And I am done.
I will probably be back tomorrow, but who knows. The great toilet paper crisis of 2020 may take me before then, and I’ll suddenly wake up in a frenzy that I only have 12 rolls left to last me for the next two days and I’ll be forced to take up residence at my local supermarket.
A very big thank you to everyone who attempted to keep my sane today. You went above and beyond.
There are five sitting days left before the budget.
Unless we are all smothered by bog rolls by then. Or the astroid rightly takes us out.
Until then, take care of you.
The Greens are moving on this.
Millions of workers have no sick leave, but what do they do if impacted by coronavirus?
— Adam Bandt (@AdamBandt) March 4, 2020
Listen to doctor/gov, stay home & lose income? Or be financially forced to come to work, maybe infectious?
Until sick leave’s for all, gov must pay those affected Disaster Relief Allowance.
Updated
Tony Burke has watched estimates and seen the Gerard Boyce questions. He had some thoughts:
The government appointed Gerard Boyce to the Fair Work Commission a little over a year ago.
Last year he had to be counselled for making partisan political and anti-union social media posts – damaging the commission’s reputation as a fair and impartial umpire.
In Senate estimates today we learned this same guy decorated his section of the workplace with “a large number” of sexualised anime figurines that were the basis of an avalanche of complaints from his colleagues.
What did he do in response to these complaints? He set up surveillance cameras in his office.
This is truly bizarre behaviour and the government must explain how they think Mr Boyce is a fit and proper person to hold this important position.
I welcome Senator Marise Payne’s acknowledgement in estimates that this behaviour is inappropriate and her undertaking to raise it with Minister Christian Porter.
But the conduct revealed today will undermine trust in the professionalism of the commission. The government must act to restore that trust.
...Mr Porter is due to make further appointments to the commission in the coming weeks. Surely he can do better than Gerard Boyce?
Updated
Nek minute
So it looks like the $340,000 Government grant given to News Corp for the Prime Minister's Spelling Bee website was used to build a WordPress site with an alt-right logo hidden in the source code.😕 Have asked Tehan's office to explain. https://t.co/qOI2UCgiDR
— Jack Snape (@jacksongs) March 4, 2020
That last post....
*That last post...hand over face emoji*
'Scantily clad figures' and spy camera questions for deputy FWC president
In Senate estimates, Labor has asked the Fair Work Commission about deputy president Gerard Boyce, already a target for his partisan social media posts and now in trouble over inappropriate figurines in his office.
FWC general manager Bernadette O’Neill said that “there were some personal items the deputy president had in chambers that a number of people ... expressed some concern about and considered inappropriate”.
My view is the figurines were inappropriate,” she said.
O’Neill described the figurines as not nude but “scantily clad”, and when asked if they were anime cartoon girls she suggested this was “not an inaccurate description”.
Boyce had a “large number” of them, then some were removed due to comments and feedback from colleagues - both senior and junior - and then later the remainder were removed.
Labor senators then asked if Boyce installed surveillance cameras in his office as a result of the complaints.
O’Neill replied that a couple of months ago this had been raised with Boyce but he claimed the camera was “fake or certainly not working” and committed to remove it.
Labor’s Tony Sheldon then asserted that Boyce had a life-size cardboard cutout of Donald Trump in his office and asked whether this would constitute a breach of the code of conduct.
O’Neill said:
I would need to consider that. It would certainly be unhelpful at the very least and may for some viewers be considered partisan or political in some way ... It would be at the very least unwise.”
Updated
Look, it may be the eastern European in me, or it may be that I have a particular mind for Michael McCormack stuff-ups, but honestly. The deputy prime minister made a big song and dance about *writing* to the states and territories today, asking them to speed up infrastructure projects. For the good of the nation.
This is *literally* what the prime minister Scott Morrison had to say about this yesterday in a press conference, when asked about that very thing:
Now, we brought forward $3.8bn worth of infrastructure projects last year. And I sat down together with the infrastructure minister and the urban infrastructure minister with states and territories to identify those elements of the supply pipeline and our infrastructure program to get as much of that into this next, you know, this six months and the next financial year.
Now, I’m pleased we did that, because that means those projects are now being accelerated and that will play a part in what can be made to occur. And if there are any elements of that that we can move more quickly, fine.
But it’s not a simple thing to do. You can’t just turn on an infrastructure project, not even necessarily one that’s even under way in terms of ramping up its level of activity.
I mean, they will have issues about supply lines as well. And so what you have to focus on is that is the things that can move more readily.
We’re dealing with a very time limited issue here, because the demand and supply disruption impacts will appear for a time.
And when the health issue is addressed and passes, then the economy will return to what was a more structurally sound basis.
And it’s important that when you address the budgetary issues, you also keep in mind the structural integrity of the budget.
DO THESE PEOPLE EVEN TALK TO EACH OTHER?
Updated
He seems like a good bloke and all, and I will never begrudge anyone doing overtime, but come on people.
“It’s flat out. We’ll do anything for Australia. These times calls for desperate measures so we’re working around the clock and that’s just how it is.” Workers at Kimberly-Clark mill in Millicent respond to the coronavirus toilet paper panic buying demand. https://t.co/yCpqqWvyEa pic.twitter.com/7liygxtVne
— 7NEWS Adelaide (@7NewsAdelaide) March 4, 2020
Where the hell did the toilet paper craze start?
Updated
Here is that exchange between Penny Wong and Angus Campbell in estimates (the conversation Scott Morrison wouldn’t talk about in QT).
Campbell: The Australian defence force in particular needs to, wherever possible, and always be in a non-partisan in both reality and perception. So I am discomfited but I did not see ill-intent in the actions.
Wong: Who did you contact?
Campbell: And spoke to the prime minister.
Wong: Personally?
Campbell: Yes.
Wong: And you provided your advice?
Campbell: Yes.
Updated
The Queensland health minister, Steven Miles, actually just had to say this in a press conference, with a straight face:
The other message I have for the Queensland community is that if you are required to be isolated for 14 days, we will put supports around you. The Red Cross as well as our health staff will be there to help you. If you are under our instruction, self-isolating for that period of 14 days then of those supports will be there. If you run out of toilet paper the Red Cross will be able to assist you to get toilet paper, there is no need to be stockpiling toilet paper. Those supports are there in place of people currently self-isolating and will be there if you need to self-isolate into the future.”
I can. not. anymore.
Updated
Get. In. The. Bin.
LIBERALS CLAIM IT IS NOT OKAY FOR CARS TO BE WHITE
— Pauline Hanson 🇦🇺 (@PaulineHansonOz) March 4, 2020
Liberal Senator Mathias Cormann has bizarrely requested the colour of Government comcars be changed because "the white colour... reflects a bit of a colonial past that we’ve moved on from." #auspol pic.twitter.com/Il1rZvuCUx
Updated
“Our” bushfire response, said the Liberal party about an Australian government response:
Our Defence Force is providing boots on the ground, planes in the sky and ships at sea, to support the bushfire fighting effort and recovery. Read more about our bushfire response: https://t.co/GJItGy0N7B pic.twitter.com/vN6FUYhPJN
— Liberal Party (@LiberalAus) January 4, 2020
Updated
A timely reminder that CDF Angus Campbell is very proactive in making sure ADF personnel aren't used as props. https://t.co/OmEESgSIHA
— David Sharaz (@DavidSharaz) March 4, 2020
Question time ends.
Updated
On that last answer:
We haven’t got answers to how the sports rorts were allowed to happen, or what process was used to make the decisions, beyond ‘ministerial discretion’.
We don’t know if the minister had the legal authority to make those decisions.
If there were no problems with it all, then why the jump to make it all transparent in the future?
We don’t know what was in the 136 emails between the prime minister’s office and sport minister’s office.
We are not allowed to see the Gaetjens report as it has been declared cabinet-in-confidence.
Bridget McKenzie wasn’t asked to resign over the program, she was asked to resign for not declaring a shooting membership (as per the Age and SMH’s Rob Harris’s original reporting) which was found to be a breach of ministerial standards.
There has been no word on whether Stuart Robert will be held to the same standard for this:
Updated
Scott Morrison on that question:
The more desperate the Labor party become on this ... the more feeble their accusations become in this place, the more desperate they become and the more extreme language they use.
The tone of that question and the mysteries in that question only reflect upon him and his desperation, Mr Speaker.
Let’s be very clear. [The auditor general] conducted a serious report into this matter. All the recommendations of that report were accepted by the government and are being implemented by the government.
The auditor general who had access to all the material, all the correspondence, they found none of the matter that the member was alleging in that question. None of them in relation to me or my office. The ANAO had access to all these things and they made no such finding.
I asked the secretary of the prime minister and cabinet to investigate this matter into this statement of ministerial statements and any possible breaches of the ministerial standards and the minister, when I presented those findings to her, resigned as minister.
Now, Mr Speaker, I have taken this matter extremely seriously. We have adopted the recommendations of the report. A further inquiry was initiated and the minister resigned from her post.
One side of the House is taking this matter very seriously and has taken the actions that are necessary. The other side of the House is just engaged in a desperate political smear campaign to prop up what is a very feeble leader of the Labor party.
Updated
Pat Conroy to Scott Morrison:
My question is to the prime minister. Today the sport minister told Senate estimates he met with two staff from the prime minister’s office at 6pm last night to discuss how to handle questions about sports rorts. Did the prime minister know before or after that meeting that the parliament had been misled about sports rorts? Can the prime minister confirm that his office is coordinating the cover-up?
Christian Porter gets the call up to dispute the questions:
Well, Mr Speaker, that last part of the question clearly is something that would have to be moved by substantive motion, because it is a direct accusation of wrongdoing.
Tony Smith:
I am going to hear from the manager of opposition business.
Tony Burke:
Mr Speaker, to the point of order, I am not aware of any precedent which would prevent us asking about the office of the prime minister trying to cover something up.
Tony Smith allows the question.
Updated
The Business Council of Australia chief executive, Jennifer Westacott, has also responded to the national accounts:
“Private sector investment remains the crucial missing link in building a competitive and growing economy that delivers for all Australians. The national accounts show that business investment has fallen for the past two quarters and productivity, which drives wages growth, has been flat for more than three years.
“We continue to call for an economy-wide investment allowance to boost growth, supercharge the private sector economy and protect Australians as we enter a period of even greater economic uncertainty.
“Australia can’t control the global economy but we can prepare ourselves for unexpected shocks by boosting investment and driving the private economy harder.
“That means making Australian workers the most skilled in the world, making Australia more attractive to investment and an easier place to do business through better regulation.
“An investment allowance will encourage businesses to invest, innovate, export more, help build new industries and give Australians the chance to move into new markets and new sectors.”
Updated
Richard Marles to Scott Morrison:
I refer to the prime minister’s earlier answer. Did General Campbell, the chief of the defence force, speak to the prime minister personally to indicate that he was, and I quote, discomfited by the use of Australian Defence Force imagery in this post?
Morrison:
Thank you, Mr Speaker. I talk to the chief of the defence force very regularly, Mr Speaker, and when I have private discussions with the chief of the defence force, I respect those private discussions, Mr Speaker.
And when he raises whether these issues or any other issues, I always respect and thank him very much for the advice that he provides me with those matters. And Mr Speaker, we seek to ensure that we reflect in our own actions the advice that we are provided. Now, Mr Speaker, the other thing I have listened very carefully to the chief of the defence force about is the need to ensure that we boost our defence capability in this country.
Tony Burke:
It is on direct relevance. The information the prime minister is now providing is important, but it is not relevant to the question he was asked. We are simply asking for a straight answer to a simple question. There was no preamble in this at all, and the issue that allowed him to go on attention in the previous question is not present in this question.
Tony Smith:
I say to the prime minister I agree with the manager of opposition business in this regard. It was a very specific question. I do say to the manager of opposition business, the prime minister is not required to give a yes or no answer, and I believe at the beginning of his answer he was directly relevant to the question. There’s no question about that. But this is not an opportunity to talk about other matters, given that there was no preamble.
Oh – the prime minister has decided he has concluded his answer.
Updated
Brendan O’Connor has put out this statement:
In Senate Estimates today, under questioning by Senator Jenny McAllister, it was revealed that the Minister for Industry’s office requested changes to the final document.
Two distinctly different documents were tabled – a draft and final version, with references to important information about the trends in weather patterns, or the predominant causes of the fires, removed from the publicly available report.
The question must be asked, why would the Minister want to change a scientific, CSIRO branded document?
There are some significant changes to the document that raise concerns, including the deletion of the following statements:
“Consistent with predictions from more than a decade ago, this [bushfire] pattern has shifted with climate change” and “there is a clear trend in recent decades towards a greater number of very high fire weather days in Spring”.
“The annual national mean maximum temperature was also warmest on record at 2.09 degrees Celsius above average.”
“Lightning activity has been a predominant cause of ignition for the 2019 bushfires.”
“Tragically, lives have been lost, properties destroyed, millions of native animals killed, and smoke has covered towns and cities for many days.”
The Minister must explain if she was involved in rewriting the CSIRO’s report on climate change.
Updated
A couple of things on the government ad linked to a Liberal party donation page.
The Scott Morrison, Liberal party authorisation was attached to an ad showing what the Australian government was doing (bit of a difference) and the ADF didn’t give permission – or were consulted – about its imagery being used.
Updated
Richard Marles has heard what Angus Campbell has said in estimates and has a question for Scott Morrison:
My question as to the prime minister. Did General Campbell, the chief of the defence force, speak personally to the prime minister to object to the use of Australian Defence Force imagery in the Liberal party’s bushfire advertisement the prime minister published on 4 January, and remains published online to this day?
Morrison:
Mr Speaker, the Liberal party did not post an advertisement, Mr Speaker, at all.
Mr Speaker, let me read the text of the post that the member referred to. This is what it says. It says, one, we are calling out up to 3,000 defence force reservists to help in fire-affected areas. Two ... thank you, Mr Speaker. Two, it also said we have deployed three navy ships and multiple defence planes and helicopters to assist with the response.
... Three, it sets an extra $20m to further firefighting planes for current and future request. Four, that on top of the $26m which was committed this year, Mr Speaker, five, that means 140-plus aerial firefighting aircraft in operation across Australia. Six, paying volunteer firefighters up to $6,000 for lost income. Seven, 5m P2 facemasks made available for bushfire smoke, and eight, emergency payments for those who have lost homes due to fires, Mr Speaker.
This was important information communicated to the Australian people. I observed, Mr Speaker, the requirements of the Australian electoral act that any such videos need a proper authorisation, and that authorisation was provided. And if you need any proof of that, Mr Speaker, a couple of days before I made that post, the leader of the opposition made this post. Listening to people, respecting people ...
... The point being made about the Labor party, Mr Speaker, if they have misrepresented this as a political advertisement, as they stated in their question. Mr Speaker, two days before, the leader of the opposition posted a video on bushfires, and it was titled authorised Anthony Albanese ... So when the leader of the opposition makes posts on bushfires, Mr Speaker, it is authorised by Anthony Albanese, ALP, Canberra.
Mr Speaker, the only AAA rating this guy knows about is always about Albanese.
Updated
Scott Morrison on Tuesday:
You can’t just turn on an infrastructure project, not even necessarily one that’s even under way in terms of ramping up its level of activity. They will have issues about supply lines as well. And so what you have to focus on is that is the things that can move more readily.
Michael McCormack on Wednesday:
Turn on the infrastructure projects.
Updated
Fiona Phillips to Scott Morrison:
On January 6, the prime minister promised $2bn of immediate support for bushfire-affected communities. This week he admitted his rollout has failed and he needs to rephase and revise his efforts. We also learned this week that only 10% of his promised funds have been spent. Why has the prime minister failed to deliver his promise to my bushfire-affected community?
Morrison:
I think the member for her question and her ongoing efforts in her electorate in relation to the bushfire.
As I do acknowledge the efforts of all members across this chamber for the support they have provided in those communities so terribly affected by bushfire. I must take issue with the member on some of the matters she has raised and the misrepresentation made within her question.
Of the $2bn that were permitted as part of the National Bushfire Recovery Agency, and the fund that was established for that, there were $2bn in the phasing of that expenditure was $500m in this financial year, Mr Speaker.
And I can confirm, it was confirmed at estimates, that some $205m of that $500m in this financial year, which was to be spent this year, has already been spent.
We are in the first week of March and we committed these funds two months ago and we have spent $200m already in the last two months and $500m is the allocation for this six months to the end of June 30.
I can go through them, Mr Speaker: $7m of volunteer payments, a financial counselling support of $5.5m, emergency relief funding of $26m, mental health package of $10.4m ... industry grants program that has already rolled out $43.5m, and this is the program where we need to rephase and re-engineer based on the feedback we have had on the ground to $2.9m that has been provided under the small business disaster recovery grant.
Updated
Michael McCormack thinks pointing out an MP has spent four terms on the backbench is a compliment.
But this is a man who thinks writing a letter to the states begging them to speed up infrastructure spend is sound leadership.
I have passed burps with more impact.
Updated
Josh Frydenberg gets the next dixer as well as the following question from Jim Chalmers.
He hasn’t been this popular since accidentally announcing the Turnbull government was considering an emissions intensity scheme.
Defence force boss 'discomfited' by Morrison bushfire ad
The chief of the defence force, Angus Campbell, has revealed that he raised Scott Morrison’s use of images of defence force personnel in material advertising the government response to bushfires directly with the prime minister.
The material had a political authorisation from Morrison, and some posts had a link to donate to the Liberal party.
Penny Wong and Kimberley Kitching are asking about ADF policy that images of defence personnel not be used in advertising, display material, websites, or other public mass media without authorisation.
Greg Moriarty, the secretary of the department, said that authorisation wasn’t sought or given.
The defence minister, Linda Reynolds, claimed the government didn’t seek permission because it “wasn’t required”, because it wasn’t an “advertisement”, it was an information video about the response to the bushfires.
Asked for his view, Campbell said:
Whenever the ADF or any other apolitical body finds itself between political parties, I am discomfited. I don’t believe there was intentionality in that circumstance, but the ADF should wherever possible be non-partisan – both in reality and perception. I am discomfited, but I did not see ill intent in the actions. This conversation is an example of where the ADF does not want to be.
Campbell confirms that he gave the government advice about the material within hours of hearing about it on morning radio, speaking directly with the prime minister. He won’t go to the content of that advice.
Updated
Jim Chalmers to Josh Frydenberg:
My question as to the treasurer. I ask him again. Does he still stand by his guarantee that his budget is back in the black?
Frydenberg:
Mr Speaker, We stand by our commitment to ensure a stronger Australian economy, Mr Speaker. We stand by our commitment to ensure a stronger budget, Mr Speaker. We stand by our commitment to ensure lower taxes, Mr Speaker.
We stand by our commitment to create more small businesses, Mr Speaker. We stand by our commitment through this, our most recent MYEFO, and the most recent numbers we saw in national accounts, to ensure that the Australian economy continues to deliver for all Australians.
You’ll notice what he doesn’t stand by, though.
Tony Burke moves an extension of time to allow Josh Frydenberg to scream into a microphone about the #SmugMug slogan ‘Back in Black’
Yup
Also: Morrison has again declined to answer a direct question about whether the government has assessed the costs of 3C warming, and whether it intends to share what those costs might be #qt
— Katharine Murphy (@murpharoo) March 4, 2020
Just your semi regular reminder that the Coalition's 2030 abatement plan includes just under 100Mt of abatement from “technology solutions” which aren't specified; an EV strategy that hasn't been announced & about half the reductions come from accounting (carry over credits) #qt
— Katharine Murphy (@murpharoo) March 4, 2020
Zali Steggall has the independent’s question:
I refer to my question of last week. To have a balance sheet in order in the future, has your government now assessed the economic impact of a 3C warmer world to jobs and to coastal and regional communities, and if you have, what are those costs?
Scott Morrison:
... I thank the member again for her question, because the question, Mr Speaker, probably would be better put to the Labor party, who do not have a 2030 target. They want to talk about 2050 and they can’t even tell you what they want to happen by 2030.
Updated
Jim Chalmers to Josh Frydenberg:
Given today’s national accounts show the economy grew at a slower pace last quarter than the one before, does he still stand by the guarantee that the budget is back in the black and the economy is back on track?
Frydenberg:
Thank you, Mr Speaker, and I can confirm to the House that this economy continues to grow and in the national accounts today it grew by 0.5% for the December quarter and 2.2% through the year.
That is an increase of 1.8% through the September quarter. Mr Speaker, what we have delivered is the biggest tax cuts for more than 20 years, the lowest welfare dependency in 30 years, the first current surplus in more than 40 years, and the first balanced budget in 11 years.
No one can take that away from the Coalition, Mr Speaker. The reality is under the Labor party, under the Labor party, when the member for Rankin was running around...
Anthony Albanese interrupts with a point of order that the question was about the #SmugMug ‘back in black’ claim.
Frydenberg:
I can confirm that the budget is back on track and I can confirm that we will deliver a balanced budget and we will deliver more under our plan compared to the Labor party.
Updated
Under questioning from the Greens senator Jordon Steele-John, defence officials have told Senate estimates the $1.6bn upgrade of the Tindall air base would allow it to accommodate B2 bombers.
The defence minister, Linda Reynolds, said that the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and a separate Pacific treaty would not allow the transit of a bomber carrying a nuclear weapon, but then dismissed the question as a hypothetical.
Updated
Another shoutout to Qantas for doing its job.
We have a very, very low bar in this country.
Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:
Can the prime minister guarantee that Australia’s three-decade run of unbroken economic growth that began with the former Labor government will survive ... his prime ministership?
Morrison:
Thank you, I think the member for his question because as he knows, the global coronavirus is a very dramatic situation that has been emerging now for the past seven weeks and a situation which the government has moved quickly to protect the health of Australians and equally we have been meaning to fully understand the economic impacts of this very significant event.
This health crisis, Mr Speaker, is different from others that we have seen before, whether it be Sars or Mers, and the economic impacts of the virus are significant and we have seen global financial crisis before, some 12 and 13 years ago, and the economic impact of this crisis was different than what we saw in the GFC.
Not a failing of the Australian financial system or the global financial system. They are not the same sort of issues that went to credit flows and economy at the time and Mr Speaker, importantly, during the previous global financial crisis, which had a very muted effect on the Chinese economy, and the Chinese economy at that time during the GFC proved to be extremely important to the Australian economy at that time, Mr Speaker.
There are very real differences between the circumstances we face today and previous circumstances.
They are all significant and serious issues and that is the way that the government is approaching it in fashioning responses that we will be providing. We will continue to ensure we do everything within the government’s power, not just a need to address the very serious health effects and the risk to the Australian population, as we have been doing, but to also address the very real and significant economic impacts.
What this health crisis is doing is disrupting supply chains and disconnecting travellers from where they would otherwise have gone, it is disconnecting exporters from their markets.
It is disconnecting and disrupting the global economy. We will engage with that and we will be doing it from a position of strength as the treasurer just outlined. We will be pursuing policies that are responsible, that are targeted, Mr Speaker, and we will get the best possible outcome for the Australian people.
Updated
Question time begins
We are right into it.
Jim Chalmers to Josh Frydenberg:
Why did you neglect to mention that the numbers today show economic growth was below the previous quarter, below average, below what he inherited and all before the coronavirus hit?
Frydenberg:
Thank you for that Dorothy Dixer from the member for Rankin, who we know likes to tax a lot. The reality is this. That in this most recent national accounts for the December quarter, growth was 0.5%, better than expectations, and it’s all through the year growth to 2.2%. Now, in the quarter before the December quarter was the September quarter. What was through the year growth there? 1.8%! The member for Rankin is the only person who thinks that 2.2% is below 1.8%!
Frydenberg has forgotten how to use a microphone in the excitement of the national accounts.
Updated
The chief of the Australian Defence Force, Angus Campbell, has been asked whether the inspector general of the ADF’s investigation into 55 possible incidents in which Australian special forces allegedly breached the laws of war in Afghanistan will be released.
Campbell: “It will be presented to me as commissioning officer of that report. I will have to receive it and absorb what it contains, and assess the degree to which content will be required for further processes of investigation or judicial action. So I can’t give you any guarantee at this stage, other than that I have a desire that Australia understands what has happened as fully as possible. There will be legal and privacy constraints.”
Campbell won’t go into what the IGADF might have meant by saying the investigations did not consider the “heat of battle”, citing the IGADF’s independence.
Updated
It seems every government department is now being taught how to wash their hands.
How to wash your hands signs are appearing in Parliament House bathrooms. Honestly - just wash with soap for as long as it takes to sing the chorus for Jolene pic.twitter.com/jznVKoYeBi
— Amy Remeikis (@AmyRemeikis) March 4, 2020
Department of Defence is also getting the hand washing tips pic.twitter.com/JUwxxTvi08
— Amy Remeikis (@AmyRemeikis) March 4, 2020
And also the Department of Social Services. It’s not even the same sign! pic.twitter.com/GrmoTCB2Kd
— Amy Remeikis (@AmyRemeikis) March 4, 2020
The Australian Defence Force Inspector-General is now appearing in estimates.
There will be some very interesting questions asked there.
Updated
One I missed:
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg goes through the National Accounts for the December quarter in the blue room of Parliament House @AmyRemeikis @GuardianAus #politicslive https://t.co/xZ75u7AHHg pic.twitter.com/XvPn80areI
— Mikearoo (@mpbowers) March 4, 2020
Updated
It is almost time for QT
Jim Chalmers on the national accounts:
Annual growth is well below trend, well below what it was before Morrison and Frydenberg took over, and well below what is needed to address stagnant wages and record high underemployment.
Today’s data shows that on the Liberals’ watch, before the virus and the worst of the fires hit:
- Quarterly growth has slowed to 0.5% in the December quarter, down from 0.6% in the previous quarter.
- Annual growth was well below trend at 2.2% and is a full percentage point below what it was before Morrison and Frydenberg took over.
- The private economy did not grow at all in the quarter and has stalled over the past year.
- Annual consumption growth is still at its slowest pace since the global financial crisis increasing by only 1.2% over the year.
- Total private business investment continues to go backwards, having now declined for three consecutive quarters, and is down 1.4% over the year. As a percentage of nominal GDP it is around its lowest level since the early 1990s recession.
- Wages growth remains weak, with quarterly growth in average compensation per employee slowing even further in the December quarter.
It is clear to everyone but the Morrison government that Australia’s longstanding economic challenges didn’t just appear with coronavirus and they won’t disappear after it.
Updated
The day so far, as seen by Mike Bowers:
Updated
I missed this yesterday:
Mathias Cormann reveals that he personally intervened to chose the colour of the new fleet of Comcar vehicles, which will shift from their traditional white to dark grey. #Estimates pic.twitter.com/PqsJCQFOBC
— Michael Mazengarb (@MichaelM_ACT) March 3, 2020
Updated
*Grandstanding*
*Actually evidence from officials*
Don’t be misled by Senator Carr’s grandstanding & fear-mongering. The Bushfire & Natural Hazards CRC has funding until mid-2021 & the Govt is considering future funding for its work to continue. We’re actively engaging with the CRC, including a meeting with the PM last month. https://t.co/xZgEyqH2g7
— Karen Andrews MP (@karenandrewsmp) March 4, 2020
The Australia Institute is not a fan of the GDP growth. From its statement:
“Today’s figures confirm that GDP in Australia is still stuck in the slow lane. The last time the Australian economy grew above its long run trend was back in 2012 when Wayne Swan was still treasurer,” said Dr Richard Denniss, chief economist at the Australia Institute.
“The government’s agenda of cutting taxes over the past seven years has done nothing to boost wages, productivity growth or business investment. Business investment remains low and, with slow wages growth, price growth and consumer spending it is unlikely that any further tax cuts will reverse this trend.
“The recent US experience under President Trump has demonstrated that even massive tax cuts for business does virtually nothing to help the economy.
“The ABS makes clear that two of the biggest contributors to Australia’s GDP growth last quarter were a decline in imports and an increase in business inventories. Both of these numbers provide more evidence of a slowing economy not a growing economy.”
Updated
The government is looking at the deeming rate for pensioners after the RBA cut interest rates yesterday.
.@JoshFrydenberg dropped into the last answer that the government is looking at the deeming rate as part of current stimulus/coronavirus deliberations #auspol @AmyRemeikis
— Katharine Murphy (@murpharoo) March 4, 2020
Updated
Just in case you missed it a few posts back, just weeks after the horror bushfire season ended, Senate estimates has heard that the government funding for the Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre, which studies bushfires, predicts behaviours and prepares firefighters, will cease from next year.
David Wilson told Kim Carr the funding program would end in June 2021.
The government accepted that the cooperative research centre’s 10-year funding pools should not be rolled on, as part of a 2015 review into the CRCs.
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Predicted coronavirus economy hit to be released tomorrow
.@JoshFrydenberg says he and treasury will talk to the IMF tonight, and after that, treasury will share with Senate estimates tomorrow its projected impact of the coronavirus on the economy #auspol
— Katharine Murphy (@murpharoo) March 4, 2020
Josh Frydenberg:
Today’s national accounts confirm that the Australian economy continues to grow. Australia is in its 29th consecutive year of economic growth.
And in today’s national accounts, in the December quarter the Australian economy grew by 0. 5% and 2.2% through the year.
This is a step up on the 1.8% through-the-year growth that we saw at the September quarter.
And this puts to rest the claim by some (cough, Jim Chalmers, cough) that the Australian economy was softening at the end of last year.
The Australian economy remains resilient and continues to defy all those who seek to talk it down.
The bushfires have not had a significant effect on the national accounts in the December quarter.
But we know that the fires have had a devastating impact on those communities. Most of the economic effect of the bushfires is expected to be felt in the March quarter. The impact of the coronavirus is serious and is ongoing, and is affecting economies the world over.
The coronavirus is impacting on the tourism, education, and export sectors, but also disrupting end-to-end supply chains.
The measures the government has already put in place are designed to keep Australians safe, and that remains our first priority.
As the prime minister has foreshadowed, the government is working on a targeted, responsible and scalable series of measures that are designed to keep business in business, and Australians in jobs.
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Josh Frydenberg is talking about today’s national accounts figures, saying they show the Australian economy has remained resilient.
The figures showed quarterly growth to the end of December of 0.5% and 2.2% for the year. The treasurer said the figures disproved claims that the Australian economy was softening before the bushfires and coronavirus outbreak.
“This puts to rest the claim from some that the Australian economy was softening at the end of last year,” Frydenberg said. “The Australian economy continues to defy all those who seek to talk it down.”
Frydenberg said the figures showed an uplift in consumer spending, and a 2.6% increase in household disposable income over the six months to December.
He stressed, however, that the December figures did not reflect the effect of the bushfires, which are expected to be felt in the March quarter figures, nor the coronavirus.
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Labor’s Penny Wong has clarified that France’s commitment to 60% spending in Australia is on Australian content – not Australian “sovereign capability” (ie spending that creates a domestic industry).
Linda Reynolds had described it as a commitment for “Australian industry capability” – but apparently capability is synonymous with content, and IS NOT the same thing as “sovereign capability”. Very confusing.
This means that spending with a list of 137 contractors published by the defence department and Naval Group all qualify towards the 60% floor.
The list includes all manner of services that have nothing to do building a submarine industry: language lessons from Alliance Française, media monitoring from iSentia, Carlson Wagonlit Travel, Royal Agricultural and Horticultural Society of SA.
Gregory Sammut:
We would expect [the industrial] proportion to increase as we get through the design phases.
Wong suggests although the government may argue it’s “too early” that Australians would be rightly sceptical of the number of services companies, and not industrial providers, that count towards local content.
Reynolds suggests that in this case “transparency is a double-edged sword” because the list reflects the spending in Australia in the early stage of the design phase, with a wider list of suppliers to be expected as the project grows.
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At the national accounts press conference @JoshFrydenberg says the impact of the bushfires won’t be felt until the March quarter and stimulus is on the way to deal with the impact of the coronavirus #auspol
— Katharine Murphy (@murpharoo) March 4, 2020
In estimates, questioning from Kim Carr has found that the government has decided to cease funding to the Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre.
That centre’s research has helped firefighters predict how a bushfire might react and therefore gives them time to prepare. But after 10 years of funding, the government has decided it’s time to cut it off.
The full evidence of the Gov saying there is no more funding for the bushfire CRC, unless it finds something itself, can be seen here: https://t.co/j0yvxKZkeg Australia needs public good research like what the Bushfire CRC does.
— Kim Carr (@SenKimCarr) March 4, 2020
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Jim Chalmers will respond to Josh Frydenberg and the national accounts figures at 1.30pm.
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There is something to say about long-term appointments of public servants serving in statutory roles.
The auditor general is appointed for 10 years. That gives the complete freedom to do the job without fear or favour.
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The Labor senator Katy Gallagher winds up sports grants by asking for the cost of the changes between the decisions conveyed to Sport Australia at 8.46am on 11 April, and the revisions at 12.43pm.
Luke McCann says he can’t be precise but he thinks the changes added about $2.7m to the program’s cost of the program.
“Now we know what happened in the first hours of caretaker,” Gallagher says.
The community affairs committee is moving on.
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It is worth noting that Josh Frydenberg made the same plea to bring forward infrastructure spending to the states in October last year.
And again in November.
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Michael McCormack has written to state premiers asking them to bring forward infrastructure spending to help deal with the economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak, drought and bushfires.
The deputy prime minister said Australia was reeling from “unprecedented” conditions and the federal government was looking to the states to help stimulate the economy with projects ready to go within the next three to six months.
“[This will] help in making sure that the economy stays on track to help to make sure that we get through the elements that have beset our economy and our nation since last November,” McCormack said.
“Indeed we have had unprecedented, unparalleled hits to the economy, hits to the bottom line, but indeed we are well prepared to meet those head on.
“Whether it’s big projects such as highways, byways, right down to roundabouts, making sure that we can start work and indeed even finish them then we are able to do that ... as part of this request to the states today.”
The minister for urban infrastructure, Alan Tudge, defended the fact that no money from the $4bn urban infrastructure fund had been spent.
“All of the money goes in stages, aligned with the construction schedules – that is how all of our infrastructure dollars work,” Tudge said. “We have made the commitment, we have the agreements with the states and territories for the local councils. And when they do the construction, we deliver the money.”
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The Labor senator Don Farrell goes back to evidence given last week that there was a late-night teleconference between the then secretary of the health department, the former Sport Australia head Kate Palmer, and the chairman, John Wylie.
This call happened after Palmer learned of the colour-coded electoral spreadsheets being used to award the grants.
This fact emerged after Sports Australia’s appearance last week at the Senate inquiry into the controversy.
Farrell wants to know why Sports Australia didn’t mention that call. Luke McCann says late-night teleconferences are not unusual.
“It was not unusual for the chair and the CEO to have phone conversations after estimates,” he says. “Not unusual.”
Farrell moves on then to the prime minister’s role in the saga. “The prime minister is not telling the truth,” the Labor senator shouts. Richard Colbeck deadbats.
“You’ve got your television moment,” Colbeck says, before adding that Scott Morrison has been transparent about the involvement of his office.
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Labor’s Penny Wong has been grilling the defence minister, Linda Reynolds, about an announcement she made on 24 February that the French defence minister has agreed to a 60% minimum quota of contract value spent in Australia in the future submarine program.
Reynolds explains that she and her French counterpart, Florence Parly, discussed the issue at a security conference in Munich in mid-February and Parly proposed the 60% shortly afterwards.
She says the commitment will be “contractually formalised”. Rear Admiral Gregory Sammut says it will be put into the strategic partnership agreement.
Wong asks why it took so long to put an “unremarkable level” of Australian content into the agreement, after years of defence industry ministers and officials claiming that putting a floor in would be counterproductive.
Sammut confirms that Australia “did not want to set an artificially low floor until design had progressed until we could see an acceptable minimum level”. Reynolds says it “seemed the right time” because the project – although still in the early design phase – is “progressing well”.
Wong says she is glad to see the “belated” decision to put the content floor into the contract.
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This is also worth noting – the September quarter figures have been revised up by the ABS, from 0.4% to 0.6%
That 0.2% boost has helped increase the December quarter, and therefore the annual growth rate.
Household spending was up (it was Christmas, so that makes sense) with a 0.4% increase, but car sales were 2.4% down. Disposable income was also down – 1.3%.
ABS revised up the Sept quarter to 0.6 which helped boost the annual rate to 2.2%
— Shane Wright (@swrighteconomy) March 4, 2020
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GDP grew by 0.5% in December quarter
National accounts are out – the ABS shows GDP grew by 0.5%.
That’s better than 0.3% the market expected for the December quarter.
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Josh Frydenberg will hold a press conference at midday.
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The Green senator Janet Rice goes to the emails of 11 April. The one at 12.43pm had one project removed and nine added. She wants to know how the change was characterised.
Luke McCann from Sports Australia says the minister’s office conveyed there was an error in the spreadsheet.
The nine added projects were five late applications and four applications that had been amended from the original pitch.
Rice wants to know why the brief was signed on 4 April if the spreadsheet of approved projects kept changing. Has this happened before, Rice asks?
Luke McCann says the same thing happened in round one of the program, and the minister’s office said that was an error as well.
The Labor senator Don Farrell is back to Sport Australia providing misleading evidence.
Luke McCann says a correction is being drafted. Farrell wants to know if he accepts that the agency has suffered reputational damage as a consequence of the saga?
The witness accepts that observation.
Farrell counsels that quick action is required to avert further reputational damage.
At the moment it’s just “drip, drip, drip”, Farrell says.
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Turns out the economy is wobbly enough that the government has sent Michael McCormack out to talk about the need for infrastructure spending.
If the answer is McCormack, you really have to ask yourself what is the question?
Sarah Martin, who is a saint, went along to the presser and will have a post on that for you very soon, because she knows that there is only so much a blogger must have to bear.
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The hearing resumes. The Greens senator Janet Rice wonders whether staff from the prime minister’s office gave Richard Colbeck any talking points for the appearance today.
“Not anything I didn’t already have,” Colbeck says.
Did they discuss how to characterise Scott Morrison’s role in the sports grants saga?
“Not specifically,” Colbeck says.
The minister adds he’s had a good understanding of Morrison’s role in sports grants since the beginning.
Just if you are confused about what emails went where when – here’s a quick summary.
- The parliament was dissolved on 11 April.
- At 8.46am, Bridget McKenzie sent a brief (dated 4 April) and a list of approved projects to Sport Australia.
- At 12.35pm, another email went from McKenzie’s office to the PMO with different grants (one project was deleted and another nine added).
- At 12.43pm McKenzie sent that material to Sports Australia.
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And the advice? Wash your goddamn hands
Prevention and care
- The best way to avoid infections is to practice good hygiene which includes:
- Washing your hands often with soap and water
- Using a tissue and covering your mouth when you cough or sneeze
- Avoid close contact, such as touching others
- If you share workspaces or telephones, ensure these are cleaned between use
- Hand sanitiser, tissues and disinfectant wipes are available on the Complete Office Supplies (COS) catalogue and can be used in conjunction with frequent hand washing.
- Surgical masks in the community are only effective in preventing people who have coronavirus, or symptoms of, from spreading it to others. If you are well, you do not need to wear a surgical mask as there is little evidence supporting the widespread use of surgical masks in health people to prevent transmission in public.
- If you become unwell and think that you may have symptoms of coronavirus, seek immediate medical attention. Call ahead to book an appointment and let the medical practice know that you think you may have symptoms consistent with coronavirus. Tell your doctor about your symptoms, travel history and any recent close contact with someone who has coronavirus.
- We are working with our property provider to review preventative hygiene activities across all tenancies.
(Pro tip – you should be washing your hands with soap for at least 20 seconds – you can sing the chorus to Jolene, or Landslide or Truth Hurts in your head, if you need a timer.)
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Ministerial and parliamentary services staff have been issued this coronavirus update:
Advice
In addition to the advice provided on the Coronavirus (COVID-19) earlier this month, we would like to provide you with an update, given the approach to managing COVID-19 is being adjusted continuously based on advice. The Department of Health website is providing daily guidance and includes information on the current status of the virus, who is at risk and preventative measures that can be taken.
As of 3 March 2020, there were 33 confirmed cases of Coronavirus in Australia across 5 states.
Coronaviruses are a large group of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe conditions such as pneumonia. People with coronavirus may experience symptoms such as fever, flu-like symptoms and shortness of breath.
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‘Michael McCormack is speaking in Canberra’
#horrormovieinsixwords
The committee is on a short suspension now so I’ve just listened back to that evidence to make sure I recorded the sequence accurately.
Richard Colbeck met with officials from Sports Australia to discuss their appearance before estimates today at about 3pm yesterday. Subsequent to that, at 6pm, two staff from the prime minister’s office came to Colbeck’s office to discuss the appearance.
Katy Gallagher asked Colbeck whether the PMO staff were directing him how to answer. Colbeck says “we had a meeting about the issues”. The minister said given he was representing the government at today’s hearing, it was “incumbent on me to understand the broader situation”.
Just on the advice about the operation of the caretaker convention which I flagged in the last post – given the brief and the spreadsheet about the approved sports grants arrived at Sport Australia (twice) after parliament had been dissolved for the election – Sports Australia officials have told the committee they requested advice from the health department about the issue of binding another government to a major decision.
That advice was sought in the “late afternoon of April 11”.
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Richard Colbeck said staff from the prime minister’s office came to his office last night to discuss the appearance by Sport Australia before estimates today.
Katy Gallagher asks whether Colbeck advised Scott Morrison’s staff about Sport Australia officials providing misleading evidence to the inquiry last week.
Colbeck said they were already aware that had occurred (although he won’t acknowledge the evidence was misleading – Colbeck says it’s a difference in evidence).
Sport Australia officials also say they took advice about receiving material from the minister’s office after the parliament had been prorogued.
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It is also national accounts day – which means the economy will be very much the focus over the next few hours.
This will be for the December quarter, before the bushfires and coronavirus really took hold, but they will give a decent indication of the state of the economy before those shocks.
The RBA’s emergency rate cut decision points to it not being great.
PMO helped Sport Australia prepare for today's hearing
Richard Colbeck acknowledges that staff from the prime minister’s office were at the meeting yesterday with Sport Australia to prepare for today’s appearance.
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The Labor senator Katy Gallagher is cross because Sports Australia officials have arrived at estimates without key documents, including the ministerial brief about the approved grants and the emails:
Are you withholding information from this committee? It would seem you are very conveniently underprepared.
The officials acknowledge that they met yesterday with the minister and advisers about today’s appearance but say they weren’t given any instructions to withhold material.
The minister at the table, Richard Colebeck, says he was made aware yesterday that Sport Australia had provided incorrect evidence last week. Gallagher wants to know why Colebeck didn’t correct the record.
He says that’s up to Sports Australia, and they should correct the record promptly.
“You’ve done nothing,” Gallagher declares.
Colebeck said he saw it as a “difference in evidence, not a case of misleading the Senate”.
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Sport Australia admits it gave Senate the wrong information on sports rorts
Sport Australia officials are now up before estimates.
The Labor senator Katy Gallagher starts by pointing out that the ANAO has given a materially different account about the briefs and correspondence backwards and forwards between the minister’s office and the agency in the lead-up to the election last year.
Luke McCann from Sports Australia acknowledges the agency gave the Senate incorrect information last week, when officials appeared before an inquiry into sports grants.
Gallagher is not amused, particularly given there has been no correction of the record by Sports Australia.
Does the agency understand its obligation to the Senate? McCann says he does understand those obligations and now acknowledges the error.
(Background: the error was failing to acknowledge there was a brief with attachments sent to the agency after noon on the day the election was called.)
Gallagher asks McCann why two emails were sent on 11 April, one at 8.46am (which Sports Australia has acknowledged) and one at 12.43pm (which it didn’t mention last week).
McCann says the minister’s office said there was “errors” in the earlier brief, hence the second email at lunchtime.
Ten projects changed between the two emails.
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Sport Australia is about to enter Senate estimates.
Oh, and parliament has begun. We would pay attention to the chamber but there is not exactly a huge legislation agenda at the moment, so what’s the point?
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The Green senator Richard Di Natale, who is a medical doctor, is drilling right down in this morning’s hearing.
He wants to know why the rate of infection in Italy is slowing, given that the country is in a phase of community transmission. The chief medical officer says that’s because containment strategies are working. Di Natale is puzzled by this. Generally in a pandemic, he says, containment doesn’t really work.
Brendan Murphy says containment does have a positive impact on how the illness spreads. It works to some extent, is his rationale, and you’ll take some extent over no extent.
Di Natale wonders whether there should be a move to cancel or bring forward elective surgery in hospitals, saying that’s already happened in Queensland. Murphy says that’s in the national plan.
The CMO says if a state has capacity to shuffle a surgical list, they should do it. Di Natale circles back to mortality rates. Who is dying?
The CMO says the deaths are mainly older people and people with comorbidities. Children only suffer a mild version of the virus.
Di Natale asks is there sufficient testing capacity in the event of large-scale community transmission in Australia.
The CMO says that’s being looked at closely. “We will definitely need to expand testing capacity,” he says. “In a large outbreak you might need thousands of tests every day, and those plans [to expand capacity] are well advanced.”
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Scott Morrison praised Qantas for the second day in a row, while speaking this morning to Alan Jones about the planned “economic boost” that is definitely not a stimulus.
It’s about the cash flow of particularly small and medium-sized businesses. It’s about keeping people in jobs, keeping businesses in business. Because on the other side of this, because this is not, I mean the economic effects here are very significant, but it’s not the same as the global financial crisis, because on the other side, when the virus works its way through, the economy will pick up.
And so we want those businesses to be there for that, for that bounce back. And I want them to bounce back strongly. So we’re designing those measures to do that, so they can work immediately. I mean, these things can be difficult. And so we’re getting the design right, and we’re working closely, as you could see yesterday, we worked very closely with the Reserve Bank.
And again, I want to thank the four big banks for passing on those rate cuts. I asked them to do it, they did it. I thank them very much for doing that. That’s the first time that’s happened in about five years – the banks passed on the rate cuts.
And it was just like Qantas showing up and doing the right thing by Australians. So, what people can see is everybody’s working together here. Everyone’s working together here to get Australia through it. We will get through it. We will get right through this. And we’ll bounce back on the other side really strongly.
As Joe Aston pointed out in the Fin today, the three evacuation flights would have cost the airline about $2m in unmatched costs – but the amount of free publicity it has received, including multiple shout-outs and snaps from the prime minister, would more than have made up for it.
It is also not unusual for a country’s national carrier to step in to evacuate that country’s citizens. I was living in South Korea when American Airlines and BA made arrangements to get out American and British citizens when shiz was getting strange with North Korea. But yes, let’s get all flag wavey over this.
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Brendan Murphy is asked by the Liberal senator Dean Smith why some countries are under-reporting infections.
The chief medical officer said in the case of Iran, it’s likely to be a combination of a less advanced medical system and the mild nature of the illness.
He said the penny probably dropped in the country when there were a large number of pneumonia cases presenting, and from there, it’s a matter of trying to catch up.
Murphy says the working assumption about Iran under-reporting the number of cases is that the death rate in the country compared with infections is so much higher than in other places.
The Greens senator Richard Di Natale is pursuing under-reporting, given that most people only suffer mild symptoms.
The CMO says there is likely to be under-reporting in China and elsewhere, but he says coronavirus is more infectious than Sars and Mers, and more infectious than the flu. Di Natale notes it is difficult to calculate an accurate mortality rate in a situation where a lot of people don’t even know they are sick.
The chief medical officer agrees with that assessment.
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The chief medical officer says officials are “doing a lot of planning” about potential transmissions in Indigenous communities.
He says the risks are different in metropolitan areas compared with regional and remote areas. Brendan Murphy says a coronavirus infection in isolated communities could have “devastating consequences”.
He says Fifo workers present particular risks in transiting in and out of communities.
The Labor senator Malarndirri McCarthy tells Murphy some of the official language about the outbreak is causing alarm in Indigenous communities. The chief medical officer acknowledges that, and he suggests elderly people are also alarmed.
Murphy says there is a lot of anguish behind the scenes about getting the communication right. Australians need to be attentive but not alarmed, he said.
A lot of the messaging at the moment is about preparing the community for step changes in infection rates: “It’s a balance between being open and honest with the community but there is no value in sensationalising.”
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The definitely-not-a-stimulus-don’t-call-it-that-it’s-a-boost the government is planning, is expected to be announced some time in the next few days.
All we know is that it won’t be in the form of cheques – the government has made a big deal of calling it “targeted, modest and scalable”. We don’t know what industries will be receiving it but tourism and higher education would be good bets.
Scott Morrison is very, very intent on not referring to it as a stimulus. Partly because the government still needs to talk up the economy – that is one of its jobs – and you can talk your way into a recession, which is good for no one. But at the same time, the government has also boxed it way into a corner by already claiming a surplus it may not be able to deliver, and you are not supposed to need to stimulate a surplus economy.
The coffee in the Smug Mug (the Back in Black Liberal party merchandise which is suddenly “sold out”) must be tasting increasingly bitter.
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The CMO has given the latest statistics on infections. He says there are now more than 90,000 cases globally and 3,078 deaths. Italy has 2,036 cases, Iran 1,501 cases and 66 deaths, Korea 4,212 cases, France 178, Germany 157. Australia has 40 cases, with 15 in NSW. Brendan Murphy notes again that Iran is likely to be significantly understating the size of its outbreak.
He says the government will reconsider the various travel advice today. The CMO says the risk of people from mainland China (outside of Hubei) transmitting the virus is likely to be less at the moment than people from Iran.
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We expected Sports Australia to kick off estimates this morning, but they are on standby while the chief medical officer provides a briefing and answers questions about coronavirus.
Brendan Murphy has started with a general outline. He says there are now “significant outbreaks” in a number of countries and growth of the illness outside of China “has accelerated”.
He tells the committee the number of cases in Iran is seriously understated. He says there has been limited community transmission in Australia and there are significant concerns about potential transmissions in aged care facilities.
“This disease is going to be with us for a while,” Murphy says.
But he tells people to calm down on toilet paper hoarding.
That isn’t “proportionate or sensible at this time”, the CMO says.
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We expected Sports Australia to be first up in estimates this morning. But the program has shifted. The chief medical officer will start with a briefing/questions about coronavirus #auspol @AmyRemeikis
— Katharine Murphy (@murpharoo) March 3, 2020
Anthony Albanese also had some advice about dealing with coronavirus, at a personal level:
People need to keep calm and wash their hands, effectively.
I’ll add – STOP STOCKPILING TOILET PAPER. We make toilet paper in Australia. YOU ARE NOT GOING TO RUN OUT OF TOILET PAPER. Calm your farms, people.
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Anthony Albanese was on ABC radio RN, talking to Fran Kelly. This is where Labor’s attack line will land today:
The Audit Office said to Senate estimates this week, gave evidence on oath, Brian Boyd said that it was the prime minister’s office was the reason why a project was removed and another one added after the parliament had been prorogued.
This was on the morning of the 11th of April. And then after that there were further lists go to the prime minister’s office from Bridget McKenzie’s office.
Bridget McKenzie’s office then sent, that afternoon, another list that added nine projects and took one out.
The fact is that what we have seen here is 136 emails from the prime minister’s office and from Bridget McKenzie’s office to each other. And the prime minister won’t release those emails, won’t release that information.
The prime minister’s office has been in this up to the neck. And that is obvious for all to see. And the real problem here is, Fran, that this is a pattern.
We can’t find out when the prime minister went to Hawaii – the issue there was that they couldn’t even say who the acting prime minister was. It was that lack of scrutiny.
We had the Brian Houston incident whereby for reasons beyond my comprehension, the prime minister said that was just gossip.
And now a month later has confirmed that it’s a fact. And on sports rorts, we have seen an attempt to cover this up, an inquiry by the prime minister’s former chief of staff examining the independent Audit Office’s findings, which didn’t even get access to the emails, which didn’t interview any of the prime minister’s staff, and which was designed to come up with a reason to throw Bridget McKenzie under the bus and protect the prime minister.
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Sport Australia will appear in the community affairs Senate estimates from 9am.
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This exchange between Scott Morrison and Leigh Sales was particularly unedifying:
Sales: You won’t release the Gaetjens report into the sports rorts. Your office tried to conceal when you were on holidays in Hawaii in December. The government cited national security to avoid answering a question under FOI about whether Pastor Brian Houston was invited to a White House dinner, although you’ve finally admitted this afternoon that he was invited. Why all the secrecy on stuff that on the surface would seem to be not that big a deal?
Morrison: Well, those things aren’t that big a deal that you’ve talked about. And I’m always focused on the –
Sales: But why the secrecy then?
Morrison: Leigh, I’m just focused on the things that I took to the Australian people. And I know –
Sales: No, no, I just want to know why the secrecy? You’re not answering what I’m asking.
Morrison: Leigh, well I’ve disclosed the issues you’ve referred to. So, I mean, in relation to one of those matters, I mean, I could have been more candid the time about it. I wish I was, but frankly, it wasn’t a big deal –
Sales: But you want, you go back to the trust question, you want Australians to trust you. Does this excessive secrecy help that?
Morrison: No. Well, I don’t accept – I don’t accept the assertion you’re putting to me, Leigh. I mean, you’re making accusations like the Labor party –
Sales: I just gave three examples.
Morrison: – does –
Sales: No, no, I gave you three concrete examples.
Morrison: These are these are minor matters, Leigh, that I don’t think go to the issues you’re talking about –
Sales: That’s my point.
Morrison: If you want to if you want to join in on the accusations that the Labor leader makes in parliament every day, well, you can join in –
Sales: I’m not interested in what the Labor leader’s got to say. I’m putting to you three examples.
Morrison: Well, there’s an uncanny resemblance between the allegations, Leigh.
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Good morning
The definition of trust, according to Merriam-Webster, is “an assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something. One in which confidence is placed.”
It’s something that is the recipient’s to lose.
And it’s what Labor is targeting as the sports rorts train rolls on. Scott Morrison’s interview with Leigh Sales on 7.30 last night showed the prime minister now has a habit of using the line “I could have handled it better” when being forced to admit something he had previously deflected or straight-out denied.
It was what he said when he came back from Hawaii during the bushfire crisis, after his office spent days replying to questions about the holiday with “wrong” and it’s what he has said in regards to Brian Houston’s White House invitation, which he admitted yesterday, after months of dismissing it as “gossip”.
Now Labor is targeting Morrison over his continued insistence his office had nothing to do with the awarding of the grants, despite 136 emails passing between his office and then sports minister, Bridget McKenzie. And then there is the Brian Boyd of the ANAO evidence at Senate estimates, that a project was removed and another added to the sports grants list, “at the direction” of the prime minister’s office. And yet, we continue to hear that there is “nothing to see here”.
Boyd:
No, the minister’s office maintained the spreadsheet at all times. We mentioned, I think when we spoke to the Senate select committee, that there were representations, including sometimes from the prime minister’s office, and, as we said then, not all of those representations led to a change. Sometimes they did. For example, when I referred to one project coming out and one project coming in, in terms of the 8.46 am version, that was at the request of the prime minister’s office. But of the changes made later that day, for the 12.43pm version, none were evident as being at the request of the prime minister’s office rather than the minister’s office making the changes.
When Sales questioned Morrison about the discrepancy between what he is saying and what the independent auditor general’s office has said, he accused her of parroting opposition attack lines.
No prime minister, they are legitimate questions. Katharine Murphy covers that point off in her analysis of the last few days here.
Morrison says he wants to concentrate on the “big” issues impacting Australia right now. That includes coronavirus and the need to inject fiscal stimulus into the economy. Except, the government can’t even call it stimulus. Instead, it is a “targeted, modest and scalable” economic boost.
We’ll cover that, plus everything else as the day rolls on. You have the Canberra team, as well as the extended Guardian brains trust at your disposal. I am almost through my third coffee, so we are almost there.
Ready?
Let’s get into it.
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