That’s it for today, thanks for reading. To recap:
- Labor sought to pressure the employment minister, Michaelia Cash, over a grants program that caused more than $4m in funds to flow overwhelmingly to Coalition seats. Cash denied any politicisation of the scheme.
- The prime minister, Scott Morrison, announced two new high court justices. Justice Simon Steward will start 1 December, and Justice Jacqueline Gleeson will start 1 March.
- The Qatari government apologised for the shocking and awful case of female passengers on a Qatar airlines flight being forced to undergo gynaecological exams after a newborn was found abandoned at the Qatar airport. Dfat earlier confirmed women across 10 Doha flights were examined.
- Victoria recorded two Covid-19 cases and two deaths, as restrictions eased in the state after more than 100 days of lockdown.
Updated
The Dfat estimates hearing is suspended for dinner for the next hour. But look, here’s something else interesting that’s happening in Canberra!
Out for a walk today @MulligansFlat and met a Quoll coming the other way. Not sure who was more surprised. It took off, but stopped to check us out. @visitcanberra @Craigallenabc @KMRiethmiller @GbhvfRon @TimYowie pic.twitter.com/NHXtDs8vTj
— James Smith (@c_mperman) October 28, 2020
Updated
Penny Wong has moved on now to more general questions about the China relationship in Dfat estimates.
The Dfat secretary, Frances Adamson, says the bilateral relationship has been under strain. Values are dividing Australia and Beijing at the moment rather than uniting us, Adamson says.
Wong notes we are not alone in having to manage the complexities in the relationship. Adamson says the whole world is facing this.
“This is one of the big challenges of our age,” the secretary says.
Wong asks Adamson to reflect on how the relationship could become more productive? Adamson says bipartisanship helps.
More broadly, she says, Australia will defend free speech, “but that is not the way China sees it” and that is one of the defining differences, she says.
Adamson says it is very important that Australia does not give up on “pursuing opportunity” with China.
Wong raises consistency of message, “a sense of shared purpose”. She says the message must include a defence of our liberal democratic values, including how we treat diaspora communities in Australia.
Wong moves on to recent, controversial comments from the Liberal senator Eric Abetz. During a recent hearing Abetz asked three Chinese Australians to unconditionally condemn the Chinese Communist party dictatorship.
The foreign minister, Marise Payne, notes that Abetz is a “robust practitioner” of political arts. She says she wasn’t at the hearing. Payne says she defends the right of parliamentarians to be robust contributors. But she adds the only pledge she expects anyone to make is the one people make when they become citizens.
Wong says people should not be asked to defend the CCP “because they are Asian”. She notes Payne is not asked to do that when she appears before committees.
Abetz says ethnicity was not his motivation. “That has been said on a number of occasions,” he says. Abetz says he specifically discounted race and colour when he posed the question. He said there were other Chinese Australians at the hearing and he didn’t ask them for a pledge.
“Wow,” Wong says. “Some but not all.”
Abetz says “other characteristics” (characteristics other than ethnicity) may have motivated his questions.
Wong asks whether that sort of question might make other Chinese Australians reluctant to engage with parliament if that’s how they are treated.
Payne says she understands why Wong is asking the question but this is “more a matter for the chamber than for an estimates committee discussion”.
Wong thinks Payne ought to stand up for multicultural values. Payne says she’s been very clear about her view and her long commitment to multicultural Australia.
The Liberal senator Concetta Fierravanti Wells interjects: other communities have faced similar experiences. She thinks Wong is trying to score a political point.
Things are deteriorating rapidly here. The Labor senator Tim Ayers interjects: senators should reflect deeply on what happened in that committee, he says.
Wong interjects: can I ask questions please? This is not about political point scoring, she says. She says she has been consistent her entire career about these issues. Wong notes that Liberal senator Andrew Bragg has characterised the Abetz question as degrading.
Payne repeats her position: there is only one pledge people should be asked to make, the citizenship pledge. Wong says: why won’t you say it was wrong? Payne says she’s been “absolutely clear”. Wong says she needs to be clearer, she needs to use her position to articulate “values that matter”.
Abetz digs in. He says the Chinese diaspora are interfered with by the CCP. He thinks it’s “exceptionally patronising” to suggest Chinese Australians have a singular view. The Tasmanian Liberal senator says the question was appropriate. He says he agrees with Payne on the citizenship pledge.
Wong tracks back to Adamson. She asks whether relationships with the diaspora are important at the moment given the tensions. “Of course senator,” the secretary says. Wong asks whether she has ever asked anyone to give a pledge of loyalty? “No senator,” Adamson says.
Updated
Speaking of China, Andrew Hastie MP, the chair of the joint parliamentary intelligence and security committee, has just rocked up to watch this estimates hearing.
Updated
The Senate committee into foreign affairs, defence and trade is back on to last week’s furore about Australians of Chinese heritage being asked to denounce the Chinese Communist Party.
Senator Penny Wong asked foreign affairs minister Marise Payne about a “double standard” regarding the Coalition’s treatment of experts who gave evidence before a Senate inquiry and its denouncement of concerns about the connections of Chisholm MP Gladys Liu.
Wong said prime minister Scott Morrison described questioning about Liu’s alleged links to organisations who supported the CCP as having a “grubby undertone” and were a “broader smear” against Chinese-Australians.
Wong said that given that, did Payne condemn the questioning last week by senator Eric Abetz of three Chinese-Australians.
Payne did not. She said she did not know the experts who were questioned or the full context, but all Australians should only pledge allegiance to Australia.
Updated
This just in from NSW Health. Take particular note if you’ve been trampolining in Prestons or eating Lebanese in Liverpool. Oh, and if you went to Westfield Bondi, and a few other places too:
NSW Health is alerting the public that a confirmed case of Covid-19, who will be included in tomorrow’s numbers, has attended venues in Sydney’s south-west and east.
Anyone who attended the following venues for at least an hour at these times is considered a close contact and must get tested immediately and isolate for a full 14 days from exposure regardless of the result:
- Jasmins Lebanese Restaurant, 375 Macquarie Street, Liverpool, on Sunday 25 October between 2pm and 3.30pm
- Flip Out Prestons Indoor Trampoline Park, Unit B/238 Hoxton Park Road, Prestons, on Sunday 25 October between noon and 1.50pm.
Anyone who attended the following venues is considered a casual contact and must monitor for symptoms and get tested immediately if they develop. After testing, they must remain in isolation until a negative test result is received:
- Carnes Hill Marketplace, Kurrajong Road, Carnes Hill, on Tuesday 27 October between 3.30pm and 4.30pm
- Watsup Brothers kebab shop, 149 Eldridge Road, Condell Park, on Saturday 24 October between 5.30pm and 6pm
- Ali Baba Charcoal Chicken, 2 Civic Road, Auburn, on Monday 26 October between 1pm and 1.20pm
- Westfield Bondi Junction, 500 Oxford Street, Bondi Junction, Saturday 24 October between 1.30pm and4.30pm.
Testing numbers have dropped recently, which is a concern. NSW Health asks people to come forward for testing right away if you have even the mildest of symptoms like a runny nose or scratchy throat, cough, fever or other symptoms.
There are more than300 Covid testing locations across NSW. To find your nearest clinic visit https://www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/how-to-protect-yourself-and-others/clinics or contact your GP.
Updated
Australia’s mandatory data retention laws will be potentially overhauled to limit the number of government agencies with access to it.
The metadata laws, passed in 2015, require Australian telecommunications companies to retain records of calls, text messages and other forms of communications by their customers for two years to allow just over 20 government agencies including the state and federal police, Asio and others to access without a warrant for investigating criminal acts.
A long-running inquiry had heard that many more than just those agencies supposed to have access were still accessing the data using a separate part of the Telecommunications Act. They included local councils and the RSPCA.
The joint parliamentary committee on intelligence and security made 22 recommendations for the legislation, including repealing the law that allowed access to other agencies.
The bipartisan committee also recommended clearly defining the meaning of “content” of communications separately from metadata, to make it clear what law enforcement would need to obtain a warrant to gain access.
The agencies (bar Asio) that do access metadata should also keep reports on the number of authorisations for that data per officer, the case numbers, specific offences, why the authorisation was granted, whether the data was used to rule someone out of an investigation and other such information in the event that oversight bodies such as the commonwealth ombudsman or parliament requests it.
Asio would be required to explain the nature of the national security risk, and whether the intrusion into someone’s privacy was reasonable and proportionate.
The committee is chaired by the Liberal MP Andrew Hastie, and the bipartisan recommendations of the committee are typically adopted by the government. However, the committee also previously recommended going back to the drawing board for legislation on the government’s facial recognition system, and it’s been a year since that report was handed to government and no new legislation has yet to to be introduced into parliament.
Updated
Michaelia Cash grilled at estimates about business grant scheme
In estimates a little earlier, Labor sought to pressure the employment minister, Michaelia Cash, over a grants program that caused more than $4m in funds to flow overwhelmingly to Coalition seats.
The grant program for Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Export Hubs, designed to support Australian exporters, has been run across two rounds, the first worth $4.5m and the second about $10m.
According to a Labor analysis, about 97% of first round funding went to recipients in Liberal or National seats, while only 3% went to Labor seats. Labor has been alleging politicisation of the scheme since June, and resumed its attack on Wednesday.
Cash denied any suggestion of politicisation. She said electorates formed no part of the assessment process.
“This was a competitive grants program with all applicants providing access of how they met the criteria ... through a two-stage selection process,” Cash said.
“The applications were assessed by that criteria through programs established by the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources. All projects were then recommended to the minister based on merit.”
Cash said the minister did not depart from the department’s recommendations. In a press release, the shadow industry minister, Brendan O’Connor, accused Cash of ducking questions.
“Is the only way for Australians to ensure they are not left behind is be associated with the LNP?” he said.
“Instead of providing any useful information, Senator Cash spent the entire time under questioning from Senator O’Neill avoiding answering the simple question – were eight projects out of nine delivered in Coalition-held electorates in round one of the SME Export Hubs funding round?”
Later in estimates, the Labor MP Deborah O’Neill raised a series of allegations that grants had gone to Liberal donors and companies associated with the party.
That included a $250,000 grant awarded to Food South Australia, whose chair is a past Liberal donor. A grant of $839,000 was also awarded to the Toowoomba and Surat Basin Enterprise.
Estimates heard that Ian Macfarlane, a former LNP MP, is a director of that company. O’Neill asked whether those were “coincidences”.
“I have not alleged a single thing, I am asking your opinion,” she said. Cash said the grant process was independent and the allegations that the process favoured a political party were “unfair”.
Updated
The Liberal senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells is less than convinced that the inquiry into Covid is going to be sufficiently independent.
Dfat officials say there are four official inquiries under way, including an examination of the zoonotic source of the virus. The Dfat official currently at the table says that particular inquiry will visit Wuhan, which is ground zero of Covid-19.
Penny Wong wonders whether Fierravanti-Wells is suggesting the foreshadowing of the inquiry (with weapons inspector powers) by the government falls a bit short in the practical delivery. Liberal Eric Abetz seems amused by this thought.
The Dfat secretary, Frances Adamson, says she “does not expect there will be weapons inspector powers at the end of this process”. She suggests the prime minister was reflecting national sentiment.
Updated
Evening all, grazie mille Amy Remeikis.
Updated
I’m going to hand you over to Nino Bucci for the evening.
We have the last day of parliament (and full day of estimates) tomorrow so, given that, I think we can expect quite a bit of QUEENSLANDER from both sides. So if you hear a screaming from where you are, it’s me rampaging through the press gallery hallway.
Thank you for joining us again through these shenanigans today. It has been a bit of a day. Melbourne – I hope you had a better one.
I’ll be back early tomorrow morning. In the meantime, please – take care of you.
Updated
Penny Wong has moved on to Scott Morrison advocating that people running the inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus, the World Health Organization, should be given powers analogous to weapons inspectors.
(I’d actually forgotten this. It feels like a century ago. But that did happen.)
Marise Payne says the prime minister’s point was about “robustness”. Payne notes investigators need proper powers to conduct their work.
Wong asks Payne: when were you aware the prime minister was going to float that? Payne says Wong is not representing the breadth of what the prime minister said at the time.
Wong says he talked about weapons inspector powers. “You can’t pretend that didn’t happen,” Wong says. Payne says she’s not doing that.
Was the prime minister aware that there are protocols for weapons inspectors, requiring consent before they enter a country, asks Wong? Payne is sure the prime minister was aware of this.
Wong asks whether Australia has pursued this idea in other forums? Payne says this is “an ongoing process, not a completed process”.
Wong asks officials if there is any text that would back this proposal up – that we’ve put this as part of the discussions concerning the inquiry? Some text is produced by the officials.
Wong isn’t convinced by the text.
Wong then notes some commentary by the former foreign minister Julie Bishop warning the government against adopting ad hoc responses. Any response to that, Wong asks Payne.
“No,” the foreign minister says. Wong prods, Bishop has some experience in these matters. Payne doesn’t bite.
“Her comments are her own,” she says.
Updated
A bit from Mike Bowers in question time:
Updated
Labor’s Penny Wong has moved now to questions about Australia’s decision to pursue an independent investigation into the origins of the coronavirus – a push that created significant diplomatic friction with China several months ago.
Frances Adamson says officials had been discussing this “in the weeks leading up to the [foreign] minister’s appearance on Insiders” in April this year (that was where the proposal was first flagged).
The fact Australia would pursue a call for an independent investigation was something “I heard when it was announced but it did not surprise me,” Adamson says.
She says Marise Payne did not ring her prior to the Insiders appearance but she was not surprised by the development “because we’d been talking about the need for an investigation”.
Wong says there’s nothing unusual about wanting an investigation into the origins of the pandemic, but the unusual element was Australia seeking to pursue that idea unilaterally.
Wong asks Adamson was she aware that was the plan?
Adamson says no. “Not in those terms, no,” she says.
Payne tells Wong she is not going into internal deliberations within the government, but says that proposal was discussed at senior levels before she flagged it on the ABC.
“I’m not going to go into those conversations,” the foreign minister says.
Wong asks: “Who made the decision to make the announcement?”
Payne says: “The government.”
Wong is displeased. She persists. Who made that decision to announce this domestically? “The government,” Payne says again.
“Did you just want an announcement for the day,” Wong asks, rhetorically. Payne lets that go through to the keeper.
Wong asks if Australia sought support from allies. Payne says she had discussions with like-minded colleagues: “I’m not going to go into the details of those.”
“You made an announcement before you locked anyone in,” Wong says.
Updated
Asked whether it is just score settling, because he and Kevin Rudd didn’t get a good run in the papers, Malcolm Turnbull says:
That is true, although Kevin had more of a honeymoon with them than I did, to say the least.
Look, I think that we have got a real problem, Patricia, and you see, where I think the, you know, Kevin’s royal commission, the terms of reference and the proposals are perhaps not quite right, which is what I, you know, at some point will discuss, is that it is not just a question of monopoly.
Rupert Murdoch has had a near monopoly of daily newspapers, particularly in the big capital cities, since 1987, when in fact the Labor government allowed him to buy the Herald and Weekly Times group, and that is how he became the dominant, you know, newsprint publisher in so many parts of Australia.
Now, in some respects, Murdoch’s share of the media voice is now less than it used to be because there are so many other voices, there are new digital players, some of them big newspapers like the Guardian and other smaller players, but what has happened is the mainstream media, with the exception of the ABC, the notable exception, has become increasingly politicised.
You know, it is one thing to have a newspaper that says avowedly, we lean left or right. The Guardian, which leans left, and always has done for over 100 years, but nonetheless, under their editor, Lenore Taylor, here in Australia, and Katharine Viner in the UK, they have high standards of journalism. They do not run propaganda, it is not a political operation in the way that News Corp has become*.
Basically, what has happened is the craziness and partisanship of the social media of Twitter in particular, has infected much of the mainstream media, and in particular, news.
Paul Kelly is one of our great, you know, journalists and editors and historians. Paul made this point to me some years ago, and I have noted that in my book, it was quite a discussion of this issue, in my book, the way that we have seen the media landscape fracture to the point now where people can live in their own echo chambers.
If you believe Donald Trump is right and he is defending America against the antifa and the left and associated conspiracy theories, you can actually get a channel of news, both mainstream and online, social media, that will confirm all of that, and ditto for people with alternative views.
The problem is, what is happening is our political discourse is being fractured by this phenomenon of social media, and the increasing partisanship that comes with it. Finding the solution is not easy, by the way, though, you know, because people are entitled to free speech and so forth. But it is a big issue and I think it is corroding and undermining people’s faith in democracy.
*Full disclosure, I work for the Guardian in Australia and this blog is published on the Guardian in Australia. Also as covered in his book, Malcolm Turnbull played a small role in this publication’s start in Australia – but Lenore Taylor covers that off here.
Updated
Malcolm Turnbull is speaking to Patricia Karvelas about why he decided to sign Kevin Rudd’s petition calling for a royal commission into News Corp:
I think it’s a huge issue, the partisanship and politicisation of the mainstream media, particularly through News Corp.
As I said at the time, I think it is unlikely a royal commission would be held, but the way in which Murdoch uses his news media nowadays, basically just as a political propaganda source.
News Corp is for all intents and purposes like a political party, and it protects its friends and it pushes its own barrow.
Look at the way they have promoted and defended Trump in the United States, for example, they have been probably the single most determined opponent of climate change action.
You know, climate denial is part of their armoury. How much damage have they done to the environment, to the world, to the future that our children are going to inherit? It is profoundly partisan in operation, and I think people have got to – it is quite different to what News Corp was like 20 years ago. It has become so partisan.
Updated
‘What we are looking for is the peaceful maintenance of the status quo’
Good afternoon from Dfat estimates. We’ve arrived now at China and tensions with Taiwan. The independent senator Rex Patrick is asking officials about the risks of a Taiwan straits crisis in the near term.
The Dfat secretary, Frances Adamson, chooses her words carefully. She says diplomacy is being deployed to make sure “that we don’t get to that point”.
“But it is certainly something I would be more concerned about this year than a year ago, or possibly in fact at any time over the last three and a half decades that I’ve worked on this subject if you like,” Adamson says.
Patrick asks about additional American support for Taiwan. What does this support mean?
Marise Payne says Australia’s absolute focus is on security and stability in the region.
She says Australia is committed to constructive cross-strait relations.
Patrick asks if Australia intends to step up its unofficial relationship with Taiwan. The Dfat official Elly Lawson says Australia is pursuing an “inclusive” approach to ensure Taiwan is involved in major international discussions, such as discussions about Covid.
Lawson says there are no plans for ministerial visits to Taiwan, but that remains under review.
Patrick asks whether officials are concerned about any plans by the Chinese government to occupy islands that Taiwan claims in the South China Sea.
Adamson says any escalation like that would not be desirable.
“What we are looking for is the peaceful maintenance of the status quo.” She notes that both China and Taiwan are capable of escalations in the disputed territory. She says escalation by either side is not desirable.
The Liberal senator Concetta Fierravanti Wells notes American is becoming more hawkish about Taiwan. Do we intend to follow suit?
Adamson says there’s a very long history about this issue. You are right that the Trump administration is more “forward leaning” about Taiwan than previous administrations, Adamson says.
The secretary says Australia wants Taiwan to have “the international space” to participate in Apec and the World Health Assembly.
She suggests Australia will not be a replica of the administration on Taiwan.
Updated
The Pacific island of Palau will build an undersea telecoms cable financed by Australia, Japan, and the United States in a US$30m project, Australia said on Wednesday.
It is the first project financed under an infrastructure investment partnership in the region among the three nations, the foreign minister, Marise Payne, said in a statement.
“We are very pleased to work alongside Japan and the United States to support Palau’s vision to strengthen its global internet connectivity,” Payne said.
The cable will link Palau to a new cable spanning the Indo-Pacific region from Singapore to the west coast of the United States, the statement said.
Australia has stepped up engagement in the Pacific Island region amid concerns over rising Chinese influence, and the three nations’ infrastructure investment partnership is seen as offering an alternative to Chinese funding. Australia has also recently opened its first embassy in Palau’s largest city Koror.
Australia will contribute approximately US$10m to the Palau cable project. This includes US$1.4m for a marine survey and branching unit, and a loan of approximately US$9m from the Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific (AIFFP) to help finance the construction of the cable.
Japan, the United States and Palau are also making significant contributions.
Australia funded the construction of the Coral Sea Cable, stretching from Sydney’s Tamarama Beach to Honiara in Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea’s capital Port Moresby.
That replaced an earlier deal the two archipelago nations had struck with China’s Huawei Technologies to lay a cable via Sydney, which Canberra feared could jeopardise its broadband network.
Bringing high-speed internet to Pacific island communities is not without challenges.
Updated
Labor’s matter of public importance today has been on child care.
Tanya Plibersek used that as an opportunity to point out the difference in gender parity the government has within its ranks.
It’s not surprising that there is a difference in policy between our side and that side.
We saw today the release of a report from the Menzies Institute co-authored by the member for Boothby. And as the report acknowledges, the Liberal party is nowhere near on track to meeting its commitment to seeing half of its members, elected members, be female by 2025.
We had the same goal to reach 50% by 2025, we’re almost there now.
They’re stuck at around about a quarter.
I want to compliment the member for Boothby for her involvement in this matter. It is a brave thing to do. It’s gutsy, and I want to compliment her for calling out this problem in the modern Liberal party because it is a serious problem when you you acknowledge that something is an issue – we want to increase female representation and then you stick solidly at 25% for decades after that.
Unfortunately, the report goes on to vehemently reject any kind of quota or target system, saying that it undermines the principles of competitive enterprise and reward for effort.
You know, I heard someone – someone gave me a good bit of advice today about how we deal with this issue of inequality, of female representation in politics and in other male-dominated areas. They said you could solve this problem overnight, if only women had the confidence of a mediocre man.
I think there is a few people on the other side who prove that point.
Plibersek says she would like to offer her advice, if it would help:
I actually have made this offer before and I make it really sincerely and in the spirit of bipartisanship. I would be happy to sit down with senior Liberal women, as I’ve done with some senior National women, and say, ‘this is our experience’. ‘This is how we fought for and achieved change in the Australian Labor party.’ Because it doesn’t happen by accident. It doesn’t happen overnight.
It’s happened because, you know, these women here and many, many thousands more have fought for and achieve this change over time.
Updated
The RSPCA has criticised the agriculture minister, David Littleproud, for stepping back proposed changes to the Australian standards for livestock, which would have increased the space allowance for cattle at live export ships to allow them to lie down.
The proposed change was due to come into effect from 1 November.
But yesterday, the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment released an update to the Australian Standards for the Export of Livestock (ASEL) 3.0.
The standards were previously drafted to include a default space allowance based on an allometric calculation, based on the size of the animal. The update amends space requirements to allow exporters to abide by a reduced pen space allocation – effectively continuing the current space allowances under ASEL 2.3.
The RSPCA’s Dr Jed Goodfellow said: “Stakeholders have been working hard behind the scenes for two years, with multiple public consultations, to secure these very modest changes – but at the 11th hour, minister Littleproud has stepped in to undermine the agreed improvements.
“All we’re talking about is giving cattle a little bit of additional space to allow them to lie down and to better access food and water troughs on these voyages, which can sometimes take weeks and weeks.
“It’s an incredibly modest change, which is why it’s even more disappointing that the minister has stepped in to block it.”
Goodfellow said that winding back the standards should be seen as “a major blow to trust in the industry and the government’s commitment to animal welfare”.
“We know that reducing stocking densities is one simple and tangible step that can improve animal welfare outcomes on these voyages.
“And it’s frankly bewildering to see the live exporters still doggedly focused on mortality rates, and not considering the welfare of animals that are alive – something we know Australians are very concerned about.”
Updated
AAP has a vaccine update:
Australia is on track to receive its first batch of coronavirus vaccinations early next year.
The federal government has pumped $1.7bn into two lead vaccine candidates.
The health minister, Greg Hunt, said the latest trials of the Oxford University AstraZeneca vaccine were very positive.
“There are no guarantees but this week’s results, coming out of phase three trials, are deeply important,” Hunt told parliament.
“It means we are on track for first vaccines to be delivered in the first quarter of 2021.
“Equally, the results coming out of the early phase of trials in relation to the molecular clamp are also very positive.”
The molecular clamp is being developed at the University of Queensland.
Both vaccines will be produced at a CSL plant in Melbourne if they prove successful.
Older Australians are considered the most vulnerable and will be the priority for receiving a vaccine.
But the Department of Health secretary, Brendan Murphy, has warned elderly Australians may not be able to get the jab as the medicine has not been trialled among people aged over 65.
Other people high on the priority list are health and aged care workers as well as Indigenous Australians.
Medical experts are developing a range of strategies to roll out potential vaccines.
Hospitals and general practitioners could be set up as vaccine clinics, while coronavirus testing centres may also be repurposed to administer jabs.
Murphy plans to train up a whole army of nurses to dole out the drugs, while specialist teams will take care of the aged care sector.
It is likely Australians will need two coronavirus jabs.
Updated
Students at the University of Sydney have occupied a building on campus that houses the vice-chancellor’s office in a protest against cuts to staff in medical sciences.
Approximately 50 students are in the building, chanting and asking for the vice-chancellor, Michael Spence, to meet with them.
Medical student Oscar Chaffey said in a statement that it was “Machiavellian” to cut staff in medical sciences during a pandemic.
“The entire notion that you would attempt to fire large swathes of medical science staff in the midst of a once-in-a-century pandemic is totally farcical,” he said.
USyd students are currently occupying the universities administration building, where senior management, including Michael Spence, have their offices. Students are refusing to leave until the university commit to reversing all staff and course cuts. #Auspol pic.twitter.com/dnEBFPXg7l
— jazz (@opinionatedleft) October 28, 2020
Updated
Daniel Andrews has released a statement on the Melbourne Cup:
I have today advised the Victoria Racing Club that connections of horses competing at the Melbourne Cup Carnival will not be permitted to attend the course.
The government has determined that next week is not a suitable time for gatherings of that nature.*
It is the right decision and has been made in the interests of all Victorians.
The four days at Flemington will enthral racing fans and the Melbourne Cup will, as always, stop the nation.
We wish the Victoria Racing Club and owners all the best for the carnival.
*which makes the Cox Plate announcement (and then backtrack) even more confusing, but anyways.
Updated
As we all wait to see what will be left of the Covid supplement for the unemployment payment beyond 31 December – an answer we will get in the first two weeks of December – Labor’s Linda Burney points out just how many people will be relying on it.
From her statement:
The number of people on unemployment payments will surge to 1.8 million by December, an increase of 300,000 over previous projections, the Department of Social Services (DSS) told a Senate estimates hearing today.
Senator Katy Gallagher, Shadow Minister for Finance:
Are you still expecting – I think when we met through the Covid committee you were expecting 1.5 million people to be on unemployment payments, jobseeker and youth allowance (other), at the end of the year? Does that remain your forecast?
DSS Official:
… the current forecast for the quarter, second quarter 20/21, reflects an average of 1.8 million.
[Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee, Estimates Hearing – Wednesday, 28 October 2020, 11.50am]
It was also confirmed that the number of people forced to get by on unemployment payments will be higher in 2024 than it was before the recession, with DSS projecting the average number of people will be:
- 1.3 million in 2021-22
- 1 million in 2022-23
- 900,000 in 2023-24
This compares to 813,000 people relying on unemployment payments in December 2019.
Updated
Only three decades to go!
Looks like 2050 will be an important year:
— Gareth Hutchens (@grhutchens) October 28, 2020
- Koalas become extinct in NSW
- Japan and South Korea start producing net zero emissions
- Only four years to go until the $90 billion future submarines program is finally fully delivered
Question time ends (about 10 minutes earlier than usual).
Both Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese take a moment to acknowledge the fire and emergency service workers who have lost their lives while on duty, on what is Fire and Emergency Service memorial day.
Morrison once again reads out their names:
Phillip Bell, Ian Long, Robert Panitz, Geoffrey Keaton, Andrew O’Dwyer, Sam McPaul, Colin Burns, Ian McBeth, Rick DeMorgan Jr, Paul Hudson, Bill Slade, Mathew Kavanagh, David Moresi, and George Baldock.
Updated
Richard Marles to Melissa Price:
Can the minister confirm the government has spent $3.8m for defence helicopters with doors too narrow for the troops to fire guns and [move] out the door at the same time? Why has the government spent billions of dollars on helicopters that are not fit for combat?
Price:
The MRH 90 helicopter referred to by the member opposite does meet defence objectives, and it’s no secret that this helicopter has had some technical challenges [at this time].
The member opposite me might like to know that both the minister Reynolds and I have been working very closely with industry and with the department to make sure that we do overcome these challenges, to make sure we have the capability that our men and women in uniform deserve.
Let me be clear, we know this is an incredible capability of our defence force. I would like to take a moment to quote General Angus Campbell from Senate estimates yesterday when he said this is an extraordinarily advanced helicopter. It can do things that no other helicopter on the planet can do.
We on this side are very proud of the $270bn investment in our defence capability, they are world-class, technically advanced and every now and then we experience challenges*, but we on this side are committed, and we are up to the job, we are committed to our men and women in uniform, we are committed to our capability. And the Australian public know that we on this side can be trusted to make sure that our defence has the capability that it deserves.
*The challenges in this case is being able to get out the door.
Updated
Keith Pitt tries to use a dixer to attack the Queensland deputy premier, Steven Miles, for a social media post, but the Speaker very quickly shuts him down and speaks for all of us when he says:
Let me sum it up, I will be glad when the Queensland election is over.
Updated
Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:
Can the prime minister confirm the government announced the $18m boosting female founders initiative in May 2018, reannounced [it] on 21 November, on 17 March 2020, but still has not provided a single dollar in grants almost two years later by 30 October this year?
Morrison:
The female founders program, which sits as part of the women’s economic security statement and the second of which was included in this year’s budget, and not only does it go to the challenges of ensuring that we see more Australian women found their own businesses, but ensures more Australian women find their way into Stem skills and occupations and start small businesses and pursue their entrepreneurial ambitions.
That is why it is so important. It has addressed not only that, but superannuation and future earnings and the choices they need. It is also supporting ...
Albanese:
Yes, we know about the announcement and reannouncements. The question went to whether a single dollar has been delivered under this program.
Morrison:
I will be happy to invite the minister for industry, who can add to my answer to this issue. And I take the interjection. I will take the interjection. The only person who needs help in this place is this guy over here. We saw that yesterday ... what an embarrassment.
Karen Andrews:
I am happy to answer this question and add to what the prime minister has already said. This was an announcement that was made in 2018 that the funding would flow in 2020-21 ...
What we have said very clearly is that we were going to go through a process of consultation and this has been answered comprehensively in the Senate estimates this morning.
Would you just be quiet!
... It was answered extensively in Senate estimates when Senator O’Neill sought to rely on a press release issued by me but the second half which [talked about the funding] was not visible. She was prosecuting a myth.
This funding is now in the process of being finalised, ready to be rolled out. There were 2,200 applicants for this funding. Our process has been very solid, very transparent and it will deliver in the very near future.
Updated
And the video:
Here's the government's explanation for why Australia does not have a definition of poverty from #estimates today. pic.twitter.com/RCws6iXRt4
— Luke Henriques-Gomes (@lukehgomes) October 28, 2020
Updated
Seriously, if this is the benchmark, there are a lot of names I could throw in here, but there are internet laws about that sort of stuff.
"Love him or loathe him - he employs a lot of Australians and we don't ask who goes on his planes."
— Jamie Travers (@JamieTravers) October 28, 2020
Deputy PM @M_McCormackMP in full flight when asked about waiving landing fees for Clive Palmer's private jet as part of broader aviation industry support🛬 pic.twitter.com/6aWp2mQxOV
“Poverty”
This is quite an enlightening exchange. Ruston: "A narrow definition of 'poverty' (Ruston gestures air quotes) is not something the government has ever sought."
— Luke Henriques-Gomes (@lukehgomes) October 28, 2020
Gallagher: Do you think people on payments now live in poverty?
Ruston: Income support is a safety net
Catherine King inflicts more Michael McCormack on everyone.
Honestly. There are limits.
King:
Yesterday the deputy prime minister said he was proud of the aviation assistance the government provided to the owners of private jets. As if out of the thousands of taxpayer dollars to subsidise the Leppington private jet along with the $30m for land that was only worth $3m.
Tip Top gives an answer that is full of the things he is proud of, but doesn’t address the actual question.
I mean, the counterfactual would be that he is not proud of issues raised in the question, given he dedicated a bunch of time to what he was proud of, but that’s for brains bigger than mine to judge.
Updated
Milton Dick gets a third question for the week!
But it is ruled out of order.
I refer to the tens of thousands of dollars given to Clive Palmer to subsidise his private jet. What do the deputy prime minister and his Queensland mates get in return? Why has he not asked for taxpayer dollar money back?
Updated
Over in estimates, the foreign minister, Marise Payne, has clarified her evidence about conversations with Scott Morrison on the Qatar issue.
Penny Wong wanted to check the details given what the prime minister had told question time.
Payne said her earlier answer was about whether she had spoken directly with Morrison on the issue. She took it to mean “a bilateral conversation” between the two of them. Instead, she had “engaged with his office”.
But she said the issue was also raised in a broader group discussion this week.
“The matter was raised in a discussion with colleagues, a regular meeting with a small number of colleagues … the prime minister and I were both present.”
Updated
Milton Dick summons Michael McCormack back to the dispatch box.
Dick has had two questions this week – must be a Queensland election on!
Dick:
I refer to the government subsidising Clive Palmer’s luxury jet and his comments about the LNP. As he says, I don’t [forget my] friends and over many years. When did the government first known it was subsidising luxury private jets for its friends?
An angry Tip Top:
Fired up like you did yesterday Joel? (in response to heckling)
In total more than 1,360 operators have been supported to date, and it’s like the jobkeeper program, we didn’t discriminate, we provided it to all businesses that were eligible ... it’s been 23 seconds!
Tony Burke gets up on a point of relevance just 23 seconds in (to be fair, if I had that power, I would probably last about 1.5 seconds).
The deputy prime minister is referring to the jobkeeper program is keeping people in work. We’re talking about one of Australia’s wealthiest people (and subsidising) his luxury private jet.
Tony Smith isn’t having it though:
The manager of opposition business does not have a point of order. I’m going to take that as a point of order of relevance, and the deputy prime minister is 23 seconds into the question.
Before I call him back, just put your seatbelt on for a second. The nature of questions like this, which are borderline, very borderline, where they are asking about political parties and friends and all the rest of it, certainly mean for me there is a much wider tolerance. The question could easily have been ruled out of order, it could have been, and we notice the opposition leader shaking his head. I could have ruled that out of order five different ways, and I won’t go through them all now. So I do allow a lot more latitude, and as I have said. We will address this at a later point when it comes to questions and answers, and I have to say I give fair warning now, questions that are essentially political attack statements create a proportionate response and if the House wants to fix that, I am more than happy to help. It will be questions are very specific and the answers will be much shorter. But on this question, the deputy prime minister is being relevant to it, and in fact even rereading it now, as I said he is entitled to be answering his way.
Tip Top:
As I said, this program has supported 1,360 operators, including the one mentioned who does employ a lot of Australians, and we don’t ask who goes on these planes, we don’t ask, we haven’t discriminated.
(Chris Bowen is kicked out for interjecting. Lucky.)
Tip Top:
I don’t know why those opposite are engaging in this class warfare. We are getting on with the job of helping all Australians, no matter what their state of income is, through this Covid recession. And what I want to see as the aviation minister, the minister responsible for transport, more planes in the air and we can do that by lifting those restrictions on our borders, so that we can facilitate more interstate travel, meaning more planes flying to more destinations and more jobs.
Updated
The Boxing Day Test will go on, at the MCG:
MCG Confirmed As Natural Home Of Boxing Day Test - https://t.co/LqFkibPZoH #springst
— Victorian Government News (@VicGovtNews) October 28, 2020
Updated
So means testing for child care – commonsense.
Means testing for sector support – we don’t discriminate.
Updated
Catherine King to Michael McCormack:
Yesterday the deputy prime minister justified giving tens of thousands of dollars to the owners of private jets because they helped ensure frontline medical personnel could get around the country. How many frontline medical personnel did billionaire Clive Palmer carry on his luxury private jet?
Tip Top is cranky:
Our entire aviation ... sector will be critical in supporting the broader economy and the recovery from the Covid-19 crisis.
It supports hundreds of thousands of jobs, promotes competition, ensures services regularly reach all Australians.
It’s not possible for the aviation industry to hibernate over the coming months without government support, and this is what the member for Ballarat, the shadow minister for transport, had to say on the 3 April.
We acknowledge that it was necessary to provide the support on a sector-wide basis and we did not discriminate, we did not discriminate, we did not discriminate between those operating charter flights, let me tell you, the Royal Flying Doctor Service is also a beneficiary that we have provided.
Two point seven billion dollars for the aviation sector, and I am asked about the importance and what has transpired with charter flights, and I have said all along, repeatedly, ad nauseam, that planes in the air means jobs on the ground, and from a practical point of view, every commercial flight, and this is important, this is an important point, requires a minimum of one to two pilots, one cabin crew, one ground crew, one airport reporting officer, one air traffic controller, one firefighter, one airline operations personnel and one refueller. So every plane that takes off requires ground crew, people to ensure, and you may laugh and you may mock, but the fact is we are providing valuable assistance for the aviation sector.
The shadow minister supported that then, but does not obviously support it now.
Updated
Over in estimates, Dfat officials say they were last able to visit the Australian writer Yang Hengjun – who is detained in China and is expected to soon face trial on espionage charges – by video link on 22 September.
Australia is still seeking more information about the precise charges, Dfat official Greg Wilcock said.
Wilcock confirmed consular officials had also made two visits to the detained news anchor Cheng Lei and “that number still stands”. The last such visit occurred on 28 September.
Cheng has been detained by China’s ministry of state security and is being held in a detention centre in Beijing, the hearing was told.
Australia continues to raise both cases with Chinese authorities. That included the Australian ambassador to China making representations “in the last week”.
Updated
There was a question from Ged Kearney there, which made an allegation against someone, using parliamentary privilege.
Given that Tveeder (the transcription service) doesn’t always get every word right, I will leave it until I have a moment to transcribe it myself – parliamentary privilege is one thing, but publishing something incorrectly is not covered by privilege, and therefore protected from court action.
And I like my job, and the Guardian’s place in the media landscape, so I’ll be treading carefully with things like that.
Updated
Josh Frydenberg acknowledges the work the Sturt MP, James Stevens, did in the wool industry before coming to parliament (he was the chief of staff to the South Australian premier right before he took over from Christopher Pyne).
Frydenberg also acknowledges that unlike Pyne, Stevens gets his own lemons for his gin and tonics.
Updated
Amanda Rishworth asks about the costs of childcare.
Scott Morrison:
Because childcare is so important is one of the reasons the government made the changes to childcare, and as a result of those changes the costs have fallen by just over 3%, Mr Speaker.
Mr Speaker, prior to that they were rising and under those opposite they increased by 50% when their reforms only saw childcare costs go through the roof.
We had the Productivity Commission report, we listened to that report, we grafted changes to the childcare system, which not only saw the out-of-pocket expenses for childcare compared to before the report come down but, in addition to that, its all workforce participation increase, its female participation increase to record levels, and the gender pay gap fall to new lows. And on top of that we know that there are many, many, of course there are, women are incredibly entrepreneurial. We are a government that has a minister for family business because we understand when you’re running a family business, it requires all of the family’s involvement and the sacrifices that families make as part of small family businesses are significant and many of the members who sit on this side of the chamber have grown up in family businesses and it is important family businesses get that support.
That is why we made the changes that we did but, as is always the case, in the supports that we provide, we make sure that they are targeted and we make sure they are means-tested and those who need it the most get the most support, and that is what our changes are doing.
Updated
It’s now estimated 1.8 million people will be receiving jobseeker payments at Christmas, Senate estimates has heard.
Under questioning from the Labor senator Katy Gallagher, the Department of Social Services official Shane Bennett confirmed “the current forecast for the second quarter 2020-21 reflects an average of 1.8 million”.
In July, the Covid committee heard the forecast was about 1.5 million.
#estimates update:
— Katy Gallagher (@SenKatyG) October 28, 2020
DSS has revised UP the number of people expected to be on unemployment payments in Dec to 1.8 million.
Forecasts predict it will take another 3 years to fall to 1 million recipients and 4 years on it will still be higher than pre-pandemic levels.#auspol
The committee heard the increased forecast would have taken into account the Victorian lockdown and the transition of people from jobkeeper to jobseeker.
Bennett said the department forecast there would still be 1 million people receiving jobseeker payments in 2022-23, and 1.3 million 2021-22.
Gallagher noted it meant welfare payment levels would remain well above pre-pandemic levels across the budget’s forward estimates.
There were about 700,000 people receiving jobseeker payments before the pandemic.
“It does beg the question with this knowledge ... why you aren’t moving to permanently increase the payment,” Gallagher said.
DSS officials said the figures remained “volatile”.
There are currently about 1.4 million people on payments.
Updated
Michael McCormack is speaking about Queensland in his dixer.
Never thought I wouldn’t want to hear about my home, but here we are.
Not even the greatest nation on earth can manage to compete with McCormack’s blandness.
Helen Haines has asked Greg Hunt when the government will be providing home care packages to everyone who is entitled to one.
This is the most relevant part of the answer:
I am advised at this point in time 98% of those who are seeking home care packages have either been offered or given access to support to the commonwealth home support program or the home care program.
Updated
The legal community seems underwhelmed by the appointment of Simon Steward and Jacqueline Gleeson to the high court.
With Geoffrey Nettle and Virginia Bell retiring and both their replacements coming from the federal court, it seems there will be a dearth of criminal law experience on the court.
After the court’s shock 4-3 decision that Indigenous Australians cannot be “aliens” – even if they are not citizens – conservatives in the government called for the appointment of reliable conservative judges.
Steward, a former president of the Tax Bar Association of the Victorian Bar, is seen as answering that description and fitting that mould.
Updated
Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:
My question is to the prime minister. Why hasn’t Dfat contacted any of the women involved in the incident in Qatar and left it solely to the AFP? Why has the prime minister not [spoken] to his counterpart in Qatar? Why has the foreign minister not spoken to her counterpart in Qatar? Why is it this only come to light when the government knew about this from early October?
Morrison:
The government has registered its strong disapproval and outrage at these events. We have done that directly with the Qatari government.
I am appalled by these events. I cannot imagine, as I said today, I shudder at the invasive nature of what has occurred here, and the Australian government will continue to pursue these matters directly with the Qatari government.
We have received the assurance that we will have the investigator’s report into this matter and that will be provided to us. We expect to receive that before the end of the week and will be taking further action, as we have the opportunity to review that report.
Updated
Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:
My question is to the prime minister, and I ask that he confirm that he did not speak to his foreign minister about the horrific incident in Qatar involving Australian women until after Senate estimates today, and I further ask when the prime minister or his foreign minister first spoke to their counterparts in Qatar to express Australia’s outrage about the horrific treatment of these Australian women almost a month ago.
Morrison:
The assertion put by the leader of the opposition is incorrect.
Richard Marles yells out “there was no assertion”.
Morrison:
His assertion in the question about contact between me and the foreign minister was not correct.
The minister of foreign affairs set up the timetable of the contact with the counterparts including directly by our ambassador and with the consular officials and the government of Qatar ...
(There are more interjections)
... The timetable for those exchanges were set out by the foreign minister today.
Albanese tries to table the Senate estimates hansard, but is denied.
Here is what Calla Wahlquist wrote in her coverage of that committee:
Payne said she had not yet discussed the matter directly with the prime minister, but that his office had been advised on 5 October – the same day her office was advised.
McDonald said no one from the department had been in direct contact with the women.
Calla also reported:
The incident was reported to Australian authorities by women on the flight upon their arrival in Sydney on 3 October.
Some passengers made a report to the Australian federal police at the airport, and one woman on the flight, a Dfat employee, emailed the department that night. The woman was not travelling on official business.
The incident was then immediately flagged with the Australian consulate in Doha. The first assistant secretary of the department, Dr Angela McDonald, then spoke to the Qatar ambassador on 6 October and was told a report on the women’s treatment would be produced.
That report has not yet been produced.
Payne said she had not spoken directly to anyone in the government of Qatar before calling in the ambassador this week.
She said she had arranged to speak to the foreign minister of Qatar after the report was released, and the Australian ambassador to Qatar met the Qatari foreign minister overnight.
Updated
David Littleproud takes a dixer on the bushfire royal commission report being released on Friday.
We will work with the states in terms of preparedness, trying to harmonise those recovery payments so there is consistency in one state to the next, but also making sure that our warning systems are prepared, that people who use these to keep themselves safe are harmonised.
We thank the commissioners in the diligent work and understanding this is a serious issue for Australia’s future preparedness, but a legacy to those that have lost their lives and particularly the emergency service personnel was to learn from the past but more importantly prepare better for the future.
Question time begins
The chamber does not seem to be overly chipper today.
Sames.
Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:
Q: When did the Prime Minister first speak to his foreign minister about the horrific treatment of Australian women removed from planes in Qatar almost a month ago.
Morrison:
As was indicated by the foreign minister in estimates earlier today, Mr Speaker, was during the course of this week.
*This post has been corrected from an incorrect transcript posted earlier
Updated
Bushfire royal commission report to be released on Friday
From David Littleproud’s office:
The governor general, His Excellency General the Honourable David John Hurley AC DSC (Retd), has received the final report of the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements.
The report has been provided to the commonwealth government and simultaneously provided to the states and territories.
The report remains embargoed and confidential until it is tabled and published on Friday, 30 October 2020, in order to provide the commonwealth, states and territories time to consider the report’s findings.
Updated
In Education Estimates, Labor is probing a 2020 budget measure: $25m to respond to educational challenges caused by Covid-19.
Education department officials conceded that there are no guidelines for the program yet, and no money has been spent (it was only announced earlier in October, in fairness).
#BREAKING: The Liberals announce $25 million to help schools during the pandemic. Not a dollar spent. No idea what it will be spent on. No idea who will get the money, or who’ll decide. Scott Morrison’s all photo op, no follow up #auspol #estimates
— Tanya Plibersek (@tanya_plibersek) October 28, 2020
Labor’s Anthony Chisholm asked the government to rule out that only private schools will benefit. The minister representing the education minister, Simon Birmingham, provided that assurance, explaining that it is “not direct school funding” but more likely to fund support and research measures that are “likely to support all schools or clusters of schools”.
Alex Gordon, the deputy secretary for schools, said it is likely to fund research or programs to address issues such as Indigenous Australians not returning to school after leaving during Covid-19 or ensuring all students have opportunities for digital learning.
Updated
Australia is concerned by a change in language regarding China’s approach to reunification with Taiwan, an estimates hearing has been told.
Eric Abetz asks about the most recent People’s Congress, which included a clause about reunification that, for the first time, did not describe it as peaceful reunification.
Frances Adamson, the Dfat secretary and former ambassador to China, says the change in language was in Chinese premier Li Keqiang’s work report.
“You are correct the word peaceful was omitted from the language in relation to Taiwan.”
Adamson says the omission was “notable”.
“We therefore do take that seriously. We are, frankly, concerned by it.”
Elly Lawson, the first assistant secretary of the north Asia division, says Australia takes “any matters relating to cross-strait relations very, very seriously”.
Australia believes any resolution should not involve the use or threat of force or coercion. “Taiwan is a flourishing democracy.”
Updated
The Dfat estimates committee has turned its attention now to the China relationship.
Eric Abetz begins by asking about a “China Tribunal” report that lays out allegations of forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience.
Elly Lawson, the first assistant secretary of the north Asia division, says Dfat takes the report “very, very seriously” because it “does raise a number of concerning allegations”.
While Dfat is not in a position to verify the specific findings, the report “warrants continued close examination”. Dfat has spoken with the author of the report, Sir Geoffrey Nice QC, to discuss its contents. Dfat has also passed the report on to the health and home affairs departments and universities.
Dfat also confirms the government is not pursuing an extradition treaty with China – something that caused a party room revolt a few years ago. Australia has also formally suspended its extradition treaty with Hong Kong after Australia took the new national security law imposed by China as a fundamental change of circumstances.
Updated
Always look on the bright side of life, I suppose.
From Murph:
Scott Morrison has declared the British government understands that Australia’s mid-century emissions reduction targets will not be set by London or by Europe, because Boris Johnson embarked on his own act of “sovereignty” by withdrawing the UK from the European Union.
The Australian PM’s comments followed the release of official readouts – with different emphases – after a conversation about climate change between the two leaders on Tuesday night.
According to the British readout, Johnson “stressed that we need bold action to address climate change, noting that the UK’s experience demonstrates that driving economic growth and reducing emissions can go hand in hand”.
“Looking ahead to the Climate Ambition Summit on 12 December and Cop26 in Glasgow next year, [Johnson] emphasised the importance of setting ambitious targets to cut emissions and reach net zero.”
The British account said the two leaders agreed to intensify the partnership between the UK and Australia on developing and scaling up green technologies.
The Australian record has a different emphasis.
Updated
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
I actually needed that laugh.
I mean, if you’re not asked, never asked, never was going to be asked – can you really say you won’t be helping them?
Love it when we see white women in power being just as mediocre and ridiculous as some of their male counterparts. One step closer to equality.
One Nation leader @PaulineHansonOz says her party will not help the Labor Party form government in the Queensland election as it’s “about time @AnnastaciaMP went”.https://t.co/nwHrLAkxJg
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) October 27, 2020
Updated
But it isn’t all good news for traders in Chadstone. The Buchers Club, which became briefly infamous for being the birthplace of a Covid-19 outbreak in September, is still struggling to attract customers, despite being deemed safe by the department of health for weeks.
Its owner, Peter Robinson, says the store is now losing four to five thousand dollars a week.
“It’s not sending us broke, but that store is losing substantial money,” he says.
“It’s OK, it will come back in time, but fingers crossed for the weekend.”
Updated
NSW has recorded one locally acquired case of Covid in the past 24 hours.
AAP has an update on some warnings from its chief medical officer, Dr Kerry Chant, ahead of the holiday season:
As Covid restrictions ease in NSW authorities remain anxious about low testing rates, undetected cases in the community and people dropping their guard as the festive season approaches.
“This is now a critical period,” chief medical officer Kerry Chant said on Wednesday.
“We know that if this virus gets a foothold in the community it can go off like a wildfire, particularly as we ease restrictions, particularly if we drop our guard in terms of those Covid-safe practices,” Dr Chant said.
“As we go into Christmas we know that people are going to be welcoming people into their homes ... and household celebrations (and that will) present challenges for Covid transmission.”
Dr Chant said authorities were still dealing with three Covid clusters in south-west Sydney and although case numbers were low it was vital more people got tested as the festive season began.
NSW Health had detected traces of Covid in sewage in Sydney’s south-west, indicating it remained a hotspot with undetected cases and the community needed to be on alert for symptoms and get tested.
Updated
A few rapid-fire snippets from Dfat at estimates:
- The plight of the Rohingya, an official says, has been “a matter of constant representation” by the Australian embassy in Myanmar for years, including by the ambassador.
- Armenia/Azerbaijan: Dfat sees this as “a serious military activity” and notes “there are a few other states who have given both verbal and some material support” to the two sides. Russia has a base in Armenia, while Turkey has provided verbal and “some material support” to Azerbaijan.
- Email privacy breaches: After several emails to stranded Australians were sent as bulk emails without the recipient email addresses hidden in the BCC line, Dfat has implemented system changes across the network. An official says the software “will prompt users sending emails to ensure they have carefully considered BCCing, CCing, or the address protocol”.
Updated
A bit of Mike Bowers magic as we wait for the 14th last question time of the year.
Queensland health authorities have identified covid virus in the Ipswich waste water
That’s where the most recent cluster was, but the timing is a bit off to be part of that.
From the Queensland Health statement:
Routine wastewater testing has returned a positive result for viral fragments of COVID-19 in sewage at the treatment plant at Carole Park in Ipswich.
It comes as the state records two new cases of COVID-19, a 45-year-old male and a 49-year-old female, both overseas travellers in hotel quarantine in Cairns.
The sample was taken on October 22 as part of a joint Queensland Health, University of Queensland and CSIRO pilot research program to test sewage for traces of COVID-19. Sampling has been taking place at 18 locations across Queensland since mid-July.
While positive results have been reported at several areas across the state in recent weeks, Queensland Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young said the Ipswich result was of particular concern.
“Positive results from a month ago were most likely caused by virus shedding from a case that was no longer infectious. Viral shedding can occur for several weeks after recovery from COVID-19,” Dr Young said.
“We are uncertain about the cause of the positive result.
“We have had several weeks worth of negative results at this wastewater testing location since the Brisbane Youth Detention Centre cluster.
“There is a very real possibility this wastewater result is a sign of one or more undetected positive COVID-19 cases in the Ipswich community, and we are treating this seriously.”
It’s the dying day of the Queensland election campaign and things are getting very messy.
Gladys Berejiklian said that Deb Frecklington would have opened the borders months ago.
— Queensland Labor (@QLDLabor) October 28, 2020
Against the health advice.
Deb Frecklington is not fit to be Premier – her recklessness would have put the lives of thousands of Queenslanders at risk.#qldpol #qldvotes #queensland pic.twitter.com/mlF50wOeQA
Updated
Grab yourself something fortifying – question time is coming.
Updated
Chadstone might not be the best place for the immunocompromised today, as Melburnians flock to the shopping centre. Boxing Day level crowds in some sections. @AmyRemeikis @GuardianAus pic.twitter.com/DEa0g2guKR
— Matilda Boseley (@MatildaBoseley) October 28, 2020
It is, as Murph would say, a very character-building day today, isn’t it.
Updated
The Greens senator Rachel Siewert has responded to the government restarting the Service Australia debt recovery process:
We are in a recession and a pandemic and instead of giving Australians certainty about their future and ensuring they won’t be living on $40 a day come December this Government is choosing to create more anxiety and fear in our community by chasing people for debts at a time in their life when many are at their most vulnerable.
This Government has an ideological obsession with punishing people on income support.
In the middle of a recession, it is obscene that the Government has fast-tracked tax cuts for millionaires and now the Government is chasing money from people doing it tough.
The Government should sort out their own illegal robodebt mess.
Updated
We are still cool friends with the colonisers.
Great to speak to PM @BorisJohnson last night. 🇦🇺 & the 🇬🇧 have always been great partners & friends, & we continue to work together in fighting #COVID19, creating more trade opportunities by concluding our UK-Australia FTA, & lowering emissions by creating new technologies. https://t.co/xuxFV1feFU
— Scott Morrison (@ScottMorrisonMP) October 28, 2020
Victoria’s sporting events announcement will be made at 2.30pm.
Updated
And as we reported:
Confirmed: PM office says @ScottMorrisonMP “misspoke” conflicting advice on whether premature baby survived being dumped at airport. Qatar says baby alive @newscomauHQ
— Samantha Maiden (@samanthamaiden) October 28, 2020
And then the last question call is made.
It’s on Asic.
Q: On Asic do you have confidence in the organisation and it stood aside chairman James Shipton you appointed as Treasurer and do you believe you may need to be a broader restructure of the organisations operating model as many in the government and business community believe?
Scott Morrison:
I was the Minister at the time, I had a role in that process as did the Prime Minister [Malcolm Turnbull] at the time and as did the cabinet, as we have today and the recommendations that have been brought forward by the Attorney General which we support strongly, there is an investigative process under way appropriate there and we don’t think so fall for me to offer commentary about that while that’s under way, I don’t think that’s fair for those involved, and I am pleased those processes are in place, when issues like this, and there are a couple of other issues like this at the moment, people have been stood aside as they should have been, inquiries are under way, as they should be, and the recommendations that come from those need to be addressed, that’s how you deal with those problems, that’s how you run a government. Thank you.
Asked if the recession is over (following RBA deputy governor Dr Guy Debelle’s comments the central bank’s ‘best guess’ is that the September quarter will be in positive growth, despite the Victorian lockdown, which was not as big a drag on productivity as first predicted) Scott Morrison says:
I won’t know that until December when the national accounts figures for the September quarter will be released and until then, whether technically that’s the case or not I know Australians are still hurting. I didn’t need didn’t need the I didn’t need that to so many Australians were hurting and we acted and swiftly and at a scale this country has never seen before.
So the national accounts will say what they say, but what I know is in the many months ahead, there are businesses that are still not open again, people we still need to get back into work, that’s the reality, and I’m focused on policies that deal with reality of the economic challenges we have ahead, and as much as we welcome what has occurred in Melbourne overnight. It is still a long road back.
And there will be some deep scars there, economic and people ‘s mental health. These will have to be healed, the cabinet has no doubt of the massive task in front of us.
Christian Porter says the report into allegations made against Australian special forces’s personnel will be “very-detailed and extensive”
It is being conducted independent to government
Q: Gladys Berejiklian has raised concerns she has taken too much of the quarantine, asking Queensland to take the bill, when should the international arrivals be lifted?
Scott Morrison:
It is something we raise it every National Cabinet meeting after the one on Friday we were able to get additional capacity out of Western Australia and Queensland I appreciate that, we will continue to bring those Australians home through all the channels we have including the eight chartered flights and where there is a necessity for more of that that will be done as well.
In terms of the cost of quarantine those matters the states handle and I will leave that to them.
One of the reasons we are examining the different options for quarantine, one of the reasons that we allowed quarantine free travel from New Zealand into Australia was to free up those places and that has been quite effective.
The next big game changer well Victoria to open up to international drivers for people to come back, the Victorian Premier has not given me a commitment on that yet and they are considering those matters now and I hope that won’t be too far away, because there are a lot of Victorians that want to come home.
Scott Morrison says he still hasn’t changed his view on the election timing - he said earlier this week to the party room that he would go full term - and he says he is sticking to that.
Not that it matters - they call elections when it works for them.
And you know it is something he loves to get revved up about, because the answer is still going.
Morrison:
See, the technologies don’t exist, that makes sense for developing countries to adopt and make part of their economies, guess what is going to happen?
Emissions are going to go up and up and up, developed economies they will come down as ours as I was able to say last night had fallen 14% since 2005. 1% as the fall for New Zealand and 0% for Canada.
Our record on this speaks for itself, we are achieving it, and when we make commitments and Australia’s interests then we will meet those commitments as well, what the Prime Minister and I agreed last night was to form their partnership on technology.
To ensure that these technologies won’t only work in Australia, and in the United Kingdom, but they can work in India, that they can work in China, that they can work in Vietnam, that they can work in those countries, which will have rapidly rising emissions over the next decade.
And that’s important, if you want to bring down global emissions and deal with climate change, you don’t just have to do it in developed countries, you have to make sure developing countries have access and are able to take on technologies which we can develop, which sees them have a lower emissions future, otherwise, you’re not really making a lot of progress.
Scott Morrison continues with that:
The other point I would make is when I have discussed this with the British Prime Minister before and last night, see, Australia will set our policies here. We will set them. Our policies won’t be set in the United Kingdom, they won’t be set in Brussels, they won’t be set on any part of the world other than here.
Because it’s Australia’s job and Australia’s economy and its Australia’s recovery from the Covid-19 recession that matters to me, and my cabinet and the decisions we take, I’m very aware of the many views held around the world, but I tell you what, our policies will be set here in Australia nobody understands that better than the British Prime Minister, given his recent election on the issue of Brexit.
He totally understands Australia’s sovereignty when it comes to making the sovereign decisions about our future and the commitment I gave to Australians was that the targets we set, the plans we make, I will explain, I will detail, as I did at the last election, and could demonstrate how we would get to our commitments for 2022, demonstrated how we would exceed the commitments we made for 2020, and what other further commitments we would make I would only do where I can be very clear with the Australian people about how that would be cheap.
One thing the British Prime Minister and I agree on is that achieving emissions reductions shouldn’t come at the cost of jobs in Australia or the UK.
It shouldn’t come at the cost of higher prices for the daily things that our citizens depend on. It’s about technology not taxes is what we talk about last night.
And that’s not just important in terms of how we continue to transform our own economies to lower emissions, it’s also important about how we achieve a gear change globally in developing countries.
Scott Morrison is back in familiar territory here - defending the Coalition’s climate record.
Q: The trading partners, Japan and the EU have moved to a net zero emissions target, why Australia is so hesitant to adopt a net zero emission and are you concerned about further exports?
Morrison:
My discussion with the (British) Prime Minister was a very positive one, this was our first conversation this year they are not all formal discussions, some are more formal than others and there are many other informal discussions with me and the British Prime Minister on any number of issues.
The key focus was on the UK free trade agreement and our commitment to get that moving as quickly as possible, those processes already under way and we both are committed to continue to play every strong message to our negotiators to get this done, and to get it happening as soon as it’s able to be done under the arrangements the UK is currently constricted by and to have an ambitious trade agreement with the UK.
We are not looking for any ordinary agreement here, we are looking for a ground seating arrangement with the UK, and I believe that and what the Prime Minister said to me last night, comprehensive across-the-board the kind of thing we have been able to achieve with the United States and other places.
I’m not concerned about that.
Q: Would you have expected the foreign minister to have picked up the phone right away to her Qatari counterpart?
Scott Morrison:
The Australian government made its views very clear at the time and we should have and we have.
Q: Should the Qatari government make an apology, even if we get the apology can the Australian women whose rights were violated even legal action given the diplomatic nature of the event overseas?
Morrison:
We will consider all of these options once we have the opportunity to review the investigation.
Q: The World Cup Qatari 2022: what assurances will you seek from the Qatari government that it has not only a full and transparent inquiry, but that you can get assurances that nothing of the sort ever happens again?
Morrison:
These are the assurances we are seeking and that is why the investigation is so important, any further response we would make in response to that investigation, not just people going to a World Cup.
We have 15% of those Australians coming home at the moment coming back from Qatar Airlines. They are actually providing a pretty important role in getting Australians home so we need to continue to manage both of these issues … we will continue to take a strident approach on this, and we are appalled by what occurred, as anyone would.
Updated
Q: Why are we waiting for the results of the report before we decide what action to take, and what action can you actually take to make sure this never happens again?
Scott Morrison:
You rightly raise the fact this occurred not in Australia but Qatar, it occurred in a set of circumstances [that was] also quite awful, I’m talking about the death of a child*, and that is a very distressing incident as well.
But what’s important is that the international norms and rules as people move between countries and airports … are upheld, so I think it is important, given we have been given assurances by the Qatari government and we will be provided with the results of their investigation, it’s important we can look at that before making a further response.
There is no doubt in the mind of whether its Qatari Airlines or the government, about Australia’s strong objections and views about this and I think those views are shared, widely, so we will make a further response, not our first response, a further response, once we have the opportunity to see the results of that investigation. I don’t have any further information.
*The newborn lived, and is in the care of Qatari authorities.
Updated
We start the questions.
Q: First, your initial reaction to the incident at the high airport? Other countries were subjected to these examinations have you spoken to other world leaders about the investigation and what is the official message sent to the Qatari government?
Scott Morrison:
We find this unacceptable. That has been the official message and conveyed very clearly in the investigation, because it is unacceptable.
I mean, it was appalling. As a father of daughters*, I could only shudder at the thought that anyone would, Australian or otherwise, it would be subjected to that.
I think you can be confident those messages were conveyed very clearly. And at the time and more recently, in addition to that, we expect to see the result of that investigation very soon, and that will be shared with us, that has been issued to us by the Qatari government.
So it is important were ever travellers are travelling, they are able to do so, free of those types of incidents. And we will continue to ensure we support Australians and all those circumstances, both here and when travelling overseas.
*It would just be nice if men could empathise with the trauma women can be subjected to, without needing to have women in their lives to link it with. Yes, it is terrible to think of your child being in a terrible situation. But terrible situations are terrible situations, whether you have daughters or not.
Updated
For those in the judiciary who missed out - there are now a few federal court openings. So there’s always that.
Updated
Nice to see someone with a bachelor of arts can make it to the high court bench.
Seems you can be “job ready” with a bachelor of arts after all.
Updated
It is a much less fraught process appointing justices to Australia’s high court bench.
Here are the CVs of both the new entrants.
The Honourable Justice Simon Steward:
2018 Judge, Federal Court of Australia
2014 Appointed Queen’s Counsel
2009-2017 Queen’s Counsel/ Senior Counsel, Aickin Chambers
2009 Appointed Senior Counsel
1999 Signed Bar Roll, Victorian Bar
1992-1999 Solicitor/Senior Associate, Mallesons Stephen Jaques
1992 Signed High Court Roll
1992 Admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor, Supreme Court of Victoria
Education
2000 Master of Laws, University of Melbourne
1990 Bachelor of Laws (First Class Honours), University of Melbourne
The Honourable Justice Jacqueline Gleeson:
2014 Judge, Federal Court of Australia
2012 Appointed Senior Counsel
2007-2014 Barrister, private practice
2003-2006 Senior Executive Lawyer, Australian Government Solicitor
2001-2003 General Counsel, Australian Broadcasting Authority
1991 Admitted as Barrister of the Supreme Court of New South Wales
1990-2000 Solicitor/Barrister
1989 Associate to the Honourable Justice Trevor Morling, Federal Court of Australia
1989 Admitted as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of New South Wales
Education
2005 Masters of Laws, University of Sydney
1989 Bachelor of Laws, University of Sydney
1986 Bachelor of Arts, University of Sydney
Updated
Your two new high court justices are
Justice Simon Steward - he will start on December 1
Justice Jacqueline Gleeson - she will start on March 1
Justice Gleeson’s father was former chief justice, Murray Gleeson.
The prime minister starts his press conference by acknowledging the 14 people who were honoured as part of the Fire and Emergency Services memorial day today
Labor’s Penny Wong has taken Dfat officials to the differences in emphasis between the Scott Morrison and Boris Johnson readouts of the call they had overnight.
Wong says to the foreign minister, Marise Payne, that “no amount of words and no amount of adjectives … can hide the fact that your government is increasingly isolated internationally on climate.”
Payne insists Australia is strongly committed to the Paris agreement, and limiting emissions to net zero in the second half of this century (not specifically by 2050). During a back and forth about climate policies, Payne tells Wong that “you have to be clear about how much you want to tax Australians”.
As mentioned on the blog earlier today, Johnson’s readout said he “stressed that we need bold action to address climate change, noting that the UK’s experience demonstrates that driving economic growth and reducing emissions can go hand-in hand”.
Morrison’s readout said Johnson “welcomed our significant increase in emissions reduction programs announced through the budget, and strongly endorsed our focus on unlocking practical pathways to reducing emissions”.
Wong wants to know more about the process for preparing readouts. Payne suggests it “would have been produced between PM&C and the prime minister’s office”. She agrees to take on notice whether the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet had any input on this occasion.
Payne says she knew the prime minister’s office was going to provide this information to media.
“I’m not saying it was a readout per se, I’m saying it was in response to media requests.”
Payne was also provided with a copy of the statement this morning: “Because the issue was a matter of public comment and because you and I were coming here for several enjoyable hours here this morning, it was given to me.”
Payne disputes Wong’s assertion that “this so-called readout was prepared by the prime minister’s office in order to try to avert a story the prime minister didn’t like”.
Payne says it was “a very good and positive call and [it] begins by saying it was a warm discussion”.
Payne doesn’t agree with the claims of a difference in emphasis. She says it’s not reasonable to expect her to “interpret between the lines”.
She further says the Morrison readout refers to their discussion about responding to the Covid-19 challenge.
Payne says she was not about to suggest the Johnson readout was inaccurate or misleading to British people because it did not mention that Covid-19 part of the call.
Scott Morrison announces new high court justices
Justices Geoffrey Nettle and Virginia Bell are retiring (approaching the retirement age of 70) so there are two new spots
You have to retire at 70 if you are on the high court bench
Updated
Stuart Robert’s office apparently has a problem with the headline ‘federal government to restart debt recovery process next week’ because it is only “debt raising” re-starting next week, with the actual debt recovery to re-start in February.
The definition of ‘process’ “is a series of actions or steps taken in order to achieve a particular end”
Just so we are clear: raising that you might have a debt is part of the process of debt recovery. If Services Australia thinks you have a debt, it will contact you. If the debt stands, it will begin recovering that debt in February.
But the Services Australia debt recovery process will re-start next week.
New: Stuart Robert says Services Australia will resume debt raising activity from 2 November (except in Victoria due to state of disaster). Debt recovery (that is, enforcing repayments) will recommence from February 2021. @AmyRemeikis
— Luke Henriques-Gomes (@lukehgomes) October 28, 2020
Updated
The number of Australians who have registered with Dfat expressing a wish to return home has risen to 34,000, as of yesterday, officials have told estimates.
The Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, says the announcement about the NSW border will be made, as planned, in the coming days.
She says it will be based on health advice.
But the battle of words between Palaszczuk and Gladys Berejiklian continues - the NSW premier says Queensland needs to pay it back for hotel quarantine, since it has shut the borders.
...Unfortunately, it is disappointing to see the New South Wales premier try to be political at this time, when she has enough of her own issues to deal with. This is simply a diversion from what is happening with herself down in New South Wales.
And I have refrained from commenting, and that is all I will say. No-one talked about bills when we did hotel quarantine.
No-one talked about bills. It was about helping all Australians out – go through that quarantine to keep Australians safe.
So it is news to me, it is news to other state premiers, that suddenly there are bills. But in terms of bills, we also have a bill for New South Wales, about hospitals as well.
The Queensland election will be held on Saturday
Updated
The ABS has released the September quarter inflation figures - inflation rose by 1.6%
- The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 1.6% this quarter.
- Over the twelve months to the September 2020 quarter the CPI rose 0.7%.
- Child care was the most significant rise (contributing 0.9 percentage points to the headline CPI quarterly movement), following the end of free child care on 13 July.
These graphs show just how incredible Victoria’s achievement has been
For many Melburnians, the first port of call on Wednesday was Bunnings. They were keen to reestablish their gardens, without relying on staff to pick out their plants via click and collect.
“It’s a desire to be able to at last fill in the gaps in the garden, and to escape the confines of the home,” said Andrew Craig.
“Bunnings and nurseries and cafes, those are the main things for me... So far I’ve made six bookings in restaurants.”
Things in Martin O’Dell’s yard have been slowly breaking over the lockdown. He is ecstatic to be able to finally fix everything.
“The last three months have [been] really quite disastrous for things in the garden and around the house. I’ve come to pick things up and carry on,” he said.
“I’ve got things to prune, paving to clean and walls to paint.”
For many the first port of call after lockdown is Bunnings: “I’ve got things to prune, paving to clean and walls to paint” said Martin @AmyRemeikis #melbournelockdown2020 #MelbourneOpen pic.twitter.com/Knqt0EQSlw
— Matilda Boseley (@MatildaBoseley) October 28, 2020
Updated
A little more on that Julian Assange exchange in estimates, after the government said the Wikileaks figure withdrew consent in June 2019 for the Australian government to consult with Belmarsh prison about his personal health.
Dfat official Greg Wilcock: “What I can say is that we’re focused on the health and welfare of Mr Assange, to the best of our ability and respecting, of course, Mr Assange’s preferences.”
Greens senator Janet Rice: “His preference is not to be extradited to the United States.”
Liberal chair Eric Abetz: “We’ll take that as a concluding comment.”
The foreign affairs minister, Marise Payne, says she has raised the situation of Australian citizen Julian Assange with her British and American counterparts.
During an estimates hearing this morning, Greens senator Janet Rice has sought details of any communications Payne and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has had with both countries to raise concerns about Assange’s case. Assange, the Wikileaks co-founder, is awaiting a decision by the British courts on the US request to extradite him to America to face charges under the espionage act and cyber intrusions.
Payne said:
“We have raised the situation of Mr Assange with both foreign secretary [Dominic] Raab and secretary of state [Mike] Pompeo. Our high commissioner to the UK [George Brandis] is engaged on this matter with the UK government, with the governor of Her Majesty’s Prison Belmarsh, with senior officials, with the secretary of state for justice in relation to Mr Assange’s situation, particularly to assure ourselves as to the conditions as to which he is held.”
Payne said she had conveyed to Pompeo Australia’s view “the importance of appropriate legal process, and I did that as recently as in person in Washington in July” when she travelled to the US for Ausmin talks.
“Secretary Pompeo listened to me with courtesy and acknowledged my point as I would expect.”
Dfat officials said a representative of the Australian high commission was present at each day of the extradition hearing. Payne said she had been briefed on the trial “regularly throughout the process, and that probably amounted to daily”.
Asked about reports about extremely limited contact with his lawyers in the six months preceding the hearing, Dfat official Greg Wilcock said the department was aware of challenges in the UK prison system, similar to those facing prison systems around the world, regarding access to prisoners during pandemic. He understood that was “equally true of Belmarsh Prison where Mr Assange is held.”
But Payne said Dfat, in pursuit of its consular obligations, had written to Assange on 16 occasions offering consular assistance. “None of those communications has received a response from Mr Assange or from his legal team.”
Payne said Assange withdrew consent in June 2019 for the Australian government to consult with Belmarsh prison about his personal circumstances and health and welfare in prison. “We are obliged to respect that request.”
The prime minister will hold a press conference in the PM’s courtyard at midday.
That’s the most serious of the PM press conference locations.
Labor will wait for Glasgow climate conference before setting emissions reduction target
Anthony Albanese has called on the government to release the bushfire royal commission report, promising to hold them to account over handling of the summer bushfires, the recovery and inaction on climate change.
At a doorstop in Canberra, Albanese was asked if Labor will wait until COP26, the climate conference in Glasgow in November 2021, before it announces its emissions reduction target. The issue is a sensitive one, because Albanese has said Labor will set a medium-term target despite shadow agriculture minister Joel Fitzgibbon publicly arguing it should not.
Albanese replied:
“We certainly will wait until – what happens at Glasgow is critical – you’ve got to know what your starting point is, moving forward. And the starting point before the next election will include outcomes at the Glasgow conference. There are other international events – there’s one happening next week – that will have an impact on those issues.”
Albanese was asked about the UK and Australia’s differing accounts of the conversation between Boris Johnson and Scott Morrison on climate change – he replied that he would be “surprised” if the version that the UK had asked Australia to do more on climate were not correct.
In Europe, climate change is not a partisan issue, and in the UK Margaret Thatcher had called for climate action decades ago, Albanese said.
Albanese said the government is not listening to the science on climate because it has a “handbrake” in the form of Liberal MP “Craig Kelly and some of the people who have crazy views” on climate and the pandemic.
Updated
Qatar government apologises for forced exam
Calla Wahlquist has been in touch with the Qatari govenment over the shocking and awful case of female passengers on a Qatar airlines flight being assaulted through forced gynaecological exams after a newborn was found abandoned at the Qatar airport.
Here is what their government communications office responded with (it’s a distressing statement, so only read if you’re ready)
On 2nd October 2020, a newborn infant was found in a trash can, concealed in a plastic bag and buried under garbage, at Hamad International Airport (HIA). The baby girl was rescued from what appeared to be a shocking and appalling attempt to kill her. The infant is now safe under medical care in Doha.
This was the first instance of an abandoned infant being discovered in such a condition at HIA – this egregious and life-threatening violation of the law triggered an immediate search for the parents, including on flights in the vicinity of where the newborn was found. While the aim of the urgently-decided search was to prevent the perpetrators of the horrible crime from escaping, The State of Qatar regrets any distress or infringement on the personal freedoms of any traveler caused by this action.
His Excellency Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior of the State of Qatar has directed that a comprehensive, transparent investigation into the incident be conducted. The results of the investigation will be shared with our international partners. The State of Qatar remains committed to ensuring the safety, security and comfort of all travelers transiting through the country.
Updated
The latest Climate of the Nation report is being released by NSW environment minister, Matt Kean.
NSW energy minister @Matt_KeanMP is making a clarion call this morning for climate change to be a conservative cause on an Australia Institute webinar. He says he's representing the "forgotten people". Climate change should "not be a partisan issue" & "we made it one" #auspol
— Katharine Murphy (@murpharoo) October 28, 2020
Federal government to restart Centrelink debt recovery process next week
After hitting pause on recovering Service Australia (Centrelink) debts in April, Stuart Robert has announced ‘debt raising’ will recommence from next week. That’s when you get the letter from Services Australia telling you they think you have a debt. Debt recovery will start in February.
From Robert’s statement:
With coronavirus restrictions easing, Services Australia will gradually commence debt-raising activity from 2 November, except for areas that remain in a state of disaster such as Victoria. Debt recovery activity will recommence in February 2021.
Delaying debt recovery until February 2021 recognises the difficulties many people are still facing. It will provide time for people to consider their circumstances, engage with Services Australia about their options in a transparent way and plan for their future. This could include adjusting the information they are reporting to Services Australia.
As debt activity starts again, Services Australia will work with people to make the process as clear and simple as possible. The agency will explain how debts arose, where to go for more information, how to self-service and offer other support.
During the period between debt raising and recovery, people will be able to commence repayments of their debt voluntarily. People continue to have the option of re-paying any overpayments assessed prior to the debt pause if they choose to and it can be managed within their personal circumstances.
Services Australia has a range of services to help people manage an overpayment including online tools and specialist staff such as social workers who can provide short term counselling, information and referrals to other services for Australians in need.
Also worth pointing out - nearly 25,000 Victorians came forward to be Covid tested in the last 24 hours.
That is huge. Well done.
There probably won’t be too many more changes in regional Victoria – which is ahead of Melbourne in terms of the roadmap – and the metro-regional border is due to come down on 8 November, as scheduled.
Updated
When do movie cinemas (and Crown casino) get to reopen?
Daniel Andrews:
This is a theatre, yes (the room where the press conference is).
But if you look at the numbers in this room, every day is basically a small number.
And it’s the same people.
So it’s not a turnover eight times per day. I don’t want to get in a debate with the cinema industry, but if there are any deficiencies in our contact with them, absolutely I will follow that up. I will get in contact with them and with no disrespect to their product or what they offer, no time at the movies is worth putting at risk everything we have built...
We will get people working as soon as [we] can but if they [in the cinema industry] feel they have not as much information as they need I will make sure people give them a call this afternoon.
Updated
Why didn’t Victoria have more of a QR code system in place, ready to go for reopening?
Daniel Andrews:
Many different reasons. We moved to an entirely different platform, and we note that the ACT system was not best for our system, and we will have more about the QR code and settings soon. But you have to build one that works seamlessly with the new IT platform we have built – that have helped deliver the numbers – and to an end, not doing pen and paper longform interviews. They are all part of an electronic system which means everyone can see what is in that system wherever they are in the regional public health team, at the centre or wherever it may be.
I would make the point, New South Wales have, as I’m advised, moved to a universal QR system only quite recently and I think that’s a function that they have because they have been open for longer and taken more steps than we have. We will get to where they are but it will take a while.
Updated
On the reopening of the NSW and SA borders to Victorians, Daniel Andrews says it makes sense to wait and see how the next few weeks go. Which is what those states are doing. There is not, as I’ve seen suggested on social media, a conspiracy from the NSW and SA governments to keep the borders closed to make the Victorian government look bad. It is just going to take a little bit to see how the new contact tracing systems stack up now that there is freedom of movement again.
Andrews:
I don’t think it is unreasonable for other states to wait and see how things go, we’re just making some very big changes, we are all focused on making sure those changes work, I’m confident that Victorians know and understand it is not something the government can do, even though it is thousands of people working day and night and incredibly hard, every Victorian has to work hard to make sure we value what we have built. It is not unreasonable to wait and see how things go over the next few weeks.
Based on that, if we all play a part, we can get open, we can have freedom of movement within the state, and freedom of movement to other states if people are inclined, but I would recommend to them that a holiday in Victoria, if they are talking about the summer period, that would be a great way to support those who have done it tough.
Updated
And that includes sporting events, which we will hear about very soon (that includes the Melbourne Cup and the cricket).
Daniel Andrews:
The minister will be out to make announcements at the Boxing Day Test and some other things later today. We are hopeful that this strategy is working, that Victorians are taking this seriously, they know what is at stake, and the vast majority are doing the right thing. If we keep playing our part, all sorts of things will be possible again soon.
Updated
Daniel Andrews has moved on to when further restrictions could be lifted. He said it is a waiting game.
If we handle these next few weeks as individuals and families, if we all play a part in the next few weeks, then we hope there will be significant stability with these numbers. And the longer we can continue to be vigilant, the better the outcome.
This is always going to be there in the background. But if it is at very low numbers, it is absolutely manageable, and that makes possible all sorts of different things, numbers increasing, inside venues, outside venues, the ways in which people can enjoy all sorts of different experiences, a pot at the bar.
Updated
No active covid cases in regional Victoria
There are no known cases of Covid in regional Victoria.
That is not to say the virus doesn’t exist there, just that there are no active cases that authorities are aware about. That is wonderful news, but there is still the need to remain cautious
Updated
Queensland has recorded two new cases of Covid, but both people who tested positive were part of the hotel quarantine program.
Updated
So to confirm – both Victoria’s new cases have been in isolation as close contacts of confirmed cases.
The two people who died did not pass away in the last 24 hours, but in the past few weeks – their deaths have been reclassified as being part of the Covid toll.
Updated
Daniel Andrews press conference
As always, Daniel Andrews starts with the numbers.
The 118th consecutive press conference is no different.
We’ve had two new cases since yesterday, both are close contacts of other positive contacts and were quarantine and at home and no risk to public health.
One case was reclassified which was a false positive.
I’m sad to have to confirm there are two further Victorians, one male in the 70s and one male in their 80s, not recent deaths, they are from some weeks ago, I don’t have the exact dates but I will make sure that is provided to you once we have the chief health officer’s report, sorry, media release, later today.
Both of these deaths are linked to residential aged care. We sent condolences to the families and wish them all the best at what will be a difficult time.
Updated
In the UK, footballers have turned political so children can eat.
Here, it is so refugees have a chance at a normal life.
Honestly. This decade has not been the western world’s finest (timeless statement)
Mike Bowers was at the Amnesty International event, which brought Craig Foster and Sonny Bill Williams to parliament to highlight the issue - and lobby the government to accept the New Zealand offer to take refugees. We are not, because the coalition vowed they would never step foot in Australia, and that would mean changing NZ freedom of movement visas.
Sigh.
“After 2 weeks of multiple health screens and asking everyone to quarantine, I surprised my closest inner circle with a trip to a private island where we could pretend things were normal just for a brief moment in time.”
(If you don’t get that reference, you are out of the Kardashian bubble and for that, I applaud you, but also, we all have our guilty pleasures)
Updated
Daniel Andrews will be up very soon, speaking the two new Covid cases and two deaths, as well as the first day of Melbourne’s reopening
Updated
Lovely
seeing my nan in aged care
— hurryupwithmydamncroissants 🥐 (@rubytuesday1985) October 27, 2020
Dfat says women across 10 Doha flights subjected to internal examinations
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is giving evidence about the invasive searches of women, including 18 Australians, in Qatar on 2 October.
They have revealed that 10 flights were affected. Although Dfat knew it was multiple planes before that, it only found out it was 10 yesterday.
The Dfat secretary Frances Adamson was scathing:
“I was incredulous that it could have happened ... This is not – by any standard – normal behaviour and the Qataris recognise that, are appalled by it, do not want it to happen again, and are working with us and other partners to work through it”
Some of the women came forward to the Australian federal police, who are in regular contact with them. Dfat has not engaged with them directly, because it is not the lead agency once Australians have returned home.
Dfat has worked with two or three other countries in making representations about the incident but foreign affairs minister Marise Payne won’t say who due to fears it will identify the women affected.
Payne says a detail reported by the Sydney Morning Herald – that she contacted Qatar’s ambassador on 6 October – is not correct.
Representations were not made at the ministerial level, she said, “work is being done in Qatar, as you’d expect”.
Adamson reveals that there was a Dfat employee, not on official duty but on one of the flights who was transiting through Doha, who was “shocked” by the incident.
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Scott Morrison spoke about jobseeker yesterday, in question time.
I’ve been pretty clear, and lent into it pretty heavily, that people can expect the Covid supplement to be going forward beyond the end of this year.
The precise level and the arrangements that will sit around that are matters that the government is considering now,and we will be doing so over the next couple of weeks.
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The social services minister, Anne Ruston, has given the clearest indication yet that the government will not outline a permanent increase to jobseeker payment before the end of the year.
Instead, Ruston said the government’s current focus was the rate of temporary support – $250 fortnight coronavirus supplement – which the prime minister said yesterday was likely to continue into next year.
Ruston did not rule out a decision on a permanent increase, but estimates heard on Wednesday that any announcement before the end of the year would relate to the temporary supplement.
“Right now we are still in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, Ruston said.
Labor’s Katy Gallagher said people on jobseeker payment deserved more certainty.
Ruston also said that the decision to reduce income supports last month – including the $300 cut to coronavirus supplement – was aimed at addressing what she claimed was a disincentive to take up work.
Challenged by the Greens’ Rachel Siewert as to whether Ruston had any hard data to back up the claim, Ruston conceded there was no specific statistic.
But she said there had been “thousands” of examples of businesses and business groups who had raised concerns that they were finding it difficult to find workers.
Siewert said she was “sick of anecdotal evidence”.
There are currently about 1.4 million people receiving jobseeker payments.
Ahh the old, “let me state this as fact”, followed by “I don’t have the data, no.”
Ruston concedes there's not an individual statistic, but she's heard thousands of examples of businesses and employer groups complaining about not being able to hire people
— Luke Henriques-Gomes (@lukehgomes) October 27, 2020
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Ed Husic stopped by doors this morning to talk about the national integrity commission.
He’s not part of Labor’s frontbench, which means he can be a little more free to say things – usually why they send him out (Tim Watts also gets tapped for the same reason – they can both deliver a line)
Here was Husic this morning:
The prime minister has got to have the guts to face up to his own backbench.
What we’ve heard in the last few weeks is a number of backbenchers come out and argue falsely or make false claims about the national integrity commission. Some have said it’s just a bunch of bureaucrats that would tear down the government.
That is just plain wrong and we’ve just seen them come out time and again saying that they’re not happy with the model. So I reckon it’s basically that the PM is gutless.
He’s scared more of the backbench rather than standing on his own two feet and taking on notice the fact that the public wants this and that they demand action on this. But he won’t because he listens more to his backbench. He chases votes rather than punches out corruption.
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The Victorian parliament is sitting – so it is 10.30 for the Daniel Andrews press conference today.
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Labor’s Kristina Keneally is probing an assumption in the budget that childcare subsidies paid by the federal government are set to increase by 12%, and she’s confirmed that increases in childcare fees are at least in part driving that.
Education department officials said that on average since the Coalition’s childcare fee reforms, fees have increased by an average of 5.3%, compared with inflation of 1.8%.
Officials say that 86% of day childcare centres charge fees that are “at or below” the subsidy cap.
Despite fee rises, out-of-pocket costs are down 3.2% because of increased subsidies, officials say.
Keneally takes officials to claims in 2018 the government would “name and shame” childcare operators who hiked fees, and asks how many have been “named and shamed”.
Officials responded that the temporary provision of free childcare during the Covid-19 pandemic had interrupted the process of consultation on fee rises.
So, no naming and shaming (yet), it seems.
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Kristina Keneally has fronted Icac. She knows what it is like.
Asked on Sky News if it really is the best model for dealing with corruption issues (the federal government’s model is very different – and would be kept behind closed doors), Keneally says:
What the New South Wales Icac does is it brings sunshine where there is darkness. It exposes corruption to light. It ensures that the people of New South Wales can have confidence that where a politician or a public official has acted corruptly, there are the powers and the capacity to bring that to light, and where appropriate to bring criminal charges.
Quite frankly, we have a government that has presided over a string of scandals, whether it’s the Western Sydney Airport land deal, the sports rorts scandal ...
In my own portfolio of Home Affairs we learned this last week that Australian Border Force is brought up in a correction inquiry in relation to the procurement of the Cape Class patrol boats that patrol our maritime borders.
Quite frankly, every day seems to bring another corruption scandal and it demands a national anti-corruption commission.
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There is something seriously wrong with our electoral laws when out-and-out lies can continue to be run as a campaign.
This sort of campaign is not new, but it went to a whole new level with Mediscare. Just another example of opening Pandora’s box – people have a habit of escalating, when they see what personal gains can be made.
The cat is out of the bag.#Labor #DeathTax #Protestprovednothing #qldpol pic.twitter.com/sFv7cdNm7y
— Clive Palmer (@CliveFPalmer) October 27, 2020
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And of course, we still have people locked up in detention centres.
It’s a cross-code plea as Sonny Bill Williams and Craig Foster unite at Parliament House to call for Australia to accept the New Zealand Ofer to resettle refugees. @9NewsAUS pic.twitter.com/l05dIIk5AY
— Jonathan Kearsley (@jekearsley) October 27, 2020
Another two lives lost brings Victoria’s death toll to 819.
I’m sorry, Victoria - and Melbourne. Not the news anyone wanted today - or any day.
And a reminder the virus is still in Australia.
And there is the tweet
Yesterday there were 2 new cases and 2 lost lives reported. Condolences to those affected. The 14 day rolling average is down in Melbourne and regional Vic. Unknown case numbers are down. More info: https://t.co/eTputEZdhs #COVID19VicData pic.twitter.com/1BI6T7stJX
— VicGovDHHS (@VicGovDHHS) October 27, 2020
Victoria records 2 Covid cases and two deaths
The DHHS website has been updated with the last 24 hours results
It lists two positive cases. One of those is a contact of a known case.
We will have more information soon.
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Don’t forget - this is still happening in Victoria.
Good to hear that the destruction of the Djab Wurrung trees will cease pending a court decision tomorrow. Congrats to the Djab Wurrung nation & everyone on the ground yesterday!!
— Joshua Badge (@joshuabadge) October 27, 2020
Seriously, when we are on the other side of this, I will be really, really interested in the research of the punitive side to the lockdowns.
Of course, feeling uncomfortable around police is not a new feeling for large sections of our community – it’s really only something the privileged (and, overwhelmingly, white) haven’t had to think about before.
The feeling will pass for some, but not for all.
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Nick Santoyl and Luke Castricum said they still feel like they are breaking the law, sitting outside to enjoy a breakfast together.
“It feels cheeky, like we are doing something illegal. You keep looking over your shoulder, like where are the police,” laughed Castricum.
“It’s strange, it still feels foreign, because you don’t know if it’s the right thing to do or not, but we know it is,” said Santoyl.
“Otherwise, yeah it’s pretty great.”
Castricum said he had already noticed a difference in the mood of the city.
“Everyone seems to be a lot happy this morning. People are talking to random people and the energy is much nicer.”
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Meanwhile, eggs really do seem to be a theme in our post lockdown cravings.
(Let me know your first day freedom joys on Twitter with #melbourneopen)
Going out to breakfast with my sister after the school run. I’m going to order the perfect scrambled eggs made by a chef who is trained for this, rather than eating my horrible attempts. It’s going to be so good. #melbourneopen
— Tamara Thomas (@tamarathomas24) October 27, 2020
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There is a slight difference in this read out from Boris Johnson’s team of the phone call the UK prime minister had with Scott Morrison.
Here is the Australian version:
Prime Minister Johnson welcomed our significant increase in emissions reduction programs announced through the Budget, and strongly endorsed our focus on unlocking practical pathways to reducing emissions”
And here is the UK version:
The prime minister (Johnson) also stressed that we need bold action to address climate change, noting that the UK’s experience demonstrates that driving economic growth and reducing emissions can go hand-in hand.”
SBS’s Brett Mason has the side-by-side
#UK / #Australia read-outs, after @BorisJohnson and @ScottMorrisonMP spoke last night #auspol @SBSNews pic.twitter.com/mKaXd3MVmB
— Brett Mason (@BrettMasonNews) October 27, 2020
Speaking of bushfires, the latest ‘Climate of the Nation’ report will be launched today.
As Murph reports:
The latest Climate of the Nation report, an annual national survey of almost 2,000 voters that has been running for 13 years, will be launched on Wednesday by the New South Wales environment and energy minister, Matt Kean.
The survey finds that 74% of the sample remains concerned about climate change, which is the same level as last year, and 80% of respondents think we are already experiencing climate change impacts.
Over the past five years, the number of Australians saying they believe climate change is already happening has increased by 15 points. The survey shows the number of Australians who think we are experiencing the impacts of climate change “a lot” has increased from 33% in 2016 to 48% in 2020.
The survey also suggests Australians are cool on the Morrison government’s “gas-led recovery”, with 59% of respondents saying the recovery should be powered by renewables compared to 12% who favour gas.
Katie Page, Harvey Norman chief executive officer (and wife of Harvey Norman co-founder and executive chair, Gerry Harvey) has been appointed for a three year term to the Tourism Australia Board.
Page is one of two new appointments – co-founder and proprietor of The Landsmith Collection, Alexandra Burt (and mining heiress, from WA’s Wright family) also got a spot.
Simon Birmingham also announced three reappointments:
Tourism Australia Chair, Bob East, has also been reappointed to the position, while Board member Jeffrey Ellison has been appointed Deputy Chair. Board member Bradley Woods has also been reappointed for another term.
Tourism Australia was last in the news after it launched its “Mateship” song campaign, featuring Kylie Minogue, in the UK over Christmas – and then had to pause it, because of the bushfires (which had already been burning).
That campaign quickly became redundant because of the global pandemic – Minogue of course, still had to be paid for her work (as is only right) News Corp had previously reported she was paid almost a million dollars for the contract, which ended in June.
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Even if the summits aren’t happening quite as they used to, international leaders are still engaging in regular chats – and the read-outs of the meeting are still as formal as ever.
Scott Morrison spoke to Papua New Guinea prime minister James Marape this week. As spokesman said the conversation was “very warm” and Marape “conveyed PNG’s deep appreciation for Australia’s support as it responded to a Covid-19 outbreak, including the deployment of an AUSMAT team.”
Also on that agenda – their priorities for the forthcoming Pacific Island Forum leaders’ meeting.
“As members of the Pacific family, they would remain in close contact on regional and strategic challenges. They looked forward to seeing each other in person soon.”
Jacinda Ardern also had a chat with Morrison, where he “warmly congratulated” her for winning the New Zealand election.
“They discussed the challenge of responding to Covid-19, in particular opening up their economies safely, including through the trans-Tasman travel corridor and labour mobility. They discussed further aligning their approaches to multilateral candidacies, and their priorities ahead of the forthcoming Pacific Island Forum leaders’ meeting.
“They looked forward to the outcome of this weekend’s rugby match.”
And rounding out the calls, Morrison also had a “warm discussion” with UK prime minister, Boris Johnson.
“They discussed responding to the Covid-19 challenge, in particular opening their economies safely.
Morrison and Johnson “agreed on the critical importance of likeminded countries working much more closely together – bilaterally, in other groupings and multilaterally – in the face of sharper geostrategic competition and a more uncertain strategic environment”.
They also “agreed on the need to conclude negotiations on a UK-Australia FTA that was comprehensive and ambitious. They also discussed increasing cooperation on multilateral candidacies.”
And then something of interest from the read out “Prime Minister Johnson welcomed our significant increase in emissions reduction programs announced through the Budget, and strongly endorsed our focus on unlocking practical pathways to reducing emissions.
Both countries agreed to work closely together to accelerate research and deployment of low-emission technologies ahead of COP26.”
That would be, of course, because the Tories aren’t involved in an ideological war against emissions reduction in the UK. It’s a non-issue.
Not everyone wants the planet to be so “warm” even as the diplomatic conversations inevitably are.
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We really do take just being able to sit down in a nice space and enjoy a moment, for granted at times.
Coming out of lockdown, all I wanted was poached eggs on toast. I’ve never been able to master poached eggs, and despite my best efforts, failed again and again during lockdown. Ordering those eggs and then cutting in that gooey goodness was one of the best little moments of my life.
“I feel like a Melburnian again... we took tables for granted”- Bill says he got up early to make sure he was the first customer at Abby Road on the morning of reopening @AmyRemeikis @GuardianAus pic.twitter.com/VMG1go9yWQ
— Matilda Boseley (@MatildaBoseley) October 27, 2020
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Some other points from the Australian Signals Directorate’s appearance before Senate estimates last night:
The Australian Signals Directorate also disclosed that it has paid more than $500,000 towards a now-terminated $2.2m contract with the Australian National University for books about ASD’s history.
Rachel Noble, the ASD director-general, said the contract - which was to involve Prof John Blaxland writing two volumes - had been terminated because of a “difference of opinion” with ANU about “the best balance of content”.
She indicated the draft first volume contained a lot of history of cryptology in the world rather than a focus on ASD and its predecessor organisations.
The ANU was concerned to uphold academic freedom.
According to Nine newspapers - which first broke the story about the project collapsing - the original contract signed in June 2019 indicated ASD would review the manuscript for only security and privacy reasons, without infringing “the artistic or academic integrity of the contractor’s work”.
Blaxland is the co-author of an official history of Asio and has an intelligence background.
Noble argued the termination of the contract was done by “amicable agreement”.
“It was a matter of a difference of views ... It related to the balance of content.”
While ASD has already paid more than $500,000 to date, it remains in discussions with ANU about the costs incurred at that end so they can finalise payments.
The ANU would be able to use the bulk of the material already produced as it saw fit, and ASD was working to find another writer to complete the ASD history project.
The Australian Signals Directorate says ransomware attackers have been targeting aged care facilities and the health sector more generally during the pandemic.
At a Senate estimates hearing last night, ASD confirmed it had threat intelligence that Australian healthcare providers were being targeted by ransomware – which typically involves compromising a system and then making threats about what will be done to the data unless the victim pays the attacker in bitcoin.
Abigail Bradshaw, the head of ASD’s Australian Cyber Security Centre, told the hearing:
“We issued a couple of months ago particular advice to aged care facilities who we observed were being specifically targeted because, mercilessly, they were so vulnerable at the time. The advice focused on the need to separate corporate systems from operating systems and to ensure backups were in place. And we observed some operators very adept at applying those techniques and in fact our experience with one [of the victims] in particular was that they were able to continue operating notwithstanding the attack because they had done the right preparatory activity.”
Rachel Noble, the ASD director-general, said ASD’s operational advice to victims of ransomware attacks was not to pay the ransom. This was partly because the attackers were criminals so “you probably can’t take their word for anything”. Noble said it was also about “the greater good – the reason it works is because people do pay it, which makes it lucrative, and so it then sort of grows like a cancer onto people”.
ASD tries to help victims understand precisely what has happened, what they have lost access to, and whether it could help them salvage data.
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Let us know what the first thing you’re doing today is, Melbourne.
I’ll include some of them in the blog to celebrate – tweet with #MelbourneOpen so I can find them
Darren and Nicole day it’s amazing to feel normal again sitting down for breakfast. They don’t know exactly what they are ordering yet, but they know it’s going to be big. @AmyRemeikis @GuardianAus pic.twitter.com/rPzWmltzoE
— Matilda Boseley (@MatildaBoseley) October 27, 2020
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Around Melbourne thousands of cafes are prepping their coffee machines and wiping down tables, ready to serve seated customers for the first time in months.
“I’m excited and I’m nervous … I haven’t served a coffee in a real cup in more than six months. I haven’t done latte art in so long,” says barista Hayley Kim from Leroy’s cafe in Acland St.
“I didn’t actually watch the Andrews announcement because I was working but customers start turning up and telling us ‘oh my god you can reopen, you can reopen’. I was like ‘oh thank god’!”
Barista Hayley Kim says she hasn’t served coffee on a real cup or done latè art in months, but is excited to get started as Melbourne’s cafes re open. @AmyRemeikis @GuardianAus pic.twitter.com/evMIqleu0o
— Matilda Boseley (@MatildaBoseley) October 27, 2020
Chef Pelden Lama says he is bracing for a rush of breakfast-starved customers to come through the doors.
“People are going a bit crazy you know. There they can’t go out, they don’t have that culture so, yeah, we are probably going to be busy!”
On Monday, Premier Daniel Andrews got up on stage and made the long-awaited announcement that after successfully recording zero cases, and containing several widespread outbreaks, that Melbourne was finally opening up.
Greg, Garry, Micheal, Nigel are some of the first people in all of Melbourne to sit down for coffee after their tradition morning bike ride - although they say they still need to figure out the rules about mask wearing while having a sip @AmyRemeikis @GuardianAus pic.twitter.com/8Fg2IjHQ9i
— Matilda Boseley (@MatildaBoseley) October 27, 2020
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Good morning
Happy day Melbourne!
As of midnight, the strictest of the restrictions were lifted, and it looks like the rain will hold, so I hope you go for a walk in the sunshine to get a coffee, sitting at a socially distanced cafe, just because you can.
The dust is still settling on Josh Frydenberg’s verbal explosion at the Victorian government, during a Labor-moved motion thanking Victorians for their recent sacrifices during lockdown.
The treasurer has not backed down from hijacking the motion to rage at the Victorian Labor government, which included this line:
“A friend of mine said that a friend of his had taken his own life because he lost his job in Victoria.”
It was a lot, and it is still reverberating today.
Murph covered it off here:
Estimates continues today – economics, foreign affairs, community affairs (social services) and education and employment are up today. Labor has managed to uncover enough to keep the government uncomfortable these hearings, but of course, being 2020, everything always comes back to the pandemic.
Meanwhile, there are just a few days left in the Queensland election campaign. It has been ticking away in the background, with Labor strategists and campaigners worried about the Palaszczuk government’s chances of keeping government. A lot of voters have already voted, which is skewing the polls somewhat – someone I was talking to yesterday said they had been polled eight times already and were so annoyed at the constant phone calls, they were no longer cooperating, to give you some idea of what it’s like – but the LNP has a path to victory (even if it’s in minority government) and that in itself is enough to have Labor worried. Plus, there is Clive Palmer and his millions, which are targeting Labor with a fake death tax campaign. There is no death tax – but that hasn’t stopped Palmer from basing his entire advertising campaign around the idea that there “could” be.
But again, I am not making a prediction, merely letting you know what I am hearing (because that is my job).
Queensland is three states in one. The south east votes completely differently to central Queensland, and then the north is a whole other story. It is always a bit of an unpredictable mess, and a wild ride – we won’t know anything until Saturday. Happy Halloween.
We’ll cover all of that, as well as whatever else happens in the parliament (I assume there will even be some legislation at some point), Covid and estimates across the day. You have Amy Remeikis with you again. I’m on to my third coffee, and have a feeling we are heading to at least five this hump day – the 44th Wednesday we have endured this year.
Ready?
Let’s get into it.
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