Main developments on Tuesday 25 August
That’s where we will leave the live blog for this evening. If you want to keep on top of the latest global coronavirus news, you can follow global live blog here.
Here’s the news we learned today:
- Victoria recorded 148 new cases of Covid-19 and eight deaths.
- Up to 80% of Victorian healthcare workers were infected with Covid-19 at work.
- New South Wales recorded three new cases of Covid-19.
- 366 people in hotel quarantine at Sydney’s Travelodge Wentworth will be moved to a new hotel after NSW police found the hotel failed to meet the standards for hotel quarantine.
- Qantas plans to outsource 2,500 ground crew jobs
- The prime minister, Scott Morrison, has pushed back on criticism of his aged care minister, Richard Colbeck, for the Covid-19 failures in aged care in Victoria, pointing out the second wave in Victoria is not limited to aged care.
- Queensland recorded no new cases following concerns about an outbreak at a Brisbane youth detention centre earlier this week.
Until tomorrow, stay safe.
Updated
I am a big fan of the data being made available down to a postcode level, as someone living in Melbourne.
Data update: Improved access to data and downloads. All LGAs/postcodes showing active case numbers https://t.co/NBJAuU4QGw #springst
— Jenny Mikakos MP #StayHomeSaveLives (@JennyMikakos) August 25, 2020
366 returned travellers in Sydney to be moved hotels
Nearly 400 returned travellers staying in the Travelodge Wentworth quarantine hotel in Sydney will be moved into different hotels after New South Wales police said the hotel they were staying at did not meet the expectations of the quarantine program.
Police did not say which hotel the residents were being moved out of, but Guardian Australia understands it is the Travelodge Wentworth.
Police said it would take 12 hours to move all 366 guests.
As part of regular audits, police check infection control practices, and PPE use by staff in the hotels, and determined on Tuesday that the hotel didn’t meet the standards.
There have been 50,000 people through mandatory quarantine in 20 hotels since it commenced in NSW. There are currently 4,185 people quarantined in 16 hotels across Sydney.
It comes following two security guards who worked at the Marriott hotel testing positive for Covid-19, with one of the guards fined twice for failing to isolate after his test.
Updated
Seven people onboard construction magnate Mark Simonds’ yacht, which moored on the Gold Coast this week, will be forced into hotel quarantine after their exemption was revoked.
The Brisbane Times reported that Simonds, who is the executive director of Simonds Group, was one of a growing group of high flyers abandoning Melbourne to get out of the stage four lockdown.
The rules in Queensland stated that people who had been on a vessel at sea for 14 days without being in a hotspot would be able to enter without being forced into two weeks’ quarantine.
The Queensland health department says all seven people onboard the Lady Pamela will now be required to quarantine in a government hotel for 14 days after the exemption was revoked.
Queensland Health said in a statement:
Attempting to bypass or manipulate Queensland’s border direction is unacceptable.
Updated
A Brisbane club, Pinkenba, was fined $6,772 for breaching public health rules after reports of a large gathering of people at the venue on Saturday night.
The club also didn’t have a liquor licence, so it was fined $2,669 for that, too.
Updated
The latest from South Australia.
South Australian COVID-19 update 25/8/20. For more information go to https://t.co/mYnZsG7zGQ or contact the South Australian COVID-19 Information Line on 1800 253 787. pic.twitter.com/GxzDm4slpL
— SA Health (@SAHealth) August 25, 2020
ACTU president Michele O’Neill was on ABC TV just before and accused Qantas of using the Covid-19 pandemic to outsource 2,500 ground crew jobs.
She said:
The notion that they are going to use the cover, really, of this pandemic to outsource what are secure jobs to contract arrangements where the jobs are likely to be much more insecure and paid much less. It is cutting conditions that these workers have built up over many years.
She said she was not optimistic that the outsourcing would be avoided by finding internal savings because of Qantas’ track record, and that it wouldn’t be fair on staff to nominate what pay conditions they’d be willing to give up to keep their jobs.
This is a shocking thing, really – the idea that you’re going to ask workers to basically bid against themselves in the middle of the worst aviation crisis we have ever seen.
O’Neill said said workers didn’t have much in the way of conditions to give up, and there needed to be a country-wide support plan put in place for the airline sector.
Updated
The opposition says it will move to strike out part of treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s crackdown on class actions and the litigation funders which bankroll them.
Labor will ask the Senate to disallow a regulation brought in by Frydenberg forcing litigation funders to have financial services licenses.
The support of the crossbench will be required to knock out the regulation, but it has been done before – in November 2014 the then-Labor senator Sam Dastyari engineered the disallowance of a regulation that gutted laws protecting investors from dodgy financial advisers.
Requiring litigation funders to hold a license was one of two class-action measures introduced by Frydenberg in May – the other one watered down laws requiring companies to keep the stock market fully informed of their financial position.
Shadow attorney general Mark Dreyfus and shadow assistant treasurer Stephen Jones said:
Labor will seek the support of the cross bench to have the regulations overturned because they will make access to justice more expensive for ordinary Australians who have been harmed by misconduct by large companies or governments.
The licensing regime, which requires litigation funders to hold the same type of license as operators of a managed investment scheme, was opposed by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.
On Friday, Asic – somewhat reluctantly – issued some guidelines for how it would implement the new laws that involve giving litigation funders sweeping exemptions from many of the requirements of the licensing law – for example, the disclosure of fees and costs.
It also said it would take no action against funders who broke the law by failing to keep a register of class action members.
Asic said in what is known in the regulatory trade as a “no action” letter:
Asic has formed the view that strict compliance with the member register requirements is not reasonably practical for responsible entities of registered litigation funding schemes that have one or more passive members.
Asic was told of the proposal only a day before Frydenberg announced it - answers to questions on notice show the regulator whipped into high gear, with calls and emails flying around the organisation, shortly after lunchtime on 21 May, when chairman James Shipton revealed to staff that he’d spoken to Frydenberg.
Updated
Comparing a border challenge to a retweet has broken my brain, so the lovely Josh Taylor is going to step in and take over the blog for the rest of the evening.
I have a wall to stare at.
But I will be back very early tomorrow for more Covid and parliament news, because I really know how to live.
A very big thank you to everyone who followed along today. You can find me here and here if you still have questions. Things move a little too quickly for me to get below the line that often, but I can get back to you there when I have time.
In the meantime – take care of you. Ax
Updated
The federal government laid out their own witnesses in this case, so I think that in this case, a retweet is an endorsement. But here is Matt Canavan explaining why the federal government never really supported the WA border challenge.
Or something. It’s been a long day.
I’m a bit worried that we’re entering into a situation that every time the Australian government seeks to join a case, it is then taken as some kind of approval of that case itself. It is the judicial equivalent of a retweet. You retweet something and it doesn’t mean you endorse the comments of it, and the same goes here.
I think it would have been better if the commonwealth stayed involved, but the politics got too hard.
This is a key constitutional question. It is right and proper that the Australian government be represented in those cases. They may not take the same submission as Clive Palmer, but they do nonetheless deserve to have a view.
As I said, I think the proper use of border controls in this country should only be done for public health reasons and there does seem to be some clear examples now of premiers not doing it for the public health, but doing it because they face a poll.
We saw it in Queensland last week, with the premier saying that Queensland hospitals are only for Queenslanders.
It was clearly an election stunt, not something designed to deal with the pandemic.
Updated
Wear a mask, people.
#MaskedSingerAU Updated: 16 positive cases, 289 tests. All production crew in 14 day isolation. https://t.co/HY4nYth0RJ pic.twitter.com/3PdNKovvYy
— TV Tonight Australia (@tvtonightau) August 25, 2020
Updated
Over in the house of reps, Labor is attempting to suspend standing orders to talk about the WA federal court decision.
The government has the number to reject it.
Updated
Richard Marles:
I mean, there is an enormous sense of worry.
There is a sense of worry at every level. Obviously there is a sense of worry about whether our loved ones would ultimately become infected, and what happens to them.
There is a sense of worry about when we get to see our loved ones again. I mean, none of that is clear. And there is an understanding of the difficulty of the situation. Nobody is expecting miracles.
But what you do need is to see responsibility taken, and I suppose in that, Patricia, when I look at the facility where my mother is, they are taking responsibility for everything that is within their power. They really are.
And they are dealing with it and day out, and you cannot but help but feel for the circumstances in which they are, which they are facing and the way in which they are doing it.
But what we are seeing from the Federal Government is just time and again, a sense that this is not their issue, really. I mean, when it all boils down to it, that is what they are saying.
They are saying that if in Victoria, it is to do with community transmission and other factors which have led to this issue, they are really saying, you know, we can’t do anything that.
And actually that doesn’t help. What we need is responsibility taken and that is not what we are getting.
Richard Marles is now speaking to Patricia Karvelas. He talks about life with a parent in an aged care home where Covid is present:
I think for everybody in Victoria at the moment who has a loved one in aged care, it is a terrifying moment.
I mean, this is the most terrifying aspect of the pandemic, since it has arrived in March. I mean, there is obviously an impact on all of us with loved ones in aged care about our ability to see those we love. There is an enormous concern and fear about how Covid will play out at any given centre, and obviously the safety of our loved ones. So having a kind of daily email from these facilities becomes part of the rhythm of life ...
I hasten to say that facility, I know, is doing everything they can to deal with it. But it is scary.
We get emails every day about the level of infections in the facility, but it is impossible not to be really terrified about where this ultimately goes. Look, I am just one of thousands of Victorians who are having exactly this experience. And that is a very profound one.
Updated
The Victorian Liberal leader, Michael O’Brien, wants the Andrews government to make its case for extended coronavirus restrictions to parliament on a monthly basis.
Daniel Andrews announced legislation yesterday to extend the state of emergency powers for 12 months. The laws only allow the government to continue to make public health directions, they do not mean the restrictions will be in place.
O’Brien told ABC Radio Melbourne this afternoon the premier had not been transparent or accountable, yet now he wanted “12 months’ worth of power”.
I think we should be seeing at least monthly sittings of parliament. The case could be made from month to month on what the situation is, whether there’s an argument for extending those powers.
The legislation faces an uphill battle in Victoria’s upper house, where the government does not have a majority.
Andrews has said the orders would still need to be renewed every four weeks.
Updated
Alan Tudge is asked whether other states should be taking more returned travellers, after Gladys Berejiklian made the point today that NSW is taking in more than double the rest of the states combined.
Tudge said:
It is really up to each state and territory to make that determination, PK, on the basis of the health advice.
That is what should govern – and on the basis of their surety that they can do it without infections getting into the community. Because, you know, we think we have got it bad in Victoria and, certainly from a restrictions perspective, now some of the toughest in the world.
But the virus is very prevalent in many other countries abroad, far more so than even in Victoria.
And so we do have to take this carefully, we do have to be guaranteed that those quarantining arrangements are secure and are doing the right thing, because as a Victorian, crikey, we are dealing today with the consequences of when quarantine is not managed properly.
Updated
Alan Tudge is on the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing and he is asked by Patricia Karvelas if he wants the high court to rule that the state border closures are unconstitutional.
This will be months and months away before, if and when it gets considered by the High Court, in the meantime, PK, we have got real practical things which need to be addressed.
For example, there was a mother in New South Wales whose newborn baby was being treated in Brisbane and could not get across the border to see her newborn baby.
And so we need to be able to address those practical things.
You have got people in Queensland who fly in and out to work in the mines in Western Australia who cannot get back to Queensland because otherwise they have to isolate for two weeks, and therefore it becomes pointless.
So they effectively cannot see their loved ones. And of course there are all sorts of workforce issues across borders, Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia New South Wales, and Queensland.
We are just trying to work really practically with the state governments to work with these issues when they come up and we do so quietly and we tend to be able to resolve them.
An issue that has been bubbling away below the surface has been uncertainty over the future of NSW’s nation-leading modern slavery laws, which remain in limbo despite the increasing risk of exploitation in supply chains.
The NSW Labor leader, Jodi McKay, joined a “virtual rally” this afternoon alongside unions and civil society and faith groups calling on the government to bring the NSW Modern Slavery Act into force. Campaigners argue that with Covid-19 causing mass job losses around the world, the risk of modern slavery is only growing.
McKay said:
Every day this law sits idle is a day the most vulnerable in our society are at risk. This goes against the will of the parliament and goes against the expectations of the community.
Experts say the NSW laws – which impose financial penalties on covered businesses that fail to report on how they are reducing the risk of modern slavery across their operations and supply chains – are much stronger than the national laws, which do not include fines for reporting breaches.
But despite passing both houses of NSW parliament and receiving royal assent in 2018, the state legislation has never actually come into force. The NSW government says it is due to respond to a parliamentary committee report “later this year”.
Carolyn Kitto, the national co-director of Be Slavery Free, a coalition of anti-slavery campaigners, told today’s rally that unprecedented times required unprecedented solutions:
An unprecedented solution is the NSW Modern Slavery Act. It is unprecedented because we believe it is the best in the world. NSW is the ‘premier state’ and it is time for us to take the premier role.
You can read more about the growing calls for action in this story from last month:
Updated
On his thoughts on whether the commonwealth should have ever been involved, Mark McGowan says:
You know, the Liberal Party endorsing Mr Palmer’s action was wrong and inappropriate. I am pleased they pulled out. I don’t think they were listening to the people of Western Australia and obviously the Commonwealth witnesses were what Mr Palmer relied on.
So all I would say is, I think Western Australia’s case has been vindicated. We have done this for the right reasons. And over the course of this, into the future, the borders have and will save lives.
WA premier Mark McGowan has responded to the federal court ruling today, on the border case:
We are very confident, because the facts shows that the border saves lives.
They could have been catastrophic outbreaks in Western Australia but for the border. So we’re very confident the facts show our measures work, and whether right measures for the times.
So I think this judgement is a comprehensive victory for Western Australia and I think it says to Mr Palmer that he should just end his action, stop the madness, stop the lunacy, stay in Queensland, keep out of Western Australia and go and enjoy his life on his boat.
Labor’s Jim Chalmers and Stephen Jones have responded to the latest superannuation figures:
New APRA figures released today reveal that for the first time since compulsory superannuation was introduced three decades ago, quarterly net contributions to super accounts were negative.
This new record makes the long-promised, legislated, and overdue Superannuation Guarantee increase more important, not less.
The Morrison Government’s lack of a plan for jobs and the recovery has already forced millions of anxious Australians to raid $33 billion of their hard-earned retirement savings.
Now more than ever Australians need help to rebuild their superannuation balances.
The Liberals created the Retirement Income Review as a stalking horse for more cuts to the pension and further delays to the legislated increase in the Superannuation Guarantee to 12 per cent.
The Government must immediately release the Review that they received over a month ago.
There have been some questions in the corridors of parliament house about why, given the strong encouragement from the Department of Parliamentary Services people inside the building wear masks in shared areas, security guards, who see more of us than most people, aren’t all wearing masks.
Here is the response from DPS:
Masks are not a mandatory requirement in the ACT. DPS has been abundantly cautious and encouraged the wearing masks with all staff and strongly encouraged staff in public facing roles to wear a face mask while performing their work.
The wearing of masks is one of multiple control measures which have been applied at Parliament House to manage the risk of exposure to COVID-19. Masks have been placed at all security points for staff use.
How Mike Bowers saw QT:
(I mean, I am currently blogging from parliament while wearing Ugg boots, so I can’t really talk, but my pants do go to my ankles, so there is that win.)
Updated
That continues:
Active aged care outbreaks with the highest cumulative case numbers are as follows:
- 211 cases have been linked to Epping Gardens Aged Care in Epping
- 195 cases have been linked to St Basil’s Homes for the Aged in Fawkner
- 166 cases have been linked to BaptCare Wyndham Lodge Community in Werribee
- 159 cases have been linked to Estia Aged Care Facility in Ardeer
- 138 cases have been linked to Kirkbrae Presbyterian Homes in Kilsyth
- 120 cases have been linked to Cumberland Manor Aged Care Facility in Sunshine North
- 118 cases have been linked to Twin Parks Aged Care in Reservoir
- 113 cases have been linked to Outlook Gardens Aged Care Facility in Dandenong North
- 110 cases have been linked to Japara Goonawarra Aged Care Facility in Sunbury
- 109 cases have been linked to Estia Aged Care Facility in Heidelberg
In Victoria there are currently 55 active cases in residential disability accommodation:
- Total resident cases: 13; Total Staff cases: 42
- Active cases in NDIS homes: 42 (13 residents)
- Active cases in ‘transfer’ homes (State regulated/funded): 13 (0 residents)
- Active cases in state government delivered and funded homes: 0
Key outbreaks with new cases include:
- 84 cases have been linked to the Australian Lamb Company in Colac
- 58 cases have been linked to Peninsula Health
- 35 cases have been linked to the Vawdrey Australia in Dandenong South
- 33 cases have been linked to Diamond Valley Pork in Laverton North
- 16 cases have been linked to Docklands Studios Melbourne
The Department is also investigating cases linked to the St Vincent’s Private in East Melbourne.
The official Victoria Health data is out:
Victoria has recorded 148 new cases of coronavirus since yesterday, with the total number of cases now at 18,464.
The overall total has increased by 134 due to 14 cases being reclassified largely due to duplication.
Within Victoria, 43 of the new cases are linked to outbreaks or complex cases and 105 are under investigation.
There have been eight new deaths from COVID-19 reported since yesterday: Two men aged in their 70s, four women and one man aged in their 80s and one woman aged in her 90s.
In Victoria at the current time:
- 4061 cases may indicate community transmission
- 3651 cases are currently active in Victoria
- 617 cases of coronavirus are in hospital, including 35 in intensive care
- 14,288 people have recovered from the virus
- A total of 2,119,199 test results have been received which is an increase of 13,060 since yesterday.
Of the 3651 current active cases in Victoria:
- 3279 are in metropolitan Melbourne under stage 4 restrictions
- 215 are in regional local government areas under stage 3 restrictions
- 147 are either unknown or subject to further investigation
- 10 are interstate residents
- Greater Geelong has 74 active cases, Bendigo has 23 active cases and Ballarat has six active cases
Of the total cases:
- 16,876 cases are from metropolitan Melbourne, while 1109 are from regional Victoria
- Total cases include 8845 men and 9584 women
- Total number of healthcare workers: 2785 active cases: 475
- There are 1530 active cases relating to aged care facilities
Federal government criticises Victorian government's handling of Covid-19
Just in case you missed it in that question time, the federal government has now broken its truce with the Labor states, to criticise the Victorian government over its handling of the pandemic.
Josh Frydenberg:
At the end of the day we will do everything to support Victorians get to the other side of this crisis, but the Victorian government has a lot of questions to answer.
Scott Morrison:
The leader of the opposition believes that in Victoria there is nothing going on when it comes to community transmission. There has been no failure of quarantine, there has been no failure of tracing, Mr Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition seems to think that everything is OK in Victoria and there have only been challenges in aged care. The leader of the opposition has a blind spot on Victoria, Mr Speaker.
Greg Hunt:
Overwhelmingly [the new Australian cases] from one city, and overwhelmingly from one part of one city. 99% of lives lost since the 1 June have all been lost in Victoria. So this is very much sadly and tragically the issue of one city in one state.
What we have seen is a 1000% growth in cases in one state. No other state has had more than 25% over the course of the last three months.
But what we have done as a country, and when we look around the world at those figures, is we have seen a containment strategy based on borders with 94,000 people that have been through the hotel quarantine program, and 2269 positive cases detected and prevented from escaping into the community through that hotel quarantine program.
Seven out of eight states and territories, it has worked remarkably well.
We know the tragic consequences in one. Testing, 5.8 million tests on one of the world’s leading testing programs according to the London School of hygiene and tropical medicine.
Tracing, seven out of eight states and territories have had an extra ordinary response and the difference between Victoria and New South Wales has been the public health units tracing program. It has prevented an outbreak on a catastrophic scale, and distancing is also, has also been used to protect.
All these things have come together to protect Australia stop two of those elements have not been in place, sadly, we have seen tragedies in Victoria.
Updated
Mike Bowers was in the chamber for QT:
QT time lapse in the time of covid @AmyRemeikis @GuardianAus pic.twitter.com/X2MP5372hn
— Mikearoo (@mpbowers) August 25, 2020
Updated
Australian Technology Network of Universities has responded to the university legislation:
The Job-ready Graduates package is one of the most significant changes proposed to Australia’s higher education funding in decades. We welcome the indication from the Minister that there have been changes made in response to feedback from the sector, but it is important that the revised legislation and the broader policy are carefully considered as well. That is why we are encouraging the Senate to refer this Bill to Committee.
While the funding floor addresses one of the key concerns we raised with the Bill, we still want to see a guarantee of the indexation and regional growth amounts. These are key tenets of the Job-ready Graduates package and will provide universities the much needed certainty they need in order to expand domestic enrolments to meet increasing demand.
ATN believes that every Australian, from all backgrounds, should have the opportunity of a post-secondary education, and we will always support measures that increase participation, particularly ones that improve student choice. As we said in our pre-Budget submission, funding should follow the student and funding should not be the determinant of student opportunity.
In a period of economic downturn, we need to ensure all Australians can get the skills they need to find their way back to secure work. This package is about supporting students and listening to their needs, not about supporting particular universities.
As Paul Karp reported a bit ago - the federal court has made a ruling on the WA border closure - and given the federal government a little bit of a serve in doing so.
Anthony Albanese has tried to ask the parliament to have Christian Porter address the ruling, but Tony Smith tells him to ask about it tomorrow, in QT.
Question time ends.
The government is likely to introduce legislation to amend Australia’s environment laws on Wednesday, an inquiry has heard.
Environment department officials told a senate inquiry that legislation to support the development of bilateral approval agreements between the federal and state and territory governments had been in development for several weeks.
The environment minister, Sussan Ley, confirmed to Guardian Australia that legislation would be introduced this week.
I will introduce the first tranche of legislation this week to provide greater clarity around existing bilateral approval provisions.
The minister has previously said all states and territories at national cabinet had agreed to move to a “single touch” approval process under Australia’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, which would devolve federal environmental approval powers to the states.
The act already includes provisions for the development of bilateral approval agreements but the minister said the new legislation would provide greater clarity on how those provisions will work.
Guardian Australia has asked to see the bill and whether it also covers the development of enforceable national environmental standards, as called for by the interim report from the statutory review of the EPBC Act.
Updated
Everyone is across that your super is still your super when it’s in your super account, right?
That it is still your money? It’s just there for when you retire? So you have money? Because I am not sure if the prime minister has recently spoken to someone who lives solely on the pension, but I have, and I can tell you it’s not a lot of fun. At all.
And we know people have spent that money on Harley-Davidsons and paying down their mortgages and things – because they told us.
So FFS. Of all the times to launch an ideological war, this is not it.
Updated
Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:
My question is to the prime minister, and I refer to the ageing population of Australia. Why are older Australians neglected today in aged care but also older Australians of tomorrow through the reduction of more than 600,000 superannuation accounts, and pensioners of today and tomorrow by freezing the pension for the first time in 23 years?
Morrison:
Those opposite never seem to understand that people’s superannuation investments belong to them, not industry fund managers, Mr Speaker.
They bristle and they resist, Mr Speaker, every single time there may be any suggestion that those own savings, their own savings, they may wish to use them themselves, Mr Speaker ...
One of the many measures that our government put in place to support people through this pandemic was to ensure that they could get access to their own savings ... their own superannuation accounts, Mr Speaker, to ensure that they could make their way through with their own resources, on top of the other resources that were being made available to the largest income support that our government has ever put in place in our country.But those opposite think it is their money. They think it is union fund managers’ money and how it is done, how many fees they have to pay, Mr Speaker, just in the Senate, just today, Mr Speaker, ‘your super your choice’ legislation was passed. It is important legislation which understands that people’s superannuation money is their money, not the Labor party’s, not the industry fund managers, not any fund manager, Mr Speaker.
We believe it belongs to them because they work for it, they earned it, they saved it, Mr Speaker, and when they needed at a time in a pandemic, we are going to make sure they can get access to it.
Those opposite reject that. They resist this, Mr Speaker, they turn up here like puppets on a string on behalf of the union fund managers, Mr Speaker, and they trot out the lines on their behalf. But we have a message for those: it is not your money, we won’t let you take it from those who have earned it, Mr Speaker, when they need it.
As we have made it available for them, uou know what they are doing, Mr Speaker? Ensuring they can pay down their mortgages and protect their homes, that they can pay independent school fees, Mr Speaker, so they can pay down their debt, pay their rent, Mr Speaker, so they can look after their kids.
Those opposite, Mr Speaker ... Want to take the hard earned savings of Australians away from them and have it tucked up into the industry fund, union fund managers, Mr Speaker, as they count their directors’ fees, Mr Speaker.
Updated
Scott Morrison has previously (at least publicly) stayed away from criticising anything in relation to the Victorian outbreak, saying it was not his place to do so, and he would only be concentrating on the response and working with the Victorian government.
That he immediately turned to criticising what has happened in Victoria in that answer shows that the aged care questions are starting to get to him.
As Sun Tzu tactics go, it’s pretty transparent.
Updated
Scott Morrison takes off gloves over Victoria
Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:
I refer to his decision to remove aged care minister Richard Colbeck from decisions to activate new aged care emergency measures. Isn’t this a declaration of no confidence in the capacity of minister Colbeck to do his day job and if that’s the case, why is this minister still there?
Morrison:
Mr Speaker, the member’s question only indicates his lack of understanding about how advice from the AHCCP applies to the minister for health.
Mr Speaker, the report today, I note, cannot, and I will ask the minister of health to add further, does not reflect, Mr Speaker, how those processes are normally handled, as they have been handled in the way they always are.
The minister for aged care, I speak to, Mr Speaker, every single day.
He is part of the hook up with the deputy prime minister, the treasurer, the health minister and myself, in particular, reviewing the aged care issues on a daily basis, that we have been doing for some time.
The minister for aged care is regularly providing briefings to the expenditure of cabinet ... in addition to that, providing briefings of the national security committee of cabinet where those matters have been relevant to his portfolio, Mr Speaker.
The minister for aged care over these many months has been responsible for the outcomes that I have referred to earlier, Mr Speaker, which has, Australia has been in a position where 97% of facilities in this country, despite the significant community outbreak in Victoria, which the leader of the opposition has a blind spot on.
The leader of the opposition believes that in Victoria there is nothing going on when it comes to community transmission; there has been no failure of quarantine; there has been no failure of tracing, Mr Speaker. The leader of the opposition seems to think that everything is OK in Victoria and there have only been challenges in aged care.
The leader of the opposition has a blind spot on Victoria, Mr Speaker. What we are doing is addressing the challenges that has resulted in the outbreak community transmission.
Updated
Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:
I ask, why has the prime minister yesterday and again today continued to [promote] 97% of aged care facilities don’t have an outbreak of Covid-19 when this has resulted in more than 300 aged care residents losing their life, 10 aged care homes in Victoria experiencing more than 100 cases, and more than 1,100 aged care residents battling Covid-19 as we meet here in this parliament today?
Morrison:
All of the facts that the leader of the opposition has just referred to, particularly in relation to the terrible facts of the 335 deaths in residential aged care, the seven who were home care recipients, Mr Speaker, the government has acknowledged all of these. But it is also true that in 97% of cases of the more than 2,700 aged care facilities in this country, that there have been no Covid-19 infections.
It is also true that when you combine together those facilities in Australia that have had staff infections as well as resident infections, that that is 8% in Australia, and in the UK is 56%, which is seven times worse.
I am happy for facts to be brought before this place, but it would seem that the leader of the opposition is not happy for this fact also be understood. And the fact is that while Covid-19 has taken a terrible toll on the lives of 335 Australians and residential aged care and seven home care recipients, the plan that we put in place, the arrangements that we have been able to deliver on the ground, the work we have been able to do in partnership with state and territory governments, has saved lives and it has saved livelihoods. And the figures that were just cited by the minister for health comparing Australia positive outcome to those overseas, I think, is important encouragement and hope for Australians.
It demonstrates that here in this country, despite the terrible toll for those who have suffered, that were it not for the way that Australia has dealt with this together, we would have been seeing far worse situations. Now it is true that in Victoria we are seeing the worst of it, when the protective measures that were put in place and built up as part of that national strategy – employed by all states and territories – have failed in Victoria.
That is true. The testing, the tracing, the quarantine arrangements have proven to be unacceptable and led to what we have seen with community outbreak in Victoria.
And that has resulted in the most heavy restriction that we have ever seen. And we want to see those restrictions come off and we are doing everything we can to help Victoria right the situation and stabilise the situation so it can be opened up again.
These restrictions that we are seeing across our country, these must be the last resort, not the first resort.
The testing, the tracing, the quarantine, the Covid-safe measures, the outbreak containment, that is what enables Australia to live alongside this virus without destroying livelihoods; as we are seeing in New South Wales right now – here that state has faced equal, and I would argue even more risks, Mr Speaker, even more risks than we have seen in other states and territories, and their system has withstood...
He runs out of time.
Always look on the bright side of life, huh?
Updated
Yup.
Josh Frydenberg says four MCGs worth of people have been made unemployed due to the Vic second wave but the government is" standing with Victorians every step of the way". Yet the coronavirus supplement will cut by $300 next month? 🤔
— Luke Henriques-Gomes (@lukehgomes) August 25, 2020
Updated
Peter Dutton is talking.
I don’t know why.
Julie Collins to Scott Morrison:
Is it correct – as the Aged Care Royal Commission heard – that Australia is, and I quote, one of the highest rates in the world of residential aged care deaths as a proportion of deaths from Covid-19?
Morrison:
I will ask the minister for health to also add to this answer ... In New Zealand, that rate is even higher at over 70%.
I don’t think anyone in this house would be suggesting that in New Zealand, as opposed to Australia, they have had a worse experience or they have had a less prepared arrangement tham we have here in Australia.
If the member opposite wants to make that allegation – we have made this point very clear to the royal commission – the evidence provided by the secretary of health was very clear that that was a use of statistics which was highly misleading. And for the member to repeat it here in this place, I don’t think reflects well on her understanding of these issues.
Greg Hunt gets a nod:
I am very happy to add to the answer from the prime minister. The international data comparison, which has built on what was provided to the royal commission, the percentage of lives lost amongst those in residential aged care, the one life lost would have been a tragedy in any country.
In Australia, it is only 0.18%. In Canada, it is 1.5% to over six times higher, or 600% of the Australian figure. In France, it is 2.4% or over 1,300% of the Australian figure.
In Spain, it is 2.5% or just over 1,300% of the Australian figure. In Ireland, 83.2% or 1,600% of the Australian figure.
In Italy, it is 3.2% or 1,600% of the Australian figure. In Austria, it is 4.9% of all aged care residents who have passed away, or approximately 28 ... 2,800% of the Australian figure. In the United Kingdom, it is 16,598 residents that have passed away, approximately 5.3% of all residents in aged care facilities or approximately 3,000% of the Australian figure.
Updated
The federal court has given judgment in the first stage of Clive Palmer’s challenge on the Western Australian border ban.
It looks like WA has lost a battle to have a fresh trial, but is on track to win the war to uphold the border ban.
First, the justice Darryl Rangiah rejected WA’s application for the commonwealth’s evidence to be thrown out and a fresh trial called. That was because the prejudice to WA’s case was caused not by the withdrawal but from the commonwealth intervening in the first place.
Also, Palmer said he would call the same witnesses and adopt the same submissions in a fresh trial, so it was a pointless exercise.
Second, the judge made a series of factual findings about the impact of the border ban:
- That WA’s border protections have been “effective to a substantial extent at lowering the probability of Covid-19 being introduced from interstate”.
- The risk of Covid-19 cases from arrivals from outside Australia and Victoria is high; the risk from NSW is moderate; the risk from Queensland “uncertain”; the risk from South Australia, the ACT and NT “low”, and “very low” from Tasmania.
- Uncontrolled outbreaks would cause death and hospitalisation for vulnerable groups including the elderly and Indigenous, and in the worst case could be “catastrophic”
- The border ban is more effective than alternatives – such as banning people coming from hotspots, forcing them to wear masks and get Covid tests after entering WA; and
- Due to the uncertainties about bringing Covid-19 in from elsewhere and serious consequences, a precautionary approach to decision-making about decisions to protect the community should be taken.
So I’d say it’s a mixed bag for WA because although it couldn’t get the commonwealth’s evidence thrown out, the factual findings certainly lean in the direction of upholding the validity of its border measures.
For the commonwealth, I suspect Scott Morrison and Christian Porter will wear some blame for helping Palmer’s case, but they can argue they *tried* to get out of the way and it’s just unfortunate they couldn’t withdraw evidence boosting Palmer.
Updated
Greg Hunt takes a dixer which seems to serve the only purpose of slamming the Victorian government:
Globally now, this pandemic has reached over 23.5 million people. Sadly, over 811,000 lives have been lost.
In Australia now, 25,053 cases have been formally diagnosed and 525 lives have been lost.
Today, there are 151 cases, one hotel quarantine, six states and territories with zero, one state, New South Wales, with two cases in the community, and one side with 148. That is Victoria. That reflects a trend that we have seen since the 1 June. On the 1 June, there were 7370 cases in Victoria.
That has grown to over 25,000 cases now or an increase of 17,683 cases. I say that because 16,811 – or 95% of the increase in Australian cases since 1 June – have come from one state.
Overwhelmingly from one city, and overwhelmingly from one part of one city; 99% of lives lost since 1 June have all been lost in Victoria.
So this is very much sadly and tragically the issue of one city in one state.
Ed Husic seems to takes umbrage at that and says Hunt should withdraw.
Hunt continues:
What we have seen is a 1000% growth in cases in one state.
No other state has had more than 25% over the course of the last three months. But what we have done as a country, and when we look around the world at those figures, is we have seen a containment strategy based on borders with 94,000 people that have been through the hotel quarantine program, and 2,269 positive cases detected and prevented from escaping into the community through that hotel quarantine program.
[In] seven out of eight states and territories, it has worked remarkably well.
We know the tragic consequences in one. Testing: 5.8 million tests on one of the world’s leading testing programs, according to the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Tracing: seven out of eight states and territories have had an extraordinary response, and the difference between Victoria and NSW has been the public health units tracing program.
It has prevented an outbreak on a catastrophic scale, and distancing ... has also been used to protect.
All these things have come together to protect Australia [but] two of those elements have not been in place – sadly, we have seen tragedies in Victoria.
Updated
Tim Watts to Scott Morrison:
Sandra, whose father was a resident who died in the Doutta Galla Yarraville village outbreak, responded to the prime minister’s claim of a plan by asking, “What was his plan? And if there was a plan, it was not implemented properly or maybe it was the wrong plan.”
Why was not a plan to keep him and others like him say from Covid-19?
Morrison:
Again, we acknowledge the very significant and severe impacts at this case, Doutta Galla Yarraville village. Mr Speaker, the village notified the Department of Health of one positive staff member having contracted Covid-19 on 31 July.
The Department of Health organiser tailored support as soon as this notification occurred.
The Department of Health also immediately organise for the testing of all residents, staff at the village. This was conducted on August 1.
The clinical first respondent nurse attendant on the fourth of August 2020. They provided and continue to do so. This is in addition to the assistance of the Victorian DHHS through the western health service – critical support from those health services into this age care facility as part of our partnership arrangement of the Victorian government.
The service has also been provided with specialist infection-control support through the deployment of asthma teams.
Families remain engaged and in range for the older persons advocacy network to provide support to families and residents throughout the outbreak.
However, approved providers of residential aged care facilities like the aged care, they have responsibility of families and residents to ensure that quality care continues to be provided.
The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission is working to actively ensure that dividers obligations are met and all impacted aged care services in Victoria, including at Yarraville company village, are receiving assistance from the government including a case manager, PPE and others.
Those facts, even though they would be welcome, I know will not control those who have lost loved ones. That is why the government has offered our condolences and our apologies where these instances have occurred.
But I stress again, this is a terrible pandemic, this has been a terrible outbreak of the virus in Victoria. Although we cannot ignore that factor in this place, we cannot pretend that these events would not have occurred, the community outbreak that occurred in Melbourne and in Victoria.
That is why as the minister for health was saying earlier, the way to avoid all this ultimately is ensure that we make the outbreak containment measures, the projection around quarantine, the testing and tracing – all of which have been brought into question here, that has led to the community outbreak in Victoria, and that ultimately ends with terrible circumstances like those you have described.
Updated
Andrew Giles to Scott Morrison:
Epping Gardens, in my electorate, is the site of the worst aged care coronavirus outbreak. More than 20 residents have died. At the height of the outbreak, just six rostered staff were available to care for 115 residents, many of them already ill with Covid. Why didn’t the prime minister have a plan to stop tragedies like this?
Morrison:
Thank you, Mr Speaker. Epping Gardens was one of the other facilities of the four I have already mentioned before in my earlier answers to this House.
And, as was the case at Epping Gardens and other places, once being advised of the situation in Epping Gardens, the officials and health officers and others moved very quickly to restore workforce and to provide whatever supports were needed right across that facility, conducting the testing, conducting the transfers to private and other hospitals that was facilitated by the health agreement ... put in place by the minister for health with private hospitals, right across the country to ensure that the people that were affected by these terrible events at Epping Gardens and the other facilities that I have nominated, that in those cases that we were able to stabilise the facility as soon as could be achieved.
These events that have occurred in these four centres, in particular, that have occurred in Victoria, are terrible outcomes, as I have already mentioned.
We deeply regret the terrible events that have occurred to those individuals.
What it reminds us of is that in the vast majority of cases that the plans that have been put in place have been effective, but in specific cases, that is the day when the virus has got the better of those centres and arrangements around those and the reason for that is, Mr Speaker, the level of community transmission that has occurred in Victoria cannot be underestimated.
Mr Speaker, the reason we haven’t seen the level of distress in those facilities in seven other states and territories is because we have not seen the community outbreak in those states and territories.
As I just mentioned in my answer to the last question, in other countries where we have seen some outbreaks, in the United Kingdom, we have seen seven times the impact in aged care facilities there as compared to Australia.
Those four cases, Mr Speaker, it is our deep regret, as I am sure it is of everyone who has been involved in working to try to support those facilities. But the plan we put in place, Mr Speaker, enabled us to stabilise that facility as quickly as possible and that facility was ultimately stabilised and residents were fully transferred out of those centres, Mr Speaker.
The government will continue to apply this plan. The facilities have been reduced from 13 to three as a result of putting those plans in action in those circumstances, and we will continue to do that.
But for those impacted, and particularly the families of residents as well, communication support put in by Services Australia to ensure we were reaching all of those families providing outward cause, it was part of the plan put in place to deal with the most extreme of circumstances.
And I want to thank all the staff who turned up to work who were able to source and get into that facility, the defence force personnel that went into the facility to make the situation stabilise.
Updated
Labor MP for Fraser Daniel Mulino to Scott Morrison:
At the Kalyna Care aged care facility six minutes down the road from where I am now, a 95-year-old woman had ants crawling from her open wounds.
Staff shortages during a Covid outbreak at the home meant she did not receive the care that she needed. She later died. Why didn’t the prime minister have a plan to stop tragedies like this?
Scott Morrison:
The Kalyna Care centre that the member refers to was one of those four centres that I referred to in my remarks yesterday where those outcomes were simply not acceptable.
They are four centres out of over 2,700 aged care centres in Australia and four of those have had these absolutely outrageous and unacceptable outcomes, and I have offered my apologies on those already.
But I would simply note this: that whether in that facility or the other three where there have been the most significant of these outcome, in 97% of the cases, in all other aged care facilities in Australia, we have seen no Covid in any of those centres. And I would add this: that in Australia, 8% of our facilities have had Covid infections involving both residents and staff.In the United Kingdom, that figure is 56%. Seven times worse.
Now, what has happened at Colinia and St Basil’s and Epping Gardens, and others, is totally unacceptable. But in a global pandemic and where community transmission reached what it did in Victoria, Mr Speaker, the fact that in Australia it has been contained, despite these terrible tragedies, and that it has occurred in other countries, countries like Australia, in the United Kingdom at seven times the level that we have seen here in Australia, that demonstrates that the plan that we put many police, Mr Speaker, has had an impact and it has had a positive impact.
Mr Speaker, the events that the member refers to are shocking. They are disturbing. They are upsetting.
They were to many at the time when it was relayed to me and, as we were working night and day at that time to restore stability into that facility and the three others that were most critically affected. But in so many other cases, what I am pleased at least to say is those four cases did not become 100.
Those four cases did not become 1,000 because that is what was seen in the United Kingdom. So we will continue to implement the plan. And while there can never be any absolute guarantees, particularly in a one- in 100-year pandemic, we will do everything that we can to ensure that what occurred at Kalyna doesn’t happen in any other facilities.
Updated
This is not great news for WA – and not a great finding for the prime minister and attorney general.
#breaking Justice Rangiah has REFUSED WA's call for a new hearing on border ban.
— Paul Karp (@Paul_Karp) August 25, 2020
Finds Cth prejudiced WA by entering the case, but that is not a reason to junk its expert evidence.
Big embarrassment for Morrison and Porter. #auspol #auslaw
Updated
Tim Wilson stands up for his one man show, “Here I am, delivering this very important question for the treasurer, and no, I have not practised this in front of a mirror”.
Josh Frydenberg gives him a very positive review and then plugs his book.
We then move to the 400,000 Victorians who have lost their jobs. But hey – Tim Wilson wrote a book!
Updated
Scott Morrison really likes gas.
Moving on.
Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:
I ask, is it true that the government undertook no audit of aged care providers to ensure they had adequate stocks of PPE, despite more than 1,300 requests for access to the national medical stockpile by May?
Greg Hunt gets the call up:
No, that is not the advice that I’ve had. The advice is we had multiple engagements with all aged care providers around the country in Covid-proof ration.
There have been six stages to this national plan in relation to the aged care facilities.
First, beginning in January, with the prompt advice to all facilities at a time before even the borders were closed; at a time before even first border was closed.
We also closed the borders to China for a reason: to protect those in aged-care facilities. The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission has been in contact and surveyed all aged-care facilities in Australia not just once but more than on one occasion and indeed multiple occasions.
That is a very important element and, in terms of masks and perform PPE, we have provided facilities across Australia with over 12 million masks and PPE.
My advice is where there were requests they were acted on expeditiously.
The second of the stages was in February where the Australian pandemic response plan was released that includes the very strong focus on aged care and then on 13th March, stage 3, the CDNA plan for all of Australia, the aged care national response plan was released. Again, it went through extensive detail of PPE.
Throughout that time there have been multiple engagements where the national medical survey. No, all facilities in Australia have been contacted through the course of the pandemic by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission in order to ensure their preparedness.
The fourth phase was the provision of workforce support, and then the fifth and sixth phases were the updating of the national plan of the basis of international experience and domestic experience.
So, all of those have occurred, including 12 million masks right across the country to aged care facilities, of which almost 10 million have gone specifically to Victoria. That has included the mandating of masks in Victoria and it has included the offer and the ability to provide services where they are required around the country.
Updated
Greg Hunt is back to his “I-am-a-very-calm-and-steady-statesman-have-you-heard-the-low-smooth-tones-of-my-calm-voice” in this question time.
Updated
Ken O’Dowd just delivered his dixer like he was asked to read an apology written by his mum to the class.
Speaking of apologies, Michael McCormack is at the despatch box, and he wows the chamber with this observation:
Swan Hill is not Swanston Street.
Thank goodness we choose leaders on merit. Imagine what we would get if there was just no one else for the job?!
Updated
Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:
Is it correct the prime minister waited until the first death of an aged care resident in Victoria to make masks mandatory for Victorian aged care workers?
Morrison:
The commonwealth has always followed the medical advice regarding the wearing of masks, whether it is in aged care facilities or any other places.
Updated
Scott Morrison just delivered that dixer like he had watched Kimberly Guilfoyle’s Republican conference address on repeat.
If there was ever, ever a time to get rid of dixers (questions asked by government backbenchers, written by the government to give ministers a chance to spruik government policies – a verbal press release, if you will) it is now.
There is no way these backbenchers are not getting daily questions from their constituents. That is what we should be hearing about. Actual answers to actual questions, rather than “we are amazing, here’s exactly how amazing we are”.
Updated
Question time begins
Julie Collins to Scott Morrison:
Can the prime minister confirm the commonwealth aged care regulator was informed of a Covid-19 outbreak at St Basil’s aged care home on 10 July [and] never told the public?
Morrison:
A survey, I am advised, was conducted by that commission, which is an independent agency. In the course of undertaking that survey that also confirmed, Mr Speaker, that they were aware of the processes they needed to follow to advise regarding any Covid cases in their facilities.
Those requirements had been re-enforced ... to all operators about the appropriate process in notifying the quality of Covid cases in their facilities.
The commission did not pass that on to the commonwealth Department of Health. That was not the process for which Covid cases are advised to the commonwealth. We were advised by the public health unit in Victoria and then took immediate action.
Greg Hunt picks up the answer, but there is nothing new.
Updated
With the increased focus on pathogens and zoonotic diseases that the pandemic has brought, the Greens are calling on the government to rule out lifting a ban on the importation of exotic captive parrots.
It’s in response to this story in Guardian Australia today. The government is considering lifting a ban that has stood in place since 1995 and the Department of Agriculture has published a biosecurity risk assessment for public consultation. The assessment has been in development since 2016 and is in response to calls from pet owners, hobbyists and zoos for a safe importation pathway for captive parrots.
The Greens environment spokeswoman, Sarah Hanson-Young, said:
In the middle of a global pandemic caused by a zoonotic disease, the federal government should be banning the trade of wildlife, not making it easier.
The science is well established on the link between wildlife consumption and the transfer of zoonotic diseases to humans.
The minister for agriculture needs to rule out opening Australia’s borders to captive parrots from overseas.
Australians should be able to have confidence their government is going to do all it can to protect them from the spread of zoonotic disease, not a fear they’ll be exposed to an even greater risk of the emergence and spread of disease.
Experts have raised concerns that lifting the ban could risk the introduction of disease to native wild parrot populations and increase illegal trade in species.
Hanson-Young said:
Wildlife trade not only increases the risk of novel disease and pathogens but impacts biodiversity, can cause diseases to be transferred between other wildlife species, putting them at risk, drives poaching and trafficking and ultimately fuels the extinction crisis around the world.
Updated
The Transport Workers Union, which represents workers in Qantas’s ground services division, wants the airline boss to resign after announcing new job custs today.
It points out the almost 2,500 jobs the airline today says it wants to cut come on top of 6,000 redundancies announced a fortnight ago.
TWU national secretary Michael Kaine said:
If Alan Joyce’s only plan is two wield the axe on thousands of loyal staff, he should resign.
This is not shrewd management, it is economic violence. Qantas has taken millions in Jobkeeper wage subsidies, more than any other company, with the express intent of keeping people employed. But now Alan Joyce wants to destroy thousands more livelihoods. This is callous abuse of public money. The chief executive must resign.
Updated
Not sure this needs a vanity card.
Currently, for some workers in Enterprise Bargaining Agreements, their super fund is chosen for them by their employer, whether they like it or not.
— Jane Hume (@SenatorHume) August 25, 2020
This can lead to duplicate accounts, higher fees and costs to workers.
It is fundamentally unfair. 2/3
To quote Kourtney Kardashian - Kim, there’s people that are dying.
As mentioned earlier, borders – both domestic and international – were a big issue for the Coalition backbench at the joint party room meeting today.
We can tell you that four Coalition members spoke up about the impact of state borders and four spoke up about the international travel restrictions. Some of them emphasised the need to provide support and help to Australians stuck overseas and those trying to leave for a valid reason.
Two also called for flexibility to be shown on visa terms and conditions to reflect the disruptive impact of Covid-19 on travel arrangements. Two more Coalition members spoke about the importance of providing the necessary mental health support at the current time.
One also spoke against the government putting all eggs in one basket when it comes to coronavirus vaccine development. The health minister, Greg Hunt, assured his colleagues that work in this space was occurring across the board.
Amy posted the list of legislation a short time ago. You will see it includes the amended university bill, which reflects the push for the Nationals to spare psychology and social work students from the 113% increase for fees in the humanities. The education minister, Dan Tehan, spoke about the professional pathways that were being created for those fields.
Some Coalition members thanked the government for the changes.
The industrial relations minister, Christian Porter, also briefed the meeting on the jobkeeper 2.0 bill and faced several questions about precisely how the scheme interacts with workplace laws and how the turnover tests apply.
It was the first Coalition joint party room for quite a while but some issues are perennial: there was another mention of the difficulties of accessing affordable insurance in northern Australia.
Scott Morrison closed the meeting by saying while the interstate border issue could be exasperating at times, the national cabinet was working well and much better than the old Coag system.
Updated
Labor’s Catherine King has responded to Qantas’s latest job loss news.
Another 2500 workers will lose their job, with the airline deciding to outsource its ground jobs.
King:
Qantas’s latest announcement is another example of why the Morrison government urgently needs a plan for aviation.
Coming so soon after previous announcement of 6,000 job losses at Qantas and 3,000 at Virgin Australia, these losses will be another devastating blow for Australian workers and an industry in crisis.
Labor’s thoughts are with all Qantas workers and their families on what will be another difficult day.
Australia will need our aviation industry as we emerge from this crisis, but it cannot survive on a wing and a prayer.
Updated
*Packs bags, sits at airport waiting for borders to open*
Sooo... who is Barnaby Joyce backing to lead the Coalition Government? And say it like you mean it... #auspol @9NewsAUS pic.twitter.com/qBKVgMmHeE
— Chris Uhlmann (@CUhlmann) August 25, 2020
Updated
The legislation list is in:
- Civil Aviation (Unmanned Aircraft Levy) Bill
- Civil Aviation Amendment (Unmanned Aircraft Levy Collection and Payment) Bill
- Coronavirus Economic Response Package (JobKeeper Payments) Amendment Bill
- Family Law Amendment (Risk Screening Protections) Bill
- National Commissioner for Defence and Veteran Suicide Prevention Bill
- National Commissioner for Defence and Veteran Suicide Prevention (Consequential Amendments) Bill
- Radiocommunications Legislation Amendment (Reform and Modernisation) Bill
- Radiocommunications (Receiver Licence Tax) Amendment Bill
- Radiocommunications (Transmitter Licence Tax) Amendment Bill
- Higher Education Support Amendment (Job-Ready Graduates and Supporting Regional and Remote Students) Bill
- Education Legislation Amendment (Up-front Payments Tuition Protection) Bill
- Higher Education (Up-front Payments Tuition Protection Levy) Bill
- Clean Energy Finance Corporation Amendment (Grid Reliability Fund) Bill
- Recycling and Waste Reduction Bill
- Recycling and Waste Reduction (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill
- Recycling and Waste Reduction Charges (General) Bill
- Recycling and Waste Reduction Charges (Customs) Bill
- Recycling and Waste Reduction Charges (Excise) Bill
- Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Streamlining Environmental Assessments and Approvals) Bill
- Sport Integrity Australia Amendment (World Anti-Doping Code Review) Bill
Updated
Given Andrew Bragg’s book is all about the *evils* of compulsory super (from a man who receives 15% super, from his taxpayer-funded wage), you can take that as a sign of where the government thinking on the superannuation guarantee is going.
It is meant to rise from a 9.5% contribution to a 10% contribution – that has been legislated. But things are very easily un-legislated.
Updated
Josh Frydenberg said he was heartbroken by what was happening in Victoria. The treasurer criticised failures in quarantine and testing and tracing. He said 400,000 people losing their jobs in Victoria was unacceptable.
He said the restrictions in regions were having a big impact.
He said 4 million people would be on jobkeeper in September.
He urged states to pull their weight and endorsed recent jobs by the RBA governor.
He also became a book critic, praising Tim Wilson and Andrew Bragg on their recent books.
Updated
I mean, just as a side note: more than 330 people have died in aged care homes.
So should the government really be congratulating itself on 97% of aged care facilities having no outbreak, when the 3% which did see an outbreak have had such devastating impacts?
Updated
At the Coalition meeting, Scott Morrison acknowledged the situation in aged care in Victoria had been unacceptable.
But he said that Australia-wide, 97% of aged care facilities had had no outbreak among residents.
He said 16% of facilities in Victoria had infections. There was continued work to contain the spread and support those services.
The prime minister argued that testing, tracing and outbreak containment remained the most important way to suppress the virus and keep it out of aged care in the first place.
Morrison also mentioned the issue with international borders. He assured colleagues that the government was working with the states to review the international arrival caps regularly, but did not want to add to stress on the system.
He said he had been Liberal leader for two years and argued that the unity and discipline of the government was “helping us to successfully navigate” the tough times the nation was facing.
In a plea for discipline, he urged colleagues to keep focus on the needs of the Australian people.
Michael McCormack also praised Morrison’s work.
Updated
In other border news, NSW and ACT residents may be allowed to travel to South Australia in about a fortnight.
SA premier Steven Marshall said that if the low levels of community transmission in NSW and ACT stayed the same (or dropped), then SA could look at welcoming residents back:
We are very pleased with the good performance of those two jurisdictions.
If we continue to see very low levels [of coronavirus infections], it is possible we will remove that requirement for isolation within the next two weeks.
Updated
Qantas to cut almost 2,500 ground staff jobs
Qantas plans to cut nearly 2,500 ground staff jobs at 11 airports across Australia in the latest blow for Australia’s already crippled aviation industry.
The airline said it proposed to outsource the jobs, at both Qantas and its low-cost brand Jetstar.
About 2000 ground staff, who include baggage handlers and cleaners, at Qantas and 370 at Jetstar are at risk. There are another 50 bus driver jobs at Sydney Airport also set to go.
It comes on top of 775 voluntary redundancies among ground staff announced earlier in the year.
Staff at Qantas will be able to bid to keep their jobs against any external provider due to a clause in their enterprise agreement, but those at Jetstar lack any such protection.
Qantas domestic chief executive Andrew David said:
Outsourcing this work to specialist ground handlers would save an estimated $100 million in operating costs each year.
Today’s announcement will be very tough for our hard-working teams, most of whom have already been stood down for months without work. This obviously adds to the uncertainty but this is the unfortunate reality of what Covid-19 has done to our industry.
Updated
Annnnnd we have the university legislation:
The Coalition government will create additional university places for Australian students and provide more support for regional students and universities.
The Coalition joint party room today endorsed the job-ready \rraduates legislation with amendments following the consultation process.
The key amendments will:
• Create the disciplines of professional pathway psychology and professional
pathway social work to reduce the student contribution for studying units as part of a
pathway to professional qualifications. This change will set units at CGS cluster 2
(now $13,250) and student band 2 (now $7,950). To offset fee reductions for
psychology and social work, the maximum fee for student bands 1 and 2 will increase
by $250.
• Distribute the tertiary access payment of $5,000 for outer regional, rural and remote students as a scholarship allocated to universities based on historical enrolment of regional students.
• Establish a floor for the maximum basic grant amount for higher education courses to
guarantee university funding in legislation.
Updated
Internal borders within Australia are no substitute for other necessary safeguards to prevent the spread of Covid-19, Scott Morrison has told his Coalition colleagues.
Speaking at the Coalition joint party room meeting this morning - which lasted about 2 hours and 15 minutes* - the prime minister spoke about Australia’s suppression strategy.
He praised the cooperation and discipline shown by the Australian community.
He noted that internal borders were no substitute for safeguards like the testing and tracing capabilities.
Morrison argued that the Victorian border restrictions were necessary at the current time but other borders should be handled on the basis of health advice and clear, transparent principles.
It’s understood the meeting was dominated by concerns from Coalition members about the impact of state border restrictions.
In his speech to Coalition colleagues, Morrison is understood to have praised the health minister, Greg Hunt, and the aged care minister, Richard Colbeck, who has been under pressure, over their efforts.
* The entire meeting, not the PM’s speech.
AAP has an update on the new changes to the Victorian/South Australian border:
From Friday, SA will also reintroduce a 40km buffer zone for people living either side of the Victorian border.
That will allow people in those close border communities to move in and out of SA more freely.
The buffer zone was dropped last week, closing SA off to everyone except essential travellers coming from Victoria.
Chief public health officer Nicola Spurrier said the change was the result of a fall in the number of virus cases in regional areas close to SA.
I’m very confident it will be safe to go back to having that 40km buffer zone.
That does make life easier for a large number of people.
In other changes announced on Tuesday, people travelling to SA from Queensland, the Northern Territory, Western Australia and Tasmania who transit through the Sydney or Canberra airports will no longer need to self-isolate for two weeks.
Updated
And thanks to Casey, as always, for the graphs.
About 40% of the healthcare workers infected in Victoria since July 1 are in aged care or disability workers. Another 40% are nurses. pic.twitter.com/r4bJ0uDa9K
— casey briggs (@CaseyBriggs) August 25, 2020
Updated
So the original information was based on the first wave. Not the second.
So: in the second wave, which we have been in since June/July, 70-80% of healthcare workers caught the virus at work.
— Calla Wahlquist (@callapilla) August 25, 2020
In the first wave, back in March/April, about 20% caught it at work and the rest got it from overseas or community transmission.
A couple of weeks ago, Jenny Mikakos said of the health care workers infections that just 10-15% picked up the illness at work.
Now we know it is between 70 and 80%.
So why such a huge change?
Andrew Wilson:
I think the data is we’ve got a much better coverage of the number of workers. At the time, that was the data, that was the information that we had, that it was based largely on wave 1.
As we all know, you can see in your document, that this has been very quick, this wave.
It’s happened over a few weeks. It takes more than a few days to untangle the cases because they’re happening at the same time, but that’s what the huge effort has been in the last week or so, has been to go through all those under investigation cases – and that number is right down.
I think Brett would agree that the chances are that those cases that are still under investigation are going to probably tell us a very similar story.
But based on what information was at the time, which was largely that first wave, which was felt to be largely people who travelled ... we do look at the international data, and the number of healthcare workers up until a few weeks ago was actually dropping in terms of the proportion of the community.
Around the world it’s around 10% of infections. Ours has gone up a little lately – we’re definitely aware of that – but it was dropping down before that. Healthcare workers are part of our community.
They have all the same risks as everybody else. But they also have that risk of working in an environment where there are unwell, sick people.
Updated
Bob Katter is planning on moving a motion calling for a parliamentary inquiry into Chinese Communist party influence over Australian universities next week.
The Liberal MP Craig Kelly is planning to second Katter’s motion.
Kelly says he’s glad Katter has “raised these matters and any important national sector so reliant on revenue from one source is a concern”.
Kelly means the university sector is too dependent on revenue from Chinese students.
It’s interesting that Kelly is out supporting a non-government motion.
He’s unlikely to be alone in that. The talk around the government at the moment is this issue will end up being referred to parliament’s intelligence committee for investigation.
There are a few changes on how PPE will be used for health care workers in Victoria. I’ll take a look at see if I can condense it after this press conference.
Updated
Despite concerns about the jobkeeper 2.0 package, Labor has decided to support the government bill.
Earlier, we reported the party had reserved its final position to be decided by a subcommittee. But we now understand this relates only to which amendments to put up.
If Labor’s amendments are defeated, it will nevertheless support the bill, because it doesn’t want to imperil extension of subsidies into 2021.
Updated
Prof Brett Sutton:
So, 148 new cases today – up on yesterday, but again with a 7-day trend that is clearly heading down.
I think I expressed my hope that we’d be under 150 next week – last week – and we’re here now. So it is encouraging to see these numbers.
They will go up and down.
We do have some lower testing numbers that might mean that this number even increases in the next couple of days if people can come forward for testing today and tomorrow.
We absolutely want to encourage that. We want to find every single case that’s out there. But these somewhat lower numbers might be a reflection of having testing that’s below the 15,000 mark.
We’re certainly seeing some stabilisation in the number of people who are hospitalised. I think there’ll be a slow decrease in the number of hospitalised patients with coronavirus, especially as we’re strengthening the care of aged care residents on site in their homes in those facilities.
One of the challenges with healthcare worker infections has been the significant number of aged care patients located in one ward at one time.
And so, to the extent that we can support those residents on site with the staff surge and the shifts that have supported them in those facilities, we should do so.
Of course, all of those who require clinical care in an acute health setting are transferred across, but we do need to bear in mind that they bring the infection risk with them and that it can be a challenge if there’s a significant increase in numbers in a particular hospital with regard to managing that infection risk.
But the number on ventilators now at 19, and the number of current patients in hospital is 617 – so a decrease of 12 since yesterday.
We are seeing that slow decline. I do hope that we can get under 100 next week and even lower the following week. It is trending in the right direction.
Clearly, we’ve got a tale that comprises both community cases – sporadic community cases – but also aged and healthcare workers.
So there is that challenging transmission within health settings, within aged care and disability settings, that requires this coordinated action plan for those settings so that we can make sure that we’re driving cases down across the board, including in these complex settings where multiple factors come into play and need to be addressed all at once.
Updated
Victoria’s chief health officer, Prof Brett Sutton, then gives this breakdown of the difference in his and Prof Andrew Wilson’s roles:
This is probably an opportunity to clarify the difference between the chief health officer and the chief medical officer. Andrew Wilson’s with SaferCare Victoria and the administrative office of the Department of Health, and is very much focused on the quality and safety of health settings. Whereas my position is a statutory position with the public health powers under the Public Health and Wellbeing Act. So it’s entirely appropriate that Professor Wilson speaks to the issues of clinical safety and quality in our health services in the broader sense.
Updated
Good afternoon all. A quick situation report:
Government MPs tell me today’s reasonably lengthy joint party room meeting was dominated by complaints about closed borders, both domestic and international.
Many horror stories about chaos on state boundaries, and constituents not able to access services.
One MP also echoed concerns raised by the Catholic church about stem cells used in the Covid-19 vaccine.
Updated
Prof Andrew Wilson continues:
In terms of what else we’ve learnt, aged care has – there are several features that have predicted these kind of infections in outbreaks and themes that we’ve learnt. Poor infection practice has probably been the main driver of infection.
There’s also been issues about aged care workers moving between different facilities as a key driver of infection.
But also the environment of contamination – sometimes by workers, but also by patients.
So all these things are being targeted in an aged care facility to prevent any further infections. In hospitals, we’ve definitely learnt a lot about how these have been happening, that there’s outbreaks that occur in wards, particularly where groups of patients are kept together.
So we what we would describe as cohorting of patients together.
And in that environment, the infections have spread throughout groups of people, and that’s been something that’s been understood for several weeks, and we’ve already been able to work with hospitals on that.
They’ve already begun to space out patients. We increased our recommendation for N95 respirators so that staff could use those in those environments, and that was above the level of recommendation that the national guidance gives us.
So we acted early on that, on the advice of our hospitals that we were working with, who told us that that was what was happening.
We also know that there’s been outbreaks related to how people put PPE on and off, particularly taking it off. And also how they wear it, and then also when they’re interacting with each other at work.
So there’s a whole series of different things that we’re learning and that we’re acting own to try and prevent infections – and also share that information across other hospitals. So we know that one of our hospitals at the moment has an outbreak amongst staff.
So we’re able to put those hospitals together so they can learn from each other and spread that information and understanding across the system.
Updated
Up to 80% of infected Victorian health workers contracted virus at work
Victorian chief medical officer Andrew Wilson is now giving the details on health worker infections in Victoria:
As of the 23rd of August, 2,692 cases of healthcare worker infections have occurred in Victoria.
Most of these have occurred in July and August.
So there’s been two distinct waves – wave 1 and wave 2 – and these are very different. We’ll take you through how they’re different and the important information that we’ve been able to find out about that.
In wave 1, about 20% of the healthcare workers were felt to be infected in the healthcare setting at work.
Most of the rest were felt to have been infected when they travelled overseas or were contacts of travellers from overseas.
So that was very different to this wave, where the majority of cases have occurred at work.
So, wave 1 and wave 2 have been very different, and that’s why this date is very important for us to understand that.
Aged care and disability have also been included in this data, and the majority of cases – well more than half – have occurred in aged care settings.
So aged care workers and nurses who work in aged care settings are a very important part of this group in the second wave.
In hospitals, about 70% of people who are infected are nursing staff, with a much smaller number who are medical staff and other healthcare workers.
So the message is that most of the healthcare workers are in aged care, but in hospitals, 70% of the people infected are nursing staff.
But we’ve been able to pick up infections in a whole range of different workers. So if we just take that through in more detail – about 70% to 80% of the workers have obtained their infection at work in this second wave.
In terms of different types of things that we’ve learnt from this data, we’ve been working on this with the hospitals where they’ve had outbreaks, particularly, and particularly those outbreaks for several weeks. And there’s a lot of things that have already been changed to deal with this infection risk.
We know that many of the people in these infections have occurred in outbreaks where there’s been a number of people infected at one time. And they’ve had contact with other staff members and also with patients in that environment. And they’ve worked in an environment where there’s a high number of people, patients and other workers who’ve been infected in the one place at the one time.
Updated
Daniel Andrews continues:
This is not in relation to stage 4. These are many of the rules that we have had to become particularly familiar with, and they’re the sorts of rules that will be here, potentially, for a long time: keeping your distance, washing your hands, staying in your own home if you’ve got this virus.
I’d love to think that this virus would end on the 13th of next month. It’s not going to.
Therefore, we need to have those tools – that insurance policy – so that, if we have to make a claim against it, if we have to continue not all, but some of these rules into the back end of this year, next year – then no-one will do that by choice. We’ll do it because that’s what the public health experts told us that’s what we needed to do. Unless we have a legal framework that sits behind that, then we won’t be able to say to a publican, “You can have 50 people in your pub.”
We won’t be able to say to a big and – for the purposes of Covid-19, dangerous – workplace, “You can stay open, but you will need to have a series of rules, plans and processes to make sure that you’re keeping your staff and the community safe.” All of those things come from the state of emergency. It’ll be in place not a day longer than it needs to be.
I think I went to this in quite some detail yesterday but, again, just for the purposes of absolute clarity: it will be extended on advice no more than four weeks at a time. And if it’s only required for two or three or four blocks of four weeks, then that’s the decision that would be made.
No more, no less, than what we have currently done. But I just again want to make the point – they relate, in the main, in fact, almost exclusively - they’re stage 3 and stage 2 type of rules. Not stage 4. That is not a function of any changes we’re making to the law.
That is not a function of the Public Health and Wellbeing Act. That is a different set of rules, a different set of arrangements. Because right now, in the midst of a second wave – but now, on that downslope – they are appropriate rules. They will not be necessary in the months to come. And that’s why the changes that we foreshadowed yesterday are not. They’re completely separate issues.
Updated
The Victorian premier then addresses the legislation which has caused the big hoohah – extending Victoria’s state of emergency declaration period:
I just want to make a couple of comments in relation to the bill that we will put into the parliament next week.
This is very much like an insurance policy.
We certainly hope that we don’t have to draw down on it. We hope that we don’t have to make a claim against it.
And I can assure all Victorians – regardless of where they live, regardless of their views on any matter – it doesn’t matter, it’s across the board.
Across the board, across the whole of the state. These restrictions will be in place for not one day longer than they need to be.
And the extension just brings us into line – in fact, still has us, I think, in a preferred position to many other states. Other states are able to extend and extend and extend further.
They don’t have any limits. We, under these arrangements, will simply continue the existing set of tools, if you like – the practical tools that we can draw on – based on the best of medical advice.
We would be able to extend the state of emergency in 4-week blocks, and there would need to be fresh advice and a fresh case mounted and we’d have to be – we would have to continue to reaffirm that that was the appropriate thing to do.
They’re not the rules – as I said yesterday, I think very clearly – but I’ll make the point again: this is not in relation to curfews.
Updated
Daniel Andrews:
There are 3,651 active cases across the state, and that number continues to fall also, which is very pleasing.
The metro/regional split, as I’ve said many times – these numbers never quite tally, because there’s a number that are being further investigated – there are now 215 cases in regional Victoria.
That’s local government areas that are covered by stage 3 restrictions. So that number is falling, and that’s very pleasing.
But it’s very important that every single person – regardless of their postcode - remains vigilant.
That’s why we’re so pleased and proud of all those Victorians – a growing number, and the absolute majority, a very, very significant number of Victorians – are doing the right thing... and these numbers fundamentally reflect that.
In terms of aged care, by way of update, there’s some 2,787 shifts that have been worked by hospital nurses.
Again, we thank them for going into a very challenging environment – not the environment that they would normally expect to work in, but they’re doing a fantastic job, and we are very, very proud and grateful to them.
In terms of disability facility settings, there are 55 total active cases, of which 42 are amongst staff and 13 amongst residents.
Our aged care outbreaks – some 1,530 current active cases – and in terms of outbreaks, there’s some 123 of those that we are currently managing that are active outbreaks. So that task is enormous.
Updated
Looks like the lobbying has worked.
Both NSW and SA have simultaneously relaxed border rules with Victoria, reinstating a buffer zone for border communities
— casey briggs (@CaseyBriggs) August 25, 2020
Updated
Daniel Andrews press conference
Daniel Andrews:
We send our best wishes, our sympathies and condolences to each of those 8 families.
They are comprised of two males in their 70s, 4 females, and 1 male in their 80s, 1 female in their 90s. 7 of those 8 deaths are linked to aged care outbreaks.
There are 617 Victorians in hospital. 35 of those are receiving intensive care. 19 of those 35 are on a ventilator. A total of 2,119,199 test results have been received, which is an increase of some 13,060 tests on yesterday.
Just to that point - they are, of course, yesterday’s results were Friday/Saturday.
Today’s results are Saturday/Sunday. I think the weather’s probably played a little bit of a part in those lower numbers.
If you go back and track recent weekends, or weekends across the whole journey, then we often see numbers below those higher numbers that we see during the week. But I would just make the point - please, any Victorian, regardless of where you live, regardless of your circumstances - if you’ve got any symptoms, even very mild symptoms, as soon as they start, you have to come forward and get tested, then wait at home for those couple of days till you get the test results back.
It’s a really important and powerful thing to do, both to make sure that our strategy is ultimately successful and we get past this second wave and we can begin the process of opening up again, rebuilding businesses, rebuilding in so many different ways - but it is also very, very important to make sure we’ve got the most accurate picture, the most accurate picture of what’s going on out there, and that we can put the best possible public health strategy in place.
The Victorian Ambulance Union is in support of extending Victoria’s state of emergency declaration:
The purpose of these proposed changes is to ensure that the public health directions protecting Victorians from COVID-19 can continue to be enforced beyond 6 months.
Currently the health protections that we need to protect Victorians against COVID-19 are only available if Government declares a State of Emergency. These health protections include requiring the wearing of face masks, requiring people to self-isolate and the creation of Workplace COVID-19 plans. These measures are essential in protecting against COVID-19 transmission. Under current legislation these protections can only remain in place for a total of six months.
Victoria is the only state in Australia that has a timeframe on the duration of a State of Emergency. Legislation changes will be introduced into the Victorian Parliament to ensure the public health directions protecting Victorians from coronavirus can continue to be enforced beyond a 6-month timeframe.
The VAU supports this proposed logical step and will be contacting Victorian Members of Parliament and calling on them to support hardworking Paramedics and ambulance workers who are on the frontline of this pandemic.
The stress and pressure that our members are experiencing during COVID-19 cannot be overstated. They face daily risk of exposure and are likely to be heading into a hot summer where everyday they will be wearing full PPE if the virus is not contained.
Having strong protections in place is an absolute must and we fully support any legislative change that delivers those protections.
One of the biggest items dealt with by Labor caucus today was the government’s jobkeeper 2.0 bill – which proposes extending industrial relations powers to cut workers’ hours, even if a business is no longer receiving wage subsidies, provided they have suffered a 10% revenue downturn.
Guardian Australia understands that the mood of Labor caucus was opposed to these changes but the party has reserved its final position, so that a caucus subcommittee (of relevant shadow ministers and the leadership group) can make a decision on amendments after consultations with lawyers and academics about the bill.
The aspects of concern to Labor are:
- Businesses no longer receiving jobkeeper can cut workers’ hours by up to 40%, reducing workers’ economic certainty;
- This could create a competitive disadvantage for businesses that never received jobkeeper - as they must compete with employers who retain the powers; and
- There is a perceived inconsistency in judging that companies with a 10% revenue downturn are sick enough to need IR flexibility but not sick enough to need government support - and that this amounts to making workers pay for the recovery
Some of these could be dealt with by amendment - for example – to strengthen the safeguard about how big cuts to hours can be. What Labor would do if amendments are rejected is yet to be seen.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg can make changes to jobkeeper through administrative arrangements until the end of 2020, but the government will want to make them through legislation to enshrine the new rules until the end of the scheme in March 2021.
Updated
Daniel Andrews is about to give his daily update.
Meanwhile, Bill Shorten thinks its time to calm the farm:
Bill Shorten on the state of emergency announcement: "I think it would be handy [Daniel Andrews] cleared it up today, because I think that figure of the 12 months had everyone freaking out last night."
— Luke Henriques-Gomes (@lukehgomes) August 25, 2020
"And I think the explanation is a lot more benign." #auspol pic.twitter.com/bm1FsfCpip
The bells are ringing signalling the start to the parliament sitting day.
And also my second lunch.
We have a little more detail on the government’s university bill, which is being considered by the Coalition party room today. One thing to watch is whether the deal with the Nationals to spare students studying mental health from a 113% fee increase is accompanied by changes to student fees and government funding in other subject areas.
Guardian Australia understands the amendments sought by the Nationals - which were endorsed at a Nationals party room meeting yesterday - are set to be offset by other changes. There may be small increases and small decreases in various other clusters, although we’re told those changes are minimal and we don’t have the detail yet.
The changes follow more than a week of discussions between the education minister, Dan Tehan, and the regional education minister, Andrew Gee, who is from the Nationals, along with regional universities and the sector more broadly.
The key change is that social work and psychology will be removed from the cluster that contains humanities - where fees are set to more than double - and instead bundled together with allied health, where the student contribution will not be as high. The aim is to create a professional pathway for social work and psychology students.
Two other issues where there has been movement are the tertiary access payment and the grandfathering (transition) arrangements, even though these aren’t spelled out specifically in the draft bill.
The government had foreshadowed spending $159m over four years for a payment to help about outer regional and remote students to relocate to access tertiary study immediately after Year 12. The fear in the regions was that country universities might face stiff competition from city universities and that the $5000 tertiary access payment might drive people to relocate to metropolitan areas.
It’s understood that the Nationals have secured a dedicated pooling arrangement that will ensure that students wishing to study at regional universities would receive substantial support under that scheme.
The government is also expected to ensure people who sign up to degrees before the end of this year won’t face the fee increases throughout the duration of their study, even if they are studying part-time and take many years to complete it - a key concern in the bush.
Meanwhile there is a push under way, backed by Labor, to refer the bill to a Senate inquiry for closer scrutiny. Labor has been highly critical of the university package, given the fee hikes and cuts to the average government contribution, but will finalise its position after the final bill is released.
Updated
Two new Covid cases among NDIS participants today, taking the total to 35. The overall number of infections among participants and workers has reduced by five to 93. All but one of the cases are in Victoria. pic.twitter.com/NfL6oWGBdo
— Luke Henriques-Gomes (@lukehgomes) August 25, 2020
In promising news, Victoria’s deputy premier and education minister, James Merlino, has indicated he is “confident” schools will return to face-to-face teaching by term four.
Term four is scheduled to begin on 4 October, according to the Department of Education and Training website.
Merlino made the comments during the state parliamentary Covid-19 inquiry, which is focused on education today.
"I'm confident our schools will return to face to face teaching in term four."
— Brett Mcleod (@Brett_McLeod) August 25, 2020
- Education Minister James Merlino. But WHEN in term 4 depends on advice from Chief health officer. pic.twitter.com/nuMDbZzllt
Updated
This should not be a surprise given the recent climate:
IT IS OFF - China Mengniu and Kirin walk away from $600 million Lion dairy deal because Australian government approval "unlikely to be forthcoming at this time". https://t.co/vqq6mtY11c
— Kath Sullivan (@KathSully) August 25, 2020
You’ll be hearing from Daniel Andrews just after midday
Gladys Berejiklian also aimed a fairly pointed look at the other states over the numbers of returned travellers NSW is accepting:
I think it’s fair to say given we have welcome back 50,000 people – and again please know this is on behalf of our nation.
Other states haven’t stepped up and taken as many overseas travellers as Sydney has, with Melbourne out of action, we are bearing the overwhelming majority of people – Australians – coming back to Australia.
Some do have hardship and terrible circumstances, which has required them to come back. Others have different reasons.
Again, we are doing this on behalf of the nation because other states, frankly, aren’t upping how many people they’re accepting every day and, in fact, New South Wales is doing more than double all the other states combined, from what I understand.
We are doing at least 2,500 to 3,000 out of the national 4,000 a day. It’s a big job. Sorry, a week – it is 350 a day. It is a big job. And we’ve stepped up, because we know it is in our state’s interests, and we are also bound by rules that aren’t just borne upon in NSW.
We have to accept that. But I want to thank everybody who’s been involved in the system to date. 50,000 people coming back. I think by the time Melbourne had shut its door, they had done 20,000. It goes to show how much we have done compared to the other states.
Updated
The latest ABS payroll data is out - and the Victorian lockdown is taking its toll:
Payroll jobs fell by 1.0 per cent over the month to 8 August, according to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics today.
Bjorn Jarvis, head of Labour Statistics at the ABS, said: “Over the month to 8 August, payroll jobs fell by 2.8 per cent in Victoria. Some of the initial impacts from the Stage 4 restrictions, are shown in the latest weekly data as they came into effect.”
“Around 39 per cent of jobs lost in Victoria by mid-April had been regained by 27 June, but by early August this had reduced to 12 per cent.”
Nationally, payroll jobs at 8 August were around 4.9 per cent below mid-March, when Australia recorded its 100th confirmed COVID-19 case. The latest data showed that after an initial period of recovery between mid-April and mid-June, payroll jobs losses had remained between 4 and 5 per cent below mid-March.
By 8 August, around 43 per cent of payroll jobs lost across Australia by mid-April had been recovered. Close to half (52 per cent) of jobs worked by women had been regained, compared to 19 per cent for males.
Payroll jobs worked by people aged under 20 increased 1.5 per cent nationally in the month to 8 August, however, there was a 5.6 per cent decrease in Victoria.
“Female jobs recovery was greatest for those aged under 20, who also experienced the largest fall in jobs through to mid-April,” Mr Jarvis said.
Gladys Berejiklian on the pandemic:
No day is easy. Yes, we might come here and rattle off the numbers but every day is a battle and every day requires enormous effort and coordination across all of government and, as I have said, if there is any advice or evidence that we need to change anything we’re doing, I think part of the success in NSW has been we are flexible and nimble.
We have responded as we have learnt more about the virus, as the community’s movements and behaviour have changed and that is an evolving brief.
We are always looking at ways in which we can we improve our response but, to date, if you look at results in NSW and the balance we have struck between people ‘s ability to work and get on with their lives and controlling the virus, I think you would agree generally that we have managed that balance but it is a daily battle and we are far from perfect.
In fact, mistakes have been made and will be made. We have to accept that.
A pandemic, unfortunately, is unpredictable and relies on everybody doing everything right 100% of the time and it is extremely challenging.
There have been a few border crossing stories today.
In NSW (via AAP)
A Victorian man accused of illegally crossing state borders and leading police on a wild 200km pursuit before running out of fuel in country NSW is due to face court.
The 51-year-old from Warrnambool, about three hours southwest of Melbourne, was stopped by police at a permit checkpoint on the Hume Highway in Albury about 11.40am on Monday.
He told police he was driving to Canberra without a permit, but was refused entry after checks revealed he had previously made unsuccessful attempts to illegally cross the border.
The man was directed back to Victoria with a police escort but returned to the highway at speed and took off.
He was clocked driving at up to 172km/h before police deployed road spikes and deflated one of his tyres.
Police said the man continued to drive with one wheel on its rims and was pursued for about 200km until he ran out of fuel and stopped near Jugiong, about 90 minutes northwest of Canberra.
He was refused bail to appear at Gundagai Local Court on Tuesday.
And in Queensland
(Via AAP)
A man who was refused entry into Queensland three times and later found at his home in the sunshine state has been ordered to do 200 hours of community service.
A 28-year-old man who slipped into Queensland after being refused entry into the state three times has admitted failing to comply with a COVID-19 direction.
The man was ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid community service after pleading guilty in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Tuesday.
He was arrested on Monday when he was found with his partner and two children at his house in the Brisbane suburb of Indooroopilly.
He had been refused entry into Queensland three times after visiting the Tweed area, just south of the border on August 20.
The court heard he received a $4003 fine on his last attempt.
He is required to quarantine for 14 days once released from custody.
No conviction was recorded.
Over in New Zealand -
In New Zealand, 7 more local coronavirus cases today. Those numbers have been fairly steadily in the 5-10 range every day for a week now
— casey briggs (@CaseyBriggs) August 25, 2020
Clive Palmer’s challenge to the Western Australian border ban has been listed for judgment in the federal court this afternoon at 2:15pm.
Now, this judgment won’t give us the whole answer to whether the WA border ban is unconstitutional - because the federal court was only hearing the factual aspects of the case about whether the travel ban is necessary to protect public health from Covid-19.
It will decide two things:
- Whether the federal court will follow the Western Australian government’s proposal to wipe the slate clean and order a retrial, to remove expert evidence laid on by the Commonwealth before it withdrew from the challenge;
- If the answer to (1) is, no, no fresh trial - Justice Darryl Rangiah is expected to draw a conclusion about whether the border ban was reasonably necessary to protect public health.
If no fresh trial is ordered - the case will then proceed to the high court to hear the constitutional arguments. This will likely be heard in October, because the September sittings of the court are already taken.
The political points of interest today are:
- If Western Australia fails to get a fresh trial - expect premier Mark McGowan to have a further slap at the Commonwealth for withdrawing from the case but failing to back its submissions in court calling for a fresh trial.
- How critical justice Rangiah is of the border measures, specifically whether it is reasonable that WA has banned travel from jurisdictions with no community transmission - and whether he credits expert evidence laid on by Commonwealth attorney-general Christian Porter for persuading him on this point. That would cause political pain and embarrassment to Scott Morrison for having got involved in the case in the first place.
Also - David Elliott left this out - but Gladys Berejiklian acknowledges the climate has changed.
We have to accept also our climate is changing and those who wrote the report knowledge that.
As Commissioner Fitzsimmons and Commissioner Rogers will attest, some briefings I have received from them, they will tell me examples of things I have seen which they have never seen before in decades of firefighting.
We have to accept that as well.
There are legacy issues but also we have to accept they were unprecedented conditions. Coupled with the drought, coupled with fuel loads in some areas but, moreover, the climate is changing and we have to expect and accept that part of the ferocity we saw was a combination of all those things and our government is working as hard as we can, as fast as we can and as efficiently as we can to resource up our agencies but also to do everything we can to mitigate the risks.
There are some risks we can definitely mitigate but we also need the community support and help and while we also remember the loved ones that were lost, the three local firefighters and the overseas firefighters that were lost and the family is still going through pain and anguish, we also have to remember the thousands of lives saved, the thousands of properties saved and if it was not the two gentlemen here, the agencies, and workers across the state from all our agencies, we would have looked down a far more bigger picture and I cannot tell you how much I appreciated their efforts to actually protect life and protect property and that is what the recommendations of this report now give us the power to do in a forceful, vigilant and quick way.
Gladys Berejiklian is asked about people in communities which were ravaged by the bushfires, still living in tents and shipping containers, nine months after the crisis:
We have assisted in thousands of homes being cleaned up and the last report I have received is there was a small number of very complex cases that were left and we are obviously working through that.
We always do the recovery would take time. Unfortunately, when you have a disaster of the scale we have had in our state, we have to assume that it takes time for us to get to a position where everybody feels they are in a position to rebuild and every single person feels they have been taken care of and we accept that
...What I do know is that literally thousands and thousands of people have received relief in having had the cleanup costs met, the cleanup completely done by the state government and we took that upon ourselves to do that.
I understand there are a small number of cases which are very complex which we are still working through.
But in the main, when I visited communities, and the reports I have received, is that we actually did better than we thought in terms of the targets we set for ourselves, how many properties we cleanup in a particular time and I want to thank all those who partnered with the government in that regard.
We know the scars of the season will go on for a long time. We’re not going to pretend that we have managed firstly deal with all the physical issues and secondly, of course, the ongoing trauma of those directly impacted and, of course, those who have lost loved ones, those who bear physical scars but also those who have just been traumatised by what they saw, will linger for many years and that is why the government is there to continue to support those communities but I also appreciate very much that there is a sense of urgency and the next fire season is already upon us. The government has taken every action we can and respond to the recommendations
Another healthcare worker at Liverpool Hospital has contracted Covid-19, as NSW announced three new cases of the virus on Tuesday.
Only two new cases were locally acquired, premier Gladys Berejiklian, announced and the source of their transmission was known.
One of those is a healthcare worker at Liverpool hospital, who was identified as a close contact of a previous case. On Monday, another healthcare worker at the hospital was confirmed as contracting Covid-19, and multiple workers were diagnosed last week.
The other case was a student from the Lady of Mercy College in Parramatta, who was also identified as a close contact of a previous case.
Both were in self-isolation during their infectious period, the state’s chief health officer, Dr Kerry Chant, said.
There are currently 84 active Covid-19 cases in the state, with seven people in intensive care, and four on ventilators.
Updated
Unsecured creditors of stricken airline Virgin Australia will receive as little as 8.4c in the dollar when the group is sold to US private equity outfit Bain Capital, administrators say.
But the administrators, partners at accounting firm Deloitte, have told creditors that’s a better deal than what they will get if they try to reject the Bain deal at a meeting on 4 September.
Employees are to get everything they are owed under the Bain deal at a cost of about $448m.
And for passengers, Bain has agreed to take on responsibility for about $600m in travel credits and booked flights that haven’t been taken yet.
Key suppliers to the airline fare a little better than bondholders – they are to receive around 14c in the dollar.
But the most bondholders can hope for is 12.8c in the dollar, according to modelling conducted by Deloitte.
Little wonder some had bitterly opposed the deal, pushing forward an alternative deal they wanted discussed at the meeting.
“We have set out our opinion to creditors that it is in their interest to approve the deed of company arrangement proposed by Bain Capital as it provides for the best return to creditors in what are extraordinary circumstances, and that were impossible to foresee,” lead administrator Vaughan Strawbridge said.
“This will provide certainty for the business under new and committed owners. It provides certainty for employees and customers, a return to creditors, and it can be completed sooner, and at less cost than other alternatives.
“It achieves all the objectives of the voluntary administration process that we sought from the outset. Now we just need to bring the airline out of administration as soon as possible.”
Updated
David Elliott:
We are also looking at the welfare of our firefighters: 70,000 firefighters put themselves at risk or volunteer themselves available.
We want to make sure that because the RFS in NSW is the largest firefighting service in the world, that it is also seen as the world’s best practice.
Another number of recommendations which the community will be concerned about, ability to deal with native fauna.
When with the animals injured as a result of bushfires. Mental health of those firefighters that we do not see them slip by the wayside and, even though they have had a difficult season, they continued to be wonderful assets to the people of NSW …
We are prepared for the next season.
What we are not prepared for, of course, is the unknown. What we see out of these 100 and 76 recommendations is to sharpen our abilities to prepare for the unknown. We did a fire service fit for purpose.
There was not any real criticism in the way we approach the last season but we also want to make sure that, given this may or may not be something missing again in our lifetime, we do not as a community face the level of anxiety we did in the last bushfire season.
I’m not sure whether one of the recommendations is that the emergency services minister shouldn’t take holidays in the middle of a bushfire crisis, but hopefully, that lesson has been learned.
Updated
The NSW government will release the findings of an independent inquiry into the last bushfire season – it will accept the 76 recommendations.
David Elliott is speaking on that now:
These recommendations are wide-ranging but what they also show is there is no silver bullet.
The last season was caused by a crippling drought, seeing an increase in fuel loads – that is a matter of public record. We also note the vast majority of of the fires works started by lightning strikes and that is not something that a government, no matter how hard we work, can prepare for, but what we can do is prepare our communities and our combat agencies to ensure that, if we do find that we face ourselves before and other firefighting season, that we are in the best place to position and that includes, as a result of these recommendations, focus on aviation assets, they will now deployed in the evening, night time.
They will also ensure that whatever is available around the world is considered.
Updated
NSW records three new cases of Covid
That’s from 12,000 tests.
One of those positive cases is someone in hotel quarantine and the other two are close contacts of known cases.
Updated
Don’t be surprised if we are back at the polls by the end of next year.
But the campaign has absolutely begun now.
Day two of Parliament. Let’s go to work. pic.twitter.com/gC9kjGWbVu
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) August 25, 2020
Updated
It doesn’t seem as though the Victorian Labor government will be getting the numbers it needs to extend the state of emergency for a year.
I wanted to wait until the Government gave me a briefing on their plans to extend the State of Emergency... they failed to convince me. See why...#springst pic.twitter.com/mmVyG7ra2M
— Jeff Bourman (@JBourmanMP) August 25, 2020
The Virgin report to the creditors is out.
Ben Butler is taking a look at that for you, but you can read it here.
Updated
Nearly two-thirds of all calls last month to a national coronavirus mental health helpline came from Victoria, a parliamentary committee has been told.
Victoria’s deputy premier, James Merlino, told the state’s Covid-19 committee on Monday 62% of calls and web chats to the Beyond Blue coronavirus mental health wellbeing support were from Victorians.
He said calls to another service, Lifeline, rose by 22% in Victoria in July, while demand among children had also risen.
“Demand across Kids Helpline services increased 8% in July from the previous month, compared with a 2% national increase over the same period,” Merlino said.
He gave the statistics in response to questioning from the Liberal Democratic MP David Limbrick, who challenged the government’s decision to impose tough health restrictions including the current stage 4 lockdown.
The deputy premier defended the response, saying it would be wrong for the government to “pick and choose” the advice from the state’s chief health officer.
Crisis support services can be reached 24 hours a day: Lifeline 13 11 14; Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467; Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800; MensLine Australia 1300 78 99 78; Beyond Blue 1300 22 4636
Updated
The ABS says we were all feeling a lot better about Covid. In June.
- In June, fewer people reported feeling concerned about their personal health due to Covid-19, than in May (54% compared to 62%).
- People born overseas were likely to take more actions to slow the spread of Covid-19.
- Employed people with qualifications were twice as likely to have worked from home than those without (39% compared to 19%).
- Less than half (48%) of Australians self-isolated in June compared to three in five (62%) in May.
- One third (32%) of people reported that the main use of the government stimulus payment was to pay household bills.
Updated
Yes, it is her money.
Caller Karen (yes - it's her real name apparently) tells @3AWNeilMitchell she accessed her super early.. and spent it on a Harley.
— Heidi Murphy (@heidimur) August 25, 2020
No-one tell the Treasurer.
Yes, the social security safety net should be there to capture all people who need it – including when they retire.
Yes, this policy is going to make it a lot, lot harder for a lot of people in retirement.
Updated
One of the items on the Coalition party room agenda today is the government’s university package, amid claims from the Nationals that they have secured key changes to the legislation.
The legislation would dramatically increase student fees in some areas – such as the humanities, which is facing a 113% increase – while cutting fees in areas deemed as priorities. The government has argued the focus is on creating an additional 100,000 university places by 2030 for Australian students and making it “cheaper for students to study qualifications in areas like teaching, health, IT, science, engineering and agriculture”.
Just hours after the government released its draft legislation on 11 August, the Nationals publicly demanded three key changes – including sparing people studying social work, behavioural science and mental health from the 113% fee increases in the humanities.
In advance of the party room meeting today, several reports suggest the regional education minister, Andrew Gee, (who is from the Nationals) is claiming to have secured a deal to move those courses into the allied health band, which has lower fees than the humanities. A tweak to the $5,000 tertiary access payment is also believed to be in the works to ensure country kids are not incentivised to go to a city university rather than a country university.
We are expecting more details on the changes later today.
Updated
The party room meetings are on, which is why it is fairly quiet in parliament at the moment.
The sitting will begin this afternoon.
The Greens are also calling for Scott Morrison to “take action” when it comes to Richard Colbeck:
Rachel Siewert:
Aged care is a debacle in this country.
We have no national coordinating body to address the Covid crisis in aged care.
We have a regulator that is not regulating effectively.
We have a government failing on workforce.
When I asked about infectious disease control training only about half of staff have done an online infection control training and the government thinks this is adequate.
The prime minister and the minister need to improve their approach or the minister has to go.
It was not inevitable that Covid was going to spread extensively into aged care.
We know that some providers have done the work to make sure that Covid did not get in or spread.
The additional $171m in funding for aged care announced last week is too little and the sector needs an urgent injection of at least $3bn as a matter of urgency.
We are all sick of the buck passing and failure to take responsibility. Urgent action is needed.
If this appalling failure isn’t improved urgently then the Minister needs to go.
The buck stops with the prime minister and he needs to take action.
Updated
Goodness. If only there was some way all these Coalition ministers could just somehow talk to each other to get solutions.
David Littleproud, of the federal Coalition government, is now accusing the NSW Coalition government of doing “three parts of bugger all” in addressing the border challenges for agricultural communities, which means it is no longer just John Barilaro (the deputy premier of the NSW Coalition government) having a crack at his own side.
I welcome this morning the fact that I’m hearing that the South Australian government is now looking at the border restrictions that they have for Victoria, and I think that’s another positive move and a step in the right direction of common sense.
That’s what I call it for, and in fact Queensland has delivered for the agricultural sector for New South Wales.
But I have to say that it would be hypocritical of New South Wales not to sit down with Victoria and trying and do the same for the agricultural production systems for Victoria and New South Wales. They were very quick to whinge and to go hard at the Queensland government about border restrictions, of impeding their agricultural production systems in New South Wales coming into Queensland, and the health system of those people in New South Wales that rely on Queensland.
They were very quick to criticise yet they’ve done three parts of bugger all in trying to help Victorian regional Australians in getting those borders in practical common sense solutions.
So now, it’s beholden on the New South Wales government to do what South Australia is doing and showing some leadership, showing some common sense in sitting down with their Victorian counterparts to get a workable solution. That’s all we’re asking for. I’m not asking for them to tear down all their restrictions and say that it’s all wrong. I’m saying be practical, use common sense, listen and understand – that’s what the chief medical officer in Queensland did. And I lay the challenge down to every chief medical officer to go out, to sit down and listen, and understand.
And the chief medical officer in Queensland sat down with Lawrence Springborg, the Mayor of Goondiwindi, and worked out a solution that now has opened up the borders between Queensland and New South Wales. That’s leadership, that’s what you do when you lead through a pandemic, when you lead through a national crisis - that’s all I’m asking. And this is the challenge that I lay to the New South Wales Government. South Australia looks to be taking the challenge and I congratulate them for that as well. There is one last bastion to break and that is New South Wales – it is now beholden on them, otherwise, it would look very, very hypocritical.
Updated
David Littleproud was asked about Michael McCormack’s future while speaking to Sky News this morning. (I mean really, you could write that sentence at any time and it would make sense).
Will McCormack be leader after the Queensland election (which is in October)?
Yes. So there’s no reason for any change. In fact, this was settled in February. The National Party is focused on the people of Australia, not on ourselves.
This is just some journos bored on reporting on Covid, looking for something new to talk about, trying to scratch up a story to tell get a bit of interest somewhere else because they’re just bored of talking about Covid. But we’re not bored about talking about Covid.
There’s a lot still to be done, particularly for regional Australians, and that’s why being passionate about these border restrictions that states have put on us.
Does Littleproud want the job?
Look, I mean, let me make this clear, there’s 151 Members of Parliament in Canberra and any one of them that says they don’t have ambition are lying.
But there is a time and place for everything. And politics is about timing and opportunity, and if the political gods, all that they bestow on me is to be the deputy leader of the National Party and the minister of agriculture, then I’m bloody proud.
I can walk away from this game, left a legacy, but been able to support my communities and support what I believe is the best political party in the country.
So if McCormack wasn’t the leader, would Littleproud step up?
Look, let’s not get into hypotheticals, because Michael McCormack will lead us to the next election. That’s just childish stuff when we have a pandemic that the National Party is focusing on real issues, real people, not ourselves. I’m not going to enter into childish games. This is about us leading the nation, about getting us through a pandemic that is destroying our economy and has put people’s lives at risk. This is the time for leadership, not childish games.
Updated
Anthony Albanese just dropped Labor’s theme for the rest of the year – and into next year – when the election campaign will begin (whether it is official or not).
There are two themes behind our approach: during the pandemic, no one left behind. During the recovery, no one held back.
Updated
Anthony Albanese has invited the cameras into Labor’s caucus meeting to welcome Kristy McBain to her first meeting, following her win at the Eden-Monaro byelection:
I’m very proud that she’s joined us here today. And I look forward to a long-term contribution.
She joined at a difficult time.
The pandemic that we are dealing with, and I want to – at this point – particularly say thank you and give a shout-out to our Victorian members.
Some of whom have isolated here for two weeks in order to sit, some of whom have isolated at home – with their families – and we thank them and we thank those as well who have stayed in Victoria with their communities as well, because they weren’t in a position to be able to get here.
I know it’s difficult to not physically be in the parliament when you’re an elected member, because we actually want to be here. The other side want to call parliament off.
We want parliament to sit.
A big distinction. For those of you as well, the Queenslanders, who will be isolating, self-isolating when they get home, for people who have made sacrifices, to all of your families, thank you.
This is a difficult period. But it’s one that is necessary.
And I said yesterday that it was necessary that the democratic processes take their place.
That means we have a responsibility to do two things. One, to be constructive – and we have been each and every day, to put forward suggestions to prove health and our economic outcomes.
But we also have a responsibility to hold the government to account, to push them to do better, to achieve better outcomes. And we intend to do that.
Updated
Labor’s Stephen Jones also stopped by doors this morning:
The prime minister is wearing a mask today, but he can’t hide the fact that the Coalition is in shambles.
You’ve got two senior ministers who have to be sacked. They’re not up to the job.
We’ve got Michael Sukkar who absolutely has to go. He’s been caught red-handed using public office for private purpose.
I can’t understand for the life of me why the prime minister has not moved on Michael Sukkar already. You should come into the parliament today and advise the House that he stood down the minister, the assistant treasurer.
This is no ordinary minister with no ordinary portfolio.
He’s in charge of the Tax Office. The Tax Office is in charge of administering the early release superannuation scheme.
Millions of dollars have been frauded from that scheme, millions of dollars have been defrauded from the scheme. Not one cent of compensation has been paid by the government to the members of those funds who have had their funds defrauded because of their sloppy administration of this scheme. He should have been sacked for that alone.
But using public office for private purpose for a sleazy internal Liberal Party branch stacking purpose is frankly unforgivable. And then we got the hapless aged care minister Richard Colbeck.
Frankly what is the prime minister waiting for. If any other minister of any other government had received a report and been sitting on a report for six months that said in our residential aged care system five out of every 10 residents are malnourished, do you think they’d just sit on it and do nothing?
But seemingly the minister for aged care thinks this is okay. Five out of every 10 resident of an aged care service are starving.
In what country is that good enough? Yet seemingly event after event, blunder after blunder, Richard Colbeck keeps his job.
So you’ve got Sukkar, you’ve got Colbeck sitting in their jobs while millions of Australians are losing theirs. Is this the prime minister’s idea of a jobkeeper scheme?
We also hear today the Coalition’s in absolute shambles.
You’ve got the National party, and there’s only 15 of them, they’re all related, they’re about as stable as a two-legged barstool and they can’t work out who amongst them is going to run the show.
We’re in the middle of a global pandemic. We’ve got serious issues that we have to deal with.
The prime minister is protecting to incompetent ministers and he’s in unison with a mob the can’t run themselves. The country deserves better than this.
Updated
Queensland’s Jeff Horn will be facing off against Sydney’s Tim Tszyu in Townsville tomorrow night in a much anticipated fight, which is as close as any of us are going to get to a state of origin this year.
So there are quite a few people flying north for the (socially distanced) event. Queensland Health will be greeting people as they get off their planes, to check for any symptoms. There are quite a lot of people from Indigenous communities who will be attending, which is why there will be extra health precautions put in place.
Annastacia Palaszczuk:
It is very important that no one goes to the Jeff Horn fight if you have any symptoms. You must stay at home. So we are putting in this extra level of precaution just to make sure that everyone is safe at that event. Of course, I am going to wish Jeff Horn all the very best.
Updated
Queensland chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young has asked people to keep getting tested, as she thinks there may have been a missed case, which has led to community transmission.
We will need to continue those testing levels for the next week to just make sure that there is not a case that we have missed.
I am beginning to think that is what has happened with this detention cluster. So now we have that early genome sequencing information. So it looks like this cluster has the same viral strain as one of the young women who went down to Melbourne.
Now, as the deputy premier pointed out, that doesn’t prove it. I need more information, which is being done over the next 24 to 48 hours to be able to prove it.
But at this estimate, it does look like they could be linked. But, with don’t have the case between the two clusters. So, we had the cluster related to that Melbourne/Logan group, those five people and the cluster related to the Brisbane youth detention centre, 10 people.
There is a missing link between the two. There is a missing link between the two. That is why we are doing our absolute best to find every single case because the cases that with don’t find are the ones that can lead to changes of transmission.
If we don’t find them and then can’t get on top of them and manage them. Thank you again to all of those people who came forward yesterday and got tested.
Updated
Genomic testing of the first infection at the Wacol Youth Detention centre shows it is the same strain of Covid as one of the women who travelled to Melbourne and (allegedly) lied on their border declaration to avoid quarantine (the women have been charged) as well as a diner who is thought to have acquired the infection at a restaurant the women went to.
Queensland health minister Steven Miles says more testing needs to be done:
That doesn’t disapprove the theory they are related, it doesn’t disapprove the theory either because that strain, the B1125 strain is the most commonly strain most currently circulating in Victoria, therefore there could be other sources of that strain here. Further genomic testing will, though, be able to confirm if the two are, indeed, linked.
Updated
There is about a 30-hour turnaround in test results for Queensland at the moment – and there have been some long lines for testing in areas where the Wacol youth detention centre cluster has been most prominent.
Extra fever clinics are being set up to try and alleviate some of that pressure.
Updated
Queensland has recorded no new cases of Covid in the last 24 hours.
Seven West media reports $162m loss for 2020 financial year
Seven West, the media empire controlled by Perth billionaire Kerry Stokes, has declared a loss for the second year running after the coronavirus pandemic smashed the advertising market.
The group’s loss after tax of $162m for the 2020 financial year comes on top of a $324m loss in the previous year, when the company was in the middle of a restructure.
Seven West said the TV advertising market plunged 14% for the year – and tumbled by as much as a third during the three months to the end of June.
Revenue tumbled 14% as a result.
The company has been selling off assets and has renegotiated its borrowings from the banks as it attempts to cope with both the current crisis and rejig its operations in the face of the long-standing decline of free to air TV as a business model.
Updated
You can follow along with international Covid news, here:
Updated
The other issue ticking away is church leaders raising very vocal concerns about any forth coming Covid vaccine which uses cells from electively aborted foetuses.
The Oxford vaccine which is under development, and which the Morrison government has shown an interest in, is one which uses those cells.
That has led to church leaders, including the Sydney Catholic archbishop and the Sydney Anglican archbishop writing to the prime minister over issues of conscience.
The government says it is not the only vaccine it is looking at, but will follow any medical advice about which one is best suited to Australia’s population.
At this stage, there is no vaccine. But there is certainly a lot of pushback.
Updated
Anthony Albanese is still pushing for Richard Colbeck to be sacked, but makes it clear it is not about Colbeck’s performance in the Senate committee last week, when he couldn’t answer how many aged care deaths there had been:
Let’s be clear. That is not a sackable offence. What that is, is a public demonstration of his incompetence. But the problem here isn’t that. The problem here is that the aged care royal commission has heard that in spite of the fact that you had reports from the Dorothy Henderson Lodge, that the government have had since April, you have reports about Newmarch House in New South Wales that was only made public yesterday, that show quite clearly the problems that were there in the aged care sector. The government was warned. The alarm bells were going off. But no one was listening. And someone has to accept responsibility for that. We now have 328 deaths in aged care of aged care residents under this minister’s watch. And quite clearly, he hasn’t put in place the sort of mechanisms that were necessary. We have stories about personal protective equipment not being available for nurses and carers and workers in aged care homes. And the fact is that this government, under this minister, as the aged care minister, has not been on top of the brief. The government’s acknowledged that, but they want him to keep the title.
Updated
Anthony Albanese was asked about Daniel Andrews push to extend how long Victoria’s state of emergency can be called for while on ABC radio central Victoria:
I’m not across all of that detail. But what it appears is that Daniel Andrews is just after the right to be able to extend restrictions which may well be necessary from time to time.
Everything from wearing a face mask to restrictions on numbers in restaurants, in indoor places. And it seems to me that that’s what he’s after rather than having to go back and change the rules repeatedly through legislative changes. He is just after a broad ability to do that.
Updated
Victoria records 148 new cases, 8 deaths
This is up from yesterday, but it is the seven day average that we all need to pay attention to – and that is coming down.
#Covid19VicData for August 25, 2020.
— VicGovDHHS (@VicGovDHHS) August 24, 2020
There have been 148 new cases of #coronavirus (#COVID19) detected in Victoria in the last 24 hours, and 8 deaths. Our thoughts are with all of those affected.
More information will be available later today. pic.twitter.com/X2DprabMoQ
Updated
The aged care response is going to dominate parliament once again today (as it should).
The aged care royal commission has criticised the Morrison government for failing to establish independent monitoring and reporting of aged care quality outcomes, as the government’s performance during the pandemic dominated the first day of federal parliament since June.
In a statement, the commission said new research showed Australia “could immediately establish independent, transparent, routine monitoring and public reporting of many aspects of aged care quality outcomes similar to leading countries”.
It said reporting could be increased without burdening aged care providers. Commissioners Tony Pagone and Lynelle Briggs said unbiased measurement and reporting of performance was “vital to create accountability and continuous improvement in the aged care sector”.
The commissioners warned that “without it, problems are hidden from sight and not addressed”.
“It is unacceptable that in 2020 the aged care system is still without this,” the commissioners said on Monday. “Had the Australian government acted upon previous reviews of aged care, the persistent problems in aged care would have been known much earlier and the suffering of many people could have been avoided.”
Updated
Australians back strong Covid surveillance measures, according to Essential poll
The latest Essential poll is in, and it seems like a lot of people are getting very comfortable with some quite uncomfortable measures.
As Katharine Murphy reports:
Australians are prepared to countenance much stronger surveillance measures to ensure people diagnosed with Covid-19 remain in quarantine while they recover, according to the latest Guardian Essential poll.
The survey of 1,068 respondents shows 60% of the sample would support compulsory tracking bracelets during self-isolation for people diagnosed with coronavirus.
Half the sample (52%) would support people being quarantined in dedicated facilities while they recover from the virus rather than convalescing at home, and a larger majority (65%) favours closing the international border to all foreign travellers and returning Australian citizens.
I have said it before and I’ll say it again – Australia is a nation of Ned Flanders thinking they’re Ned Kellys.
Updated
Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commissioner Kristen Hilton is on ABC radio Melbourne talking about the Daniel Andrews’s attempt to extend Victoria’s state of emergency declaration to a year.
Hilton says a shorter extension would be more appropriate and she doesn’t see the justification to extending it beyond six months. The commissioner is concerned what would happen if there were not regular checks and transparency over the powers.
When you think about the powers a state of emergency confers on police, you should want regular check-ins.
Updated
Jason Clare was sent out to doors this morning (where MPs stop by if they have lines to deliver to the media) and he had two targets in mind, which shows you where Labor is headed today (at least outside the chamber):
If John Howard was still the prime minister of Australia, two ministers would have been sacked yesterday. One for incompetence and the other for misusing taxpayers’ money. First is the aged care minister. More than 300 people have already died in aged care from the virus in Australia. That’s two in three Australians who have died from Covid-19 have died in aged care. It’s the second highest death rate in the world. The first people to die in aged care from Covid-19 died back in March at Dorothy Henderson Lodge. The government had a report about what happened in April. This is a nightmare that the government should have seen coming but obviously haven’t done enough about it because you’ve now got more than 300 people who have died in aged care from this virus. We’ve got a minister who doesn’t even have any people have died. How can you have confidence in a minister who doesn’t even know how many people have died on his watch?
The second is the housing minister. 60 minutes got him cold on Sunday night. They’ve got a document that shows a Minister signing off on a plan to misuse taxpayers’ money. The partner in this, the bloke who wrote the document, the bloke that the minister says is a “key member” of his team, was forced to resign from the Liberal Party yesterday and the Minister should be sacked today. That’s what would have happened if John Howard was the prime minister. That’s what he did when he was prime minister. When something similar happened in the Labor party, the minister in Victoria was sacked within a day and forced out of the Labor party. When it happened in the Labor party, prime minister Scott Morrison said this was corruption. It happens in the Liberal party, he’s walking away from it at 100 miles an hour.
And remember this: Michael Sukkar is the housing minister. We’ve got a housing industry in crisis at the moment. Last week, the Master Builders Association said that the industry is facing a “bloodbath”. There’s no other way to describe it. It’s their words and you heard not a peep from the minister last week about a bloodbath happening on his watch. Why? Because he’s more focused on the bloodbath that’s happening in the Liberal party because of the branch stacking that he’s a part of in Victoria.
There was a time where the minimum standard to be a Minister in a federal government was to be competent and honest. Now it seems that’s not the case under this prime minister.
Updated
Also following up from yesterday
My covid test result has come back negative.
— Terri Butler MP (@terrimbutler) August 24, 2020
Thanks, everyone, for your kind wishes.
And extra special thanks to the medical scientists and their fellow pathology professionals who are working so hard to undertake tests and deliver results. #auspol
For those following the ‘John Howard taken to hospital, is fine’ story from yesterday, the former prime minister had his appendix out and is recovering from surgery.
Updated
Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk will hold a press conference at 9am.
Updated
As was reported on Friday, following the national cabinet meeting, state and territory leaders backed a plan to set up emergency response operations centres for aged care if community transmission became a concern.
As Hursty reported:
Greg Hunt, as the health minister, will get carriage of that. The centres are new, so there are no set processes over who should have oversight, but because the op centres will be triggered by the expert health committee, and the AHPPC reports to the health minister, Hunt is the one who will approve them.
Not the aged care minister.
Updated
Julie Collins is on the ABC – the Labor shadow aged care minister is leading Labor’s charge against the government on its aged care response during the pandemic.
Well, the current government has been in government for seven years. They have had four ministers. Scott Morrison himself ripped billions of dollars out in the high-care funding for aged care residents. 1.2 in one budget and half a billion in another budget, cut by Scott Morrison, to aged care services in Australia under this government.
The prime minister called a royal commission.
What he should do now is listen to his royal commissioners when they said that there was not a national plan and that the government hasn’t done enough, and the government should have learnt from what happened in the New South Wales outbreaks and what happened overseas prior to the outbreaks in Victoria.
Updated
Not sure how this word hasn’t turned up in the Hansard since 2006, but there you go.
egomaniac
— AUHansard_said (@auhansard_said) August 24, 2020
Updated
Here is the tweet that AAP story was referencing.
The comments underneath it would suggest that there are a lot of people who think that it means the lockdown will be extended for a year.
So I expect there will be quite the battle here.
(And that’s not counting the number of people who just want to know – why?)
Getting back to normal won't ever be an option if we can't protect what we've already achieved.
— Dan Andrews (@DanielAndrewsMP) August 24, 2020
These changes are about saving lives and keeping Victorians safe - nothing more, nothing less.
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Daniel Andrews wants to be able to extend Victoria’s state of emergency to a year – and so far, it is not going great.
AAP has a good summary here:
A political stoush is brewing over a proposed 12-month extension to Victoria’s state of emergency to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic.
As virus cases hit their lowest point in seven weeks on Monday, premier Daniel Andrews flagged plans to rewrite the Public Health and Wellbeing Act to allow a state of emergency to last for up to 18 months.
At present, the declaration can only run for six months and is due to expire on 13 September, along with Melbourne’s stage four lockdown and regional Victoria’s stage three rules.
Andrews said his government would no longer be able to dictate guidelines on mandatory mask use, isolation rules and business density limits without an extension.
“We’ve got to protect public health, there can be no economic rebuilding until we fix this problem,” he told reporters.
Opposition leader Michael O’Brien said the state coalition would vehemently oppose a long-term extension which would allow the premier to unilaterally keep Victoria locked down.
It means the Labor government will have to win the support of four upper house crossbenchers to pass it into law if and when parliament next sits.
Reason party MP Fiona Patten and Liberal Democrats MPs David Limbrick and Tim Quilty have all indicated they’ll block the current proposal.
“An extra 12 months in a state of emergency is an overreach,” Patten told AAP in a statement.
“These powers should not go unchecked. The government should re-work their proposal and come back to the crossbench with a three or six-month extension.”
The backlash prompted Andrews to take to Twitter overnight to tell Victorians the proposal was about keeping people safe and does not mean the current lockdown will be extended.
“Extending the State of Emergency is about ensuring that we can legally make the changes our health experts need to keep us safe,” he said.
“This does not change how long our current lockdown will last, or increase the restrictions we face.”
The political debate came as new cases in Victoria plummeted to 116 on Monday – the lowest figure since 74 on 5 July.
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And of course, the former Nationals deputy leader was asked about the future of Michael McCormack and said there was no problem.
Bridget McKenzie: Not at all. Everyone in the National Party is absolutely focused on delivering for rural and regional Australia and you won’t get a harder worker and anyone more focused on doing that than the deputy prime minister.
Lisa Millar: We’ll replay this clip if there’s a point of a leadership challenge. We went through all of this in February 2020 ... Michael McCormack said, “I’ve had my leadership reaffirmed three times in two years.” Why it is on the front page of the major newspaper today?
McKenzie: You’ll have to ask your fellow journalists that.
Millar: I suspect that they’re hearing from your colleagues.
McKenzie: Media speculation.
Millar: They wouldn’t be writing it if there wasn’t speculation behind the scenes. You know how it works.
McKenzie: Look at the record. Whether it’s the live cattle appeal decision. Whether it’s on regional education, focusing on a better deal for our students and our communities - whether it’s a freight code that now will become a template for agriculture and other areas of state joint jurisdictional responsibility. It’s the National Party that’s driven that and that’s under the leadership of Michael McCormack, who doesn’t want to hog the microphone for himself.
He allows his ministers and his party members to get out there and fight for our communities.
Millar: So his job is safe?
McKenzie: Absolutely.
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When asked about a lot of people seemingly liking the hard border closures, Bridget McKenzie said:
Well, we’re a nation. And we have been for 120 years.
I think it’s incredibly disappointing that over that 120 years, we’ve developed national supply chains of food, of workforce, of education systems, etc. And that’s all at risk now.
We’ve got teachers that can’t actually get to class to teach. And that’s going to have a severe impact going forward. And I think that... we need a nationally consistent approach and not just to be focusing where the votes are, which is in the capital cities.
(Australia has been a federation for 120 years – but let’s not forget there were people here before that)
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Bridget McKenzie was on ABC Breakfast talking borders this morning.
The Victorian Nationals have banded together to demand action, days after their colleague the agricultural minister, David Littleproud, started pushing for action.
McKenzie wants easier passage for border communities, and is levelling her concerns at the Victorian premier Daniel Andrews, when it is the Coalition governments in New South Wales and South Australia which have shut the borders and set a lot of the rules.
Their greatest concern was Melburnians leaving what is supposed to be a hard lockdown and stage 4, and arriving on the doorstep of COVID-free regional communities in my home state of Victoria.
That’s the reality. They’re being waved through on major arterials on a booze bust type of operation, which doesn’t give us the confidence that Daniel Andrews can protect us from Covid and has a flow-on effect to state premiers about his competency to actually deal with the pandemic.
But getting to the issues on the ground, we’ve been flooded for six weeks with concerns from local residents, and you’ve seen that similarly occurring now on the South Australian-Victoria border and in northern New South Wales.
You know, there’s welcomed changes out of National Cabinet that Premiers are going to start to have a criteria around defining what a hotspot is. But we’ve got days, not weeks, to solve this in many cases.
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The Australian reports the Nationals want to change their leader again.
In other news, it is a day ending in ‘y’.
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Hong Kong reports world's first case of Covid 'reinfection'
Overnight, Hong Kong researchers reported what they say is the world’s first case of a “reinfection” of the coronavirus. A man in his 30s was diagnosed with Covid-19, just short of five months after his first bout.
The scientists say genomic sequencing of the two strains of virus show this one is “clearly different” making it the first official case of reinfection.
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The Age has some more on the Victorian Liberals story.
Scott Morrison didn’t address the issue yesterday, other than to have his office issue a statement saying it was a matter for the Victorian branch.
An audit of membership has been established for the branch, and last night, the executive announced it would have forensic accountants look over the records as well.
I’m not sure that will be the end of it though – Labor is very keen to pursue the matter – but outside the parliament chambers.
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The Greens senator Richard Di Natale will give his valedictory speech in the Senate today.
He announced his retirement in February. Lidia Thorpe has been named as his replacement.
Good morning
Welcome to another morning of politics and coronavirus news, as the parliament sits for its second day.
As Paul Karp reported yesterday, the jobkeeper extension bill is in – and that will dominate the sitting today. After some argy bargy, the government took out the part which would have let businesses which have returned to profitability cut back workers hours, so a small win for the unions there.
NSW is really ramping up its testing – as is Queensland – as both states try and get a lid on small numbers of transmissions. In Queensland, it’s linked to the Wacol youth detention centre cluster – where authorities are still trying to work out where the original infection came from – and in NSW it’s low levels of community transmissions.
Victoria is continuing its downward trend with numbers this week – here’s hoping that continues. We are still waiting on some extra data, which we should get soon.
We’ll cover all the day’s events as they happen across Australian politics and Covid – you have Amy Remeikis with you for the day.
Ready?
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