowen Independent, news from the towns covered by the Atherton Tablelander, Northern Miner, Post Douglas & Mossman Gazette and Burdekin Advocate will continue to appear, as it does currently, under the regional sections of the Cairns Post and Townsville Bulletin; NSW – Tweed Daily News, Ballina Advocate, Byron Shire News, Coffs Coast Advocate, Grafton Daily Examiner and Lismore Northern Star; Northern Territory – The Centralian Advocate.
The bulk of titles in our community groups – NewsLocal in NSW/ACT, Leader in Melbourne, Quest in Brisbane and Messenger in Adelaide – will become digital only. Community print editions were suspended early in April because of the impact of COVID-19 restrictions.
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It has been one of the most heartbreaking parts of the pandemic – the border closures stopping people from being able to say their final goodbyes. AAP has a story on how South Australia reacted, which included giving an exemption to a woman to visit a relative who was in palliative care, despite having tested positive for Covid-19:
A British woman allowed into South Australia to visit a dying relative is among 22 people given exemptions to travel over the past two months, with health officials defending the process despite her testing positive for coronavirus.
Premier Steven Marshall said authorities have “got to have a heart” as he also backed the decision to allow the woman, in her 50s, to travel from Victoria to Adelaide.
The woman had spent about a week in quarantine after arriving in Australia and had tested negative while in isolation.
She wore a mask while travelling to SA but returned a positive swab soon after flying into Adelaide on the weekend and has now been returned to quarantine.
She has not yet been able to visit her relative.
Chief public health officer Nicola Spurrier said the woman was among 22 people from overseas given exemptions to come to SA on compassionate grounds.
About half of those were to attend funerals and the rest to visit a close dying relative.
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Pauline Hanson issued a 4pm deadline to Annastacia Palaszczuk to open Queensland’s borders or face a high court challenge.
Putting aside that is not how a) the federation works or b) how democracy works or even c) how sane people work, the fundraiser set up to crowdfund the move, which was originally going to be pro bono, is still crawling along:
$14,731 has so far been raised of the $1,000,000 goal.
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They are not numbers. They are people.
Here are just some of those lives lost.
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The coronavirus death toll has surpassed 100,000 in the US
From our US colleagues comes this tragic news:
More than 100,000 Americans with coronavirus have died, four months after the US reported its first confirmed case. The country now has more than 1.6m reported cases and has recorded more deaths from the disease than any other nation.
According to Johns Hopkins University data, 100,047 fatalities have been recorded. The actual death toll is likely to be higher the official count, experts say.
Up to half the deaths in some states have occurred among nursing home residents and workers, studies suggest. Almost three times as many black Americans are dying of the virus as white people.
Although the number of cases and deaths appears to be trending down in many states, experts are bracing for a possible uptick as states begin reopening businesses.
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The key findings from the report:
- Being unemployed remains the greatest poverty risk factor, with two-thirds (66%) of people in households in which the main earner is unemployed living below the poverty line. This is directly related to the level of pre-pandemic income support payments.
- The single rate of Newstart in January 2018 (including rent assistance and energy supplement) was $117pw below the poverty line ($185pw if they did not receive rent assistance). Youth allowance (plus these supplements) was $164pw below the poverty line ($232pw without rent assistance).
- Households that have to rely mainly on social security payments (eg unemployment, parenting, and disability payments) are five times more likely to experience poverty (36%) than those receiving most income from wages and salaries (7%). However, 38% of those in poverty are in wage-earning households; the majority of whom are households with children.
- In households where the main earner is a female, the poverty rate is 19% – almost double the rate when the main earner is male – 10%.
- In single parent families in which the main earner is a woman the rate of poverty (37%) is twice that in which the main earner is a man (18%).
- The biggest differences in poverty rates between households with male and female main earners are in families with children. The average poverty rate among people in families with children where the main income-earner is female is 23%, compared with 10% where the main income-earner is male (which is the more common arrangement). In contrast, among households without children, the average poverty rate where the main income-earner is female is 12%, compared with 10% where the main income-earner is male.
- Nearly half the children in sole parent families live in poverty (44%) compared with 13% for children living with both parents.
- While those of working age are at greater risk of poverty than older people, over 65s who are living in private rental face a relatively high risk of poverty (41%).
- Renters are almost twice as likely to live in poverty as home-owners (19% compared with 9%) with public housing tenants at greatest risk (58%).
You can read the whole report here.
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The Australian Council of Social Services has released a report – Poverty in Australia 2020: Part 2 – Who is affected? – which looks at the impact of poverty before the Covid-19 crisis.
Its findings, unfortunately shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. As the acting Acoss CEO, Jacqueline Phillips, says:
This report exposes the disproportionate impact of poverty on households in which women are the main income earners. These households are twice as likely to live in poverty as those in which men are the main income earners (19% and 10%, respectively), with the gap even higher in households with children (at 23% and 10% respectively).
Disturbingly, more than a third of single mothers and their children are living in poverty (37%). The challenges faced by single mothers that lead to so many being on low incomes have serious implications for the wellbeing of those women and their children.
Early indications suggest that women have been suffering some of the worst economic impacts of the current pandemic, and effective policy action is needed to ensure this does not translate into an ongoing reduction in female employment or an increase in poverty amongst women and children. A snapback on childcare or income support risks trapping single mothers and their children in poverty.
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Good morning
Nathan Turner had not worked since November because of some very serious health problems. He had not left his Queensland town of Blackwater, near Emerald, since February. Blackwater had no recorded cases of Covid-19. But when the 30-year-old, who had been showing respiratory symptoms since early May, died on the 26th, a postmortem test proved positive for the virus.
Now his grieving partner is in isolation, and the emergency service workers who responded when he was found unresponsive in his home are self-isolating, while Queensland Health authorities race to find out how he may have come into contact with the virus, and try and ensure Queensland’s regional and remote towns remain as safe for residents as possible.
As Australia opens back up, you’ll be hearing more about localised clusters. In states like Western Australia and Queensland, where communities are spread far and wide from city centres, opening the state borders to potential community transmission risks still seems like a risk.
We’ll hear more about that today, as well as how the states are pushing forward with relaxing the restrictions.
In NSW, that means joining Victoria in opening up a ski season from 22 June.
There won’t be season passes, or “snow play”, meaning snowball fights are out and of course there will be limits to the number of people on the slopes and ski lifts as social distancing becomes part of the experience.
But for many of the surrounding towns, which were hit hard during the summer bushfires, it will be the first time in which they can welcome back tourists.
We’ll cover that and everything else as it happens today, which is a Thursday. I know, because I checked. Twice.
You have Amy Remeikis with you for most of the day.
Ready?
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