Andrews asks PM for financial lifeline

Patrick Durkin, John Kehoe, Hannah Wootton and Andrew Tillett

Aug 1, 2020 – 12.00am

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Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews is urging Prime Minister Scott Morrison to extend full JobKeeper payments to the beleaguered state and help fund cash grants for the retail, hospitality and tourism sectors as businesses brace for a longer lockdown they say they cannot afford.

Emergency talks between the state and federal leaders come amid a focus on "mystery cases" of COVID-19 driving a worrying rise in Victoria's community transmission, and calls to lock up or trace one in four residents not at home despite testing positive for the virus.

Patrick Durkin is Melbourne bureau chief and BOSS deputy editor. He writes on news, business and leadership.

John Kehoe is economics editor at Parliament House, Canberra. He writes on economics, politics and business. John was Washington correspondent covering Donald Trump’s first election. He joined the Financial Review in 2008 from Treasury.

Hannah Wootton is a Rear Window columnist, based in Melbourne.

Andrew Tillett writes on politics, foreign affairs, defence and security from the Canberra press gallery.