That’s it for today, thanks for reading. To recap:
- The bushfire royal commission handed down its final report, which urged a cut in emissions to reduce the risk of more devastating blazes in years to come.
- Western Australia will ease border restrictions on 14 November, pending health advice. It will mean people from every state and territory, except Victoria and NSW, can travel to WA without needing to isolate or quarantine.
- Queenslanders head to the polls tomorrow. It was also announced today that the state will keep its border restrictions.
- There are four new cases of Covid-19 in Victoria, but two of the four were described as weak positives that will be reviewed. There was one new case in NSW, and six in hotel quarantine.
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A reminder you should all do this:
We've just launched a new weekend app, like a Saturday newspaper, with the best of the week and lovely weekend reads, but digital. There's a 14 day free trial - sign up on our site. It'll arrive at 6am tomorrow...and you don't have to go out to the front lawn to get it...
— Lenore Taylor (@lenoretaylor) October 30, 2020
Meanwhile, it’s just gone 3am in Washington DC and the Donald is tweeting.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 30, 2020
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Giving this another push, ahead of Queensland voting tomorrow...
Speaking of dogging Melbourne...
Missed this earlier, but it’s worth mentioning. Victoria’s chief health officer, Prof Brett Sutton, was asked whether Australia could eliminate Covid-19 and answered that it was “absolutely possible”, according to AAP.
There’s a grumbling number of cases in NSW but it’s within our grasp, and if it’s a byproduct of everything that we’re doing routinely for each and every case, then fantastic.
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Just a general reminder ahead of Victoria’s first weekend since the end of lockdown (a weekend that most people turn into a four-day break, given the Melbourne Cup holiday): you should ABSOLUTELY NOT dog places you’ve made a booking to.
Apparently 13 of 20 people who booked a table at the fantastic Cherry Bar last night failed to show up.
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This is worth a read, given the appointments to the high court this week:
Back on bushfire royal commission reactions. This from Law Council president Pauline Wright:
It is not surprising that the importance of legal assistance in times of emergency features prominently in the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements report, handed to the government today.
As noted in the report, the delivery of legal assistance is a key example of non-government recovery support playing a fundamental role in helping individuals who are adversely affected by natural disasters.
The legal profession has consistently stood up to the challenges of natural disasters through the provision of emergency support, led by the community legal sector, legal aid commissions and the pro bono contribution of private practitioners.
That is why the Law Council believes that the mobilisation of outreach centres providing on-the-ground advice, telephone advice services and dedicated online and physical resources are vital to communities following disaster events and must be linked to long term support and recovery from disasters.
However, the report also highlights a need for improved planning and coordination in the delivery of these services, including a recommendation for pre-agreed recovery programs that includes the provision of legal assistance. Importantly, the report notes that non-government organisations should be included in this recovery planning process.
The Law Council supports these recommendations, and calls on the Australian government to consider additional resourcing for the legal assistance sector, which continues to perform a vital role in supporting our society regardless of whether or not we are in a period of national disaster.
The Law Council also welcomes the report’s focus on the need to improve the regulatory framework for charitable fundraising in Australia.
A nationally consistent scheme for the regulation of fundraising is long overdue, and the report’s finding that such a scheme could provide greater community confidence in the management of financial donations following a natural disaster is welcomed.
The legal sector has consistently demonstrated its ability to adapt in the face of crises and leverage minimal resources to provide significant sections of the community with much-needed advice and assistance to manage the myriad challenges that arise in times of emergency.
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McGowan now going over restrictions in WA, rather than specifically talking about the border. So to recap, changes to come on 14 November, subject to health advice, will allow people from all states and territories except Victoria and NSW to travel freely to WA. Those from Victoria and NSW will have to spend 14-days in quarantine (this can be at an approved address).
Mark McGowan:
Look, NSW has had lots of issues. As has Victoria. Western Australia hasn’t ... This is all health advice-related, and we’re still going to be careful about those places.
Also gave Bendigo and Bathurst a shout out.
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We’ve been cautious, let’s be honest.
Any time we could mitigate risk, we did. I put in place things I wouldn’t have dreamt of doing.
But the methods have all worked. Now we’ve had some health advice in the past 36 hours which indicates we can go from a hard border to a controlled border.
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More from Mark McGowan’s press conference, which is live now:
We reserve the right to make further changes, including to reinstate the hard border.
If you want to go to NSW or you want to go to Victoria, you will have to self-quarantine upon your return.
We’ll continue to fight the Clive Palmer case ... States need to have this capacity. If the virus was to come back into a state ... you need to have these measures.
I’d give him some friendly advice not to come into Western Australia ... He’d have to fill out the forms, and as we know he’s not great at filling out forms properly.
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A few more snippets from premier Mark McGowan re the WA border announcement:
We’re going from a hard border to a controlled border. It’s still a measure that a year ago you wouldn’t have imagined you’d have in place.
The health advice has indicated along this road, on a few occasions.
We follow that health advice. It’s stood us in good stead.
I wouldn’t be taking these steps unless the health advice was completely clear.
AND
I personally think the biggest threat to the country now is importation of the virus from overseas.
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More on that announcement from WA:
Today, in line with the latest advice from the Chief Health Officer, I can announce that WA will soon cautiously transition towards a controlled interstate border.
— Mark McGowan (@MarkMcGowanMP) October 30, 2020
Pending ongoing health advice and case numbers interstate, this will take effect on Saturday 14 November. pic.twitter.com/3s3iGIwt7V
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WA's hard border to be eased: Mark McGowan
The WA hard border is going to be replaced with a controlled interstate border from 14 November, pending health advice, premier Mark McGowan said.
Arrivals from Tasmania, Queensland, South Australia and NT and the ACT will be allowed into WA without quarantine. People from NSW and Victoria will have to quarantine for 14 days.
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Western Australia’s premier Mark McGowan is making an announcement re border reopenings. Will bring you more soon.
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Queensland tourism is in strife. I mean, the border IS closed.
Central Coast council suspended
This just in from the NSW government on the suspension of Central Coast council:
The NSW government today suspended Central Coast council and appointed an interim administrator.
Local government minister Shelley Hancock said an interim administrator would restore the proper and effective functioning of the council.
“There is a clear need for greater oversight and control over the council’s budget and expenditure to restore its financial sustainability and importantly reinstil the community’s trust in the effective functioning of their council,” Hancock said.
Dick Persson AM has been appointed interim administrator for three months.
Persson is a highly experienced local government administrator with a proven track record of fixing council dysfunction. He was appointed administrator after the dismissal of Warringah council in 2003 and Port Macquarie-Hastings council in 2008, as well as Northern Beaches council when it was created in 2016. He has also held senior roles in the NSW, Queensland and federal governments.
Persson will bring with him a highly experienced former local government general manager, Rik Hart, to oversee the council’s operational recovery.
Hart has nearly two decades of experience as a local government general manager at councils including Parramatta, Inner West and Warringah.
“I am pleased that two such highly experienced and qualified local government professionals are taking up these positions,” Hancock said.
Hancock made the decision to suspend the council after carefully considering a submission from the council in response to a notice of intention issued on 21 October.
The appointment of an interim administrator will provide independent governance to address financial, reputational and organisational risks.
Suspension applies to the mayor and councillors. It does not affect council staff and daily operations.
The administrator will perform the functions of the mayor and councillors for three months.
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Fair to say they’re udderly confused, and if you could give them a steer that would be much appreciated.
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In an update that I’m sure many of you were anxiously awaiting, a steer that escaped a private all boys school on Sydney’s north shore is still on the loose.
The bovine has now been out and about for nearly 72 hours after it broke through a fence on Tuesday night. On Thursday we reported that the steer (a castrated bull calf) had been brought to St Ignatius College Riverview in Sydney’s Lane Cove as part of the school’s agricultural education program, before making his escape.
I just spoke to a school spokeswoman who told me they had not received any steer updates since last we spoke.
The steer was last seen in the Lane Cove area, and its whereabouts are unknown.
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We have mentioned cricket a couple of times today. Consider this a hat-trick.
The Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, said during the leaders’ debate on the eve of the state election that she would vote for voluntary assisted dying laws.
Palaszczuk also spoke emotionally for the first time about the death of her grandmother earlier this year.
Labor has promised to allow a conscience vote on voluntary assisted dying. The LNP leader, Deb Frecklington, said the issue had been politicised by being brought up during an election campaign.
“I would support voluntary assisted dying,” Palaszczuk said.
“Let me tell you why my views have changed on this. I consider myself a Christian; I went to a Catholic school. I hold Christian values.
“But it’s not for me to tell other people how to end their lives.
“During this pandemic, I lost my grandmother. It was a very distressing time for me and just like a lot of other people I couldn’t go and see her when she passed away. She went through incredible pain. In fact the day she called me when she was in pain I couldn’t go. I had meetings in the city. I had to ask my Mum to go.
“I don’t want anyone to suffer. I don’t want anyone to have to go through that. And I’m just saying to Queenslanders it is a personal matter for people ... their family and their medical practitioners. It is not for me to make that decision.”
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Warren Mundine, the former ALP president and Liberal candidate also seen on Sky News, has a new gig ...
The Morrison government has appointed culture warrior @nyunggai Warren Mundine to the SBS Board for five-years @SBS
— amanda meade (@meadea) October 30, 2020
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The share of the Australian economy going to workers has fallen to its lowest point since The Beatles’ I Want To Hold Your Hand dominated the pop charts while the share taken by company profits is at the highest in recorded history, statistics out today show.
In a sign that the coronavirus pandemic worsened Australia’s long-standing wage stagnation, the share of total economic income going to wage earners fell to 51.7% in the 12 months to the end of June.
The share going to profits was 29.4%, “the highest share in recorded history”, due to booming iron ore prices and companies trousering cornavirus benefits such as jobkeeper, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said.
Gross domestic product fell 0.3% for the year, a figure that is 0.1 percentage points worse than the ABS’s previous estimate.
And taking into account population growth the picture was even grimmer: on a per capita basis, GDP went backwards by 1.7%, which the ABS said was the first fall in 11 years.
The figures only go to the end of June, so they don’t take into account the continued economic damage caused by Victoria’s longer and more stringent second-wave lockdown, which may have smashed the state’s coronavirus figures but also devastated the economy.
A persistently high iron ore price that has helped make people like Gina Rinehart richer than ever before also drove profits up more broadly, the ABS said.
“Mining operating surplus rose 7.7% in 2019-20 due to strong international demand coupled with higher iron ore prices,” it said.
But it had some very interesting remarks about coronavirus subsidies companies got from the taxpayer, the largest of which has been jobkeeper:
“The rise in private non-financial corporations GOS [gross operating surplus] excluding mining reflects the receipt of Covid-19 related subsidies by business. Subsidies that were not used by businesses to pay wages or operating expenses were retained in profits.”
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This is interesting. More than 20 Afghan, Australian and international human rights and legal organisations have written to assistant inspector-general of the Australian Defence Force, Maj Gen Justice Paul Brereton, urging him to release the report of the inquiry into allegations of breaches of international humanitarian law by Australian special forces in Afghanistan.
In Victoria, a second person has had their conviction quashed after a court ruled that former gangland lawyer Nicola Gobbo improperly interfered in their prosecution.
Zlate Cvetanovski was jailed for high-level drug trafficking on the evidence of a man who can only be known as Mr Cooper, a drug cook turned star prosecution witness who was a client of Gobbo.
The court of appeal heard today that Gobbo persuaded Cooper to cooperate with police and incriminate Cvetanovski.
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Save the Children feels the bushfire royal commission should have done more to address the specific needs of (surprise) children.
They say that more than 14,000 children were forced to flee their homes last summer, and warned in their submission to the commission that children’s needs were systematically overlooked.
In the immediate response to the bushfires, the organisation set up 10 child-friendly spaces in evacuation, relief and recovery centres in NSW, Victoria and South Australia reaching more than 1,000 children, parents and carers.
“The report today is disappointing from the perspective of children,” chief executive officer Paul Ronalds said.
“There are many families in vulnerable positions and we can’t have a repeat of the last bushfire season where children were an afterthought.
“Despite the lack of specific recommendations in the royal commission report, we urge Australian governments to adopt a more systematic approach to support children’s needs during emergencies and in the recovery process, which can take many months or even years.”
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While the bushfire royal commission report was handed down, a Senate committee has been inquiring into the enhancement of defence force response to emergencies bill.
The bill streamlines the process for calling out members of the Australian defence force reserves, and provides ADF members, defence personnel and members of foreign forces with immunity from criminal or civil liability in cases while performing duties to support civil emergency and disaster preparedness, recovery and response.
Adrian D’Amico, chief counsel of the defence department, noted that in recommendation 7.3 the royal commission backed just such an immunity.
Prof Anne Twomey has made a thoughtful submission, warning the bill does nothing to address the shaky constitutional foundations of the defence force being used for civil emergency response. In her view, if the constitution doesn’t support the callout of troops, then the bill’s immunity provisions will be ineffective.
Therese Quinn, a senior legal officer in defence’s legal department, said it had advice from the Australian government solicitor the immunity provision was constitutional, but agreed that the source of power for callouts is the executive power and if a court found that weren’t sufficient then the immunity would not be effective.
D’Amico had said defence is “absolutely sure” it is constitutional. Senator Rex Patrick seized on this inconsistency, labelling it “legally arrogant” and noting that there was “doubt” in his own team.
Labor’s Kimberley Kitching asked whether it would be a good idea to add something to the bill’s explanatory memorandum to clarify it doesn’t alter the responsibilities of states and the relationship with the federal government. Earlier evidence had gone to the fact many in the community interpreted the bill as a power grab. Quinn agreed that would be a good idea.
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NSW Health details gym risk times
Another reminder from NSW Health that you can find good value for money in Leppington – provided you use your gym membership as much as this person:
NSW Health is advising that more attendees of a gym in south-west Sydney, where a confirmed case of Covid-19 included in yesterday’s numbers had visited, are now considered close contacts.
Anyone who attended any class scheduled to begin five minutes before or after one of the classes below is considered a close contact and must get tested immediately and isolate for a full 14 days from exposure regardless of the result:
F45 gym, 1640 Camden Valley Way, Leppington, on these dates and times:
Thursday 15 October, 5.15-6pm
Saturday 17 October, 8.10am-9.10am
Sunday 18 October, 8.55am-9.40am
Monday 19 October, 5.50am-6.35am
Tuesday 20 October, 5.50am-6.35am
Wednesday 21 October, 5.15pm-6pm
Thursday 22 October, 6.45am-7.30am
Friday 23 October, 9.35am-10.20am
Saturday 24 October, 7.10am- 8.10am
Sunday 25 October, 8.55am-9.40am
Monday 26 October, 5.50am-6.35am
Tuesday 27 October, 6.45am-7.30am
Wednesday 28 October, 5.50am-6.35am
And anyone who attended the following venue between 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:
Upstairs function room, Jasmins Lebanese restaurant, 222 South Terrace, Bankstown, on Thursday 22 October, between 6.30pm and 9pm.
Those who visited the restaurant downstairs on that date and time are 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.
Testing numbers have dropped recently, which is a concern. NSW Health is appealing to the community 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 than 300 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.
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This on Victorian premier Dan Andrews announcing he will not from the media tomorrow. Solid form leading into summer ...
Recapping, Andrews retires on 120n.o. after surviving the medium pace of O’Brien and Smith’s off spin. Sutton still at the crease after surviving an LBW shout, supported by a solid if sporadic Cheng. And of course Mikakos dismissed earlier hit wicket.
— Tim Callanan (@MrTimCallanan) October 30, 2020
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And now the NSW Rural Fire Service Association has weighed in, welcoming the commission’s report but saying it should not distract the state government from acting on recommendations made in the recent NSW bushfire inquiry.
“First and foremost, we welcome today’s report noting it provides a clear framework of areas where more attention is needed going into future fire seasons,” its president, Brian McDonough, said.
“While our members are most affected by operational arrangements that were addressed by the NSW inquiry, we are pleased to see that our recommendations to the royal commission have all been adopted within the final report.”
He said the association were pleased the commission agreed states should maintain primary responsibility for managing disasters, but that it should be easier for states to call for commonwealth support.
It also backed the commission’s call for improved community education.
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Fellow independent MP Helen Haines has also chimed in (fairly fired up too, pardon the pun) saying the report would have major benefits for her electorate of Indi if the federal government implemented its recommendations.
“The response from the government must be swift, decisive and uncompromising. There have been 240 inquiries into natural disasters before in Australia. This should be the last. Now is the time to act.
“The royal commission recommends a huge boost to our firefighting capability, including a sovereign aerial fire-fighting force, investment in a domestic aerial fire-fighting industry and a new national register of firefighting assets.
“For the many CFAs in my electorate who are calling for investment in better equipment, better telecommunications and access to aerial support when needed, this will be welcome news.”
Haines also called for action on climate change.
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Zali Steggal calls for action on climate change
Independent MP for Warringah Zali Steggall is using the release of the bushfire royal commission report to call for greater action on climate change.
“The royal commission final report makes it clear: increasing temperatures due to climate change will contribute to greater severity of extreme weather and natural disasters in Australia.
“The outlook for Australia is alarming. Australians are now staring down the barrel of more unpredictable and dangerous events that will affect our safety and prosperity as a nation.
“The report highlights that regular risk assessments and strong adaptation plans are absolutely necessary to respond to these events. It is time to be unified in addressing climate change. This is not about left or right politics, it is about Australia’s long-term safety and economic prosperity.”
Steggall says she will introduce a climate change bill on 9 November that calls for a sensible bipartisan approach to legislating net zero emissions by 2050. She says the bill is modelled on the UK’s 2008 climate change act.
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Afternoon all, cheers Amy Remeikis
I am going to hand the blog over to Nino Bucci now, because I will be covering the Queensland election tomorrow so need a tiny bit of extra downtime.
You can join me for the Qldpol blog tomorrow afternoon if you are so inclined. It has shaped up to be a very interesting contest, so even if you aren’t a Queenslander, you might find yourself gripping your Bundy and cola.
Thank you to everyone who followed along with me this week – and across the whole parliament and estimates sitting. I truly appreciate it. You make the hours and the slog all worth it.
Nino will have your afternoon news. I’ll be back tomorrow night. Take care of you.
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NSW has recorded one new case of locally acquired Covid.
Another six are in hotel quarantine.
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Greg Mullins, the former NSW fire commissioner, has held a press conference in response to the bushfire royal commission report.
He says the recommendations will only work if everyone is on the same page.
We need a unity ticket on emergency management, preparation for disasters and climate action.
Every state and territory, whether they’re Liberal, National party, or Labor states, have a net-zero emissions policy for 2050. Canberra doesn’t.
They’re out of step with the states and territories in Australia. They’re out of step with our major trading partners, like Japan and South Korea, that just this week have adopted a net zero emissions climate policy.
Our climate policies are insufficient to protect future generations and they must change now.
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As Paul reported, the government released its official statement on the Nice terrorist attacks.
Here is Labor’s:
Labor condemns the horrific terrorist attack at a church in Nice and we extend our deepest condolences to the families of the victims.
This was an assault on our common humanity; an attack on any religion is an attack on all religions.
We stand with France and all her people, in defence of the country’s founding values – liberty, equality,fraternity. These values will not falter.
We stand united against terrorism and those who wish spread fear and sow division.
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The government has released the terms and reference for its privacy act review.
From Christian Porter’s office:
The Morrison government has today released the terms of reference and issues paper for a wide-ranging review of the Privacy Act 1988.
The government committed to a review following the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s digital platforms inquiry in 2019. Several recommendations from that inquiry – which the government has already agreed to in principle – will be considered as part of the review.
These include expanding the scope of the privacy act to cover technical data and other online identifiers; and strengthening privacy notice and consent requirements
The review will be conducted by the attorney general’s department and public submissions can be lodged up until 29 November. A further opportunity to comment will also be available following the release of a discussion paper early next year.
“Australians are spending more and more of their time online and more of their personal information is being collected, handled and stored,” Porter said.
“Technology is also rapidly evolving in areas such as artificial intelligence and data analytics, which is why it is crucial that we have a privacy regime that is fit for purpose, can grow trust, empower consumers and support the growing digital economy.”
A report of the review will be released following government consideration. It is separate to the work already being undertaken to increase the maximum civil penalties under the privacy act, and to develop a binding privacy code for social media platforms and other online platforms that trade in personal information.
The issues paper and further information about the review and consultation are available on the Privacy Act review page on the Attorney-General’s Department website.
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Looks like there are some changes to the Cricket Australia schedule.
Greg Mullins, one of the former fire and emergency chiefs who warned the Morrison government before the disastrous fire season, has called on the government to accept and implement all of the royal commission’s recommendations.
“The bushfire royal commission has laid out the facts in no uncertain terms: climate change drove the black summer bushfires, and climate change is pushing us into a future of unprecedented bushfire severity,” the former NSW fire and rescue commissioner said.
“The federal government absolutely has to act on the root cause of worsening bushfires in Australia, and take urgent steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This clearly means no new coal or gas, and a rapid transition to renewable energy.
“Australians are watching the federal government closely to make sure it follows through on these recommendations. We are watching closely to make sure the federal government accepts and implements all recommendations.”
That has been quite a morning. To recap:
The bushfire royal commission was released.
Queensland has opened its borders to all but Victoria and greater Sydney.
Victoria has four cases but two are “weak positives”.
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Amid all the bushfire royal commission news, the disability royal commission is also delivering its interim report to the governor general today.
While we await its public release, the chair, Ronald Sackville, has revealed he will write to Scott Morrison asking to extend the commission’s work by a year and a half.
Under the proposed timeframe, the final report would be handed down in September 2023. We will provide more details on the interim findings when the report is out.
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Graham Readfearn has written up his first take on the bushfire royal commission:
Australia’s bushfire disaster last summer was just a glimpse of what global heating will deliver to the country in the future, with major changes needed to the way the nation responds, the final report of the royal commission says.
The royal commission has made 80 recommendations, including calls for a more coordinated approach and new legislation to allow the prime minister to declare a national state of emergency.
The wide-reaching recommendations cut across national and state-based responses, and say there needs to be standardised and consistent approaches. A national cabinet approach is also recommended.
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Responses are coming in left right and centre:
The professional firefighters’ unions of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia are challenging the prime minister to answer why professional firefighters, who provided critical support and resources to combat the black summer bushfires were not consulted as part of the bushfires royal commission.
Leighton Drury, NSW state secretary of the Fire Brigade Employees Union, said:
“Together the unions represent 70% of professional firefighters across Australia. These firefighters were on the frontline as well as providing critical support during last year’s unprecedented fire season, coordinating and deploying resources at an operational level.
The firefighter unions made a joint submission to the royal commission, however professional firefighters were not asked to give evidence before the commission or engage in the preparation of the final report.
It is commendable that the commission sought the views of a variety of people, however we see critical failure in not engaging with our members. More people from the Australian Space Agency were called to give evidence than professional frontline firefighters.
While we welcome the action to prevent the destruction and devastation of the black summer fires from happening again, this sees some of the most critical evidence of professional firefighters left out of the commission’s findings.”
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Daniel Andrews will not, repeat not, front the media tomorrow
You WON’T see Daniel Andrews tomorrow.
The prediction I made earlier in the week has paid off: after 120 consecutive press conferences (basically the equivalent of a full week in front of the media) Andrews will not hold a press conference tomorrow.
TODAY IS THE FINAL DAILY DAN. 120 days straight (I believe) and the premier just called it. Martin Foley up tomorrow instead. @DanielAndrewsMP. @7NewsMelbourne
— Blake Johnson (@BlakeJohnson) October 30, 2020
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The emergency management minister, David Littleproud, has issued a short statement acknowledging the final report of the bushfire royal commission.
He says the government will consider the report, noting its 80 recommendations were spread across commonwealth, state and territory responsibilities.
“The commonwealth will now carefully and methodically consider the report and its recommendations, as will the states and territories, but we are committed to responding to and actioning many of the recommendations as soon as possible,” he said.
Littleproud said the report contained lessons for governments, essential service providers, insurers, charities, communities and individuals.
“Importantly, the royal commission wasn’t focused solely on commonwealth areas of responsibilities but examined how all Australian jurisdictions managed natural disaster arrangements, and critically, how we could work together even better in future to protect people, property and the environment,” he said.
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Bushfire royal commission says disaster management arrangements must change
Heading back to the bushfire royal commission, here is a bit more of what it had to say.
The report is more than 1,000 pages long. There is a bit to get through and we’ll be reporting on it for days, if not weeks, but here are some little bites.
Natural disasters have changed, and it has become clear to us that the nation’s disaster management arrangements must also change.
Extreme weather has already become more frequent and intense because of climate change; further global warming over the next 20 to 30 years is inevitable.
Globally, temperatures will continue to rise, and Australia will have more hot days and fewer cool days. Sea levels are also projected to continue to rise.
Tropical cyclones are projected to decrease in number, but increase in intensity. Floods and bushfires are expected to become more frequent and more intense.
Catastrophic fire conditions may render traditional bushfire prediction models and firefighting techniques less effective.
Natural disasters are expected to become more complex, more unpredictable, and more difficult to manage.
We are likely to see more compounding disasters on a national scale with far-reaching consequences.
Compounding disasters may be caused by multiple disasters happening simultaneously, or one after another. Some may involve multiple hazards – fires, floods and storms. Some have cascading effects – threatening not only lives and homes, but also the nation’s economy, critical infrastructure and essential services, such as our electricity, telecommunications and water supply, and our roads, railways and airports.
Australia needs to be better prepared for these natural disasters.They may not happen every year, but when they happen, they can be catastrophic. The summer of 2019-20 – in which some communities experienced drought, heatwaves, bushfires, hailstorms and flooding – provided only a glimpse of the types of events that Australia may face in the future.
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Dr Jeannette Young says Queensland is still going for suppression, not eradication, but she is concerned about the unlinked cases in Sydney.
But if you are in regional NSW the greatest state on earth is now open to you (well, from 3 November).
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So when will Sydney residents (and surrounds) get to enter Queensland?
Dr Jeannette Young:
You asking me to look into a crystal ball. I genuinely do not know. It depends what happens with the virus. We are learning more and more about it every day and what we are learning is that it is actually very contagious so we just have to look at the evidence, and I look at the evidence every single day, seven days a week, and work out what is the best advice for me to provide to keep Queenslanders safe.
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It’s the unlinked cases which has caused the concern, Dr Jeannette Young says.
She says NSW’s systems are so good that if they can’t trace back a case to a known cluster it means there are cases in the community they don’t know about.
Her concern is there’s more spread than the authorities know about, given there has been a number of mystery cases lately.
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Dr Jeannette Young:
It is all about numbers. There are 4.8m people who live in those 32 LGAs in Sydney. They are the risk; they are the ones moving around. There are smaller numbers outside who will travel into Sydney but if they travel into Sydney they then cannot come to Queensland for 14 days, so that will be protected, and we will see. If they travel into Sydney, go out of Sydney, and then cause infections they will be picked up.
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Dr Young explains a bit more:
As I said, there were four and then there was a new case which has involved additional LGAs and Sydney is one city and people move around that city.
That is why those 32 LGAs all need to be declared hot spots.
Outside those 32 LGAs have not been any cases in the previous 28 days.
So that is really good news and New South Wales has done exceptionally well.
They had a hard start because of the cases that came into New South Wales from Melbourne and it has taken them a while to get on top of those original cases and we can see that their biggest risk is still that south-western part of Sydney.
That is where they are continuing to have those cases and every so often they will have cases elsewhere in Sydney because people from that area have gone there, seeded an outbreak in New South Wales gets on top of it because they do have good systems but they are still struggling to get on top of cases in the south-western part.
So the decision is that Queensland will remain closed to New South Wales, to those 32 LGAs but as of 1am on November three, the rest of New South Wales is open and people will be able to travel up into Queensland for any reason at all and Queenslanders will be able to travel down into New South Wales to those areas for any reason at all and they can travel via Sydney airport at Mascot that they will need to then travel through Sydney without stopping in Sydney to get to those areas outside those 32 LGAs.
Once again, in case people haven’t realised it, in Queensland, once a public health emergency is declared the chief health officer makes these sorts of decisions.
It is the CHO who decides who comes in, what is locked down, and who is allowed through.
It would be naive to say that the government doesn’t get a pretty big say – but all it can do is advise and recommend. But to overrule the CHO’s decision, under the Public Health Act, would be breaking the law. To change it would require an act of parliament.
So while the commentary will centre on Annastacia Palszczuk making the decision, under the act, it’s up to Dr Young.
Updated
Dr Jeannette Young on why she has said no to Sydney:
I have reviewed the situation in NSW and prior to yesterday they had four LGAs in Sydney that had had cases of community transmission that NSW was unable to link to any known clusters, which means that they have transmission and they don’t know where it is coming from.
Yesterday they had four new cases and one of those cases they could not link to any other known clusters.
The other three cases were linked to that case. That then meant another area of Sydney was having cases. NSW put out an alert for six different sites across the city where they were concerned that transmission could have occurred.
So based on that new information yesterday and the information up to that point I believe it is important that Queensland remain closed to those 32 LGAs is in Sydney.
Updated
That means people from a few more regional NSW areas will be able to travel to Queensland - the new border arrangements will go in place for 3 November.
(After the election)
You also can’t enter Queensland if you drive through Sydney - so, for me in Canberra, I can fly to Queensland (not that I could afford it - those prices are insane) but I could not drive.
Deputy premier and health minister Steven Miles says:
Our premier and this government, our premier is one who does what she says she will do. She says she will listen to the health advice and we would review the border arrangements at the end of the month and that is exactly what has happened here.
We monitored very closely the community transmission in New South Wales and Victoria and based on the chief health officer’s advice, the Queensland border will remain closed to people who travel through Victoria and people who travel through the 32 local government areas of greater Sydney.
That was precisely the health advice.
That is what we have done today and what we have been determined to do throughout this pandemic.
Updated
Annastacia Palaszczuk says the CHO Dr Jeannette Young has concerns about community transmission in greater Sydney.
So, that’s a no to greater Sydney – about 32 local government areas.
Updated
Queensland border announcement
Annastacia Palaszczuk says it is another day of no community transmission in Queensland.
She says she had a briefing from Dr Jeannette Young – who makes the border decision.
Victoria and greater Sydney will remain CLOSED to Queensland.
Updated
On the bushfire royal commission’s report on machinery and equipment, Daniel Andrews says (in general, he hasn’t read the report).
Every summer, we make sure that we have the very best equipment, the very best machinery, the very best of tech anywhere in the world, as well as the quantities of those machines that we need.
Whether it is fixed wing, rotary, with the forward looking ultraviolet cameras. The notion of being able to - infrared I should say, being able to do water bombing at night for instance.
That has been a feature of firefighting in Victoria certainly last season and I think we did some trailing the season before. We are always looking to have more but also better get, if you like, so that our career and volunteer firefighters have everything they possibly need.
I think there is a great opportunity out of this tragedy and out of the royal commission process to be a much more, if you like, supplies firefighting effort.
I think there are some products we shouldn’t be importing, we should be making them right here and I think Victoria is very well-placed to do that.
The notion that fire seasons are getting longer and more dangerous on both sides of the world, so the notion of us... In recent years, we have had to do things we never had to before, competing with the northern hemisphere for machinery and equipment because we have had fires at almost the same time.
Their fire season running late and now is coming very, very early.
So the more we can do to be as self-sufficient as possible, the better.
Updated
The Queensland premier is stepping up to her press conference.
Updated
Daniel Andrews is being asked about one of the recommendations in the bushfire royal commission report – that the federal government be given powers to declare state of emergencies, in the states.
I have not had an opportunity to read the royal commission’s report but I will make a broader point them out. It is always best when governments work together and are focused on the challenges at hand. And nothing else should be a consideration in any way.
Let’s have a look at the report, different recommendations they make and no doubt this will be a discussion we will have at National Cabinet with everyone.
Updated
Bushfire royal commission report: 'We need to be prepared for the future'
The bushfire royal commission report has just been released. Among its most significant recommendations are that:
- The Australian government should make provision, in legislation, for a declaration of a state of national emergency.
- Australian, state and territory governments should produce downscaled climate projections: to inform the assessment of future natural disaster risk.
- Australian, state and territory governments should develop an Australian-based and registered national aerial firefighting capability.
- Australian, state and territory governments should review the assessment and approval processes relating to vegetation management, bushfire mitigation and hazard reduction.
The report on the overall impact of the fires:
We heard harrowing personal accounts of devastation and loss. Over 24 million hectares were burnt. Many Australians were impacted, directly or indirectly, by the fires. Tragically, 33 people died and extensive smoke coverage across much of eastern Australia may have caused many more deaths. Over 3,000 homes were destroyed. Estimates of the national financial impacts are over $10 billion. Nearly three billion animals were killed or displaced and many threatened species and other ecological communities were extensively harmed.
And on how best to prepare for the future:
Achieving an effective national approach to natural disasters requires a clear, robust and accountable system capable of both providing a comprehensive understanding of, and responding to, the aggregated risks associated with mitigation, preparation for, response to and recovery from natural disasters. Such a system must have unbroken linkages in place from the highest levels of government to individuals in the community; provide decision makers with timely, consistent and accurate information; be structured for decisions to be made at the most appropriate level; allow decision makers to understand and mitigate all risks so far as reasonably practicable; enable stakeholders to understand the residual risk and inform others so that they may take appropriate actions; and it must be resourced to fulfil these functions...Unprecedented is not a reason to be unprepared. We need to be prepared for the future.
Updated
Bushfire royal commission report tabled
The bushfire royal commission report has been tabled in the parliament.
It is in physical form at the moment, but will be published on the website soon.
Updated
For those waiting for the Queensland decision – it has been delayed until after 11.
Updated
Victoria’s CHO, professor Brett Sutton goes into a bit more detail about those ‘weak positives’.
As the premier announced, 2 of the 4 cases may not end up being confirmed cases.
We often think about tests in really black and white ways, that you have a positive or a negative and there is nothing in between but the reality is, for any test you can think of in the world of pathology, there are always some uncertain ones that sit in between.
With any test, PCR test, a serology test, there are some results that are a little bit indeterminate. For a PCR test, they are looking for gene probes and genetic sequences to ping and sometimes some ping but not all of them that would make it a definitive test and each and every one of us have differences in our immune response and our immune functioning that can mean some of those tests don’t come back with a definitive positive.
That said, the PCR test is still 99.9% accurate but when you’re doing 20,000-plus tests per day, to have one in 10,000 have that somewhat ambiguous result is pretty much par for the course, that will be happening across Australia but we are doing so much more testing in Victoria at the moment.
We will have an expert review panel look at the results and make a call on them definitively as positive or negative. We treat them as positive and they get isolated and they are treated as positive until we know otherwise.
Updated
Daniel Andrews on the November 24 budget:
What’s more, these last few months have to mean something, they have to be worth something. There is pain and hurt out there.
There is grieving, there will be a big repair job, a big job of work to be done and the State Budget in just a few weeks time will be opportunity for us to make the unprecedented investments, not just to create jobs as if that is a be-all and end-all, it is about creating jobs so families can have security and safety and they can plan for the weeks and months and years to come, so the people they love the most can be in as safe and secure an environment and as safe and secure position as possible.
That is what the State Budget will be about and that is what we all have to be about, taking the safe steps, playing our part, being vigilant, valuing the fact we have built something that is deeply impressive but fragile and we all have to play our part in safeguarding that.
There is simply no choice.
Daniel Andrews moves into a ‘please follow the rules’ message:
We’re all in this together and we will all pay a price – all of us – one way or another if we don’t play that part.
Following the rules – and I know the rules are not fun – but they’re there to keep us open, they are there to keep us safe and if we all play our part in lots of small ways in making good decisions, smart decisions and safe decisions, then we will be able to take another step next weekend and we will be able to take further steps after that.
We will get to Christmas and it will be much closer to a normal Christmas than it might have been – or indeed it will certainly be a much more normal Christmas than it will be if we don’t all play our part.
Updated
There were just over 23,000 tests in Victoria in the last 24 hours.
Updated
Daniel Andrews press conference
As always, it starts with the number break down.
Daniel Andrews:
There are 80 active cases of coronavirus in Victoria, with just 4 cases overnight.
Of today’s 4 new cases we have received initial low positive results in relation to two of those cases. Further testing and examination is underway to determine whether they are in fact false positives.
We will have an update around that hopefully later on today, if not in the reconciliation of numbers tomorrow. Until this is confirmed, they are being treated as active positive cases. The two other cases - that is those that are not believed to be, or suspected to be low positives, are under investigation by our public health team and further work is underway to determine whether they are linked to known outbreaks.
There are 5 Victorians in hospital and none of those are in intensive care.
Labor MP Chris Hayes, who was rushed to hospital yesterday after a suffering from a medical issue while delivering a speech, is still having tests done, but his leader, Anthony Albanese said he was in good spirits.
Chris has had a rough time in the last few years, crashing his motorbike, a range of incidents, so he’s resilient and he’s tough. He is from Western Sydney, he will come through this.
Anthony Albanese also made a comment on the terror attack in Nice, France:
All Australians stand with the people of France today. This is an horrific act of terrorism that is simply barbaric and deserves to be utterly condemned. It will produce a real shock wave through France. It won’t blunt the French values of liberty, equality and fraternity and all Australians stand with the French people today.
Anthony Albanese has held a press conference this morning – he was very keen to speak about the bushfires:
Despite the significant warnings that were occurring in 2019, it [the government] didn’t act on recommendations to the government, such as increasing aerial firefighting capacity.
It didn’t address the significant issues that were being raised by the former emergency fire chiefs.
Indeed it wouldn’t even meet with them, treated them with contempt.
We know that too many families are still suffering. We have people still living in temporary accommodation.
We have land that still hasn’t been cleared. It’s not good enough and the fact is, as well, the government needs to address the challenge of climate change.
During last year, we had the deputy prime minister say that it was just an inner city issue.
Tell that to the people around Canberra here, the people around the Snowy Mountains region, the people around Batlow, the people around the coast who saw so much damage. We had such a loss of life as well as a loss of habitat, a loss of flora and fauna. It was a devastating period and I hope that the government adopts all recommendations from the Bushfire Royal Commission.
They have had it for a couple of days without releasing it. It would be a start if they released it and if people got to examine the recommendations.
We have got through this crisis better than most countries in terms of coronavirus, because we have listened to the experts.
Listened to the science also. We need to listen to the science and listen to the experts when it comes to our natural disasters.
Updated
While we wait for the bushfire report, this is well worth a read.
Australia's bushfire survivors may feel they can't face the royal commission report – but politicians must | Kristy McBain https://t.co/ChnhNvnf7s
— Guardian Australia (@GuardianAus) October 29, 2020
Updated
The next hour is going to be a bit insane.
Daniel Andrews will address his 120th consecutive press conference. All up, he has spent the equivalent of a full week in a press conference
We should also hear what the Queensland border decision is and the bushfire royal commission report is due to be tabled in the parliament.
Scott Morrison condemns 'heinous' terror attacks in France
Scott Morrison has made televised remarks condemning the “heinous terrorist attacks that have been undertaken on innocent people in France”.
Morrison said:
These multiple attacks are despicable. They are disgraceful.
Not only are they an attack on the individuals and their families but they are an attack on liberty. When we think of France we think of liberty. And we stand with the people of France.
Overnight I had the opportunity to exchange messages with President Macron. He texted back to me, “We will win”. We stand with France in that declaration. Free peoples all around the world will stand together to defend freedom, to defend our liberties and to stand against the evil terror that seeks to assault that.
While this year has had many other challenges with Covid-19, nonetheless so than in France, it is an awful reminder of the evil that continues to lurk and seeks to strike against the innocent. So our prayers are for the victims and their families. Our thoughts are with all the people of France wherever they are. Our true and great friend. And we stand with President Macron and the government of France as they do all in their power to stamp out this terrible evil that has struck their country.
Updated
The Fair Work Ombudsman has released a report about how 7-Eleven has cleaned up its act after the underpayment scandal.
There are some eye-popping figures in the report – since signing a proactive compliance deed in December 2016 more than $170m has been repaid to current and former employees of 7-Eleven franchisees.
This included:
- $144,484,521 in wages
- $19,497,405 in interest; and
- $9,628,826 in superannuation.
There was a total of 7,926 paid claims by 4,043 individual claimants. The average payout was $21,903.96 per claim.
The FWO has brought 11 litigations against 7-Eleven franchisees, resulting in courts awarding more than $1.8m in penalties for various contraventions of the Fair Work Act 2009, including operating unlawful cashback schemes, paying unlawful flat rates to workers, and falsifying records.
Fair Work Ombudsman, Sandra Parker, said:
After widespread non-compliance in its franchise network was identified, 7-Eleven has implemented extensive high-tech systems, training and employee assistance programs across its business. Through our compliance partnership, the franchisor has delivered on its commitment to address past breaches by its franchisees and lead a network that meets its lawful obligations to workers.
Franchise networks are a priority sector for the Fair Work Ombudsman. We urge all head offices to prioritise compliance with workplace laws or risk systemic breaches that impact their brand and workforce. Franchisors can now be held responsible for their franchisees’ conduct and may be subject to enforcement action, court proceedings and penalties if their franchisees have breached the law.
Updated
Scott Morrison should be making an official statement on this soon.
Deeply shocked at the abhorrent attack in France. I’ve conveyed Australia’s deep condolences to President @EmmanuelMacron. Our hearts go out to the French people who are dealing with so much during #COVID19. We condemn all acts of terrorism & stand united against these vile acts.
— Scott Morrison (@ScottMorrisonMP) October 29, 2020
We condemn the horrific attack at a church in Nice and extend our deepest condolences to the families of those lost.
— Senator Penny Wong (@SenatorWong) October 29, 2020
This was an assault on our common humanity.
We stand with France and all her people. https://t.co/o4ppex4oz7
Updated
Victoria will hand down its state budget on 24 November.
There we go – some more good news from Victoria today – as we know, it is not just the numbers, it is the story behind the numbers, which matters.
Of today's four cases, two are weak positives and may be deemed not to be true cases by the expert panel. One case appears to be historical/recovered. And one case under investigation.
— Chief Health 🍩fficer, Victoria (@VictorianCHO) October 29, 2020
Updated
I’m not sure I’d still be defending the cigar smoking, especially considering just exactly what the 2014 budget set out to do, but you do you.
On his last day as Finance Minister @MathiasCormann says he leaves the job “at peace”
— Laura Jayes (@ljayes) October 29, 2020
No regrets... not even smoking cigars with @JoeHockey
Full interview @SkyNewsAust https://t.co/oTZiLUjFhe
Just a reminder that the bush fire royal commission final report will be released today.
That is due to be tabled in the parliament this morning.
The ‘Five Eyes’ nations finance ministers had a chat last night.
Officially, this was all that was discussed (I imagine there was plenty of unofficial/classified stuff going on as well).
The ministers discussed national economic coronavirus support measures and the steps we’ve taken to protect, create and support jobs.
Ministers also shared updates on policy responses currently in place and discussed strategies to continue supporting jobs and helping to contain the virus in the difficult months ahead.
We agreed to remain in regular contact as a group and will continue to work together to support a strong and sustained economic recovery.
In light of their recent election, New Zealand representatives sent their apologies.
Updated
You may not have noticed it in that statement, but there remains just one woman on the expenditure review committee – Anne Ruston, as the minister for social services.
This isn’t new. The Coalition have been in power since 2013. That committee decides what policies and projects get green lit for funding, and how much. Which means you have one woman’s voice contributing to those decisions (and of course, everyone is white).
Updated
Scott Morrison announces cabinet committee changes
Scott Morrison’s office has sent out a statement on the new cabinet arrangements:
Today, I am pleased to confirm Senator the Hon Simon Birmingham has been sworn in as the Minister for Finance by the Governor-General, His Excellency General the Hon David Hurley AC DSC.
Senator Birmingham’s appointment follows Senator the Hon Mathias Cormann’s resignation today.
In his new role, Senator Birmingham will assist the Treasurer the Hon Josh Frydenberg MP, in leading Australia’s economy through the Covid recovery.
As previously announced, he will also assume the role of the Leader of the Government in the Senate. Minister for Employment Skills, Small and Family Business, Senator the Hon Michaelia Cash becomes Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate.
Following these changes to the Ministry, I am also announcing changes to Cabinet committee membership and process.
Minister for Home Affairs the Hon Peter Dutton MP and the Minister for Education the Hon Dan Tehan MP will join the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, Treasurer, Minister for Health and Minister for Social Services in the Expenditure Review Committee.
A new Policy Implementation Committee of Cabinet is being established alongside the Expenditure Review Committee and National Security Committee.
It will track implementation of government initiatives across all portfolios to ensure they are delivering the outcomes for Australians, as established in their policy approval by Cabinet.
The Committee will be chaired by the Prime Minister and the Deputy Chair will be the Deputy Prime Minister.
It will include the Treasurer, Minister for Finance, Minister for Health, Minister for Government Services, Minister for Industry, Science and Technology and will report directly to Cabinet.
I am also pleased to announce that Mr Chris Browne will shortly commence as Cabinet Secretary.
Mr Browne will bring broad experience to the role, having advised Ministers for Finance, Defence and Social Services.
Updated
AAP has an update on what is happening with Australia Post:
Scott Morrison now claims Christine Holgate’s position is a matter for the Australia Post board after declaring if the embattled chief executive did not wish to stand aside “she can go”.
The prime minister says he stands by the statement, but the post chief’s position is not up to him.
“It’s a government-business enterprise, the government owns Australia Post on behalf of taxpayers, which is why we’ve set out our very clear standards on this,” he told Sydney radio 2GB on Friday.
“But the direct engagement between the board and Ms Holgate is for the board.”
Holgate says there are no legal grounds for her standing aside and she has not been given any information about an investigation into watches bought for senior staff.
She has accused the prime minister of humiliating her after he labelled the gifts disgraceful and appalling in a fiery speech to parliament.
The allegations raised in a letter from Holgate’s lawyer are a clear sign of a brewing legal battle.
Australia Post is being investigated by two government departments over its gift and expense culture after watches worth almost $20,000 were handed to senior executives.
Business leaders have defended Holgate and argue she has been grossly mistreated.
Home affairs minister Peter Dutton said Holgate was a very decent person who made a mistake in relation to the Cartier watches.
“It’s a perfectly acceptable act if you’re in a publicly-listed company or a private company,” he told the Nine Network.
“But when you’re dealing with taxpayers’ money as part of the Australia Post network it’s a different standard and different expectations.”
Deputy opposition leader Richard Marles said the luxury watch scandal was completely unacceptable, particularly given service and mail delivery times were going backwards at Australia Post.
“I think Christine Holgate and Australia Post have a lot to answer for,” Marles said.
The prime minister is unmoved by support for Ms Holgate among business leaders.
“This is a government-business enterprise, it is owned by the taxpayers of Australia,” he said.
“So every dollar that goes through Australia Post is managed on behalf of Australian taxpayers and it should be done in a way that respects taxpayers.”
Communications minister Paul Fletcher dead-batted questions about the sidelined Australia Post boss.
The chairman of the government-owned business, Lucio Di Bartolomeo, says the decision for her step aside was mutually agreed on 22 October.
An Australia Post spokesman told AAP it had communicated frequently with Holgate and ensured she received support.
Updated
Hansard has also published Craig Kelly’s latest meltdown over hydroxychloroquine in the parliament.
The member for Hughes, who has taken to promoting hydroxychloroquine long after even Donald Trump has seemingly moved on (word to the wise, Mr Kelly, he is not listening) wanted to let the parliament know he had been misrepresented by Chris Bowen and Kristina Keneally who called him to task for promoting an unproven drug treatment, which actually might cause Covid more harm.
Kelly:
During 90-second statements yesterday the member for McMahon, while foaming at the mouth, asserted that I have ‘promoted dangerous misinformation about hydroxychloroquine’ in relation to this drug being denied to sick Australians.
Further, New South Wales senator Kristina Keneally...I hope that the interjections get recorded. I want Hansard to record every name that made interjections during this speech!
Tony Smith told him to get a wriggle on.
Further, NSW senator Kristina Keneally made similar comments in the Senate. These were misrepresentations of my statement.
I have merely restated the findings of the published, peer-reviewed medical literature, published in such journals as the American Journal of Medicine, the European Journal of Medicine and the International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents.
The member for McMahon and senator Keneally are certainly entitled to their own opinion, but unless they are prepared to argue that they know better than the learned professors
Smith tells him to wrap it up, as it’s not a debate, just an opportunity to complain about being misrepresented.
Kelly:
I also seek leave to table the peer-reviewed medical studies in the American Journal of Medicine, the European Journal of Internal Medicine and the International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents.
Anthony Albanese:
There is no chance of this side of the House being a part of the tabling of documents by this bloke, peddling stuff that is a public-health danger.
Kelly again shouts he wants to table the documents. Leave is denied. Kelly shouts the are “peer-reviewed public studies” Smith tells him to sit down, or leave the chamber.
Kelly gets huffy, and presumably, makes another social media post (I haven’t checked, because by the end of the week, I need a small break from the insanity).
Updated
You may have noticed that yesterday Scott Morrison really, really, really wanted you to know that Australia’s “comeback” had begun.
The government dixers were dedicated to it – outlining the government response, looking at what had occurred, with the grand finale the “comeback” reveal itself, with Morrison saying the word no less than four times in one minute.
He knows that Australia’s comeback has begun. Australia’s comeback from the Covid-recession has begun.
Our recovery has begun.
That has been acknowledged, not just by the Australian people, but of course by the financial credit rating agencies, in particular Standard & Poor’s.
The Reserve Bank of Australia have also acknowledged this. Australia’s comeback has begun.
And that is on the basis of an important comeback recovery plan that was set out by the Treasurer in this year’s budget.”
Comeback, of course, is different to ‘snapback’ which is the term Morrison used to describe what would happen to Australia’s economy a lot earlier on in the pandemic.
(There was no snapback. And once the pain relief of government subsidies is wound back, there will be even more pain headed for the economy, regardless of whether we are technically in recession, or not.)
I tell you all this, because ‘comeback’ made another appearance this morning, as part of Morrison’s interview on Sydney radio 2GB.
He was talking about the Queensland border decision, and said it was “very hard to get a clear steer on what is behind these decisions”* as “the comeback in Australia has started”.
Australia is opening up again. We’ve all committed to Australia being fully opened by Christmas and we need to move towards that.
We’ve looked at the Queensland’s systems and the Queensland systems are good so it is important to get the economy moving again.
*The steer on the decision, is the Queensland Public Health Act, which gives the chief health officer control on these sorts of decisions. Once a public health emergency has been declared, as it has been in Queensland, the CHO is the final word. To go against the CHO would either mean an act of parliament overturning her control, or breaking the law. That is not to say that the CHO isn’t guided by government advice and recommendations. But in Queensland, unlike the other states, the decision ultimately rests with the health expert.
Updated
And just in case you missed it, the government announced it was restarting the Centrelink (now Services Australia) debt recovery process from next week.
If Services Australia thinks you may have a debt, they will start ‘debt raising’ with you from next week. If the debt is proven, you’ll have to start paying it back from February next year, when the debt recovery program re-starts.
You may hear that Australia is out of its recession. That’s because the technical definition of a recession is two consecutive quarters of negative growth. The RBA is expecting Australia to record positive growth in the September quarter (we’ll find out soon) – but while technically that might mean out of recession, it doesn’t mean anything about the downturn. The downturn, continues.
Updated
The Greens senator Rachel Siewert said the social services estimates hearing has revealed that 74,434 payments have been suspended by Centrelink, less than a month after the government reinstated mutual obligations.
That’s not necessarily the number of people – many people have multiple payments (not that it ever adds up to much) and when they get suspended, each payment is considered separately.
Siewert:
Estimates has revealed that 12,137 First Nations peoples, 6,334 single parents, 13,169 disabled people, 9,100 homeless people and 12,135 culturally and linguistically diverse people are among those that have had a payment suspended within the first month of mutual obligations returning.
There are very clearly vulnerable people who are disproportionately impacted by the punitive mutual obligations system.
I’m at a loss to understand how suspending a homeless person’s payment in the midst of a recession will help them find work.
These are cohorts that the government should be providing additional support for, not punishing them for being on income support.
Updated
Victoria records four new cases, no lives lost
The numbers are in for Victoria – there are two mystery cases as part of today’s numbers.
In the past 24 hours, there have been 4 new cases and no lives lost. The 14 day average is 2.6, and there are 2 cases with unknown source. More info https://t.co/pcll7ySEgz #COVID19VicData pic.twitter.com/J2gSay2GC8
— VicGovDHHS (@VicGovDHHS) October 29, 2020
Updated
International Peace Institute president Terje Rød-Larsen resigns after Epstein links
Squaring the circle, as Murph would say, on the revelations that the president of the International Peace Institute, an international think tank chaired by Kevin Rudd, secured a personal loan from convicted US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein – Terje Rød-Larsen has resigned.
Norwegian media had reported the former Norwegian prime minster Rød-Larsen had borrowed from Epstein in 2013.
The organisation itself received $US650,000 ($922,000) in donations from Epstein’s foundations between 2011 and 2019.
Rudd didn’t join the think tank until 2014. He said yesterday he was disturbed by the revelations and had ordered a report into what happened.
Updated
Sorry for the slight delay in going live today – we just had some issues in the backend with publishing.
Updated
The governor general will be popping by parliament house in Canberra today.
He is swearing in Simon Birmingham into his new roles – Birmingham will be taking over from Mathias Cormann as finance minister.
Cormann appeared at his last estimates hearing on Wednesday. He is officially, outty.
Updated
Scott Morrison said he contacted French president Emmanuel Macron last night, to express Australia’s support for his nation and people after a terrorist attacked a church in Nice, killing three people.
The knife attack was brutal and heartbreaking. You don’t need to know the details here.
Morrison told Sydney radio 2GB “it is just the most callous and cowardly and vicious act of barbarism by a terrorist and should be condemned in the strongest possible way”.
The heartache that would be going across the French people today as it shudders through the rest of the world is hard to put into words.
Former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad has drawn condemnation from around the world after he tweeted “angry people kill” and said:
The French in the course of their history have killed millions of people. Many were Muslims ... Muslims have a right to be angry and to kill millions of French people for the massacres of the past.
In the interview, Morrison said the comments were “absurd”.
It’s just abhorrent to suggest anyone has such a right.
Deeply shocked at the abhorrent attack in France. I’ve conveyed Australia’s deep condolences to President @EmmanuelMacron. Our hearts go out to the French people who are dealing with so much during #COVID19. We condemn all acts of terrorism & stand united against these vile acts.
— Scott Morrison (@ScottMorrisonMP) October 29, 2020
This is a very awful thing that has occurred.
Just at a sheer human level, the only response is just to be utterly, utterly devastated by this and to stand with those and the families who are suffering so much.
Updated
Good morning
We’ve made it to the end of week 44. Well done!
Make sure you allow yourself a special treat today, because there were moments during parliament and estimates where I didn’t think we’d ever get there.
With the MPs returning home, attention has turned back to the borders. New South Wales premier Gladys Berejiklian, who has been quite vocal about when other states should open their borders, has said she wants to wait and see what happens in Victoria over the next couple of weeks before making a move herself.
Which seems very sensible. However she has not eased the pressure on Annastacia Palaszczuk to open Queensland’s border to greater Sydney and surrounds (it’s open to northern NSW), and has done her best to make it quite the election issue.
During the week she told the Nine network that she had a great working relationship with LNP opposition leader Deb Frecklington, and said that Frecklington had told her she would have opened the border “months ago” which Queensland Labor immediately turned into a political attack ad against the LNP.
Still, in Queensland, the law says that when a public health emergency has been declared, it is the chief health officer who makes the decisions. The government can provide advice and recommendations, but in the end, the law states, it is the CHO’s say.
We’ll find out by midday (Qld time) what that decision is. All bets are on the border opening to NSW by next month.
We’ll cover that, as well as other tidbits from the last full day of campaigning on the Qld election, Australian politics and of course, Covid.
You have a very tired Amy Remeikis with you this morning. Ready?
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