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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Elias Visontay, Luke Henriques-Gomes and Amy Remeikis

NSW public servant pay freeze blocked while final two bidders for Virgin airline revealed – as it happened

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Summary of today's events

And that’s where we will leave it for tonight. You can keep up to date with everything happening around the world with our global live blog. Here’s a quick rundown on everything that happened today:

  • The Reserve Bank has left rates at 0.25%, with RBA governor Philip Lowe saying the Covid-19-induced economic downturn may not be as bad as expected.
  • Scott Morrison spoke with Donald Trump about “the distressing situation” in the United States during a phone call this morning. The call was about an invitation to attend the G7, but the PM later contacted the Australian embassy in Washington to ask how the country should lodge concern about a Channel 7 reporter and a cameraman who were attacked by police during protests in the US capital.
  • The NSW government will further ease lockdown restrictions to allow gyms to reopen from 13 June. Fitness centres, dance studios, indoor swimming and barre will also be allowed.
  • Hundreds of people have marched through Sydney in a Black Lives Matter protest against Indigenous deaths in custody in Australia and against the killing of George Floyd in the US. The event happened hours after a NSW police officer was placed on “restricted duties” and an investigation launched into footage that showed him slamming a 16-year-old Indigenous boy face-first onto pavement in Sydney on Monday.
  • The NSW upper house has reversed the state government’s controversial 12-month pay freeze for public servants. MPs voted to disallow the pay pause for 400,000 workers in the state, which was introduced last week in response to the economic damage wrought by Covid-19.
  • The final two bidders for stricken airline Virgin Australia are Bain Capital and Cyrus Capital Partners, administrators Deloitte say. The two remaining contenders now face a race against time to secure a binding deal – and potentially a government bailout – before the end of the month.

From me, Elias Visontay, have a great evening.

Updated

For more on today’s developments surrounding Virgin Australia, my colleague Ben Butler has written this report:

NSW public servant pay freeze blocked

The NSW upper house has reversed the state government’s controversial 12-month pay freeze for public servants, AAP reports.

MPs voted on Tuesday to disallow the pay pause, which was introduced last week in response to the economic damage wrought by Covid-19.

The Berejiklian government had argued the freeze would guarantee jobs for public servants and free up funds for job-creating projects to support others who have lost work.

But the wages policy has been opposed by unions and frontline workers including paramedics, nurses, police officers and teachers.

Labor MP Adam Searle, who successfully introduced the motion to disallow the pay freeze regulation, said it was an “act of economic vandalism” that would cut the purchasing power of 400,000 workers in the state.

Updated

Some more footage from my colleague Naaman Zhou, who is at the Black Lives Matter solidarity protest in Sydney this evening:

Updated

The speeches have begun at the protest march in Sydney.

Organisers are saying:

There have been too many black deaths in this country. And none of them have led to prosecution.

The significance of the street we are on today, governor Macquarie ... this is where the genocide started, in Sydney.

A young boy in Surry Hills got slammed by police yesterday. It happens so often. It is an Australian problem. We are sick of it.

I’m not going to get started on the Channel 9 report, or how little white Australians know about Aboriginal culture.

Updated

Hundreds march through Sydney in Black Lives Matter protest

Hundreds of people have marched through Sydney in a Black Lives Matter protest against Indigenous deaths in custody in Australia and against the killing of George Floyd in the US.

Protesters are on Macquarie Street outside the New South Wales parliament chanting “Black Lives Matter” and “Always was, always will be Aboriginal Land”.

Organisers obtained permission from police and the Gadigal Land Council for the protest.

Updated

With that, I will pass you over to my colleague Elias Visontay. Have a great night.

Our reporter Naaman Zhou is in Hyde Park tonight.

Earlier today growing calls emerged for an inquiry into robodebt.

On the same topic, NSW police are holding a press conference into the incident.

NSW police professional standards command are investigating and the officer is on “restricted duties”.

Asked if the force used was necessary, NSW assistant commissioner Mick Willing declines to say, arguing “that is what the investigation is about”.

Willing says people are going to “use this video” for their own agenda.

I am concerned people will use this video, footage, to create it into something that it’s not. We’re all well aware of what’s happening overseas.

This is not the United States of America. We have very, very good relations with our local community.

Asked about the circumstances that led to the incident, he says:

I’m advised the officers were attending an unrelated job in the vicinity.

They came across the 17-year-old boy and the four others and engaged them in conversation.

As your reference, you can listen to the footage yourself and see the footage yourself.

There was words exchanged between them, which caused the constable to react, and whether or not that reaction is appropriate is subject to that investigation.

Updated

Alan Tudge, the population minister, has been asked on the ABC about the video of an Indigenous boy who was slammed into the ground by a police man.

He says:

From what I can gather from watching the video, the young man did make a threat to the police officer and so the police officer therefore was taking him under arrest, then he kicked his legs from under the ground to facilitate that.

Now, from what I understand, there will be an investigation into that, as to what happened.

We certainly don’t want to see this incident become bigger than what it is, and that is an individual incident which will be investigated and there will be proper consequences as a result of that investigation.

Tudge is reluctant to criticise officer but says the video “did not look great” and notes it will be investigated.

It’s hard to judge from just watching the video as to the precise circumstances and how much of a threat the individual police officer felt.

Updated

Covidsafe app downloaded 6.1m times

Caroline Edwards, the acting health department secretary, has told the Covid-19 committee there have now been 6,174,008 downloads of the Covidsafe app.

Edwards said the department only knew the app had been used when states made assertions publicly – and she noted Victoria has said it had been used to contact somebody who health authorities otherwise wouldn’t have known about.

But many jurisdictions have not had new infections for some time and have had no need to use the app.

Asked about reports its range is not working, Edwards replied:

The app is operating as expected. It exchanges digital handshakes of people within 1.5m of each other for 15min or more.

Edwards said she had “heard nothing but keenness to be involved in the app project” from the states and territories. But health success meant there was “very little need for this contact tracing aid” at this stage, although if there was a significant further outbreak it would “augment the response”.

Updated

Final bidders for Virgin Australia revealed

The final two bidders for stricken airline Virgin Australia are Bain Capital and Cyrus Capital Partners, administrators Deloitte say.

Lead administrator Vaughan Strawbridge said:

Both Bain Capital and Cyrus Capital Partners are well-funded, have deep aviation experience, and they see real value in the business and its future.

We would like to thank all interested parties for the strong interest they have displayed in the business and their commitment to the process over recent weeks.

We will now spend the coming weeks facilitating in-depth bidder engagement with the stakeholders of the business and work closely with both preferred bidders in the lead-up to binding final offers being received.

Strawbridge said he wanted a binding sale agreement in place by the end of the month.

He’ll need one, because he has previously admitted the airline will run out of cash around then.

Any deal will then go to creditors for approval.

There’s no word on how the gap between the sale agreement and the meeting, which could be as long as six weeks, will be bridged.

This is where a government bailout could come in – but so far transport minister and deputy prime minister Michael McCormack hasn’t indicated there’ll be a cent.

Updated

The head of the Department of Social Services became aware at least a day beforehand that the government was set to reveal plans to refund robodebts, a Senate committee has been told, amid criticism the news was held until Friday afternoon.

Labor senator Murray Watt used the Senate select committee on Covid-19 to quiz department secretary Kathryn Campbell over the handling of the announcement, which the opposition argues was timed late on Friday to avoid scrutiny.

Campbell confirmed she had provided advice to ministers in the lead-up to the decision to repay 470,000 debts that were entirely or partially raised using the discredited “income-averaging” calculations.

Asked when she became aware of the decision to make the refund announcement, Campbell replied: “I think I became aware on Thursday.”

But pressed on when the government actually made the decision, she said she would have to take the question on notice.

The next part of the questioning could have been straight out of an episode of Yes, Minister.

When asked to confirm the decision was made before the prime minister held his national cabinet press conference on Friday, Campbell made a statement of the obvious:

The decision was made before minister Robert made the announcement, senator.

Robert fronted the media at 3.45pm on Friday to announce the refunds would be received by 373,000 people, cost a total $721m and include recovery fee charges.

Watt asked Campbell whether in her current or former role she had advised ministers of concerns about the legality of the robodebt scheme prior to this calendar year.

She said that question went to the legal advice around which the currently outstanding case revolves and it would be inappropriate to discuss while before the courts.

Updated

The radio networks used by firefighting agencies in Australian states and territories are “largely incompatible” with each other, making it more difficult for aircraft to be deployed across state lines, the royal commission into national natural disaster arrangements has heard.

Firefighting aircraft – most of which are operated by private companies that negotiate three-to-five year contracts with state or territory firefighting agencies – are fitted with at least two different radio systems so they can both communicate with air traffic control and with the fire agency they’re primarily working with.

But if an aircraft stationed in southern NSW is deployed to a fire in Victoria, it would need a third radio system to communicate directly with the Victorian fire authorities.

Richard Alder, the general manager of the National Aerial Firefighting Centre, said it was “currently impractical” to provide standard tactical radios in all firefighting aircraft Australia-wide “because each state and territory adopts a different system that are largely incompatible”.

Ruth Ryan, the corporate fire manager from HPV Plantations, the largest private landholder in Victoria, said that meant that if there were a fire in their plantations in south-west Victoria, they were unable to call aerial support from Mount Gambier, 10km over the border.

I would certainly like to see the state borders dissolved, effectively, especially for aerial support, so that the closest aircraft respond to every fire … And then, you know, it is all about that common training and common systems, and common equipment. So that effectively dissolves those state borders because when we are fighting the one fire, we really need to be able to fight it most effectively.

HPV Plantations has a contract with the Victorian Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning to share its firefighting resources, which includes aerial resources and 280 trained firefighters.

Ryan said different radio systems used in different states meant firefighters on one side of the border could not hear what was happening on the other side, even if they were working on the same fire.

So you know, if I was sitting 20km inside the Victorian border, I cannot, unless I’ve got yet another radio in my vehicle, I cannot hear what’s happening in SA as far as any dispatch.

Updated

A Palace cinema in Adelaide yesterday
A Palace cinema in Adelaide yesterday. Photograph: Tracey Nearmy/Getty Images

Palace Cinemas says it will reopen its doors nationally from 2 July.

Its statement today says:

New safety procedures include capped cinema capacities and seating allocation which will allow friends and families to remain seated together while distanced from other bookings.

Additional measures at all Palace Cinemas will include compulsory online booking, staggered screenings to avoid unnecessary congestion in foyers, the provision of hand-sanitiser stations at cinema entrances and points of sale, and contactless payment for food and beverage purchases.

Updated

The Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, says universities might be asked to pay for international students’ two-week quarantine period when they return to Australia to study.

AAP reports that Andrews has been speaking with the prime minister, Scott Morrison, and university vice-chancellors about his hopes of international students being back in the country soon.

We are hopeful that we can get international education back on its feet soon ... It’s going to take a little bit of time.

Students would also need to undergo the mandatory 14-day hotel quarantine for all returning overseas travellers.

That service is currently paid for by the state, but when asked who would fit the bill for international students, Andrews suggested universities might play a role.

I would want to continue having conversations with unis about that. I think that ... probably a partnership approach would be the best thing for us to do.

Federal population minister Alan Tudge said about 80 % of international students were still in Australia and studying.

Updated

Labor’s Pat Dodson is asking about increased testing in remote communities and whether the government will engage in “surveillance” of the population.

Caroline Edwards, the health department secretary, says the current advice from the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee is that “anybody with respiratory symptoms, however mild, should get tested”, but there is “no proposal to do asymptomatic testing” under consideration.

That said, “if there were an outbreak in a remote community, we’d have a higher level of testing”, just as when there is an outbreak in aged care.

On surveillance, Edwards notes that some countries conduct “serological testing – for people who may have had the disease in the past”. There is “no current proposal” to do that form of testing in Australia because it is “not clear” how accurate it is, and Australia is “very confident” of its low rate of infection.

Updated

Rachel Siewert is asking the National Indigenous Advancement Agency about when mutual obligations will be reimposed in the Community Development Program.

Ryan Bulman replies that the general mutual obligations are being phased back in from 8 June, but will apply differently in each program, so Indigenous affairs minister Ken Wyatt will have the call on CDP.

Bulman says providers have been asked not to apply penalties or suspensions until they’ve returned to “business as usual”, with jobseekers re-engaged and biosecurity measures eased so that activities can recommence.

NIAA officials told the Covid-19 committee they had not been involved in a plan for early release of low-risk prisoners at risk of Covid-19, because it was the responsibility of the attorney general’s department.

Updated

My colleague Melissa Davey reports:

The Australian government and security company G4S have settled a lawsuit brought against them by a security officer who claimed he was left with severe psychological injuries after riots at the Manus Island detention facility in 2014 which left one person dead and 77 people injured.

There’s a range of views out there from economists on the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (completely unsurprising) decision to leave rates unchanged at a record low 0.25%.

BIS Oxford Economics senior economist Sean Langcake says the bank’s “unconventional” monetary policy – that is, directly propping up the banks – “appear to be functioning smoothly”.

Monetary policy is at its limits, and we expect the bank will resist further policy changes, such as negative rates.

Governor Lowe noted that fiscal support will be required for some time. The transition of the jobseeker and jobkeeper programs will be crucial in navigating the drop off in household support that looms in Q4.

(Q4 is economist-speak for “the last three months of the year”.)

Over at jobs site Indeed, their Asia Pacific economist Callam Pickering is nowhere near as impressed, calling the RBA a “bystander” to the greatest economic challenge since the great depression.

Like Westpac chief economist Bill Evans, Pickering wants the RBA to consider negative interest rates.

Australia’s real cash rate is well above what it needs to be to foster full-employment and inflation within the RBA’s target band.

We know this because the RBA has consistently failed to meet either objective, even before the onset of Covid-19.

Negative rates may not be an appealing course of action but it may be necessary. Other forms of quantitative easing, whether that be further yield control or the purchase of other financial assets, may also be warranted.

Updated

Hi everyone. Thanks to Amy for her efforts today. I’ll be with you for the next few hours.

You can get in touch at luke.henriques-gomes@theguardian.com or on Twitter @lukehgomes.

Updated

Luke Henriques-Gomes will take you through the next little bit.

Thank you again for joining me.

I’ll see you tomorrow. Please, if you can, take care of you. And those around you. The world needs it.

Officials have told the Covid-19 committee there have been 59 cases of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people contracting Covid-19, but none in remote or very remote communities.

There has been one complaint to the National Indigenous Australians Agency about the treatment of an Aboriginal person in custody during the Covid-19 crisis, but they’ve taken details on notice.

Labor’s Malarndirri McCarthy is asking about $10m given to Northern Territory land councils from the Aboriginal Benefits Account, and $3m for Aboriginal mental health delivered through primary health networks (rather than Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations).

Ryan Bulman said the $10m was to “support people self-isolating out in communities or going back to homeland” by providing equipment such as chainsaws, cooking equipment and bedding, including 3,800 blankets and 2,340 sleeping bags.

Updated

The SDA has released information on a “Covid recognition” payment Woolworths has agreed to give staff members.

The payment will be paid to eligible employees employed before 1 March 2020 as
follows:
Full-time and part-time:
- $250 on plus card
- $750 in Woolworths shares for full-time (pro rata for part-time)
Shares cannot be sold for three years but will remain yours if you leave your employment with Woolworths.

Casual:
- $100 on plus card
Casuals must have been employed prior to 1 March 2020 and have worked one shift to receive the payment.

Under 18:
If you are under 18, you legally cannot receive shares and as such you will receive the same amount as other employees on your plus card.

Extension of 10% discount:
The 10% discount for staff will be extended for another month to the end of July.

Updated

We’ve been told Scott Morrison has asked the Australian embassy in the United States to investigate an incident in which Channel 7 media representatives were assaulted while covering the protest in Washington DC.

It is understood the prime minister has also asked the embassy to provide the government with further advice on registering Australia’s strong concerns with the relevant local authorities.

The opposition leader, Anthony Albanese, said at a media conference earlier today that Australia’s ambassador Arthur Sinodinos “should be certainly making representation on behalf of these Australians who effectively have been assaulted ... for doing their job”.

Albanese told reporters:

In a democratic society, the role of the media is critical. And it’s important that the media are able to report on events, including crises, such as we’re seeing in the United States, free from harassment. And the violence that has occurred towards members of the media, Australian media and domestic media as well, with tear gas being fired, with media being assaulted, is completely unacceptable.”

It is understood the prime minister was unaware of the incident involving the Channel 7 crew at the time of his call with Trump. Morrison has since contacted Channel 7 to check on the welfare of Amelia Brace and Tim Myers and assure them of the government’s support should they wish to pursue a formal complaint with the local police authorities through the embassy in Washington.

It’s believed the embassy has also reached out to the pair directly to check on their wellbeing.

Updated

A NSW police officer is under investigation after footage of an arrest of an Indigenous boy was put on social media:

Morrison and Trump discuss 'distressing situation' in US

Scott Morrison and Donald Trump have discussed “the distressing situation” in the United States during a phone call this morning, the prime minister’s office says.

They also discussed Trump’s push for Australia to be one of the extra attendees of the G7 summit to be held later this year.

A spokesman for Morrison said:

The prime minister spoke to president Trump this morning, who confirmed his invitation for the PM to attend this year’s G7. The prime minister said he was once again pleased to take up the invitation to attend the G7, as he had done last year, when invited to do so by president Macron in France.

Participation at the G7 for the second year in a row will give Australia another opportunity to promote our interests during highly uncertain times in the global economy. It’s important for Australians that we are there.

Both leaders discussed the distressing situation in the United States and efforts to ensure it would be resolved peacefully.

Updated

Reserve Bank says economic downturn may not be as bad as expected

The RBA is leaving rates at 0.25%.

Phil Lowe says the downturn may not be as bad as expected:

The Australian economy is going through a very difficult period and is experiencing the biggest economic contraction since the 1930s. In April, total hours worked declined by an unprecedented 9% and more than 600,000 people lost their jobs, with many more people working zero hours. Household spending weakened very considerably and investment plans are being deferred or cancelled.

Notwithstanding these developments, it is possible that the depth of the downturn will be less than earlier expected. The rate of new infections has declined significantly and some restrictions have been eased earlier than was previously thought likely. And there are signs that hours worked stabilised in early May, after the earlier very sharp decline. There has also been a pick-up in some forms of consumer spending.

However, the outlook, including the nature and speed of the expected recovery, remains highly uncertain and the pandemic is likely to have long-lasting effects on the economy. In the period immediately ahead, much will depend on the confidence that people and businesses have about the health situation and their own finances.

The substantial, coordinated and unprecedented easing of fiscal and monetary policy in Australia is helping the economy through this difficult period. It is likely that this fiscal and monetary support will be required for some time.

The board is committed to do what it can to support jobs, incomes and businesses and to make sure that Australia is well placed for the recovery. Its actions are keeping funding costs low and supporting the supply of credit to households and businesses. This accommodative approach will be maintained as long as it is required.

The board will not increase the cash rate target until progress is being made towards full employment and it is confident that inflation will be sustainably within the 2–3% target band.

Updated

In the NSW parliament:

In the Covid-19 committee, Labor’s Pat Dodson has asked about measures to close remote Aboriginal communities to fight against Covid-19.

Caroline Edwards, the health department secretary, explained that minister Greg Hunt made the decision to declare them designated areas on advice from state and territory leaders, Aboriginal groups and the chief medical officer as part of “efforts to protect what is believed to be a more vulnerable group”.

Gavin Matthews said those returning to remote communities were required to self-isolate for 14 days, while Lucas De Toca rejected the suggestion any government decisions had “triggered” people returning, saying state and territory governments were “assisting people who wanted to return” on a voluntary basis.

Dodson is concerned that more needs to be done to address “fundamental causes” of risk such as overcrowding, because “we are still in the threat of a pandemic”.

Edwards says the government is aware of the impact a second wave would have on remote communities, and other officials point to $550m given by the federal government for a partnership with the Northern Territory to reduce overcrowding.

There’s a brief consideration of Ken Wyatt’s announcement that a referendum is “unlikely” on constitutional recognition in this term of parliament.

Officials respond that the $160m set aside will remain in the contingency reserve, rather than be reallocated.

Updated

Don’t for a second think Australia has been different.

Updated

So just to reiterate from Daniel’s post on jobseeker – there are now almost 1.7 million on unemployment benefits, a projection the department was anticipating the nation would reach by September.

So we have hit that forecast three months early.

The department is still working through 45,000 claims.

Updated

Jobseeker and youth allowance payments jump by 300,000 in a month

The number of people receiving the jobseeker or youth allowance payments has increased by 300,000 in the space of a month, the Senate select committee on Covid-19 has heard.

The number of recipients increased from 1,346,172 on 24 April to 1,640,773 on 22 May, said Shane Bennett, the acting deputy secretary (social security) of the Department of Social Services.

The chair of the committee, Labor senator Katy Gallagher, said the number of recipients on jobseeker or youth allowance had doubled between 28 February and now, which she described as “pretty staggering and distressing numbers”.

The committee has previously heard costing assumptions were based on reaching 1.7 million recipients at the end of September 2020.

When asked whether the new figures changed the forecast about the situation in September, Kathryn Campbell, the secretary of the Department of Social Services, said they relied on Treasury to forecast numbers of unemployment benefit recipients.

The department would feed actual results into that process and Treasury would update the forecasts, she said.

Updated

Jim Chalmers held a press conference in Brisbane ahead of the release of the national accounts tomorrow:

The country desperately needs an effective response to this crisis to be confidently executed, and a plan to bolster the recovery and set Australia up for the future. It’s not getting any of those things from the Morison government.

The Reserve Bank has been doing its bit, and playing its part, but the Morison government has been letting the side down by bungling important programs like the jobkeeper program.

In the coming days, we’ll hear what the government has to say about residential construction, and what we can do to support the building industry. Anthony Albanese, Jason Clare and the Labor Party have made a constructive contribution by laying out what we think needs to be done to deal with what will be serial weakness in the residential construction sector.

Updated

David Littleproud has responded to the live cattle export decision by the federal court (which found the Labor government ban was invalid):

I acknowledge the decision that has been made by the federal court today.

The government will now carefully work through the judgement before making any further comment.

Updated

The Greens senator Rachel Siewert says the government needs to hold a royal commission into robodebt:

The government thinks they can get away with only refunding victims served notices after 2015. I am sure that people who received debt notices before 2015 will come forward ... and I will not forget the pain and anguish caused by this illegal process.

This scheme traumatised many already vulnerable people in our community.

The government has been heartless and cruel throughout this entire process and their failure to even consider apologising means we cannot trust them to not do it again.

It’s absolutely beyond the pale that after all this unnecessary pain and suffering, the government still hasn’t ruled out introducing new laws to allow a future reboot of a robodebt-type scheme.

Updated

The National Farmers’ Federation’s Tony Maher says Australian beef and cattle producers have been vindicated by the federal court’s ruling that the Labor government’s live export ban was unlawful:

The agricultural community, live exporters, rural and regional businesses and communities that depend on them have been vindicated.

And we have had a great outcome from the courts, that have recognised the reckless decision made by the then-government that decimated and devastated an agricultural industry and live export industry in parts of rural and regional Australia.

Today, we thank the Australian Farmers Fighting Fund for their commitment and support for this case as a demonstration of what agriculture can do as a community when we stand united.

Today righted a wrong that was committed by the then-government, and we are extremely pleased, delighted, that the courts have decided that that was a reckless decision, and that farmers and the agricultural community have been vindicated today.

Updated

Meanwhile, back in America, the attorney general appears to be riding around in a tank.

Updated

For those wanting more on the situation in Blackwater, Queensland, you can find it here:

Updated

All that ABS data which was just released has left the ASX flat.

As AAP reports:

The S&P/ASX200 benchmark index was higher by 1.8 points, or 0.03 per cent, at 5821.0 points at 1200 AEST on Tuesday.

The All Ordinaries index was 6.2 points, or 0.1 per cent, higher at 5944.6.

The All Ordinaries reached a daily peak of 5965.2 points at 1115 AEST but since then investors have had plenty of data to consider.

On protests in Australia, Linda Burney says:

I think that probably people could say that particularly when you look at the seven days of absolute activism that’s just grown and grown in America and is reaching out across the world, including the United Kingdom, including Australia, and I suspect a number of other places.

But when you really examine what the issues are for First Nations people in this country, it is a tragedy.

The social justice outcomes are just absolutely appalling. You have a look at the rate of Aboriginal people in jail and the reasons they go to jail. Many of them are very short sentences.

There has to be a better way to do things, and I think that this issue that’s brought this to light in America is a chance for Australia to re-examine what the record is here, and make some substantial changes into the way that custodial sentences are dealt with and the way in which Aboriginal people are incarcerated in Australia.

Updated

The Senate committee looking into the Covid response is about to start its latest round of hearings. Today will focus on the Indigenous response.

How many of the recommendations from the royal commission have been implemented?

Linda Burney:

Well, not very many. What happened is that royal commission laid responsibility at both the federal and state governments and, of course, there was various committees set up to monitor the implementation. But I have to say that that report of the recommendations of the royal commission were cherry-picked and not all of them were implemented anywhere.

And I think that’s the tragedy of it, really.

Perhaps if they had been all implemented, we would not be seeing the terrible outcomes for First Nations people in custody in Australia that we see today.

There are many things that could be done to, I think, address the situation. But when you actually look at the statistics, they’re absolutely stark, and these are just statistics.

But they are also real people, and that’s what we’ve got to remember. In the Northern Territory, for example, something like 90% of the adult prison population is Aboriginal.

In many other states and territories, including Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and New South Wales, the Indigenous prison population is over 30%.

And one of the enormous tragedies is that the rate of Aboriginal children going into statutory care is up around 40% across the country. And the rate of Aboriginal young people in custody is also absolutely enormous.

Updated

Linda Burney, Labor’s spokeswoman for Indigenous affairs, is speaking to the ABC:

I make no comment on what’s going on in America. That’s not my place, except to say that I was listening to the radio overnight and I think it’s become a much bigger issue than the death of Mr Floyd. And it seems to me that this is an issue of equality and frustration ...

We had the royal commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody, which still is a very significant reminder of the situation for First Nations people in this country, and it’s a very big issue in the Aboriginal community.

There have been over 430 deaths in custody since that royal commission, which examined 99 deaths, and we also know, Andrew, just in the last 12 months, there’s been a death in Victoria, two deaths in Western Australia, and of course the shooting death just last December.

Updated

Victoria’s alpine resorts are opening for the season, but with new rules in place:

People will still be able to visit the resorts this Queen’s Birthday long weekend in line with current guidelines allowing overnight travel, but should be aware of the limited offering ahead of the season starting later in the month.

Visitors travelling to the alpine resorts from the long weekend must pre-purchase vehicle entry passes prior to arrival. Those staying overnight will also need to pre-book their accommodation.

No tobogganing is currently permitted, and the downhill ski areas and most visitor facilities are not expected to open before 22 June.

My colleague Helen Sullivan has pointed out that the DC police are pointing the finger at the federal police in the video showing an Australian Network Seven news crew being targeted by police.

Updated

Peter Gutwein says Tasmania will move to stage 2 earlier, after no new cases of Covid have been reported in the past 17 days.

He is bringing forward the relaxation of the stage 2 restrictions to 3pm Friday:

I know many businesses are hurting and many businesses will welcome these changes. But the most important thing that we need to do is to step back into this sensibly, responsibly and importantly; that we all use or common sense.

We have put in place the building blocks. We have contact tracking and tracing available and rapid response. Tasmanians, if you haven’t, please download the Covidsafe app. But, importantly, continue to follow the rules, continue to use common sense, and we will be able to step out of this and continue to have the very good result that we have had.

In terms of obviously stage 3 restrictions, by nature of the announcement today, they will be move forward as well. We will be reviewing towards the end of June.

The relaxation means up to 20 people will be able to gather together outdoors, hospitality businesses will be able to welcome more customers, and gyms and beauty salons will also be able to serve up to 20 people at once.

Updated

The Queensland town of Blackwater, where 30-year-old Nathan Turner returned a post-mortem postive Covid test but was later found to be Covid negative (a second negative test was discounted after it was found to be contaminated) want the health minister, Steven Miles, to come to the town and apologise and explain what happened.

Miles offered this, this morning, from Brisbane:

The loss of any life, particularly a life so young, is incredibly sad. I know it’s been incredibly distressing for them and to have to grieve under these circumstances, under this level of scrutiny, in some cases in quarantine, has only compounded that tragedy and that grief, and to them, I am so deeply sorry.

Updated

This is from AAP:

Prime minister Jacinda Ardern has scolded thousands of New Zealanders for breaking coronavirus restrictions at Black Lives Matter protests.

New Zealand has just one active case of Covid-19, a 50-something Aucklander currently in isolation, and will achieve elimination of the disease this week without the discovery of another positive test.

On Tuesday, health officials reported their 11th straight day without a new case of the deadly virus.

Ms Ardern’s coronavirus response has insisted on strict social distancing and caps on gatherings.

Both of those rules were flouted at rallies in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch on Monday.

Ms Ardern said that was unfair to Kiwis who had abided by the rules, including those who had postponed weddings or funerals.

They had breached the rules. It was not right.

Many New Zealanders have sacrificed an enormous amount and we continue to expect that of our team for everyone.

I need to keep asking the team of 5 million to stay together so that we can reach the finish line.

New Zealand’s protests included powerful hakas and were conducted peacefully.

Updated

The big Australian Bureau of Statistics release this week will be the GDP figures for the March quarter, out tomorrow.

A negative result means Australia is guaranteed to enter a technical recession, because the June quarter will show a massive beating from Covid-19 health impacts and restrictions.

After today’s trade and spending results, Capital Economics said:

In light of the solid data on net trade and government spending, we are raising our estimate for Q1 GDP a touch from -0.6% q/q to -0.5% q/q (actual data due tomorrow). That pales in comparison to the negative shock coming in Q2 when the bulk of the restrictions on activity to limit the spread of the coronavirus took effect.

Capital Economics noted in today’s figures the current account surplus widened by more than expected, from $1bn in the December quarter to $8.4bn in the March quarter. It said:

The big unknown is still household consumption, for which we’ve pencilled in a 1.5% [quarter on quarter] decline as we think the weakness in services outweighed the panic-buying-fuelled pick-up in retail sales. Adding everything up, we now estimate that GDP fell by 0.5% q/q in Q1.

Updated

Sarah Hanson-Young says the Greens welcome reports that an arts and entertainment rescue package from the government is close, but that it will wait and see what is in it before handing out praise.

She says in a statement:

The prime minister likes his sport. I hope today’s reports are a sign he’s starting to recognise the arts and entertainment sector is important too. But the devil will be in the detail.

The arts and entertainment industry was effectively shut down overnight as the first of the social distancing restrictions came in back in March. Finally, some three months later, the PM has now checked his blind spot and started talking about the need for specific industry assistance.

Backing Australian artists and the entertainment industry is backing Australian jobs and Australian-made products. It’s a no-brainer for the community, jobs and the economy.

There is a real opportunity here to simulate the economy, put people back into work and create new jobs, not just in arts and entertainment but our hospitality and tourism industries too.

Updated

NSW recorded a futher six people tested positive for Covid-19 in the last 24 hours to 8pm, but all were returned travelers and are in quarantine.

Gyms to reopen in NSW from 13 June

The NSW deputy premier, John Barilaro says “summer bodies are made in winter” because that is where we are at in Australia at the moment, while announcing that the gym is back in NSW:

As of June 13, we are going to allow gymnasiums, fitness centres and studios like dance studios to be open, giving a couple of weeks’ notice, so that’s exciting for those businesses.

That will be capped at 10 people per class, maximum of 100 per venue. That will give them the ability to make sure they get some level of scale.

More importantly, they can conduct their businesses. We all know that physical fitness is important to, of course, your mental fitness and that’s why it’s timely that we’ve made this announcement and that will include even community centres, where we know a number of organisations use those community centres for the purpose of running a range of different programs, including dance studios. Indoor swimming pools, saunas, will also be opened up with some level of restrictions.

Tattoo parlours are, again, another area that we’re allowing to open up, including massage parlours, with a maximum of 10 clients per time.

This is on top of that of 1 July we’re also announcing that we will be lifting the restrictions on community sport, firstly for those 18 years and under. In other words, junior sport and kids’ sport will be open and for us, that’s important again to get some level of normality as we enter the winter.

(Seriously though, any body is a summer body and ... ugh.)

Updated

The Australian Bureau of Statistics has released some new info on the performance of the economy.
Highlights:

  • Wages were flat, with 0% growth in the quarter from December to March 2020; but for the year to March 2020 are up 3.8%
  • Inventories fell by 1.2% in the last quarter, down a total of 1.8% in the last year
  • Gross company operating profits are up 1.1% this quarter and 1.5% the last year

Wages data varied greatly by industry:

  • The worst hit sectors were accommodation and food services, where wages and salaries fell 4.2% this quarter, and arts and recreation (down 4.6%)
  • There were also falls in real estate and transport postal and warehousing (both down 1.6%); and education (down 0.9%)
  • In retail trade, wages and salaries were unchanged; and health care and social assistance was up just 0.1%
  • Some other industries recorded small wage rises including mining (1.7%), manufacturing (1.7%), IT (1.3%), finance and insurance (1.1%)

The ABS has revealed that – unsurprisingly – government revenues are down and expenses are up, as automatic stabilisers ensure less money is taken out of the economy, which should be a good thing for economic recovery.

Specifically, in the March quarter:

  • taxation revenue decreased 5.4% to $137bn
  • expenses exceeded revenue resulting in a net operating balance of -$7.2bn
  • The government borrowed $14.8bn

Updated

Meanwhile, the first group of US Marines have arrived in Darwin as part of the ninth Marine Rotational Force.

The deployment had been delayed because of the pandemic.

The Pacific Islands Forum due to be held in Vanuatu in August has been cancelled due to coronavirus concerns.

The annual meeting is a key event on the diplomatic calendar and sees leaders from Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Island nations gather to discuss regional issues.

Last year’s gathering in Tuvalu, attended by Scott Morrison and Jacinda Ardern, proved fraught for the Australian prime minister, as Pacific Island leaders pushed for a strong resolution on the climate crisis, which was resisted by the Australian camp. The tense leaders’ meeting lasted well into the night, nearly broke down twice, and pushed at least one national leader to the point of tears.

The Vanuatu Daily Post reports that Vanuatu made the decision to cancel the August meeting due to the uncertainty and economic impacts facing the country due to Covid-19 and Tropical Cyclone Harold, which recently devastated parts of the country.

Vanuatu has no recorded cases of coronavirus, like many Pacific nations, but the financial impact of the outbreak has been crippling, with the tourism-dependent country suffering from the cessation of international travel.

The Vanuatu government will seek to negotiate with Fiji – which is due to host PIF in 2021 – to see if the Vanuatu forum might be able to be pushed back by a year.

Victoria has seen 10 more people return positive Covid tests in the last 24 hours.

From Victoria Health:

Four new cases of Covid-19 have been linked to the outbreak at quarantine hotel Rydges on Swanston in Melbourne, bringing the total for this outbreak to 12. The new cases are all close contacts of existing cases.

One of the new cases has been linked to a staff member at Embracia Aged Care in Reservoir. The facility has been advised and all staff and visitors considered as close contacts will be placed into quarantine.

A new case has also been detected in a staff member at Macleod Preschool in Macleod who attended community testing after displaying symptoms. The source of transmission for this case is under investigation.

Close contacts of the staff member, including some colleagues and a number of children associated with the preschool, will be contacted and placed into quarantine. The preschool has been closed for at least today so a deep clean can be undertaken, alongside contact tracing, isolation, quarantine and disinfection.

Yesterday’s four remaining cases were identified through community testing. There are no new cases linked to any other known outbreaks, including the Keilor Downs family outbreak.

Updated

On the Network Seven crew who were hit by police while doing their job, covering what had been a peaceful protest outside the White House, Anthony Albanese said:

Well, our ambassador should be certainly making representation on behalf of these Australians who effectively have been assaulted. That’s what it is. For doing their job. In a democratic society, the role of the media is critical. And it’s important that the media are able to report on events, including crises, such as we’re seeing in the United States, free from harassment. And the violence that has occurred towards members of the media, Australian media and domestic media as well, with tear gas being fired, with media being assaulted is completely unacceptable.

Anthony Albanese was asked about the US situation this morning while in Eden-Monaro:

Q: What is your response to the words and actions of Donald Trump this morning?

Albanese: I haven’t seen all of Donald Trump’s statements. I’ll leave it to Penny Wong, our foreign affairs spokesperson, to comment on that.

But it’s very clear that the United States is a deeply divided society. And that is problematic. The United States historically has played such an important role in world leadership. And it is tragic the events that we’re seeing in the United States. I say that it’s important that leaders seek to unite, not divide. And that’s a critical factor in our democratic system.

Q: Do you think Mr Trump has divided his country?

Albanese: Well, I think people will make their own judgments about the state of the United States at the moment. Very clearly, there are major issues there. And it is a tragedy what is occurring. And certainly, the disruption that’s occurring, the tragedy, of course, of the murder of George Floyd was devastating for anyone who watched that footage. It was traumatic. It was horrifying, frankly, that could occur during daytime, or anytime.

Updated

In those ABS statistics just released, you can see how Australia’s major trade partners were hit during the March quarter:

The conditions in the global economy showed a decline in growth in all of Australia’s major trading partner countries in the March quarter 2020. According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) (footnote 2) preliminary growth rates compared to last quarter in seasonally adjusted terms showed quarterly growth for China (-9.8%), France (-5.8%), Spain (-5.2%), Belgium (-3.9%), EU 27 (-3.3%), Germany (-2.2%), UK (-2.0%), Netherlands (-1.7%), South Korea (-1.4%), USA (-1.2%), Japan (-0.9%), and Indonesia (-0.7%).

Australia’s share market decreased 24.3% in that same quarter – you can see how other global share markets fared:

[Australia] compared to a decrease of 0.7% in the December quarter 2019. Decreases were recorded in France (26.1%), Germany (25.5%), UK (24.9%), Singapore (24.1%), Canada (21.0%), the USA (20.0%), Japan (18.2%), Hong Kong (18.2%), Switzerland (12.4%), China (10.3%) and New Zealand (5.5%). A market price change of $232.2b was recorded for foreign equity assets and -$240.5b for foreign equity liabilities in the March quarter 2020.

Meanwhile, here is what the ABS says about the Australian dollar – it depreciated against all major and minor currencies listed here:

The Australian dollar depreciated against almost all major and minor trading currencies in the March quarter 2020. The Australian dollar depreciated 12.22% against the Japanese yen, 12.21% against the Hong Kong dollar, 11.86% against the US dollar, 10.45% against the Chinese renminbi, 10.38% against the European euro, 6.25% against the UK pound sterling, 4.12% against the Canadian dollar and 1.49% against the New Zealand dollar. The Australian dollar appreciated 3.90% against the Indonesian rupiah. The Trade Weighted Index (TWI) (footnote 5) fell 9.29% to 54.700 in the March quarter 2020. These movements were reflected in exchange rate changes for foreign assets of -$208.3b and foreign liabilities of $145.6b in the March quarter 2020.

Updated

Donald Trump calls Scott Morrison amid US unrest

Looks like Donald Trump has taken time out of his busy hiding in a bunker and threatening to call in the military and dispersing legal peaceful protests for photo ops to call Scott Morrison to talk about the extended G7 invitation.

As Phil Coorey from the AFR reports:

Sources said Mr Trump rang Mr Morrison this morning to enlist his support.

Mr Trump wants Australia, South Korea and India as possible additions to the delayed meeting of some of the world’s most powerful economies.

The three countries have all had testy relations with China.

Mr Trump’s administration has praised Mr Morrison for publicly calling for an international inquiry into the virus, including its source.

Updated

The ABS has an update on Australia’s accounts:

Another quarterly goods and services surplus at $13.9bn and a narrowing net income deficit to $12.5bn, contributed to Australia recording a seasonally adjusted $1bn current account surplus for the December quarter 2019, according to latest information released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). This is Australia’s third consecutive current account surplus.

ABS chief economist Bruce Hockman said: “December quarter 2019 marks the third consecutive current account surplus.”

“Falling prices for bulk commodities and a decrease in non-monetary gold volumes drove the smaller current account surplus for this quarter. Net exports in volume terms remained steady overall, with rises across several categories offset by the fall in non-monetary gold. As a result, net exports have a limited contribution of 0.1 percentage points to GDP.”

Updated

Greg Hunt is speaking in Melbourne where he is announcing $66m in additional funding for Covid research, including for developing a vaccine:

I’m delighted to announce that the Australian government will invest $66m in research into vaccines, into antivirals, and also into respiratory clinical trials as well as health system management. This funding is about saving lives and protecting lives and it’s part of our dual process of containment and flattening the curve and increase the ability of our health system to respond, in particular in relation to the containment.

Now, what we’ve seen is that, overnight eight cases – and Australia is now at 7,203 cases and 102 lives, sadly, lost.

And of those eight cases in the last 24 hours, five came through the hotel quarantine system. In other words, what that shows is that our border controls remain absolutely vital to protecting Australia. In an earlier three-day period that the Department of Health’s epidemiology unit has provided to me, 30 out of 43 cases came from overseas and have come through either the hotel quarantine or the navigation and shipping protections that have been put in place in this case in Western Australia. So all of these things are protecting Australians.

Updated

The construction award is the latest under the microscope:

Master Builders Australia, Housing Industry Association and Australian Industry Group have made a joint submission to the Fair Work Commission asking for temporary award changes.

Under the proposal, 38-hour ordinary working weeks could be performed between 6am and 7pm Monday to Friday and 6am and 2pm on Saturday.

Casual shifts could be as short as two hours, while workers and bosses could agree to time off instead of overtime.

The CFMEU argues the pandemic is being used to attack wages and conditions, accusing employer groups of opportunism.

The construction union is opposed to changing the award.

(via AAP)

Federal court rules Gillard live export ban invalid

Updated

The ABC is reporting Papua New Guinea has declared an end to its state of emergency because of the Covid pandemic.

It recorded eight cases.

Rating agency S&P has a new set of economic forecasts out and they make for depressing reading.

The agency’s analysts now think Australia’s economic slump will be worse than they previously thought, and are tipping wages growth to remain all but nonexistent.

Australia’s economy will shrink by 4% before rebounding by 5.7% next year and unemployment will hit 7.5%, S&P says.

It is predicting a fall in house prices of 10% - far less than the worst-case scenarios of some economists of around 30% to 40%.
S&P says people have already begun defaulting on their mortgages, but the real impact of the coronavirus crisis won’t be felt for another 12 months.

The agency says areas hit by the bushfires are already under stress and the total effect of the coronavirus crisis on people’s ability to pay their mortgages will be worse than the global financial crisis.

So far, the pain has fallen hardest on postcodes in the west and north of the country.

Darwin has the highest proportion of mortgages in arrears, at 7.04%, closely followed by three WA postcodes, Maddington (6.59%), Blythewood (6.45%) and Byford (6.06%), S&P said in a report, released today.

“Overall increases in arrears likely will be higher than what occurred after the 2008 financial crisis because forecast increases in unemployment are larger,” S&P said.

“Arrears are likely to be higher in areas more dependent on tourism for local employment; international travel restrictions are likely to continue for some time.”

Linda Burney spoke to Fran Kelly on ABC radio this morning, in response to Scott Morrison’s comments from yesterday:

‘We have our faults, we have our flaws, but thank God we’re not like the US.’

Burney: The Prime Minister made these comments, as you said, yesterday.

And I just wonder whether he is fully across the way in which the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody in the late 80s-early 90s, still resonates with First Nations people. And I wonder whether he’s fully cognisant of the terrible outcomes, particularly as you said Fran, the over-430 deaths in custody since the Royal Commission.

And in fact, two in the last 12 months – three in the last 12 months.

...I don’t know that making a comparison is all that useful. But the fact is this: is that there are more Aboriginal people, particularly young people and women in custody now than there was at the time of the Royal Commission.

In fact, Fran, in some parts of Australia, almost 100 per cent of young people locked up and adults are Aboriginal people – particularly, the north of Australia.

And when you look at the death of Kumanjayi Walker in Yuendumu last November. When you have a look at the death of Ms [Clarke] in Geraldton. You just have to ask yourself, how do these things happen? I mean, the level of poverty; the level of disenfranchisement; the level of relationships between Aboriginal people and the police, varies across the country.

But in essence, the level of poverty is just shocking. And I just don’t think that a lot of people like us living in cities, when you go out to some of these communities, particularly remote communities, the level of poverty is almost indescribable.

The RBA will meet today.

Westpac chief economist Bill Evans has called for the bank to consider negative interest rates (dropping below zero) which the RBA has already ruled out. At 0.25% the RBA has hit its floor.

(I keep saying 0.5% - that is my fault)

Updated

The push is on, in earnest now, for the government to provide a rescue package for the arts and entertainment industry.

Tony Burke spoke to Melbourne ABC this morning, after the prime minister said on Sydney radio 2GB yesterday, that it was an area the government would need to look at:

It’s been three months that the sector which was pretty much the first to be shut down, ever since the ban happened on 50 if you’re outdoors and 100 if you’re indoors, they were the first industry shut down.

And so there’s a lot of hope that finally the government has recognised there’s a problem. Because we’ve been calling for there to be a package all of that time. I think what they need to do, and there’s different ways of doing it, but what matters is that they hit both sorts of groups.

There are the companies that employ artists, technicians, labourers, all the people who are responsible for bringing performance together. And then there are the workers themselves, and the workers themselves have largely been locked out of jobkeeper.

Some of them because of lumpy income had problems with jobseeker as well. But what matters is that the government deals with both. Now what’s been put into the newspapers today says that they’re looking at the employer side of it and that’s important.

And that’s really going to matter. They’re also going to need to make sure that they do something about the people who work for those companies, because they certainly shouldn’t and I don’t see how they can be, left at a loose end not for months and months and months while we wait for the industry to be opened back up.

Updated

Annastacia Palaszczuk is in Townsville, where she is speaking about the false positive for Covid a post-mortem test on 30-year-old Nathan Turner returned:

Of course we are very sorry for the distress at the family is going through at the moment and has experienced, and to the people of Blackwater, thank you very much for cooperating and we have to take the advice of health at the time and that rapid response was deployed.

Like we know, we are still not out of the woods yet but our response to Covid-19 has been across-the-board, across Queensland, has been very good, but I do understand that there is a lot of concern about that case how it came back as a false positive.

... We find that it [false positives] has happened in other states as well and it is a whole new virus, and we have to take the health advice at the time and if we don’t act, and it ends up being worse than we would be negligent for not act on, so I really thank the community for their understanding, and once again express my sympathies to the family for the loss of their loved one.

Updated

And of course, these are not the only Indigenous people who have died while in police and government custody (a national tragedy still occurring)

(Via AAP)

The hundreds of Indigenous men and boys who died while imprisoned on WA’s Rottnest Island will be commemorated in a bid towards healing and reconciling the past.

Elder Farley Garlett said on Tuesday the Whadjuk people would lead the WA government project, aimed at reconciling the history of indigenous captivity on the island off the coast of Fremantle.

“It is a responsibility we take up in the spirit of healing and moving forward,” he said.

Fellow elder Neville Collard said it was an important issue for indigenous people and believed it was time to work with the West Australian government to recognise the island’s history.

The Wadjemup Project, named after the Noongar name for Rottnest Island, will honour almost 400 Indigenous men and boys who were buried there in unmarked graves between 1838 and 1931.

During those years, more than 4,000 Indigenous men and boys from across WA were sent to the island, imprisoned and used as forced labour.

The state’s Aboriginal affairs minister, Ben Wyatt, said there had been years of research and community consultation about the recognition of those prisoners.

“Ensuring the history of Aboriginal people on the island is recognised is imperative for reconciliation,” he said.

“It will begin the healing process of historic and intergenerational trauma from the colonisation of Aboriginal people.”

Updated

Also worth paying attention to:

Netball Australia has officially cancelled its Australian Netball League season.

That’s because of financial pressures, plus inconsistent training and matches in the different states and territories.

The 2020 Super Netball season is due to start on 1 August.

An update:

Take the silver linings where you can get them.

Updated

Queensland's deputy premier apologises to Nathan Turner's family

From AAP:

Queensland’s deputy premier has apologised to the grieving family of a Blackwater man who was wrongly identified as having coronavirus.

Steven Miles says he’s sorry for the suffering of Nathan Turner’s family and his partner, who has had to grieve his death in isolation.

Turner initially tested positive for coronavirus after his death last week, but subsequent tests have confirmed he was not infected.

Miles has defended the government’s response, saying it had to put Blackwater on alert and test widely after the former miner’s initial positive test.

But he said it was a regrettable outcome that the family had suffered unnecessarily, in light of “multiple” subsequent negative tests.

“Our ability to control this virus requires us to respond rapidly to every single positive test,” the deputy premier and health minister told reporters on Tuesday.

“We have to treat every positive test as though it is a positive case.

“However, I would like to personally apologise to his partner and his family for any distress that our actions in responding rapidly has caused them. I know it’s been incredibly distressing for them.”

The state’s chief health officer, Jeannette Young, said false positive tests for coronavirus were extremely rare.

She said the results were compromised by the fact that one sample from Turner was contaminated with excessive blood from the post-mortem process.

“There are two potential answers here. One is that it was a false positive. The other is that it was a true positive,” Young said.

“And we won’t know which it was, but I am confident about the actions that were taken on that night to protect the community of Blackwater.”

Queensland recorded one new coronavirus case overnight involving a 41-year-old woman who arrived on a flight from Africa.Young said she was infectious while she was on the plane and she and all other passengers were now in quarantine.

The state now has five active coronavirus cases.

Updated

Back in Australia, Victoria has moved passengers quarantining at the Rydges hotel to a different hotel, because of the number of staff who have had to go into self isolation, after an outbreak of Covid.

Updated

That footage being being beamed around the world of police attacking a camera operator is of Network Seven cameraman Tim Myers and journalist Amelia Brace

Meanwhile

Victoria is also commissioning a mural to celebrate year of the nurse and midwife. It will be painted on one of the major hospitals.

Updated

Victorian health minister Jenny Mikakos says Victoria will be strengthening the nurse and midwife to patient ratio.

A new bill will be put into the parliament today, to deliver another 500 nursing and midwife positions (that is on top of the 600 new positions created last year).

Updated

You can’t help but have your heart in your throat watching today’s events.

In the US, Donald Trump has stood up in the Rose Garden and seemingly threatened to install martial law as protests against police brutality against black people continue across the States.

Paul Fletcher will visit the National Gallery of Australia to celebrate it welcoming back visitors under the ACT’s relaxed restrictions.

Under new guidelines to protect the health and safety of everyone in the building, visitors to the gallery are taking part in timed ticketed sessions, which need to be pre-booked. Other safety measures include sanitiser stations throughout the building, additional cleaning, and the closure of small exhibition spaces.

David Littleproud is back to attacking the supermarkets.

After calling for a boycott of Target for its announcement it was closing down stores as it continued to have market issues, which was supposed to teach it a lesson, because that is absolutely how capitalism works, Littleproud is once again angry about milk prices.

From AAP:

Woolworths has announced an extension of a 10-cent levy on its own brand two- and three-litre milk, which it says will see $30m flow to producers.

But Littleproud said the grocery giant was creating a corporate feel-good fund to promote its own brand.

“It is utterly disrespectful of Woolworths to try to capitalise on world milk day with this pitiful offering, duping consumers into thinking the dairy farmers are getting genuine help from the supermarket,” he said.

“The supermarkets aren’t listening to me or dairy farmers when we are clearly saying they need to restore the value they stripped from the dairy industry with $1-a-litre milk.”

Woolworths fresh food director Paul Harker said the levy would give millions to farmers over the next year beyond the farmgate price paid by processors.

“Our levy has provided much-needed relief to dairy farmers and we’re grateful for our customers’ support of the program,” he said.

Industry lobby group Australian Dairy Farmers wants to increase the retail price of milk and pass the increase back to dairy farmers via processors.

Littleproud said farmers wanted a fair price for milk instead of relying on charity or grants and Woolworths should stop hiding behind fear of moving first and stump up.

“Stop holding back the extra $90m in value from the Australian dairy supply chain and claiming to be dairy’s saviour with $5m dollars of grants that farmers need to grovel for,” Littleproud said.

“We just need fair prices for dairy farmers not tokenism.”

Woolworths will also establish a $5m fund to provide infrastructure and technology grants to dairy farmers over the next three years.

Updated

On the border issue, here is what Scott Morrison had to say about that last Friday following the national cabinet meeting:

Now, under the three-step plan, it wasn’t until step three that it was envisaged that there would be interstate travel.

Now, whether you have a border or you don’t have a border formally put in place, step three of the plan, which was expected to be in place in July, is when that was expected to be the case.

Now, I note that all states and territories are working towards that, whether they have borders or not.

But the truth is, and I’m sure, and this was discussed [at national cabinet], that it’s preferable to be able to be in a situation where you don’t have borders [closed] as soon as possible because, obviously, that means that the tourism industries in particular and particularly with school holidays coming up might be able to benefit from that travel.

So, I think we’ve got to keep the issue in perspective. We don’t agree on everything. Not everyone always does. It would be a bit weird if they did in a democracy.

And we have to bear in mind that in the vast majority of cases, the states and territories have worked very well with the commonwealth on these issues and I still remain absolutely optimistic that common sense will ultimately prevail on the timetable that national cabinet has set out.

Updated

Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and the state’s chief medical officer, Dr Jeannette Young, will front the media today to talk about Nathan Turner, a 30-year-old who tested positive for Covid after he died but in later tests was found to have been negtative for Covid.

At 30, Nathan was thought to be the youngest person in Australia to die after contracting Covid. He had what was described as a “complicated” medical history, and had been displaying respiratory symptoms for weeks leading up to his death in his Blackwater home. A second test for Covid proved negative, but was said to have been contaminated and was ignored.

No other cases of Covid have been reported in Blackwater.

As AAP reports:

Queensland Health said Turner – who had serious underlying health issues – tested positive for the virus after he died and his partner reported he’d had flu-like symptoms.

But on Monday, officials said a subsequent test had returned a negative result.

Locals are seeking answers, and an online petition demanding an apology from the premier and chief health officer has attracted more than 2,500 signatures.

Late yesterday, Queensland authorities confirmed later testing on Nathan had proved negative. The coroner will determine his cause of death.

Updated

Meanwhile, Anthony Albanese is continuing to campaign with Labor’s Eden-Monaro candidate, Kristy McBain.

He has an event scheduled with her at 10am.

Greg Hunt will announce $66m for Covid vaccine development and treatment today.

That 11am announcement comes with a tour of Melbourne’s Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research.

Updated

Good morning

The Berejiklian government plan to freeze public servant pay has hit a snag, with the Australian Paramedics Association protesting the move by not billing patients.

The union said:

For months we have put our health and our lives on the line in the Covid-19 pandemic, prior to that we worked through months of fires and then floods.

Despite this, all the NSW government has for us is empty words.

There will be moves afoot in the parliament to stop the pay freeze hitting frontline workers, which includes paramedics. It’s the same issue Queensland has run into.

Speaking of Queensland, another legal challenge to open the border is underway. As AAP reports:

“We are arguing that the Queensland government did not have the constitutional right to shut the border,” Mahoneys litigation partner Mitchell Downes said in a statement on the firm’s website.

He said the move was part of a wider effort to help Queensland’s tourism industry recover from the effects that Covid-19 had had on the industry and businesses and people that rely on it.

A Gofundme page has been set up to fund the challenge and allow the plaintiffs to start the case in the high court “as soon as possible”.

The Australian reported the challenge had been lodged on Monday, with six plaintiffs including a Brisbane travel agency and a Cairns charter operator, plus interstate individuals and a company.”

There is still the challenge that Pauline Hanson has threatened, plus Clive Palmer was adding Queensland to his Western Australia challenge, so all in all, the high court seems like it will be asked to deal with this one way or the other.

We’ll have that, and everything else that happens today. You have Amy Remeikis for the majority of the day.

Ready?

Updated

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Netflix director responds to report Zayn Malik punched Louis Tomlinson on set: ‘There goes the last year of work’
Malik is alleged to have punched his former bandmate during an on-set row while shooting the three-part series
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Ice Spice speaks out after ‘unprovoked attack’ at McDonald’s
Rapper’s lawyer said they intend to ‘hold the perpetrators responsible for their actions’
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
88% Still Stalk Exes on Facebook? New 2026 Data Reveals Persistent Post-Breakup Habits
Nearly nine in 10 people admit to checking their ex's Facebook profile after a breakup, according to recurring research that continues to circulate widely in 2026, even as broader cyberstalking statistics show technology playing an ever-larger role in monitoring former partners.
Latin Times
Latin Times
Surge In Celebrity Baby News Leaves Fans Stunned, Here’s Who’s Expecting
Here are all the celebrities baby news that stunned the online viewers.
Bored Panda
Bored Panda
War isn’t a ‘moral’ issue – at least not for the Trump administration
The US president’s grudge match with the pope underlines how religion really functions in American politics
The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
WrestleMania 42 is live on ESPN and Netflix this weekend — here's who's going to win
WrestleMania 42 is live this weekend across two nights and 13 matches. I've been watching WWE for 30 years, and I've gone through every match on the card, given you my prediction, and picked out the best merch to buy before the bell rings.
Tom’s Guide
Tom’s Guide
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