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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Naaman Zhou and Amy Remeikis

Covidsafe phone app legislation passes lower house – as it happened

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Summary

  • The treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, is self-isolating and being tested for Covid-19 after a coughing fit in parliament as he delivered an economic statement in lieu of the delayed federal budget.
  • That update showed GDP is forecast to fall by more than 10% in the June quarter, the largest on record, and unemployment will reach around 10%, or 1.4 million people.
  • The assistant treasurer, Michael Sukkar, said Frydenberg was “just a bit run down”, and the finance minister, Mathias Cormann, said the treasurer had not shown any signs of illness.
  • China has suspended imports from four big Australian abattoirs, but trade minister Simon Birmingham said it was a “technical” issue.
  • The foreign minister, Marise Payne, said she was not consulted before George Christensen announced he wanted to summon the Chinese ambassador to face questions before a parliamentary committee.
  • Eight new cases have been diagnosed linked to the Cedar Meats abattoir, taking the total to 85.
  • The AFL announced that every player and staff member must undergo a Covid-19 swab test before resuming full-contact training next week.

We’ll be closing the liveblog for today. Thanks for reading along – we’ll be back tomorrow morning with more.

In the meantime, you can still follow our international blog here:

Stay safe and see you tomorrow.

The results have been announced for the Greens membership vote on how to elect the party’s future leaders.

In short, the party members want a change to the system, but are undecided on what form.

The plebiscite of Greens members put forward three options: keeping the current model where only elected federal MPs get to vote, a hybrid model where rank-and-file member votes count for 50% and the MPs count for 50% (which is what federal Labor use), or moving to one member one vote – which would effectively be 100% rank-and-file votes.

It was split into three options: one member one vote or no change; 50/50 or no change; and one member one vote or 50/50.

A supermajority of 66.67% for any option was required to force change.

62% of members voted for one member one vote against 38% for the current model.

62.56% of members voted for the 50/50 model against 37.44% for the current model.

And when asked to pick between one member one vote and the 50/50 model, the votes were split 49.05% to 50.95%.

Out of 13,143 eligible members, 6,065 voted (a 46.15% participation rate).

Updated

Labor and the Greens are pressuring the government to reform jobseeker to include universities and entities owned by foreign governments, like airline caterer Dnata, which used to be owned by Qantas but is now owned by the United Arab Emirates government.

App privacy legislation passes lower house

The bill to put in place data protections around the Covidsafe phone app has now passed the House of Representatives.

The lower house passed the bill just before 7.30pm. It passed “on the voices” rather than with a division where all votes are recorded.

Labor supported the bill but the shadow attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, had moved an amendment urging the government to take a series of steps to build confidence in the Covidsafe app, including explaining why Amazon Web Services had been chosen to host the data and steps taken to protect that data.

The amendment – which failed – also called on the government to provide additional funding to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner and appoint a standalone privacy commissioner “to ensure that the commissioner is able to properly perform the important oversight functions provided for in this bill”.

But Dreyfus thanked the government for making a number of changes to the earlier draft bill to address a number of concerns he had raised.

“For example, there is now greater clarity about what data is protected by the strict privacy safeguards contained in the bill,” he said.

The attorney general, Christian Porter, told parliament earlier today the bill “guarantees that the Australian public can have confidence that their privacy will be protected if they download and use Covidsafe”. He said an increase in the uptake would help the states and territories trace outbreaks and combat the spread of Covid-19.

The bill now moves to the Senate.

Updated

Cormann says it is “very hard to predict” when the budget will be back in surplus.

Leigh Sales asks him why the government and the Reserve Bank’s prognosis on GDP is so rosy, compared to previous recessions.

Sales: “In the 1991 recession, GDP fell by about 1.4% and it took the economy about a year to recover to back to where it was. Now we’re looking at at least seven times that fall in Australia’s GDP, but the Reserve Bank assumption is that it might only take a couple of years to recover.

“Why such an optimistic outlook against such a pessimistic and uncertain background?

Cormann says “the fundamentals of the Australian economy were sound as we were going into this crisis”.

“Once those restrictions can be lifted, businesses will go back into doing what they do best ... it is important to note that many businesses in their battle to survive have pursued amazing innovation and adaption strategies which will stand them in good stead on the other side.”

Updated

The finance minister, Mathias Cormann, is on the ABC’s 7.30 tonight after the treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, pulled out as he is being tested for coronavirus.

Cormann says that Frydenberg did not show signs of illness before his coughing fit.

“I think that all of us are perhaps a bit exhausted,” he says. “I spoke to the treasurer about an hour or so ago and he sounded perfectly fine.”

He is then asked if Frydenberg had any meetings or close contact with other members of the government recently.

“I can’t speak for anybody else but we have been meeting by tele-presence and from different rooms, electronically,” Cormann says.

“He certainly hasn’t been in close proximity to me. I’m not aware if he has been in close proximity to others.”

Updated

In what is becoming a common scene, there were long lines of international students waiting for donated meals today.

This footage was shot in Sydney where restaurants in Chinatown are offering free meals to students who have lost jobs and aren’t eligible for jobseeker or jobkeeper.

Nathan Cleary, the Penrith Panther banned and fined by the NRL for being “untruthful” during the league’s investigation into his social distancing breach, has apologised.

“I’m obviously embarrassed with myself and I’m not happy with what I’ve done,” he told the club’s website. “I just to want to apologise for my actions. My actions were irresponsible, selfish and pretty stupid, to be honest.

“I brought a lot of negative attention to not only myself, but my family, the club, the game as well, and that’s what has hurt me the most.

“To move on from here I need to realise I can’t change what has already happened, even though I wish I could. The reality is I can’t. The one thing I can control are my actions moving forward.”

In a departure from the usual mea culpas from NRL players, Cleary then quoted the American theologian Tryon Edwards, before adding the experience had been a “massive learning curve”.

“Someone sent me a quote the other day that said, ‘Good actions in the future are the best apologies for bad actions in the past,’ ” he said. “And that’s what I’ll be taking on board. It’s a massive learning curve for me. I’ve learnt a lot about myself and I never want to go through this again.

“This could be the moment I can kick on, especially as a leader and as a person and become better. That’s the positive I’m taking out of this, if there is any.”

Cleary will miss the Panthers’ first two games once the season gets back under way, and was fined $30,000 by the NRL.

Updated

Eight new cases at Cedar Meats

Victoria has announced 17 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, including eight at the Cedar Meats abattoir.

That means there have been 85 cases linked to the meat processing facility.

There is also a new case in a cluster at a McDonald’s in Fawkner, in Melbourne’s north, taking that total number to three; 92 staff have been tested and the restaurant has been closed for cleaning, the health department said.

Two people who were previously classified as positive have also been removed from the overall total.

The state’s chief health officer, Prof Brett Sutton, said this showed the “battle against Covid-19 is far from over”.

“We are asking Victorians to continue this amazing effort and get tested if they have symptoms, because the more tests we do, the more data we have about the prevalence of coronavirus in the community,” he said.

The department also said “the time it takes to complete a test is improving” due to increased capacity, but it still takes between 24 hours and three days.

Fifteen laboratories in the state are analysing swabs.

Updated

Frydenberg 'just a bit run down', minister says

Michael Sukkar, the assistant treasurer, says it’s possible the treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, is “just a bit run down” having worked very long days.

Sukkar was asked during an interview with Sky News about the fact Frydenberg has been tested for Covid-19 after having coughing fit during the economic speech.

Sukkar said:

I’ve been working pretty closely with Josh over the last couple of months and there’s no one who’s worked harder to try to steward this economy through [the crisis] … I don’t have any medical background but I wouldn’t be surprised if Josh was just a bit run down.”

Updated

A coalition of Aboriginal peak organisations has told the government it should not use the coronavirus pandemic as an excuse to delay the new closing the gap targets.

The Coalition of Peaks, who represent more than 50 bodies, is due to meet with the government in June.

My colleague Lorena Allam has the full story:

Updated

Hi everyone, and thanks to Amy Remeikis for piloting the blog today. I’ll be with you for the rest of the evening.

The education minister, Dan Tehan, has told the ABC that more than 750 private schools have applied for a scheme that links their funding to reopening early.

According to AAP, the scheme offers private schools early access to one-eighth of their money – a total of almost $1.7bn – if they plan to fully reopen classrooms by 1 June.

“We have had over 750 who have said that they would like to have their payments brought forward,” he said. “We will continue to work with [the states] to ensure that we are doing everything we can to enable all students to deal with what they might have missed out on with regards to their education.”

Updated

And on that note, I will hand you over to Naaman Zhou for the next part of the blog’s day.

I’ll be back early tomorrow morning for more parliament and Covid coverage. Thank you for joining Mike Bowers, Katharine Murphy, Daniel Hurst and Paul Karp for today. Take care of you. And if you have to, cough into your elbow.

The chamber has gone back to the covid tracing app legislation.

Foreign affairs minister not consulted before backbencher spoke up on China

The foreign affairs minister, Marise Payne, says she was not consulted before the Coalition backbencher George Christensen publicised his attempt to summons the Chinese ambassador to face questions before a parliamentary committee.

But she defended Christensen’s right to speak out, saying Australia’s democracy welcomed members of parliament “having a voice” on a range of issues.

Over the weekend, Christensen told the Sunday Mail newspaper he would try to summons the Chinese ambassador to answer questions before the trade-related committee he chairs – a move bound to fail because of diplomatic immunity. He also moved to set up a website proclaiming his “China inquiry” and that Australia must stand up “against threats from communist China”.

It comes amid heightened diplomatic tensions between China and Australia stemming from the Morrison government’s call for an international investigation into the origins and handling of Covid-19. In the past few days China has revealed plans to impose tariffs on Australian barley imports and suspend the supply of beef from four Australian abattoirs.

In Senate question time, Payne said the Christensen-led inquiry into diversifying Australia’s export markets began in February, but it was one of “countless inquiries undertaken across the parliament”.

“I certainly don’t expect that every chair will consult with every minister in that process, and Mr Christensen did not raise the particular inquiry with me,” Payne said.

Labor’s Senate leader, Penny Wong, asked the minister whether she believed it was in the national interest “for a backbench LNP member to be so prominent in the management of Australia’s largest trading relationship” and whether Payne endorsed Christensen’s actions.

Payne replied that Australia’s democratic system of government “allows, respects, indeed welcomes members of parliament having a voice on issues across the nation, issues in Australia’s national interest”.

“I understand the issues that prompt senator Wong to ask that question but for my part I am very strongly attached to Australia’s democratic processes and I will continue to be so.”

Updated

Or you could word this as the NRL having major issues with its draw – caused by NRL anti-vaxxers’ firm stance to not get the flu vaccination as required to restart competition:

Updated

In case you missed the cough heard around Canberra:

Dan Tehan is speaking to Patricia Karvelas on the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing.

He is asked if he is confident there won’t be a mass repeating of the school year:

Yes, I am. I am sure that all of us will work incredibly hard to make sure that every student gets the benefit of education this year to the best of their ability to the best of our schooling system to be able to provide it, and we made it very clear, I think it was probably six weeks ago now, maybe five weeks ago now, there will be, especially when it comes to year 12, there will be no mass repeating, we will ensure that every student in year 12 gets an Atar and will be able to go on and live their dreams as to whether they want to go to university, vocational educational into employment.

Updated

Josh Frydenberg is also supposed to be on the ABC’s 7.30 tonight.

Not sure whether or not it was pre-recorded.

Updated

Health department 'concerned' about sports grants in caretaker

A new chapter in the sports grants saga:

The health department was concerned Bridget McKenzie could make decisions on sports grants in the caretaker period, and officials recorded any decision taken after the election was called would require consultation with Labor.

The former sport minister did overshoot on the timing of the grants. In all, $2.7m was added to the $100m cost of the sports grants program during a flurry of late changes to project lists passed between McKenzie and Scott Morrison’s offices after the governor general dissolved parliament on 11 April 2019 – and Labor wasn’t consulted.

The concern of departmental officials is noted in evidence by the Australian National Audit Office to the Senate inquiry, which reveals new details of 11 late changes made after the starter’s gun was fired on the 2019 election.

The ANAO evidence notes in the preceding months McKenzie visited four of the clubs whose projects were funded on 11 April, including one visit for the purpose of discussing the “proposed funding announcement” of a “community sporting infrastructure [grant]”.

The ANAO identified 11 changes made between the version sent to the prime minister’s office at 8.47am on 11 April 2019 and the one sent at 12.35pm, with a total net increase of $2,767,071 in grant funding.

The ANAO noted that four of the late changes occurred in projects put forward by clubs McKenzie had visited in preceding months.

Updated

Josh Frydenberg to be tested for Covid after coughing fit in parliament

This statement has just been sent out by the Treasurer:

Today while delivering my ministerial statement I had a dry mouth and a cough.

After question time I sought the advice of the Deputy Chief Medical Officer (DCMO).

The DCMO advised me that out of an abundance of caution it was prudent I be tested for COVID-19.

Following the receipt of his advice I immediately left Parliament House to be tested and will await the result in isolation.

I expect the result of my test to be provided tomorrow.

Updated

Question time, as seen by Mike Bowers this morning:

Hand sanitiser and the mace during question time in the House of Reps.
Hand sanitiser and the mace during question time in the House of Reps. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian
Tanya Plibersek is maybe not completely convinced by a Coalition answer.
Tanya Plibersek is maybe not completely convinced by a Coalition answer. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian
The prime minister, Scott Morrison, talks to the leader of the House, Christian Porter.
The prime minister, Scott Morrison, talks to the leader of the House, Christian Porter. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian
Social distancing during question time in the House of Reps this afternoon.
Social distancing during question time in the House of Reps this afternoon. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

Updated

The industrial relations minister, Christian Porter, has signalled that he is open to Pauline Hanson’s idea that emergency changes to workplace pay deals should be limited to 12 months’ operation.

Labor and the Greens are trying to disallow rules that allow employers to give just 24 hours’ notice to seek changes to work conditions and pay, down from a week.

Of particular concern is that changes can be baked into agreements for up to three years.

Hanson at first suggested she wouldn’t support the move, but then suggested she may change her mind unless the government agrees that changes to workers’ pay and conditions should not last longer than 12 months.

Porter told Guardian Australia:”That seems a reasonable request and I will discuss with senator Hanson and other crossbench senators over the next 24 hours or so.”

Updated

The government is looking to change the NDIS rules so it can’t be used to fund sex work.

Updated

There have been 18 new cases of Covid-19 diagnosed in the past 24 hours across Australia.

Updated

Further to the post on the federal court decision to allow NDIS funding to pay for sex workers, is this story from Luke Henriques-Gomes:

Updated

Crossbench want bushfires included in Senate Covid hearings

The crossbench has come together to ask the Senate select committee looking at the Covid response to include the impact on communities which were hit by the bushfires:

Centre Alliance member for Mayo, Rebekha Sharkie, from SA, and independent member for Indi, Helen Haines, from Victoria, have written to the committee chair, senator Katy Gallagher, asking the committee to hold special public hearings on the government response in communities hit hardest by the 2019-20 fires.

The hearings would call on witnesses from state and federal departments and agencies, including the national bushfire recovery agency, plus other groups and community representatives who can give a detailed picture of the delivery of relief and recovery efforts and the impact the Covid-19 restrictions and support packages have had on bushfire-affected communities.

“The Covid-19 restrictions, while absolutely necessary from a public health perspective, have delivered a double economic and psychological blow to communities in my electorate and other bushfire-affected areas, and all of this has occurred in a matter of months,” Sharkie said.

“Tourism operators in the Adelaide Hills and Kangaroo Island were decimated by the fires and went from desperately calling for people to come and visit in order to help out to the government ordering Australians to stay home and stay away.

“Meanwhile, with all the public attention focused on the Covid-19 response, our communities are telling us that the promised bushfire recovery support is not reaching the individuals, businesses and primary producers who need it in a timely manner.”

Updated

We aren’t any clearer on the AFL’s return to play date but the league has announced that every player and staff member must undergo a Covid-19 swab test before a possible resumption to full contact training next week.

The AFL is still negotiating with state governments over protocols that will open the path to the season restarting, but in the meantime guidelines that have been in place since March remain. Those protocols include:

  • Club facilities to remain closed, including club gyms;
  • All coaching sessions and training programs must be provided remotely;
  • Clubs can mandate fitness programs for players but they can only be conducted in isolation either at home or in an outdoor space which complies with government social distancing requirements;
  • Ball work is permitted in open outdoor spaces and kick-to-kick with another single individual is permitted as long as social distancing is maintained and strict hygiene measures are employed (regular wiping of ball, washing/sanitising hands etc);
  • GPS monitoring during the shutdown period is strictly not permitted;
  • All medical services must be provided remotely.

The AFL said it would announce dates for both a return to training and the resumption of the season later this week.

Updated

“There they were with their ‘back in black’ mugs, congratulating themselves ... but they were treating the Australian people like mugs,” Anthony Albanese says, as he opens the matter of public importance debate (which is on the economy).

Updated

Maybe tomorrow ...

Updated

Question time is over

Question time ends – a little earlier than usual (there is usually at least an hour of questions, but we are a bit short of that today).

Updated

Lisa Chesters to Josh Frydenberg:

How much money has the government given to businesses which are receiving the jobkeeper payment, using them to subsidise their balance sheet whilst employees are running down their leave entitlements?

Frydenberg:

Mr Speaker, with respect to the honourable member’s question, the whole purpose of the jobkeeper payment is to keep people in work by reducing the cost of labour, Mr Speaker.

And it is helping businesses at a very difficult time. It’s maintaining the formal connection between the employer and employee. More than $2bn has already gone out the door as of the jobkeeper and more will go out in coming weeks.

Updated

David Littleproud’s tie remains one of the most offensive parts of today.

#myeyes

Updated

Tanya Plibersek to Josh Frydenberg:

What does the Treasurer have to say to the one in three hospitality workers who have lost their job? The one in four workers in the arts and entertainment industries who have lost their jobs? Up to 11,000 casual workers in Eden-Monaro who can’t access JobKeeper? 21,000 university workers who are likely to lose their jobs over coming months? And the thousands of workers whose jobs are at risk, who are now facing the unemployment queue because the Government won’t extend the JobKeeper wage subsidy to more workers?

Frydenberg:

Mr Speaker, this is a very difficult time for Australians. A very, very difficult time for the Australian economy. And it’s a devastating global pandemic with a major economic shock.

Now, as a result, this government has acted decisively and comprehensively with $320 billion worth of economic support, equivalent to 16.4% of GDP. Now, Mr Speaker, when it comes to the JobKeeper program, the forecasts were for around six million people to access it.

And as the Prime Minister has said to the House, and I’ve said today, currently, based on the 800,000-plus businesses that are formally applied to the JobKeeper program, that covers around 5.5 million Australian workers.

As I said in my ministerial statement, more than a million people are on the JobSeeker payment. As the honourable member will know, we’ve effectively doubled the previous support through Newstart with a $550 JobSeeker coronavirus supplement. Mr Speaker, these are temporary, these are targeted, these are proportionate measures and when it comes to the JobKeeper program and the cash flow boost and when it comes to the early access to superannuation and the $750 cash payment, we’ve seen more than $25 billion go out the door.

The Secretary of Treasury, well known to those opposite, respected by both sides of this House, said to the COVID-19 Senate Committee the money is running out remarkably quickly. And that is the point. We’re doing everything we can through the existing systems to get the financial support to the people who need it most.

Two things: sex work is work and should not be stigmatised, and people are entitled to access a legal sex worker without judgment or discrimination.

Having said that, People with Disability Australia have released this statement on the recent (unanimous) decision by the federal court to uphold the right of a person with disability to use their NDIS funding to access sex work services:

“This courageous person with disability has fought for years to have her right to equal access to ordinary sexual expression funded through her NDIS plan,” said El Gibbs, director media and communications.

“She won her administrative appeals tribunal case, and has now emphatically won in the federal court of Australia. We urge the NDIS to accept this decision today, and allow people with disability to fund sexual expression through their plans.”

The respondent said: “I am very pleased about this decision, but it has been a very stressful process that has dragged out for four years. The NDIA have been difficult to deal with. I want to thank my legal team very much.”

The woman who brought the case wishes to stay anonymous.

Updated

Frydenberg says jobkeeper payment decided in 'a very Australian way'

Stephen Jones to Josh Frydenberg:

Treasurer, how many Australians are now earning more than their normal wage because they’re receiving the jobkeeper wage subsidy of $1,500 a fortnight?

Frydenberg:

Mr Speaker, I would have to take that question on notice. I don’t actually have that number available. But what I can tell the honourable member is that we decided on a flat $1,500 payment because – and it was a very Australian way to do it – we didn’t want to see a situation where if you earned more, that you would get a greater payment. And that is unlike the United Kingdom scheme, and I was advised by treasury about the limitations of that scheme. And at $130bn, this is a very significant support for the economy at a very difficult time.

Updated

Dan Tehan is allowed to speak, from a prepared dixer answer.

Baby steps.

Jim Chalmers (reading from his phone, which is how you know it is a new one just lobbed up) to Josh Frydenberg:

My question is to the treasurer and it refers to the answer that the prime minister just gave about “snap back”. Given what the prime minister has just said, does the treasurer stand by his comment on March 13, and I quote, “The prime minister was very strong on how there will be a snap back.” They were his words. The economy would “snap back”.

Frydenberg (with a tad bit more energy):

I stand by all my words, Mr Speaker, including that the Australian economy is better served by those on this side of the House, Mr Speaker.

And the reality is that the Reserve Bank, as recently as last Friday in its statement on monetary policy said beyond the next few months the speed and timing of the economic recovery is very uncertain.

This uncertainty makes it extremely difficult to formulate reliable, economic and fiscal estimates over the next few months. Now, Mr Speaker, we are doing everything we can to support the economy with the effective doubling of the old Newstart, now the jobkeeper there. At $130bn the most significant economic lifeline this country has ever seen.

Mr Speaker, I ask myself: why does the member for Rankin keep talking down the Australian economy instead of joining the BCA who said that our announcement was a country-saving moment. ACOSS and other chambers who praised the government announcement, and Deloitte Access Economics, with Chris Richardson, who recently just said about the jobkeeper payment that it was a “game-changer”.

We on this side of the House are doing everything we can to keep Australians in jobs and businesses in business.

Updated

He tried to make a joke. But only proved he is very trying.

Updated

Scott Morrison continues, and we have definitely moved into defensive mode:

And what I would caution in this chamber about Mr Speaker, is getting complacent about the challenge that is still ahead ...

While it is important to look ahead, right now, our government remains very focused, right here, right now, on the needs of Australians and the economic pain that they are going through.

And that’s why the jobkeeper program is in place. That’s why the jobseeker program is in place. That’s why the cashflow assistance is in place.

That’s why we’ve relaxed restrictions for those who had a shock to their income, to be able to access their own savings, their own money, Mr Speaker, at a time when they really need it, to help them get through, Mr Speaker. A point which I know those opposite disagree with. But it’s one that is helping Australians to get through.

Our focus is building that bridge. Our focus has been to work with premiers and chief ministers around the country, to have a coordinated plan to get Australia through what is one of our most difficult times, Mr Speaker.

So the opposition may want to pick that word or that word. They are entitled to do that, and do those things. They can look at my words, their own words, anyone’s words. What I’m looking at, Mr Speaker, is the need to get Australians back into work.

Updated

'Snapback' comes snapping back

Clare O’Neil to Scott Morrison:

Why does the prime minister say the economy will snap back after the coronavirus crisis when the Reserve Bank is forecasting unemployment as high as 9% at Christmas?

Morrison:

I have to correct the member. She may not have read the transcript of the comments made back in April. What I was referring to was the other side of the six-month period, and that of the change that would need to occur regarding the temporary measures we put in place for jobkeeper and for businesses to be able to restart. And that is certainly my hope. But back in April there was a knowledge of economic issues as they were at that time and that has changed since then. There is no doubt about that. And references made to the Reserve Bank governor. The Reserve Bank governor was with the treasurer in Saudi Arabia earlier this year (February).

And even at that time, the full implications of the Covid-19 crisis were not known. Some weeks later, the outlook in relation to the outlook of the recovery was there and it gone from V-shaped to U-shaped and it is still not clear.

So the opposition is at liberty to go back and refer to comments made back in April, and that is fine. But they cannot do so without adding the further contexts of the actions taken to the government, taking into account more recent information.

But I can say this: I am looking forward to the time, Mr Speaker, and under our policies, we’ll be moving there as quickly as we can, where businesses can reopen. Because that is the objective, Mr Speaker. And that employees can come back into their businesses, and children will be back in all of their schools getting their lessons in the classroom. That is good news. I know businesses want to be able to do that, Mr Speaker. That they can go back into the arrangements they were in before as soon as they can. That is the point of the reopening of the economy.

Updated

Josh Frydenberg is still very, very down it seems, over having his big Churchill moment hijacked by a tickle in his throat:

Oh, and we are back to auspol as usual with this line from Scott Morrison:

But I’m asked about regrets, Mr Speaker. I can tell you one thing: the Australian people don’t have regrets about what they did on May 19 last year, Mr Speaker.

Because of the decisions and actions that have been taken by this government, Mr Speaker, it has ensured that we are able to move through what has been a one-in-a-100-year event, and we remain focused on providing the leadership and the direction to ensure that we can continue to do that.

And we’ve extended the economic lifeline and we’ll be in a position, through our careful economic management, to ensure that we grow our economy and ensure that we put as little burden on future generations as is absolutely necessary to ensure that Australia gets through this crisis.

Updated

It's back to 'back in black'

Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:

Does the prime minister regret saying that the budget was already back in black?

Scott Morrison:

Mr Speaker, the leader of the opposition may have an ability that I don’t have, Mr Speaker, and that is a crystal ball to see into the future and see that the coronavirus was going to impact on the Australian economy.

But couldn’t the prime minister just use the crystal ball he used to declare:

I said we brought the budget back to surplus next year.”


Updated

The deputy prime minister is now talking about the value of being able to send text messages:

And I know that the minister for regional communications on April 21 announced the latest round of the mobile black spots program.

And Mr Speaker, there was $34m announced, the bulk of which will be announced in round 5A.

If there’s one person who knows, Mr Speaker, how important it is to receive texts. How important it is to receive texts no matter where you are. Whether it is in regional New South Wales, from someone’s farm, Mr Speaker.

If you want to send a text to somebody, it’s so important that you can both send a text and Mr Speaker, indeed, share it with somebody, Mr Speaker.

And I know the value of that and I’m sure that all members in this House understand the value of being able to send, receive and indeed, share texts.

And he says this while waving around the phone on which he received a baggage of abusive text messages from NSW Nationals leader John Barilaro, which were later leaked to the media.

Updated

Michael McCormack is summoned to the despatch box and suddenly hiding under the doona seems like a very attractive option.

Andrew Wilkie asks about Tasmanians being ripped off at the petrol bowser despite the fall in petrol prices and asks if the ACCC can step in.

Josh Frydenberg:

The ACCC monitors petrol prices on a daily basis and can take court action in the event that there’s uncompetitive conduct.

I can inform the member that between March 1 and May 10 this year, petrol prices across Tasmania fell by 21%. And by 22% in Hobart.

As the honourable member knows, petrol prices in Tasmania are typically around 15c higher than the national average.

The ACCC found that that is due to higher transport costs, higher operational cost and higher retail margins.

On December 16 last year, the government renewed its direction to the ACCC to monitor the prices, the costs and the profits relating to the supply of fuel products in Australia for a further three years. I would encourage all those Australians to shop around and get the best possible deal.

Updated

Labor asks treasurer: when will gross debt start to decline?

Jim Chalmers to Josh Frydenberg:

In what year will Australia’s gross debt start to decline?

Frydenberg:

Mr Speaker, the member for Rankin wants us to announce forecasts tonight as we would normally do on budget night.

And the reality is there’s great uncertainty in the economic environment, and therefore when it comes to forecasts about debt, when it comes to forecasts about unemployment, we make those on budget night.

What we have done today is to provide a ministerial statement to the House with new numbers for the member for Rankin, around business investment, around dwelling investment, around consumption. The member for Rankin was out this morning asking for a statement with numbers and facts and figures. It was all there for him, Mr Speaker. It was all there for him.

... And the reality is – it’s a very difficult economic time and a very uncertain economic time.

Updated

Anthony Albanese to Josh Frydenberg:

My question is to the treasurer: in what year will unemployment return to pre-coronavirus levels?

Frydenberg does not seem to be having a great day. He comes to the despatch box with a cough that sounds like “ugh” and he is showing as much energy as me poking a tuna mornay casserole.

After a preamble on jobkeeper that has Tony Smith politely asking him to get to the answer, he returns with:

It will take some time before unemployment comes back to the pre-coronavirus levels. But what I do know is that we are doing everything we can to keep people in a job and businesses in business.

Updated

The ACT will also be loosening restrictions:

Question time begins

Chris Bowen opens up the questioning:

On April 15 the prime minister said that 40% of the Australian population would need to download the Covidsafe app for it to work.

Can the prime minister update the House for what proportion has downloaded the app and what steps the government has taken to encourage the uptake?

Scott Morrison:

That was made after some discussions we’d had with the Singaporean government about the app that had run in Singapore.

We had taken ... the code that had been used for the Trace Together app, as I’m sure you’re aware.

While we have no real target, what is important is that as many people as possible download the Covidsafe app. And I thank members of this House in sending out a key message to Australians that this is one of the measures that are needed to be in place as we go back into our society, into our society, as restrictions are eased. This is one of the key protections in place. And some 5.6m, just over that, have now downloaded that app.

There’s a target, a total population, I should say, of those who could download the app of around 16m. So I’ll allow the member to do the maths, which is just around about a third of that population that so far has downloaded that app.

And recently, I was part of a regular group which is now gathering of what are called “first movers”, around various countries, who have had some success in our battle against the virus.

And there has been great interest in Australia’s success to date with this app, where we’re only just around two weeks down with this app. In other countries they’ve been in place for months – in Singapore’s case – and has still not reached the level that is we have here in Australia.

So we remain confident that as we continue to work together, and encourage Australians to download the Covidsafe app, we will continue to see those numbers rise, and that will continue to ensure that there are protections in place for Australians as they move around.

Updated

After speeches from Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese, the parliament has a moment of silence for leading senior constable Lynette Taylor, constable Glen Humphris, senior constable Kevin King and constable Josh Prestney.

Labor wants universities to be allowed to access jobkeeper

Labor has decided that it too will attempt a disallowance motion in the Senate to allow universities to access jobkeeper.

The motion would allow universities to count their losses over one month rather than six to qualify for the wage subsidy, and change rules so that payments by the commonwealth will not be included in a university’s calculation of its projected GST turnover and current GST turnover.

Labor’s education spokeswoman, Tanya Plibersek, told Guardian Australia:

For weeks now, Labor has been urging the federal government to act to help universities and save jobs. But Scott Morrison has done nothing, and now jobs are being lost.

Without serious federal government help, universities have predicted 21,000 jobs will be lost in the next six months alone.

That’s tens of thousands of livelihoods destroyed. We’re talking about academics, tutors, admin staff, library staff, catering staff, grounds staff, cleaners, security and many others – all with families, trying to make ends meet.

The impact on regional communities will be devastating. Universities support 14,000 jobs in country Australia. We can save university jobs, but only with serious government action now.

The treasurer could have acted to solve this problem, but he hasn’t. In fact, he has been deliberately moving the goalposts to ensure universities are excluded from government support.

So we will do the right thing and try to fix this in the Senate. Labor thinks it’s a big mistake for the prime minister to abandon university staff during this crisis.

If I was the government, I wouldn’t want to look back, after thousands of jobs losses, including in regional Australia, and know more could have been done.”

Updated

John Howard has released a statement on Alan Jones’s retirement from radio:

Alan Jones’s departure from radio will end a matchless 35-year career, during which he became the most influential radio broadcaster in the nation.

He brought to his great skill as a communicator the essential qualities of directness and simplicity.

I have always admired his candour, and a prodigious capacity to be on top of any issue he canvassed. Pity help anyone who agreed to an interview with Alan without knowing his or her subject. Employing a metaphor he will appreciate, being interviewed by Alan required one to be match fit for the occasion.

Away from the microphone Alan Jones gave generously of his time and energy for countless worthy causes.

A free, open and sceptical media is fundamental to the proper functioning of democracy. I thank Alan for his contribution to that cause in Australia.

Updated

Question time is to begin shortly.

First, the House is acknowledging the deaths of four Victorian police officers who were killed during a traffic stop on the eastern freeway.

You just know that in question time Michael McCormack is going to trot out the Australians are “great” and have “great” things. You just know it.

Updated

Also by the by:

We hear that in his address to the Coalition party room, Michael McCormack spoke about how Australia had numerous great things, such as the Great Australian Bight and the Great Dividing Range.

While many Australians were going through a tough time, the deputy prime minister observed, they were also showing their greatness in dealing with that hardship.

He added that people needed to continue to behave responsibly.
A couple of other points:

  • We are not aware of anyone raising concerns over the CovidSafe app legislation in the Coalition party room.
  • Moving on from the jobkeeper eligibility questions that we mentioned earlier today, a couple of Coalition members spoke about getting the tourism industry going again and needing to get people back into national parks and B&Bs in a safe manner.
  • A couple of Coalition members raised concerns over the behaviour of General Motors in dealing with its dealership network. The PM replied that he and the industry minister had met dealers to discuss the problems.
  • Some perennial issues: other comments from Coalition members touched on the need for action to ease insurance premiums in north Queensland and also to cut red tape on mining approvals.

Updated

ACT remains (active and known) Covid-free

The ACT has recorded no new cases of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours.

It remains (active and known) Covid-free.

Updated

Madeleine King, Simon Birmingham’s opposition counterpart, says Labor is also concerned about the suspended abattoirs:

We support the government’s efforts to resolve this issue.

The government must work with the industry and with stakeholders both here and in China to allow these four meatworks to resume full operations.

Labor remains concerned about reports that China may also be preparing to impose tariffs on Australian barley.

It’s in both of our countries’ interests to have a productive trading relationship.

Updated

Over in the chamber, Christian Porter has entered the legislation needed for the Covid tracing app.

Queenslander David Littleproud looks like he is slowly freezing to death in this press conference, which is strange, because I would have thought the light from his garish green and gold Nationals tie would have been enough to keep him warm.

Simon Birmingham says he and David Littleproud are working on the issues with the processing plants:

The reason given for this suspension relates to instances dating back over more than a year of minor technical errors in relation to labelling or other technical requirements during this time.

It’s disappointing that no notification was given prior to that suspension taking effect today.

Nonetheless, government will work with those processes as comprehensively as we can to ensure that not only have they rectified any issues that may have occurred in the past, but they can comply with all requirements, and ideally get their permits reinstated as quickly as possible.

We have seen this type of incident occur before.

Several years ago, six processors faced very similar action that was put in place, and work by industry together with government at that time managed to ensure the permits were reinstated, and clearly we have initiated work across David’s department, my department and with industry to put in place the effort necessary to provide the strongest possible case for the reinstatement of these permits.

Updated

Frydenberg says the government has been clear about jobkeeper guidelines

A bit more on what the Coalition spoke about in the joint party room meeting today (via Daniel Hurst).

After some issues were raised about the jobkeeper program, Josh Frydenberg told them the government had been clear with principles like not paying for local government employees.

It’s understood the eligibility concerns were about the exclusion of entities owned by foreign governments.

They were concerned for welfare of those employees who miss out.

The treasurer responded the government had been clear on its principles from outset: the program was not intended to extend to government or government-owned entities, including foreign government entities.

During the meeting, there was a single comment regarding China. A member raised the issue of the call for an international investigation into the Covid-19 origins and handling and thanked the PM and other ministers for the comments they had made on that front

Updated

Simon Birmingham is holding a quick press conference on the situation with China delisting Australian abattoirs. Daniel Hurst is there.

Updated

Josh Frydenberg and the never-ending coughing fit, as seen by Mike Bowers.

‘And always twirling, twirling cough, splutter.’
‘And always twirling, twirling cough, splutter.’ Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian
Splutter, splutter, cough ...
Splutter, splutter, cough ... Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian
Glug, glug, glug, glug ...
Glug, glug, glug, glug ... Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian
Clears throat, gasp, cough ...
Clears throat, gasp, cough ... Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian
... towards freedom cough, splutter, cough, cough.
... towards freedom cough, splutter, cough, cough. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian
Glug, glug, glug, cough ...
Glug, glug, glug, cough ... Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian
Team Australia.
Team Australia. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

Updated

The Coalition joint party room met for a little under two hours, Daniel Hurst tells me. He also reports:

After the speeches, discussions touched on the eligibility for jobkeeper. Some Coalition members had examples of how jobkeeper had been successful but some highlighted businesses that weren’t eligible.

Another raised compliance issues.

The treasurer responded that the government had been clear with principles like not paying for local government employees

Updated

Michael McCormack is back in the House, with a very Michael McCormack way of using hand sanitiser – sanitising one hand because the other is on the phone.

Deputy PM Michael McCormack arrives as parliament resumes sitting.
Deputy PM Michael McCormack arrives as parliament resumes sitting. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian
The ole one-handed sanitiser method.
The ole one-handed sanitiser method. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

Updated

Jim Chalmers speaks for Labor

Jim Chalmers is giving Labor’s response.

He notes the Coalition already had the mugs, and ads printed (you may remember the very arty “back in black” ads that were rolled out during the election campaign, along with the Liberal party “Back in Black” coffee mugs, which were mysteriously “sold out” just as the government realised that no, the economy would not be back in black and was about to be plunged very seriously into the red.

He then says Josh Frydenberg squibbed the opportunity to lay out the government’s economic recovery plan, referencing the instantly infamous coughing fit:

If only the treasurer had coughed up some detail and a plan.”

Updated

Josh Frydenberg moves on to the cost of closing down the economy again, if there is a second wave of Covid infections.

If our largest state, New South Wales, had to reimpose restrictions, equivalent to those in place before the 8 May national cabinet meeting, it will cost its economy around $1.4bn a week.

For Victoria, the cost would be around $1bn. In Queensland, $800m, in Western Australia, $500m, in South Australia $200m, in Tasmania $100m, in the ACT, $100m, and in the Northern Territory, $40m a week.

This is the economic cost we all have to bear if we fail to act. Mr Speaker, before concluding, I would like to thank the prime minister, the deputy prime minister, the health minister, and my good friend and colleague in the other house, the minister for finance, for their leadership throughout this period, and the many agencies of government that have worked so tirelessly behind the scenes.

Australians know that as a consequence of the actions we have taken, we are better placed than most, but there is still a long way to go.

There will be more coronavirus cases. And it is vital we remain vigilant. The economic benefits from lifting the restrictions will only be realised if we – if Australians continue to follow the health advice and downloaded the CovidSafe app.

Updated

Josh Frydenberg on the economic cost of continuing the great lockdown:

Treasury estimates [that] as a result of easing the restrictions in line with stages one, two and three, GDP will increase by $9.4bn each month.

It will see Australians move around more freely.

The $9.94bn, increasing demand, including in retail, will contribute $2.9bn.

The opening of cafes, pubs, clubs, venues, health and fitness gyms will contribute $2.2bn.

The opening of schools will contribute nearly $2.2bn and other industry sectors like local government, museums and parks, a further $1.2bn. The relaxation of travel restrictions is expected to contribute around $700m.

The speed at which restrictions are lifted may differ in each state.

So too the impact on jobs and GDP from the implementation of each stage.

Treasury estimates the benefits of just stage one being lifted will lead to more than 250,000 people going back to work, and more than $3bn in additional GDP.

This includes 83,000 jobs and $1bn ... in New South Wales; 64,000 jobs and over $715m in Victoria; 51,000 jobs and $610m in Queensland; 25,000 jobs and $435m in Western Australia; 17,000 jobs and $178m in South Australia; 5,000 jobs and $50m in Tasmania; 4,000 jobs and $60m in the ACT; 3,000 jobs and $40m in the Northern Territory.

However, these improvements in the economy depend on us continuing to follow the health advice. Failing to do so could see restrictions reimposed at a loss of more than $4bn a week to the economy.

Updated

This part of the speech is a recap of the jobkeeper wage subsidy, as well as the loans and other economic responses the government has rolled out during the pandemic.

Josh Frydenberg has now drunk the parliamentary chamber out of water as he attempts to get his speech back on track.

Updated

Josh Frydenberg breaks his speech for a three-minute coughing fit that has Theresa May suddenly clenching in sympathy – without knowing why.

The cough is ongoing. There have been tears. There is no voice.

“Too long a speech,” he chokes out.

He then takes his hands which he has been coughing into back on to the despatch box.

That sound you hear is the parliamentary cleaners whirring up the disinfectant blaster.

Updated

Treasurer harks back to what could have been ...

Josh Frydenberg throws back to the “back in balance” (that sound you hear is the last of the “Back in black” Liberal party budget mugs being smashed for a mosaic of what could have been.

The unemployment rate fell in February to 5.1%, with the participation rate at near record highs against the backdrop of 1.5m new jobs being created over the last six years.

After inheriting a budget deficit of $48.5bn, the budget was back in balance for the first time in 11 years.

And despite the adverse economic impacts from the global trade tensions, fire, floods and drought, we were on track for the first surplus in 12 years.

Updated

And then we get to the money tree line:

The unprecedented scale and speed of the government’s economic response has driven a rapid increase in borrowings.

While there will be a significant increase in government debt which will take many years to repay, our measures have been designed in a way that protect the structural integrity of the budget.

Australians know there is no money tree. What we borrow today we must repay in the future.

Temporary and targeted, the new spending measures were not designed to go forever, but to build a bridge to the recovery phase.

As Standard & Poor’s stated less than four weeks ago, while the government’s fiscal measures will – and I quote – “weigh heavily on public finances in the immediate future, they won’t structurally weaken Australia’s fiscal position”.

With $320bn or 16.4% of GDP in financial support, our focus is on getting the country through the crisis and position the economy to recover on the other side.

This has only been possible because of the strength of our economic position when we entered the crisis. Growth had risen from 1.8 to 2.2% in the December quarter. And the IMF was forecasting the Australian economy to grow faster than the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, France and Germany in both 2020 and 2021.

Updated

Josh Frydenberg:

The monthly financial statements for March provide the most recent report on the budget position.

To the end of March, the underlying cash deficit was $22.4bn, $9.9bn higher than forecast in MYEFO.

Tax receipts were $11.3bn lower than forecast in MYEFO.

While payments to the end of March were still $1.4bn lower than in the MYEFO profile, this will change from the next statement onwards as the measures we have implemented continue to ramp up.

Since MYEFO, the total face value of Australian government securities on issue has increased by more than $50bn, from $560bn to $618bn as of 8 May 2020. An updated economic and fiscal outlook will be provided in June following the release of the March quarter national accounts with the budget to be delivered in October.

Updated

The treasurer continues:

Over the same period, household savings are expected to increase as a result of the restrictions that have been imposed and an understandably cautious approach to discretionary household spending.

Overall, the economic data has been sobering.

In March, business and consumer confidence saw the largest declines on record. The ASX 200 lost more than a third of its value in just over four weeks.

In April surveys showed that job ads halved and activity in the construction, manufacturing and the services sector had their largest ever monthly falls.

New motor vehicle sales fell by 48% through the year, their largest ever fall. House sales fell by 40%.

Domestic and international air travel is down by more than 97%, with nearly 40,000 passengers moving through Brisbane airport on Easter Sunday last year, compared to just 31 passengers this year.

Against this backdrop, between 14 March and 18 April, the number of jobs decreased by 7.5%. And the wages bill paid by businesses decreased by 8.2%.

During this period, accommodation and food services saw the largest fall in jobs at 33.4%, followed by the arts and recreation sector at 27%. The scale of the economic shock is hitting the budget bottom line.

Updated

'Overall, the economic data has been sobering'

Josh Frydenberg has laid out the state of the June quarter:

The IMF is forecasting the world economy to contract by 3% this year. In contrast, during the GFC the global economy shrank by just 0.1% in 2009.

China’s GDP fell in the March quarter by 9.8% - their first quarterly fall on record. Italy,France and Spain all experienced their largest quarterly falls on record. In the United States, 33 million jobless claims have been made in the last seven weeks with an unemployment rate rising to 14.7%.

In Australia, Treasury is forecasting GDP to fall by over 10% in the June quarter, which would represent our biggest fall on record.

At $50 billion, this is a loss equivalent to the total quarterly production of South Australia, Tasmania, the Northern Territory and the ACT.

Treasury is forecasting the unemployment rate to reach around 10% or 1.4 million unemployed in the June quarter.

The 5 percentage point increase in the unemployment rate is expected to occur over three months, compared to the three years it took to unemployment rate to rise by the same amount in that devastating period of the early 1990s.

Household consumption and business and dwelling investment are all forecast by Treasury to fall sharply in the June quarter.

The combination of social distancing, lower incomes, and increased uncertainty are weighing heavily on aggregate demand and flowing through to reduced cashflow. Household consumption is expected to be around 16% lower.

Business investment is expected to be around 18% lower, with falls concentrated in the non-mining sector. Dwelling investment is also expected to be around 18% lower.

Oh look, we might actually find out what is happening with our democracy.

Updated

Josh Frydenberg delivers economic update

It’s supposed to be budget day, but it’s not, so instead we are listening to Josh Frydenberg deliver an economic update in the chamber.

We are all just waiting for the “team Australia” reference.

Updated

Labor is making a very big point of the NRL coming back before parliament did, with Tony Burke pointing out that it is working out how to abide by the 1.5m rule in tackles so how can the parliament not work out how to come back.

I mean, anyone who has seen Ashley Taylor’s defensive plays would know that attempting tackles from 1.5m away is not the issue some think it is (I said attempt, not carry through, obviously).

Updated

Questions are being put in the negative, so no one has to move sides for the divisions.

The motion to suspend standing orders is under way.

Labor supports it, but Tony Burke is using the opportunity to talk about the need to reinstate parliament sittings as usual.

Updated

Still no date for the Eden-Monaro byelection.

Parliament takes a seat

The bells have rung and the parliament is once again sitting (just in a very socially distant way).

Prayers are being said, and then it will be into the Josh Frydenberg statement.

Updated

For those who have asked, Scott Morrison’s children are back at school, for on-site learning.

Both of my daughters are back in school today, in the classroom, in New South Wales.

Bryce Cartwright and Brian Kelly, the Gold Coast Titans pair who have refused to have a flu jab, are unlikely to play again this season with the Queensland government standing firm on its “no jab, no play” policy.

The state’s chief health officer, Dr Jeannette Young, said on Tuesday flu shot exemptions would be granted for NRL players but only on medical grounds. That would appear to rule out Cartwright and Kelly, who have been stood down since they refused the vaccination for philosophical reasons.

“I sent a letter to the NRL yesterday in which I did exempt them for medical contrary indications, no different to the exemptions I provide for children who are attending childcare or for people going to aged care so they have those same exemptions,” she said. “If they have got medical reasons for not being vaccinated [they will receive an exemption]. If they have had an anaphylactic reaction to previous flu vaccine or any component of a flu vaccine, you do not need to be vaccinated so I have provided that exemption.”

Young said an exemption on any other grounds is “not covered”.

Updated

Labor is taking advice on whether the $130bn jobkeeper wage subsidy can be improved by disallowing bits of the rules they disagree with in the Senate. Guardian Australia understands one of these elements is changes excluding universities.

Today the Greens will give notice of a disallowance motion in the Senate that would allow universities to count their losses over one month, rather than six, in line with other employers and that payments by the Commonwealth will not be included in a university’s calculation of its projected GST turnover and current GST turnover.

Universities were incensed by the changes to the wage subsidy program which have left them technically eligible to access the $1,500 per work fortnightly payment but in practice removed all of them from contention.

The Greens are confident the Senate can disallow rules that disadvantage universities without also scrubbing out provisions that benefit other charities – but Labor is not sure and taking advice.

The Greens education spokeswoman, Mehreen Faruqi, told Guardian Australia:

“Through multiple changes to the rules, universities have been targeted by this government and deliberately excluded from the jobkeeper wage subsidy scheme.

“30,000 jobs are on the line, with impacted staff in every corner of the country.

“The unfair treatment must end this week. Parliament has the opportunity to reject this malicious exclusion of universities.

“The government keeps shifting the goalposts and the madness has to stop. The failure to support universities through this crisis jeopardises not just our recovery but also our long-term future.”

Updated

Meat industry says Australian abattoir' delisting by China 'technical matter'

The Australian meat industry has responded to the delistings, and also says it is a “technical matter”.

Updated

Yes. Yes it is.

Simon Birmingham has confirmed the Weekly Times story we posted a little earlier about the Chinese government delisting Australian abattoirs.

The trade minister says it is four abattoirs due to “technical issues”.

Updated

The international borders are still closed.

Updated

You’ll find more information on why the security at regional airports became an issue, here:

Updated

Regional airports angst

With parliament back in something approximating normal fashion, angst has also resumed. Regional Coalition MPs raised concerns pre-Covid about regulations imposed by the home affairs minister, Peter Dutton, that will make regional airports do more security screening.

The government is covering the costs of the new screening equipment for small airports but I gather not the operating costs, or the staff to do the security checks and perform the screening services.

This will mean the small airports will have to seek cost recovery through increases in landing charges.

Government MPs, including Rowan Ramsey and Barnaby Joyce, have spoken against the proposal.

There have also been objections from Labor senators. We are getting to the sharp end of this now because Rex Patrick will seek to disallow the regulations tomorrow.

I’m told that Labor (despite the internal objections) has resolved to oppose the Patrick disallowance this morning.

But its home affairs spokeswoman, Kristina Keneally, says Labor “remains concerned about the Morrison government’s implementation of airport security upgrades to date, which have caused confusion and led to the potential loss of airports, airline services and jobs in regional Australia”.

Updated

Labor’s caucus meeting has broken – we’ll bring you an update on that a little later.

The privacy app legislation will be entered into parliament just after Josh Frydenberg’s statement to the house.

PM thanks 'magnificent' Chinese Australians

The transcript from the PM’s speech to the party room has just lobbed (bad coverage in parliament meant the broadcast cut away early) and it includes this message for Australia’s Chinese community:

There are many Australians ... we need to thank, but one group in particular I want to thank ... [is] the Chinese-Australian community ...

That first wave that would have come, the responsibility, discipline, the support for each other, demonstrated by the Chinese-Australian community when the border restrictions were put in place – one of the first places in the world to do that – and the cooperation, the willing, enthusiastic, patriotic cooperation we had with the Chinese-Australians here was magnificent.

And we owe them a great debt as a nation.

And I want to thank them for that. Because they set the mark for the rest of us to follow, which we all now have.

And that means that Australia is in a better position than almost any other country in the world to deal with this crisis.

So a big shout out to all of our community, those amazing Australians that join us here each year in Australia who dealt the first blow of this virus as it came in Australia.

Updated

Tasmania is also reporting no new cases of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours.

Updated

Parliament will sit at midday.

You can expect Josh Frydenberg’s budget update to come shortly after.

Chief scientist's forum publishes report on Covid-19 vaccines

The rapid research information forum, chaired by the chief scientist, Dr Alan Finkel, to provide independent and evidence-based answers to the federal government’s questions about Covid-19, has published its latest report which examines vaccines.

The report answers the questions: what are the most promising Covid-19 vaccines in development globally/nationally; how do they work; what stage of development are they at; what are their strengths and weaknesses?

There are 10 vaccine candidates in clinical trials globally, the report says. Many are being developed using new technologies. It is likely several will generate initial human safety and efficacy results this year, and the results could inform the use of a limited number of doses under emergency or compassionate grounds for at-risk populations such as frontline health workers, the elderly and those with significant co-morbidities.

“It is too early to select the ‘most promising’ vaccine candidate as we do not yet know their safety or efficacy, or our capability to manufacture them at large scale,” the report says.

“Furthermore, it is not a given that vaccines licensed first will be the most effective. An Australian-produced vaccine candidate is expected to enter human clinical trials in July 2020.

“It will be important for Australian researchers and industry to maintain strong collaborations with global vaccine consortia.”

Updated

Western Australia’s premier, Mark McGowan, says WA schools had 82% attendance yesterday.

A 47-year-old man who was working at one of the quarantine hotels has tested positive for Covid-19 – he is the only positive test in WA in the past 24 hours, and comes after quite a few days of no cases.

Updated

Pauline Hanson on enterprise bargaining agreements

Pauline Hanson has announced One Nation’s position on a Labor and Greens plan to restore the one-week consultation period for employers seeking to vary workplace deals setting pay and conditions.

The attorney general, Christian Porter, has cut the consultation period to just 24 hours, and Labor and others are concerned changes made in the Covid-19 contraction will be baked in for up to three years.

As a compromise, Hanson has suggested limiting the time for which emergency cuts can apply to 12 months.

She said:

One Nation recognises the need for flexibility, both from employers and employees during this Chinese Covid-19 pandemic.

Senator Roberts and I support the federal and state governments’ attempt to reboot Australia’s economy through a three-stage process that comes with a calculated risk of a second wave of infections.

One Nation has listened to the concerns outlined by workers unions across Australia and we have equally paid attention to employers who are in damage control nationwide.

Therefore senator Roberts and I will be seeking further regulatory changes by the attorney general that will limit any variation to enterprise bargain agreements to 12 months.

These are unprecedented times that need to be given a measured response. The careful consideration senator Roberts and I have presented to the government will create a happy medium for employees and employers.

Should the attorney general not see fit to protect workers and employers alike, we will reconsider our position on the disallowance motion.

Updated

There is no news as yet on whether parliament will sit, as originally scheduled, at the end of this month.

The original schedule has a House of Reps sitting, and estimates from 25 May.

Parliament was adjourned until August. This is a “trial” sitting (also not a thing – parliament sits or it doesn’t and technically it is not the government which decides that, it is the parliament), so one would imagine that at some point someone will let the country know what is going on with its democracy.

Updated

Of all the takes, this ain’t it.

Updated

But this is at the crux of Labor’s economic argument today.

Jim Chalmers:

What is his plan for the economy and for jobs when the economy doesn’t just miraculously snap back to normal on the prime minister’s six-month timeframe?

What is his plan to fix up his bungled jobkeeper program which is leaving too many Australians out and leaving too many Australians behind?

And if Deloitte Access Economics, the Reserve Bank and International Monetary Fund can all prepare detailed forecasts about the economy, why can’t the treasurer of Australia do the same thing today?

We call on the treasurer to come up today with a plan for the economy for when it doesn’t snap back, and to release detailed forecasts and figures about his expectations for the economy over the coming months and years in the same way the Reserve Bank, the IMF, and Deloitte Access Economics have been able to do.

Updated

Jim Chalmers stirs the Frydenberg pot

Jim Chalmers stopped by doors this morning – which is what MPs do when they have the lines they need to get out for the day:

Today’s a big chance for Josh Frydenberg. It’s budget day without a budget. They’ve already printed the mugs. They’ve already cut the ads with all the slaps on the back. But what they haven’t done is come up with a convincing plan for the future of the economy if and when it doesn’t snap back like the prime minister promised.

Updated

An important point on the exemptions the Queensland chief medical officer has issued for the NRL players who can’t get the flu vaccination: it doesn’t cover the ones who won’t get it.

Updated

Step three of the plan is the road back to a “Covid-safe economy” which is not actually a thing until we get a vaccination but I suppose someone got paid a lot of money to come up with that term, or at the very least received a gold star, so get used to hearing it.

Updated

Stuart Robert then gets a shout-out, for ... reasons, I suppose, because while the department and its staff have done a great job, I don’t think there would be a lot of people who would claim the minister has done the same.

But hey, he did pray for righteousness during the leadership spill, so I suppose there’s that.

Updated

Scott Morrison:

Step two of that plan has to extend an economic lifeline to Australians throughout the course of this crisis. Jobkeeper, jobseeker, the cash flow lifeline to small businesses, the additional payments that have gone to pensioners and to others on welfare benefits and will happen again in July.

Making sure that we understand that during this emergency time we have emergency responses. That is entirely appropriate and our government did not shrink from that.

Our government responded to that in an effective and well-planned and well-considered way consistent with the principles that we set out in early March, that we don’t commit Australians across the generations to high levels of spending into the future, but we do it for the time that is necessary to give the support that is necessary to help Australians through this crisis, and that’s what we have done.

And to you, Josh, and to your entire economic team with Mathias Cormann and others, it has been a very effective program brought together in record time.

Updated

Scott Morrison:

In the last four months, we have been fighting this virus, and we’ve been doing it with some success, particularly when you look at it internationally.

And over the course of this period, we have been following a very clear plan as to our response to the Covid crisis that has enveloped the world.

And step one of that plan has always been to fight the virus and we are winning. But we have not yet won.

That virus is still out there. That virus still has the great potential to do enormous harm to the livelihoods of Australians and the lives of Australians and we need to continue to fight that battle, and I want to commend Greg Hunt on the tremendous job that he has done in leading that part of the health fight.

Hunt gets applause.

Updated

We're back at work, Scott Morrison tells Coalition as parliament resumes

Scott Morrison is addressing the Coalition in parliament’s Great Hall.

He opens with some brilliant double speak:

We’re back at work.

We’ve never not been at work over these many months. We’ve been hard at work but here we are back today in Canberra for the sittings today.

Getting people back into their workplaces, back into jobs, getting our economy moving again. That’s our task now.

Updated

All the MPs are here for this sitting, but there will be a rotating roster for who gets to sit in the House to ensure social distance requirements are met. So keep an eye on Twitter because you are bound to be getting a lot of “watching it from the office” tweets with various books and items moved in front of the TV in an approximation of a personality.

Updated

The budget tree is ready, but today’s second Tuesday in May will pass without a budget (it has been delayed until October).

Instead you’ll hear a lot about how there is no “money tree” in Australia, as Josh Frydenberg hands down the budget update at about midday.

Spoiler – it is not great.

The Queensland chief health officer, Dr Jeannette Young, says she has sent an email to the NRL regarding some of the players who refuse to get the flu vaccination:

I sent a letter to the NRL yesterday in which I did exempt them for medical contraindications, no different to the exemptions that I provide for children who are attending childcare or for people going into aged care.

So those have those same exemptions if they’ve got medical reasons for not being vaccinated. So they’re very clear. If you’ve had an an anaphylactic reaction to a previous flu vaccine or to any component of a flu vaccine, then you do not need to be vaccinated. So I’ve provided that exemption.

Updated

Queensland records no new Covid-19 cases for second day in a row

Victoria has recorded 17 new Covid-19 cases, including eight from the Cedar Meats facility.

Queensland has added six cases to its total – all people who were diagnosed interstate and have recovered but are Queensland residents, so it is added to the Queensland total.

But there have been no new cases of Covid-19 diagnosed in Queensland for the second day in a row.

Updated

Dan Tehan has welcomed the news Victorian schools will be returning – via a written statement which I think is the only way he is allowed to comment on Dan Andrews issues now after his “personal frustrations” spilled forth in his guise as a minister of the crown.

Tehan:

Today’s announcement is a win for Victorian students.

The evidence is clear that nearly half of Australian children and young people are at risk of adverse effects on their educational outcomes by being physically disconnected from school.

If online delivery were to continue, low SES, students with complex learning needs including students with disability, and Indigenous students would lose weeks of learning in numeracy and reading.

Updated

It is party room meeting time in Canberra which in the age of social distancing means the Coalition has to go into the Great Hall so everyone can stand 1.5 metres away from each other. In the Nationals’ case, it is known as the “ego buffer” and accounts for about a third of the space Barnaby Joyce needs.

Updated

Meanwhile ...

Updated

“You’ve always spoken your mind, to everybody, including me one or two times, but you have always done the right thing by your country,” Scott Morrison, who represents the electorate of Cook, which takes in Cronulla, says to Alan Jones.

That sound you hear is my never-ending eternal scream.

Updated

Anyways, we are going to have a day of people with brains talking about what a great man Alan Jones is, presumably with a straight face, while ignoring the massive damage he has inflicted on minorities, anyone he disagrees with, and Australian politics at large, so awesome.

But at least 2020 has some redeeming qualities.

Gladys Berejiklian has also managed to pay respect to the man who once told her her head was “in a noose” over a mining licence:

I think anyone who commands such a strong following deserves our congratulations and our respect.

I mean, you could say the same thing about Charles Manson.

Updated

Design of some of jobkeeper scheme 'has been wrong', Albanese says

The Labor leader is then asked about the economy: Josh Frydenberg has been trotting out the line that Australians know there is “no money tree” in preparing for just how bad the budget bottom line has become (there is a money tree – it’s called quantitative easing and we have been doing it since the pandemic began) as well as laying the groundwork to change the jobkeeper wage subsidy scheme.

Anthony Albanese says there have been issues with the wage subsidy from the (delayed) beginning:

Well, what I say is that some of the design of the treasurer’s scheme has just been wrong.

If you’re a mum with three kids who has been in a job for 11 months, you don’t get any support, but many students out there working their way through uni, working half a dozen hours a week, earning $100 have suddenly found themselves earning $750.

There is a whole lot of people who have missed out. The entire arts and entertainment sector has been forgotten. The 1 million casual employees, visa holders – they have been left behind. What happens when you leave people behind is that it delays the recovery.

That’s the whole basis of the jobkeeper program, keeping that relationship between employers and employees, and it is a pity that the government has left so many people out of the scheme at the same time as others have benefited more than they should.

Updated

Anthony Albanese is asked about the Alan Jones news in his interview with ABC Breakfast:

Look, Alan Jones – it’s fair to say that we’ve had the odd different opinion, but I certainly respect his contribution to the media over such a long period of time.

For him to win the ratings as he has, for not years but a couple of decades is an outstanding achievement.

One of the things about Alan that I’ve had a bit to do with him is our South Sydney connection.

I know that he raises a lot of money for charity and a lot of the things that he has done, no one knows about it, he just quietly goes about making a [contribution] to many charities and I’m sure he will continue to do that. I wish him well.

Not mentioned – his comments about Julia Gillard, Jacinda Ardern or any other woman who dared to exist in a way which didn’t meet with Jones’s exacting standards, the Cronulla riots, or any of the many, many scars the man has left in his wake.

Alan Jones in 2018
Radio host Alan Jones in 2018. Photograph: Dan Peled/AAP

Updated

It is also International Nurses Day.

Expect to hear A LOT about that today (and rightly so – our health system would be broken without them).

Updated

NSW records no new cases of Covid-19 for the first time since the pandemic began

Gladys Berejiklian says there have been NO cases of Covid-19 diagnosed in the last 24 hours in her state.

That is the first time since the pandemic was declared that no new cases have been reported in Australia’s largest state.

NSW did 6,000 tests in that 24 hours, so it is a great result.

Updated

So in the last 10 minutes, Victoria has announced a return to onsite learning and Alan Jones has announced his retirement from radio.

What a time to be alive.

Updated

Alan Jones announces his retirement

The Sydney 2GB broadcaster says he has to “listen to the experts” and wind back his work commitments. He is retiring from radio.

Updated

There will be staggered drop-off and pick up as Victorian schools return.

Updated

Here are some more details on the return to school from Daniel Andrews:

We don’t have parents mingling.

There will be staggered drop-offs, there will be staggered breaks for play for lunch. There will be a massive boost to the cleaning of our schools ...

Adults, teachers and staff, will socially distance. That will be challenging.

Daniel Andrews
Daniel Andrews has announced a staggered return to school for Victorian children. Photograph: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

Updated

Victoria’s education minister, James Merlino, asks parents to be patient while schools go through the transition back to onsite learning.

He also says millions of dollars will be spent on keeping schools clean.

In terms of hygiene, hand sanitisers, cleaning – significant additional support for our schools.

So schools will have the PPE equipment that they need. There has already been additional supplies of PPE equipment. Schools will have all the hand sanitiser that they need.

There are very strong guidelines and advice from the CHO in terms of hygiene and cleaning practices within our schools. There will also be $45m for additional cleaning for the remainder of term 2 and all of term 3. So that means government schools, in addition to the normal cleaning that happens, there will be cleaning every day – disinfect cleaning, high-touch points, every single day throughout the course of the day at schools for the rest of this term and all of term 3.

Updated

Victoria lays out timeline for students to return to school from 26 May

Andrews has laid out a roadmap for Victorian student’s return to the classroom.

On 25 May, there will be a pupil-free day, and on 26 May classes will resume for prep, grade 1, grade 2, year 11 and year 12 students ...

From 9 June, years 3 to 10 will join the rest of their schoolmates, and will have a full complement of students across government schools, back by 9 June.

Andrews said students in years 3 to 10 will still be allowed to attend classrooms early if they are unable to learn from home.

He also noted that year 10 students doing VCE subjects would be allowed in the classroom for those classes from 26 May.

Updated

Seventeen more Covid-19 cases in Victoria

Victoria’s premier is speaking now.

Daniel Andrews says there have been 17 new Covid-19 cases overnight.

This brings the state total to 1,509 after two cases were reclassified and removed from the list.

Updated

Dan Andrews press conference

The Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, is outlining plans for the return to school.

On 25 May, there will be a pupil-free day, and on 26 May classes will resume for prep, grade 1, grade 2, year 11 and year 12 students. This is a staged approach, a staggered approach, both in terms of public health – to limit the number of people that are moving throughout the Victorian community – and also for a whole range of practical reasons, to give schools the appropriate time to move back to face-to-face teaching. From 9 June, years 3 to 10 will join the rest of their schoolmates, and will have a full complement of students across government schools, back by 9 June.

Updated

It’s also parliament today, where Josh Frydenberg will lay out another economic statement as the federal government pushes to open up the economy.

Updated

Q+A recap

We’re going to kick off this morning with a recap of last night’s Q+A on ABC, which featured the three state premiers widely believed to have strong-armed the national cabinet into the country’s lockdown. Yes, they are Victoria’s Daniel Andrews, Queensland’s Annastacia Palaszczuk and New South Wales’ Gladys Berejiklian. So what did we learn?

Not much.

My colleague Calla Wahlquist, who liveblogged the show, wrapped it up like this:

Daniel Andrews would not say when students were likely to return to schools in Victoria except that it would be by the end of term two, which he has said previously.

Andrews and Gladys Berejiklian said they will consider economic reforms like cutting payroll tax and stamp duty to support businesses through the recession caused by the coronavirus, but did not make any solid commitments. They said there was an opportunity for structural economic reform and what form that reform might take was under active consideration.

Berejiklian said “13 out of 14 [cruise ship] disembarkments were successful in New South Wales”, it’s just that the 14th was the Ruby Princess. She said that a “mistake-free pandemic is impossible, it would be miraculous”.

Annastacia Palaszczuk would not give an indication of when Queensland might lift its hard state border, but said Queenslanders may be able to travel within Queensland in June or July.

She would not say when regional areas in her state might enjoy more freedom, because there are still people in those areas in quarantine.

All three premiers said Australia’s situation could have been much worse and while we were now facing difficult economic times, they were grateful to be grappling with how to reopen the economy rather than coping with tens of thousands of deaths in each state.

We did not, however, learn to what extend these larger states were able to strong-arm national cabinet and the federal government into following their lead on introducing the shutdown in the first place, and closing schools. That inside story, when told, will be well worth reading.

Updated

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