We’ll leave it there for now. See you tomorrow.
I’ll just run through some of the main developments of today.
- Qantas announced it would axe 6,000 jobs, in devastating news for the airline industry.
- Victoria has recorded 33 new Covid cases in the past 24 hours. It has started a mass “suburban blitz” testing program, where up to 50% of hotspot residents will be tested.
- The Victorian government also revised its request to the ADF, effectively reducing the number of defence force personnel that will help with its Covid efforts.
Updated
For those want to know more about the ABC restructure, you will learn more here.
The Victorian opposition is not pleased with the Andrews government revising its ADF request.
The state Liberal leader, Michael O’Brien, says in a statement:
Victoria is dealing with the worst coronavirus outbreak in the country, yet Daniel Andrews is arrogantly refusing help from the Australian Defence Force to help with hotel quarantine.
On Tuesday Andrews said no troops were needed, by Wednesday he needed more than 1,000 and today – on a day when Victoria has seen its biggest spike since April 3 – he backflips once again.
Updated
Australian National University’s Prof Peter Collignon has told a Senate inquiry the coronavirus will remain a problem for at least two years.
AAP quoted him as saying on Thursday:
We’re going to have to keep up the things that we know work, which is predominantly keeping a physical distance, washing your hands and people who are sick staying away from others.
Probably winter will be more risky, so I worry about the next three months in Australia in particular.
Prof Raina MacIntyre, of the University of New South Wales’ Kirby Institute for Infection and Immunity, said Australians should embrace face masks as strict restrictions ease.
She also said the government should begin planning for when a vaccine is found, in terms of who will be a priority to receive it.
MacIntyre also warned that Victoria’s spike in cases could easily happen elsewhere.
They have been exemplar with their response and it probably will happen in other parts of Australia.
What we need is to work together across our differences to protect Australia.
Updated
As we mentioned earlier, today NRL fans will have to show their driver’s licences at stadium gates in NSW as part of biosecurity measures in order to keep travelling Victorians out.
See more below.
Updated
AAP has this finance update:
The Australian share market has suffered its worst loss in two weeks after a rise in coronavirus cases in both the US and Victoria.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 benchmark index finished Thursday down 148 points, or 2.48%, to 5,817.7, while the broader All Ordinaries index closed down 153.6 points, or 2.53%, at 5,928.
The Australian dollar was buying 68.65 US cents, down from 69.41 US cents at the close of trade on Wednesday.
Updated
The former chess champion and current chairman of the Human Rights Foundation and Russian pro democracy advocate, Gary Kasparov, has given evidence to a joint standing committee considering laws to allow sanctions of human rights abuses (Magnistky laws).
Kasparov said:
We should stop calling Mr Putin a president, because he is a dictator who is no longer hiding his intentions to stay in power for life.
Asked if sanctions legislation can deter Russia, Kasparov replied that the free world had done “almost nothing” as Putin annexed Crimea in 2014 and supported Bashar al-Assad in Syria, while Germany had doubled the amount of gas it bought from Russia.
But, if sanctions were more consistently and broadly applied, then they could act as “preventative medicine”, he said. A coalition against Putin could improve the chances he “will not do something really dramatic” and provide a “strong deterrent” to further geopolitical aggression.
Unfortunately the game we are discussing now is not played by rules, unlike the game of chess.
Updated
Victoria 'revises' request for ADF pandemic support
Here is some more detail on the news that Victoria has revised its call for help from the ADF.
It had been reported earlier there was doubt about plans for about 1,000 ADF personnel who were reportedly due to make their way to the state to help with both testing and security at hotel quarantine.
It appears the government is focused on the defence force assisting with testing at this stage.
It is understood the government rescinded an earlier request for support in order to change the scope of what it was asking for.
A government spokesperson said:
Victoria formally requested a range of support from the ADF on Wednesday night and we are grateful for their assistance.
Our top priority is on planning and logistics assistance and medical personnel to support our suburban testing blitz.
We are finalising our plans for hotel quarantine, including any additional roles the ADF might be able to play.
It is understood the scope of Victoria’s request was adjusted to allow for more assistance with medical testing and support.
Updated
Here are some more details on the Covid situation in Victoria via the state’s Department of Health and Human Services.
As we reported earlier, there were 33 new cases reported, taking the total number to 1,917. Nine of the new cases were linked outbreaks, six cases identified through routine testing, 10 cases are from returned travellers in hotel quarantine and eight cases are under investigation.
The department says a family outbreak led to five cases across two households in Brimbank, in the state’s west. The number of cases linked to the outbreak at the H&M store at Northland shopping centre rose by two to 10.
There were also new cases reported related to outbreaks in Keilor Downs in the west, and Epping, in Melbourne’s north.
Two workers at the Coles distribution centre in Laverton have tested positive, the department said.
Over the next 10 days, residents in 10 “priority suburbs” would receive free testing with or without symptoms via travelling vans, it said.
Victoria’s chief health officer, Prof Brett Sutton, said:
This is the ninth consecutive day of double-digit case growth in Victoria, with a continuing and concerning number of new cases associated with transmission in households and families.
Updated
The communications minister, Paul Fletcher, says it is a “a bit of an urban myth” that many people in the arts and cultural industries are not eligible for the jobkeeper payment.
Speaking on the ABC with Patricia Karvelas, Fletcher says:
Well, in fact, that’s not right. That’s a bit of an urban myth. There are about 40,000 people and what the Australian Bureau of Statistics calls the creative and performing arts sub sector.
Of those, around 25,000 received jobkeeper in May. Now, that’s an indicator of how much the sector has been hit because venues are closed, performances are cancelled, artists have lost their gigs.
But Karvelas points out that most people working in the arts industry are not considered employees – and therefore not covered in the 40,000 figure quoted by Fletcher.
She says:
You called it an urban myth but they have a very different view, the sector. The 40,000 figure does refer to employees. Most of the 600,000 people in the sector, my understanding, aren’t employees.
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Being ordered into home detention during the Covid-19 pandemic was not a deprivation of human rights, a parliamentary committee has ruled.
The Queensland Labor government introduced several measures in April and May under the Disaster Management Act to stymie the outbreak of coronavirus.
One of those measures was the power to order a person to leave, or not to enter a premises, including their own home.
AAP reports that attorney general Yvette D’Ath said the law was to limit those identified as having, or suspected of having, Covid-19 from moving freely in public, to reduce the risks of transmission of the virus.
Under article 12 of the Australian Human Rights Commission, every person within Queensland has the right to move freely within the state.
There is an exclusion for controlling the movement of persons around disaster situations.
The Legal Affairs and Community Safety Committee examines bills to consider whether policies to be enacted are compatible with the Human Rights Act 2019.
On Thursday the committee, chaired by Labor MP Peter Russo, tabled a report finding the detention measure did not violate the Act. The report said:
The committee considers the limits on human rights are reasonable and demonstrably justified, given the public health emergency and the overall objective of the regulation.
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Western Australia update
Western Australia has recorded no new active cases of Covid-19 overnight, the state’s Department of Health says.
One historical case has been recorded, however, bringing the state’s total number of cases to 608.
The state has four active infections, while 595 people have recovered from the virus.
Updated
BREAKING: the 850 ADF personnel on their way to Victoria have been turned back in the meantime - because Vict government has revised the request for support. They may return at another time, if requested. Defence stands ready to provide any support if requested #7NEWS #auspol
— Jennifer Bechwati (@jenbechwati) June 25, 2020
In the Australia in the World podcast, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade secretary Frances Adamson also weighs in on the ongoing tensions in the relationship with China. Adamson, a former Australian ambassador to Beijing, says:
At the moment we’re in a period of difference, respectfully expressed on our part. We would say that we are responding to actions that China has taken and that we are defending our national interest. But none of that means that there won’t be opportunities in future for us to work together on things where it makes pragmatic sense for us to do that.
So I think the Chinese are often – particularly at the moment – inclined to see Australia as an alliance partner of the United States, and we are, but we are also a regional power with a lot to offer, and a valuable partner for China, as for every other country in this region.
Adamson says that “one of the things that many sinologists – people who make a career out of the study of China – quickly come to realise is the more they know, the more they realise they don’t know, actually”.
More broadly, regarding the shifts in the region, Adamson says China “should be in no doubt that the region, countries of the region will be respectful of its great power status when it reaches that point”. She adds:
But I think what all great powers need to realise also is you can command that respect in a wide variety of ways. It doesn’t have to be through the exercise of power or the exercise of coercion.
On how we can achieve equilibrium in the years ahead, Adamson hopes Australia and China can reach a point where “differences are recognised and understood and there is still space – which might grow or shrink a bit according to the circumstances – for there to be a mutual pursuit of opportunity to the benefit of both sides”.
She says this is not just up to diplomats.
In a way it’s got to be a national endeavour because Australia’s economic strength derives in part at least from the interactions that we have with our trading partners.
China is our largest trading partner … we’ve got an interest in China’s economy continuing to grow, but we’ve also got an interest in liberal trade and investment arrangements on both sides that don’t discriminate and don’t provide opportunities for coercion or punishment.
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Hi all. Luke Henriques-Gomes here, taking over from Amy Remeikis. Thanks to Amy as always. I’ll be with you into the evening. You can get in touch with me by email at luke.henriques-gomes@theguardian.com or on Twitter @lukehgomes.
It has been, as they say, a day.
In a long line of them.
I’m going to trot off and leave you in the exceptionally capable hands of Luke Henriques-Gomes for the afternoon.
I’ll be back on Monday. Thanks again for sharing your week with me. Take care of you.
Updated
Frances Adamson, the secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, has spoken about how Covid-19 has affected the work of her department, including efforts to help bring people home.
She says the team in Canberra has fielded about 70,000 phone calls since 21 January from Australians wanting and needing help. She says DFAT has maintained operations at all of its overseas posts, but with drawdowns of some staff.
In an interview with the Australia in the World podcast, released today, Adamson also reflects on the increasing use of phone and video calls to conduct diplomacy. She says the foreign minister, Marise Payne, has had something like 50 to 60 bilateral engagements of a meaningful kind during the pandemic – far more than she would have been able to conduct in person.
But Adamson says a challenge for such diplomacy is to ensure secure video communications. And she says that after the pandemic it will still be important to have some face-to-face meetings.
There’s nothing quite like being in the same room as someone, even shaking a hand, which I haven’t done for three months, and actually developing a rapport and a relationship and bonds of trust that serve you well [in the future].
The podcast can be found here.
Updated
The Eden-Monaro byelection is 4 July
We have referred this to the Electoral Integrity Assurance Taskforce. As a member of the taskforce, the matter is now with the Australian federal Police for investigation
— AEC ✏️ (@AusElectoralCom) June 25, 2020
For those with an interest in foreign policy:
What does COVID-19 mean for Australia's foreign policy? A hearing for this new inquiry will start today at 3.30pm. Stream it at https://t.co/8DB1X3Ss2v pic.twitter.com/ThNZYlGHF4
— Australian House of Representatives (@AboutTheHouse) June 25, 2020
For those wondering about definitional changes, the ABC’s Casey Briggs has had a look at it.
The number of 'active' coronavirus cases in NSW has plummeted today from 98 to 5.
— casey briggs (@CaseyBriggs) June 25, 2020
Why?
The state has drastically narrowed the definition of active to only count *locally acquired cases* which have had symptom onset in the past four weeks.
From a NSW health spokesperson: pic.twitter.com/YLFAq5J7Hy
Updated
Here is that exchange about there being “no cuts” to the ABC:
Q: Can you guarantee there will no further cuts to the ABC?
Scott Morrison:
There are no cuts.
Q: No further cuts?
Morrison:
There are no further cuts because there are no cuts. ABC’s funding is increasing every year. The ABC would be the only media company, organisation in Australia today whose revenue, their funding, is increasing. It would be the only one in the country.
We’re seeing regional mastheads by commercial newspapers abolished and we’re seeing people lose jobs right across [the industry] and the regional support for the ABC has never been stronger. And it’s getting even stronger because we’re trying to get the ABC out of Ultimo and into the rest of the country.
So I think that’s a good change. I think what Ita is doing in trying to get the ABC even more focused on regional Australia and get their heads out of Ultimo and get it into the rest of the country, I think is tremendous.
But I’ve got to say, if you’re working in the media industry, if you’re a journalist today, the safest place for you to be is actually at the ABC, because your revenue is guaranteed in that industry by the government. For journalists working in so many other media companies, they are doing it really tough. And I think we need to keep that in perspective.
Updated
I do not know what is going on here.
@Tony_Burke is worried about business confidence. In other news, turkey’s vote for Thanksgiving. #auspol
— Jason Falinski MP (@JasonFalinskiMP) June 25, 2020
As for the budget paper where the ABC indexation freeze was announced, here it is:
Scott Morrison is out there saying there are no cuts to the ABC.
— Michelle Rowland (@MRowlandMP) June 25, 2020
He won’t even own the cuts he signed off on as Treasurer in Budget Paper No. 2 2018-19.
Stop gaslighting Australians and take responsibility for your cuts. #auspol @FriendsoftheABC pic.twitter.com/ulGP8DcIYd
Updated
Much like Paul Fletcher did yesterday, Scott Morrison has denied the Coalition has made funding cuts to the ABC:
“There are no cuts,” he said today.
As AAP reports:
ABC managing director David Anderson said on Wednesday that operational funding would be more than 10% lower in 2021/22 than it was in 2013.
The overall amount the corporation receives from government will rise from $1.062bn in 2019/20 to $1.071bn in 2021/22.
But an indexation freeze in funding is set to cost the ABC $84m over those three years.
After the freeze was announced in 2018, the organisation’s then managing director Michelle Guthrie said the ABC had suffered $254m in cuts since 2014.
The prime minister said journalists at the ABC had it better than colleagues in private outlets which have faced job losses as advertising revenues dry up.
I’ve got to say if you’re working in the media industry today, if you’re a journalist today, the safest place for you to be is actually at the ABC because your revenue is guaranteed in that industry by the government.
For journalists working in so many other media companies, they are doing it really tough.
Just a reminder, it doesn’t have to be a choice between public and private company journalism. Democracy, and society, flourishes with as much media as possible. Cutting back media only hurts communities.
Updated
Victoria is opening up its arts centres.
The following cultural hubs will be reopening their doors:
- NGV International (opens on Saturday 27 June)
- NGV Australia: Ian Potter Centre (opens on Saturday 27 June)
- State Library of Victoria (opens on Saturday 27 June)
- Melbourne Museum (opens on Saturday 27 June)
- Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre at Melbourne Museum (opens on Saturday 27 June)
- Scienceworks (opens on Saturday 27 June)
- Sovereign Hill, Ballarat (opens on Saturday 27 June)
- Heide Museum of Modern Arts (opens on Tuesday 30 June)
- Bendigo Art Gallery, Bendigo (reopened on 6 June)
Updated
Oh, and in case you had forgotten, the national cabinet will meet tomorrow.
Those meetings aren’t happening as frequently any longer, and mostly stay to a once-a-fortnight schedule.
Updated
Mark Butler is doing his best to keep at least some attention on Australia’s (lack of) energy policy in the midst of this pandemic:
The Australian Energy Council (AEC) has today become the latest significant business body to commit to net-zero emissions by 2050.
In adopting net-zero emissions by 2050, the AEC joins 73 nations, every state and territory in Australia, the Australian Industry Group, the Business Council of Australia, our biggest airline, our biggest mining company, our biggest bank, our biggest telecommunications provider and countless experts and scientists.
This shows just how out of step Scott Morrison is with both scientists and Australian business.
Unlike the PM, the AEC have listened to scientists like the CSIRO who have advised that adopting net-zero emissions will lead to stronger economic growth, higher real wages and lower energy bills.
Chief executive Sarah McNamara said: “The first step to reducing carbon emissions is agreement on a long-term target which can act as the starting point for constructive consensus.
“Settling on an economy-wide target will let us then decide the best ways to get there and what policy and mechanisms could be applied.”
This follows the release of new research by the University of Technology Sydney which shows continuing the Morrison government’s energy policy vacuum will cost 11,000 renewable energy jobs by 2022.
Yet just yesterday the government dismissed out of hand Labor’s genuine offer to develop a bipartisan energy investment framework that will support new investment, bring power prices down and deliver new jobs.
The Morrison government listened to the scientists when it came to our response to Covid-19. They need to listen to the scientists on climate change.
Updated
Still with AAP – it reports a Perth woman has been charged for going to work when she was meant to be in self-isolation:
Officers on Wednesday charged a 30-year-old woman who allegedly went to work and treated several patients at a dental practice in Perth’s northern suburbs, when she was meant to be self-quarantining after returning from interstate.
The woman tested negative to Covid-19 but has been charged with failing to comply with a direction and will face Joondalup magistrates court on 13 July.
Updated
The Western Derby is on, and in front of a crowd, but it will be limited, AAP reports:
The West Australian government has ruled out bringing forward phase 4 of eased Covid-19 restrictions by one day so attendance at a planned AFL match in Perth will not be limited to 30,000.
Health minister Roger Cook said Perth’s Optus Stadium would hold the biggest crowd seen “pretty much anywhere in the world” in many months, with the AFL poised to announce a Collingwood and Geelong game on 17 July and the Western Derby on 19 July.
Phase 4 of eased restrictions kicks in on 18 July, allowing stands to fill to the full 60,000 capacity.
Cook told reporters on Thursday:
Our rules are very clear on this. We’re really pleased that we’re getting to a point where we can see footy return to WA.
The Victorian teams will stay in hotel quarantine at Crown Perth, while the Eagles and Dockers have been cleared to serve their quarantine periods in their own homes.
It’s expected the WA hub will continue on a rolling basis, with another two Victorian teams taking the place of the Magpies and Cats.
Police commissioner Chris Dawson said fans would be prevented from attending training sessions and he urged the public to act sensibly when attending and leaving games.
Updated
On the arts and entertainment package, Tony Burke says:
Of the total dollar amount that the government refers to, they rarely make mention of the fact that the largest share – $90m of it – goes to loans.
[It’s] an industry that has had no support for the last 100 days, even though they’ve been shut down by government decree. There are many businesses who are in no position at all to be able to take on additional debt.
There are many businesses where a debt model doesn’t even work for the nature of their business.
We will work with industry to work through the detail as to how that $90m will actually work. For people in the visual arts sector, it is difficult to see how anything announced today applies to them at all.
And for venues in the performing arts sector, it is difficult to see how venues themselves will be able to get a benefit from this.
Let’s not forget the venues have no other purpose. They have been designed for that purpose. If we lose venues during this period, then businesses that want to run shows may well have government support but they won’t have anywhere to hold the shows.
And so, working through, we’ll work with business and industry as to how this, in fact, will apply to different venues is going to be critically important.
But there’s no gap bigger, today, than workers. The government should have used today to extend jobkeeper to arts and entertainment workers. These aren’t just the people who stand in the spotlight. They’re the people who build the stage and the people who hold the spotlight.
The moment the government decided that jobkeeper would not be available to people who’d been casuals for less than 12 months, they excluded many, many thousands of workers in this sector.
Updated
Tony Burke is holding a (two-flag) press conference. He says the government needs to announce what its plans are, beyond the September deadline, for business now:
Business needs certainty. Scott Morrison now has the review into jobkeeper. He’s got the document.
Business is making decisions now, this financial year, as to whether or not they are going to be able to keep people on. And we’ve heard the terrible news today for 6,000 people working at Qantas that their livelihood has now been lost.
For those workers, and we feel deeply for them and for their families, the government needs to heed the advice of both Qantas and the Virgin administrators and make a decision, and announce a decision to keep jobkeeper beyond September – certainly for that industry, and there’ll be wider implications as well.
The government isn’t working to the same timetable as the rest of the economy. Business needs to make its decision this financial year. Scott Morrison doesn’t want to announce anything until after the Eden-Monaro byelection. You can’t put politics ahead of the national interest. Business is making decisions for the next financial year now.
Their deadline is 30 June.
The fact that there’s a byelection being held after that in July is of no compensation for people who are now losing their jobs because of lack of business certainty.
Updated
This comes after the Black Lives Matter protests in Victoria were blamed by senior Australian government leaders, including Greg Hunt, for letting people think they could relax restrictions.
At the same time, the government was pushing to reopen the economy and “take it out of hibernation”, while pushing closed states to bring down their hard borders, and talks about bringing crowds back to the footy were being had, as restrictions were lifted.
It was also ahead of the Queen’s birthday long weekend, where people were being encouraged to travel domestically to help the tourism industry.
And the dinner the original report covered, took place on the weekend of 23-24 May. The protests were 6 June.
The common thread? Restrictions were being lifted and government MPs were pushing for the economy to open.
But obviously, that could have *nothing* to do with why people felt they could relax. Must be *something else*
Updated
South Australia is going to take another couple of weeks before it decides what to do about its hard border with NSW and Victoria (travellers from other states are allowed in).
Steven Marshall says the plan is to open to borders to everyone from 20 July, but it is an in-progress decision:
We’re still hopeful we can lift our borders on the 20th of July nationwide. That was the commitment we made.
But we also said we are not going to lift the restrictions if it puts undue pressure on our health services.
We are not going to be lifting the borders if it’s going to set us back in South Australia.
Updated
The private health fund lobby says the industry is waiting to see claims data before it makes its next steps in a post-lockdown move:
The commitment made by Australian health funds not to profit from the Covid-19 restriction remains. There has been no change.
As the government’s ban on elective (essential non-emergency) surgery lasted only six weeks, the savings predicted by some have not eventuated for health funds. However, the full and accurate picture will be known in a few months’ time when APRA claims data is released. It is at this point that health funds will evaluate their financial position in line with regulatory capital requirements and consider if savings need to be returned to members or if no savings eventuated as a result of Covid-19.
Private Healthcare Australia chief executive Dr Rachel David says Australia’s 13.6m health fund members can be assured that funds are already giving back to members in various ways including, but not limited to, premium relief, access to telehealth services and the rollover of extras benefits until next calendar year.
All health funds postponed the 1 April premium increase by six months.
Updated
Paul Fletcher and Bill Shorten will both appear on Q&A next week.
AAP has an update on Queensland tourism:
The impact of coronavirus on business in tropical Queensland tourism hotspot Airlie beach has been worse than a cyclone, according to locals.
Whitsunday Coast Chamber of Commerce president Allan Milostic estimates a third of businesses have been forced to shut in what is usually the region’s peak tourism season.
“I’ve been here 25 years and I’ve been through several cyclones, the GFC, international ups and downs, but nothing like this,” he told reporters on Thursday.
The Queensland government’s controversial border closure is “killing” business operators, he says.
Queenslanders are travelling within Queensland, but there are a lot more populous states that want to come here and we’re not giving them the chance.
It will be a death sentence for (businesses) if the borders stay closed for too long.
The government has spent weeks defending the decision to close borders in March after it drew ire from stakeholders across the country and sparked two high court challenges.
Updated
NSW health minister, Brad Hazzard, said he has been assured by the AFL and the NRL it won’t be selling tickets to NSW games to people who live in the Victorian Covid hotspots:
I yesterday spoke to the AFL and the NRL, and pointed out that we obviously have these concerns. They’re very aware of them. And I want to say thank you to the AFL and the NRL for their immediate and positive response to ensuring that they will take all necessary steps is humanly practicable to make sure there are no tickets being sold to Victorians, particularly Melbournites and the hot spots.
Not sure why you would keep mentioning the AAA credit rating, to follow it up with how that would be cold comfort for laid off workers, but Michael McCormack works in mysterious ways.
What support will the government provide beyond the end of jobkeeper, which is due to end in September?
Michael McCormack:
Well, of course, this decision has been announced this morning and the prime minister, who is in Sydney today, making an important announcement for another sector, which has been very hard hit – the arts and entertainment sector – these are things which we are discussing on a daily basis, whether it’s through cabinet, whether it’s through the expenditure review committee.
We are meeting stake-holders each and every hour, each and every day, talking with them. This is a global pandemic. Australia has been cushioned from the effects of this global downturn, because of the jobkeeper and jobseeker announcements and provisions that we have made.
We have guaranteed our AAA credit rating. I say again that, whilst thank that is very good and whilst our health and economic outcomes through the Covid crisis have been very, very good, it is still cold comfort for those 6,000 people who’ve lost their jobs and we understand just how difficult that is, and we understand also aviation - whilst it was hit first and hardest out of Covid-19 – it’s not the only sector.
Qantas is not the only business that has been really rocked to its core by Covid-19. Right across Australia, businesses have been very hard hit.
That’s why they’re fortunate they’ve got a government there who’ve had their backs.
That’s why it’s very fortunate that, through the national cabinet procession we’ve been able to keep the mortality rates very, very low and the case rates at a world-best record levels, but still I have great empathy for those 6,000 people today.
Updated
Michael McCormack continues:
...If the planes aren’t in the air, there’s not the necessary need for them to be with their employer.
Qantas is 100 years old this year. It’s the centenary of Qantas this year. It should have been a very special time for Qantas, or celebrating 100 years of achievement, the oldest continuing airline in the world and as we know, the aviation industry operates in very slim margins.
It is a very difficult business at the best of times to make ends meet, let alone when have you a global pandemic, that has shut down international flights, that has shut down, largely, aviation sector. And so for Qantas this has been a very difficult decision to take and make.
For Qantas, they have made the decision, of course, to help their company restructure and recapitalise going forward and to protect the jobs that will still be engaged and connected to the company.
If they didn’t make this decision today, and didn’t make this announcement today, who knows what might have happened to the other 24,000 people who are still on Qantas’s books going forward from here?
We need to remember that. We need to remember that Qantas is a big employer. It’s been a great Australian company. It will go on being a great Australian company, and the government will, of course, be in close contact with Qantas, with the CEO, Alan Joyce, with the aviation sector as a whole, to see what assistance we can provide going forward.
Updated
Michael McCormack:
We will do, as a government, all we can to obviously provide assistance for not only them but, indeed, for the aviation sector as a whole going forward.
Of course, Josh Frydenberg, the treasurer, Mathias Cormann, the finance minister, will stand on 23 July to outline the economic plan going forward, because, of course, jobkeeper is scheduled to finish at the end of September. And we will see what assistance measures we will need to do to help not just aviation but, indeed, the economy.
Fortunately, of course, we’ve retained our AAA credit rating and, of course, overnight much, the economic outlook internationally has Australia positioned very well. But that’s very cold comfort, of course, for those 6,000 people who have lost their jobs and, of course, we have to think of them today and make sure that we provide every bit of care and support for them.
Updated
'Hopefully there will be other jobs for them in the future'
The deputy prime minister is speaking about the Qantas redundancies.
He is doing a very Michael McCormack job of it.
It’s a gut-wrenching day, a very difficult day, a very dark day for not only the aviation industry but, indeed, for those 6,000 Qantas family members who have lost their jobs today.
This is so difficult for them. I understand and appreciate, as the aviation minister, how difficult this is for Qantas, but how difficult this is for the aviation sector as a whole.
We want, more than anything, a strong and viable aviation sector. And I know the decisions taken by Qantas today are in the best interests of their company going forward. That said, it is very, very hard.
These members of the Qantas group who will lose their jobs are like a family. They are. And for them, it is going to be so, so difficult, not knowing their futures. And I understand, I have absolute empathy for them. I know what it’s like to lose a job and to not know what the future holds. And for those Qantas employees, the fortunate thing for them is that they are true professionals.
The good thing for them is that they have been very, very good at their jobs and hopefully there will be other jobs for them in the future, perhaps with Qantas as the sector rebounds. But for them, it is still going to be very, very difficult.
Via AAP:
Agricultural societies that cancelled shows because of Covid-19 will get federal government funding to ensure they continue.
All societies that cancelled shows in 2020 will be eligible and won’t have to compete for assistance, agriculture minister David Littleproud announced in Brisbane on Thursday.
Societies can be reimbursed for costs like utilities, rates, insurance, fire alarms and equipment, cleaning supplies, telecommunications, IT system licensing costs, website costs, show body affiliation fees and rent.
Littleproud said the funding will support shows in capital cities and country towns.
“There is a real risk that if we don’t help that not only could Royal Shows cease to function the way they are now but also those small shows all of which are run by volunteers could fold,” he said.
Littleproud encouraged states and territories to also make a contribution to help agricultural shows survive the impact of Covid-19.
Updated
What needs to happen for Victoria to avoid a lockdown (either localised or statewide)? Mostly, testing needs to increase.
Some very important info here in restrictions and what needs to happen to avoid local lockdowns. @abcmelbourne @abcnews pic.twitter.com/uGHdtkW5ev
— Richard Willingham (@rwillingham) June 25, 2020
Updated
ACTU president Michelle O’Neil has also responded to the Qantas job cut decision:
The government must announce today that it will extend jobkeeper beyond September.
We know we’re not going to be through this pandemic and the crisis that is involved from it in our economy and labour market by September.
We need that certainty today.
And we need Alan Joyce to reverse this decision. Shockingly, he has not consulted with the representatives of these workers. He has not sat down with the unions that represent Qantas workers and said, “What else can be done?”
And you know what? Alan Joyce is the highest paid executive in the country. A man who earns nearly $24m. And I note, as part of this announcement, has his job secure until the middle of 2023.
So if it’s good enough to secure Alan Joyce’s job, why isn’t it good enough to reverse these decisions, sit down with unions, ensure the federal government extends jobkeeper, and try and save these jobs instead of throwing your hands in the air?
So we have a message for Alan Joyce, and we have a message for Scott Morrison. Alan Joyce should reverse this decision, should announce what they’ve done with the millions of dollars of government subsidy they’ve already received, and should work with us to save Qantas workers’ jobs.
Updated
Unsurprisingly, the ABS also reports households in Australia are now poorer:
Average household wealth decreased 2.3% (down $9,982) to $428,585 per person, the largest decrease since the September quarter 2011, according to figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
A fall in superannuation balances (8.2%) and directly held equity holdings (5.3%) contributed to reversing the household wealth gain in the December 2019 quarter. These falls were partly offset by a real (inflation adjusted) holding gain on land and dwellings of 1.9%. Overall, total household wealth decreased 1.8% in the March quarter 2020. A 0.5% increase in the population was the reason average wealth fell more than total wealth.
ABS chief economist Bruce Hockman said: “The March quarter 2020 financial account reflects the Australian financial markets early response to the economic uncertainty brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Private trading corporations, superannuation, non-financial and non-money market investment funds responded to the events of the March quarter 2020 by increasing liquidity in deposit balances. Private trading corporations increased deposit balances by 8.5%, in anticipation that Covid-19 would negatively impact cash flows and their ability to cover expenses. Non-financial and non-money market investment funds boosted deposit balances to meet anticipated redemptions, largely from superannuation. Superannuation deposits also increased in preparation for members request for superannuation entitlements early.
The deposit assets of banks increased 60.5%, as the Reserve Bank of Australia injected extra liquidity into the financial system.
Updated
Further to that post about the ABS job vacancies is this statement from the bureau:
Job vacancies in the private sector fell by 45%, and by 29% in the public sector.
In original series terms, falls in vacancies were seen in all states and territories. The largest fall was in Victoria, which decreased by more than half (52%).
Three of the industries most heavily impacted by recent job losses also showed the largest declines in job vacancies.
“Vacancies in the arts and recreation services industry fell 95%, followed by rental, hiring and real estate (down 68%), and accommodation and food services (down 66%),” Bjorn Jarvis said.
Additional ABS analysis showed that 93% of businesses reported no vacancies at all in May 2020, up from 88% in the previous May. This was particularly high in the Arts and recreation services industry (close to 100%), and the accommodation and food services industry (98%).
Updated
The number of job vacancies in Australia decreased by 43% over the May 2020 quarter, the largest fall on record, the Australian Bureau of Statistics has reported.
What a record fall in job vacancies looks like... pic.twitter.com/JcU43xqUvL
— Shane Wright (@swrighteconomy) June 25, 2020
Updated
Morning recap
Well, that has been quite the morning.
Just to recap, in case you have missed some earlier posts:
- Qantas has announced it is laying off 6,000 workers, as well as keeping many of the furloughed 15,000 workers stood down.
- It has mothballed 12 A-380s in the Mojave desert.
- It doesn’t expect to start flying internationally again until at least July next year, but doesn’t expect pre-Covid levels of flying to start up for another three years.
- It hopes to have a fraction of its domestic market up and running by the end of the year as borders open.
- Scott Morrison has announced a $250m arts and entertainment rescue package.
- The prime minister has confirmed he and his finance team are working on “targeted support” packages.
- Victoria has recorded 33 new Covid cases in the last 24 hours. It has started a mass ‘suburban blitz” testing program, where up to 50% of hotspot residents will be tested.
- The ADF will help Victoria with hotel quarantine and logistics of transporting Covid-19 tests.
Updated
Michael Kaine said workers are particularly upset at hearing their job losses announced as “right-sizing”:
Well, this is a decision that’s cutting them to the core. They have been sideswiped, they have been taken by surprise. They are absolutely offended that they are the victims of right-sizing. What is right-sizing? It is just a buzz word to try and lift the share price of this company. That is not the way these Australian workers, that have built this company from the ground up, should be treated.
...It is outrageous and offensive that Mr Joyce would use buzzwords like “right-sizing” to describe workers losing their jobs, to describe families who have contributed to Australian working life, who have contributed to building the reputation of a very proud international airline, who have contributed to Australian life by paying their taxes. It is offensive that they are now subject to a buzzword, which is “right-sizing”.
Updated
Michael Kaine continued:
Now, the only consistent position for this government to take is to extend jobkeeper, to put in place an AviationKeeper package for the industry to ensure that the aviation sector is ready to rock’n’roll again as the restrictions are removed.
These restrictions were put in place by the government, and now the government must face up to the consequences.
And the logic of the position is there as well. The prime minister has said that, as the virus passes in certain sectors of the economy – and he’s already done this – jobkeeper will be lifted.
Well, the logic follows that if your decisions mean that certain sectors of the economy are still closed, jobkeeper should be extended.
Prime minister, you need to put AviationKeeper in place as a matter of urgency.
Mr Joyce, you need to put these redundancies on hold, you need to give these 6,000 Australian families some extra hope, some extra time, so that we can work through this as a community. It is not up to Qantas to dictate economic and virus policy in this country. It’s up to the elected government of Australia. And it’s time for that elected government to stand up right now.
Updated
TWU national secretary Michael Kaine has addressed the Qantas job losses. He says the government needs to step up:
In circumstances where all around the world, from Germany to Hong Kong to Italy to the Netherlands, governments are pumping money into aviation because they understand just how critical aviation is to the economy and to workers and their families. Now, what have we had today from the Prime Minister?
Again, silence. We’ve had the prime minister say to those workers, “I extend my regrets to you”.
Well, prime minister, those workers are much less interested in you extending your regrets, and much, much more interested in you extending jobkeeper. And that’s exactly what you should do.
We just heard that you intend to sit down with the treasurer urgently. You should do that, prime minister. That’s what we have been asking you to do as a workforce for months now. Countries around the world are doing it, and you must do it. Aviation is the gateway to the global economy. Mr Joyce, you must put these redundancies on hold. It makes no sense for you to make hasty decisions about the shape of the workforce until you know the shape of this government’s support.
Updated
Scott Morrison confirms 'targeted support'
He finishes that answer with:
We know that’s the challenge in the entertainment industry. And they will similarly be affected long after that. In many other sectors, though, we’re seeing a return. We’re seeing businesses open again, and they’re in a much stronger position.
So, we know that there needs to be targeted support. We’re working on how that targeted support can be best delivered.
And that’s why I’ll be returning back to Canberra again today to spend quite a few more hours in a room with Josh Frydenberg and Mathias Cormann and my other colleagues, as we have been doing all week on this very issue.
Updated
On jobkeeper, the prime minister repeats the line that the government is working on a plan:
Well, we are working through those issues right now. They are very complex. What I said, as Alan [Joyce] faithfully repeated today, was that we know that there are sectors that will continue to be held down by the Covid recession, because of the restrictions that are in place, such as in this sector, or in the global aviation sector, which has been decimated.
And what Qantas has been able to do, despite the global impact in the aviation sector has been quite extraordinary, despite the awful news today.
And so I was very clear last night that we know that those sectors that continue to be significantly affected will need continued support.
And so we are just working through the best way to target and deliver that support. As he said today, whether it’s through jobkeeper or other measures, what matters is actually an understanding that that’s the problem. We know that’s the challenge.
Updated
Scott Morrison addressed the Victorian situation:
There are a few challenges in Melbourne at the moment.
But as we said, there will be outbreaks, there will be changes. And what can’t happen is we can’t go stop-go, stop-go.
We can’t flick the light on and off and on and off and on and off. That would be very difficult for the artists, the producers, who are bringing together productions to have that uncertainty hanging over them.
What I’m saying is we’re moving ahead, we’re going ahead. We’ve built the protections to deal with outbreaks, whether that involves, as when I spoke to premier Andrews the other night and he sought that support from the ADF and it was provided immediately, I got straight on to the phone to general Campbell, and we threw the plan into action.
If that’s what it takes, then that’s what we’ll do. Because that’s what’s gonna keep people in jobs. We can respond to these outbreaks. We can deal with it.
We are dealing with the coronavirus, the Covid-19, better than almost any country in the world. And that’s gotta give us confidence to be able to move ahead, whether it’s in this sector or any of the other sectors. But there will be sectors that will be harder hit for longer, and that’s what today is about.
Updated
Scott Morrison is taking questions on the arts and entertainment package, which Murph has written about:
What this package is about is creating the new shows, the new productions, the new performances.
Now, the vast majority of people are working in this sector, and businesses, as we heard, effectively their revenue has gone to zero.
They haven’t gone down by 30% or 50%, they’ve gone down by 95-100%.
And the only thing that gets those jobs stood up again is the production starting again, and so whether it’s Harry Potter down in Melbourne, or Hamilton coming – or any of these sorts of big productions, I mean, the scale of these enterprises is large.
And so we will see, you know, tens, hundreds of thousands of people as the industry gets back up on its feet, both through these programs and the multipliers that come from these productions, going and getting running again.
One of the things we learned as we listened to the sector is that these shows are typically put on out of people’s own capital.
They often will not even go to the bank to secure any loans against the production itself. So, they’ve been running down their own capital.
They’ve been pulling off their own superannuation to pay their staff on top of what they’ve been getting through jobkeeper. And that means their capital is largely shot.
And so the lesson for us was we had to fill the capital pool again for them. And we’ve done that in two ways. We’ve done it through direct grants, effectively equity. And without taking ownership stake!
Updated
Here is the official statement on the Victorian plan:
Statement from the Premier on the Suburban Testing Blitz: pic.twitter.com/83Le7IFeW2
— Dan Andrews (@DanielAndrewsMP) June 25, 2020
Updated
Daniel Andrews says Victoria is enacting strategies developed in national cabinet to deal with outbreaks:
This suburban testing blitz is all about finding all of those people that have this virus, then having them quarantined in their home with appropriate support.
It’s about bringing further stability to these numbers. The numbers will grow, but that’s exactly the strategy: find these cases.
The real trick in this virus is what you don’t know, until, of course, it’s too late.
Rather than waiting for an unsustainable number of community transmissions to become known, we are going to go out and literally door-to-door we are bringing the public health and coronavirus response to your doorstep, if you are in these worst-affected suburbs.
And I obviously – I anticipate that people will be very cooperative, people will work with us.
But I’ll ask, if someone knocks on your door and invites you to take a free test, particularly if it only involves going down the end of your street, or, in fact, may, once the saliva test is up and running, be able to do it on your doorstep, that is a powerful contribution, a powerful contribution to all of us beating this thing, and delivering the strategy that was agreed to at national cabinet level.
That is to suppress this virus, to contain it, but inevitably to live with outbreaks, and, in some cases, for many, many months to come. I just can’t stress this enough.
We will see these numbers go up in coming days. That will be a measure of the work that we’re doing, a measure of the success of this strategy.
Updated
The Doherty Institute has also helped develop a new test:
The Doherty, as you know, we’ve provided them some funding to do all sorts of work on this virus.
They were the first research institute outside China to be able to – in fact, a world-first, to be able to break this virus down and to give us the most complete picture in really raw, basic science. They’ve done a fantastic job.
They are really one of the very best medical research institutes anywhere in the world, particularly when it comes to infectious diseases.
They’ve developed this important saliva test, where a sample is placed in a cup. You need much less PPE. You can administer the test yourself. It’s a more pleasant experience than the current test. It won’t completely replace the current test, it won’t change the amount of time that the laboratory takes to analyse the test, but it will certainly reduce the time taken to take that sample, to actually conduct the test.
So, that’s something that all Victorians should be proud of.
That’s not been rolled out anywhere else in the country, so it will be done here first.
And I think we’re aiming to have those tests, at least a portion of our overall testing, will be done via those means from Monday next week. So, basically this is a massive boost to testing capacity. It is unprecedented.
Updated
Daniel Andrews says the other eastern states (and Tasmania) have offered support in processing the Victorian tests:
I have reached out to the premiers of New South Wales, Tasmania, South Australia and Queensland, and I’m very pleased to say that they have agreed and I’m very grateful – that they have agreed to give us some of the lab capacity that they have.
The ADF will be in charge of transporting those samples to capital cities for them, in turn, to go to laboratories, and for those tests to be processed.
So, that’s another really key part of the ADF support that we’ve asked for, and that we’ve received. And I thank the prime minister very much for agreeing to do that.
Updated
Daniel Andrews on the ADF deployment:
I’ve asked the prime minister – and I’m very grateful that he’s agreed – to provide ADF support in a number of areas. Firstly, medical teams to support with those big, really big testing sites. Some other transportation support, particularly getting people from the airport to hotel quarantine. And also some of the sort of administrative and logistical support that we see each and every fire season.
We certainly saw it last fire season.
Teams of people who will work in DHHS, and at the State Control Centre, just to coordinate what is a massive logistical task.
We’re very grateful that that request for support has been granted.
There is one other area that the ADF will work very hard to support us, and that is in terms of doing more testing, we needed to grow our overall testing capacity.
Our laboratories can do about 18,000 tests per day. As you can see, we did more than 20,000 just yet. We’ll be doing more than 20,000 when you count overall Victorian testing and the really targeted Keilor Downs, Broadmeadows, and other suburban testing – that blitz will mean we need more testing capacity.
Updated
Also to be included in the suburban testing blitz over the next 10 days:
- Keilor Downs
- Broadmeadows
- Maidstone
- Sunshine West
- Albanvale
- Hallam
- Brunswick West
- Reservoir
- Pakenham
- Fawkner
Updated
Daniel Andrews announces a “suburban testing blitz” in Keilor Downs and Broadmeadows, with the aim of testing at least half the residents in those two suburbs:
Those two suburbs, with the highest number of community transmission cases, we will test 50% of those suburbs over the next three days.
There will literally be hundreds and hundreds – indeed, the entire team is a thousand-strong – door knockers out there, talking to the community, inviting them to come and get a free test, whether they be symptomatic or asymptomatic.
That will be done in lots of new ways. For instance, we have ambulances and other vans that will literally be at the end of people’s streets. So, they will be invited to come and get a test, and they’ll only have to travel 50 metres or 100 metres in order to complete that test.
Updated
Victoria records 33 new coronavirus cases
- Seven of those are in hotel quarantine.
- Nine are from known outbreaks.
- Six are from routine testing.
- 11 are still under investigation.
Updated
Scott Morrison opens his press conference on the Qantas news, which he calls “heartbreaking”:
Many of those will be in my electorate of Cook in southern Sydney, as they will be in many parts of our city.
And this will be a hard few months, these are hard days in Australia. They’re very hard days. And our strength and our togetherness is tested on on almost a daily basis and Australians, continue to prove themselves strong,
But we’re going to really need to call on that strength in the months ahead, and certainly true of the Qantas family who will be hurting badly today.
I extend my, my deepest, my deepest regrets about what is had to be announced today.
The thing about Qantas employees, is they’re passionate about the company that they work for and the business they’re in and they understand that ultimately, that when you can’t put planes in the air, then the business can’t make money.
And I know that they will understand that but it won’t make it any easier.
And so I had a very good discussion last night with Alan Joyce, as he referred to today.
And we’ll certainly be continuing to do everything we currently are doing, [to support] other parts of the aviation sector.
But as I’ve said many times, there will be parts of our economy, that will feel the effects of the Covid recession, for much longer.
And that is true here in the entertainment industry and the media in the arts as well.
So, I reached out to those Qantas employees, not just those who obviously will be no longer with the company and say we will be there to support them through the many other programs, and to to assist them as they look for new opportunities and other parts of the economy as the Australian economy builds back.
Updated
Scott Morrison press conference
Scott Morrison is at Rooty Hill, where he says he saw Tina Arena with his wife.
Because of course he did.
Updated
A 27-year-old soldier in Port Moresby has become Papua New Guinea’s 10th confirmed case of Covid-19.
The soldier, who is stationed at the defence force’s Murray Barracks but lives off-site in shared accommodation in the capital, was tested as part of a mass testing of barracks staff after an Australian defence force officer tested positive earlier this month.
The Australian officer has been flown to Australia for treatment in quarantine.
PNG’s police commissioner David Manning said the new infection case was “evidence of local transmission in Port Moresby and the risk is very high that more cases may be identified in the coming days”.
“The identification of this case provides Papua New Guineans need to take responsibility and remain vigilant to stop the chain of transmission,” Manning said.
“The country needs to work together to apply the ‘Niupela Pasin’ or the ‘new normal’. This will involve changing our old ways of doing things and replacing them with behaviours and actions to reduce the risk of getting infection.”
Jim Chalmers has repeated Labor’s claim that jobkeeper needs to be extended beyond September:
The prime minister’s claim that Australia’s recession is not as bad as other countries like the US will be cold comfort to the hundreds of thousands of Australians excluded from jobkeeper who have been forced to join the unemployment queues.
The IMF’s World Economic Outlook echoed recent concerns from the OECD, the RBA, and the Australian business community about the impact of a possible “snapback” when it noted that the withdrawal of support “should proceed gradually to avoid precipitating sudden income losses and bankruptcies just as the economy is beginning to regain its footing”.
Unemployment is worse than it needs to be, the recession is deeper than necessary, and the recovery will be that much harder because Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg have bungled key programs like jobkeeper.
Labor wants Australian workers, businesses and communities to do well during this crisis which is why we have been making constructive contributions since the virus outbreak began.
Updated
New South Wales chief medical officer, Dr Kerry Chant, says NSW is reclassifying the death of an 85-year-old man who died at the Opal Care Aged Care Facility in April, as a Covid-related death.
The man’s death (on 27 April) brings the national death toll to 104.
Updated
'Don't visit Victoria'
Brad Hazzard is asking the “Victorian cousins” to not visit regional New South Wales and to “not come to Sydney” and vice versa:
My message to NSW residents is, don’t visit Victoria, don’t in particular visit Melbourne hotspots. Indeed if you don’t have to go to Melbourne, don’t go to Melbourne, for the time being.
That is not something I want to be saying. I think Victoria and NSW has been in this together, we work very hard on these issues, but just at the moment, it is clear that for the foreseeable future, it would be helpful if NSW residents were not travelling to hotspots for Melbourne, were not travelling to Melbourne, if you can avoid it, and certainly if you come back here, you should be taking some precautionary steps.
...Normally we welcome our Victorian cousins into NSW, very happy to have them, but right now, I am asking Victorians, particularly those from the hotspots in Melbourne, to not come to regional NSW and not come to Sydney.
Updated
New South Wales health minister Brad Hazzard said he heard a funeral was held in NSW yesterday, where people were “cheek to jowl”.
He said there were up to 200 people at the funeral and there was no social distancing and no hand sanitiser on offer.
He said he has seen pubs and clubs with people standing close together, instead of people sitting down, spaced apart.
Hazzard said what is happening in Victoria should serve as a wake up call to NSW residents.
Updated
WA has rethought its August date after the Victorian surge in cases.
Queensland has 10 July marked as its open date
South Australia has said it will open to everyone (although Victoria is under review) by 20 July, after staggering its openings for WA, Tasmania, Queensland and the ACT.
Just back to Alan Joyce for a moment, this is what he had to say about the borders:
So obviously we’d like the borders to be opened up as soon as possible, but we recognise the management of the COVID-19 has been a priority for everybody, but we do think that there’s 1 million jobs dependent on the tourism industry.
We know today that Qantas has this financial strength, has the bandwidth to get through to the end of 2021 even if nothing happens.
A lot of businesses stalled. And also, small tour operators, and some of them - even the big hotel chains need these certainly on this of the borders opening up.
So we’re continuing to encourage the states, we’re continuing to ask them to try and get the borders to open.
NSW has reported four new cases in the last 24 hours, three of which are in hotel quarantine.
The other case was a seven-year-old boy, which has caused the closure of Lane Cove west primary school.
That school will be deep cleaned, and close contacts are being traced.
An additional testing clinic has been set up at the North Shore hospital for that school community.
Alan Joyce says he will continue not taking a salary, there are no bonuses being paid to executives this year, and he has asked [executive] staff to take a 15% pay cut.
Qantas boss Alan Joyce is addressing the media and says there won’t be any international flights until July next year.
Its fleet of 12 Airbus A380s, long-haul planes with a capacity of more than 800 passengers, will be grounded for three years.
“The aircraft are being put into the Mojave desert,” Joyce says.
Mothballed aircraft are frequently stored in desert locations because the dry conditions reduce corrosion.
But nothing can change the reality – there is not the work for Qantas employees to do.
Qantas is not expecting international travel to pick up until at least July next year.
It has parked its biggest planes for three years.
It’s hoping to get up to at least 40% of its domestic business back by the end of the year, but that’s still a massive cut.
Updated
Qantas CEO Alan Joyce says he has been speaking to Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg about jobkeeper now, as he believes an issue the size of Qantas’s helps illustrate what cutting jobkeeper off in September would do to businesses.
Jetstar took 200 bookings a minute last week, selling 200,000 seats on the strength of some border opening announcements.
Updated
Alan Joyce says he is “very keen” for the domestic borders to be open, to get the domestic travel industry up and running again.
He says he is talking to the states about doing that “in the proper way”.
Updated
Qantas has parked its A-380s for three years.
That’s because it doesn’t expect international travel to take off again anytime soon
This comes after the IMF said it believed Australia would do a little better than it first thought.
CBA economists have just revised up their forecasts for the Oz economy ... tipping a 3.2% contraction in 2020 (was 4.2%) and GDP growth of 2% in 2021.
— Shane Wright (@swrighteconomy) June 24, 2020
Updated
Alan Joyce says he has had a “good conversation” with Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg about extending the jobkeeper wage subsidy beyond September.
Alan Joyce says he will remain CEO to see through the transitional plan.
The airline is preparing to get through to 2022. If the industry doesn’t recover by then, Joyce says there will be other problems.
Updated
Where is Qantas making the cuts?
These span the following areas of Qantas and Jetstar:
•Non-operational – at least 1,450 job losses, mainly in corporate roles, due to less flying activity.
•Ground operations – at least 1,500 job losses across airports, baggage handling, fleet presentation and ramp operations due to less flying activity.
•Cabin crew – at least 1,050 job losses due to early retirement of the 747s and less flying activity. A further 6,900 cabin crew will be on stand down from July 2020 onwards.
•Engineering – at least 630 job losses due to 747 retirement, less flying activity (particularly of the wide-body fleet) and redistribution of work from Jetstar’s Newcastle base to make better use of existing maintenance capacity in Melbourne.
•Pilots – at least 220 job losses mostly due to early retirement of the 747s. A further 2,900 pilots will be on stand down from July 2020 onward.
The airline is also immediately retiring its remaining 747s, six months ahead of schedule.
Updated
It’s Thursday, which means it is ‘Peter Dutton on Ray Hadley love in day’ – but not today!
The Sydney radio 2GB shock jock just said Dutton was on leave “for a couple of weeks”.
I’m sure we’ll find out who the acting home affairs minister is very soon.
Updated
Some context for the arts rescue package:
The government’s entire arts package is two thirds of the budget of Christopher Nolan’s new film.
— Andy Hazel (@AndyRickie) June 24, 2020
$90m of the $250m is in concessional loans. So people will have to pay it back
AAP has an update on the court challenge to Queensland and WA’s borders being closed:
Lawyers fighting over coronavirus border closures are having trouble agreeing on where to have a preliminary hearing because the borders are closed.
Billionaire businessman Clive Palmer and business group Travel Essence have been joined by Victoria and the Commonwealth seeking to reopen the Queensland and West Australian borders, which have been closed since March.
WA’s Solicitor General Joshua Thomson SC is in favour of video-link but Mr Palmer’s lawyer, Peter Dunning QC, wants it heard in Canberra, where there’s a “hot tub of experts”.
Federal Court Justice Darryl Rangiah wondered how the border closures would affect the plan.
“I think we can leave Queensland, Mr Dunning, but will we be allowed back in?” he asked with a grin on Wednesday.
“Canberra is not a hotspot,” Mr Dunning fired back.
“Queenslanders can all go to the ACT and return without difficulty because the border restriction does not fix upon ordinary residents.”
Justice Rangiah agreed it was an attractive option.
“I have found it quite difficult to manage even the case management hearing by video-link,” he said from his Brisbane courtroom.
Mr Thomson and Queensland’s Solicitor General Sandy Thompson QC were not as enthusiastic.
We will have to take instructions, they said.
It comes a week after plans for a June High Court hearing on the state’s constitutional rights to keep its borders shut was abandoned.
Chief Justice Susan Kiefel ordered the parties to the Federal Court after they could not agree on key facts about COVID-19 transmission that the hearing could be based upon.
A two-day hearing to determine these has now been set in the lower court for July 13 and 14.
However, the matter will return to the Federal Court before that for another case management hearing on July 10.
Meanwhile, in Victoria:
Defence increases support to Victoria @lindareynoldswa #COVID19Vic #auspol pic.twitter.com/K43LU4z9z6
— Political Alert (@political_alert) June 24, 2020
Updated
Queensland has reported zero coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours.
Qantas will sack 6,000 workers as part of a plan to recover from the coronavirus pandemic that will also see it go to the market for an additional $1.9bn in funding.
An additional 15,000 workers will remain stood down “for some time”, until domestic and international flights resume, said the airline’s chief executive, Alan Joyce.
Qantas has about 30,000 workers.
It’s a bitter blow for workers, and the entire airline sector, which is already dealing with the collapse into administration of the Qantas rival Virgin Australia.
Qantas has talked up its prospects during the crisis, raising money by mortgaging its planes to keep going. But today’s announcement is a recognition that it is anything but immune to the effects of a crippling shutdown that has already pushed Virgin to the brink.
Updated
So on top of the 15,000 or so workers who have been stood down, Qantas is cutting 6,000 jobs as part of its announcement today.
Updated
Here is how Alan Joyce has described it:
The plan has three immediate actions to safeguard the national carrier’s future and the majority of jobs it supports.
The first is to rightsize our workforce, fleet and capital spending for a world that has less flying for an extended period.
The second is restructuring to deliver ongoing savings across the group’s operations in a changed market.
And the third is recapitalising through an equity raise that will strengthen our balance sheet and accelerate our recovery.
The actions we must take will have a huge impact on thousands of our people.
This is something that weighs heavily on all of us. But the collapse of billions of dollars in revenue leaves us little choice if we are to save as many jobs as possible, long term.
Many of the 6,000 job losses we’re announcing today are people who have spent decades here. It’s not unusual to have several members of one family working at Qantas and Jetstar. What makes this even harder is that right before this crisis hit, we were actively recruiting. We were gearing up for Project Sunrise. We were getting ready to buy planes. Now, we’re facing a sudden reversal of fortune that is no one’s fault – but is very hard to accept. Across the world, airlines are shrinking by up to 50%.
To avoid anything on this scale, we will be extending the stand down for a large number of our people as we wait for the recovery we know is coming. Separate to job losses, about 15,000 people will remain stood down for some time – people for whom we have no work now, but will in future.
Around half of those stood down will be back flying domestically, we think, by the end of the year. The remainder – mostly those supporting international flying – will return more slowly.
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Qantas to be a 'smaller airline' in the short term, CEO says
Alan Joyce has given his speech to the ASX. In it he outlines the Qantas short-term plan, which means, in his words, becoming a “smaller airline”.
This crisis has still hit us very hard. And the impact will be felt for a long time – particularly, I’m very sorry to say, the impact on our people.
There are some green shoots domestically.
We’re planning to be back to 40% of our pre-crisis domestic flying during July and hopefully more in the months that follow … but we’ll be living with Covid for some time and recent events show we can’t take a low infection rate for granted.
It’s clear that international travel is likely to be stalled for a long time. IATA – the peak body for airlines – says it will take more than three years for global travel to return to 2019 levels.
That means all airlines – including Qantas – must take action now. We have to position ourselves for several years where revenues will be much lower. And that means becoming a smaller airline in the short term.
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Qantas in trading halt
The “Spirit of Australia” airline is in a trading halt at the ASX before an announcement.
It is expected to announce job cuts of up to 20% of its workforce across Qantas and Jetstar, as well as capital-raising plans.
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Victoria’s premier, Daniel Andrews, will hold his press conference at 10.30(ish).
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Scott Morrison will hold a press conference at 10am.
'Serious' Victoria situation risks a 'second wave'
Dr Tony Bartone is one of the people speaking to the Senate Covid-19 inquiry today.
He says sending in the ADF in Victoria gives “a very strong message that this is serious”, (because I guess nothing says serious like military uniforms on the street):
We have always said right from the beginning that as we begin
to relax those measures in terms of the restrictions that we have had over the last few months, the restrictions that have protected the community so well and that the community has really significantly taken to, as we relax those measures, we expected to see sporadic localised outbreaks … now clearly some of the message has been lost.It has been a long number of months in terms of dealing with it and complacency has possibly started to set in and it is a reminder that the virus is still there. It needs to be treated with due caution, due respect and this is not over for indeed, many months to come until we get a vaccine to assist us with prevention.
The R number, the 2.5, is one of the highest levels that we have for a number of months. We need to really drive that down. We need to get on top of this before it becomes anything more and leads us into a second wave.
So is it a second wave? Earlier this week Australia’s chief medical officer, Prof Brendan Murphy (who finishes up on Friday, after delaying his leave date because of the pandemic – he is due to pick up the health department reins), said there was no definition of a “second wave”.
Bartone:
Look, we can get caught up in semantics, but if we bury our head in the sand and if we don’t jump on this immediately and with everything we have got, it will most definitely become a second wave.
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Meanwhile, Australia’s chief medical lobby, the Australian Medical Association, is pushing for Australia to have it’s own version of the Centre of Disease Control.
Dr Tony Bartone told the ABC that the expert medical panel which has been advising the government needs permanency.
Bartone points out that a lot of our experts are going above and beyond their usual duties – and we can’t keep relying on that.
He told the ABC:
What we have seen is the importance of having medical leadership entrenched in the decision-making activity and that has been the core of it, but it has happened all because of goodwill, you might say. The ad hoc way that AHPCC is set up, there is no real long-term resourcing …
It doesn’t have, it needs that sort of permanency to guide it through the non-pandemic periods. We have seen with Zika virus and Sars, these biosecurity risks will always continue to be prevalent. There will be more in the future. We can’t rely on goodwill and the people in those positions. We need to have permanency of both funding of processing of research to make sure we have got the right response in the pandemic.
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In less than cheery news, the IMF is predicting an even deeper depression then it did in April because of what it calls the “Great Lockdown”.
But there is some slightly good news for Australia in the rather depressing report:
Following the release of the April 2020 WEO, the pandemic rapidly intensified in a number of emerging market and developing economies, necessitating stringent lockdowns and resulting in even larger disruptions to activity than forecast. In others, recorded infections and mortality have instead been more modest on a per capita basis, although limited testing implies considerable uncertainty about the path of the pandemic. In many advanced economies, the pace of new infections and hospital intensive care occupancy rates have declined thanks to weeks of lockdowns and voluntary distancing.
First-quarter GDP was generally worse than expected (the few exceptions include, for example, Chile, China, India, Malaysia, and Thailand, among emerging markets, and Australia, Germany, and Japan, among advanced economies). High-frequency indicators point to a more severe contraction in the second quarter, except in China, where most of the country had reopened by early April.
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With climate change the other big issue impacting future economies, you may also be interested in this piece from Adam Morton:
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Katharine Murphy has the deets on the government’s arts and entertainment package – an industry which will be one of the last to recover, economically, from the pandemic:
Prior to Thursday’s announcement, the emergency relief for the arts from Canberra has consisted of a $27m package, announced in April, directed to regional organisations, Indigenous organisations and music industry outreach outfit Support Act, and the Australia Council’s repurposing of $5m in existing funding for small, quick-release grants.
Thursday’s package includes a $75m grant program that will provide capital to help Australian production and events businesses put on new festivals, concerts, tours and other events as social distancing restrictions ease. Grants will range from $75,000 to $2m.
Screen Australia will administer a $50m fund to help finance local productions that have shut down to comply with public health measures. In addition to the social distancing requirements, many productions had to fold because they could not secure insurance.
The government will also provide $35m to what it describes as “significant commonwealth-funded arts and culture organisations” – which could include theatres, dance companies or musical groups. The Australia Council will help allocate the funding.
The package also includes $90m in concessional loans to help bankroll new productions and events that provide employment and generate revenue. The loans will be provided by the banks but underwritten by the commonwealth.
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Good morning
Covid-19 keeps interrupting daily life, with the virus causing the closure of Lane Cove West primary school in Sydney’s lower north shore after a year 2 student tested positive.
Meanwhile, 1,000 ADF troops are being sent to Victoria to help with hotel quarantine and provide logistical support for testing, as other states are called in to help with getting tests through as soon as possible.
There has been a surge in the number of Victorians being tested, which has led to delays and in some cases, testing sites being swamped. The ADF is there to help things move a little smoother.
The defence force was called in yesterday after the eighth day in a row of Victoria logging double digit infections. Victoria had 20, New South Wales had 10. But, despite warnings not to accept travellers from Victorian hotspots, and to avoid heading to Melbourne, the NSW premier is keeping the border open. For now.
And the arts and entertainment rescue package has been unveiled – $250m in total, including $90m in concessional loans.
We’ll cover all that news off and more as the day continues. You have Amy Remeikis with you until the early afternoon.
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