Summary
With that we’ll be closing the blog for today. Thanks for reading along today and earlier in the week.
Of course, we will be back tomorrow and Sunday with the latest news.
Thanks to Amy Remeikis and Christopher Knaus for their work on the blog today.
Here’s what happened:
- Australia passed 20,000 cumulative cases of Covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic.
- Scott Morrison said that any country that developed a vaccine “must share it” with the rest of the world. “Any country that were to find this vaccine and not make it available around the world, without restraint, I think would be judged terribly by history,” he said.
- The government also announced an expansion of eligibility for Jobkeeper – just three weeks after announcing a cut to its rate – due to the lockdown in Victoria.
- Victorian education minister James Merlino announced that every year 12 student would be individually assessed and be compensated for the impacts of Covid-19 on their Atar ranking. That will include family responsibilities, school closures and mental health. “They will not be disadvantaged as a result of Covid-19,” he said.
- 911 Victorian health care workers have active cases of Covid-19, a rise of 101 from yesterday.
- The Australian Defence Force will doorknock the close contacts of confirmed Covid-19 cases, who should be isolating at home, Daniel Andrews announced.
- The Northern Territory revoked hotspot status for Brisbane and other parts of Queensland and NSW.
- The South Australian opposition leader and deputy leader went into self-isolation – along with another 1,100 people – after they had potential contact with a cluster at Thebarton Senior College.
- WA premier Mark McGowan said the state would postpone its easing of restrictions for at least two weeks and all truck drivers trying to enter the state from next week will need to provide a negative test result to enter.
- A woman in Queensland who tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday, with no known infection source, was confirmed as a false positive.
- The federal court hearing on the Western Australia border ban concluded.
- Victoria recorded 450 new Covid cases and 11 additional deaths. Seven of those 11 deaths are connected to aged care.
- NSW reported 11 new coronavirus cases.
- The Labor party delayed its national conference, which was scheduled for December in Canberra.
We’ll also be posting an “at a glance” summary of the week’s news soon. It should be available here when published.
Thanks for reading and stay safe.
Updated
Australian Covid-19 cases pass 20,000
And as the day is drawing to a close, we can confirm Australia has surpassed 20,000 cumulative Covid-19 cases since the beginning of the pandemic.
Prime minister Scott Morrison announced this earlier today.
“There have been over 20,000 confirmed cases in Australia and sadly 266 people have died,” he said.
“The outbreak in Victoria has meant that there are now around 8,000 active cases in Australia.”
South Sydney coach Wayne Bennett fined $20,000
The coach of the South Sydney Rabbitoh’s, Wayne Bennett, will be fined $20,000 by the NRL for breaching the league’s bubble policy, when he went for an Italian dinner this week.
St George Illawarra Dragons player Paul Vaughan will be fined $10,000 for also breaching the bubble for visiting a cafe. Brisbane Broncos assistant coach Allan Langer will be fined $5,000 for his breach.
All three must also complete 14 days of isolation as a result, and cannot play or coach in person.
Updated
Scott Morrison has personally appealed to Clive Palmer to scrap a challenge against the Western Australian border ban.
Today the WA premier, Mark McGowan, accused the federal government of falling short in efforts to bin its evidence helping Palmer’s case. He also said the state was at “war” with Palmer.
Updated
AMA criticises expert group's advice on masks for healthcare workers
The Australian Medical Association has criticised the national Infection Control Expert Group – who advise the government – for its advice on masks for healthcare workers, AAP report.
We reported earlier today that there are now 911 healthcare workers in Victoria who are considered active cases of Covid-19.
The AMA today criticised the Infection Control Expert Group for failing to recommend that P2 or N95 masks be mandatory for Covid-19 care sitations.
The ICEG is made up of 16 medical experts from across the country, led by Professor Lyn Gilbert.
It advises the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee, which in turn advises federal and state governments.
The ICEG currently recommends surgical masks for routine care of Covid-19 patients who are in quarantine or have acute respiratory symptoms.
It only recommends P2 or N95 masks for Covid-19 patients who are cognitively impaired, unable to cooperate or exhibiting “challenging behaviours” such as shouting.
“It is uncertain that the risk will be reduced by use of a [particulate filter respirator] and past experience indicates that health care worker infections can occur despite their use,” the guidance says.
AMA president Dr Omar Khorshid disagreed with the advice, saying the masks should be recommended in all Covid-19 care situations.
“If a doctor or nurse is caring for a patient with or likely to have COVID-19, P2 or N95 masks are essential, regardless of the presence of potential challenging behaviours,” he told AAP.
They protect the patient but “are not designed to shield the clinician”, he said.
Limited supply of P2 or N95 masks could be the reason the superior masks are not yet mandatory, but Dr Khorshid said this was no excuse.
Updated
And here is Melissa Davey’s full story on the news that 911 healthcare workers in Victoria now have Covid-19.
That came after a huge daily rise of 101.
Earlier today, the NSW health minister Brad Hazzard apologised for calling the opposition leader, Jodi McKay “quite stupid”, a “goose” and a “complete pork chop” in parliament.
The Victorian health department has just sent us this statement on for taking rideshares to testing centres, after we published this story yesterday about Uber drivers who fear for their health.
It says people should avoid taking ride shares or taxis “where possible” – similar to the advice it gave yesterday.
“Ride share and taxis can operate subject to restrictions, and people in the community travelling can use ride sharing and taxi services for a permitted purpose,” the department said in a statement.
“Drivers must wear a face covering and maintain good hygiene practices for them and their vehicle.
“People travelling to get tested should avoid using public transport, taxi or ride share services where possible, and must wear a face covering and practise physical distancing and good hygiene when leaving home.”
Canberrans turned away from border after last-minute rule changes
A breaking story here from Christopher Knaus.
Canberrans who were granted permits to return home from Victoria have been told to go back, fly to Sydney, then quarantine there for 14 days due to a serious problem with overnight changes to NSW’s travel restrictions, prompting the ACT to make urgent representations to Gladys Berejiklian and Scott Morrison.
The NSW government made last-minute changes to its travel restrictions on Thursday night, mandating that all NSW residents coming home from Victoria must travel through Sydney Airport and go immediately into hotel quarantine for 14 days at their own expense.
Read the full story here:
International arrival cap extended
The national cabinet has extended Australia’s strict caps on international passenger arrivals until 24 October.
It comes as some Australians attempting to return home are complaining that international airlines are cancelling tickets of economy customers in order to offer more business and first-class seats, as operators look to boost profitability while complying with the caps.
The caps are designed to ease pressure on quarantine hotels in Australian cities, however the reduced numbers mean some international flights can be limited to 30 passengers per flight.
Read more about the impact of the caps here:
NT revokes hotspot status for Brisbane
The NT’s chief health officer has just officially revoked hotspot status from a range of places in Queensland and NSW.
The City of Brisbane, Logan City and the City of Ipswich in Queensland, and Eurobodalla Shire and the City of Blue Mountains in NSW are no longer hotspots for the purposes of the NT.
That means that from today, people will not have to enter mandatory quarantine when they enter the NT.
People currently in mandatory quarantine from these revoked hotspots will be allowed to leave soon.
The share market has ended the week 1.44% higher, despite the announcement of Melbourne’s stricter lockdowns and Australia’s rising unemployment.
The ASX 200 fell today by 37.4 points, or 0.62 per cent. But that still is 1.44% higher this week, after gains earlier in the week.
Police will escort all NSW residents arriving at Sydney airport from Victoria to specific quarantine hotels managed by law enforcement teams, as part of a new mandatory requirement that brings travel between the two states in line with international arrival protocol.
NSW Health staff will also assess all travellers arriving at Sydney Airport from Victoria, with those displaying Covid-19 symptoms instead transferred to a NSW Health-managed quarantine hotel in Sydney.
NSW police clarified the new rules on Friday afternoon, more than 12 hours after the public health order came into effect just after midnight, confirming it had issued a Notice to Airmen (Notam) that no regional NSW airports will be allowed to let passengers from Victoria land without a permit or exemption.
All travellers returning from Victoria will have to pay for their two week hotel quarantine.
The updated advice reiterates that while all NSW residents returning from Victoria will have to fly into Sydney airport, residents of border communities will still be able to cross the border.
However it does not specify whether residents who have permits to travel across the border for work, education and medical care, who travel beyond the specific border zone (potentially driving to Melbourne), will have to quarantine in a hotel upon returning to NSW.
The specific rules for the mandatory hotel quarantine, a policy originally announced on Wednesday before the details of the public health order were finalised, also reiterate the potential $4,000 fine for providing false information to authorities when entering NSW.
Before the mandatory hotel quarantine measure was clarified, regional airline Fly Corporate cancelled its flights from Melbourne’s Essendon Airport to Orange and Dubbo in NSW, citing confusion from authorities over the new rules, and a resulting reduction in bookings.
Operation Border Closure Commander, assistant commissioner Leanne McCusker, said:
“All travellers are assessed by NSW Health on arrival at Sydney Airport and those displaying symptoms of Covid-19 are escorted to a hotel managed by NSW Health, while the remainder are escorted to hotels managed by the NSW police force.
“These procedures are now well established and have served the community of NSW well, by dramatically reducing the community spread of Covid-19 within the state and keeping infection levels low.”
According to NSW police, more than 36,000 people have completed the 14-day hotel quarantine period in Sydney hotels since it became mandatory for returning international travellers on 29 March.
Updated
Woolworths to remove some limits in Victoria as demand eases
Woolworths has just announced it will remove product limits for most items from tomorrow as “demand moderates across the state”.
There will still be limits on toilet paper, most kinds of meat, eggs, flour, pasta, rice, sugar and frozen vegetables.
But limits will be removed from 40 categories that had been put in place earlier in the week.
Woolworths’s Victorian general manager, Andrew Hall said they were “seeing demand moderate”.
“Customers can be assured our distribution centres will continue to operate at the required capacity over the next six weeks following consultations with the Victorian government this week.
“We’re working closely with our fresh meat suppliers on plans to minimise disruptions in supply for customers in the weeks ahead.
“We’ll continue to monitor the situation closely and reinstate product limits if we see further demand spikes.”
Updated
McGowan describes the WA border case as “our war” with Clive Palmer.
He says that WA is disappointed that the Commonwealth did not support their submission to have a fresh trial.
“The commonwealth has withdrawn from the case but, unfortunately, did not support Western Australia’s application to have the case struck out. We would have preferred that they actively supported our case to have the trial completely restarted.
“We believe a fresh trial is the only way forward. And I hope that we are successful in court.
“We will continue our battle – in fact, our war – with Clive Palmer, to protect our state. This is a pandemic. We won’t be rushed into anything that is against our health advice.”
Updated
Truck drivers entering WA will need to show negative test result from next week
McGowan also announces that the national cabinet today agreed on “a code of practice for the regular testing of interstate freight drivers”.
He says that new arrangements will come into place next week which means “any truck driver entering WA will have to show evidence of having received a negative Covid-19 test result in the past seven days”.
“If they have not been tested in the last seven days, they will be directed at the border to have a test within 48 hours.”
Updated
He says Australia must be “on high alert” and WA can’t afford to take risks.
As a nation, we have entered the most dangerous phase of this pandemic. Even though WA has not had a community case of Covid-19 since April 11, we need to remain on high alert given what is happening across the country. We all know just how quickly things can change.”
Phase 5 would have seen the removal of the 50% capacity rule, and would have removed all travel restrictions apart from hard borders and some remote Aboriginal communities.
McGowan said that this delay was based on the advice of the chief health officer.
WA will delay easing restrictions for two weeks
WA premier Mark McGowan is speaking now and says there will be a further delay of its restrictions easing under Phase 5.
It had been due to start on 15 August, but will now be delayed for at least two more weeks. Even that is “a tentative date”, he says.
Updated
Universities Australia says it “looks forward” to assisting the government’s review into freedom of speech at universities that was announced today.
Prof Sally Walker will be reviewing universities against a model code that was created by former high court chief justice Robert French as part of the last review into freedom of speech in 2019.
The chief executive of Universities Australia, Catriona Jackson, said that universities agreed to adopt the model code last year.
“We acknowledge the importance of freedom of expression and academic freedom on our campuses and look forward to assisting Professor Sally Walker in her review announced by Education Minister Dan Tehan today,” she said.
“Freedom of expression and academic freedom are part of the DNA of Australian universities.”
“In asking universities to give full and careful consideration to adopting the model code, Education Minister Dan Tehan noted the making of regulations and policies by a university is a matter for each institution reflecting institutional autonomy.”
Hi all, it’s Naaman Zhou here. Thanks as always to blog captain Amy Remeikis for her amazing work this week.
South Australia has put what they are calling a “double ring” around the state’s coronavirus cases.
More than 1,100 people in Adelaide are currently in self-isolation as a result of a cluster linked to the Thebarton senior college. Earlier we reported that the SA opposition leadership team were in isolation after visiting the college.
The state’s public health officer, Prof Nicola Spurrier, said she was mirroring a tactic used successfully to control an outbreak of virus infections in northern Tasmania, AAP reports.
I am trying to put a double ring around this chain of transmission.
Updated
On that note, I am going to hand you over to the wonderful Naaman Zhou, who will take you through the late afternoon’s events.
Thank you for joining me this week. I’ll be back early Monday morning. Be gentle to yourself this weekend, and as always – take care of you.
Updated
The Greens senator Jordon Steele-John says disabled people and their families had been failed during the pandemic.
Disabled people, our families, advocates and organisations have been calling for greater access to information and personal protective equipment (PPE), tailored support and more training for workers in the sector since March and the response from government has been woefully slow.
It is absolutely astounding to me that almost a quarter of disability workers in Victoria have still not received appropriate training with regards to infection control and that many have been forced to buy their own PPE despite assurance from government that this would be provided to essential workers.
The disability sector, including the more than 800 residential group homes across Victoria, is at a significant risk of repeating the Covid-19 trends we are seeing right now throughout the aged care sector if urgent action is not taken.
Like the aged care sector, our workforce is highly casualised and the reality is that there is a significant crossover of workers who often travel between settings and individual’s homes.
There is also a significant lack of oversight, especially in residential facilities, where residents have been locked in without access to their usual supports and sometimes even their families.
The Morrison and Andrews governments have failed to take action on the issues that disabled people have repeatedly raised about Covid-19 and as a result our communities, especially those in Victoria, are at risk.
Updated
Things are very quiet on the streets of Melbourne:
Foot traffic in the City of Melbourne has plummeted as people comply with stage four Covid-19 restrictions, with just 10% of normal levels recorded yesterday (Thursday), the council says in a statement.
Lord mayor Sally Capp said the reduction in pedestrian traffic could be seen across the City of Melbourne’s network of more 60 pedestrian sensors.
Pedestrian counts are down about 90% compared to this time last year. The city hasn’t been this empty for this long in living memory.
As the lockdown changes were announced we saw the impact happening in real-time across the city.
Since the stage four restrictions started, Melbourne’s streets have been almost deserted.
This shows Melburnians are doing the right thing and staying home to help slow the spread of the virus.
The city feels strange and unfamiliar as we all make sacrifices to keep our community safe.
This is devastating for our business community and we know that trading conditions are going to continue to be challenging for some time. However, the sooner we can flatten these infection numbers by doing the right thing, the sooner we can help businesses open their doors again.
Our business concierge service has made more than 10,000 contacts with small businesses across the municipality. If you need information and support in relation to your business, please contact the City of Melbourne.
Updated
Wesfarmers will pay staff during the Victorian business standdown.
The Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association (SDA) national secretary, Gerard Dwyer, is pretty happy with that and wants the other big supermarkets to follow suit:
The SDA welcomes Wesfarmers’ decision to pay staff affected for the six weeks of Victoria’s stage 4 lockdown.
Other major retailers NOT receiving jobkeeper should now follow suit.
Wesfarmers has decided to pay full replacement wages to affected full-time permanents in the event that the stage 4 restrictions result in them not having meaningful work available for them.
Casuals working 12 hours or more a week will also receive full replacement payments.
Casuals working less than 12 hours a week will get what they would have received for two weeks’ work.
These are essential workers on the frontline who have been risking their health and safety to ensure the community have food on the table and other essentials throughout the Covid crisis.
Wesfarmers has acted with admirable speed to minimise the anxiety and uncertainty of their staff.
It is now time for other major retailers to follow Wesfarmers’ lead.
Updated
I think we all need an (exasperated) laugh today.
The US Government has warned its citizens to be very cautious about travelling to New Zealand because of our "23 active cases" of Covid-19.https://t.co/TejZdXyHID
— nzherald (@nzherald) August 7, 2020
Updated
Meanwhile, in Katter land:
Katter contemplates pairing with a cardboard cut-out to save democracy #auspol pic.twitter.com/QyzUeiHbXB
— Political Alert (@political_alert) August 7, 2020
Updated
For those wanting the jobkeeper changes from the treasurer’s mouth:
An important update from the Treasurer following the introduction of increased restrictions in Victoria that will help more businesses and workers qualify for #JobKeeper
— Scott Morrison (@ScottMorrisonMP) August 7, 2020
➡️ https://t.co/6uP24rCeYp https://t.co/AwAbF9wlCk
The parliamentary committee holding an inquiry into the destruction of a highly significant Aboriginal heritage site at Juukan Gorge in the Pilbara has been granted permission by the Western Australian premier, Mark McGowan, to travel across the border and hold an on-country meeting with traditional owners.
Rio Tinto in May detonated a blast that destroyed a rock shelter that showed evidence of 46,000 years of continual occupation, and was deemed to be of the highest level of archaeological significance to Australia.
Senior executives from the mining company, including CEO Jean-Sébastien Jacques, appeared before the inquiry this morning. They admitted, among other things, that they never told the traditional owners, the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura peoples (PKKP), that there were other options for building the iron ore mine that did not involve destroying the sites.
The inquiry heard from the federal environment department today and the Western Australian Aboriginal affairs minister, Ben Wyatt, who said his new version of Aboriginal heritage legislation would be released to the public in the next few weeks.
Wyatt said that under the current legislation he did not have the power to halt or appeal against the destruction of heritage once ministerial consent had been granted under s.18 of the act, but that the new legislation would have such a power.
He was asked by senators Pat Dodson and Rachel Siewert to conduct an audit of all current s.18 applications, or even just those that apply to mining companies, but said there was little benefit in doing so.
LNP MP George Christensen asked Wyatt for his opinion on Rio’s actions, saying it was “a company that tries to parade themselves as being so ‘woke’.”
Wyatt said:
What Rio has done is hugely damaging to their own international brand and I think they would accept that, and it was incredibly tragic to the PKKP people in the destruction of a site that is incredibly significant to them and incredibly significant to people Australia-wide.
But Wyatt added that Rio had been “leaders in this space” of engaging meaningfully with traditional owners.
Rio has not been the company that’s caused me issues in the past.
Updated
I know the prime minister said the review into the hotel quarantine conditions was ongoing, but there are still lots of issues – 336 hours in a hotel room is no picnic already. The food restrictions have made it even harder for a lot of people.
This is mean-spirited. Returned Indian-Australian family in quarantine (at own expense) can't get veg food at @PullmanAdelaide When the local gurdwara brings them langar (communally cooked veg food) they're turned away as it's not from a licenced kitchen https://t.co/uKpBXIb446
— Stephen Dziedzic (@stephendziedzic) August 7, 2020
Updated
We just learnt the expert health committee is looking at what masks health workers should be wearing to protect them from Covid, given the number of workers who have been infected
The Australian Society of Anaesthetists says it is not a moment too soon, given its concerns at “the increase in healthcare workers contracting Covid-19 in Victoria with the announcement of 139 new cases in the last 24 hours”.
The society’s president, Dr Suzi Nou, is concerned not enough is being done to protect frontline workers and the growing outbreaks in health settings, with more than 900 cases now among healthcare workers.
Nou said:
Hospitals are amplifiers of infection and have been widely recognised as high-risk workplaces.
Existing infection control guidelines in Victorian hospitals are clearly not protecting healthcare workers and our frontline workers are not being provided with adequate respiratory protection.
It’s not enough to applaud healthcare workers as heroes – we need heroic actions to protect us so that we can continue to save lives and look after the community.
We are growing increasingly concerned by the lack of health and safety expertise being engaged by the healthcare industry to implement fit-for-purpose, risk-based control strategies to manage the hazards associated with caring for Covid-19 infection in healthcare settings.
Surgical masks do not provide adequate protection against Sars-CoV-2 in a healthcare setting, with only P2/N95 masks providing such protection.
We continue to call for P2/N95 masks to be mandated in high-risk clinical areas when interacting with known or suspected Covid-19 cases and for these healthcare workers to be offered fit-testing.
Updated
After that national cabinet, the commonwealth and the states will codify an agreed upon response to aged care – as in, they’ll have a plan in the event of a Covid outbreak in an aged care home.
In Queensland, the response was to rapidly isolate and move out residents. Victoria became overwhelmed, and as Murph reported this week, St Basil’s took five days to report an outbreak to the federal authorities.
There will now be a response plan.
Updated
The head of Australian spy agency Asio says more people are sharing “hateful ideology” online during the Covid-19 pandemic but “our priority targets remain covered”.
Mike Burgess, the director general of security, was asked several questions about the terrorism threat during an appearance before a parliamentary inquiry looking at the encryption laws that took effect in late 2018.
When asked about newspaper reports yesterday of a new video from Isis calling for attacks on Australia, Burgess said Asio was aware of the video – but noted that messages attempting to radicalise or incite attacks were “a normal thing, unfortunately, with the terrorism level remaining at probable”.
They’re common messages so it’s nothing more than normal, but of course we remain vigilant to the potential for that to be a problem for us.
When Anthony Byrne, the Labor deputy chair of the intelligence committee, asked whether there had been an increase in Isis activity during the Covid crisis, Burgess replied: “There’s been an uptick in activity across the spectrum of hateful ideology.”
Burgess was pressed on whether some groups were exploiting the Covid crisis in their messaging, such as the challenges of western democracies. He said:
Other than just promoting their cause, it’s no different really. Yes, the times are very different but their messages are no different.
Finally, he was asked whether Asio was detecting an uptick in communications among people it might be worried about during the crisis.
No. There are more people online sharing hateful ideology. Our priority targets remain covered. Sadly it’s just the normal situation we’re in.
The comments build on Burgess’s comments in June when he confirmed the agency had seen “increased chatter in the online world when it comes to the spread of extremist ideology attempting to radicalise people”. Burgess has also been vocal about the increased threat posed by rightwing extremism.
An Asio spokesperson told Guardian Australia in June:
While the threat of violence inspired by Islamic extremism remains Asio’s greatest concern, extreme right-wing groups and individuals represent a serious, increasing and evolving threat to security.
Updated
On the idea of allowing Victorian MPs to participate in the parliament sitting virtually, Scott Morrison says:
The government had very similar thoughts along these lines and I expressed to him the other day when he discussed it that we had no objection to that. One of the points that the leader of the opposition and I very much agree on, and that is that if you’re voting in the parliament then you’ve got to be here.
We can’t have a situation where people are sort of phoning in votes into our parliament. You can have no confidence that you haven’t got 14 people standing next to them when they make those votes.
That’s not on, that’s not how the democracy works. The pairing arrangements can provide for the flexibility needed [for] those votes to be done in the normal and the appropriate way.
We have no objection to moving to participation by those means, including if it were necessary, if I had to be isolated for whatever reason I would hope to participate in question time and to be able to do that – if I had to do it remotely, fine.
Equally if others had to ask questions or if others wanted to participate in debates. These are not unique ideas. They are sensible ideas and they’re ones that the government had already been contemplating so we welcome working together on that.
Whether that is in a position where it’s at a standard, technologically, and otherwise with procedures to be in place for when parliament meets next, we’ll see. But there is certainly no policy objective – or objection, I should say – or any other resistance on the government’s part, but we’d obviously want it to work. I don’t think you’re going to fly blind on something like that.
There has been some participation of members and other parliamentary procedures through committee and the Senate. Some has gone well, there has been some criticisms of that.
I’m sure the manager of government business would want to be confident that any procedures that were put in, and any opportunity for people to participate in that way, could actually be done.
I don’t think it would reflect well on the parliament to the citizens if they saw that not working well. We would share that objection and I think that’s a sensible contribution and happy to agree with it and work together to see when we can achieve it.
Updated
Is Scott Morrison disappointed with how Victoria handled hotel quarantine?
Well, firstly let me say, our government wasn’t elected to be disappointed, frustrated, angry, upset or any of these things – we were elect get things done and work with others to get things done.
There are appropriate accountabilities that all leaders – including myself, my government, state and territory governments – there are appropriate account accounts and they’ll have to face those and they’ll have to answer those questions, indeed, as you put them to me. And they’ll need to be transparent about that and they’ll need to be able to talk of the consequences of the decisions that they have made and that’s all entirely appropriate and how they’ve gone about that.
That is a job for – indeed the media and the other channels of our democracy to be able to do that, and I fully support that.
My job, though, is to actually make things work and to provide whatever support I can as prime minister, and my government, to make things work on the ground because people are depending on me to do that when it comes to their job, their health, their business, indeed their city and their town, their farm, their factory, their futures.
And so that’s why I have adopted the approach that I have and I think that’s the approach Australians would expect of me.
I’ll leave disappointment, frustration, anger, all entirely understandable in circumstances, to others.
But I don’t think as prime minister I can indulge those feelings for myself.
I totally understand and I don’t consider it an indulgence on others that they may feel that way. These are tough times and they are straining and testing people.
So particularly in the area you mentioned, particularly in terms of engagement of industry and business, this is why the treasurer took action. He convened round tables with industry and business leaders. He listened. He collected their input.
We provided that through to the Victorian government and we have made an impact, we have made a difference and that’s what we need to continue to do and that’s how we’ll continue to play it.
Updated
Scott Morrison on the WA court case Paul updated you about just a little bit ago:
I have an outstanding relationship with the Western Australian government and we’ve pulled out of the case as they asked us to pull out.
One quarrel I don’t have is with Mark McGowan – his quarrel is with Mr Palmer
I believe Mr Palmer – I’d be very encouraged because I think this out is for Mr Palmer to pull out of the case. He’s the only one who can prevent the case going forward. I think that will be a good decision.
Senator [Mathias] Cormann has made similar comments today and I support those comments. I have written to the premier in exactly the terms I said yesterday and we do and have provided support for the outcomes that the Western Australian government is seeking to achieve.
And I noted there was some reporting that was different to that this morning and that reporting wasn’t correct but we’re going to keep working with the Western Australian government, that’s the commitment we have made. We have set out important constitutional principles that I think will assist with that process and I look forward to that being supported. It’s all set out in my letter.
Updated
Paul Kelly on the vaccine development:
So, silver bullets and crystal balls, I don’t have either, so what’s going to happen into the future will be the future.
What we have got in front of us, very detailed plans about how we can get in the game, if you like, in terms of vaccines and making sure that we are well ready to have one if it comes. That’s on vaccines.
And as I said I’m much more hopeful than I was even in just a few weeks ago in relation to that. In the last couple of weeks there have been published papers, not just speculation or announcements by certain companies but all universities, but actual published papers, demonstrating there are several different types of vaccine that are now absolutely developed and appear to be effective at least in terms of making antibodies against this virus.
And [that] remains for at least a few months. We don’t know about the long-term yet.
That will be something we’ll find out as time goes by. We know those initial trials at least show there’s a good safety signal.
There’s much more work to do but that will be part of a plan going forward. But just as the PM has said about the economy, we don’t have all of our eggs in the basket of a vaccine.
We have our suppression strategy. It’s served us well until recently in one state, and enforced in four jurisdictions. We still have no community transmission, which is our aim of that suppression strategy.
[In] the other ones other than Victoria the control is remaining very strong. We have all of those things, not just a silver bullet.
Updated
The commonwealth has “come to the rescue” with jobkeeper, Scott Morrison says of the government’s job measures.
Whether there’s a vaccine or whether there’s not a vaccine, time will tell.
And I am also encouraged by the reports that Paul [Kelly] has provided to us today and provided to federal cabinet with the health minister earlier this week. So we look forward to that.
But you can’t count on that, that’s why the economic plan that we’re putting in place and have been now for many months is so important. You have to address the health issues, and perhaps it will be a treatment first as opposed to a vaccine that will mitigate the impact and enable broader restrictions to be eased.
But it is the income supports, it is the aggregate demand supports that are put in place into the economy – whether that’s home building or the various other things we’ve put in place. I mean, the announcements we have made on jobkeeper, I mean, the commonwealth has come to the rescue when it comes to jobkeeper. That’s what it’s been doing now for some time. And in relation to the Victorian wave, the commonwealth has come to the rescue with jobkeeper for those who’ll be most significantly impacted.
Beyond dealing with the immediate aggregate demand issues and income support issues, there is the changes – as I’ve said many times – for the economy to make, whether it’s industrial relations, whether it’s in skills training. And that’s why today again [is] another great step forward in agreement amongst the states and territories to progress that skills agenda, with already a billion dollars into that program. The supports we put into apprentices and $1.5bn to keep 180,000 apprentices in jobs. Looking beyond that, there’s the energy challenges.
I have talked a lot of times about what we need do in the gas sector and I’ll have more to say about that in the months ahead; what we’re doing in the manufacturing sector, in infrastructure, getting almost $10bn brought ahead. That’s the minister that can give confidence because that plan goes in place, vaccine or no vaccine. Operating in a Covid-safe economy is then the challenge.
Updated
Should we all be wearing masks? And which ones – particularly when it comes to health workers?
Prof Paul Kelly:
This is an ongoing discussion, and like everything that we have done in this pandemic in terms of our health advice to government, it’s based on the best data and emerging evidence as we see it.
In terms of the health care workers, any health care worker that gets sick whilst they’re at work, we need to deal with that and work through how to prevent that.
I’m absolutely committed to it. We need to be led by the data that we have and the information we have. What we do know about many of the health care workers in Victoria, that’s come from the community rather than at work it appears and we’re seeking more information from our Victorian colleagues in that aspect.
But in terms of the specific question about P2 or N95 masks, those so-called respirators, there’s a live discussion in HAPPC, they’re meeting now and they’re looking to update that advice.
Updated
Who is Scott Morrison talking about, with his warning that whichever country creates a vaccine needs to share it?
Morrison: Anyone who develops it. I mean, Australia, we pledge that if we find the vaccine we’ll share it. I think every country’s leader should say that.
Q: [So do you think] somebody will not do that?
Morrison: That’s not what I said.
Q: No, that’s why I’m asking the question.
Morrison: That’s not what I have said. I think I answered the question.
Updated
Asked about the criticism of the Victorian lockdowns, in regards to whether they have gone too far (much of which have come from his own side of politics), Scott Morrison says:
I’ve said from the outset that we’re managing two crises here. We’re managing a health crisis with the pandemic and we’re managing the economic recession that has flowed from that, and I have always addressed them as twin crises and it has always been a very difficult task to balance out those two issues.
We see quite clearly that if the virus and the pandemic moves into community transmission, the havoc that it causes, and we can’t just pretend that’s not the case. It is the case. It is a serious pandemic. It has a death rate in Australia more than five times the flu.
We’ve got hundreds of Australians who have passed away so it’s a very serious health issue. So that’s important to recognise.
But we support health measures that ... meet health objectives, and it has always been the commonwealth’s position to follow the medical advice in these areas. That advice is interrogated. That advice is worked through as we seek to understand it and what’s behind it.
We understand that medical experts are not experts when it comes to the economy and industrial practices and things of that nature, and they’re not the ones we look to on those matters.
At the end of the day, the system we have in this country is a federation, and states have complete and total control over those types of restrictions. Now, as a commonwealth, we seek to influence that and we provided significant input over the course of these last week and particularly recent days, and I’m pleased that there have been some changes to the implementation of those measures, and where further changes are needed people can be assured that the commonwealth would be pushing those issues quite strongly.
But the way we’re doing that is by working in to the government in Victoria and seeking to do it that way. I don’t see a great advantage of engaging in that process in some sort of public spectacle. I don’t think that would be good for public confidence. I don’t think that would be good for public assurance.
Regardless of which way you vote, it doesn’t matter whether you’re a Liberal supporter or the Labor supporter, the virus certainly doesn’t discriminate and is seeking to cause its havoc wherever it can, so we need to continue to have a balanced response that looks at the economic and health issues. But the health issues in Victoria, I have to stress, are very, very serious.
Our own - both Professor Kelly and Professor Murphy were involved at my request with the chief health officer in Victoria last Friday night, it was.
I wanted to be assured that the health advice that was going to the premier was understood by our health officials. And they could advise me and our cabinet and our health minister about where Victoria was heading, and their advice concurred. Now, when it comes down to the precise description of those measures, that’s a job for the Victorian government.
They’re their restrictions. They will have to be accountable for them, they will have to explain them, they will have to manage them, but it’s my job to try and make them work. It’s the job of the media, it’s the job of oppositions, it’s the job of others to do what their job is.
My job is to make this work as best we possibly can and that’s what people elected me to do.
Updated
The chief medical officer continues:
It just strikes me, too, that whilst we are concerned of course about what’s happening in Victoria right now, and in other parts of the country in relation to Covid-19, I think it’s worthwhile to remember where we’ve come from in these few months. In January this was a new virus, we didn’t know anything about how we might develop a vaccine.
Now we have vaccines in clinical trials, developing well, showing that they work and they’re safe. We have had rapid development of testing capability in our laboratories in Australia and around the world.
Our Perth capacity has been increased and improved and we have seen particularly a very well-developed plan to know when things are needing to be further developed or responded to.
Huge amounts of stock coming into our national medical stockpile, not only personal protective equipment but also life-saving drugs that we know can work against this virus.
We have had an increase in our hospital capacity through the private health hospitals in particular, but also through training and purchase of ventilators, for example, in intensive care.
We’ve got telehealth that’s available throughout Australia, and so there is a lot that we can be confident about that we are prepared, and are indeed using those capabilities right now in Victoria and particularly in aged care, in a very coordinated and supportive and responsive way.
Updated
Australia’s chief medical officer, Prof Paul Kelly, says:
In terms of vaccines, I think as the PM has said, there is really strong optimism here. We can’t promise that there will be a vaccine or when it may occur. We have never had a vaccine for a coronavirus in the world before, but the very best minds in the world are concentrating on this.
Well over a hundred different types of vaccine are in development, and many of those are already in clinical trials in what has been described by some as warp speed. So these things normally take years.
It’s taking months, even weeks, to get through there. In Australia, we’re very prepared. And as the PM has mentioned, those prongs – the things that we’re looking at very specifically in relation to research and development and support – they’re not only for researchers here in Australia but also through international bilateral and multilateral relationships.
We’re looking very clearly and carefully about purchasing – advance purchasing options, as well as local manufacturing options. We’re looking of course at the regulatory aspects to make sure that whatever does become available works, as well as being of high quality and, of course, being safe.
And all of these things are very important in the coming months. But I’m very optimistic that we are well placed here in Australia not only to contribute to that worldwide effort but also to benefit from it.
Updated
Any country that finds a vaccine must share it, PM says
Scott Morrison said the national cabinet was also given an update on the progress of a vaccine – and made it very clear that he expected any country that cracked the vaccine to share it with the world.
That is for a very particular audience, and it’s not one in Australia.
Morrison:
We won’t know when a vaccine will come. But as Professor [Paul] Kelly will tell you, there’s never been a global effort like this and there are some positive signs there that we can be hopeful about.
Australia is positioning itself well to take advantage and be in a position to be able to manufacture and supply vaccines, should they be developed.
There are many projects that are underway around the world and we have a process for identifying those that we can are believe we can take an early position on.
But the other thing Australia has been saying, and it’s supported strongly by the premiers, and I made this point earlier in the week, and that is whoever finds this vaccine must share it.
Any country that were to find this vaccine and not make it available around the world, without restraint, I think would be judged terribly by history, and that’s certainly Australia’s view and we’ll continue to advocate that view in every conversation we have, as I certainly have.
Updated
Scott Morrison:
There was also a very strong focus today on stress-testing our national preparedness more broadly.
Specifically, in the area of quarantine as well as in aged care preparedness.
There was the report from Jane Halton, who’s been undertaking that quarantine review. She’s been in two states now, in New South Wales and up in Queensland, and there were some very good lessons and experience that she was able to pass on.
The need to ensure we can contact, quality and assurance testings at the state level of over these quarantine arrangements, the training arrangements there and in place but she was particularly complimentary workers and teams that were at the facilities that were providing the accommodation as part of the quarantine program and the way that the hospitality and hotel sector in Australia have gone out of their way to ensure that people who are in quarantine are treated as guests.
Guests that like to see the meals menu rotate every couple of days so they’re not the same choices every night. The attention to detail from our hospitality professionals, she particularly pointed out, and I think that’s worth acknowledging here today.
Those facilities have been under a lot of pressure and they’ve been going to a lot of effort to make that quarantine experience as positive as it possibly can. We have a world-class hospitality sector and I was very pleased to hear that report. Right down to making sure an 8-year-old had a birth birthday cake as they departed quarantine one day.
They didn’t know the hotel knew it was their birthday, little things like that make a big difference in a pandemic like this and those sorts of stories greatly encourage me.
Updated
Scott Morrison:
Quite understandably and rightly we’re all very focused on the hardships being experienced in Melbourne and across Victoria, but let’s not forget in the rest of the country there are many businesses still doing it tough, there are many households that are also doing it tough.
The pandemic is still there, many restrictions still in place. I look forward to standing behind the podium again, and hopefully in the not too distant future, to plan the future out, and we’re making great progress towards that. But for now there are very serious issues we need to address.
The overall commitment of the commonwealth now in the various on the balance sheet and fiscal measures is well over $300bn. At a state and territory level combined that investment is just over $40bn.
We spoke today about the importance of continuing to work together to provide the necessary supports to the economy.
We noted the measures that the Western Australian government has released just this past week, measures also that have been put in place in other states and territories, and we’re going to continue to work together to ensure that we’re providing that support into the economy that businesses, employees, that the country needs, and that the next meeting will be welcoming Dr Lowe, together with the Dr Kennedy, who will meet with the national cabinet again.
Updated
Before moving on to the jobkeeper changes, Scott Morrison acknowledges aged care workers:
It’s aged care employee day today, and I want to thank all of them for the amazing job they’re doing. Many of us across the country know from personal experience just how amazing people are who look after our elderly in our community.
They are a true inspiration, and in a time like this, particularly when they’re working under extreme pressures as we’ve been seeing in Victoria recently, they’ve showed what a tough job that they do with great care, great love and great compassion, and I want to thank them for the job they do.
Whether they’re doing it incredibly hard in Victoria today or other parts of the country, where it is job they do every day under more routine circumstances, a terribly important job, and we acknowledge the great contribution they make to our country and the care of our elderly.
Updated
Scott Morrison holds press conference
The prime minister is holding his post-national cabinet press conference.
Scott Morrison says the national cabinet held its 25th meeting today – a figure that would have taken 12 years to reach under the old Coag system.
Updated
Labor cancels national conference
No surprises here:
The ALP national executive met today and has agreed to defer the 49th ALP national conference due to Covid-19.
The national conference was scheduled to meet in Canberra in December 2020. The national executive has resolved to defer the national conference until further notice.
The ALP national conference is Australia’s largest political conference, and the national executive regrets that the events of 2020 mean that it is simply not practical to go ahead this year.
Labor’s platform development process will continue as planned. A consultation draft of the ALP national platform will be released to Labor party members and affiliated unions later this year.
Updated
In other news, the Morrison government’s long-awaited $250m rescue package for the arts, announced six weeks ago, has still not been spent – and it could take more than three months for money to start flowing to the industry that was one of the first, and hardest, hit.
Ben Eltham writes that draft guidelines have been submitted but are awaiting approval from arts minister Paul Fletcher, who is yet to appoint anyone to the taskforce tasked with implementing a plan for the creative economy. The industry, meanwhile, is urgently calling for more information and more support.
Theatre Network Australia’s Nicole Beyer said:
Some organisations are getting close to being insolvent. We hope the government will announce timelines very soon, even if the programs aren’t opening yet.
Read the full story here:
Updated
The federal court hearing on the Western Australia border ban has concluded.
Queensland supported WA’s attempt to force a new trial on the border ban – unsurprising because Queensland’s own ban could be impacted by any high court decision.
Justice Rangiah reserved his judgment – so we won’t find out today whether there is a retrial and the commonwealth’s evidence in support of striking down the WA border ban is thrown out.
But the judge concluded the hearing by asking the solicitor general, Stephen Donaghue, that - given all parties agreed it was the commonwealth’s conduct that had “scrambled the egg” (by intervening and then withdrawing) - was there any reason it shouldn’t pay everyone’s costs?
Donaghue: “No, your honour.”
Updated
Daniel Andrews also says the jobkeeper changes are not just for Victoria:
I think it is very important to acknowledge that the jobkeeper and jobseeker programs are national programs. They’re targeted towards hardship wherever that hardship presents.
There are businesses I know not just in Victoria but in other parts of the country who will benefit from the changes that the prime minister and the treasurer have announced. I welcome those.
I think that is very, very important. I’ve always been very clear about how critical jobkeeper and the adjusted rate of jobseeker is. My government and me personally are very grateful for that.
Updated
On reports of an influx of Victorians moving to Queensland, Daniel Andrews says:
I’m not sure how accurate those reports are. I’m not a commentator on the real estate position of Queensland.
Asked about Josh Frydenberg’s comments this morning that the Victorian situation could have been avoided, Daniel Andrews says:
We’ve all got a job to do and we’re all focused on that job.
I’m very grateful to the federal Treasurer, to the PM, and others in his team who work very closely with us.
These are not the circumstances that we wanted to find ourselves in. But none of us have the luxury, none of us, regardless of the office we hold, none of us have the luxury of failing to recognise or to acknowledge the reality of the circumstances we’re in. This is where we are.
We’ve got to make these terribly difficult decisions, heartbreaking decisions in order to drive down movement and then drive down the number of cases so that we can get to the other side of this.
As I said, I haven’t seen those comments. This is a very difficult day. This is a very difficult year in many, many ways.
But we’ve got a clear strategy and now, we’ve all got to - we’ve all got to see this through in terms of following those rules, playing our part, doing the things that have to be done to get to the other side of this.
None of us have the luxury of being able to pretend that the reality we confront is not real. Is this very real.
It could not be more real. Is it a big challenge? Yes, it’s the biggest challenge we’ve ever faced. But I think we’re equal to.
I think Victorians and Australians are equal to this. We will get through this. We will only get there by everyone working together. Neighbours, friends, and family, workmates, teammates, governments even if they’re of a different political colour, that’s my priority - getting the job done.
Daniel Andrews says he has not made his own inquiries into who was responsible for the hotel quarantine program, as he is waiting for the judicial inquiry to be carried out.
On the shutdowns that have been put in place, Daniel Andrews says:
What I would say is this, this is what is necessary. It’s never been done before.
It cannot be made perfect. It will always be imperfect. But any challenges, any imperfections in these rules are not for the lack of effort and not for the want of trying.
Everyone is working very, very hard. Again, we’ve always been up-front about this, that there would, potentially, need to be changes, refinements, further work done, and we’re open to that.
That’s why - it isn’t as if we had some conversations and then just stopped, put the rules in place and now you can’t talk to us.
We are engaging and will continue to engage. I think there’s been some very positive feedback today from a number of big players and I’m grateful for that.
But I’m not for a moment pretending people are happy to have to tell their staff to go home and not come back for six weeks. I’m not pretending that any business likes to have less customers rather than more, less profit rather than more.
That’s really challenging, really, really challenging. That’s why we have to fix this health problem.
If we don’t get these numbers down then we simply won’t be able to open up and that economic damage I think is altogether higher, it’s more. That’s when we get into these issues about the other side and people not being able to - not being able to reboot, not being able to be, you know, on that journey of rebuilding.
If this goes on, almost indefinitely, then it’s not about closing businesses for a period of time, it’s closing them for good. I don’t want that. I want businesses to survive. I want workers back at work.
I want people to have the stability and security that comes with a job. I’ve spent every die in the job I’ve got trying to create jobs trying to build the things that we need. Trying to state our state for the better. I don’t want this. I want us to get past this. The only way we can do that is if we get these numbers down.
Given how many rules are having to be made on the run, and for the first time, does Daniel Andrews believe he is getting enough input from the industries that have been impacted by the workplace and business changes?
He says:
Certainly one of the greatest challenges of doing something that’s never been done before, there is no how-to guide here, there is no rulebook or playbook for this.
It is genuinely very challenging. We are speaking with enormous numbers of people, whether it be from peak bodies. In a number of these industries we haven’t just spoken to the peak groups.
We’ve spoken to large players, smaller players, just to triple check what we think the impacts will be. Does that mean we’ve consulted with everybody? Obviously not.
Does it mean that people, even if the consultation has been impeccable and I’m very pleased to see Coles and a whole lot of other people out there saying that they’re very pleased with the way in which my team was worked with them - I’m pleased about that - but does it mean they’re happy?
No. I don’t think any business the happy to take the steps they’ve been asked to. We understand that.
But this is what we have to do. We simply have no choice. Anyone, anybody who wants further clarify qualification or anybody who wants to have a further discussion with us, of course we’re open to that.
That’s why it’s not like - it’s not like we’ve stopped once these rules came into effect at midnight Wednesday.
We’ve continued those discussions and we will. Indeed, some of these changes don’t come in until midnight tonight. And some have even been extended out until Sunday at midnight. That goes to your earlier question about when might we start to see changes.
I know this week is very much seen as a stage 4 week but many of these changes have not actually occurred yet but will occur in coming days.
Those that have been put into place only were put into place Wednesday evening. We need to be careful to remember that this week has been a transition week. We didn’t pull this up with a moment’s notice with the exception of course of the curfew.
Updated
Of the 500 people who are being investigated by Victorian police for not being home as part of the health orders of self-isolation (a large chunk of people have had reasonable excuses since the 800 number was floated earlier this week), Daniel Andrews says he is not saying those 500 people have done the wrong thing.
I’m saying 500 people have been referred to Victoria police. I’m not making judgements about whether they were doing the right or wrong thing, other than to say they weren’t there when we doorknocked them.
Not me, the Victoria police will determine whether they’ve done the right or wrong thing. That’s why I can’t stand up every day and give you a detailed breakdown because Victoria police are out there doing that work. It is the most qualitative of work.
They have to find them, talk to them, ask them where were you, why were you there all those things. As soon as we can give you that breakdown, we will. No one is asserting that every single person not found at that address is doing the wrong thing – that would be the wrong thing. But there are some people doing the wrong thing.
Out of the biggest day ever of doorknocking, we only had 150 people who didn’t answer the door.
That’s a third less. Of those 150 people will be a percentage not doing the right thing. Then a much large percentage, I hope, will be able to convince police they had a perfectly good reason not to answer the door when ADF and public health officials knocked.
Updated
Daniel Andrews says Scott Morrison will give the national cabinet update, but said he thanked the other leaders for their assistance:
I thanked my colleagues, I took the opportunity to say thank you to all of them on behalf of Victorians. They have said if they can do more then they will.
The prime minister will hold his press conference at 1pm.
Australia Post is worried about its distribution capacity, particularly for medical products. Daniel Andrews says there are provisions in place:
We have made provision for distribution centres of medical products, and we’re in constant conversation with each of those sectors an industries.
I’m more than happy to follow up with Aussie Post. I think people would appreciate for most Melburnians, there will be three physical post deliveries per week. That may need to change.
If you were ordering a book or whatever it might be, then the courier that would bring it to you might bring it to you. I think everyone understands and appreciates that is a function of trying to have less people moving around the economy. However, if there’s something to follow up there specifically on some types of products, we’re more than happy to do that.
The evidence is we’ve effectively done a carve-out for the supply chain around medicine and other important products that are directly linked to the care of people. So perhaps if I take that offline and try and get you a detailed answer.
Updated
How does the special consideration work?
James Merlino:
I’ll give you an example of what happens at the moment.
Special consideration, a significant event in a student’s life, a significant long-term illness, an adjustment may be going from a C to an A.
A minor adjustment might be having a bingle on the way to the exam, gets to the exam late, you’re a bit flustered, your exam score might go from a C to a C-plus. So it does vary depending on the severity of that impact on the student.
How will education authorities judge whether or not one school might be treating students a little easier than others?
James Merlino:
That’s why we’ll get the data from every single school for every student and for the different reasons as to why a school is saying an adjustment needs to be made, we’ll be able to look at the adjustments right across the state and ensure that they are done fairly and equitably.
The integrity of the scoring system in Victoria is extremely high. There’s a lot of data to back this up.
There’s a lot of data points to make sure that this is done fairly. So it’s a teacher assessment but it’s also assessed course work at the start of term 1, the general -- achievement test, the VCE exams. There is a lot of moderation that goes on to make sure every student will be treated fairly and equitably.
There should not be any delay for students getting their Atar score.
James Merlino:
It won’t blow out times in terms of what we’re asking students to do. Your VCE exams finish around 2 December.
It will mean, of course, extra work at the school level. I’ll be ensuring that Year 12 teachers have the time to do this work.
They’ll finish face-to-face teaching then students go off to prepare. Often that’s the time when Year 12 teachers are engaging with their kids, preparing them for the exams, but teachers may be asked to do other activities, pick up other classes in the school.
We’ll make sure that Year 12 teachers have the time to focus on these assessments because it’s absolutely critical. In the past it was a case-by-case. It’s relatively a handful number of students seeking special consideration.
This year, every single VCE student will be individually assessed. So, yes, that’ll mean more work for teachers, but I’ll be making sure that teachers have the time to make that assessment during term 4.
Updated
How will VCE students be ranked?
James Merlino:
It’ll be individually assessed. Every student is different.
We’ll work it out at a variety of ways. For example, at a school level, for each student, schools will be asked to rank where they expect that student to be right now.
But they’ll also be asked to rank their students if it were not for Covid-19.
So both a ranking of where they are at now and where they would have been had it not been for Covid-19, and why.
Then we’ll get all that data from across the state. So we’ll have a standardised adjustment. So whether it’s a long-closure, we’ll have a standardised way to assess the scores and that will be reflected in the ATAR.
We’ll look at the impact prior to Covid. We’ll look at the general achievement test for term 4 and, most importantly, their VCE exams.
But at a school level and an individual student level, we’re looking at and asking teachers where do you rank your students right now and where would they have been had it not been for Covid-19, and why.
That’s why the message to every single student is that “you will be individually assessed. You will be at no disadvantage when you step into the VCE exams at the end of the year.”
Updated
Health care workers' infections 'concerning', CMO says
Brett Sutton says he is watching the number of health care workers who have been infected with Covid-19 closely:
Certainly, it is a very concerning number, it is a very big number.
I’m not aware of any individual or any worker who has got the virus more than once. There might be some ambiguous reports overseas about someone catching it some months later.
That is a rare phenomenon. A person who is tested weeks and weeks later can sometimes turn up positive but it is probably a dead virus and cannot transmit it to others. We’re not getting people who are multiply infected. In terms of the stresses and strains on staffing, it is not insignificant.
That especially applies in aged care. In our hospital system, nurses are more represented in these healthcare workers numbers than doctors. The number of doctors is much less.
That, I think, relates to the closeness of interaction that nurses are engaged in with their care provision. But I think a lot of the numbers in healthcare workers are actually aged care workers and some of the ancillary staff in healthcare. That’s a little bit easier to mobilise other individuals for specialist care. It’s more of a strain. But it is being managed.
Updated
Asked when people can expect to see case numbers fall, Brett Sutton says:
Crystal ball-gazing is not a particularly useful exercise. I think I, having seen stabilisation in numbers, that’s a – that’s a positive.
We do expect, within 14 days of a really significant intervention, that we’ll see a change in numbers.
So, you know, certainly, 14 days from the really widespread implementation and the behaviour change that happens with stage 4 restrictions, we’ll get a different average daily numbers, I would expect. Again, it will go up and down on a day-to-day basis but within two weeks I would expect it.
Updated
Prof Brett Sutton on today’s numbers:
Certainly, the numbers today are reasonable in terms of how it’s been in recent days. I think it is important to make the point that we have seen fluctuations.
We’ve seen very significant ups and downs with numbers. That can occur with batching of results from our laboratories.
But the trend overall is that we’re kind of sitting at 4[00] to 500 cases a day. That is relatively flat over the last week.
We are now looking to see the effects of various interventions, obviously masks may show in the numbers in days to come, and obviously the stage 4 restrictions will show after that.
That’s what we’re looking for in the numbers now. But we certainly don’t hang on a single day’s result as being indicative too much. We’re looking at those five-day averages, seven-day averages in terms of how things are going.
Updated
Victorian chief medical officer, Prof Brett Sutton, is back from leave – and, presumably, at peace with Nickelback.
What?! Nickelback have broken up??
— Chief Health Officer, Victoria (@VictorianCHO) August 5, 2020
Updated
James Merlino continues, with some of the mental health help available to students:
The other thing that we’re announcing today is some additional support for vulnerable kids and for students suffering from mental health.
We have always said, through the course of this year, particularly going into flexible and remote learning, that our vulnerable kids will be the most disadvantaged.
This is the toughest element of going through Covid-19 in a school environment. We’ve seen higher absence rates from our vulnerable cohorts.
We’ve seen an increase, a sharp increase, in mental health reports within the schools’ internal reporting processes. We’re announcing today a further $28.5m of mental health and wellbeing support.
It’ll go for a variety of things – increasing mental health training to around 1,500 school staff, we’ll be rolling out mental health practitioners.
We’re already rolling out mental health practitioners in mainstream schools. We’re now going to roll out a mental health practitioner into every single one of our specialist schools, secondary and peer to 12. Eighty-five specialist schools will receive additional mental health practitioners.
We’re increasing by 33% our navigator program to support students who’ve disengaged from their schooling.
A range of other supports, students in out of home care and also other wellbeing supports will be in place. This is a significant package to address our most vulnerable cohort of students but we’re also announcing today support for every single VCE student as they rest towards the rest of the year, their final year, and their VCE exams at the end of the year.
Updated
All VCE students to be individually assessed
Education minister James Merlino has an update for Victorian certificate of education students:
For our Year 12 students, this is it.
This is their last year of school. We know that there are many students, many parents, who are worried about how Covid-19 will impat on their VCE scores and impact on their ATAR ranking.
I’m constantly asked about this and constantly being raised concerns from our students and from our schools. This year is like no other, it is an unprecedented year and we need to support our students in an unprecedented way.
Previously, special consideration is based on a case-by-case basis.
It might be, for example, a student might have an accident on their way to one of their VCE exams, a student may be absent for a long period of time due to an illness, and in those circumstances special consideration case is made for that individual student. But this year we’re going to do things very, very differently.
What we’re announcing today is that every single VCE student will be individually assessed and any adverse impacts from Covid-19 will be reflected in their ATAR ranking.
This is quite an extraordinary change. So every single student will be individually assessed.
We’ll look at things such as school closures, we’ll look at things such as long absences. We’ll look at things, for example, such as significant increase in family responsibilities as a result of Covid-19 and we’ll of course consider the mental health and wellbeing of students during this period. So all of those factors will be considered.
So now, students will go into their VCE exams with the confidence knowing that they will not be disadvantaged as a result of Covid-19.
They’ll go into their exams knowing that their final scores and their ATAR ranking will be a fair reflection of their year, and they will not be disadvantaged as a result of Covid-19.
Updated
MASSIVE jump in the number of health care workers with Covid-19 infections overnight. 911 health care workers with active cases of Covid. Yesterday it was 810. That's 100 extra infections... insane. Not good enough. The gov must release the list of health workplaces.
— Melissa Davey (@MelissaLDavey) August 7, 2020
ADF to doorknock close contacts of confirmed cases
The Australian Defence Force will be doorknocking people who should be isolating at home after being told they are a close contact of a confirmed case.
Daniel Andrews says all confirmed cases of Covid-19 are being doorknocked, and it will move to the close contacts. Of the 1,150 people doorknocked so far, 1,000 were home. The other 150 people have been referred to Victorian police. You can no longer leave your home to exercise if you are meant to be self-isolating.
Andrews says:
I can confirm that the joint ADF-Department of Health teams have conducted more than 5,000 home visits since 22 July, when the program began.
Yesterday there were 60 joint teams, including 120 ADF personnel, and there’ll be more that are arriving over the course of the coming week.
That links back to the announcements I made and some of the detail I gave you a few days ago about an additional 500-plus ADF staff coming to join us. Yesterday, for instance, there was those 60 teams, that was at least 120 ADF plus some Department of Health authorised officers.
They conducted 1,150 visits. That’s the biggest single-day effort since the program began and that number will only increase as we move beyond simply doorknocking.
This started with people we couldn’t get in contact with who were positive and then, instead of doing interviews over the phone, we were doing interviews on their doorstep. Then it moved to all positive cases being door-knocked.
Then it will progressively to all close contacts being doorknocked as well. That’ll be random.
That’ll be repeat doorknocks. That is all about making sure people are doing the right thing and that we can provide support and assistance to anybody who needs that. So 1,150 yesterday. The biggest day so far.
People were home, pleasingly, for 1,000. These are rough numbers. A thousand of those 1,150 people could be found where they were supposed to.
The 150 who could not, they have been referred to Victoria police and I can confirm that there are around 500 people who were not where they should be. This is cumulatively, and they’ve all been sent to Victoria police and Victoria police are making inquiries, as they do, with those 500 people.
Updated
Daniel Andrews:
Our nurses, doctors, ambulance, paramedics, cooks, cleaners, orderlies, ward clerks, everybody in our hospital system, they are not the front line – they are the last line of defence.
I would just ask all Victorians to follow the rules to protect themselves but also to protect our dedicated healthcare team. They are heroes.
Their courage and their compassion that they provide is just amazing. The best thing we can do is to follow each of these rules, make good decisions at a personal level because that will not only keep us safe, and every other family safe, but it will mean that our healthcare heroes are exposed to less of this virus, have to treat less patients. And their work is truly honoured by us doing that. That is the best way for us to say thank you to them.
Updated
Daniel Andrews:
There are some 607 Victorians that are in hospital, with 41 of those receiving intensive care.
To date, there are 1,527 confirmed cases in healthcare workers. That’s 139 more than yesterday. And there are, currently, 911 healthcare workers who are active cases. I’ll come back to that in just a moment.
There’s 2,500 – sorry, 2,454 cases with unknown source. That’s in aggregate – 66 since yesterday’s report. So 66 additional mystery cases.
That number is lower than it has been in recent days. We’re obviously pleased about that but it is still far too many of those mystery community transmission cases that we can’t find the source or the circumstance behind that infection. I don’t have an aggregate number of tests for you today.
As I’ve said many times, we’re moving to a positive. So tallying up all the figures is a slightly laborious task but authorities are telling us at least 125,000 tests were conducted yesterday. There are 7,637 active cases across the state and 1,548 active cases in connection with aged care.
Updated
Victoria records 450 new Covid cases, 11 deaths
Daniel Andrews is at the podium, giving the official announcement for Victoria.
As previously reported, there have been 451 people diagnosed with Covid-19 in the past 24 hours. That is 20 less than yesterday.
Eleven people have died in the past day – a woman in her 50s, two men in their 70s, six people in their 80s and two women in their 90s.
Seven of those 11 deaths are connected to aged care.
Police have issued 196 fines in the past 24 hours for breaching Covid restrictions – 51 of those were for not wearing a mask and 43 people were for breaching the curfew (which will never not be strange to write).
Updated
The ACT has reported no new cases in the last 24 hours.
Updated
We haven’t heard when we will hear from Daniel Andrews today (as in when he will step up to the microphone – the press conference is being set up). But that doesn’t necessarily mean bad news – the national cabinet meeting is on, which has delayed things.
Updated
The RBA is still very against negative interest rates. So 0.25% (what the RBA has determined is Australia’s floor) will remain with us for some time.
The latest Reserve Bank of Australia analysis is out. As expected, we all need to brace for the long haul.
There are a number of reasons why activity is unlikely to bounce back completely after lockdowns end.
Firstly, some activity restrictions usually remain even after the most stringent lockdown measures are lifted. Secondly, some people continue to engage in some social distancing beyond what is mandated. Thirdly, and probably most importantly, the deficiency in demand and a general increase in uncertainty induces people and firms to be more cautious in their spending decisions. So demand remains weak for some time.
This lingering effect of the pandemic on uncertainty and demand means that, beyond the first couple of months, recoveries will be protracted and uneven. It will take time to get back to the level of global GDP prevailing before the pandemic.
Taking 2020 as a whole, global GDP is expected to contract by more than 4%, before rising by nearly 6% in 2021. If realised, this outcome would still leave GDP below where it would have been had the outbreak not occurred.
The pattern is very similar for Australia’s major trading partners, though the contraction occurred earlier and the recovery is expected to be a bit more vigorous in China than in our other major trading partners.
Speech by Luci Ellis, Assistant Governor (Economic) – The Economic Outlook – at the Australian Business Economists webinar - https://t.co/ydskAtM8Da
— RBA (@RBAInfo) August 7, 2020
Updated
Federal court tries to unscramble border case
The commonwealth and Western Australia are having a hell of a time “unscrambling the egg” of the fact Christian Porter intervened in Clive Palmer’s case against the WA border ban but now wants its submissions and evidence ignored.
Joshua Thomson, the WA solicitor general, complained that it was “most unusual” of Porter and the commonwealth to have gone “into battle, then seek to withdraw from the field of battle” because they have left behind a “mixed-up train of evidence”.
Although the commonwealth has now told the court it “no longer presses” its submissions and evidence, Thomson said that didn’t remove the evidence, or the prejudice to WA, so a new trial was needed.
Justice Rangiah agreed there was no “real doubt” that WA had been “disadvantaged by the conduct of the commonwealth” because WA had faced “at least” two expert witnesses that it otherwise “wouldn’t have had to deal with”. But he questioned what purpose a fresh trial would serve, if Palmer simply called the same experts.
The solicitor general, Stephen Donaghue, submitted that the commonwealth had already withdrawn from the case (at WA’s request) so it couldn’t make further submissions on what happens now.
Rangiah noted the commonwealth’s withdrawal was announced in the media on 2 August – which he said was “extremely discourteous” because it should have asked for the matter to be listed and told the court first. Donaghue apologised, but explained it had tried to write to the judge but another party objected.
We’re now hearing from Palmer’s counsel, Peter Dunning, who is arguing that although the commonwealth may no longer “press” its evidence and submissions, that does not mean they should be ignored in “any way, shape or form”.
Updated
Australia’s controversial encryption laws have allowed the Australian federal police to investigate and shut down malware software that was allegedly used by Australians subject to domestic violence orders, a parliamentary inquiry has been told.
The parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security is reviewing the Telecommunications and Other Legislation Amendment (Assistance and Access) Act 2018.
This legislation increases penalties for criminal suspects who refuse to unlock devices such as phones and creates a new framework for law enforcement agencies to request or compel technical assistance from tech companies, even to create new capabilities such as backdoors to get around the encryption in some of their products.
The AFP commissioner, Reece Kershaw, said the Australian Federal Police had so far issued eight technical assistance requests to communications providers and had obtained 23 computer access warrants. He said these included drug trafficking, cyber crime, terrorism and corruption investigations.
Kershaw told the committee that the TOLA powers had been “critical” in enabling its investigations into malware allegedly developed by an Australian national. He said this malware allowed cyber criminals to remotely and secretly gain control over a victim’s computer or other device and view files, log keystrokes and activate their webcam.
Our investigation showed that a high percentage of the Australian-based purchasers of this malware were named as respondents on domestic violence orders.
Kershaw said there were a number of technical challenges in investigating this, including the encryption of data between the malware user and the victim, and the use of cryptocurrency to conceal payments. Without the TOLA powers, the AFP would not have been able to capture relevant data and evidence, he said.
In late 2019 the AFP, in partnership with more than a dozen law enforcement agencies in Australia and Europe, undertook a week of action against people who had purchased and used the malware. In that week of action, 85 warrants had been executed internationally, 434 devices had been seized (laptops, phones and servers), 13 people had been arrested, and the website selling the malware had been taken down.
This is just one example of where TOLA has been a valuable tool in the AFP’s fight against online criminality.
Updated
NSW Health reports 11 new coronavirus cases
NSW Health is reporting 11 new Covid-19 cases have been diagnosed in the last 24 hours.
Updated
ACTU boss Sally McManus has responded to the government’s announcement it is expanding jobkeeper. She says it doesn’t go far enough:
The outbreak in Victoria has shown us again that insecure workers are the most vulnerable during this crisis, and need to be supported so that they can protect themselves and the community.
People on work visas have been excluded from jobseeker and jobkeeper. They have nothing, so they are desperate for work.
This makes it more likely they will be working, some while sick, in our essential services like meat processing and aged care.
We need to expand jobkeeper to casuals and visa workers, and make federally funded paid pandemic leave available to all working people.
If we do not treat all workers equally, some will be more desperate and take more risks. This will only create opportunities for the virus to spread.
Updated
That is 20 less than yesterday. Not fantastic, but I think we’ll take anything that isn’t a massive increase at this point.
The unofficial Victorian case numbers ahead of the offical case numbers are out – 451 new Covid cases in the last 24 hours.
Updated
From Saturday, Queensland will bar NSW and ACT residents from the state.
Dr Jeanette Young says she hopes to be able to lift that restriction soon. It is to be reviewed at the end of the month.
New South Wales has done such a brilliant job to maintain a where they are, but despite that they are still seeing, every single day, cases that they can’t link back to known outbreaks.
So that’s why we really, to keep Queenslanders safe, we needed to reinstitute those border controls.
It means a lot of inconvenience for a lot of people. I understand that. And we have seen large numbers of Queenslanders coming back through the borders in the past few days, which is good.
So from a 1am Saturday, only people who live in those border communities, so Tweed and those local government areas that are adjacent to the border are able to cross the border freely.
They can only come into the adjacent communities on the other side of the border. They can’t go through the rest of Queensland.
That’s really, really important. They know their lives are lived across the border, which is why they need to be able to come in.
Anyone else from anywhere else in New South Wales or the ACT or, of course, Victoria, cannot come into Queensland unless they fly and they come through the airport and they’ve got an exemption to be in Queensland. So they are a Queenslander returning home or they are someone who has an exemption to come into Queensland for whatever purpose that may be.
Now, the vast majority of those people, of course, to keep Queenslanders safe, will need to go into hotel quarantine for 14 days.
There are some exemptions full that people will need to apply for. But there are very, very few and that is so important for us to do, at this point in time, while we see those ongoing cases coming in New South Wales in the ACT. And, really, it’s about them having to manage those cases that came through into both New South Wales and the ACT that came through into their states from Victoria.
Now that they have closed their border and New South Wales has introduced mandatory hotel quarantine for Victorians or people in Victoria coming into New South Wales, that will assist them to get on top of all of their cases.
So hopefully we will be able to remove those restrictions as soon as New South Wales has been able to get on top of their cases and they have great confidence that I will be able to do that.
So far, at the refugee protests I have seen, while in Brisbane, people were obeying social distance restrictions.
There has been a running protest at Kangaroo Point, where refugees and asylum seekers are being held in a motel, and every time I drove past it, people were spaced apart and wearing masks.
Given federal Labor MPs attended Black Lives Matter protests (also respecting social distancing restrictions) I am not sure these warnings are going to land as the Queensland Labor government wants.
Queensland’s chief medical officer, Dr Jeanette Young, repeats that warning:
Please do not go and protest this weekend. It is critical.
Because it will be a tough decision to make on Monday if we have seen large breaches of those Chief Health Officer directions, then I will have to take that into consideration about the advice I’d give the community.
So we need to, all of us, think very carefully about what we’re doing so we our community.
So I ask everyone to continue doing that. Queenslanders have been amazing. To see the number of people who have come forward since that group returned from Melbourne to be tested and to cope with all of those delays at the fever clinics we saw, to cope with waiting for those results and the anxiety that that causes, to do all of that and, potentially, have it undone because people breach those requirements this weekend, would be an awful thing to see.
So that’s why I encourage everyone, please, continue doing what you have been doing, continue following all the directions.
Updated
Queensland protests risk aged care restriction lifting, government warns
Queensland’s deputy premier, Steven Miles, says people planning to protest refugee conditions in Brisbane this weekend should not “think for a moment that they are part of one of the world’s great protest movements”
Miles:
There are protests planned to be held this weekend and I want to say, very clearly, that any breach of our health directions could put the lives of Queenslanders at risk.
We are not out of the woods yet from those cases that we have confirmed over the last week or so and to people who are concerned about the treatment of refugees, they understand your concern.
They appreciate your concern, however, your concern is with decisions of the federal government, not with Queenslanders who could be put at risk –[their] health could be put at risk if these protests were to go ahead. If the weekend goes well, if we continue to not record cases of community transmission, the chief health officer hopes to next week be able to lift the restrictions on people visiting aged care facilities.
That’s what is at stake here, whether hundreds of Queenslanders can have their families visit them in their nursing homes or not.
The decision, anyone’s decision, to breach these directions and put ... the ability of people to their family members visit them in their nursing care facility at risk is not selfless, it is selfish.
They should not think for a moment that they are part of one of the world’s great protest movements. Those great protest movements with their own lives at risk. Not the lives of others, not the lives of innocent people.
Updated
The woman in Queensland who tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday, with no known infection source, has been confirmed as a false positive.
Queensland has 11 active cases.
More than 16,000 Queenslanders were tested yesterday- there were no positive cases.
I am sorry to announce Australia – your weekends are officially over.
Electric cars are getting electric chargers.
From Angus Taylor:
The Morrison Government is supporting consumer choice in future fuels through a new trial for smart chargers for electric vehicles (EVs).
Under the trial, the Government will partner with Origin Energy Ltd to install 150 smart chargers at homes and workplaces across the National Electricity Market (NEM).
A rapid and unmanaged uptake of EVs could have negative impacts on the electricity grid if a large number of EVs are charged at home during peak periods.
This trial will explore the role smart chargers can play to assist the integration of EVs to the NEM through the management of chargers via remote access to maximise EV charging at times when demand for electricity is low.
Through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), the Government will provide $838,000 in grant funding for the smart-charging trial, with the total project expected to cost $2.9 million.
Updated
Federal court hearing conducted via teleconference, with barrister warning he is self-isolating and if a police officer knocks on his door to check that, he will have to answer or risks breach of public health orders. 2020 is wild!#auslaw
— Paul Karp (@Paul_Karp) August 7, 2020
Labor Victorian senator Raff Ciccone has been appointed to the ALP National Executive – replacing Adem Somyurek.
Doesn’t that all seem a lifetime ago.
Updated
The Victorian parliament has published a research paper on emergency powers – how they are deployed, and who is responsible for them.
Updated
Hello, Amy Remeikis is back with you - thank you to Christopher Knaus for keeping an eye on the blog while I annoyed Mike Bowers with something.
In the meantime, News Corp has reported its fourth-quarter figures, saying:
- Beginning with the fourth quarter, the company is presenting Dow Jones as a separate reportable segment, which better highlights its growth and value; Dow Jones Segment EBITDA grew 13% in the fourth quarter
- Revenues were $1.92 billion, a 22% decline compared to $2.47 billion in the prior year, primarily driven by the negative impacts related to COVID-19 and the sale of News America Marketing
- Net loss of $(401) million, which includes non-cash impairment charges of $292 million and higher restructuring costs due to Covid-19, compared to $(42) million in the prior year
Updated
Just a reminder, right now we’re meant to be in the middle of a sitting fortnight. The sittings were called off due to concerns over travel.
Parliament is now not scheduled to sit until 24 August, though politicians will face pretty strict quarantine requirements. Some politicians, including Josh Frydenberg, are attempting to arrive in Canberra as early as this weekend to being their quarantine period ahead of the sitting.
Similar difficulties have emerged in other developed nations. In the United Kingdom, parliament trialled using video conferencing to sustain some form of ongoing parliamentary sittings.
It’s Christopher Knaus here, taking over briefly to continue our live coverage of Covid-19 developments. Amy Remeikis will be back with us shortly.
The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive, James Pearson, has welcomed changes to jobkeeper, saying there is “no doubt” they will save jobs.
Pearson takes credit for his members identifying the changes that needed to be made but warns they will continue to push for more support.
He said:
Within hours of July’s jobkeeper 2.0 announcement, ACCI and our members identified two issues which needed to be addressed.
The first was the need for businesses to show they would meet the downturn threshold in each quarter to be eligible. Many had started to trade out of the June quarter as restrictions eased but were forced back into shutdown within weeks.
We saw a brief uptick in sales in some industries due to the instant asset write off scheme, superannuation funds being released and hospitality reopening – but this recovery was short-lived for many businesses.
ACCI also made the case to government for shifting the date of eligible employees from March to July. The trading restart in May and June saw new employees join the books, if only for a matter of weeks before being stood down again.
Despite these changes, as in the original jobkeeper, this revision will not provide help to every business that is struggling, and we will continue to work with government on ways that jobs and businesses can receive the support needed.
Updated
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has rounded out his run of morning interviews with a press conference, explaining changes to eligibility for the jobkeeper wage subsidy but playing down any prospect the government could abandon plans to lower the rate from $1,500 a fortnight to $1,200 after the end of September.
He said:
“We always envisaged this program will remain national, which it does, and it will step down and transition over time. After September the payment is reduced to $1,200, but it remains at 80% of the minimum wage, so it’s still a very significant payment and economic lifeline. We’ll have 4 million Australian workers through the September quarter, of which there will be 1.5 million Victorians, or almost half the private-sector workforce.”
Frydenberg said the jobkeeper program is demand driven – so even without changing the rules further there will be “much greater demand out of Victoria”, with Victorians set to make up more than 50% of all recipients in the December and March quarter.
He said other programs also provide specific support for Victoria – such as pandemic leave disaster payments and childcare measures.
Updated
Freedom of speech at Australian universities is under review.
From Dan Tehan’s office:
The Morrison government has established an independent review to evaluate the progress that universities have made implementing the French Model Code on university free speech.
The French Model Code sets out a framework for universities that protects freedom of speech and academic freedom as paramount values of Australian universities.
All universities have undertaken to adopt the Model Code this year in a way consistent with their individual legislative frameworks.
Minister for Education Dan Tehan today announced that lawyer and former Vice-Chancellor Professor (Emeritus) Sally Walker AM would evaluate the alignment of university policies with the principles of the Model Code.
The terms of reference ask Professor Walker to:
1. Validate the alignment of universities’ suite of relevant policies with the principles of the Model Code on freedom of speech and academic freedom in higher education providers;
2. Consider whether there are areas of particular strength or weakness in institutional responses and offer any suggestions to institutions where she considers alignment with the Model Code could be improved;
3. Identify exemplars of particularly good practice that could be shared or promoted within the higher education sector;
4. Provide advice to the Minister for Education on the overall alignment of universities policies with the principles of the Model Code and, if warranted, any suggestions on how the alignment could be further improved;
5. Provide advice to the Minister for Education on whether the Code needs further refinement or change.
Updated
It’s going to be messy and confusing for quite a few people – but the Victorian childcare permits are out.
Find details of the worker permit scheme (permitted worker scheme), childcare permit and permit templates for permitted workers and employers during coronavirus restrictions in Victoria at: https://t.co/nujFAvJevS https://t.co/cGcaMgA3kC pic.twitter.com/ZQewAAeaQp
— Victorian Government (@VicGovAu) August 6, 2020
Updated
The treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, will hold a press conference very soon.
Updated
Shorter AMA:
Wear a mask! 😷👩💻❤️ #WearAMask #MaskUp #COVID19 #Covid_19 #murdershewrote #AngelaLansbury #sidebyside #DragQueen #wig #wigs pic.twitter.com/uBKvLgQoeE
— P. M. (@pmartz10) August 3, 2020
Meanwhile, the AMA wants everyone in NSW to start wearing masks when they head out.
This is already in force in Victoria. ACT residents have been warned mask wearing will become mandatory as well.
Via AAP:
The NSW government currently recommends mask use where social distancing is impossible, as well as for public-facing employees, religious worshippers and those who live near Covid-19 clusters.
The elderly and those at high health risk should also wear masks.
“The government has been asking the community to do the right thing and while many people have responded, infections persist and NSW is struggling to return to the previous environment where it had no community transmission,” AMA NSW president Dr Danielle McMullen said in a statement on Friday.
Dr McMullen also said the AMA would continue to lobby government for stronger restrictions on indoor gatherings in NSW.
Updated
Have they considered asking Scott Cam to do a PSA on this? Apparently he is very related about when it comes to the youth.
Via AAP:
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian is urging younger adults to rein in their social lives after a Covid-positive man attended a football match and six Newcastle pubs over the weekend.
The man in his 20s is a close contact of a Newcastle teenager whose diagnosis shut down his high school and sent two football teams into self-isolation.
“We are on a knife-edge and we are about halfway through what is a really critical period,” Ms Berejiklian told Triple M radio on Thursday.
“To the young people, try and modify the number of places that you go to.”
The man attended several venues between Friday and Sunday including Bennett Hotel in Hamilton, Sydney Junction Hotel in Hamilton and the Wests New Lambton club.
NSW Health wants anyone who attended those venues between specific times to immediately self-isolate for 14 days from the day they attended and get tested.
The man also visited the Greenroof Bar and Restaurant in Hamilton, the Queens Wharf Hotel and Sushi Revolution in Hamilton, and was among 2570 spectators at the Newcastle Jets-Western United match on Sunday at McDonald Jones Stadium.
Anyone who visited those venues on those dates is considered a casual contact.
Included in 12 new Covid-19 cases reported in NSW on Thursday are another two Sydney men in their 20s who attended several venues while potentially infectious.
One dined the Jambo Jambo African restaurant in Glebe on July 31 from 7pm to 8.30pm and anyone who attended the restaurant at that time should self-isolate and get tested.
The man also visited several other inner-Sydney venues between Friday and Sunday but patrons at these places are classified as casual contacts.
The other attended Penrith Plaza, Master Hot Pot in Canley Vale and BBQ City Buffet in Bankstown on August 1 and those who were at those venues should be alert for symptoms.
The man is a close contact of a previously reported case associated with the Mounties club cluster.
Updated
Politics is quite broken.
Brad Hazzard indicated today that NSW may have a shortage of face masks. So we asked him about it in Question Time on your behalf. His rude response was unfitting of the Minister in charge of our pandemic response. pic.twitter.com/vnXFIUv6Zq
— Jodi McKay (@JodiMcKayMP) August 6, 2020
Updated
Scott Morrison also said the storage situation in Newcastle for ammonium nitrate, the chemical responsible for the Beirut blast which killed more than 100 people and completely devastated the city, was different to how it was being kept in Lebanon:
Well, firstly, that’s a matter for the state government to regulate, and the regulations here in Australia are very strong. I mean, what happened in Beirut is just, it’s just the most awful of tragedies and a terrible accident.
But you had that material sitting around in the same place, I understand, for about six years and next to a fireworks dump in a Hezbollah-controlled port. These are not the circumstances in Australia. Those materials, there are very strict regulations on how they are used.
Those materials in Newcastle as well, in particular, they move through that fairly quickly. So it’s just not sitting there dormant. But there are very strict controls on that. But I’m sure the New South Wales Premier or others could give you more information
Scott Morrison had a chat to Ben Fordham on Sydney radio 2GB (something which is becoming a regular engagement) this morning.
He was asked about the U-turn on jobkeeper:
Yes, saving lives and saving livelihoods, the jobkeeper program is there when the virus hits and it’s hit hard in Victoria in particular. I mean, these changes apply right across the country, by the way, not just in Victoria.
And there’ll be some additional people who get access to it, we expect in other states and territories. But it’s principally Victoria.
And, you know, if the same thing had happened in New South Wales, and New South Wales are doing a terrific job in preventing that. But, you know, when these things happen, that’s what the federal government’s responsibility is and it is a significant amount, just as all of jobkeeper has been. It takes the total bill now over $100bn dollars. But it’s been one of the most successful programs of its kind in the world.
Updated
The mayor of Grant District Council, which covers Mount Gambier in South Australia (one of the closest major centres for SA/Victorian border towns and where many of those residents do their shopping and go to the doctor etc) spoke to the ABC following reports some timber workers (one of the region’s biggest industries) with Victorian number plates are being targeted for abuse.
Richard Sage said people needed to calm their farms:
I think it is a disgusting act and they should be ashamed of themselves. They are part of our community. If you look at the timber industry it is a vital part of how we are going to grow and get out of this pandemic.
I think if you consider those close areas of Victoria are part of our families. We have uncles and aunts and relatives, we’ve got nurses and doctors that travel from across Victoria into South Australia. It is just a stupid situation. People need to calm down and have some respect.
Russell Crowe has entered the chat
@DanielAndrewsMP
— Russell Crowe (@russellcrowe) August 6, 2020
You’re doing a good job Dan.
It must feel like you are pushing the proverbial up a hill everyday.
Remember what they say, if you find yourself going through hell...
Just keep going.
Thank you for your continuous effort. You are saving lives.
Just keep going.
Labor’s Tony Burke has an update on the government’s arts funding package, following senate hearings:
More than six weeks after the Morrison government announced it’s much-delayed arts package on June 25, not a single dollar of support has yet gone to those who desperately need it.
And now we know why.
Stephen Arnott from the Office of the Arts has confirmed his team has submitted the draft guidelines for the grants and loans programs to Minister Fletcher – but the minister still has not approved them.
While the sector is desperately waiting for help the guidelines are sitting on the minister’s desk just waiting for his signature.
Under Labor questioning at the Covid-19 committee, Mr Arnott also said that once the minister does approve the guidelines it will take another eight to 12 weeks until money finally starts flowing.
That means that even if Minister Fletcher approves these guidelines first thing on Monday morning – and he should – it could take until November before anyone gets any money. That is eight months after this crisis began and this entire sector was almost completely shut down.
Updated
Whatever works, I suppose
The Royal Melbourne Hospital has published this catchy (?) and baffling (?) tiktok about wearing PPE. Duet this 👇 pic.twitter.com/8ni6DrVtWv
— casey briggs (@CaseyBriggs) August 6, 2020
SA opposition leadership team to self-isolate
The South Australian opposition leader, Peter Malinauskas (a fellow Lithuanian), will go into self-isolation, after he and his deputy leader visited the Thebarton Senior College earlier in the week.
STATEMENT REGARDING VISIT TO THEBARTON SENIOR COLLEGE pic.twitter.com/B25y4HlXgo
— Peter Malinauskas (@PMalinauskasMP) August 6, 2020
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There is talk of a virtual parliament for the upcoming sitting, scheduled for 24 August, to allow Victorian MPs to contribute. The acting chief medical officer advised the government that Victorian MPs travelling to Canberra would either need to arrive two weeks early and self-isolate, or self-isolate in Victoria for two weeks before the sitting.
Josh Frydenberg is headed to the ACT for an extra fortnight:
I will be quarantining for that period of two weeks in Canberra. Obviously, there can’t be rule for politicians and another for everyone else.
We’ve got to absolutely be focused on following that medical advice and ensuring that we keep the community safe. I’m working day and night, as is the prime minister, the health minister, and all my colleagues to support the Australian community through this once-in-a-century pandemic. I need to be there for parliament.
We’ve got important legislation to introduce and, of course, we will abide by the medical rules as required.
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AAP has an update on a South Australian cluster:
A school for adult learners in Adelaide has been shut over a concerning cluster of COVID-19 cases.
About 70 students of the Thebarton Senior College are in hotel quarantine after being identified as close contacts of a woman in her 20s who tested positive for the virus.
Another 1100 students and staff are considered casual contacts and must self-isolate for two weeks.
The cluster of the cases associated with the college has now grown to five.
Chief Public Health Officer Nicola Spurrier said the action to close the college was taken out of an abundance of caution and there was no suggestion of widespread community transmission of the disease at this stage.
“We are doing everything we can to keep this cluster under control,” Professor Spurrier said.
The Education Department is expected to release information on Friday on how students can continue with their courses.
Given the work restrictions in Victoria, a state responsible for about a quarter of the nation’s economy, can the treasurer guarantee supply chains across the country?
Josh Frydenberg:
I met with the Business Council of Australia and their membership, the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and more than 500 of their business members, as well as with the Australian Industry Group, and the message was similar, that when these restrictions were put in place you have to take into account those national supply chains.
I’m pleased that some of those concerns have been taken into account.
I was speaking to the head of Woolworths last night. They have around 4,500 people in their Victorian distribution centres.
They’re going to be able to now work that through and they’re confident that they can avoid some of the challenges that they were previously concerned about under the initial changes that were announced.
I continue to talk to my Victorian counterpart. We’ve heard some good news on steel as a permitted area where business can continue.
Again, that’s very, very important to these national supply chains. A business like Bunnings, for example, will distribute paint and drilling equipment and IT and computer equipment nationally out of Victoria.
So taking into account the impact on national supply chains is critical, not just for food.
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Josh Frydenberg has been doing the morning interview rounds to explain the jobkeeper wage subsidy program expansion. This was what he had to say on the ABC:
The Morrison government is committing an additional $15.6bn to expand the jobkeeper program. Around $13bn of that will go into Victoria. We’ll see hundreds of thousands of more Victorian workers now using the jobkeeper program.
We’re making two major changes. One is to the business turnover test. The other is to the eligibility employee test.
When it comes to the business turnover test, previously, in order to be eligible as a business for the December quarter, you needed to be down in both the June and the September quarters. We’re now saying that you need to be just down in the September quarter.
This will take into account those businesses that were doing OK through April, May and June but have obviously been subject to lockdown now.
The second change is around the employee eligibility. In order to be eligible for the jobkeeper program, the employee needs to be on the business’s books as of 1 July. Previously, it was 1 March.
Again, this change means more people can access the program because as businesses were starting to open up, as progress was made on the health front, more employees were coming on the books of businesses.
Now of course, they’re being subject to lockdown. So this will allow the jobkeeper program to cover them.
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The national cabinet will meet today. The meeting of the nation’s leaders and health advisers will focus on the situation in Victoria.
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Good morning
Yesterday Scott Morrison announced the Treasury estimates of the cost of the Victorian lockdown – up to $12bn in the September quarter.
Which put the last Treasury estimates – released about a week ago – out of date. And also meant it was time for more action.
This morning we wake to find changes to jobkeeper, the wage subsidy program set up by the federal government. As Katharine Murphy and Daniel Hurst report, it has been a bit of a U-turn:
The Morrison government has overhauled the eligibility requirements for the jobkeeper wage subsidy only three weeks after cutting the payment in an attempt to save businesses and jobs at risk because of the deteriorating outlook in Victoria.
Ahead of Friday’s national cabinet meeting, and after new Treasury analysis underscored the hit to the national economy from the second wave of coronavirus infections in Victoria, the expenditure review committee of cabinet signed off on the jobkeeper overhaul late on Thursday.
The changes mean businesses and not-for-profits will only have to show a fall in turnover in the September quarter compared with a comparable period in 2019, rather than having to show declines in the June and September quarters to requalify for the subsidy after 28 September.
You can find that here:
Victoria is also coming to terms with what the business and workplace restrictions mean. There has been a bit of confusion over who is allowed where and how – and that looks to continue for a little bit longer as issues are ironed out. The list of permitted businesses was only released an hour after the restrictions came into effect. The hotline set up to answer questions has been overrun. And individual problems keep coming up. It is to be expected in a situation like this but it doesn’t make it any easier.
Meanwhile, the line to get into Queensland before the Saturday border ban kicks in for NSW and ACT residents is long and growing longer. WA looks no closer to opening its borders, although the commonwealth will appear at the Clive Palmer border case hearing today, where it will unwind its original support, as an intervener, in the case.
We’ll take you through the day’s events, across Covid and politics, as they happen. You have Amy Remeikis with you for most of the day.
Ready?
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