Summary
With that we’ll be closing the blog for today. Thanks for reading along and we’ll be back tomorrow.
Here’s what happened today:
- Victoria’s new coronavirus cases entered single digits for the first time in months, with only five new cases of Covid-19. Three more people died in the state.
- The government’s changes to jobkeeper came into effect today, cutting the full-time rate from $1,500 to $1,200 a fortnight and the part-time rate to $750.
- Western Australia recorded eight new cases, all crew aboard the Patricia Oldendorff cargo ship, which is anchored off Port Hedland.
- New South Wales recorded no new cases of Covid-19 for the second day in a row, as the premier, Gladys Berejiklian, urged more people to get tested.
- At the Victorian inquiry into hotel quarantine, counsel assisting said the decision to use private security was influenced by Victoria police’s preference, and not a decision at all, but a “creeping assumption”.
- The federal social services minister, Anne Ruston, said that the current rate of jobseeker could be extended into 2021 “if required” and if unemployment remained high.
- The deputy prime minister, Michael McCormack, said that it was “a bargain” for the government to spend $30m on a parcel of land worth just $3m.
- The industrial relations minister, Christian Porter, said the government would intervene in an industrial dispute at Sydney’s Port Botany between the Maritime Union of Australia and Patrick Terminals.
Stay safe and we’ll be back tomorrow.
Updated
In Queensland, lawyers for coal company Adani have sought to identify people who obtained leaked information about its Carmichael coal project, raising fears that journalists could be targeted.
"Low positive" in NT not considered a new case
The Northern Territory health department has said that a man who previously had Covid-19 has returned a “low positive” test, and is not considered a new case.
The man flew from Victoria to Queensland, then to the Northern Territory, AAP reports. The 65-year-old returned a “low positive” diagnosis for the virus on Monday but is not considered infectious, NT Health says.
He arrived in Darwin on Saturday after previously testing positive to coronavirus and recovering.
The man, a Victorian resident who flew via Brisbane to Darwin, was in quarantine at Howard Springs quarantine facility when he tested positive.
NT Health said he was moved to Royal Darwin hospital and placed in isolation after a small amount of the remaining inactive virus was detected.
He will continue to be tested in the coming days.
The man previously returned a negative test result on 13 September.
NT Health said small amounts of the virus can remain after recovery and the diagnosis was not considered to be a new Covid-19 case.
The Northern Territory’s virus case numbers remain at 34.
Updated
Here is our full story on those comments earlier from deputy prime minister Michael McCormack:
Today is the first day since June 6 that another state has reported more infections than Victoria
— casey briggs (@CaseyBriggs) September 28, 2020
Eight new cases in WA from cargo ship
There have been eight further cases of Covid-19 among the crew of a cargo ship in WA.
The WA health department confirmed just now that eight additional crew members on the Patricia Oldendorff tested positive and are in hotel quarantine. There are now 17 cases associated with the ship, which is anchored off Port Hedland.
Seven of those people are still on the vessel “as part of the essential crew” and 10 are in hotel quarantine. The four remaining crew have so far tested negative.
The health department said that daily cleaning of the vessel continues.
“All crew members are in good spirits and have been able to contact family at home. Crew also have been provided access to culturally appropriate food by a Filipino chef.
“The Department of Health, together with the WA Country Health Service, would like to reassure the Port Hedland community that every safety measure is being put in place to protect the local community.”
Updated
Shares in milk companies A2 and Synlait have fallen today due to low demand from China and the restrictions in Melbourne, AAP report.
A2 Milk on Monday warned it was fielding fewer orders from its corporate Chinese reseller channel due to the restrictions in Melbourne. These resellers, based in Melbourne, are unable to access their warehouses due to travel restrictions imposed by the Victorian government.
A2 management said it expected sales for Australia and New Zealand to fall below expectation for the first half as a result.
However, the company said selling formula through the reseller channel was only part of its China strategy, which uses multiple channels and products.
Jobseeker rate will be extended into 2021 "if required"
Ruston says that the government is willing to maintain the current rate of jobseeker if unemployment continues to be high past 31 December.
The ABC’s Jane Norman asks: “The prime minister said he is leaning heavily towards the idea of maintaining the jobseeker payment at a higher rate after December 31. What does he mean by that?”
Ruston says:
Clearly the prime minister has been absolutely transparent with the Australian public that if additional supports are needed post-1 January that they will be provided, and so I think that you can read into the comments that you’ve just mentioned that that’s exactly what we will do.
If those ongoing supports are required and at the elevated level post 1 January, that’s what will happen.
But we need to make sure we provide the right incentive between supporting people who find themselves out of work with a higher level of payment, but putting incentives for them to go out and put their toe in the water.
Updated
The social services minister, Anne Ruston, is on the ABC now.
She is asked how many additional people the government expects to receive jobseeker, as the unemployment rate rises.
“There is an expectation that has been outlined through Treasury that they believe the number of people who will be unemployed is likely to rise between now and Christmas,” Ruston says.
“There is a whole heap of modelling that’s going on and it is constantly changing. The figures will be provided in the budget again next week, but of course, you know, if we see a slow, if we see the predicted uptake, we will see an increase.”
She says she is “not expecting a large increase” in the rate of people on jobseeker.
Updated
In non-coronavirus news, a woman has been attacked by a buffalo in south-west Sydney.
NSW Ambulance inspector Audie Jousif said “being called to a buffalo attack in Sydney is one of the more unusual incidents”.
Nearly eight in 10 Australians believe vaccines prevent infectious diseases and will access a new Covid-19 vaccine if it is available and properly tested, a ChildFund Australia survey has shown.
Essential Report polling for ChildFund Australia shows 79% of Australians believe vaccines are effective in preventing infectious diseases, and 78% would take a Covid-19 vaccine once properly tested and released.
But Australians are also strongly supportive of the Australian government helping neighbouring countries roll out an immunisation program. Seventy-nine percent of survey respondents believe there should be a fair global allocation system for the Covid-19 vaccine to assist people in poor countries.
Australia has made a $123m investment towards the global vaccines facility Covax, for access to a vaccine, once one is developed.
Australia has also committed $80m to the Covax Advance Market Commitment (AMC), a finance facility designed to ensure equitable access for poorer countries to Covid-19 vaccines as well.
ChildFund Australia chief executive Margaret Sheehan no country should be left behind in the rollout of a vaccine once it has been thoroughly tested and released
In Australia, we have entirely eradicated infectious diseases such as polio, and many children have been vaccinated against other life-threatening illnesses such as measles. This is a testament to the effectiveness of large-scale vaccination programs implemented over many years.
Unfortunately, in countries like Papua New Guinea, low rates of vaccination due to over-stretched and under-resourced health systems means the lives of children are still at risk of preventable diseases.
Ongoing financial and on-the-ground support is needed to ensure children can access immunisation programs that save lives.
Updated
A man who had been deported to New Zealand, and who was in isolation at a government-run quarantine hotel, is under investigation by the police after he tied bed sheets together to escape the facility from a fourth floor window.
All travellers returning to the country – only New Zealanders and their families, plus others with special exemptions are allowed to pass through its borders – must spend two weeks in mandatory isolation, during which they are tested twice for Covid-19.
Suspicion was aroused when security staff at an Auckland quarantine hotel found a number of sheets tied together hanging out of a window on Monday morning, New Zealand government officials said in a news release on Monday evening.
A few minutes after the sheets were found, the man who had fled the room presented himself at the front gate of the hotel. It was not known how long he had been missing from the facility.
He is in police custody, said air commodore Darryn Webb. The man had been deported from Australia and had spent 12 days in managed isolation, testing negative for Covid-19 twice.
The deportation of New Zealanders accused of crimes or criminal associations from Australia has been a bone of contention between the two countries. Australia’s deportation programme briefly halted during Covid-19 before resuming in July, with extra security personnel stationed at the facilities where deportees would complete their isolation.
Webb said the health risk to the public from the case was low, adding that of 55,000 people staying in managed isolation, 13 had absconded.
Updated
I am going to leave you in the very capable hands of Naaman Zhou for the rest of the afternoon shift.
There have been quite a few messages today – I am slowly working my way through them – but if you have anything else to say, or I missed you, you can contact me here and here.
Thank you again for joining me – I’ll be back again early tomorrow morning. Take care of you, as always – and if you are in Melbourne, I hope you enjoy being able to leave your house past what would have been the curfew hours, if you choose to go for a walk or run tonight. Ax
Updated
Christian Porter will intervene in wharfie dispute
Paul Karp has received this statement from the attorney general, in response to questions over the Patrick Terminals’ planned strike action:
For a union to be attempting to hold the national economy to ransom to leverage its push for a six per cent annual pay rise is simply unforgivable, especially at a time when we are in the grip of a global health and economic crisis.
The MUA’s action is also a slap in the face to the million Australians currently out of work who must be amazed by the apparent indifference of the union’s leadership to their plight.
Equally concerning is the impact on the supply of critical goods, including vital pharmaceuticals needed to treat acute issues such as cancer, heart disease, cholesterol, and diabetes.
More broadly, our farmers who have had their first decent year in recent memory are now reporting problems getting their products to overseas markets, as well as significantly increased costs linked to the delays at Port Botany, or the need to send freight via road to ports at Melbourne or Brisbane.
Many other industry sectors have also begun to report supply chain problems which are directly linked to the MUA action.
Given this threat to our economic recovery, I can confirm that the Government will intervene in support of Patrick Terminals’ application to the Fair Work Commission for the MUA to immediately halt its action.
It is vital that we see a quick resolution to this dispute.
Updated
AAP has taken a look at the budget promises which have been made so far.
The budget will be handed down next Tuesday:
Promises are beginning to ramp up just a week out from the federal budget, led by a further funding injection for the ailing aviation sector.
The Morrison government is extending two programs put in place for the industry when coronavirus crippled air travel both domestically and abroad.
Flights between key capital cities and regional routes will now be subsidised into next year.
The extension comes after the government pledged $250m for regional tourism.
“It’s going to be a jobs and infrastructure and manufacturing budget,” deputy prime minster Michael McCormack told reporters on Monday.
“It is going to be a budget which is going to highlight the value of regional Australia.”
Meanwhile, social services minister Anne Ruston announced funding for another 40 shelters for women and children fleeing domestic violence.
“When women make the decision to leave it is vital that they have somewhere safe to go,” Senator Ruston said.
About half of the housing projects will be located in regional and remote communities.
Still, hundreds of charities and other organisations have written an open letter to prime minister Scott Morrison calling for a significant investment in social housing.
They want to see 30,000 new dwellings over the next four years to create jobs and reduce homelessness.
“Housing is a fundamental need and our national response must rise above state boundaries or party politics,” the groups wrote.
Morrison has previously argued social housing is the responsibility of the states.
Josh Frydenberg is set to hand down a whopping budget deficit for 2020/21 on 6 October.
Deloitte Access Economics is expecting a deficit of $198.5bn following on from the confirmed $85.3bn record shortfall for 2019/20.
Its partner and economist Chris Richardson expects smaller deficits of $45bn in 2021/22 and $25.6bn in 2022/23.
“The budget is badly bent, but it’s not broken,” Richardson said.
His figures do not take into account any new policies the government may announce on budget night.
But he says if the economy gets better, then the budget will too.
The treasurer responded to the report by saying the government was focused on bringing hundreds of thousands of people back to work, which would underpin a stronger economy in the medium term.
But opposition finance spokeswoman Katy Gallagher is worried about some decisions the government is already taking, such as cutting jobkeeper wage subsidies and the jobseeker dole supplement.
Updated
More good news from Victoria – as per the Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation statement:
The successful work of the Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (VACCHO) and its 32 Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCOs) has been instrumental in suppressing Covid-19 with zero active cases in Victorian communities.
While there is cause for celebration at this milestone achievement, VACCHO has urged a level of caution among Aboriginal Victorians as restrictions start to ease.
VACCHO, its 32 Members, and the State Government have worked together in creative and responsive ways over the past six months to protect the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal Victorians.
The latest data shows we have seen a total of 74 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in our communities with 74 people now fully recovered and zero cases still active.
Updated
In Victorian hotel quarantine inquiry news.
BREAKING: Counsel assisting Ben Ihle tells hotel quarantine inquiry it can “comfortably find” Victorian Government scheme IS responsible for
— Samantha Maiden (@samanthamaiden) September 28, 2020
- 768 deaths
- 18,000 infections @newscomauHQ
Updated
Victoria Health has updated its ‘get checked if you were here’ list.
UPDATED: High risk locations
— VicGovDHHS (@VicGovDHHS) September 28, 2020
📍 Doveton Dan Murphy
📍 Springvale Woolworths
📍 Springvale Continental Mart
Full list: https://t.co/tkawOvqIid
The locations on this list are not a current risk to the public - you may continue to visit them in line with current restrictions. pic.twitter.com/MyR7zlCm9h
Updated
This should make for very interesting reading.
The PBO expects to release the report JobSeeker Payment: Understanding economic and policy trends influencing Commonwealth expenditure on Wednesday 30 September.
— Australian PBO (@PBO_AU) September 28, 2020
Updated
In light of Shane Patton’s ‘rare discretion’ comments, this report from Josh Taylor on who has been getting fined is worth taking a look at:
As the Victorian government ramps up penalties to $5,000 for breaching Covid-19 gathering rules, statistics show young people received almost half of all fines dished out during the state’s first wave, while the South Sudanese and Aboriginal communities received an outsize number of fines.
Data released by the Crime Statistics Agency last week shows there were 6,062 breaches of Covid-19 rules associated with 5,474 people during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic in Victoria.
The average age was 29.5 years, and just one in four of those fined were women. Approximately 42% of those were under the age of 24.
According to the data provided to community legal centres, of the over 6,000 recorded breaches, there were just 67 warning notices issued. Only six businesses were issued with fines.
Throughout the pandemic, Victoria police has been releasing daily updates on the number of fines worth $1,652 issued the previous day, highlighting some of the most flagrant breaches, which some refer to as the “Covidiots” of the day. But it doesn’t give a full picture of how police are fining people for Covid-19 public health order breaches.
Updated
The testing rates in NSW have dropped to levels which have authorities worried – particularly as the clock ticks down on the incubation period for any cases associated with a taxi driver who worked while (unknowingly, it would seem) infectious with Covid.
With the second day of 0 cases in NSW we urge the community more than ever to remain vigilant and come forward for testing. We cannot afford to be complacent.
— Gladys Berejiklian (@GladysB) September 28, 2020
Updated
John McVeigh’s resignation from Groom will spark the third by-election in his political career. He quit Toowoomba Regional Council to run for the Queensland state parliament and then quit state parliament to run for federal parliament.
His seat though, is the safest government seat in the country (against Labor) so it won’t cause much of a wave.
Former Groom MP John McVeigh, who resigned from Federal Parliament less than two weeks ago, has been appointed the Executive Director of the Institute of Resilient Regions at @usqedu
— Tobi Loftus (@tobiloftus) September 28, 2020
Victoria police commissioner Shane Patton says police will only use discretion when handing out the $5,000 fines for breaking social distancing restrictions in very rare cases.
What that means is, if you are caught breaking the restrictions, more likely than not, you will receive the record fine.
I don’t think that anyone in Victoria could claim any ignorance that they shouldn’t be gathering together.
It has been stated by everybody, from the premier, right through to the chief health officer, police continually outlining that. We’re continually stating how many infringements we issue, how many warnings we give, and the frustration that we encounter.
And we’ve all heard the highlighted matters about people hiding in places when we go there to parties.
We saw this this weekend as well. Some people were hiding.
It defies logic. It defies common sense. It is incredibly frustrating. The use of discretion in a circumstance such as this is only going to be an absolute extremity. And I can’t imagine what that would be.
Updated
On that supreme court challenge to the Melbourne (now lifted) curfew, AAP has filed a report:
An aspiring Liberal MP is pressing on with her challenge over Melbourne’s coronavirus curfew, despite the government scrapping it.
The curfew ended at 5am on Monday, just five hours before a supreme court trial was due to begin on the action brought by Mornington Peninsula cafe owner Michelle Loielo.
She had asked for the order to be quashed, or that there be a declaration the curfew was inconsistent with her human rights.
Her barrister Marcus Clarke described the announcement by premier Daniel Andrews scrapping the curfew on Sunday as a surprise.
He has re-filed an originating motion in the case, changing the argument for a declaration of relief to the past tense.
They’re now arguing that the curfew “was unlawful and invalid” and that it “violated” Loielo’s human rights.
Victoria’s solicitor general Kristen Walker QC said the first order sought to overturn the curfew couldn’t go ahead any more “because there is nothing to quash”.
Opposition leader Michael O’Brien labelled the timing of the decision to overturn the curfew as cynical.
“Isn’t it interesting that just today, as a Liberal party member is going to the supreme court to challenge the legality of the curfew, the premier decided yesterday that it’s not necessary any more and we’re withdrawing it immediately,” he told ABC Radio National.
Andrews denied the decision to lift the curfew had anything to do with the legal challenge.
Updated
Just an update on the upcoming Queensland election.
All sides, at this stage, seem to be pointing to a collapse of the One Nation vote – with the LNP the main beneficiary. The opposition has seen its primary vote increase in recent polls, and that looks like playing out on the actual poll day.
That is a problem for Labor – it gets enough of a slice of One Nation preferences in north Queensland to get it across the line in some key seats – particularly in Townsville, so its campaign strategists are worried.
The LNP needs nine seats to win government – but that is not out of question – Queensland can swing hard. And let’s not forget about the possibility of minority government.
Labor only needs to lose two seats to lose government – and Townsville is looking increasingly shaky. Pumicestone is a potential pick up, but it is not over-egging to say the Palaszczuk government is very nervous about the coming election.
Queensland heads to the polls on 31 October.
Updated
The supreme court challenge to the Melbourne curfew will be going ahead.
Liberal party candidate hopeful, Michelle Loielo says despite the curfew having been lifted, she wants a ruling on whether or not it was a breach of her human rights.
The aspiring Liberal MP is not seeking financial compensation for the curfew. But she wants vindication - for the Supreme Court to declare the curfew WAS (past tense) invalid, unlawful, and a breach of her human rights. @9NewsMelb
— Eliza Rugg (@Eliza_Rugg9) September 28, 2020
With the Victorian curfew no longer in place, Victoria police have said they will be increasing patrols to ensure people are not breaking the remaining restrictions.
Josh Taylor will have a story on the Victorian hotel quarantine inquiry very soon.
In the meantime, AAP has put together this report:
Victoria’s hotel quarantine inquiry has heard the program failed due to a “multitude of decisions, actions and inactions”.
Delivering closing submissions to the inquiry on Monday, counsel assisting Tony Neal QC said there was no suggestion those who set up the program worked other than with “the best of intentions and to the best of their ability”.
“Bad faith or corruption is not what the evidence shows,” he said.
Neal said public servants were given just 36 hours to set up the program, following a national cabinet announcement on 27 March.
Within two and a half months, the “hastily assembled program failed at two locations ... and with disastrous consequences”, he said.
“It will not be suggested that a single decision or a single actor caused the hotel quarantine program to fail in its objective of stopping the spread of Covid-19 into the broader community,” Neal said.
“A multitude of decisions, actions and inactions, many of which compounded the effect of the other, ultimately expressed itself in the outbreaks which subverted the very reason for the existence of a hotel quarantine program.”
Victoria’s second wave of coronavirus, which resulted in more than 18,000 new infections and 750 deaths, can be traced back to outbreaks among security guards at the Rydges on Swanston and Stamford Plaza hotels in mid-May and June.
The inquiry has held 25 days of public hearings and heard from 63 witnesses, including returned travellers, security guards, hotel managers, senior public servants, ministers and premier Daniel Andrews.
But no one has been able to say who made the decision to use private security guards, rather than the police or the Australian Defence Force, who assisted in other states.
The premier apologised unreservedly to Victorians when he appeared before the inquiry on Friday.
“Mistakes have been made in this program and answers are required,” Andrews said.
“I want to make it very clear to each and every member of the Victorian community that I am sorry for what has occurred here.”
The three lawyers for the inquiry will each make submissions on Monday, before the $3m inquiry hands down its findings on 6 November.
Retired judge Jennifer Coate heads the board of inquiry.
Updated
Decision to use private security in Victoria hotel quarantine was no decision at all
The decision to use private security in Victoria’s botched hotel quarantine program was not a decision at all, the counsel assisting the Victorian hotel quarantine inquiry has said in closing submissions, but Victoria police’s strong preference played a role in the “creeping assumption” to use private security.
Counsel assisting Rachel Ellyard told the inquiry on Monday that the evidence before the inquiry points to no one person ultimately making the decision to use private security guards on 27 March, when the program was announced.
The inquiry has heard on that date, in meetings among senior public servants in Victoria, including emergency management commissioner, Andrew Crisp, and then Victoria police commissioner Graham Ashton, a “creeping assumption” emerged that private security would be used to guard hotels, not police.
There wasn’t any specific decision. It wasn’t a specific decision by an individual or by a group. It was a creeping assumption that became the reality,” Ellyard said.
Ellyard said because there was no decision, there was no consideration of whether it was appropriate or not, so it was a failure in decision making.
She said although Victoria police strongly denies its preference influencing the decision, the “consensus was influenced and strongly influenced we would say, by everyone at that meeting understanding what Victoria police’s preference was.
Their preference became the outcome.
Updated
Labor’s Catherine King has responded to Michael McCormack’s comments that paying 10 times as much as the value for a piece of land not needed for another 30 years would one day be seen as “a bargain” (McCormack was speaking to Sydney radio 2GB).
From King’s statement:
Today, the deputy prime minister has undermined that process by suggesting that people will look back and say “what a bargain that was”.
In a scathing ANAO Audit Report, the processes leading to this deal were slammed with the price paid per hectare by the Morrison government being 22 times higher than the price paid by the New South Wales government for its portion of the Leppington Triangle.
According to the ANAO, the department of infrastructure “fell short of ethical standards”, with public servants meeting with landowners in coffee shops and failing to ensure proper probity measures were followed.
The ANAO report also identified critical flaws with the deputy PM’s own department’s chosen route for the Northern Road, with global aviation planning firm Landrum & Brown finding “serious issues with the proposed Northern road alignment”, and labelling it a “NO GO”. The Department of Infrastructure went ahead regardless, despite possible impacts on a future second runway for the airport.
For the deputy PM to tick off these processes is simply extraordinary and calls into serious question his judgement when it comes to the billions of dollars of infrastructure spending he oversees.
Today’s comments again make it clear that the Morrison government simply cannot be trusted when it comes to infrastructure spending.
Australia urgently needs a National Integrity Commission.
Updated
Patrick Terminals has launched a bid to terminate maritime union strikes across Australia blamed for delays at Sydney’s Port Botany.
After the Maritime Union of Australia notified the stevedores it intended to take a 24-hour strike at Port Botany on Friday, the company hit back with an application to the Fair Work Commission to terminate its industrial action.
Earlier, the industrial relations minister, Christian Porter, signalled the federal government would probably intervene on the company’s side.
Patrick’s CEO, Michael Jovicic, said the MUA industrial action in pursuit of 6% annual pay rises was inflicting serious harm on the business, customers, importers, exporters and shipping lines. He said:
Frankly, enough is enough. We have been in talks for seven months on a new enterprise agreement and the MUA have been inflicting strikes, go slows and work bans on the company for nearly a month. The union is threatening to ramp up the industrial action this week and has notified of a 24 hour strike at Port Botany on Friday.
As a result of the MUA action there are now 40 container ships off the Australian coast waiting to come into port. Port Botany is running three weeks behind schedule and our Melbourne terminal more than a week. We now have close to 90 thousand containers being held up and there’s no end in sight.
I’m bewildered that the MUA would take such damaging action in the midst of a pandemic. It’s un-Australian and does them no credit.
Updated
This is interesting.
Advance to the Finance Minister Determination (No. 3 of 2020-2021). This instrument determines that the administered item for Outcome 5 for the Department of Health is increased by $808,754,000.00. https://t.co/ZfiAzr1EAk #auspol pic.twitter.com/FRVjUmOALU
— Political Alert (@political_alert) September 28, 2020
Updated
NSW Health has released its official update – testing numbers are also down in New South Wales:
This is the second day in a row that NSW has had no new cases, either locally acquired or in hotel quarantine.
There were 6,353 tests reported in the 24-hour reporting period, compared with 12,333 in the previous 24 hours.
NSW Health thanks the community for all they have done towards reducing Covid-19 numbers and continues to ask people to remain vigilant and come forward for testing immediately if symptoms like a runny nose, scratchy throat, cough or fever appear.
This is particularly important with the start of school holidays and increased movement of people around the state.
Locations linked to known cases, advice on testing and isolation, and areas identified for increased testing can be found here: https://www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/latest-news-and-updates.
NSW Health is treating 63 Covid-19 cases, including three in intensive care, none of whom are being ventilated. Eighty-seven per cent of cases being treated by NSW Health are in non-acute, out-of-hospital care.
Updated
A controversial welfare program that has seen single mothers forced to take their children to activities such as playgroup and StoryTime at the library to keep their benefits has been extended for three years.
The employment minister, Michaelia Cash, confirmed on Monday the government had signed new contracts with ParentsNext providers, which are a mix of not-for-profits and private companies.
Guardian Australia reported extensively on problems with the scheme in 2019, which included many mothers having their benefits suspended, often unfairly; providers failing to inform sick participants they were exempt from the scheme; and inadequate support for domestic violence survivors.
Before the 2019 election, the government announced changes to the scheme, labelled “demeaning” by critics, but has remained committed to it.
Cash said on Monday the program would help people get into assisted “eligible parents with young children to plan their next steps towards study or work”. It was an part of “getting people back into work and rebuilding our economy from the impact of Covid-19”.
She also said the extension of the contracts would “provide certainty to the sector”.
ParentsNext is compulsory for some people who receive parenting payments and have children between six months and under six years old. The majority are single mothers.
Aside from reports participants have faced requirements such as taking their children to playgroup, others have claimed they have been pushed into unsuitable education courses just to keep their welfare benefits.
Updated
Daniel Andrews addresses Scott Morrison's criticism
Then we get to the statements the prime minister has made criticising Victoria’s contact tracing system.
Q: Would you say our contact tracing system is just as good as New South Wales?
Daniel Andrews:
I would. I would. They are different, though. They are different. And they kind of need to be in many respects. They have not had the community transmission that we’ve had.
They’re in a different place. They’re open.
Whereas we are moving to that. I’m grateful for the partnership with New South Wales. I daresay they’re grateful to be talking to us a lot because we are learning things from each other. Absolutely learning things from each other.
Q: Do you get frustrated when the prime minister seems to undermine Victoria’s system and continually [say that].
Andrews:
I saw the prime minister’s statement yesterday. You know, he can speak to that. He can speak to why, for instance, he think that’s the most productive thing to do.
I don’t issue statements like that.
I’m more focused on getting the job done. I’m not interested in a quarrel with the PM – I work well with the PM. People are frustrated. It’s always best not to let that get the better of you. Probably better to focus on the job.
That is what I would – that is what I always do.
Updated
Q: Would you consider giving up payroll tax in return for something like an increase in the GST?
Daniel Andrews:
I wonder who in Canberra asked you to ask this question, Laurel! Interesting. I have had no conversations to that end with anybody in the federal government. My views on the GST are well known.
The problem with – it is often – not being critical. Speaking in broad terms.
Tax reform and just jacking up taxes are two very different things. And it’s very easy for people in Canberra – again I’m being broad – it is very easy for people in Canberra just to sort of point a finger at the states and say why don’t you abolish a whole lot of these things. Go on! Just get that done.
Payroll tax supports the provision of police, nurses, teachers all sorts of different things. It is a significant percentage of our revenue base. It is an even bigger percentage of our own source revenue base.
We all know that GST’s hardly calved up, in our judgment, as fairly as it might be.
I’d also approached any debate about genuine tax reform, not just changing the rates, but genuine tax reform which in general terms the equitable outcome – the outcome you get that grows productivity – is to broaden the base and lower the rate.
That’s the way good tax reform usually works we’ve had a lot of debates – I’m not talking specifically about GST, I’m talking in broad terms, right. And I will direct you do my many comments over a long period of time about the GST. Ruthlessly efficient. But very hard to make equitable.
I gave a speech, I think at CEDA some time ago where I talked about the notion that increases in the GST can be very problematic in that by the time you compensate everybody for the fact they’re worse off, there isn’t much left.
You haven’t actually – it will grow over time. Then there is the small matter of the market that we don’t get 100 cents in the dollar that Victorians pay in goods and services tax, we get – through a convoluted and we think unfair formula, we will get a personal of that.
So, I’m not – that is probably more than I needed to say. But I’m not aware of any specific proposal.
The notion of telling people ought to about payroll tax – it is a significant step. I’m not aware of a proposal. If one came forward we would look at it.
Perhaps there is an opportunity for significant reform. But there is also a pressing obligation to perhaps not get involved in a debate that would be potentially divisive. The cost of capital at the moment is very low.
The governor of the Reserve Bank has been crystal clear. You have to borrow to build. This is a one-in-100-year event. Build infrastructure, build confidence, rebuild businesses and build prosperity and growth.
That’s what you have to do. And the cost of finance at the moment is at historic lows. Doesn’t mean it doesn’t have to be paid back. But you can’t pay back any debt until you get the place growing. That’s the message that I’ve heard loud and clear from the governor.
There is another whole debate woe could have about – we could have about the governor buying bonds, potentially not selling them. That is something states would be pleased with. That is within the province of the governor of the bank.
Updated
Q: You said you held Jenny Mikakos accountable for a scheme which sparked the second wave which called more than 750 people. Is that a low standard to still have confidence in a minister?
Daniel Andrews:
Again, you can draw whichever conclusions you see fit to draw. I’m not going to offer a commentary on this any longer. The minister resigned. I gave evidence in full, frank, honest terms. I provided a statement in exactly the same terms. You put some matters to me yesterday, which I don’t think were a fair reflection of what I said, which I pointed out.
Q: I’m asking about confidence ...
Andrews:
You were asking me to offer a whole ring of opinions. I will leave it to you to run commentaries. That is part of your job. I’m focused on other matters. One of those matters I’m focused on ...
Q: What was the redeeming feature as to why you still had confidence in the minister?
Andrews:
I don’t think serves any useful purpose for me to look back, run that sort of personal commentary on someone who resigned on someone who I am prepared to say in very clear terms is someone who, in my judgment, has always worked as hard as she could to do the best job she could. I don’t think there is anything to be served my...
Q: Have you spoken to Jenny Mikakos?
Andrews:
No.
Q: If you had such confidence, how come that hasn’t warranted a phone call?
Andrews:
Again, I have lot of things to do. She is focused on the next chapter of her life. I will speak to her at some point, I’m sure. But I real – if you want to spend parts of this press conference whether I have called her not, that is a matter for you entirely.
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Q: Do you plan to ramp up use of the Covidsafe app?
Daniel Andrews:
For a very short time we may have done that. We have not received very much data. That has assisted us in the work we’ve done. I have downloaded it. Cath’s downloaded it. I hope you have all downloaded it.
I’d commend every Victorian to do that. It will be ... much like sewerage testing – in fact, identically really – it will come into its own when the community is out, moving around more.
Because you will be spending time with people that you don’t know. And I’m not sure whether it was of any use in the Crossroads Hotel issue in Sydney.
That is an example. When we go back to larger groups of people spending time with each other, not your family if we are – if you and I were at a restaurant or wherever it might be, or on a tram, whatever it might be, for 15 minutes, and we were face-to-face without actually talking to each other or knowing each other, if we both had the app and one of us finished up testing positive then we would all be well served by that. I’d encourage – still encourage people to sign up.
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Daniel Andrews says he “hasn’t turned [his] mind” to when he will release the findings from the Victorian hotel quarantine inquiry – whether it will be on the day the government receives it, or shortly after.
But it will be released.
Andrews doesn’t know how much the inquiry has cost.
Updated
The press conference moves on to the Victorian hotel quarantine inquiry and Jenny Mikakos’s resignation as health minister (and announcement she will be leaving parliament).
Asked why he said he had confidence in Mikakos, when his statement to the inquiry made it clear that he saw Mikakos as responsible for hotel quarantine, Daniel Andrews says:
I had confidence in her. Let’s be clear about this, though. I have gone to these matters in some detail. I don’t particularly want to be labouring the point. But the minister made a decision that she could not sit in the cabinet.
Any minister who comes to that conclusion has no choice but to tender their resignation. And that is what has happened. That’s a matter for her.
She’s made that judgement …
I’m not adding anything. Just trying to give you for completeness sake the answer to the question. Yesterday I made comments. I will make them again.
Jenny was a very hard-working member of the team. I wish her well. I don’t propose to be trawling over this every day or three times a week or ever again. I don’t think it necessarily serves any purpose. The other point that I will make is that closing submissions are being made today. The inquiry will then go off and do its important work. It will make findings. I don’t know what those findings will say. But we all just have to wait and see.
Updated
Daniel Andrews is asked about the health advice which says face shields – which you may have seen in some stores and, shall we say, suburbs with higher than average income averages, can’t be worn in place of a usual face mask.
Andrews says foggy glasses and other discomfort is worth it in the short term, to bring about long-term benefit.
He is then asked if it is silly for someone in regional Victoria, walking alone with no one in the same square kilometre as them, to have to wear a mask.
Andrews:
What’s the issue? ... Seriously, what’s the issue? Why is it such a massive issue?
That’s a kind of an esoteric debate, isn’t it? That isn’t really like ... maybe there will be a time when we have the luxury of having those sorts of debates ... You wear a mask because it’s of some benefit. How much benefit? It is always difficult to – as I’ve said to break down all the things we’ve done and have an absolute percentage benefit that’s attributed to each one.
I think they play an important part. There will come a time when they’re not needed.
When that time comes, then people won’t have to wear them. But far from easing this, I can tell you the public health team are motivated to make sure that these shields without a face covering and a fitted face covering and mask are not enough.
We have given people a couple of weeks to transition away from those. I thank them for doing their best. The evidence is they don’t have the same impact. Whilst it would be preferable if everybody wore at least a two-ply mask that was fitted, it is ... anything is better than nothing.
But the face coverings need to be fitted as well. Look, in general terms, I’m proud of Victorians, particularly Melburnians, because they got to this place earlier. People have said, “Look, this is an inconvenience. But it is something I can do and something I should do. If it gets me out, able to move around, get back to work faster than it otherwise would, it’s the right thing to do.”
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NSW records NO new cases for the second day in a row
Just interrupting the Victorian press conference for a moment – for the second day in a row, NSW has recorded no new cases of Covid.
At all.
Updated
Q: It’s a slightly bizarre situation.
Daniel Andrews:
It is a bit. That’s the nature of this.
Q: The one person with Covid is the person who doesn’t get fined.
Andrews:
Well, ultimately there can be to other way. There are lots of things that are counter-intuitive in this. Lot of things that are unique, unprecedented. We generally talk about this as a one-in-100-year event. There is about a thousand reasons why that is the case. One would be that penalising people and them not telling the story – which is what we need, what we have to have – or even worse than that, people not getting tested because they felt that if they got tested and they were positive, they might find there’s some sense of shame or stigma or a penalty, the most valuable commodity at the moment is anyone with any symptoms coming forward, getting tested.
That allows to us protect them, their family and every family. That’s the fact of this. We have got to keep these testing rates up. We are not going to make any decisions that would make it less likely that people gave us the full and complete story.
Where have you been? Who have you been with? If, for instance, we didn’t have that information from those families, if we hadn’t got that information, well, that’s not 44 cases. That is – it’s away. The south-east looks very much like the north and the west looked maybe just in terms of numbers I mean – five, six weeks ago. And there’s no Covid-normal Christmas.
No way. We’re nowhere near that. So that’s what’s at play here. I know it kind of doesn’t sit right for some. And even against logic some of it doesn’t sit right. It’s the only way you can go.
Updated
Q: Why are some people with Covid not being fined, if they break the restrictions?
Daniel Andrews:
Their positive diagnoses and their story about who they have been in contact with is worth infinitely more than $5,000.
That has always been the view. I know that seems counter-intuitive. We could all feel better if people who were doing the wrong thing got fined.
We would be slightly satisfied about that.
The key point here, though, is – there’s been pretty, not from you guys, but there’s been some pretty cheap commentary – people will not tell their story. They just won’t.
I don’t think there’s another jurisdiction – not one I’m aware of – that does that.
Even if you were prepared, you know, if you were prepared to pay the fine for what you’d done, you would be, surely, you would be reticent to dobbing in other people by telling a full and frank story?
That’s not the way you get the real treasure - that is who have you been with? When were you with them? Who have they been with? That is how you stop something that starts with two or three people, it gets to 40.
That approach is how you stop it at 40, not 400. That’s the logic to it. Beyond that, though, one sure way that you cannot be contributing to the spread of the virus is to follow the rules. And if you are not out of your home, down at Coles at Springvale Junction milling with 40 other people, or in a Macca’s car park in the deep outer suburbs at midnight or at your mate’s place having dinner, you would not be contributing – if you weren’t doing that, then you would not be contributing to the spread of the virus.
And it’s not just people who have got it, it is all the people gathering together, someone who’s got it will give it to. That’s the nature. If people stay at home, don’t do things that are unlawful, then we have much greater chance of getting to the other side of this. And getting there faster. Does that make sense?
Updated
Q: Yesterday’s press release attributed five of yesterday’s 16 cases to a complex case but there was no detail about whether that was a workplace or an aged care facility.
...When we’re less than three weeks away from hopefully abandoning stay-at-home restrictions, is it good enough we’re not get thank level of detail?
Daniel Andrews:
I am not sure why that wouldn’t be included. Let me make inquiries on your behalf. If there something we can add to the CHO release, we will. There is privacy issues, when you get down to low numbers.
But I think in terms of the categorisation, as you say, was it a workplace, a family, was it aged care, hospital... those sorts of things, we should be able to provide you with clarity.
Q: What’s the difference between an outbreak - a cluster and a complex case? Often the CHO release says it is listed to cluster or a complex case, but there is no detail on the difference.
Andrews:
A cluster we will know more about. We will have a sense that that is contained. We know the cases, the contacts and we’ve isolated them. Complex cases, as the name suggests, there will be some greater level of detail.
So, it could involve - I assume - again, if I need to add to this, I will get them to do it - could involve a mystery case, somewhere in that chain of transmission. It could involve close contacts, not all of which have been listed, not all of which have been landed, if you like.
One, I think, probably goes a bit more to the how active things are.
So, the Hallam ones they grew, but then there was a ring around them. I think they would have been described as a cluster, rather than a complex case.
But if any of my understanding and logic that I have brought to you, if that is not accurate... I will be more than happy to have that detailed for you.
Q: The Murdoch institute recommended traffic light system to help get schools open. Is that something the government will adopt?
Daniel Andrews:
We made some announcements yesterday obviously about primary schools and what that Murdoch Children’s Research Institute work points to is a very different – you can have a different treatment and you can be safe in doing that in separating smaller kids, younger kids, away from those who are in the process of becoming adults. And that makes sense in many respects, that they’re in a different place as it relates to the infectivity and the transmission.
Some of those numbers, I think Allen went to yesterday, about the sheer difference when it is a student that brings it to the school, versus an adult that brings it into the school.
If we have to make further announcements, we do have time. The 12th is important.
I know that’s week 2 of term 4. It gives schools a little bit more time to get everything right. I would make the point outbreak management of schools has, for some time now, been very successful because it has embedded within that outbreak management team – are people from the Department of Education.
Similarly, in relation to some of the other high-risk sites. So, yeah, I’m confident that we can get the primary schools open and keep them open. But the final details of that – there is two points. We will leave some of these matters to schools, because they know their local environment best. And we’ve also got some time – I can’t rule out further announcements.
Updated
Q: The former health minister tweeted we are well on the way to eradication. Is that the strategy?
Daniel Andrews:
No, it’s not. I have answered this question many, many times. That is not the strategy. The strategy is to suppress this virus and that’s the national cabinet decision.
Updated
Q: Which workplaces are you looking at specifically?
Daniel Andrews:
I think that we all understand what the high-risk workplaces have been over this journey. I can’t say that it will only be them.
There could be other workplaces where we think that there are some significant benefits. So high-traffic workplaces, for instance. We’ve got a lot of testing capacity and we want to make sure that we use that as best we can to find positive cases, to validate that the numbers we’re getting through people coming forward with symptoms are an accurate measure of how much virus is out there.
And then there’s also this other ... I think a really important cultural thing in many respects. Whilst you’re out there doing some of the testing, you’re also out there checking Covid-safe plans and all of those things.
And so we’ll have more to say about that.
But it will be broadly in line with the industries that we now know, for the purposes of Covid, are very, very high risk.
And that should be read in two ways. High risk in terms of it runs wildly through those industries because of the way that they work, proximity, temperature and all of those things.
But also risk in some of those high-risk settings is about the vulnerability of the people who are involved. So hospitals, aged care.
We’ll have more to say about that quite soon. But it will broadly be in line with what I think we all now understand to be very high-risk Covid-risk workplaces.
But I would say this, though. There’s no sense of criticism in this. I think that those high-risk settings as we’re here today are more Covid-safe than they’ve ever been, and I’m very grateful to them for the work that they’ve done. And I’m very grateful for the fact that they’re working with us on some of the issues, also.
Updated
Q: Have you got the powers to be able to compel somebody?
Daniel Andrews:
I don’t think that it is going to get to that. What I’m saying to you is, we will strongly encourage, and I’ll have more to say about this later in the week.
We will strongly encourage people working in maybe not everybody, but a portion of the workforce, for instance, working in a particular setting, to be part of the testing program, and that serves two purposes. One – or three, really.
One – you find virus if it’s there.
Two – you validate that the virus isn’t.
And thirdly – so you can lock down, you can support people and have them isolated if they’ve got it.
Secondly – it can validate for you that it isn’t there. Because we know if it is, it will spread wildly. And thirdly – that’s also an opportunity for us to be there, assisting those businesses and those settings to be as Covid-safe as possible.
So to be compliant with all the other rules around staff movement, cohorting, lunchrooms, PPE compliance – the list goes on and on. So there’s multiple benefits and if we’d finalised it, I’d announce it today. We’re just very close but we’ve just got a little bit more work to do on it.
Updated
Q: Is the strategy with testing overall still – you’re looking for symptoms. Or have you had a look into asymptomatic testing to try to get that testing rate up?
Daniel Andrews:
So this is no change at this stage but we’ll have a bit more later in the week to say about broadening out the profile, broadening out the people that we test. It’s not a situation where I think that we’ll just be asking people in the street with no symptoms at all. We’ll always be focused on risk. I think that geography may play a part in this.
High-risk industries where, it’s not to to say that the virus is there, but we know if it was, it would spread rapidly.
So meatworks, distribution centres, stores, aged care, of course, health.
We’re just putting the final touches on some significant decision that is will mean that we test more. We’ll have more results. And that serves a number of different purposes.
The primary purpose but also to reassure ourselves and all Victorians that we’re doing everything that we can to make sure that it is not in aged care. That type of work. It’s not quite finalised. It will be soon and then we’ll take you through the details.
Updated
Q: Do you have people working on it now?
Daniel Andrews:
Yes, there’s a very significant team. A very significant team. And [looking at] that outbreak in Hallam of 40 cases – to wrap around the families as quickly as we did is a testament to the team that were working on that, both out of Monash Health, public health, centrally, the local council, a number of other community leaders. That’s proof positive that the system is working well.
Now, I’ll never say, ever, that it can’t further be improved. Every minute of every day, you’re looking for ways in which you can do even better. But it’s in a strong position and it’s not like it is just Hallam. The Colac outbreak. One or two people ended up being, mid-20s I think from memory, to pull that up as quick as we did. That’s a testament to the local community. A testament to Barwon Health who were leading a lot of the contact tracing. The public health team centrally. But ultimately, a testament to people living in those communities.
To think, 16,000 people in in that Casey, greater Dandenong area, I think that that is double what we were getting.
People really have come forward to do the right thing. People want this to be over and they know that if cases go undetected, then it just spreads like wildfire. You just finish up with hundreds of people off the inaction of a very small number of people. That’s why every day we stand here and we must have said it thousands of times now. Any symptoms at all, get tested and get tested today.
Updated
We get to the questions:
Q: What is the biggest impediment for contacting the unknown sources? That people are not divulging their movements? What are the challenges?
Daniel Andrews:
I think that there are always challenges when, despite your best efforts, and I think that the overall majority of people are frank and honest and we’ve had a bit of a discussion about some obvious things if you were to change your settings, you would probably not see that frankness and honesty.
We’ve had a bit to talk about fines and things of that nature.
As good as that might us all feel, I don’t think that necessarily, people would be as forthcoming either about their own movements or the movements of others. I think that in some respects, when you just pause for a moment to think – you could have this and not know, so people will spend time with other people.
They may be doing so lawfully.
It may not be clear that they had the virus at all. Some people, sometime later, may never have developed symptoms. Then don’t potentially get tested so you can all of a sudden see – that’s a really big challenge here.
The notion of having it. That not being obvious to you to prompt you to go and get tested, can mean that you give it to others, and then piecing all those things together gets very, very difficult. And we’re shut down at the moment, there are still many people that are going to work.
They are allowed to go to work. There is that essential movement to go and buy things, to go and buy the basics that you need.
There is still ... It is not accurate to say that we’re all only with the four or five people that we live with – our immediate family or the one or two, depending on your circumstances. There is still some movement.
And it’s so wildly infectious that despite your best efforts, being lawful, being frank, being honest – we’re still seeing, albeit smaller numbers, of people who are getting in. And we just can’t figure out how. Now, as the numbers get smaller and smaller, you’re able to do not just that downstream contact tracing, but you’re able to test and trace backwards, if you like, about where the chain might have started.
And that, of course, takes someone off the mystery case list and then we no. But it’s incredibly complex. It’s as complex as all the different choices, all the different actions that every single individual takes every day. And the fact that it is silent and the fact that you may never have gone and got tested. So the fact that you had it may not be known to you, let alone the fact that you’ve given it to someone else. So I think that’s probably the most significant part of it.
Updated
Victoria is 'so close' to taking a really big step, Daniel Andrews says
Daniel Andrews:
Today’s numbers are proof positive, beyond any doubt, that this strategy is working.
This is the lowest daily case number for a very long time and it’s not so long ago that we were reporting not five cases, but 725 cases. So not five cases – 725 cases.
We’ve come a long way. Victorians have given a lot. They have sacrificed a lot. And I am proud and deeply grateful for the work that every single Victorian is doing in partnership with me and a massive team of dedicated workers, dedicated ... whether they be in hospital settings, public health teams, people providing industry advice and support, as I’ve just indicated.
We are so close. We are so close to being able to take a really big step. A big step towards that Covid-normal.
What’s incredibly important, and I think that every Victorian knows this, but I am obliged to make this point – we are so, so close, and what’s important now is that everyone keeps following the rules. Keeps doing the right thing.
Keeps making that profound and critical contribution to these numbers getting low and staying low.
Each of us have it within our own ... we are all capable.
It’s within our own families.
If we continue to make smart choices, then we will see this thing off.
If, however, any of us, and it can be very small numbers, if we start doing things that we know deep down are not the right thing to do, then we can put at risk everything that we’ve built, everything that Victorians have given.
I don’t want that to happen. And I’m confident that it won’t, because I think that people can see that this is working and all of us can see that we are so, so close to defeating this second wave.
That’s not to say that on October 18 or 19 we can go back to normal, as if it was any October.
It’s a Covid-normal we have to find and I’m very confident that we are making very steady and safe progress towards that goal.
That gives us a summer that is so, so different to just about all of 2020, and that’s something that we’re all aiming towards. So again, I thank every Victorian for the contribution they’re making. These are good numbers.
They are good numbers and we’re so close. We just have to see it through. We have no choice, as difficult as it is to live under these restrictions, albeit with modifications yesterday, for another three weeks.
If we can do it, and I’m confident that we can, we will be able to take big steps in just three weeks.
Updated
Daniel Andrews says while it looks as though the numbers are all heading where they need to be – and earlier than anticipated – that doesn’t mean there can be a mass lifting of restrictions:
The rolling 14-day average to September 27 is metro 20.3, regional 0.6. Across the state, there it is 20.9.
That is a very, very significant set of numbers. We are well ahead of schedule.
Again, notwithstanding the fact that there is that time lag that we have to wait and see how the virus presents and what the effect of changes announced yesterday and any other changes we might make are.
I know that that is frustrating. People I know would love to move to take even further steps as quickly as possible. But this thing is silent. It moves rapidly. And there is that need, that absolute need, there is simply no choice. You have to wait and see what happens, because it is hidden for two weeks, three weeks, before you’ll really get a complete picture of what the impact in terms of virus transmission and therefore, virus numbers, and therefore, risk, is, in real term.
You just can’t know today what the impact of yesterday’s announcements will be, at least for two to three weeks.
Updated
Daniel Andrews:
I’m sad to say, 787 Victorians have died as a result of the global pandemic. Thats three since my last report.
One male in their 60s, one female in their 80s. One male in their 90s.
All of those deaths are linked to aged care. And of course, we send our condolences and best wishes to those three families. There are 49 Victorians in hospital. Eight are receiving intensive care and four of those eight are on a ventilator.
A total of 2,668,796 test results have been received since the beginning of the year.
That is an increase of 6,807 test results since yesterday.
That number is within a few hundred of last Monday’s number, which essentially reflects the Saturday testing.
I don’t want to necessarily speculate too much but it wasn’t the greatest day in terms of weather on Saturday.
That number still, because of the number of positives that it found, is still a robust number, but I will, again, take this opportunity to appeal to every single Victorian – if you’ve put off getting a test over the course of this weekend, and you’ve got symptoms, or you had symptoms, please go and get a test today.
As I’ve said a few times now, not only case numbers will hold us back from taking safe and steady steps from the Covid-normal to continue opening up as we outlined yesterday.
But what could be a challenge for us is if we don’t see people coming forward and getting tested and if we start to have doubts about whether we’ve got the most complete picture – that can be a real challenge.
Updated
Daniel Andrews press conference
The Victorian premier has begun his 88th consecutive press conference.
The five new cases are linked to known clusters.
All three deaths are linked to aged care.
Updated
Queensland has reported no new cases of Covid in the last 24 hours.
Updated
The three women charged with fraud and making a false or misleading claim on their border entry documents have faced a Brisbane court.
They have been given bail and had their cases adjourned until October.
Two of the women tested positive and, while health authorities cannot prove the women were the source of Queensland’s latest cluster, they have determined them to be the most likely source.
Updated
Meanwhile, in Victoria:
Dear media, I won’t be doing interviews at my home. Please respect my privacy and safety. When I want to speak to you I’ll call you. As for the people who have distributed my home address widely I have no words.
— Jenny Mikakos MP #StayHomeSaveLives (@JennyMikakos) September 28, 2020
As has been pointed out to me a few times, one of the other people associated with Steve Bannon’s alleged thinktank, along with Fraser Anning, is Prof Adrian Cheok, who is most famous for advocating sex with robots.
Updated
Daniel Andrews will hold his press conference at 10.30am.
Updated
You can follow along with all the international news, with Helen Sullivan, here.
Updated
With the parliamentary break, our MPs have taken to debating on Twitter.
.@AlanTudgeMP how many times do I have to explain to you that ILLEGAL ACTIVITY - LIKE POSSESSING CHILD SEXUAL EXPLOITATION MATERIALS - IS ALREADY ILLEGAL.
— Kristina Keneally (@KKeneally) September 27, 2020
You know what else is illegal? CONTEMPT OF COURT. Why don’t you try NOT ENGAGING IN YOUR OWN CRIMINAL CONDUCT? https://t.co/c6hpDnpXOp
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We are starting to see more of these messages:
Thank you, Melbourne + Victoria. It hasn’t been easy, but we are getting there. ❤ #StaySafe. #COVID19
— VicGovDHHS (@VicGovDHHS) September 27, 2020
In terms of the rolling average, today’s case number of five brings the 14-day average to 20.3 for metro Melbourne. Regional Victoria is at 0.6.
The so-called “mystery” cases – which usually means community transmission – are also down.
Updated
A reminder that we don’t know what testing rates were like at the weekend, when these Covid cases were diagnosed – but still, five is a very, very good number.
The amount of people who have lost their lives though is an undeniable tragedy.
Updated
Victoria records five news Covid cases and three lives lost
This is the lowest number we have seen in months.
#COVID19VicData: Yesterday there were 5 new cases & the loss of 3 lives reported. The 14 day rolling average is down in Metro Melb, stable in regional Vic, and the no. of cases with unknown source stable as we move to COVID Normal. More info: https://t.co/pcll7ySEgz#COVID19Vic pic.twitter.com/Lu5XDcXFkI
— VicGovDHHS (@VicGovDHHS) September 27, 2020
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$30m for $3m parcel of airport land 'a bargain', says deputy PM
Michael McCormack was also on Sydney’s radio 2GB this morning, where he said taxpayers purchasing a plot of land for 10 times its valued price “will eventually be hailed as a good decision” and “a bargain”.
That would be this land, that the auditor general has released a WTAF report over:
The land, which was owned by Liberal party donors, and which wasn’t even needed for the airport expansion until AFTER 2050.
McCormack thinks paying $30m for a $3m parcel of land 30 years in advance will one day be seen as a bargain.
As AAP reports:
I appreciate that yes, it was very much over the odds, I appreciate there’s a review going on into how that actually happened.
But eventually when there is a need to be more runways and more infrastructure built at Western Sydney airport, they’ll look back and say, probably: ‘What a bargain that was.’
McCormack also seems to think it is time for everyone to just move on:
But there has been a decision taken. Yes, it’s a lot of money but in time it will be a very good investment.
The Australian National Audit Office handed down a scathing report into the land purchase last week, finding Department of Infrastructure officials had engaged in unethical conduct.
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Oh look! Fraser Anning has popped up again – as part of Steve Bannon’s new “think” tank.
I guess that takes the bankrupt former senator from “understood to be living in the US” to “living in the US” where he disappeared to after losing his Senate seat and having bankruptcy proceedings against him.
Steve Bannon, out on bail, has spent his month productively, launching yet another think-tank! Now we also know what the "populist hair" stands for pic.twitter.com/nsRJSIVN8C
— Evgeny Morozov (@evgenymorozov) September 26, 2020
Updated
Going back to the “rollback” post, the unions have no problem with calling a cut a cut:
Here are the facts:
— Australian Unions (@unionsaustralia) September 27, 2020
Today 3.5 million workers on the JobKeeper payment are worse off.
Full-time workers' payments cut from $1500 to $1200.
Part-time workers' payments now reduced to $750.
What kind of Government cuts support when we're still in the middle of this crisis?
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Jacinda Ardern says Australian-New Zealand travel bubble 'possible' before Christmas
Reuters says Jacinda Ardern is into the idea of an Australian-New Zealand travel bubble:
When asked by state broadcaster TVNZ whether New Zealanders would be able to travel to at least some Australian regions before Christmas, Jacinda Ardern said: “It is possible.”
“What we would need to be assured of is that when Australia is saying, ‘OK, we’ve got a hotspot over here,’ that the border around that hotspot means that people aren’t able to travel into the states where we are engaging with in trans-Tasman travel,” she said.
Ardern said Australia was pretty satisfied with both how New Zealand was tracking now and how they are tracking generally.
New Zealand has only 59 active cases and 1,477 confirmed cases of Covid-19 so far, one of the lowest tally in the world.
Some media reports on Monday also said the travel may initially be just one way with New Zealanders heading to Australia, and may be restricted to just travellers from New Zealand’s South Island, which has had no coronavirus cases for months.
Victoria, Australia’s second-most populous state and the centre of the country’s Covid-19 outbreak, said on Sunday that it would ease social distancing restrictions as infections slow to fewer than 20 cases a day.
Australia has reported just over 27,000 cases and 872 deaths, well below the numbers seen in many other developed nations.
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The jobkeeper payment has gone from $1,500 a fortnight to $1,200 a fortnight.
The rate of pay has been cut.
Seems strange the opposition would call this a “rollback” – a term the government is more likely to use (while also insisting it’s all cool because the program has been extended).
And while we are on “rollback” which are actually cuts – there is still no word on what the rate of jobseeker will be once the December deadline hits. Merry Christmas and happy new year.
We're smack bang in the middle of a pandemic, and in the grips of a recession. If there was ever a moment to help people, it's right now.
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) September 27, 2020
Australians deserve a government that fights for them every day – not one that seems determined to leave them behind. pic.twitter.com/HMSdd8CpUB
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Federal budget to include more funds for airlines
Speaking of Michael McCormack, he has been in charge of the aviation response.
Via AAP:
The federal budget will include more financial support for airlines to keep key domestic and regional routes running, after an industry slump due to the coronavirus, the deputy prime minister says.
Michael McCormack on Monday said the government will extend two programs set up to cover essential costs the airlines can’t recover due to a drop in passenger numbers.
The Domestic Aviation Network Support and the Regional Airline Network Support programs were due to end but will now be extended to January 31 and March 28 next year, respectively.
This will allow major domestic routes to be maintained and regional and remote communities to continue to receive essential air travel services.
McCormack said the extensions to be announced when the 2020/21 budget to be handed down on October 6 “could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars”.
So far, more than $150m has been spent under the programs.
“Planes in the air mean jobs on the ground and as part of our economic plan for a more secure and resilient Australia, we will continue to back our aviation sector,” said McCormack who is also the transport minister and Nationals leader.
“In regional Australia, flights are so central to local economies, underpinning many small businesses including tourism operators, whilst ensuring continued access to key medical supplies and personnel.”
The main airline beneficiaries of the programs are Qantas, Virgin Australia and Rex as well as other smaller carriers.
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Just on that, Deloitte aren’t saying the stimulus measures haven’t been a good idea – they are saying that now they are cut the government needs to spend more.
But Michael McCormack is never one to let facts get in the way of a good (country) line.
Also, there are close to a million Australians out of work, and Treasury’s own figures predict that number will increase by the year’s end. So sure. Australians can get back to work with all of those jobs just floating around.
And when it comes to “fruit picking” and the other jobs McCormack points to, it’s not exactly cheap to pack up and move to a whole other region. But then again, that would be some of those pesky facts.
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Q: When it comes to jobkeeper, though, deputy prime minister, so many economists, Deloitte modelling, shows that you’re going against what is best for the economy, and by making these cuts to jobkeeper. Are you saying that Deloitte modelling are getting it wrong?
Michael McCormack:
We’ve done everything to make sure that we’ve supported the economy, supported workers still being attached to their businesses.
We’ve done ... and you can ask many businesses there. Deloitte economists can say what they like, but you go down any street in any regional community, indeed, any capital city in Australia, and talk to small business owners and they’ll say but for jobkeeper, their businesses would not be reopening.
But it’s time for Australians to get back to work. That’s why we have to make the transition. That’s why we have to revisit the support mechanisms we’ve put in place.
We’ve been generous with $314bn and next week’s budget will be a jobs and infrastructure budget.
We’ve put in place the right parameters for the economy. We’ve made sure that as many workers can stay engaged with their work.
Yes, it’s been difficult for those people who have lost jobs – many of whom have had to go on welfare for the first time in their careers, and that’s why we put the jobseeker measures in place. But it is time for Australians to get back to work.
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Michael McCormack has been allowed on air again.
Asked by ABC News Breakfast about the cuts to jobkeeper (and jobseeker) in recent days, the deputy prime minister says:
Well, we’ve got to get Australians back to work. We’ve got to ensure that for those 45,600 jobs in regional Australia, that they get filled.
Indeed, there are many, many people who are saying that they’re trying out for labour, they’re trying out for workers to come to regional areas and we’re just about to get a bumper harvest.
And so, for those areas of endeavour, they need workers. Of course, we’ve got a situation on the Sydney port at the moment where everything is being held up, so the hard work that farmers have put in, finally they’ve got through the worst of the drought, hopefully, they’ve got the through the bushfires and they’re now wanting to get that world’s best food and fibre to export markets overseas and that’s being held up at the ports.
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Forty new domestic violence shelters to be built
The federal government will make a domestic violence funding announcement today:
About 700 new safe places for women and children escaping domestic violence will be built across the country under the Morrison government’s $60m Safe Places initiative for new and expanded emergency accommodation.
Minister for families and social services Anne Ruston and assistant minister for community housing, homelessness and community services Luke Howarth announced 40 projects would be funded, supporting about 6,000 women and children each year.
Projects include building new two- and three-bedroom homes, transforming office buildings into self-contained apartments and establishing small group homes.
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Australia 'hopeful' of a travel bubble with New Zealand by end of year
In case you missed it, yesterday Simon Birmingham said he was hopeful a travel bubble with New Zealand could be put in place by the end of the year.
While it is up to New Zealand if it takes in Australians, Australia is looking to welcome New Zealand travellers, if all goes well with the states opening up to each other, as planned (by Christmas). Birmingham said:
We’re making sure we have all the work done, all the preparations there so that we can safely achieve that bubble with New Zealand.
It’s up to them as to whether they choose to open up to Australia, but we’re certainly making sure that we’re prepared and I’m hopeful that could be this year.
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Good morning
A very big good morning to Melbourne which, as of a couple of hours ago, has waved goodbye to its curfew.
Which is excellent news. Having a curfew has been a very strange part of all this. Being fined just for leaving your house is not something any of us should be comfortable with, even if you are in support of the lockdown measures.
But a very big thank you to Melbourne residents who have been through the worst of it to make sure the rest of Australia remains as open as possible. I’m so happy that light at the end of the tunnel seems pretty close now.
Under the changes Daniel Andrews announced yesterday:
- 127,000 workers can return to various industries, including supermarket, food distribution, food processing, manufacturing and some solo outdoor employees, will return to work – about 30,000 more than initially planned.
- Primary school students return to schools in the week beginning 12 October.
- Childcare centres can open for all children, and visitors will be allowed in healthcare facilities and hospitals – one visitor per patient per day for a maximum of two hours for most patients. For those under 18, two parents or carers can visit with no time limit.
- Public gatherings of people from one household, or a limit of five people from no more than two households, will be allowed. This also applies to faith-based activities and weddings held outdoors.
- Hiking, fishing and other exercises that don’t involve visiting a facility will be allowed for a maximum of two hours, within 5km of home.
The roadmap has switched from dates to case numbers.
Greg Hunt and Josh Frydenberg welcomed the changes with a statement, which included this little titbit:
We note that at similar case levels NSW was fundamentally open while remaining Covidsafe due to a world-class contact tracing facility.
As it stands this lockdown is already longer than that faced by residents in many cities around the world. We remain deeply concerned about the mental health impacts of a prolonged lockdown on Melbourne residents.
Speaking of the federal government, economic analysts want the government to spend more, especially since individual stimulus is being cut. The jobseeker Covid supplement was cut on Friday, on what social service advocates referred to as “poverty Friday”. As of today, the jobkeeper rate is being cut (although, some people on jobkeeper can access social services payments to top up their income).
The budget is being handed down next Tuesday but, as Daniel Hurst reports, economists think it needs to have some big spending included if it is to get anywhere near pulling Australia’s economy out of recession.
We’ll bring you all the day’s events as they happen. You have Amy Remeikis with you for most of the day.
Ready?
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