Here's what happened on Thursday 17 September
We’re closing off our live coverage for the day. Cheers to Amy Remeikis for the earlier blog duties.
Our global live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic has been rolling for hours.
If you glance at our graphic above this post, you’ll see there’s a chance that by the time you wake up tomorrow there could be confirmation the virus has infected at least 30 million people.
Here’s what happened in Australia today:
- Victoria recorded eight deaths and 28 new cases of Covid-19 – the first time daily cases have dropped below 30 since 24 June. Regional Victorians were enjoying relaxed conditions from today.
- Queensland recorded one new positive test. NSW reported five new cases.
- Unemployment figures delivered a surprise, with a 0.9% rise. But there’s still more than 900,000 people out of work.
- Queensland police charged a Queensland man with making death threats against premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young.
- Police in Melbourne are preparing for more anti-lockdown protests in the city this weekend.
- The government has flagged changes to the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, shifting away from solar and wind to investment in hydrogen, carbon capture and storage, microgrids and energy efficiency.
Thanks from me Graham Readfearn for being with us. Stay safe and look after yourselves. Wash your hands and don’t touch your face.
Labor leader Anthony Albanese says the Morrison government is trying to “emasculate” the Australian Renewable Energy Agency by shifting its focus away from solar and wind to investment in hydrogen, carbon capture and storage, microgrids and energy efficiency.
Katherine Murphy and Adam Morton have the story.
100-year-old coronavirus survivor leaves hospital
A 100-year-old who has spent six weeks fighting coronavirus at a hospital in Victoria has recovered and returned to the aged care home where he caught the virus.
According to AAP, the centenarian, identified as Roy, waved goodbye to staff at St Vincent’s Private Hospital in Fitzroy on Tuesday. The agency reports:
AAP understands he celebrated his 100th birthday while in hospital.
Roy’s granddaughter, identified as Lauren Elizabeth, took to social media to express her relief after his against-the-odds recovery.
“That was a very long 42 days, but he finally had two negative test results,” she wrote.
“I’m almost certain he is Australia’s oldest suriving (sic) case to date. Yet to be confirmed.
“He may be old, but he still matters to us.”
The hospital confirmed Roy’s release on Tuesday and said he was returning to the aged care home where he caught the virus.
Earlier this week, Melbourne couple Vic Cornell, 95, and Jean Schofield, 87, also left hospital after overcoming coronavirus.
Updated
Was Victoria’s hotel quarantine scheme a “fiasco”?
An ABC journalist used that particular F word. A viewer didn’t like it and complained. There was an investigation. And....
The ABC’s independent editorial complaints investigation unit has found describing Victoria's hotel quarantine failure as a “fiasco” is "grounded in demonstrable evidence and duly impartial". https://t.co/wgVFGgeQ9p
— ABC Communications (@ABCMediaComms) September 17, 2020
Two prominent Catholic schools in Sydney are expected to remove the name of a brother accused of sexual abuse from a school building and scholarship program.
The Guardian’s Christopher Knaus has this exclusive story.
Victoria’s health authorities are trying to get to grips with a cluster in Casey linked to the Fountain Gate shopping centre.
On a day when the state’s daily cases dropped into the 20s for the first time since 24 July, Victoria’s deputy chief health officer Allen Cheng said they were worried about the cluster and described it as a “super-spreading” event.
In comments reported by AAP, Cheng said:
It’s spreading in a number of households in Casey and we’re obviously worried all the people they’ve come into contact with outside of that.
We’re not entirely sure how they’re linked, but I don’t think it’s rocket science to say a number of households in Casey are probably going to be linked in some way ... we’re still working to establish those links.
There are 34 cases linked to the cluster, with 33 currently active. Three pop-up clinics have been set up in the area.
Updated
Former leader of the Australian Greens Christine Milne, now a global Greens ambassador, has a view on what the government hopes to get out of changes to the mandate of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency.
Undermine competitiveness, restrict the supply of renewables by destroying innovation, prop up failed polluting fossil fuel industry and subsidise the research in industrial processes that industry ought to be compelled to fund itself if we had a world’s best practice regulatory framework.
In an article for the Guardian, Milne says prime minister Scott Minister is a “red flag-waving saboteur in front of a sign that says LNP open for donations”.
Updated
Should a director of a lobbying firm be allowed to attend party meetings for the Nationals if he’s also the party president?
Nationals leader and deputy prime minister Michael McCormack says this is all fine. The Guardian’s Christopher Knaus has this story.
Updated
A senate inquiry heard on Thursday that eight Australians who are participants in the National Disability Support Scheme have died while infected with coronavirus.
AAP reports from the inquiry that more than 350 participants and employees have had coronavirus:
Of the eight people who died, six were in Victoria and two from NSW.
NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission registrar Samantha Taylor pointed to the distinction of someone dying directly from coronavirus or with it.
“That is an important distinction, not all of them passed away of Covid-19,” she said.
One worker, an employee of Victoria’s health department, also died with coronavirus.
As of Thursday there are 12 participants and eight workers with Covid-19.
Updated
Victoria police on standby for more lockdown protests this weekend
Still in Victoria, and the state’s assistant police commissioner Luke Cornelius has said it is expecting more anti-lockdown protests this weekend.
Cornelius delivered a graphically-memorable quote last week when describing how he felt about the “selfish antics” of protestors.
“I feel a bit like a dog returning to eat his own vomit,” Cornelius said.
AAP reports comments from Cornelius on radio station 3AW earlier today:
The organisers of the protest sent an email to us a couple of days ago, wanting to protest.
[They were] advising us that if we refused to allow them, we’ll be jeorpardising the safety of others and Victoria police would be putting all Victorians at risk and responsible for the continued spread of the virus.
They’ll just continue to pop up in different spots [at] the CBD.
Over the last two weekends protesters have clashed with police at the Shrine Of Remembrance, the Tan Track and Queen Victoria Market.
Police arrested 74 people and issued at least 176 infringement notices during last Sunday’s protest at the market.
Cornelius confirmed riot police would be on standby again.
We don’t want to, we just need to.
Updated
Folk in regional Victoria haven’t wasted any time getting out and about under eased coronavirus restrictions that came in overnight.
And why would they? Here are some pics from Geelong.
Updated
Queenslanders are used to the big, brash yellow-and-black political adverts on roadsides and in newspapers from Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party.
It looks like there’s going to be a lot more of them.
The ABC is reporting that one of the mining magnate’s companies, Mineralogy, transferred $2m into the bank account of the party.
Donations in Queensland are declared daily, and the entry in the public register shows the transfer was declared yesterday.
Yesterday’s Courier-Mail newspaper in Brisbane had two full-page ads from Palmer attacking the Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, and the state’s chief health officer, Dr Jeannette Young.
Clive Palmer's company donates $2 million to United Australian Party https://t.co/JHA5U7D0ny
— ABC News (@abcnews) September 17, 2020
Updated
Our Melbourne bureau chief, Melissa Davey, has the latest data showing the extent of infections of coronavirus among healthcare workers in the state.
As at 15 September, one in four of the 1,041 active cases in the state were healthcare workers.
Of the 3429 total cases of the disease among healthcare workers, 1,640 worked in aged care (48%) and 1,061 (31%) worked in hospitals.
Updated
What's happened so far on Thursday?
Thanks Amy Remeikis for all of that. Graham Readfearn here, taking you through the next few hours.
Here’s a recap of the day so far.
- Victoria recorded another eight deaths and 28 new cases of Covid-19 – the first time daily cases have dropped below 30 since 24 June.
- Regional Victorians are enjoying relaxed conditions, but police have again stressed they’ll fine people from Melbourne who try to sneak out of the “ring of steel”.
- Queensland recorded one new positive test – a contact of a previously known case who had been in isolation.
- NSW reported five new cases. Two were returned travellers in quarantine, two were linked to a known cluster and one was still under investigation (although the health authority said it could have been a false positive and this was being checked).
- Unemployment figures delivered a surprise, with a 0.9% rise. But there’s still more than 900,000 people out of work.
- Queensland police charged a Queensland man with making death threats against premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young.
- NSW has announced it will let more people into sports stadiums, allowing 50% capacity – up from 25%.
On we go.
Updated
That is me done for the day – thank you so much for joining me for the rush of the morning and the dead of the afternoon.
I’ll be back on Monday bright and early for another week of Covid and politics. You can expect more budget announcements then, as we inch closer to the very weird 6 October budget.
If you need to reach me in the meantime, or I haven’t answered your questions, you can get me here and here.
Graham Readfearn will lead you through the afternoon.
Thanks so much for coming along for the ride. I’ll see you next week – and please, take care of you. Ax
Updated
Paul Karp and Daniel Hurst have looked at the unemployment figures:
Australia’s employment rebounded with 111,000 more jobs in August compared with July, but more Victorians are out of work due to the state’s second wave of Covid-19 and Melbourne’s stage-four lockdown.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics labour force data, released on Thursday, confirms Australia’s two-speed economy, with unemployment falling overall by 0.7% to 6.8% but rising in Victoria to 7.1% after the loss of 42,400 jobs.
The treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, told reporters in Canberra that although the figures show Australia’s economy is “remarkably resilient” and “fighting back”, the road to recovery will still be “long, hard and bumpy”.
Australia's unemployment rate falls to 6.8% – but more Victorians are out of work https://t.co/ngleva1icX @Paul_Karp @danielhurstbne #auspol
— Katharine Murphy (@murpharoo) September 17, 2020
Updated
Brendan O’Connor, Labor’s shadow minister for employment and industry, has responded to the job figures today:
I just wanted to respond to the ABS data out today for the month of August. We welcome any new job into the labour market. Any job that someone might have found in the last month, federal Labor welcomes. But we are concerned that these figures would convince the government not to do enough to help our economy and to help the almost 1 million Australian workers still out of work.
Let’s be very clear, the government put in place some stimulus including jobkeeper and jobseeker - certainly Labor called for the government to introduce jobkeeper - and we’re glad the government did so. But our fear is that we will see a decline in employment and an increase in unemployment and underemployment if they take away billions of dollars to provide support for businesses and workers in our economy, and that’s what the government is foreshadowing.
The government is foreshadowing that in just 10 days’ time they’re going to rip billions of dollars out of the economy, which could have very adverse effects on businesses and indeed on employment.
Updated
Things have gone very quiet this afternoon.
There is a very Friday feel to this not-Friday.
The state’s official data continues:
In Victoria at the current time:
- 4,272 cases may indicate community transmission – a decrease of six since yesterday
- 947 cases are currently active in Victoria
- 97 cases of coronavirus are in hospital, including 12 in intensive care
- 18,217 people have recovered from the virus
- A total of 2,535,134 test results have been received, which is an increase of 14,247 since yesterday.
Of the 947 active cases in Victoria:
- 907 are in metropolitan Melbourne under the first step of our roadmap
- 33 are in regional local government areas under the third step of our roadmap. There are no new cases in regional Victoria.
- 5 are interstate residents
- 2 are either unknown or subject to further investigation
- Colac Otway has 16 active cases, greater Geelong has three active cases, greater Bendigo has one active case and Ballarat has no active cases.
Of the total cases:
- 18,591 cases are from metropolitan Melbourne, while 1201 are from regional Victoria
- Total cases include 9523 men and 10,433 women
- Total number of healthcare workers: 3,461; active cases: 143
- There are 464 active cases relating to aged care facilities
Active aged care outbreaks with the highest cumulative case numbers are as follows:
- 252 cases have been linked to BaptCare Wyndham Lodge Community in Werribee
- 218 cases have been linked to Epping Gardens Aged Care in Epping
- 215 cases have been linked to St Basil’s Homes for the Aged in Fawkner
- 166 cases have been linked to Estia Aged Care facility in Ardeer
- 140 cases have been linked to Kirkbrae Presbyterian Homes in Kilsyth
- 130 cases have been linked to BlueCross Ruckers Hill Aged Care facility in Northcote
- 128 cases have been linked to Twin Parks Aged Care in Reservoir
- 124 cases have been linked to Cumberland Manor Aged Care facility in Sunshine North
- 120 cases have been linked to Japara Goonawarra Aged Care facility in Sunbury
- 119 cases have been linked to Estia Aged Care facility in Heidelberg
In Victoria there are currently two active cases in residential disability accommodation:
- Total resident cases: 0; total ttaff cases: 2
- Active cases in NDIS homes: 2 (0 residents)
- Active cases in “transfer” homes (state regulated/funded): 0
- Active cases in state government delivered and funded homes: 0
Non-aged care outbreaks with the highest number of active cases include:
- 33 active cases are currently linked to the Casey community outbreak (total cases: 34)
- 13 active cases are currently linked to Footscray hospital (total cases: 15)
- 8 active cases are currently linked to Bulla Dairy Foods in Colac (total cases: 20)
- 9 active cases are currently linked to Vawdrey Australia truck manufacturer (total cases: 64)
- 6 active cases are currently linked to Wydinia Kindergarten in Colac (total cases: 16)
- 5 active cases are currently linked to Dandenong police station (total cases: 16)
Updated
Victoria’s official data is out:
Victoria has recorded 28 new cases of coronavirus since yesterday, with the total number of cases now at 19,970.
The overall total has increased by 27 due to one case being reclassified.
This is the first time Victoria has recorded under 30 cases in a day since 24 June, when we reported 20 cases in the past 24-hour period.
Within Victoria, 14 of the new cases are linked to outbreaks or complex cases and 14 are under investigation.
There have been eight new deaths from Covid-19 reported since yesterday. One woman aged in her 60s, two men aged in their 80s and three women and two men aged in their 90s. Four of the deaths occurred prior to yesterday.
Six of today’s eight deaths are linked to known outbreaks in aged care facilities. To date, 745 people have died from coronavirus in Victoria.
The average number of cases diagnosed in the last 14 days for metropolitan Melbourne is 44.4 and regional Victoria is 2.9. The rolling daily average case number is calculated by averaging out the number of new cases over the past 14 days.
The total number of cases from an unknown source in the last 14 days is 83 for metropolitan Melbourne and one for regional Victoria. The 14-day period for the source of acquisition data ends 48 hours earlier than the 14-day period used to calculate the new case average, due to the time required to fully investigate a case and assign its mode of acquisition.
Updated
Murph has a piece on Paul Keating and his views on super:
Paul Keating has accused the Reserve Bank of Australia governor, Philip Lowe, of failing to comprehend “the key income facts of the last eight years” when he argued that lifting the super guarantee would create lower wages growth.
Keating was responding to comments Lowe made to a parliamentary committee in the middle of August. The governor said if the Morrison government proceeded with lifting the guarantee from 9.5% to 12%, “I would expect wage growth to be even lower than it otherwise would be”.
Lowe said the planned increase would result in “less current income, and if there is less income there may be less spending, and if there is less spending there may be less jobs”.
Updated
The state emergency controllers overseeing the government’s response to Covid-19 have told the hotel quarantine inquiry that use of police and the Australian Defence Force instead of security guards could have created other problems, and may not have avoided the second wave.
The two controllers, Andrea Spiteri and Jason Helps, said that amid all the talk about the use of the ADF and police instead of security guards in hotel quarantine, it didn’t take into account that fundamentally the program was one of health and welfare, not detention.
Helps said returned travellers were Australians who had not committed any crime. He said he couldn’t be sure having police or ADF in the hotels in their uniforms would not have had a negative impact on returned travellers.
Spiteri said her own view was that given there were issues with language and compliance among some security guards, it would have been useful for a small contingent of Victoria police to be at every hotel to set an example, but not to replace security entirely.
She said in her submission:
I believe the department’s staff would have felt safer in the hotels if this had been in place, and in turn, returned travellers would not feel intimidated or alarmed by a full Victoria police presence on every floor.
A small constant police presence would take into consideration any fears or concerns that cohorts of returned travellers (including children) might have to a heavy police or uniformed presence, particularly as a result of any previous experience of trauma or war, and yet provide an added perception of safety for staff.
The inquiry also heard the Rydges on Swanston was set up as a hotel for Covid-positive people in early April after a homeless person who had tested positive for the virus needed a place to stay.
Initially the request from the Department of Health and Human Services was declined by the hotels, with no hotel set up, but a couple of days later Rydges was established as the place Covid-positive people were transferred to in the hotel quarantine program.
Updated
Independent MP Zali Steggall has responded to the government’s announcement on Arena and Clean Energy Finance Corporation funding. She said:
Stakeholders are calling for policy certainty.
We are seeing a piecemeal approach that lacks any substance in the PM’s energy policy announcement.
We need to lock in net zero by 2050, not in the second half of the century, and implement a national energy policy like the National Energy Guarantee.
The government wants to look like it’s doing something to fund new technologies whilst providing less funding per year for ARENA than under Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull. And yet now the need for new technologies is even greater, since the government is changing the definition of clean and low emissions to include coal and gas.
The shift allows money previously destined to fund renewable energy sources to be spent on carbon capture and storage and prolong the life of the fossil fuel industry. The government has already spent $1.36b in carbon capture storage without any effective outcome. Without a carbon pricing mechanism, it is just money wasted.
Updated
The Australian Taxation Office is up before the Covid-19 committee – and Labor is probing the early superannuation release program.
They’ve discovered from the ATO’s Jeremy Hirschhorn that 1,200 people withdrew money (up to $10,000 at a time) from their superannuation and immediately deposited it back – presumably to then claim the amount they re-deposited to get a tax deduction.
Hirschhorn said the ATO had wrote to those people warning them to “consider their position” – that is, that it might not be appropriate to claim that deduction.
It didn’t look like an organised rort concocted by particular tax planners, but Hirschhorn said an academic had appeared on an ABC program and suggested that as a strategy, which was “a little bit unhelpful”.
In earlier evidence, ATO officials said:
- They have received about 9,000 tipoffs about the misuse of jobkeeper
- 55,000 applications have been stopped in the system before an application was made
- 75,000 compliance actions have been undertaken
- 2,200 employees have been identified as having multiple applications for payments
- 15,000 were found to be ineligible and removed from the scheme by the ATO
- 2,500 were partially ineligible
The ATO hasn’t issued any fines but is still looking at enforcement of breaches.
Updated
Migrant worker exploitation on farms is all too familiar for Australia’s workplace watchdog, AAP reports:
An ABC investigation this week detailed shocking underpayment and sexual harassment of backpackers employed through recruitment companies to pick fruit.
The fair work ombudsman’s compliance executive director, Steve Ronson, said an investigation was tracking three people of interest linked to the allegations.
He told a parliamentary inquiry on Thursday:
That ABC story is one unfortunately very, very familiar to the fair work ombudsman.
It’s one we have encountered in the field for well over a decade. It’s one of the reasons why horticulture is a priority for the fair work ombudsman.
Ronson said he was confident at least one person had been identified through the investigation.
According to the ABC, one backpacker was paid as little as $2.50 an hour picking strawberries on a piece rate in Queensland.
Agriculture minister David Littleproud on Wednesday claimed strawberry pickers could earn up to $3,800 a week.
That was based on an employer telling News Corp they paid that amount to one employee who worked six 10-hour shifts.
Deputy ombudsman Kristen Hannah said reports of exploitation were concerning but didn’t give a full picture of the ombudsman’s work across the horticulture sector.
She said compliance activity and education for migrant workers had increased over the past 18 months.
The federal government’s agriculture researcher on Thursday laid bare the sector’s reliance on overseas workers, highlighting looming labour shortages.
During peak harvesting in February 2019, almost one in five agriculture workers was casual or on a contract.
Of those, 45% were overseas workers on a visa including the working holiday maker and seasonal worker programs.
That amounts to 69,000 workers, with the figure falling to 47,000 in June, when labour demand reached its low point for the year.
The Morrison government is considering giving incentives to Australians to fill farm jobs with international borders closed.
A parliamentary inquiry has recommended a limited exemption for migrant worker schemes to bring in staff from the Pacific.
Updated
The ATO tells the Senate committee it's now received 9000 tip-offs about businesses or sole traders rorting the Jobkeeper wage subsidy scheme since it began in March #auspol
— Stephanie Dalzell (@steph_dalzell) September 17, 2020
Josh Frydenberg is talking about the budget and the need to grow the economy.
He repeats the “this will be a long, hard, bumpy road” line he first started using when the recession became official.
The Queensland premier is still working from home though, given her illness.
NEW: @AnnastaciaMP has tested negative for COVID-19 today after losing her voice and taking the day of sick with symptoms #qldpol #auspol
— @MartySilk (@MartySilkHack) September 17, 2020
Updated
Josh Frydenberg is addressing today’s unemployment figures:
We recognise that despite this fall today in Australia’s official unemployment rate, many Australians are doing it tough. And the road to recovery will be long, it will be hard and it will be bumpy.
The effective unemployment rate, which takes into account not just those who are on unemployed officially but those who have left the labour force or seen their hours reduced to zero, has fallen from 9.8% to 9.3%. But it still remains high.
Updated
Homicides are also down. Sexual assaults, however, have increased:
The number of victims of homicide recorded by police has decreased by 40% since 1993, according to figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, which brings together 27 years of recorded crime data.
William Milne said:
Accounting for Australia’s population change over this time, the rate halved from about four victims per 100,000 people to two victims per 100,000 people.
In contrast, the number of victims of sexual assault recorded has more than doubled over the same period of time, from 12,190 in 1993 to 26,892 victims in 2019. Considering population increases, the rate also increased from about 69 victims to 106 victims per 100,000 people.
There were also decreases in some property offences. The number of break-ins fell 55% to 173,344 in 2019, along with motor vehicle theft, which decreased 48% to 58,021 in 2019.
However, there was a 16% increase in other theft, including stealing from another person or from retail premises, to 569,404 in 2019.
Updated
The bureau of statistics has also released a series of stats related to law and order today.
The number of prisoners entering the prison system is down:
Nationally, the total number of prisoners entering the prison system (prisoner receptions) decreased by 17% (down 2,987) for the June quarter 2020 according to figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). This was the lowest quarterly total receptions (14,624) since the beginning of the time series in the June quarter 2016.
The ABS director of the National Centre of Crime and Justice Statistics, William Milne, said that the national daily average number of prisoners also decreased by 5% over this period to 41,784, the lowest prisoner population since 2017.
These decreases for the quarter may be due to various restrictions implemented across states and territories as a result of Covid-19 which may have had an impact on criminal activity.
Milne said:
The number of people serving community-based corrections orders also decreased, down to 80,411 from 83,377 in the March quarter 2020.
Updated
The local government association Queensland president, Mark Jamieson, has come out in support of the state’s chief health officer, Dr Jeannette Young.
Jamieson’s statement comes following the AMAQ’s statement of support earlier this week.
Jamieson said:
I would like to thank the chief health officer on behalf of Queensland councils for the pragmatic and fearless leadership she has shown throughout the pandemic.
Across the board, councils have been incredibly grateful and supportive of the evidence-based advice and strong, professional approach she has taken to protect the health, safety and wellbeing of Queenslanders.
It is because of Dr Young’s approach that Queensland is the envy of the nation, recording fewer cases and avoiding the protracted periods of public health restrictions experienced in other states and, indeed, other countries.
This has meant that despite the challenging economic conditions, many businesses across the state have been able to continue to operate and service Queenslanders, as opposed to being forced into lockdown, as has occurred elsewhere.
It is due to Dr Young that Queenslanders were able to safely participate in the 28 March council elections to ensure stability for local communities at a critical time.
Dr Young has been carrying a heavy burden in what has been arguably the most challenging time in our state’s and our nation’s history – and she deserves nothing but praise for her lifesaving work.
Queenslanders are truly fortunate to have someone of the calibre of Jeannette Young as our chief health officer at this time – and it is incumbent on all of us to support her in doing her job.
Updated
The 43-year-old Gold Coast man charged with making death threats against Queensland’s premier and chief health officer will face a magistrates court on 7 October.
Updated
NSW relaxes stadium crowd restrictions
NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian has announced changes to how many people can be in a stadium in NSW:
Stadiums in New South Wales are able to go to 50% capacity, rather than 25%.
But I do want to stress there are a number of caveats. The 4-square-metre rule in principle applies.
There will be an expectation for people to wear masks when they’re going to their seats.
Once they’re seated, they no longer need to wear the mask.
But in getting to the venue and getting out of the venue, there is an expectation that everybody will be wearing a mask.
Updated
Qld man charged with making death threats against premier, CHO
Queensland police have charged a Queensland man with making death threats against premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young.
Police today searched the man’s home in Nerang, in the Gold Coast west, and made the arrest.
Updated
For those in Melbourne who haven’t seen it as yet, this is a very handy tool.
For those in Melbourne eager to catch up with a friend for exercise (now allowed), here’s a cool app that helps you find where your bubbles overlaphttps://t.co/a4cASOV8CX pic.twitter.com/qMavuUDsgR
— Andrew B. Watkins (@windjunky) September 16, 2020
Updated
Anthony Albanese had a bit to say in response to Scott Morrison’s comments on needing the states to raise their caps before more stranded Australians could return home:
The prime minister always has a reason to say, ‘Look over there at someone else.’
The fact is the prime minister is responsible. If the national government is not responsible for Australians being able to enter Australia, I don’t know what they’re in charge of. They are also in charge of quarantine. And what the state premiers have said, Mark McGowan yesterday, speaking about Rottnest Island being made available, Queensland premier Palaszczuk saying that she was prepared, of course, to have more. But they need commonwealth support.
This is a national leader who wants to take credit for anything that’s good and pass off responsibility for actually delivering any change to the states.
The prime minister needs to accept his responsibility for fixing this. I note, only when Labor has stepped up our agitation is the reason why it’s gone from 4,000 to 6,000.
I hope as a result of this press conference here in Minto that it goes up to 7,000 in the next hour.
It is very possible, because this government seems to be oblivious to the statements of people like the young woman in London, told to go and find a homeless shelter for herself and her one-year-old.
The people who simply can’t get home at the moment, who are stranded, the people who have been bumped off flights, the family of five, who were quoted over $100,000 for a one-way ticket to get those five people home. The prime minister has responsibility here.
He also has access, of course, to his own aircraft that could have been being used over not just the past few days, but over weeks and months in order to solve these issues.
Updated
New South Wales records five new cases
NSW has recorded five new cases of Covid in the last 24 hours.
From NSW Health:
There were 20,411 tests reported in the 24-hour reporting period, compared with 19,566 in the previous 24 hours.
Of the five new cases to 8pm last night:
- Two are returned overseas travellers in hotel quarantine
- Two are locally acquired and linked to a known case or cluster
- One is locally acquired with their source still under investigation
One new case is a healthcare worker from the Concord Emergency Department. They were in isolation while infectious. There are now 21 cases associated with the Liverpool/Concord ED Cluster, including eight staff.
Another new case attended the Eastern Suburbs Legion Club. They were in isolation while infectious. There are now nine cases in this cluster.
The locally acquired case under investigation is from the Murrumbidgee Local Health District. While a subsequent test on the person has produced a negative result, NSW Health is taking a cautious approach and asking the individual and close contacts to remain in isolation, while further testing is undertaken.
Anyone who attended the Five Stars Thaitanic, Casula on Saturday 12 September from 4.20pm to 5.20pm is considered a casual contact and must monitor for symptoms and get tested immediately if they develop. After testing, they must remain in isolation until a negative test result is received.
Updated
Queensland records one new Covid case
Queensland has recorded one new case of Covid – but it is linked to a known cluster and the person was already in self-isolation
Updated
Alan Joyce was on ABC radio this morning, AAP reports, where he was asked about the possibility of re-starting international flights, even if it was to help rescue the more than 27,000 Australians who have registered to come home - but have been unable to get flights (or keep getting bumped off flights)
The economics don’t work,” he said
He wants the states to re-open its borders to kickstart domestic flights.
Europeans have been fighting themselves for thousands of years but they have somehow managed to agree to keep borders open,” he said.
The spirit of Australia.
Just before the jobs figures were announced, Scott Morrison was speaking to the media at BlueScope Steel at Port Kembla.
The prime minister was sticking with his position that the jobkeeper wage subsidy needed to be tapered because “keeping the Australian economy on life support” was not sustainable. But he added that the government would use next month’s budget to announce “a lot of new plans, a lot of new initiatives, that will see us grow out of this Covid recession”.
Asked if we would see a truer representation of joblessness in Australia once the government ended jobkeeper, Morrison said he had always said the unemployment figure the country should be watching was not the measured rate of unemployment.
“The measured rate of unemployment is one thing but we know it’s much higher than that. We know the effective rate of unemployment is well over 10% and can peak a lot higher than that … Treasury advises it’s going to stay up around that 14% mark, and we know that, and we want to see that come down, and it was falling before the Victorian wave hit us, and with Victoria opening up again we would expect to see that fall again. But you can’t keep the Australian economy on jobkeeper forever, that is not the way to do things. Currently it is costing about $11bn a month, there are a lot of other things we need to invest in for Australia’s growth.”
Morrison mounted a broader defence of the government’s approach to Covid-19. He said Australia’s GDP was down, regrettably, by 7% in the June quarter, whereas New Zealand’s economy had shrunk by 12% in the same quarter.
“New Zealand shut their industry down. We did not. I think we’ve made difficult but balanced decisions which means on health and on jobs and the economy we’re doing better than almost every other developed economy in the world.”
Updated
Some 111,000 more people are in work, a 0.9% increase in the seasonally adjusted employment rate, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics labour force stats just released. Between July and August hours worked also rose 0.1%.
Bjorn Jarvis, head of labour statistics at the ABS, said: “Employment rose almost 1 per cent but hours worked rose by a more modest 0.1 per cent. Hours fell by 4.8 per cent in Victoria, compared to a 1.8 per cent increase across the rest of Australia.”
“The weaker increase in hours worked has also been reflected in the strength of the increase in part-time employment between May and August, which has been almost eight times greater than the increase in full-time employment.”
Employment growth was stronger for females (67,000 people or 1.1%) than males (44,000 or 0.7%). Hours worked also increased for females (0.2%), with no change for males, and remained around 4.7% and 5.9 per cent below March respectively.
Other stats:
- Unemployment decreased by 87,000 people including 55,000 women
- Participation increased by just 0.1%
- The unemployment rate went down by 0.7% to 6.8%
- The underemployment rate remained at 11.2%, 2.4% above March.
- The underutilisation rate, which combines the unemployment and underemployment rates, fell 0.7% to 18.0%, but remained 4.7% higher than March.
And here is why the headline unemployment rate can hide what is actually happening -
Australia's unemployment rate declined to 6.8% in August (from 7.5% in July), with the underemployment rate also easing modestly to 11.2%. That leaves Australia's underutilisation rate at 18%, which is still well above pre-crisis levels #ausbiz #auspol @IndeedAU pic.twitter.com/bTPlgOfA4i
— Callam Pickering (@CallamPickering) September 17, 2020
Treasury’s Jenny Wilkinson has explained why companies that receive jobkeeper can still pay dividends and bonuses:
Jobkeeper is a very large macro program, designed to provide support to large a number of businesses ...We had to design it quickly and with integrity by drawing upon existing definitions, rules and processes. There was a decision taken when it was established that because of the nature of pandemic, and significant hit to confidence it was important to provide a degree of confidence that businesses would get support.
That once you established eligibility - you were eligible for 6 months ...There may be some businesses extremely impacted in the first month or two that have recovered ...Our judgment is and remains that if we were to try to develop a criteria that included a measure of profitability or linked payments to dividends, or bonuses that would significantly increase complexity of the program.
If it were an ongoing program [such criteria] would make sense. But for a time limited program, our judgment was the benefit of allowing them to know they’re eligible for full first 6 months rather than reassess month by month [was greater].”
It’s a real state-by-state story too, as Paul Karp shows here:
Employment: down in all states and territories in April/May; everyone up except NT in June/July; and since August everyone up except Victoria - as second wave and stage 4 lockdown hit. #auspol pic.twitter.com/T1VswT5VpL
— Paul Karp (@Paul_Karp) September 17, 2020
Although Victoria had comparable rates of people on ZERO HOURS (as a proportion of those employed) - by August it was an outlier. pic.twitter.com/XwdCsxpZrj
— Paul Karp (@Paul_Karp) September 17, 2020
Updated
Just more on the breakdown of the August unemployment figures:
Australia’s seasonally adjusted estimate of employment increased by 111,000 people in August 2020, with:
- the number of unemployed people decreasing by 86,500 people;
- the unemployment rate decreasing by 0.7 percentage points (pts) to 6.8%;
- the underemployment rate remaining at 11.2%;
- the underutilisation rate decreasing by 0.7 pts to 18.0%;
- the participation rate increasing 0.1 pts to 64.8%; and
- the employment to population ratio increasing 0.5 pts to 60.3%.
Employment increased by 111,000 people (0.9%) between July and August 2020, with full-time employment increasing by 36,200 people and part-time employment increasing by 74,800 people. Compared to a year ago, there were 234,200 less people employed full-time and 104,100 less people employed part-time.
The employment to population ratio, which is a measure of how employed the population (aged 15 years and over) is, increased by 0.5 pts in July to 60.3%.
But just remember, the underlying unemployment rate - unemployment in real terms, is much, much higher. There are almost 1 million Australians out of work right now. The 0.7% fall from July to August in the unemployment rate looks like good news, but in real terms, unemployment is double what we are seeing here, hovering at around 13 to 14%
Speaking of jobkeeper:
Treasury officials are up at the Covid-19 committee, outlining coronavirus stimulus programs.
Jenny Wilkinson, deputy secretary of the fiscal group, said so far $100bn has gone out the door and the government has committed $179bn, including:
- $12.3bn on the coronavirus supplement (up to 11 September); and
- $54.8bn paid out on jobkeeper (up to 14 September).
Labor wants month by month figures, and is hunting for a concession that tapering jobkeeper and cutting the rate of the coronavirus supplement will hurt the economy.
Luke Yeaman, deputy secretary of the macroeconomic group said:
“It is the case that if you look at it in isolation the tapering will take some income out of the income, that is undisputed. There are a range of factors at play with respect to the aggregate economic outlook. One point I’d make is across large parts of the country [with the exception of Victoria] there is a continued upward trend of improvement in economic indicators, including some parts of the labour market.”
Yeaman notes there “are other supports” and the savings rate shot up in the June quarter, meaning that some of the jobkeeper and jobseeker payments have been banked and will “continue to provide support” even after they’re tapered.
Wilkinson agreed: “A reduction would result in less economic activity if you look at just that factor. “
Updated
And a note on who is considered unemployed by the ABS:
People in the Labour Force are either employed, or unemployed. In order to be unemployed, people must be actively looking for work, and available to start work during the reference week.
So people on jobkeeper, who aren’t working, don’t count.
Updated
This is also an important point from the ABS figures:
Underutilisation
The underemployment rate remained at 11.2 per cent, 2.4 percentage points above March.
The underutilisation rate, which combines the unemployment and underemployment rates, fell 0.7 percentage points to 18.0 per cent, but remained 4.7 percentage points higher than March.
Unemployment rate falls to 6.8%
The ABS has released August figures - and outside of Victoria, we have seen a rise in employment. That is good news. But there are still more than 900,000 people out of work and that will increase by the end of the year.
From the ABS:
Seasonally adjusted employment increased by 111,000 people (0.9 per cent) between July and August as hours worked rose 0.1 per cent, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Employment and hours worked
Bjorn Jarvis, head of Labour Statistics at the ABS, said: “Employment rose almost 1 per cent but hours worked rose by a more modest 0.1 per cent. Hours fell by 4.8 per cent in Victoria, compared to a 1.8 per cent increase across the rest of Australia.”
“The weaker increase in hours worked has also been reflected in the strength of the increase in part-time employment between May and August, which has been almost eight times greater than the increase in full-time employment.”
Employment growth was stronger for females (67,000 people or 1.1 per cent) than males (44,000 or 0.7 per cent). Hours worked also increased for females (0.2 per cent), with no change for males, and remained around 4.7 per cent and 5.9 per cent below March respectively.
In original terms most of the employment growth in August was people employed as non-employees (mainly owner managers of enterprises without employees), with the number of employees remaining relatively similar to July.
Unemployment and participation
“The large increase in seasonally adjusted employment coincided with a large decrease in unemployment of 87,000 people, around 55,000 of whom were females,” Mr Jarvis said.
However, the large changes in employment and unemployment did not coincide with a large increase in participation, with the participation rate increasing by just 0.1 percentage points. It remained 1.1 percentage points below March (when it was 65.9 per cent).
“With participation relatively unchanged, the increase in employment and decrease in unemployment saw the unemployment rate decrease 0.7 percentage points to 6.8 per cent,” Mr Jarvis said.
Updated
Q: The Prime Minister made comments he is grateful that regional Victoria is opening up and he thinks we should be opening up earlier. Are you taking that on board, at all?
Daniel Andrews:
I have a good relationship with the Prime Minister. He understands fully the details of the road map. No doubt he’s pleased as I am, to think that in less than six weeks we’ve gone from 728 cases a day to 20 cases a day.
Will Victoria start taking returned travellers again anytime soon?
Daniel Andrews:
I think it is important that we wait and see the outcomes of the process that is ongoing now. It is also important that we... It’s not a matter of confidence or anything like that. It is simply, we have got a really big task to be dealing with now and we just have to get these numbers down, that is how we keep them down.
We would then have to be hypervigilant when we start to open up again. That we have got the best possible response in every single way.
There will be a time for the resumption of those flight but, I know it’s frustrating but they can’t provide a date now, but when we believe that is appropriate, both to the tasks that we have to perform and the place we are at in terms of how much virus there is, then we will have announcements to make
On the no confidence motion the opposition plans to move against him, Daniel Andrews says:
Look, cheap politics is no vaccine against this virus, and that is all I will say about him and that.
Deputy chief health officer, Professor Allen Cheng then addresses the modelling again:
There is a lot of different modelling groups around Australia and Victoria, and there is also modellers within DHHS, and really the model are selected on, can it answer the question we wanted to asking the question we are really wanting to ask is how many people can move around the community before we risk the loss of control or we have continued decline in the number of cases.
So the modelling that we have been used to looking at, there are effective reproductive number, tells us about the glide path of cases but doesn’t really answer those questions about what is the role of chance and what is the chance that we will lose control, that is a slightly different model approach, so the difference between deterministic and stochastic models are done
Q: A lot I think the main concern is getting to the five average and the zero average, and I think even the modellers have said that is extreme. I mean, crikey, is that even possible? If a household gets sick, you’re going to have five cases.
Cheng:
It’s five cases a day, so not five cases in total, but it does... there is going to be a lot of judgement. It is not going to be exactly five that we are aiming for.
If it was six and the last outbreak was, I think, someone mentioned, there was a closed community outbreak and was in aged care and we were pretty sure we had a ring around it to make sure that they weren’t going to be any ongoing cases, then we would be happy with that. Similarly, if the numbers come down quicker than we hoped, then we are always happy to look at that again. I think went through this on Tuesday but I guess some of that judgement is not only numbers, but also what is the chance that any act of cases will have ongoing transmission from them. There is one major consideration, and then the other one is, what is the chance that we are missing something? And that takes into account things like testing rates, the number of unknown cases, who those last cases are, what demographic they are in and those sorts of things, so there is quite a lot of judgement being exercised.
Who was on the Victorian modelling committee and who choose those people?
Daniel Andrews:
Let me just confirm for you, any suggestion that I or a member of the government hand-picked this is just utter nonsense. Utter nonsense. Not productive, not helpful, not based on fact. Seriously. Like... The people who have been chosen to do this work are very good at what they do, they are absolutely focused, as I am, on getting these numbers to the lowest level possible, of course, I’m not sure whether you were here when they made the point but I will make it again, we have a great scientific and medical community in this city and state, I think the country’s best.
If you put 100 of them in a room you will finish up on many different opinions on many different issues and that is why there is such an amazing scientific and medical community. I am not so much for the debating of models, at some point, this is not a doctoral thesis. Even if it is your fourth doctoral thesis. You want to put the plan in place, get on and get the job done.
How long will Victorians be required to wear masks?
Daniel Andrews:
To be honest, I’ve been really clear about this, we will wait and see what comes back with the detailed advice but certainly not advice for masks not to be there for the foreseeable future. I think it is low-cost and particular high reward, and I know it is not pleasant and as the weather gets warmer it will become more challenging, but for the benefit you get, and there is a lot of international evidence about this as they have moved through similar circumstance is to us, you do get a really significant benefit. That is the advice they have. If that were to change, then we will update you.
If you are allowed to travel to regional Victoria, what are the rules?
Daniel Andrews:
The rules are really important and you should be wearing a mask, you should be there doing what you lawfully need to do, and you should be mindful, not just as a function of the rules but just as a function of common sense, if you are from an area where there is much more virus and you are going into an area, lawfully, where there is much less, you have to earn on the side of an just be really vigilant stopping the mask wearing, wearing it and wearing it properly.
Hand hygiene, all of those things really come into their own and I am really confident that people, to user example, they will value the fact that they can lawfully travel to regional Victoria for whatever the reason may be an I don’t think that it is too much to ask that they be vigilant around that and all the people they are dealing with in regional Victoria will value that and they won’t have contributed to the spread of the virus and that is a good thing.
On the new $5000 fine for people caught entering regional Victoria without a lawful excuse, Daniel Andrews says:
The new fine is nearly $5,000, the police are not mucking about. If you are from Melbourne and you are in regional Victoria and did not have an appropriate excuse, you will be fine. Victorians have given a lot but we need to guard the low numbers in regional Victoria. One of the way we are doing is just not having people make unlawful and unnecessary trips into regional Victoria because all that potentially does is spread this virus and put at risk of the opening up and the different position that regional Victoria is in.
Daniel Andrews on the lag between going for a covid test and getting a result:
It is important people isolate and do not go to work or anywhere until you get the result.
It may change a bit in the coming weeks and months when we do some more doublecheck testing, if you like, in aged care or meat works, just as we did with schools some months ago where many thousands of teachers were tested, the time between the taking of the swab and the notification to the Department being positive has consistently come down.
Daniel Andrews on the modelling - and how the government and advisors are also looking at the real time data:
As I have sent a number of times, and you can flip around what I have said as well. If the tale of this thing is more stubborn than what we hope, we resolve the judgement to make this is as good as it is going to get and adjust things for that. The opposite is true also.
If we are confident we have an accurate picture,by the test numbers, that is why it is important to get test numbers get to a point where they are no longer good proxy as to how much the virus is out there, it makes those decisions really, really tough.
But, of course, if we finish up ahead of schedule, we will adjust things and say that the appropriate time but, again, if only it was only one day period, that is why it is rolling. You need to see patterns that are truly representative of what is happening out there. The moment we believe that, without risking it being a short-term thing, we would update.
Q: Just on the consultations, I was pleased to hear that you met with supermarket heads this week.
Daniel Andrews: I did.
Q: I think there’s been 150 briefings with industry before the roadmap was released.
Andrews: Something like that.
Q: How many were you at?
Andrews: Those matters have been appropriately delegated to the Minister for jobs and industry recovery. I’ve got one or two other things to get on with, so...
Q: I guess, if you were fighting a fire, you would get out there, you would talk to people on the front line, you would talk to healthcare workers, business owners...
Andrews: I’m very pleased that you have taken that to that analogy the fact is - I didn’t go to too many town hall meetings during the fires, I left that to those who were in charge of the operational response just like they haven’t necessarily been spending all of my time. I lead a big team, a capable team and they have engaged with industry in unprecedented terms.
That’s not to say, though, if I could be so bold as to point this out, consultation and getting the answer you wanted are not always the same thing. You can be listened to, and people have been, but that doesn’t mean that everybody gets exactly what they want. Many would like us to open up yesterday.
Q: Sure, I get that. Some business owners have told me that they were told by ministers the zero case strategy had been decided before consultation began.
Andrews: That’s not accurate in any way. There have been detailed consultation that we will continue to have consultations, they have informed our decision-making. For instance, if you look at regional Victoria, I think most restaurant is, publicans, cafe owners didn’t expect that there would be able to be 20 patrons inside, that came from feedback as well as detailed public health advice.
...I think went into this in some detail the other day, essentially we will be guided by the numbers and the narrative behind those numbers in the circumstances behind those numbers and it is too early to be able to predict where we’re going to be next week let alone multiple weeks time.
Q: What else can you tell us about clusters? How many links are aware of other than that they are all in Casey, and are we talking workplaces or family groups?
Allen Cheng: We are still looking into that, we do think that there are links and they are obviously all in that area. There’s a number of households they are, but I think, we are looking into that and trying to find out where everyone has been so we can make sure the transmission chains are controlled.
Q: Why is it taking so long to establish that?
Cheng: We have 10 new cases in Casey five days ago. We are talking to people all the time and we go back and talk to them again, make sure that it is nothing we have missed, so if you think of, where have you been in the last 14 days and who have you talked to, you know, did you meet this person on that day or the day after, how long did you talk to them, all these things often can take a while and certainly I am not doing contact tracing but when I have spoken to patients it isn’t always easy to get the story out the first time, they have to go back into their phonebook and work out where they have been and who they have been talking to.
Oh - there were more than 14,000 tests yesterday, which is a good number.
Deputy CHO Professor Allen Cheng is asked about today’s case numbers:
28 cases today and I think 14 are linked to known clusters. The cluster, obviously of concern is in Casey and we are looking at that very closely.
We have been working with Monash Health and the local councils and with community leaders, had a meeting last night with them and in addition to all of the clinics that are ready in that area, there are three new pop-up clinics, the Hallam secondary College and the testing site in Noble Park so they really think everybody who has come out to be tested and really encourage anyone, even with mild symptoms, to come out and tested.
Q: How many of the 28 are linked to Casey?
Cheng: There were five cases in Casey yesterday.
Q: Are you approaching this using the new Suburban task force model?
Cheng: Not yet but I think it is a good model for it’s because we are essentially doing that, working with the local councils, Monash health is the local hospital there and talking to community leaders and that is really what we will do once we develop these Suburban centres.
James Merlino is asked about student’s mental health during the pandemic:
There has been a real focus on student health and well-being, and as I have said many times, there have been kids that have thrived under remote learning and others that have suffered under remote learning, whether that is academic or mental health.
So what we made sure is that every school has a dedicated well-being team, but we made it clear that parents understood who is the contact person at each school and there has been real deep engagement supporting kids that are struggling.
We announced ago now, $28.5 million of additional mental health and well-being support, engaging kids that are disengaging.
Our attendance and absence rates have actually been pretty good, but there is a cohort of highly vulnerable children that are struggling and that is why we have had this focus on health and well-being.
James Merlino:
What we are able to do, the terrific result we have seen in terms of the numbers in regional Victoria, the advice from our public health experts is we are able to bring the transition from the 12 October to the 5 October and that means that from Monday the 5 October, a one of term four, primary schools, so P-6, they will be able to start the first week of term.
They will make a decision about whether they have their preps on the Monday or the great six the Monday but the transition will happen in that first week.
The secondary schools, we will continue with the settings we have, that is we keep our secondary schools free for assessment and the gap on the Wednesday and for P- 12 schools we will have the primary school children, starting on the Thursday of that first week of term.
We were able to bring, because of the great results in regional Victoria, it meant we could make it a corresponding change.
Victoria to offer free kindy for term 4
Victorian education minister James Merlino has announced some new educational supports:
This package does a number of things.
It helps parents with the cost of fees, ensures kindergarten providers remain viable and, as we think about toe four and the 4-year-old kindergarten kids, it’s a positive transition into primary school 2021.
$30 million of this fund goes to free session kindergartens.
This supports parents with the cost of fees, providing payments of around $500 per child.
Free sessional kindergarten, community-based, school provided kindergarten, for time for across the whole of the state.
This is a really important announcement and builds on what we have already provided to parents through term two and term three.
In terms of vulnerable children, the highly vulnerable children that the Premier identified, and additional $3 million and we are going to be providing an additional five hours of kindergarten for these highly vulnerable kids.
We’re talking about 5% - 7% to go to 4-year-old kindergarten.
We target those services they get a high proportion of disadvantage children.
It would be an opt in but we will be providing that additional five hours of support.
In terms of transition, $4 million to support transitions from kindergarten to primary school, in a normal year, you would have your 4-year-old kids visiting their local schools and engaging in those schools, having a look around, getting comfortable with the school setting.
This is not a normal year so we’re going to flip it and this funding will provide support for teachers to visit the kindergarten providers.
All kindergarten providers will be able to access this site teachers will visit the kindergartens, engage with the children and with the families.
It’s a fairly short update from Daniel Andrews today. He reiterates the higher fines for those attempting to enter regional Victoria without a lawful reason (again, don’t let those sentences become normalised – it should still cause you to balk).
Andrews:
I say this to regional Victorians, the rules of change but there are still rules and it is important that regional Victorians stay vigilant just as we are.
A $5,000 spot fine announcement was made yesterday. Additional spot cars pulled over and checked.
Those reasons are up on the website and are well known. You cannot have people taking this virus as they unnecessarily and illegally travel to regional Victoria.
Every regional Victorian, having done so much to create this sense of absolute optimism, they too need to make sure they remain vigilant, following different rules but rules none the less.
This is a really important step we have taken this week and regional Victoria and it is a clear demonstration to everybody in Melbourne, who I know is it doing it tough, but it is a clear sign, not as a matter of modelling but in real, practical terms, it can get these numbers low … but [we have to] keep them low, and once they are at that level, you can open up.
Updated
Daniel Andrews also acknowledges the tragedy of the eight people who died, and their families, as well as everyone who has lost loved ones during the pandemic.
Most of Victoria’s deaths have been from the aged care settings and the overwhelming majority have occurred since May.
Victoria press conference
Daniel Andrews opens on the news there has been just 28 new cases of Covid diagnosed.
That is the first time that the case numbers have been in the 20s since the 24 June.
That is a fantastic outcome and a tribute to the hard work, sacrifice and contribution every single Victorian is making and I want to say thank you and how proud I am and all of us are of the job being done in households, communities, suburbs right across Melbourne and regional Victoria.
This strategy is working, these numbers of falling and this is exactly what we have to do, stay the course, get these numbers low that is what will keep them low.
If we open up when they are too high, they will just get higher and higher.
It is not only inconvenient but deeply frustrating but that is the reality we are facing and we none of us can deny the reality we are facing.
But these are very pleasing numbers today.
Updated
In two weeks time, the telehealth Medicare rebates expire.
On that same day, private health insurance premiums are scheduled to increase (after being delayed because of the pandemic)
Chris Bowen wants the government to extend the rebate and stop the health insurance increase:
Labor knows the pandemic is far from over, and supports calls from across the health sector for the items to be extended from 1 October.
Labor has also consistently called for Greg Hunt to reconsider the 2.92% private health insurance premium hike that is due on the same day.
With premiums already up 30% under this Government and many Australians struggling to make ends meet, hospital coverage is now at the lowest level in 14 years.
The Private Health Insurance Act gives the Minister for Health the power to reject premium increases that “would be contrary to the public interest”.
The Minister must now explain why another increase in October would be in the public interest – or cancel that increase altogether.
Updated
This report will be very, very interesting.
The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety will issue a special report on the COVID-19 pandemic in aged care ahead of its Final Report, due on 26 February 2021. The report will be delivered to the Governor-General on Wednesday, 30 September 2020 #auspol #COVID19Aus
— Political Alert (@political_alert) September 16, 2020
Updated
Dan Andrews is up at 10.30 this morning.
Updated
Tanya Plibersek was on ABC News Breakfast this morning.
She was talking about the job cuts to the university sector and what that would mean:
This is billions of dollars’ worth of cuts. And I think the comparison, this is our fourth-largest export industry. If coal or gas or iron ore were facing this huge hit to their revenue, the Government would be there to help with JobKeeper. This Government has deliberately changed the rules three times to make sure universities can’t access JobKeeper support. So, the thousands of jobs lost are a decision the Government has made, that it’s OK to lose jobs in this sector.
I don’t understand it. I really say, if coal or gas or iron ore - our three largest exports - were suffering in the same way as universities, which are our fourth-largest export earner, our largest services export earner, the Government would be there to help. And university bosses should be demanding that the Government step in and help.
And, of course, we’re worried about university staff that have been systemically underpaid, it seems, at some institutions. We’re worried about job losses, underpayment.
But at the end of the day these institutions exist to teach students. And what blows me away is that, right now, with unemployment going through the roof, the Government is doing nothing to protect university jobs, and nothing to help students get an education that would help them be more employable when our economy recovers.
The Climate Council has also responded
The Morrison Government’s plan to change the remit of Australia’s renewable energy agency (ARENA) to support expensive and unproven technologies like carbon capture and storage is aimed at prolonging the life of the fossil fuel industry, says @climatecouncil #auspol pic.twitter.com/WrDxC34tPy
— Political Alert (@political_alert) September 16, 2020
Murph and Adam Morton have taken a look at the government’s new proposal:
The government’s official announcement on the Arena changes is in:
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the $1.9 billion investment package in future technologies to lower emissions would back jobs now and into the future, cut costs for households and improve the reliability of our energy supply.
The Prime Minister said the Government is supporting the next generation of energy technologies with an extra $1.62 billion for the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) to invest, as well as expanding the focus of ARENA and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) to back new technologies that will cut emissions in agriculture, manufacturing, industry and transport.
“Our JobMaker plan is about protecting and creating the jobs of today and positioning Australia for the jobs of the future, which is why our investment in new technologies is so crucial,” the Prime Minister said.
“Australia is in the midst of a world-leading boom in renewable energy with over $30 billion invested since 2017. Solar panels and wind farms are now clearly commercially viable and have graduated from the need for government subsidies and the market has stepped up to invest.
“The Government will now focus its efforts on the next challenge: unlocking new technologies across the economy to help drive down costs, create jobs, improve reliability and reduce emissions. This will support our traditional industries – manufacturing, agriculture, transport – while positioning our economy for the future.
“These investments create jobs and they bring new technologies into play. This will not only cut emissions, but deliver the reliable energy Australia needs while driving down prices for homes and businesses.”
The new package also invests in a range of promising low-emissions, reliable new technology advancements including:
· Supporting businesses in the agriculture, manufacturing, industrial and transport sectors to adopt technologies that increase productivity and reduce emissions through a new $95.4 million Technology Co-Investment Fund that was recommended by the King Review
· Piloting carbon capture projects that will dramatically help cut emissions with a $50 million investment in the Carbon Capture Use and Storage Development Fund
· Helping businesses and regional communities take advantage of opportunities offered by hydrogen, electric, and bio-fuelled vehicles with a new $74.5 million Future Fuels Fund
· Setting up a hydrogen export hub worth $70.2 million to scale-up demand and take advantage of the advancements in this low emissions, high powered source of energy
· Backing new microgrids in regional and remote communities to deliver affordable, reliable power with $67 million
· Contributing $52.2 million to increase the energy productivity of homes and businesses, including a sector specific grant program for hotels supporting equipment and facilities upgrades
· Slashing the time taken to develop new Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF) methods from 24 months or more to less than 12 months, involving industry in a co-design process and implementing other recommendations from the King Review into the ERF, worth $24.6 million
· Boosting energy and emissions data and cyber-security reporting and supporting the delivery of future Low Emissions Technology Statements under the Technology Investment Roadmap process, as well as developing an offshore clean energy project development framework, together worth $40.2 million
The prime minister will be holding a press conference shortly - he is continuing the energy push.
The ACCC has released its first report into Australia’s domestic airlines.
You can find the whole report, here
In April 2020, travel restrictions led to a 95 per cent reduction in Australian airline passengers compared to the same time last year. The Sydney-Melbourne route, which was previously the second busiest flight corridor in the world, saw passenger numbers fall from 742,000 in April 2019 to 17,000 in April 2020, a fall of around 98 per cent.
“COVID-19 has created some of the most difficult market conditions in Australian aviation history and it’s critical that when the industry starts scaling up domestic flying, any potential damage to competition is identified quickly and acted on,” ACCC Chair Rod Sims said.
“A lot has changed since the Treasurer directed us to take on this new role in June. Domestic airline travel was expected to be on its way to returning to more regular operations by now but infection spikes in some states and tighter border restrictions have delayed the recovery.”
“Australia’s domestic airline industry over the next few years may look quite different to the one that went into 2020,” Mr Sims said.
“Air travel is vital for the economy in a country as large and geographically dispersed as Australia. Competition must be safeguarded through this period so our domestic airline industry can meet the needs of consumers, and the economy more broadly.”
The streets of Beechworth are still empty, nine hours after the relaxation is restrictions in regional Victoria took effect. It has never been a struggle to get a park here on a weekday, but when I met the federal MP for Indi, Helen Haines, at 8.30am, our matching Mazdas – her’s bright orange – were the only cars on the block.
“It’s too early for optimism at the moment, especially in Victoria,” Haines says.
“An easing of restrictions, while so welcome, is not going to be met by parties in the street.”
The historic town is three hour’s drive north of Melbourne. It lost January trade to the bushfires and had one busy weekend – the Opera in the Alps in March – before the pandemic hit and the state went into lockdown.
Business owners I have spoken have met the eased restrictions with cautious optimism.
The experience of having restrictions eased in May only to go back under in July has left them burned. It is good news, but for how long?
This is Beechworth, nine hours after the easing of restrictions. It’s as quiet as it was yesterday. I grew up 10 minutes down the road and have never seen it so empty.
— Calla Wahlquist (@callapilla) September 16, 2020
If this is your patch, please DM me. Would love to see how you’re getting on. pic.twitter.com/hDwNo5uMDO
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The Victorian opposition is moving a no-confidence motion against Daniel Andrews. It’s expected the motion will be tabled today, but it won’t actually get debated until the parliament’s next sitting, which will be next month.
This is a government that has proven itself to be incompetent, dishonest and with no vision or hope for Victorians,” AAP reported opposition leader Michael O’Brien as saying.
By moving a motion of no confidence, every member of the Legislative Assembly will have to make a decision - are they going to vote to protect Daniel Andrews’ job? Or are they going to vote to protect Victorians’ jobs?”
It has as much chance of getting up as the NSW Labor’s no-confidence motion had in the NSW parliament. None.
But the Victorian LNP is getting more bolshie in its attacks against the Andrews government.
(Michelle Loielo is also a member of the Liberal party and has previously stated her intention to run for preselection for the Liberal party at the next election)
It takes courage to stand up to an overbearing Labor Govt.
— Michael O'Brien (@michaelobrienmp) September 16, 2020
Michelle Loielo is courageous.
She + her pro bono legal team are challenging Labor’s punitive curfew in @SCVSupremeCourt.@LiberalVictoria support Michelle’s action because Victoria shouldn’t be locked down unlawfully. pic.twitter.com/hqOOdHQnpq
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New Zealand is in recession.
NZ GDP fell 12.2% in the June quarter, NZ Stats reports. Biggest quarterly fall on record. Annual growth at minus 2% (worst since 2010).
— Shane Wright (@swrighteconomy) September 16, 2020
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Gladys Berejiklian will hold her press conference at 11am.
Over in Macquarie Street, things are going exactly as you would expect.
Senior Liberal Andrew Constance has just slammed Deputy Premier John Barilaro for refusing to rule out splitting the Coalition. Constance says he’s angry and relations in the coalition have never been worse. @2GB873
— Clinton Maynard (@ClintMaynard2GB) September 16, 2020
For anyone who missed it yesterday, this is the story of the week.
Click through to the blog embedded in the article when you have time. It is worth the read.
The OECD’s interim economic outlook for Australia is out – and shows a slower than expected recovery for the economy.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development now believes the Australian economy will grow by just 2.5% rather than 4.1% as it had originally predicted for 2021.
There is some good news – it thinks the economy will contract by 4.1%, not 5% for this year.
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The yellow worm has dived by more than 10 per cent today, thanks to just 28 new cases and a particularly big day falling out of the 14 day window. pic.twitter.com/x0XOu4XqHu
— casey briggs (@CaseyBriggs) September 16, 2020
The rolling 14 day average for metro Melbourne is now 44.4 (from 3 September to 16 September)
It is 2.9 for regional Victoria over that same time period.
But there were still 83 cases of Covid with an unknown source between 1 September and 14 September in metro Melbourne. In regional Victoria, there was just one mystery case.
Victoria records 28 new Covid cases, eight deaths
The number of new cases here made me gasp. I know it is about the seven- and 14-day averages but this, in terms of case numbers, is very good news.
The eight deaths though – as with any death – never gets easier to report.
#COVID19VicData: Yesterday there were 28 new cases reported and 8 lives lost. Our thoughts are with all affected. The 14 day rolling average is down from yesterday as we move toward COVID Normal.
— VicGovDHHS (@VicGovDHHS) September 16, 2020
Info: https://t.co/pcll7yB2RZ #COVID19Vic pic.twitter.com/rB84oMGltl
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You can catch up on the latest in the Victorian hotel quarantine inquiry here:
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Lyell Strambi, the chief executive of the Melbourne airport, was talking to ABC News Breakfast this morning about raising the arrival caps for Australians wanting to return home:
The constraint is these arrival quotas. And in Victoria’s case, that’s zero. But that is driven by hotel quarantine. But here in Victoria, you know, we did have those problems with hotel quarantine early on, but, you know, that’s been taken over by the Department of Corrections and it’s now working very well. And there is spare capacity. And I just think, you know, there’s a real danger here that we’re starting to lose our humanity on this issue. It seems to be Covid protection as a priority over everything else. And I don’t think that’s acceptable.
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National cabinet is tomorrow but don’t expect any more progress on an agreement to what a Covid hotspot should be defined as.
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On Queensland’s quarantine rules, which will keep Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese out of the state election campaign, unless they quarantine for two weeks, Morrison told the Nine network:
Look, I don’t think there should be double standards. I don’t think I should be treated differently to anybody else. There has been a lot of discussion about some of the hardship that people have gone through terribly in relation to how this border operates, and same rules should apply to me as anyone else. Those rules should be fair, they should be sensible, and they should be compassionate too, I think. Look, I’ll follow the rules like everyone else, even if those rules from time to time seem a bit hard to work out.
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The prime minister is right when he says there are commercial planes capable of flying Australians who are stuck overseas home – but commercial plane airfares are out of reach for many.
As Elias Visontay reports:
As many Australians living overseas had booked their flights home before the caps were introduced, while others have since left the country for short trips (having secured exemptions from the exit ban on compassionate grounds), the caps are creating a bottleneck of Australians trying to fly back.
Frustrated airlines have acknowledged they are cancelling economy and, increasingly, business class tickets so they can prioritise higher-paying customers to remain profitable. Some planes are flying with as few as four economy passengers.
Some stranded Australians who have contacted the Guardian said their airline had told them their tickets could not be honoured until 2021.
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And some happy news – the Canberra MP, Alicia Payne, and her partner, Ben, have welcomed baby Elena Patricia to the world.
All the family are doing well.
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'Don't need to bring borders down right now,' PM says
Well this is a change in language. After weeks and weeks of criticism from members of his government about the closed borders, particularly the Queensland one, Scott Morrison told the Seven network, he doesn’t believe the borders need to be brought down “right now”.
Morrison may have shied away from the nub of the border debate but his proxies haven’t. He said:
We have got to get this resolved and we have got to get his borders down eventually. Not right now. I understand the concerns that are there. I never said they had to bring them down immediately.
I have just said we have to have a sensible and fair exemption system and not have double standards and explain that we are doing.
Every state has a different situation and I respect that but the same time, have got to get to a situation where having these things doesn’t mean we are winning as a country when we deal with the virus. We have to deal with the virus. We have to deal with the virus, not let the virus destroy the way we live.
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Over on the Seven network, Scott Morrison said there was no need to use the RAAF VIP fleet to bring home stranded Australians from overseas:
Our advice is there is no need for that. There are plenty of commercial planes they just need to lift the cap. So they just need to lift the cap so they can run the services to Australia.
It’s the caps that were stopping the planes. We are happy to agree to the premiers request back in July but we are over that hump now and we can start lifting those caps.
I really want to thank the New South Wales government. They are carrying half the load here and they are not just Sydneysiders and New South Wales people coming home. They are Tasmanians, Queenslanders, Western Australians. They are making sure they can get home.
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Kristina Keneally and Andrew Giles have responded to the changes in the citizenship test:
Australian Citizenship Day is a day to celebrate the importance of Australian citizenship – a common bond that unites us all.
Australia is a nation built on migration. Generations of permanent migrants from all backgrounds have built both their lives and our country, and their contribution must never be taken for granted.
Gaining Australian citizenship is often the most significant step in a person’s migration story and must always be encouraged, respected, and protected.
Unfortunately, as at 30 July, there were more than 150,000 people living in Australia waiting to have their citizenship applications processed and take their oath of Australian citizenship.
Future citizens are being forced to wait almost two and a half years for their citizenship applications to be processed with the average wait time for 90 per cent of applications sitting at an astonishing 27 months.
This is unacceptable and the Morrison Government cannot force people who are working hard, paying taxes, and contributing to our economy and society wait even longer to take their oath of Australian citizenship.
Once their applications are processed, future citizens are then forced to wait even longer for a citizenship ceremony – often one of the most important days in a person’s life.
Labor will always protect Australian citizenship because we know what it means to future citizens who have invested in our country, want to call it home, and share in our collective future.
Of course Australian citizens should understand and accept Australian values. But today’s announcement from the acting Citizenship Minister overlooks the fact that people taking Australian citizenship have already been accepted by the Government as permanent residents and have lived here for years.
What Scott Morrison and his Government should have announced today is a plan to clear the two and a half year backlog of citizenship applications.
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Scott Morrison was asked about the changes to the citizenship test while talking to the Nine network:
This is important because it’s just communicating to people, particularly around English language.
One of the things I learned when I was immigration minister and the social services minister is that people’s employment outcomes as a migrant to Australia rapidly increase if they I’ve got a good strong command of English, and that is such an important skill that migrants who come to Australia need to have the best possible life in Australia.
And so this puts an even greater emphasis on English language, it’s in their interest it’s in Australia’s interest it’s our national language.
It helps people get jobs support themselves and not have to rely on welfare.
The Australian citizen test has been revamped, with questions added about Australian “values”.
As AAP reports:
New Australians will need to correctly answer questions about domestic violence, equal opportunity and freedom of speech under changes to the citizenship test, the federal government will announce.
The 20-question multiple-choice test, which requires a 75 per cent overall mark to pass, will from November include five questions about Australian values – all of which must be answered correctly.
Acting Immigration Minister Alan Tudge is due to introduce the changes on Thursday to coincide with Australian Citizenship Day, as more than 100 citizenship ceremonies will take place across the country.
“Our Australian values are important. They have helped shape our country and they are the reason why so many people want to become Australian citizens,” Mr Tudge told News Corp publications.
“The updated citizenship test will have new and more meaningful questions that require potential citizens to understand and commit to our values like freedom of speech, mutual respect, equality of opportunity, the importance of democracy and the rule of law.”
The new values-based queries will include questions such as should people in Australia make an effort to learn English, are people free to choose who they marry or not marry, do religious laws override Australian law and is it acceptable for a husband to be violent towards his wife if she has disobeyed or disrespected him.
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The prime minister has been doing the morning rounds this morning.
As we reported two weeks or so ago, Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese can’t enter Queensland without quarantining – so they can’t help with the state election campaign.
Morrison on the Nine network says he will “follow the rules like anyone else”.
Federal parliament is sitting during most of October, which is when the Queensland campaign is at his height, so there is not a lot of time for either leader to attend.
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Good morning
Happy not-Friday. Time may not matter in 2020 but Thursday remains the worst day of the week, when politicians try to eke out the last vestiges of an announcement before everyone switches off on a Friday, and we all have at least one day of the grind to get through before the mental relief of “we’ve almost made it” washes over us the next morning.
Today’s Thursday is no different. Politically, the government is doing what it can to push its latest attempt at an energy policy framework.
Angus Taylor was on ABC radio talking about the government’s “gas-led recovery” and also mentioning how electric vehicles form part of the government’s energy strategy. (This is not new – they have been part of the strategy for a while.)
But this was Scott Morrison’s response when Labor announced, at the last election, a commitment to have half of all new car sales be electric vehicles by 2030:
Bill Shorten wants to end the weekend when it comes to his policy on electric vehicles, where you’ve got Australians who love being out there in their four-wheel-drives.’
So cool.
Regional Victoria has opened up but Melbourne is still locked down, with a strengthened “ring of steel” around the city. We should have more clarity on who is allowed out, and why, later today.
Meanwhile, it is still all about opening the borders, particularly Queensland. South Australia still has New South Wales on a watch and wait, but it was Queensland that was singled out again by Gladys Berejiklian yesterday. Not just for the border community at the Tweed but for everyone in NSW.
The federal government is facing increased pressure from the opposition to solve the problem of 23,000 stranded Australians. Michael McCormack announced he had written to the states demanding they take more people through hotel quarantine. Mark McGowan said that was something that should have gone to national cabinet before the media. All the main players in national cabinet seem annoyed at someone else and we still have so long in the pandemic to go.
We’ll bring you all the news as it happens. You have Amy Remeikis with you for most of the day.
Ready?
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