Coronavirus Australia live news: UK minister quits over Johnson’s top aide
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government has been hit by its first resignation.
- PM hits pause on union-restricting bill
- Palaszczuk tries to calm tourism operators
- Sydney school shuts amid positive test
- China still won’t take Aussie phone call
- Fewer than 700,000 vulnerable to lay-offs
- Chinese adviser’s ‘journey of influence’
Welcome to live coverage of the continuing coronavirus crisis. Scott Morrison wants an industrial relations compact by September, leading to possibly the most ambitious workplace relations changes since the Accord of the 1980s. The Trade Minister has warned Qld its border reopening plan won’t fly. Expert analysis shows fewer than 700,000 people live in households ‘directly vulnerable’ to COVID-19 lay-offs, fuelling concerns about generosity of $70bn JobKeeper program.
AFP 10.45pm Putin says Russia has ‘passed peak’
President Vladimir Putin says Russia has passed the peak of coronavirus infections as he told his Defence Minister to prepare a postponed World War II parade in June.
“According to experts, the peak can be considered passed,” Mr Putin told Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu on Tuesday.
READ MORE: We have defeated COVID-19, says NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant
AFP 7.45pm British minister quits over Cummings scandal
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government has been hit by its first resignation after Minister for Scotland Douglas Ross quit in protest over a senior aide’s cross-country trip during the coronavirus lockdown.
Undermining attempts by ministers to tmove on from the crisis which has dominated British politics for four days, Mr Ross said he could not justify Dominic Cummings remaining in his job as the Prime Minister’s chief adviser.
“I have constituents who didn’t get to say goodbye to loved ones; families who could not mourn together; people who didn’t visit sick relatives because they followed the guidance of the government,” he said in a Twitter statement announcing his departure.
“I cannot in good faith tell them they were all wrong and one senior advisor to the government was right.”
He added that Mr Cummings’ interpretation of government rules was “not shared by the vast majority of people”.
The resignation will put more pressure on Mr Cummings, who held a press conference on Monday to justify driving his wife and young son on a 425km trip from London to Durham in the northeast off England during the height of the coronavirus crisis.
In response to the resignation, Downing Street said it “regrets” the minister’s decision.
READ MORE: Poor countries can’t afford lockdowns as outbreaks accelerate
Matthew Westwood 6.40pm National cultural institutions to reopen
Canberra’s cultural institutions including the National Gallery of Australia may be open again by Saturday, after they received the green light from the federal government to safely resume welcoming visitors.
Arts Minister Paul Fletcher said the national collecting institutions — also including the National Library of Australia and the National Portrait Gallery — will be able to reopen by adhering to “strict guidelines” to protect visitors and staff.
Mr Fletcher has leaned on state institutions to also begin reopening to the public, saying the reopening of the national collections was an important step in the re-emergence of Australia’s cultural life.
“Like many Australians, I am looking forward to once again being able to visit our wonderful national institutions,” Mr Fletcher said.
READ THE FULL STORY HERE
AFP 6.20pm No school until we have a vaccine: Duterte
Students in the Philippines will not to go back to school until a coronavirus vaccine is available, President Rodrigo Duterte says.
Children were due to return to school at the end of August after classes for more than 25 million primary and secondary students were shut down in March as the contagion took off in the Philippines.
But in a speech aired on Tuesday (AEST), Mr Duterte said the risk was too great, even if it held students back academically.
“Unless I am sure that they are really safe it’s useless to be talking about opening of classes,” the President said.
“For me, vaccine first. If the vaccine is already there, then it’s okay. If no one graduates, then so be it.”
Millions live in deep poverty in the Philippines and do not have access to computers at home, which would be key for the viability of online classes.
The Philippines’ coronavirus case count reached more than 14,300 this week, including 873 deaths.
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Rosie Lewis 5.40pm Fitzgibbon defends Andrews’ China deal
Labor frontbencher Joel Fitzgibbon has defended Daniel Andrews’ Belt and Road deal with China, saying the Victorian Premier was simply using the agreement to bolster his economy.
The opposition agriculture and resources spokesman also declared there were no inconsistencies between Anthony Albanese’s rejection of Beijing’s controversial trade and infrastructure strategy and Mr Andrews’ BRI deal.
“What Anthony Albanese said would be in keeping with community sentiment on Belt and Road. I don’t know whether you’ve ever had a look at Daniel Andrews’ memorandum of understanding … it’s a four-page document, high-level, talking about collaboration and peaceful, mutual benefit in economic co-operation. All these sorts of things. It doesn’t say very much,” Mr Fitzgibbon told Sky News.
“What Daniel Andrews has done is demonstrate he’s willing to be accepting of all investment partnership and opportunities to build his local economy, particularly, I suppose, in infrastructure terms. What Anthony Albanese has said is a general proposition — is that a federal government he leads won’t be a participant.
“It’s not a foreign policy necessarily. It’s a memorandum of understanding about how Daniel Andrews hopes to take his investment framework and strategy forward into the future, which indicates he’s willing to enter into co-operation and investments from China. He has talks about hosting civil engineers and others here in Australia. That’s not a foreign policy strategy. I don’t see anything inconsistent in the two.”
Mr Fitzgibbon was at odds with his federal Labor colleagues last week when he accused the Morrison government of undermining relations with China by leading the international push for a coronavirus inquiry.
READ MORE: China’s Chernobyl effect turns elite against Xi Jinping
Richard Ferguson 5pm Travel restrictions lifted in remote NT areas
Travel restrictions in the Northern Territory’s remote indigenous communities will be lifted next week.
Outsiders were banned from entering remote communities to protect Aboriginal Australians, who are deemed particularly vulnerable to coronavirus.
Health Minister Greg Hunt said the restrictions were lifted at the request of Northern Territory Chief Minister Michael Gunner, and he will continue to monitor the situation to ensure indigenous people are protected from COVID-19.
“The government will continue to monitor the situation in the Northern Territory in partnership with the Northern Territory government, the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation and AMSANT,” he said.
Northern Territory Country Liberal senator Sam McMahon said remote communities were excited about the removal of restrictions, in another sign the virus in Australia is being defeated.
“Residents in remote communities have been very patient and compliant with the restrictions but they’re becoming increasingly frustrated that despite no community transmission and no active cases they are still unable to move about,” she said.
“These residents are looking forward to being able to enjoy the rights and freedoms that Territorians in towns and cities do, such as access to shops and services.”
READ MORE: New York entrepreneurs emerge to tell their tale of two cities
Angelica Snowden 4.26pm: Hanson lawyers up for High Court challenge
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has accused the Queensland Premier of “scaremongering” after confirming her High Court challenge would go ahead if Annastacia Palaszczuk keeps the state’s borders closed.
Senator Hanson is championing a High Court challenge to Premier Palaszczuk’s border lockdown
— Pauline Hanson 🇦🇺 (@PaulineHansonOz) May 26, 2020
The first plaintiff is a tourism operator from QLD but they need your help to allow them to commence the case in the High Court of Australia as soon as possible!https://t.co/itE3yQ9qK5
Senator Hanson confirmed that Guy Reynolds SC will be the lawyer to lead her High Court challenge against the closure of the Sunshine state’s border.
“COVID-19 has been nothing but scaremongering by the Premier in Queensland Annastacia Palaszczuk, plus also Jeannette Young who is the chief medical officer,” Senator Hanson said on 2GB.
“Annastacia Palaszcuk has just been throwing her weight around leading into Queensland’s state election,” she said.
The Senator said a letter would be sent to Ms Palaszczuk in the next 24 hours to confirm her intention to proceed with the challenge that the border closure is unconstitutional.
Senator Hanson also took aim at the Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan.
“Palaszczuk or whether it’s McGowan in Western Australia, have they ever run a business?” she said.
“Have they ever employed people? The answer is probably no.
“They are acting not as true leaders but as dictators and they have to be held to account.”
Senator Hanson said she had not spoken to Clive Palmer about a similar case he has lodged against WA’s border closure.
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Ewin Hannan 4.04pm: ACTU secretary McManus flags compact priorities
ACTU secretary Sally McManus has nominated record low wages growth and the “failing” enterprise bargaining system as areas to be addressed in upcoming negotiations with the Morrison government and employers over changes to industrial relations.
Ms McManus welcomed Mr Morrison’s announcement that the government would convene working groups of employers and unions to discuss key areas of workplace relations, including the award system, enterprise bargaining and casual employment.
Ms McManus was also supportive of the government’s confirmation – first flagged by The Australian in March – that the union-restricting Ensuring Integrity Bill would be withdrawn.
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Paul Garvey 3.31pm: Six crew aboard Fremantle-docked ship test positive
Six crew members from a United Arab Emirates sheep ship moored in Fremantle harbour have tested positive to coronavirus and there are concerns for the wellbeing of the other 42 crew on board.
The latest cases means there have now been ten new cases of coronavirus detected in Western Australia in the past 24 hours, after the number of active cases in the state had previously fallen to just two.
WA Premier Mark McGowan said the ship, called the Al Kuwait, had previously been cleared to dock by the Commonwealth’s Border Force despite the ship reporting that some of the crew had elevated temperatures aboard before its arrival.
Mr McGowan said local authorities only learned of the illnesses on board through “word of mouth” from another worker at the port.
Two Australians are among the crew on board, and Mr McGowan said it was “more than likely” that more of the ship’s crew members will come down with the virus.
An Australian who boarded the ship to help pilot it into the harbour has also been isolated following the outbreak.
Thousands of sheep that were supposed to be loaded onto the vessel are stuck in a feed lot in the suburb of Baldivis and cannot return to their farm due to biosecurity measures.
READ MORE: Jacinda’s secret NZ border exemptions
Richard Ferguson 2.30pm: IR plan will ‘send a chill’ through workers: Labor
Labor has blasted Scott Morrison’s attempt to forge a post-COVID industrial relations compact by September, saying any attempt at reform by the Prime Minister “will send a chill” through workers.
Deputy Opposition Leader Richard Marles said in Canberra - following Mr Morrison’s headland speech at the National Press Club - that he did not believe the government could succeed in uniting the IR divide.
“We welcome the shelving of the Ensuring Integrity Bill. Sure, it’s a good thing to get people ‘round the table. But I can tell you there’s a lot more to industrial relations than simply booking the room,” Mr Marles said.
“And the idea that a Liberal government is about to engage in industrial relations reform will send a chill down the spine of every Australian worker.
“We do need to be bringing Australians together at this moment, but this is a government, and a Prime Minister, that has been more responsible for pulling Australians apart than any other.”
READ MORE: Morrison’s post-pandemic powerplay
Lachlan Moffet Gray 2.28pm: Why Newmarch residents weren’t taken to hospital
The decision was made not to move residents from Newmarch House to hospital and instead institute a hospital-at-home style of treatment because of the difficulty of knowing the extent to which coronavirus has spread throughout the facility, the Senate inquiry into the COVID-19 response has heard.
Senator Kristina Keneally asked the Department of Aged Care why residents were not cohorted off site for treatment at a hospital, as Anglicare Sydney CEO Grant Millard said in hindsight that would have been the preferable option.
Deputy Secture for the Department of Aged Care Michael Lye said the decision to treat residents at the facility was debated between his department, the federal department of health and NSW public health on multiple occasions, but it was ultimately decided to provide hospital-at-home care due to the complexity of the outbreak.
“I think we are fully supportive of the approach taken in that instance,” Mr Lye said.
“Because the worker (who first had coronavirus) had been on site, asymptomatic for such a long time before being diagnosed … we had to assume we had a large number of people who had COVID … and that turned out to be the case.”
“If there is an ability, in general, to separate known positive cases from known negative cases...offsite cohorting is something that can be considered.”
Aged Care Quality and Safety Commision head Janet Anderson said NSW Health prosecuted the case for hospital-at-home care, and Anglicare Sydney did not object at the time.
“Mr Millard at the time did not register any objections, and I think all of us have learnt an enormous amount all the way through,” she said.
Ms Anderson said the ACQSC and the Department of Aged Care is now much more “energetic” in impressing the seriousness of an outbreak on aged care providers.
“We are now much more assertive in the opening conversation we have … Mr Lye and I actually talk to every single service manager after a new outbreak,” she said.
“We talk very energetically about all of the things they have done that they need to do, and that we can assist them in doing, in particular in relation to workforce management.”
“We don’t take anything for granted.”
READ MORE: Big ideas, post-COVID-19
Lachlan Moffet Gray 2.06pm: Anglicare waited six days before accepting help
Anglicare Sydney waited six days before accepting an offer of Commonwealth-provided health workers from private company Aspen Medical, the Senate Committee into the COVID-19 response has heard.
Senator James Paterson asked when the Commonwealth first offered to provide health workers for the Newmarch House aged care centre in the aftermath of the coronavirus outbreak at the facility, and how long it took for Anglicare Sydney to accept them.
Department of Aged Care Deputy Secretary Michael Lye said the Commonwealth offered to pay for workers from private healthcare company Aspen Medical on April 14, and Anglicare Sydney did not accept the offer until April 20.
The federal government also offered Anglicare Sydney access to workers through the Mable staffing platform on April 16.
Mr Lye said Anglicare’s delayed acceptance of Commonwealth support was not unusual of aged care operators, who typically assume their network of homes provide them with adequate numbers of staff.
“They are backed by the Anglicare network, so they have an ability to reach out to other services for assistance,” Mr Lye told Senator Paterson, adding that because of this “they don’t quite understand the impact on their workforce of an outbreak.”
Mr Lye said his department has subsequently had to counsel aged care operators “aggressively” about the impact coronavirus will have on staffing numbers.
“Newmarch was no different to other organisations who say: ‘we think we’ll be ok’, then they haven’t been,” he said.
Mr Lye also said Anglicare Sydney had “some degree of difficulty from the organisation in terms of responding to requests to understand what they required in terms of PPE.”
“The department would say the organisation may not have been sure what (PPE) they did actually have,” Mr Lye told Senator Kristina Keneally after she raised comments made by Anglicare Sydney regarding the difficulty of securing the protective gear for workers.
A total of 31 aged care centres across Australia have had cases of coronavirus diagnosed in a worker or resident, six of which are active.
Across Australia, 67 aged care residents have contracted coronavirus - 28 of which have recovered, 27 of which have passed away.
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Lachlan Moffet Gray 1.45pm: Newmarch House outbreak ‘fundamentally different’
The Senate inquiry into the government’s COVID-19 response has heard that the outbreak of coronavirus at Newmarch House was “fundamentally different” to outbreaks at other aged care centres in Australia due to “the extent of initial exposure” of residents to coronavirus.
Aged care centres are responsible for more than one-third of NSW’s 50 coronavirus deaths, including the 17 residents who died of coronavirus after a cluster outbreak at Anglicare’s Newmarch House in Sydney infected 71 residents and staff.
Chaired by Labor Senator Katy Gallagher, the committee will today hear evidence from the Department of Health, the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission and Chief Medical Officer Dr Brendan Murphy.
In her opening statement acting secretary of the Department of Health Caroline Edwards said that measures taken by the Australian government to prevent the impact of the coronavirus pandemic has been comparatively successful, with just 29 per cent of Australia’s coronavirus deaths occurring in aged care homes, as compared to 60 per cent in countries like Norway and 51 per cent in France.
Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission Chief Janet Anderson said her department has continued “to place the safety and well being of aged care consumers at the centre of our approach”.
Senator Kristina Keneally asked Ms Anderson who exactly had authority in making decisions regarding the Newmarch House debacle following comments made by Anglicare Sydney CEO Grant Millard that there was confusion over who exactly was in charge of the situation.
Ms Anderson said that NSW Health had “premenince” but the “approved provider”, being Anglicare Sydney, “retains legal responsibility” for the handling of the outbreak.
“It was not a compellingly good example of outbreak management,” Ms Anderson said of Anglicare Sydney’s performance, which was co-ordinated by a trio of employees from Baptistcare who previously managed a fatal coronavirus outbreak at the Dorothy Henderson Lodge in Sydney.
“We had a facility manager, someone who was co-ordinating more generally the inter-agency action and then also a clinical lead,” Ms Anderson said.
“They were incorporated within the management structure of Newmarch House and, let’s say Anglicare Sydney.
“They were managing services on the ground, they were managing Newmarch House.”
Ms Anderson said the outbreak at Newmarch was “fundamentally different from any other in Australia” due to “the extent of initial exposure of staff and residents,” noting that on April 12 just one resident and one staff was diagnosed with coronavirus – and that number had jumped to 25 residents and 14 staff by the following Saturday.
“That was set by virtue of the degree of exposure of those residents and those staff to an individual who was unwittingly working at the service while infectious,” she said.
Ms Anderson said Anglicare Sydney “was not as well placed … as we needed them to be to make right, well-informed decisions.”
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Richard Ferguson 1.25pm: No ‘shopping list’ in industrial relations reform
Scott Morrison says he will not be laying out a “shopping list” for reforms for his industrial relations working groups to discuss.
The Prime Minister said at the National Press Club he wanted employers’ groups and unions to drive a compact of wide reform by September, rather than the government alone.
“I’m trying to do differently about this process is not run out there with an IR shopping list,” he said.
“I haven’t seen that work in my political experience in the time I’ve been in the parliament. All that’s tended to do is force people away from the table, not draw them to it.
“So I think, you know, the issues you’re talking about are obviously very important to business, and the concerns that employees have are also important to them. But we’re only going to get through it if they can work this through.”
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Richard Ferguson 1.20pm: Put weapons down when devising compact: PM
Scott Morrison says all sides of the industrial relations divide must “put their weapons down” when drawing up a post-coronavirus industrial relations compact.
When asked at the National Press Club if Liberal MPs would try to neuter trade unions through a new workplace relations system, Mr Morrison that has never been his aim and that everyone must now unite to find solutions.
“That is not the government’s policy, and never has been. I think everybody’s got to put their weapons down on this,” he said in Canberra.
“Everyone does. And that’s what I’m hoping for, And that’s what I’m seeking to achieve. And I think that’s what Australians demand.
“And I think Australians will take a very dim view of anyone, or any group, or any organisation, that isn’t prepared to come and sit down on this table and give it a go at the Prime Minister’s and ministers’ invitation.”
READ MORE: JobKeeper’s spanner in reform plan
Richard Ferguson 1.17pm: China trade risk is businesses’ call: PM
Scott Morrison says Australian businesses will have to decide if trade with China is now a riskier proposition, as he continues to spruik the benefits of free trade with the communist nation.
After weeks of trade tensions, the Prime Minister said at the National Press Club on Tuesday that the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement had expanded opportunities for Australians.
“That’s a judgment Australian businesses can only make. And, like any business, they have to weigh up the security of the markets in which they sell to,” he said.
“Those are not decisions that governments make for businesses, be they primary producers and exporters or be they resources companies or industries or, indeed, service companies working in the aged care area on training or things like this
“I think one of the most exciting parts of the China Free Trade Agreement – China-Australia Free Trade Agreement – was the ability to actually sell aged care services into China. I’ve said that on many occasions before. But businesses have got to weigh up their own risks and make those assessments. Austrade can assist with those things on the ground.
“Australia has a very bright trading future, and businesses will make their judgments about how they participate in that.”
READ MORE: China health tracking stirs concern
Richard Ferguson 1.14pm: ‘Sydneysiders could fly to Auckland before Perth’
Scott Morrison says he will not wait for all internal state borders to open before he starts safely pursuing “bubble” travel arrangements with other COVID-safe nations like New Zealand.
The Prime Minister said at the National Press Club that Sydneysiders could travel to Auckland before Queensland or Western Australia, and he is not prepared to wait to find new tourism markets when it is safe to do so.
“I was speaking with Prime Minister (Jacinda) Ardern this morning, and we’ll continue to have our discussions about the trans-Tasman safe travel zone, and it may well be that Sydneysiders can fly to Auckland before they can fly to Perth, or even the Gold Coast, for that matter,” he said.
“But I can assure you I won’t be holding back on expanding the size of our markets for our goods and our services to wait for some other borders to clear.”
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Richard Ferguson 1.10pm: PM hits pause on union-restricting bill
Scott Morrison wants a post-coronavirus industrial relations compact by September, leading to possibly the most ambitious workplace relations changes since the Accord of the 1980s.
Industrial Relations Minister Christian Porter will work with five working groups made up of business and trade union representatives to sort out new rules of awards, enterprise agreements and greenfield agreements.
In an olive branch to the unions, Mr Morrison confirmed his government will pause its pursuit of new laws which would have allowed courts to deregister rogue unions and officials.
“The system has lost sight of its purpose to get the workplace settings right, so the enterprise – the business – can succeed, so everybody can fairly benefit from their efforts and their contributions,” he said in Canberra.
“It is a system that has, to date, retreated to tribalism, conflict, and ideological posturing. No side of that debate has been immune from those maladies.
“This will need to change, or more Australians will unnecessarily lose their jobs, and more Australians will be kept out of jobs. The first step is to get everyone back in the room, to bring people together. That’s our job. And in particular, that’s my job. No one side has all the answers.
“This process will be time-bound, and it is expected to run through to September. We must make the most of this time we have, and we must move quickly. It will become apparent
very quickly if progress is to be made.”
READ MORE: Morrison’s post-pandemic powerplay
Imogen Reid 1.00pm: Second school closes in Sydney’s east
Moriah College in Sydney’s eastern suburbs has gone into lockdown after a student, a boy in Year 5, tested positive for coronavirus.
Parents from the coeducational school in Queens Park were advised the school had received confirmation from NSW Health earlier today that a student had returned a positive result after being tested for the virus.
“We have now activated our COVID-19 Positive Diagnosis School Response Plan,” the school said in a statement.
“The student was in attendance in our Primary School on Thursday, 21, May 2020.”
The Modern Orthodox Jewish school has been closed since 12:30pm while contact tracing is being conducted and a squad of professional cleaners sanitise the school.
“The College will reopen on Monday, 1 June 2020 at the regular attendance times unless otherwise notified,” the statement read.
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Lachlan Moffet Gray 12.52pm: Victorian teacher tested positive prior to return to school
A Victorian teacher tested positive for coronavirus just days before 400,000 Victorian students returned to school.
The teacher at Keilor Downs Secondary College tested positive on Friday, but Education Minister James Merlino said they had not been at the school, and close contacts weren’t identified on site, so no further action was needed.
Mr Merlino said lessons were learnt by the department in the weeks schools in the state were closed, noting that remote schooling had provided a golden opportunity to learn after some students that were previously disengaged had excelled learning from home.
“There are thousands and thousands of students across Victoria who have thrived through remote and flexible learning,” he told reporters.
“We need to learn from that and make it a feature of our education system.” Mr Merlino announced an independent analysis will be conducted before holding an education leaders summit that will look into the matter.
Years three to 10 go back on June 9, but students of any age with compromised immunity don’t have to return.
Another of Victoria’s five new cases – a resident at HammondCare’s Caulfield aged care centre – has already returned a negative test, as has a resident who tested positive last week, HammondCare said.
With AAP
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Matthew Denholm 12.47pm: Tasmania to cap petrol prices unless they drop
Tasmania will cap petrol prices to alleviate coronavirus economic impacts, unless they drop in response to new mandatory real-time reporting.
Premier Peter Gutwein on Tuesday effectively accused petrol companies of ripping off Tasmanian consumers by not dropping prices to the extent seen on the mainland during the global oil slump.
He was confident new NSW-style mandatory reporting of prices in real time, via an app, would lower prices, but threatened a legislative cap if it did not.
“This is a time when unnecessary hip-pocket costs hurt,” Mr Gutwein said. “Petrol prices have been falling dramatically around the country in recent weeks. However, we haven’t seen similar price falls … in Tasmania.
“Obviously, due to additional transportation costs, there will always be … some additional costs. However … when we we’ve had falling global fuel prices, our prices have remained unusually high.”
READ MORE: Big ideas, post-COVID-19
Lachlan Moffet Gray 12.25pm: Ruby Princess link to Queensland case
The sole coronavirus case in Queensland was a passenger on the ill-fated Ruby Princess and authorities fear she could have carried the “dormant” virus for ten weeks before falling ill.
Authorities suspect she is the latest coronavirus case to have carried the inactive virus and become sick weeks after exposure.
Last week another woman in Queensland was diagnosed two months after returning from India.
“We are monitoring that very closely to work out if it’s directly related to the Ruby Princess or if it was acquired in some other way,” Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk told reporters on Tuesday.
“But at the moment, we are thinking it is from the Ruby Princess.”
A spokesperson for the health minister told newswire service AAP the woman had returned a negative result after a recent test and it was not possible she was contagious since she left the ship on March 19.
The Ruby Princess has been linked to more than 620 coronavirus cases in Australia and more than 20 deaths.
With AAP
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Lachlan Moffet Gray 12.20pm: Hanson-Young calls for SA borders to reopen
Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young has called for the borders in her home state of South Australia to be reopened soon, saying the tourism sector needs a lifeline to stay afloat after being hit by the bushfires.
“Our tourism sector is really, really struggling. It was hit because of the fires over the summer … and our state really needs tourism in order to keep the economy ticking over,” she told Sky News on Tuesday.
“As the health advice continues to look at how restrictions can be lifted, I would like to see the state open up as soon as it is safe to do so.
“I know those wineries and all those tourist areas are desperate for people.
“The sooner we can open up our state borders safely the better. I can’t imagine that Steven Marshall is just sitting there trying to pick a date for no reason. I’m sure he’s listening, I hope he’s listening.”
Queensland, Tasmania, WA, the NT and South Australia have all banned non-essential domestic travel.
READ MORE: Indigenous community demands lockdown end
Matthew Denholm 12.18pm: Stop border one-upmanship: Premier
Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein has told his mainland counterparts to stop “one-upmanship” over border re-openings, insisting the island state will remain closed until at least next month.
Mr Gutwein, on Tuesday announcing a potential cap on petrol prices to aid economic recovery if a planned mandatory reporting system fails, also told the federal government to keep out of his border deliberations.
He revealed there had been talks with some jurisdictions about joint border relaxation deals, but urged premiers not to turn the issue into a competition.
“I have already had discussions with some other states … but we will evaluate our border restrictions in July,” he said.
“We’ll be guided by public health. I would just encourage all of the premiers around the country to stop what appears to be this game of one-upmanship.
“This is a difficult situation. I won’t comment on the way the Queensland Premier deals with her borders, nor the NSW Premier deals with hers … It’s quite obvious the federal government has a view but my job is protect the best interests of Tasmanians.”
Mr Gutwein held out the prospect of relaxing coronavirus restrictions further ahead of the Queen’s Birthday long weekend from June 8, subject to the advice of Public Health, which first wants to see increased testing.
The Premier announced mandatory real-time reporting of petrol prices in the state, with a free app to aid consumers, saying prices had not fallen in his state as in others since the virus emergency.
While confident this would bring down prices, if it did not, he would consider legislating a price cap on fuel.
Tasmania has enjoyed 10 consecutive days without a new coronavirus case, and has only eight active cases.
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Lachlan Moffet Gray 12.16pm: PM to outline ‘JobMaker’ economic plan shortly
Scott Morrison will outline the government’s “JobMaker” economic plan designed to spur job growth and kickstart the economy in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic at 12.30pm.
The Prime Minister will brief the National Press Club of Australia about the plan. His speech can be viewed live and in full in the video player at the top of The Australian’s coronavirus live blog.
READ MORE: Morrison touts new era of state unity
Brent Read 12pm: Beattie chips in at former fellow premier
Former Queensland premier and ARL Commission board member Peter Beattie has taken a lighthearted dig at Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett, claiming the former Victorian premier is too competitive to miss rugby league’s return on Thursday night.
Kennett, who was critical of the NRL and chair Peter V’landys last month for setting an ambitious return date, told The Australian on Monday that he would rather knit underwater than watch Brisbane’s game against Parramatta.
Beattie suggests otherwise. Having traded political barbs with Kennett over the years, he couldn’t resist hitting back on Tuesday as he suggested the former Victorian premier wouldn’t be able to help himself.
“I have known Jeffrey for over 22 years,” Beattie told The Australian.
“We worked together at COAG years ago. Of course he will be watching rugby league on Thursday night just to see how we do it.
“Why? Because Jeffrey is one of the most competitive people I have ever dealt with. He won’t be able to help himself.
“He will see what he can learn from rugby league and see if he can steal any ideas for his club and the AFL.
“Plus Jeffrey has been a champion of mental health and knows the RL and AFL returning is good for the mental health of Australians.
“Sadly for Jeffrey he won’t be able to steal our champion problem solver Peter V’landys to Victoria to help out the AFL.”
READ MORE: Future of cricket not so shiny
Lachlan Moffet Gray 11.55am: NSW records two new coronavirus cases
NSW has diagnosed two additional cases of coronavirus in the past 24 hours, bringing the number of confirmed cases in the state to 3092.
Both of the new cases are returned travellers in hotels but this morning it was revealed that a year seven student at Waverley College in Sydney’s east has tested positive to coronavirus.
Patrick Brennan, deputy head of student and staff wellbeing told reporters on Tuesday that the school was informed of the diagnosis in the morning and students at the Catholic boys school were evacuated within 90 minutes.
The school is now closed for deep cleaning and is expected to be closed over the next few school days.
Mr Brennan said the school had distance learning contingencies in case a cluster outbreak forces and extended closure of the school.
The number of recovered COVID-19 patients in NSW is 2661 while 85 cases are being treated by NSW Health, with one patient remaining in ICU on ventilated assistance.
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Lachlan Moffet Gray 11.45am: Education minister allays fears over positive test
Parents should not be concerned about the risk of coronavirus in schools following the diagnosis of a year 7 student at Waverley College in Sydney as it is inevitable cases will emerge in schools “from time to time,” NSW education minister Sarah Mitchell says.
“I think we’ve been quite clear that we are living through a pandemic and there will be cases from time to time that affect our school community,” Ms Mitchell told reporters on Tuesday.
“We have got good processes in place, a school can be shut for a period of time, it can be cleaned.
“On any given day one in five people in NSW are associated with the school community, whether they are a student, a parent, a teacher … I think we will just have to be prepared for this to happen from time to time.”
Ms Mitchell said it was very simple to contract trace and isolate close contacts of a coronavirus case at a school as “we know who is at school every day, we know who is on or off the school site” and said the government had no intention of scaling back full time learning if more cases emerge.
“I think we’ve made the right call to have all schools operating, have everybody back as we have this week, I think parent sentiment is well behind that,” she said. “We know more about the virus now, we know the risk is very low, and we have extra processes in place.
“Keeping schools open is important and the health advice has always been that is something that we should be doing.”
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Lachlan Moffet Gray 11.30am: CCTV ‘watchers’ hired to monitor NSW trains
NSW Transport has recruited 80 people to survey the 11,000 CCTV cameras on the public transport network, train passenger load data and quickly respond to situations where social distancing may be broken by high passenger numbers.
Twenty of the new staff will be dedicated to monitor the network while 60 will be sent out to “hot spots” to “move people on and protect each other,” NSW Transport minister Andrew Constance said.
Mr Constance said the surveillance measures are warranted because a complacency towards crowding on public transport could result in coronavirus deaths.
“Complacency is going to kill us. If we’re complacent with COVID across our community, people are going to get sick and we’re going to lose lives,” Mr Constance said.
“What we want to do in terms of our transport system, use every available resource to make sure that people maintain that 1.5m, don’t get crowded on services, and don’t risk their lives.”
Mr Constance also said he was pleased with the number of people using the transport network yesterday as children returned to schools full time, and that people were abiding by requests to drive or walk their children to school.
“I can confirm just based on yesterday that the numbers of students travelling on the network is 60 per cent down on this time last year,” he said. “So people are listening. That’s very, very important as we work our way through the survival mode we’re all in, in terms of this pandemic.”
READ MORE: Aussies home in on remote learning
Lachlan Moffet Gray 11.10am: 60 days notice on borders too long, NT chief says
The Northern Territory’s borders are likely to open within 60 days, Chief Minister Michael Gunner has indicated.
The NT shut its borders on March 24 as coronavirus cases around the country and has since been joined by South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania and Queensland.
The federal government has criticised the widespread closure of borders, saying it was never advised by the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee and that it is hampering Australia’s economic recovery.
At a press conference in Darwin, Mr Gunner said that tourism operators had requested a 60 to 90 day warning before the borders reopen – but Mr Gunner said that giving such a warning means the borders would remain closed longer than required.
“I think 60 days notice would be cruel,” he said. “If I gave 60 days notice I’d be keeping the borders shut longer than I need to.
“So I’m thinking that through at the moment, I’m taking that advice from the Chief Health Officer and others about what kind of notice we can give.
“But while the tourism sector has said they want 60 days notice I think if I gave 60 days notice I’d be keeping the borders shut longer than I need to. I think they’ll accept that as well but we’re working that through at the moment.”
Mr Gunner did not provide a date as to when the borders could reopen, but the time frame indicated means restrictions may be lifted by July.
The NT has had just 30 confirmed cases of coronavirus, no deaths, and no instances of community transmission.
Richard Ferguson 11am: China ‘cautious, restrained’ in dealings with Australia
China’s commerce minister Zhong Shan has defended the actions taken by his country over Australian barley and beef.
On the sidelines of the People’s National Congress meeting this week, Mr Zhong said: “China has launched only one trade remedy investigation in Australia since the two countries established diplomatic relations, and this is the anti-dumping and anti-subsidy case on Australian barley,” he said in Beijing.
“Meanwhile, Australia has launched 100 trade remedy investigations into China. Despite the epidemic outbreak, Australia has launched three probes into China this year. By comparison, China hasn’t launched any trade remedy investigation in any country this year.
“China has been cautious and restrained in taking trade remedy measures.”
Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said this morning that Mr Zhong had still refused to take his calls on the new 80 per cent tariffs on barley.
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Lachlan Moffet Gray 10.45am: WHO halts trials of anti-malaria drug
The World Health Organisation has said it will temporarily drop antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine – touted by user President Donald Trump – from its global study into potential coronavirus treatments, citing concerning results from trials elsewhere in the world.
On Monday WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters that due to a study published in medical journal Lancet that showed patients treated with hydroxychloroquine had a higher risk of dying of heart complications, there would be a “temporary pause” to evaluations of the drugs.
“The Executive Group has implemented a temporary pause of the hydroxychloroquine arm within the Solidarity Trial while the safety data is reviewed by the Data Safety Monitoring Board,” he said.
“The other arms of the trial are continuing,” Dr Tedros said. “This concern relates to the use of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine.
“I wish to reiterate that these drugs are accepted as generally safe for use in patients with auto-immune diseases or malaria.”
Dr. Michael Ryan, the WHO’s emergencies chief, said there was no indication of any safety problems with hydroxychloroquine in the WHO trial to date, but that statisticians would now analyse the information.
“We’re just acting on an abundance of caution based on the recent results of all the studies to ensure that we can continue safely with that arm of the trial,” he said.
READ MORE: Big ideas, post covid outbreak
Craig Johnstone 10.20am: Premier Palaszczuk returns fire at Trade Minister
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Tourism Minister Kate Jones have appeared on the Gold Coast saying they ae ready to explain the government’s approach to travel restrictions and consider when they could be eased to kick start one of the state’s most important industry.
Tuesday, 26 May – coronavirus cases in Queensland:
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) May 26, 2020
• 1 new confirmed case
• 12 active cases
• 1,057 total confirmed cases
• 176,561 tests conducted
Sadly, six Queenslanders have died from coronavirus. 1,039 patients have recovered. pic.twitter.com/X6EmjJoHZJ
“I know how important tourism is, but tourism worldwide is struggling,” Ms Palaszczuk said. “I want to see things open as quickly as possible but it needs to be as safely as possible.”
She took a swipe at Trade Minister Simon Birmingham, who slammed Queensland’s insistence on keeping its borders shut.
“Mr Birmingham should perhaps talk to his own premier in South Australia who has the borders shut,” she said. “I want to see Qld get back to work as quickly as possible. My priority is to get Qld working ahead of the other states,” she said.
The Premier held out the prospect of further easing of intrastate travel and public gathering restrictions.
Will meet the hospitality lobby on Wednesday to talk about easing customer limits at cafes and restaurants.
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Lachlan Moffet Gray 10.10am: Sydney school shut as student tests positive
A school in Sydney’s east is being shut down just one day after students across NSW returned to face-to-face learning full time after a student tested positive to coronavirus.
Waverley College, a Catholic boys school for years 5 through to 12 is sending students home after a boy, reportedly in year 7, tested positive to the virus.
It comes after a student tested positive for the virus at St Ignatius’ College Riverview in Sydney’s north last week.
Waverley College has been contacted for comment.
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Robert Gottliebsen 9.55am: The looming threat to our big cities
Working from home will be a big part of our future but we shouldn’t be cheering on the death of the CBD. Read more here
Lachlan Moffet Gray 9.45am: China’s commerce chief won’t take Aussie call
Trade minister Simon Birmingham still hasn’t managed to get his Chinese counterpart to pick up the phone and talk to him.
Almost two weeks ago Mr Birmingham revealed that he was unable to communicate with the Chinese commerce minister Zhong Shan, despite making many urgent requests ahead of a decision by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce to hit Australian barley exports with an 80 per cent tariff on alleged anti-dumping grounds.
On Tuesday Mr Birmingham told Sky News that the call still hadn’t happened.
“No, that (call) still hasn’t been scheduled and it remains disappointing,” he said. “The Australian government will always front up to have a conversation even where we have disagreements.”
Australia has said the barley decision will be appealed with the World Trade Organisation.
“China has now made this decision on an anti-dumping matter in relation to our barley industry. We reject the basis upon which those findings have been made, we don’t think the evidence is there,” Mr Birmingham said.
Commentators have suggested that the barley decision was made in retaliation to Australia’s push for a global inquiry into the origin of coronavirus in China, which received widespread backing at the WHO’s recent World Health Forum.
Mr Shong told reporters at the Chinese National People’s Congress Meeting on Monday that in the history of Chinese-Australian relations, China has always been “restrained” in seeking trade remedies while Australia has initiated more than 100 investigations against China.
READ MORE: Dan Andrews and China’s Aussie influencer
Cameron Stewart 9.35am: US counts the toll of covid catastrophe
America’s independent, freewheeling, freedom loving ethos has proved to be a lethal liability in a pandemic. Read more here
Lachlan Moffet Gray 9.25am: Rugby league crowd plan not on, AMA says
The Australian Medical Association has slammed the NRL’s plan to bring crowds back to games as an idea that belongs in “the sin bin.”
NRL chief Peter V’landys says he wants limited spectators back in stadiums by July 1, but AMA President Dr Tony Bartone believes the idea is “absurd and dangerous.”
“Put bluntly, this absurd and dangerous idea belongs in the sin bin,” Dr Bartone said in a statement released Tuesday.
“The NRL should be satisfied that it has its competition back in action, but it is unfair and unwise to put the health of the game’s fans at risk. They must first monitor the health and safety of the players and officials who will be involved in the thick of the on-field action.
“Australians have done exceptionally well in flattening the COVID-19 curve, and we are not too far away from relaxing more restrictions.
“Now is not the time for sporting codes to be considering having crowds at games. They must wait until the medical experts advise that it is absolutely safe to do so – and that will not be as early as July.
“Decisions on the safety of holding mass gatherings should be made by medical experts in consultation with the National Cabinet, not by rugby league administrators.”
READ MORE: Push for fans faces obstacles
Lachlan Moffet Gray 9.10am: WHO lauds China for ‘openness’ on virus
The World Health Organisation has renewed praise for China’s coronavirus response, praising its “openness” to the possibility of foreign scientific experts entering the country to investigate the origins of coronavirus.
WHO Chief of emergency response Dr Michael Ryan said that “day-to-day” discussions with colleagues had been promising, “and I am very pleased to hear a very consistent message coming from China, which is one of openness to such an approach”.
“Authorities around the world and China are keen to understand the origin of the virus itself,” he told reporters at a press briefing.
Dr Ryan said a date for the inquiry hasn’t been settled, but “but we look forward to doing that as soon as possible..with the right mix of scientific experts from a multinational perspective to join such a team.”
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus saidan agreement with China was made in February to have international experts visit the country, something that has not happened yet.
US President Donald Trump has criticised the WHO for being a “pipe organ” for Chinese interests and has threatened to permanently revoke the US’s funding of the institution if they do not prove their independence from the Chinese Communist Party.
READ MORE: Region to lift all lockdowns
Richard Ferguson 9am: Labor MP says economy ‘sick’ before covid hit
Labor has scoffed at Scott Morrison’s JobMaker plan and his focus on reviving vocational skills after the coronavirus pandemic, saying the economy was “really sick” before the COVID-19 crisis.
The Prime Minister will reveal in his National Press Club address later today that he will work with the national cabinet to overhaul jobs training across a range of industries.
Deputy Opposition Leader Richard Marles claimed on Tuesday morning that Mr Morrison’s focus on skills came after years of funding cuts to TAFE and a poor economy going into the pandemic.
“The economy barely had a heartbeat before the pandemic, it was really sick … that set the conditions for the economy going into the COVID crisis,” he said.
“This is coming from a prime minister who has cut $3bn from skills (since the Coalition came to power in 2013) … it’s kind of extraordinary that this Prime Minister is focusing on this given the vandalism of the past seven years.
“What is the substantive plan for getting this economy back on track? … let’s see what the Prime Minister has to say.”
READ MORE: Employers to end up JobSeekers
Lachlan Moffet Gray 8.50am: Two in three set to work from home
Two in three Australians expect to be working from home more often after the coronavirus pandemic.
Four in five people also feel more positive about their work/life balance after working from home.
The survey commissioned for NBN Co and released on Tuesday found 70 per cent of Australians couldn’t work from home without high speed internet.
Communications minister Paul Fletcher said that the NBN performed well as the number of people working from home saw network traffic increase by 70 per cent during the day.
“We did provide an increase of 40 per cent capacity to the retail service providers – Telstra, Vodafone, Optus, and so on – at no extra charge,” Mr Fletcher told ABC News on Tuesday.
“That was an important part of helping provide that additional capacity for Australians. But the network has held up reasonably well.”
Mr Fletcher said that the number of Australians who worked from home on occasion jumped from 34 per cent to 54 per cent in the past few months, and that figure was likely to persist after pandemic subsides.
“A lot of Australians have tried working from home for the first time,” he said.
“And as I say, about four in five of them have said it causes them to feel more positive about their work-life balance.
“So, I think we can expect in the future we will see a stronger appetite from Australians to work from home – not all the time, but from time to time.”
With AAP.
READ MORE: JobKeeper bungle throws a spanner in reform plans
Natasha Robinson 8.20am: Human testing begins for covid vaccine
Human trials for a COVID-19 vaccine will begin today at the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, with 130 people aged 18 to 59 to take part.
The trial – the first of its kind in the southern hemisphere – is testing a vaccine developed by US company Novovax.
Results are expected in July.
President of research and development at Novovax Dr Gregoray Glenn said he expected promising results.
“This is really a momentous day. I want to thank the people of Australia for hosting this trial in the most significant pandemic of our times – certainly one of the most historic events ever,” he told reporters on Tuesday.
“And we’re extremely thankful for the collaboration that we have here in Australia. We’ve been working tirelessly on making a vaccine, so this is a very big day for us to begin the critical testing portion of this.
“And I sincerely believe that we have a vaccine that is going to be very good.”
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Lachlan Moffet Gray 8.15am: Stubborn states could stall travel bubble
One state should not “hold up the progress” of other states with a desire to establish the trans-Tasman travel “bubble” between Australia and New Zealand, Trade Minister Simon Birmingham says.
Mr Birmingham said Scott Morrison and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern were still discussing the implementation of the exclusive travel agreement, but the constant refusal of Queensland, the NT, South Australia and WA to indicate when they will relax their hard borders with the rest of the country could halt the progression of the agreement.
“Well, this is the battle. One state shouldn’t hold up the progress of other states,” Mr Birmingham told Today.
“But I can understand why if you were New Zealand, you would be sitting there going if the Australian states can’t work it out among themselves, why would we start to allow travel to occur.
“So that is a real concern for me that we could end up with a situation where New Zealand delays such an agreement and therefore some Australian states who are ready miss out because of the difficulties being imposed.”
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Lachlan Moffet Gray 8.05am: Morrison government ready for ‘hard yards’
The government’s five-year Jobmaker job creation plan, due to be unveiled by Scott Morrison on Tuesday, will be a “big challenge,” but the government is willing to do the “hard yards,” trade minister Simon Birmingham has said.
“Five years is a long time but these are extraordinary times,” Mr Birmingham told Today. “It is the toughest global economic conditions the government has faced since World War II, but what we are determined to do is to repeat our successes of the past.
“We grew 1.5 million jobs over the last six years. We brought the budget back to a state of balance. We’ve done the hard yards before. We’re going to do them again.”
The Jobmaker plan will see major reforms to taxes, regulations, a reform of the vocational training sector and increased collaboration between the government, employer groups and unions.
The plan will also tie into the larger goal of reducing the debt accrued during the coronavirus pandemic
“We’ve been there before in terms of dealing with the debt, Mr Birmingham said. “The Howard government did it. We’ve done it over the last six years. We will now just get on with that steady task again.”
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Lachlan Moffet Gray 7.55am: Qld border plans won’t cut it: Trade Minister
The federal government realises that Australia’s internal borders won’t fall “immediately,” but wants it to happen “well ahead” of the September date given by Queensland, Trade Minister Simon Birmingham says.
“The states and territories are doing a great job getting kids back to school, getting pubs opened … without so many spikes in numbers,” Mr Birmingham told Sunrise on Tuesday.
“We hope that continues. If it does continue safely and we get those intrastate restrictions eased we hope people can move about.
“One in 13 Australian jobs are reliant on our tourism industry. We won’t have international visitors for some time. Getting domestic travel is useful.
“Queensland is the Australian state most heavily dependent on the tourism industry, more small businesses and jobs in Queensland and on tourism than anywhere else in the country.”
The Northern Territory, Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland and Tasmania have all erected hard borders with the rest of the country and have indicated that the ban on interstate travellers will be one of the last coronavirus restrictions to be eased.
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Lachlan Moffet Gray 7.30am: Plans afoot to revive arts, live music
Federal arts minister Paul Fletcher will today meet his state and territory counterparts to work out a plan to reopen the arts and live music industries as the coronavirus pandemic subsides.
Mr Fletcher said one of the issues on the agenda would be how to safely maximise the number of attendees in a theatre or venue to ensure profitability for the operator.
“There is a pretty consistent message from arts companies that their operational model depends upon a certain number of people in the theatre,” Mr Fletcher told ABC News on Tuesday.
“That’s one of the issues we’re going to be discussing – what are the operational processes for arts companies to begin to reopen?
“It has to be based upon the public health advice. But also, of course, we need to find viable models, so there’s certainly plenty of work ahead of us in supporting our vibrant arts sector to reopen and to get back to normality.”
Despite acknowledging that the arts sector was struggling amid the coronavirus pandemic, Mr Fletcher did not commit to providing any further targeted support to the industry outside of the JobKeeper wage subsidy and the Jobseeker unemployment payment.
“Our estimates are that between $4 billion and $10 billion will be injected into the sector through a combination of JobSeeker and JobKeeper and the other economy-wide measures,” he said.
“That’s significant support for the arts sector.”
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Lachlan Moffet Gray 7.15am: NT ready to go early on border reopening
The Northern Territory may reopen its border before community transmission is eradicated in the southern states, chief minister Michael Gunner has said.
Like in neighbouring Queensland, Mr Gunner has come under sustained pressure for refusing to open the NT border to domestic travel and has been accused of using the lockdown for political benefit ahead of the August Territorial election.
But Mr Gunner on Monday said the hard border – still the last restriction he plans to ease – could come down before southern states eradicate the coronavirus.
“Zero (community transmission) would be the best number but I guess what I’m trying to say is if we’re flexible, it might be that community transmission is not at zero but it’s happening in a way which it doesn’t give us the concern that it’s going to get across the border,” Mr Gunner said on ABC radio today.
“We are looking at the community transmission rate down south as a flexible trigger not a hard trigger.
“I think people can understand if you look at the Northern Territory — because we had a flexible trigger for businesses reopening — when those two cases came in from overseas, the Defence personnel, we still opened so I think it’s important that you be flexible in the trigger.
“We want to make that decision as soon as we can make that decision, but it has got to be done at a point in time where the rest of Australia is as safe as us.”
READ MORE: Classrooms filling up
Lachlan Moffet Gray 7am: Qld Premier heads to the Gold Coast for talks
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk will travel to the Gold Coast to meet businesses and discuss restarting the economy as she continues to insist the state border will remain closed, despite the state having just 12 active cases.
“We are not alone and I have made it very clear that we will review these issues at the end of each month, but my fundamental issue here is I will not put Queenslanders at risk,” she said on Monday.
The border decision is reviewed at the end of every month, with the decision resting with Queensland Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young.
Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate will meet the Premier today and discuss the border issue, he told the Courier Mail.
“There are a number of issues I will be speaking to her about including the latest advice on when borders will reopen and what projects the state can help us fast-track,” he said.
Ms Palaszczuk will also meet with members of the hospitality sector this week to discuss a further easing of restrictions in restaurants and cafes.
“If the COVID-safe plans are in place, they will be allowed to have more (people) in,” she said, adding that numbers would depend on the size of the venue.
“At the end of this month we’ll be able to make that decision, but it’s very positive.” Ms Palaszczuk said peak industry bodies, such as the Australian Hotels Association and the Restaurant and Catering Association, had been submitting proposals on behalf of their members.
“As long as everyone follows those plans, I think it’s going to be very positively received by the government,” she said.
With AAP
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Lachlan Moffet Gray 6.45am: South Australia brings forward eased restrictions
South Australia is bringing forward its stage two coronavirus restrictions, increasing the maximum number of people permitted at funerals and larger hospitality venues from June 1.
Premier Steven Marshall said the second phase, beginning four days earlier than planned, will allow up to 50 to attend a funeral, up to 80 patrons in large restaurants or clubs across segregated areas and the reopening of cinemas, theatres, museums, gyms and beauty salons.
Pubs will also be able to serve alcohol without food — so long as the customer is seated. Stage two was initially scheduled for June 8, and was only moved to June 5 last week.
“It’s only possible because of the low or no results and high level of testing,” Mr Marshall said.
“If it continues, it opens up a world of possibilities of when and what (restrictions) we’ll be able to remove in the future.”
As of Monday, pubs can serve alcohol without a meal to seated patrons and training for outdoor contact sports will begin.
The state’s total remains at 439 with no new infections reported on Monday. Only one case has been reported in the state over the past 34 days. More than 90,000 tests have been conducted since February. — with AAP
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Lachlan Moffet Gray 6.30am: NSW restaurants, cafes given footpath freedom
NSW will change regulations to make it easier for cafes and restaurants to use footpath space and exercise classes and gyms, parks, as part of a plan to help businesses thrive in a “1.5 metre economy,” treasurer Dominic Perrottet said.
“Lifting restrictions on businesses could be in the form of giving them more space on footpaths, allowing pop up shops or markets to operate in public spaces (such as parks) – we’ve got to move on from a nimby approach that strangles economic growth,” Mr Perrottet told The Daily Telegraph.
“We want to work with businesses so they have the ability to flourish.”
Mr Perrottet said a more generous use of public space could include using streets to host public markets, and that he will advocate for fringe benefits tax reform at a federal level to revive the struggling hospitality industry by encouraging corporate events and dinners.
“Every tax should be on the table for consideration,” Mr Perrottet said, noting governments had an obligation to reform now.
“A removal of (FBT) could very well drive business and jobs growth in the hospitality industry and that’s an industry that needs great support now and into the future,” he said.
READ MORE: Q&A examines big ideas, post-pandemic
Lachlan Moffet Gray 6.10am: Japan lifts virus restrictions as recession takes toll
Japan has lifted the coronavirus state of emergency in Tokyo and four other remaining areas, making the rollback of restrictions nationwide.
The lifting of the emergency in Tokyo, neighbouring Kanagawa, Chiba and Saitama prefectures, and in Hokkaido to the north comes as Japan’s death toll rises to 820.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the lifting of restrictions did not mean the pandemic was over, only that controlling the virus and the health of the economy had to be balanced until a vaccine became available.
But the virus has taken a severe toll — Japan, the world’s third largest economy, has fallen into a recession and public discontent over Mr Abe’s handling of the pandemic has sent his support ratings tumbling.
Recent media surveys show public support for his Cabinet plunged below 30%, the lowest since he returned to office in December 2012. Mr Abe declared the state of emergency on April 7 in several parts of Japan including Tokyo, expanded it to the entire nation later in the month, and then extended it until the end of May.
Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said last week that the capital would reopen in three phases starting with schools, libraries, museums, and longer service hours for restaurants.
She said theatres, sports facilities and other commercial establishments would be next, with nightclubs, karaoke and live music houses in the final phase. — with AAP
READ MORE: Aussies home in on remote working
Adam Creighton 5.15am: Fewer than 700,000 ‘directly vulnerable’ to lay-offs
Fewer than 700,000 people live in households “directly vulnerable” to lay-offs, says an economist who publicly questioned the government’s bungled JobKeeper figures almost six weeks ago, fuelling concerns about the generosity of the $70bn program.
Melbourne Institute economist Roger Wilkins, who in mid-April said he “really struggled” to see how 6.5 million people could be eligible for JobKeeper, has concluded 645,000 people are living in households where the breadwinner was working in a sector directly affected by the shutdown.
His analysis, based on a periodic survey that tracks economic and social characteristics of 17,000 people over time, also found households most affected by the shutdown were poorer, less healthy, less skilled and more likely to be single parents or singles living alone.
On Friday, the government admitted that three million fewer workers were eligible for JobKeeper, saving the government an estimated $60bn over the course of the six-month wage-subsidy scheme.
“I was completely mystified as to how they came up with that: more than 60 per cent of private sector workers,” Mr Wilkins said.
“If you look at big employers for a start, you’ll find very few would have had the 50 per cent cut in revenue to qualify for the JobKeeper.”
Read the full story here.
Rachel Baxendale 5am: Chinese adviser’s ‘journey of influence’ revealed
Meet Jean Dong. She is the 33-year-old Chinese-Australian businesswoman who by her own description is on a global “journey of influence”.
A professionally filmed and edited YouTube biography provides an extraordinary insight into the life of the young woman who is emerging as a key player in the unfolding political row over Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews’s controversial decision to sign up to China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
In the short promotional film, Ms Dong claims to have played key roles in bringing about the China-Australia free-trade agreement, and Victoria’s Belt and Road Initiative deal, telling the story of her journey from student journalist in Beijing, to rubbing shoulders with Australian prime ministers and premiers and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The Australian can reveal that Ms Dong, director and chief executive of the Australia-China Belt and Road Initiative company, was part of a youth delegation sent to China in 2014, alongside Mike Yang, a former adviser to Mr Andrews.
Mr Yang is credited with being the architect of the strong and enduring relationship between Mr Andrews and China’s communist government.
Read the full story here.
Geoff Chambers 4.45am: PM heralds historic joint push on jobs front
Scott Morrison will work with national cabinet to overhaul jobs training across a range of industries, as federal and state governments move to build the nation’s post-COVID-19 workforce, targeting employment growth as the key to Australia’s economic recovery.
A historic joint effort between the commonwealth, states and territories to drive reform across major planks of the economy including tax, industrial relations, regulation and skills and training would mark a turning point in co-operation between the two levels of government under the federation.
The national cabinet is expected to lead reform of the skills sector and an overhaul of the current TAFE model, establishing a uniform and efficient price for training costs and targeting government spending on the number of places available to service industry needs.
Speaking at the National Press Club today, the Prime Minister will also argue for greater accountability in the spending of $1.5bn in skills funding to the states and territories and describe current arrangements as “fundamentally flawed”.
Read the full story, by Geoff Chambers and Simon Benson, here.
Free market path to lift Indigenous
Labor has handed its new tsar for Aboriginal business extraordinary powers that could make remote-community residents the owners of defence infrastructure and the funders of energy projects.
‘Offensive and untrue’: Netflix portrayal of Belle Gibson’s ‘rival’ upsets family
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