Coronavirus Australia live news: Scott Morrison’s warning to Daniel Andrews: respect our China call
Scott Morrison says Victoria and other states should respect the federal government’s foreign policy, after Daniel Andrews backed claims Canberra had vilified China.
- PM’s warning to Andrews: respect our China call
- US threatens to disconnect over Vic deal
- Boris Johnson to ban Huawei from UK 5G
- Pubs shutdown’s crippling effects revealed
- Thousands tune in for Powderfinger reunion
Welcome to live coverage of the continuing coronavirus crisis. Scott Morrison says Victoria and other states should respect the federal government’s foreign policy, after Daniel Andrews backed claims Canberra had vilified China. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has warned the US will ‘simply disconnect’ from Australia if Victoria’s Belt and Road deal with China affects telecommunications. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will claw back Huawei’s involvement in Britain’s 5G network in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Richard Ferguson 7.10pm Ban foreign buyers from our assets: Lib senator
Liberal senator Sarah Henderson has called for a ban on foreign entities buying ports, airports, mobile networks and other critical national assets.
As tensions flare over Victoria’s infrastructure deal with China, Senator Henderson told The Australian that tougher screening of foreign investment is needed.
“Given the increasing vulnerability of cyber attacks on Australian gas and electricity infrastructure assets, I believe our government needs to urgently review our laws governing the foreign acquisition of critical infrastructure,” she said.
“Tougher laws are also required given Premier Andrews’ refusal to provide any detail about Victoria’s Belt and Road Initiative agreement with China, which is not in Victoria or Australia’s best interests.
I first called for the BRI to be cancelled on April 30, 2020. That the US Secretary of State has raised such serious concerns about the BRI reflects how foolish and irresponsible the Victorian Labor government has been in entering into this deal.”
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Richard Ferguson 5.20pm US envoy downplays Pompeo on Victoria
The US ambassador to Australia has downplayed US Secretary of State’s threats to “disconnect” from Australia over Victoria’s Belt and Road deal with China.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Sunday that he did not know of Victoria’s agreement but warned it could impact his nation’s Five Eyes partnership with Australia.
Ambassador Arthur B. Culvahouse Jr said later there was nothing in the BRI deal that concerned the US government.
“The secretary was asked to address a hypothetical, and he carefully noted he was not familiar with the State of Victoria’s BRI discussions,” he said.
“We are not aware that Victoria has engaged in any concrete projects under BRI, let alone telecommunications projects, which we understand is a federal matter.
“This is a very remote hypothetical. We have every confidence that Australia, as a close ally and Five Eyes partner, would take every measure necessary to ensure the security of its telecommunications networks.”
READ MORE: We’ll stand up for national interest despite the Beijing bluster
Lachlan Moffet Gray 4.45pm South Australia extends streak to 17 days
South Australia has extended its streak to 17 days without recording a new COVID-19 case.
The state has had 439 confirmed cases and four deaths.
One man who contracted the coronavirus on The Ruby Princess cruise ship is still in hospital.
South Australia has conducted 89,318 coronavirus tests.
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Lachlan Moffet Gray 4.35pm Wuhan lab theory ‘pure fabrication’
The director of the Wuhan Institute of Virology has slammed the notion that the coronavirus crisis began in the central Chinese facility as a “pure fabrication”.
Wang Yanyi said the theory pushed by US President Donald Trump and US Secretary State Mike Pompeo was baseless as the centre had no live coronaviruses that matched the COVID-19 strain.
“Our institute first received the clinical sample of the unknown pneumonia on December 30 last year,” Ms Yanyi told Chinese TV network CGTN.
“After we checked the pathogen within the sample, we found it contained a new coronavirus, which is now called SARS-CoV-2.
“We didn’t have any knowledge before that, nor had we ever encountered, researched or kept the virus.
“In fact, like everyone else, we didn’t even know the virus existed. How could it have leaked from our lab when we never had it?”
Ms Yani said the institute had three live strains of coronavirus, but the one with the “highest similarity” to COVID-19 was only a 79.8 per cent match. A strain with more than 95 per cent similarity would “take a long time to naturally evolve and mutate” to become COVID-19, she added.
“The current consensus of the international academic community is that the virus originated from wild animals,” she said.
“But we still don’t clearly know what kind of viruses that all different wild species carry across the globe and where the viruses that are highly similar to SARS-CoV-2 are.
“This is why the co-operation between scientists all over the world is needed to find the answers.”
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Lachlan Moffet Gray 4.10pm Darwin bar fined $5495 for booze breach
A Darwin bar has been fined $5495 for violating public health regulations after being warned twice.
Bars and pubs reopened in the Northern Territory on May 15, with groups of up to 10 allowed to drink if they also ordered a meal observed social-distancing rules.
On Friday police were called to Lola’s Pergola in Cullen Bay over reports that alcohol was being served without food.
The police provided advice to the owner on regulations required under public health orders.
The following day the police returned to the venue and issued another caution to the owner.
The owner received an infringement notice on Sunday for failing to abide by the public health orders. The notice carries a fine of $5495.
NT Police Acting Commander Shaun Gill said: “This is a timely reminder that the onus is on licensed premises and individuals to adhere to Stage Two restrictions of the Territory’s Roadmap to our new normal”.
A total of 57 fines have been issued after 11,581 compliance checks.
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Agencies 3.55pm: Palmer to challenge WA border closure
Clive Palmer will lodge documents with the High Court this week, arguing Western Australia’s border closure is unconstitutional, as the state again recorded no new cases of COVID-19.
Mr Palmer wanted to visit WA for meetings with businesspeople, Senator Mathias Cormann and potential 2021 state election candidates for his United Australia Party, but was rejected due to coronavirus restrictions.
“Closing down the border is not only an act of stupidity by WA Premier Mark McGowan, but it is against the Australian constitution and I am confident the High Court will see it that way as well,” Mr Palmer said in a statement on Sunday.
“The WA premier needs to act now to ensure a successful future beyond COVID-19 by opening his borders to allow trade and travel from Australian states into WA.
“It is a matter of national importance that the borders be open.”
Mr Palmer said he would lodge the legal documents on Monday and hoped to have a directions hearing in the High Court by the end of the week. Mr McGowan said on Friday that he endorsed the WA police commissioner’s decision not to grant Mr Palmer an exemption from the travel ban.
The premier has continued to insist WA’s interstate borders will remain closed for months, despite criticism from some, including NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian.
WA’s coronavirus tally remains at 560, including just two active cases. There have been more than 76,000 COVID-19 tests performed in WA.
AAP
READ MORE: Border closure may aid WA tourism numbers
Lachlan Moffet Gray 3.42pm Just 33 virus patients remain in nation’s hospitals
More than 6500 of Australia’s 7114 coronavirus cases have made a full recovery while just 33 coronavirus patients remain in hospital, Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer Alison McMillan has said.
Of the 33 in hospital, just five are in intensive care.
With Sunday marking the start of Palliative Care Week, Ms McMillan thanked palliative care workers across the nation for their dedication and hard work during the pandemic.
“I’d like also just to take a moment before I take questions to, as the chief nurse of the Commonwealth government, to give a shout out to all palliative care nurses out there today,” she told reporters.
“Today is the start of Palliative Care Week and palliative care nurses and all the people who work in palliative care, including volunteers, do such an amazing job in looking after people who have a life-limiting disease.
“And I’d just like to give a shout out to all palliative care nurses for the terrific job they do helping people.”
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Greg Brown 3.36pm: Frydenberg won’t front Senate inquiry over JobKeeper
The Morrison government has rejected Labor’s calls for Josh Frydenberg to front the COVID-19 Senate committee to take questions on the $60 billion funding gaffe for the JobKeeper scheme.
“As the Labor Party know the process for the COVID Committee is that House of Representatives ministers, if required, would appear through their representative ministers in the Senate and be supported by relevant departmental officials like takes place during Senate estimates hearings,” a government spokesman said.
READ MORE:
Will Glasgow 3.22pm: China denounces Australia’s ‘bandit logic’
China’s foreign ministry has accused Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada and other western countries of using “bandit logic” as the superpower defends its overhaul of Hong Kong’s security arrangements.
The three Commonwealth countries on Saturday issued a combined statement that said they were “deeply concerned” about the national security legislation Beijing has announced it will pass at its rubber stamp parliament on Thursday. The new arrangements would outlaw treason, secession, sedition and subversion against China’s central government.
“Making such a law on Hong Kong’s behalf without the direct participation of its people, legislature or judiciary would clearly undermine the principle of ‘One Country, Two Systems’, under which Hong Kong is guaranteed a high degree of autonomy,” said UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Canadian Foreign Minister François-Philippe Champagne in their statement.
Bristling at the international criticism of the new arrangements, China’s foreign ministry in Hong Kong hours later issued a sharp statement denouncing “certain countries” for making “irresponsible comments” about the legislation, which used “double standards and bandit logic”.
“We are telling those politicians that no matter how you lie and lie, you will not be able to change the mainstream public opinion of Hong Kong society that loves the country, loves Hong Kong and thinks calmly!” the Foreign Ministry spokesperson said while not naming the “certain countries”.
“You have been deliberately thinking of using anti-China chaos in Hong Kong as a ‘pawn’ and Hong Kong as a ‘bridgehead’ to split, subvert, infiltrate, and destroy China, and conspiracies that violate China’s sovereignty and security will never succeed!” the spokesperson said.
Politicians in the United States - including President Donald Trump and Democratic speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi - have also criticized the changes, as has the European Union.
Hong Kong’s democracy movement is alarmed at the changes, which could lead to mass arrests of people involved in the demonstrations that began last June.
The South China Morning Post has reported that “police sources” said about 6000 riot officers were on standby for flare ups in Hong Kong on Sunday.
READ MORE: Britain has a duty to stand up for Hong Kong against China
Rachel Baxendale 2.57pm: Andrews government responds to Pompeo
The Andrews government has responded to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s comments that Victoria’s Belt and Road agreement with China will build the ability of the communist regime to “do harm”, saying the deal is about “creating opportunities” for Victorian businesses.
Mr Pompeo told Sky News on Sunday each Belt and Road project would have an economic and security cost for Victorians, and said the United States would “simply disconnect” from Australia if Victoria’s agreement with China affected US telecommunications.
A spokeswoman for Mr Andrews said the Belt and Road framework agreement was about “creating opportunities for Victorian businesses and local jobs – opportunities that will be more important than ever as we rebuild from the coronavirus pandemic”.
“Telecommunications regulation is the responsibility of the commonwealth government,” the spokeswoman said.
“Victoria has not, and will not in the future, agree to telecommunications projects under the BRI.”
READ MORE: US threatens to cut us off over Victoria’s China deal
Lachlan Moffet Gray 2.34pm: NT Chief Minister joins calls for JobKeeper extension
Northern Territory Chief Minister Michael Gunner has joined Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein in calling for the JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme to be extended.
On Friday it was revealed a treasury forecasting error resulted in the cost of the scheme to be overstated by $60 billion dollars.
On Saturday Mr Gutwein said the extra money should be used to extend wage-subsidy payments to services more affected by the coronavirus downturn.
“The scheme should be extended for a longer period targeting additional support at those industries such as tourism and hospitality that will take longer to recover,” he said.
Mr Gunner agreed with his counterpart, on Saturday saying the wage subsidy was keeping workers from claiming unemployment.
“We are doing whatever it takes here to save lives and save jobs, and JobKeeper is a huge help. It’s keeping people out of the dole queue right now,” he told the NT News.
“Industries like tourism and hospitality have been hit hard, so if it needs to be targeted let’s make sure we look after them.
“The PM has being doing a great job, he gets it, and I look forward to talking to him about this.”
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Rachel Baxendale 2.30pm: Andrews ‘confident’ JobKeeper extension in the works
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says he is “confident” the federal government is “working through” options to extend the JobKeeper scheme, after revealing on Friday that due to bungled costings, it is likely to cost $70bn, and not $130bn.
Mr Andrews made a point of praising the JobKeeper scheme as a “fantastic program”, saying the federal government have “now got options” about whether they extend it to employees and businesses not currently covered.
“It’s hard to imagine where we’d be without this income support package, and I congratulate the federal government for having put it in place,” Mr Andrews said.
“On the issue of these revised costings, what I’d simply say to you is with the new set of costings, I’m confident that the federal government, the Prime Minister, the Treasurer, the finance minister, the cabinet, in fact the entire federal government, are working through processes.
“They’ve now got options (for) what else might they be able to do, might they be able to extend.
“All of those things I can absolutely see that the federal government will be working through.
“On the program more broadly though — and can I add the doubling of the JobSeeker payment — this was an appropriate response, and I’ve supported it all the way through.”
Victorian Higher Education Minister Gayle Tierney this week called for the federal government to “step up” with funding to prevent further job losses at universities, as the Andrews government announced a $350 million package to support capital works and research partnerships at Victorian universities.
Asked whether he wanted to see some of the $60bn the government will now not need to spend on JobKeeper going to universities, Mr Andrews said it was a matter for the federal government.
“But I would just say to you that we weren’t just running commentary,” he said.
“We know our important a sector that is, not just for research and learning, and individual pathways, but for jobs ... and our view hasn’t hasn’t changed.”
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Lachlan Moffet Gray 1.57pm: No new virus cases in WA
Western Australia has recorded no further coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, with the state’s confirmed case toll remaining at 560.
WA Health said in a statement that just two active cases remained in the state, meaning it is on track to join the ACT, the Northern Territory and South Australia as coronavirus-free jurisdictions on mainland Australia.
Of the total number of cases, 549 have recovered and nine have died.
On Saturday the state’s coronavirus toll increased by three as historical cases were detected through antibody tests.
Premier Mark McGowan on Saturday also reiterated that the state’s border closure would be the last restriction to be eased.
“At this stage no consideration is currently being given to lifting WA’s hard border with the rest of Australia,” he told reporters.
“The WA health advice from our chief health officer is clear on this, the hard border has been an effective measure as part of our success in the fight against COVID-19.
“Our hard border will likely be one of the last measures to be lifted, to ensure we protect the health of Western Australians.”
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Richard Ferguson 1.52pm: PM’s warning to Andrews: respect our call on China
Scott Morrison has warned Victoria and other states to respect the federal government’s dominance over foreign policy, after Premier Daniel Andrews backed claims Canberra has vilified China.
Mr Andrews on Sunday unconditionally backed controversial comments from his Treasurer earlier this week that China’s imposition of an 80 per cent tariff on Australian barley was a consequence “of the way that the federal government have conducted themselves”.
Asked during his press conference on Sunday whether he agreed with Mr Pallas that some of the federal government’s rhetoric had been seen to vilify China, Mr Andrews said: “Yes. Any other issues?”
When asked about US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s warnings over Victoria’s Belt and Road deal with China, Mr Morrison said he did not agree with the BRI agreement and pointed out states have usually respected the federal government’s role in setting foreign relations.
“We didn’t support that decision at the time they made it and national interest issues on foreign affairs are determined by the federal government,” he said in Murrumbateman.
“I respect their jurisdiction on the issues for which they’re responsible for. And it has always been the usual practice for states to respect and recognise the role of the federal government in setting foreign policy.
“And I think that’s been a good practice.”
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Richard Ferguson 1.45pm: Australia raises concerns over HK security law
Australia has directly raised concerns with Beijing about its attempt to tighten control over Hong Kong through a new security law, Scott Morrison has revealed.
A new national security law set to be imposed on the autonomous territory would allow Chinese mainland authorities to set up security outposts in Hong Kong and clamp down on independent voices in the city.
Foreign Minister Marise Payne joined British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and Canadian Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne in denouncing the law.
On Sunday, the Prime Minister revealed that Australia went further privately last week and protested the changes to Chinese officials last week.
“Australia has only joined with others to express what we’ve already expressed directly with the Chinese Communist Party government in Beijing as we did through the course of late last week when we were advised that’s what they intended to do,” he said in Murrumbateman.
“This is consistent with the position which Australia has always held on the basic law and the one country, two systems which we accept.”
READ MORE: Hard men deliver the kiss of death to basic freedoms in Hong Kong
Lachlan Moffet Gray 1.35pm: Just one NSW COVID-19 patient in ICU
Just one coronavirus patient in NSW in intensive care, demonstrating a plunge in the number of individuals requiring treatment from the virus.
The patient requires a ventilator, while 86 other individuals are being treated for the disease – down from more than 100 earlier in the week.
Overall, 2653 of the state’s 3087 cases have recovered, while 50 have died – meaning there are just 384 active cases in the state, down from more than 400 earlier in the week.
NSW Health is advising residents of the Penrith and Hills local government areas to present for testing.
Across the nation, more than 6500 of the nation’s 7114 cases have recovered. 102 people have died.
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Rachel Baxendale 1.30pm: Authorities coy on any cluster link to death
Victoria’s Chief Health Officer has refused to say whether the latest person to die of coronavirus in the state had contracted the virus as part of a cluster, citing the privacy of the man’s family.
On Saturday the Department of Health and Human Services confirmed a man in his 60s had died in a Victorian hospital, becoming the 19th person to die with COVID-19 in the state.
Asked on Sunday whether the man’s case had been linked to any known clusters, Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton refused to say.
“The family have been really clear about not providing any details that might identify that person,” Professor Sutton said.
Recent Victorian clusters include an outbreak at Melbourne abattoir Cedar Meats, now linked to 111 cases, and 12 cases linked to a McDonalds restaurant in Melbourne’s north.
DHHS have cited privacy laws as their reason for not checking the first Cedar Meats worker to be diagnosed with COVID-19’s claim that he had not been at work for four weeks when he tested positive on April 2.
The department also initially refused to name Cedar Meats as the abattoir linked to the cluster, despite naming a school linked to just one inactive case.
The department has publicly linked other deaths to a cluster at The Alfred Hospital’s oncology ward.
Other states have routinely linked deaths to cruise ships, aged care facilities and other known clusters.
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Lachlan Moffet Gray 1.20pm: Japan lifts state of emergency as cases fall
Japan is set to lift the state of emergency in Tokyo, its surrounding regions, and the island of Hokkaido as the number of new coronavirus cases trail off, local media reports.
The south east Asian nation was hit early by the virus, recording its first case in January and seeing daily case growth hit triple digits in April.
But now growth of the virus has levelled off, with the number of new cases each daily well under 100 – Tokyo on Saturday recording just two cases.
The move will see the state of emergency, enacted in April, removed and businesses allowed to operate normal hours as well as residents permitted to leave their houses for non essential reasons.
Originally applied to all 47 prefectures, the state of emergency has been progressively rolled back by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike on Saturday said facilities in the city closed under local decree will be opened in a three-step phase not dissimilar to Australia’s restriction easing road map.
Small events up to 50 people in size are now permitted, sport can resume without an audience and museums and schools will be able to reopen.
“In order to return to a state of regularity as soon as possible, it’s necessary to devise a road map so society can live a ‘new normal,’ while preventing the spread of the virus and revitalising economic and social activities,” Ms Koike said.
Japan has recorded 16,536 cases of coronavirus, 13,244 of which have recovered. 808 people have died.
READ MORE: Parts of Japan emerge from virus emergency
Lachlan Moffet Gray 12.45pm: Public transport patronage falls in NSW
Public transport patronage in NSW has fallen by 3.3 per cent over the past week, a sign that new passenger limits on buses, trains and ferries are working, NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance has said.
Earlier in the week the NSW government announced that a maximum of 12 passengers would be allowed on a standard bus, 32 in a train carriage, and 245 on a standard ferry, in a bid to ensure social distancing is maintained as more residents head back to work amid easing restrictions.
But the plan has been criticised after it was revealed there was no public health order allowing the distancing to be enforced, and that NSW bus drivers had been instructed not to refuse service to commuters, especially schoolchildren.
Mr Constance said that bus patronage has dropped the most out of all forms of transport, a trend he wanted to see continue as students resume full-time face-to-face learning from Monday.
“Particularly pleasing in those numbers is the bus patronage has dropped by 9.9 per cent,” Mr Constance told reporters on Sunday.
The minister said that up to 110,000 students used the transport network to get to school, but last week it was used by just 18,300.
“So with about 110,000 kids who could potentially use the network, it is for this reason that we are urging parents to drop their kids off to school,” Mr Constance said, adding that road traffic was still at 60 per cent of pre-COVID levels.
From Monday a temporary car park will be established at Moore Park with shuttle transfers to the CBD to encourage commuters to drive in to work.
READ MORE: ‘Too hard, too dangerous’ to enforce distancing on public transport
Lachlan Moffet Gray 12.40pm: NSW high school student ‘could have’ virus
NSW recorded just one case of coronavirus in the past 24 hours – but a student at a high school somewhere in the state may have coronavirus, Health Minister Brad Hazzard has warned.
Mr Hazzard said the student attended school on Tuesday and exhibited symptoms the following day, with his test results now pending.
“We are working through whether that ends up being a final positive result or not,” he said, adding that the student was showing only minor symptoms and has already recovered.
The one confirmed case occurred in a returning traveller from the UK who was tested at the airport, detected in a testing batch of 6809, bringing the testing total to 418,427.
The number of confirmed cases in the state is now 3087, 2633 of which have recovered.
Mr Hazzard urged people to present for testing and to not get complacent.
“I would like to say at this point that it is crucial that people don’t relax over the weekends as we go forward in the next months, because the reason we are doing so well in New South Wales is that the community have been partners with the government in making sure that the slightest bit of anything like a cough or a cold or a temperature, people are going and getting tested,” he said.
“I do fear that people may think that maybe complacency, there may be some level of complacency that sneaks in, in the next few months, as we see these hopefully continuing low numbers, but it is so dangerous.”
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Rachel Baxendale 12.35pm: Andrews backs Treasurer over China comments
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has unconditionally backed controversial comments from his Treasurer earlier this week that China’s imposition of an 80 per cent tariff on Australian barley was a consequence “of the way that the federal government have conducted themselves”.
Treasurer Tim Pallas’s comments follow his description last week of China’s decision to suspend meat imports from four abattoirs in NSW and Queensland as “inevitably a consequence of the use of language that I think has seemed to vilify China rather than to recognise that these are events that will need appropriate scrutiny and review in time”.
Asked during his press conference on Sunday whether he agreed with Mr Pallas that some of the federal government’s rhetoric had been seen to vilify China, Mr Andrews said: “Yes. Any other issues?”
Mr Andrews refused to respond to comments from US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that Victoria’s Belt and Road agreement with China will build the ability of the communist regime to “do harm”, and that each Belt and Road project would have an economic and security cost for Victorians.
“I haven’t seen Secretary Pompeo’s comments,” Mr Andrews said.
“With the greatest of respect, I am not in the habit of commenting on what people tell me other people have said.
“I would want to see Secretary Pompeo’s comments out of respect for him and his office, before I made comment on that.
“On the broader issue, my position on these matters is very well known, very well understood. It’s all about Victorian jobs, and we’ll continue to work in a strong partnership.
“It doesn’t mean we agree on everything. There are many things we don’t agree on. But what I think all of us here, and indeed, both parts of our partnership, both Victoria, Australia and China, surely we all have to concede, we all have to recognise, that a good strong partnership is in everybody’s interests.”
READ MORE: US-China deal could see us suffer
Lachlan Moffet Gray 12.30pm: Nail salons, beauty parlours given all-clear in NSW
Nail salons, beauty parlours and other beauty service providers will be permitted to reopen in NSW from June 1 if they have compiled a COVID-safe plan that follows government guidelines.
No more than ten clients will be allowed at any time, the four metres per person rule must be followed, records of customer contact details must be kept and shared magazines will not be permitted in waiting rooms.
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said the reopening of the beauty services industry has been the one most requested of him.
“Of all the requests I’ve had as Health Minister in the last three months, this has been the one that I think has topped the barrel,” Mr Hazzard told reporters on Sunday.
“It has certainly been a very earnest effort from a lot of people to make sure we could open.
“I’ve even had text messages in the middle of the other meetings, telling me how bad acrylic nails were.
“I didn’t even know there was such a thing as acrylic nails, but I’m very pleased to say that they are now open.”
Pubs, bars, cafes and restaurants will be able to have 50 patrons on site from June 1, regional travel for recreation will be allowed, and museums and art galleries will be able to reopen.
READ MORE: Take care with this home beauty routine
Lachlan Moffet Gray 12.25pm: Labor calls on Treasurer to appear at inquiry
Chair of the Select Senate Committee on COVID-19 Katy Gallagher has called for Treasurer Josh Frydenberg to make an appearance at the inquiry and explain how a treasury reporting error resulted in the JobKeeper wage subsidy’s expense forecast being off by $60 billion.
On Friday Mr Frydenberg revealed the wage subsidy, originally expected to cover more than six million furloughed workers at a cost of $130 billion, will cover just over three million workers at a cost of $70 billion.
On Sunday morning opposition spokeswoman for foreign affairs Penny Wong said Mr Frydenberg should appear before the committee to explain how such an error could occur.
“Josh Frydenberg hasn’t fronted up and taken responsibility. He should do that and we will give him the opportunity,” Senator Wong told ABC’s Insiders.
Senator Gallagher said the need for Mr Frydenberg to explain this “unprecedented” bungle at the inquiry goes to the “heart of his credibility and competence”.
“I think if he chooses not to appear, he needs to explain why,” Senator Gallagher said.
“It goes straight to the heart of his credibility and competence and I would have thought he would have welcomed an opportunity where he is given the opportunity and a platform to explain what went wrong and what the government is doing about it, and how could we have all been so misled for the past eight weeks.”
Senator Gallagher said the government should now consider reviewing the scheme earlier than the planned date of June, and consider expanding the scheme.
“I think again it is up to the government to look at this through maybe the review, bringing
the review forward, but to make sure that JobKeeper is actually doing what was originally intended, which was to support employment during this crisis,” she said.
“I note that Treasury haven’t changed nature forecasts around unemployment and the impact on the labour market, so I think it is up to the government and the Treasurer to be looking very closely at what it happening in the real economy and making sure that their economic response is appropriate, because this has really changed the goalposts.”
READ MORE: Jobshocker: $60bn gaffe offers recovery windfall
Lachlan Moffet Gray 12.08pm: SA to release restrictions guidelines on Monday
Clarity on how South Australia’s businesses will be able to operate amid easing coronavirus restrictions will be released on Monday, Premier Steven Marshall has said.
The state has taken an industry-by-industry approach to easing restrictions as opposed to a “one size fits all approach,” which has confused residents and industry groups who want more clarity over what they can do when.
On Friday cafes and restaurants were permitted to serve ten patrons inside as well as outdoors, as well as serve alcohol with meals, but pubs and clubs were not to open until June 5.
The decision was quickly reversed as numerous restaurants that opened had to close after they realised they were trading on small venue liquor licenses, not restaurant licenses, with pubs and clubs permitted to open over the weekend.
On Monday larger hospitality venues with multiple segregated areas will have a clearer understanding if they can accommodate 20 people per section as opposed to it being the total patron number.
“We are very open to anything we can do to get businesses back to profitability,” Mr Marshall said.
“The continued good result and high level of testing have given us a lot of confidence.”
When the state enters stage two restrictions on June 5, beauty salons, gyms, cinemas and theatres will be able to reopen, and bars may be allowed more than 20 people in the venue.
“We are working over the entire weekend to get the guidelines ready and we are hopeful we will be able to get them out on Monday,” Mr Marshall said.
“I think the continued good performance, in terms of no or low new cases, and high levels of testing are giving us a lot more confidence to be more generous with the concessions.
“We have only recorded one new case in 31 days, and that is a really good position to be in.”
Despite the state government’s delayed decision and ambiguity around which venues could trade under newly eased restrictions, Mr Marshall said businesses were “delighted” to be open and would not be compensated.
Mr Marshall also said that stage three restriction easing – due to be in force on July 3, could be pushed forward.
There were no new coronavirus cases – for the 16th consecutive day – reported on Saturday with the state’s total remaining at 439.
There have been 88,500 tests conducted since February.
Plans to reopen the state’s two zoos are also in the final phases, with Adelaide Zoo in the CBD to open first.
With AAP
READ MORE: ‘This virus doesn’t want to kill us’
Lachlan Moffet Gray 11.44am: ‘Return to sport toolkit’ released for local clubs
Sports Australia has released a “return to sport toolkit” that will guide local clubs as professional associations to return to activity and help get the nation “back on track”, according to Sports Minister Richard Colbeck.
The toolkit, developed in partnership with Hockey Australia, provides comprehensive checklists, templates and COVID-19 safety plans which will guide sports to a safe return.
The plan includes four main elements: plan, prepare, respond and recover, all of which are designed to prevent a cluster outbreak at a sport club or league.
Sport Australia acting CEO Rob Dalton says public health remains “paramount”.
“I urge all sporting participants not to jump the starting gun without first the consent of your relevant state and territory health authorities,” Mr Dalton said in a statement on Sunday.
Senator Colbeck said: “sporting clubs and organisations across Australia would play an enormous part in getting the nation back on track as it recovers from the impact of COVID-19.”
“We have a big challenge ahead of us – but together the National Principles, the AIS framework and Sport Australia’s toolkit offer tangible advice to ensure community sporting groups are prepared to control and deal with the virus in this new era.”
The release of the plan comes as Queensland on Sunday announced a $50 million package for local sports clubs, including $2000 grants to be used for the purchase of hand sanitiser and disinfectant.
With AAP
READ MORE: How rugby league rose from the ashes
Rachel Baxendale 11.35am: Andrews flags further easing of restrictions from June 22
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said that if community transmission rates continued to remain low and testing rates high, the government would look to further relax restrictions from June 22.
“From that date, indoor fitness and recreation facilities will open with up to 20 people per space and up to 10 people per group or activity at any one time,” Mr Andrews said.
“Up to 50 people will be permitted in restaurants, cafes, galleries, museums and for the first time, cinemas and theatres.
“And for those eager to hit the slopes, the ski season will open slightly later this year on 22 June.”
Mr Andrews urged Victorians to continue to act with caution and common sense.
“Working from home means we can go away for the weekend,” he said.
“Staggering start times means our kids can start learning face-to-face.
“Keeping our distance means we can open cafes and restaurants.
“And by only seeing those you need to, if you need to, we can help keep our friends and families safe.”
READ MORE: Andrews clams up over DFAT advice on China
Lachlan Moffet Gray 11.32am: Queensland records a single case overnight
Queensland has recorded just one case of coronavirus in the past 24 hours, bringing the state’s total to 1061.
Of these cases 1041 have recovered and six have died, leaving just 14 active cases across the state.
Sunday, 24 May – coronavirus cases in Queensland:
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) May 24, 2020
• 1 new confirmed case
• 14 active cases
• 1,061 total confirmed cases
• 173,864 tests conducted
Sadly, six Queenslanders have died from coronavirus. 1,041 patients have recovered.#COVID19 pic.twitter.com/KEgrnNErAb
The number of tests conducted in Queensland is now 173,864.
READ MORE: Queensland: beautiful one day, economically broken the next
Rachael Baxendale 11.29am: Victorian restrictions to be rolled back from May 31
Victoria will relax a string of social distancing restrictions from 11:59pm on May 31, including allowing up to gatherings of up to 20 in restaurants, cafes, pubs and private residences, and permitting overnight travel.
From Tuesday May 26, in line with Prep, Grade One, Year 11 and Year 12 students returning to the classroom, outdoor playgrounds, skate parts and communal gym equipment will reopen.
From 11:59pm people will be permitted to have up to 20 people including their household in their homes, with outdoor gatherings also permitted to increase to 20.
Overnight stays will be able to resume at private residences, as well as in hotels, motels, bed and breakfasts, holiday rentals, campgrounds and caravan parks – although communal kitchens in those facilities will be closed.
Up to 20 people will be allowed at weddings, in addition to the celebrant and couple, while up to 50 people will be able to attend funerals, in addition to those conducting the ceremony.
Up to 20 people will be allowed at other religious ceremonies, in addition to those required to perform the service.
Libraries, youth centres and other community facilities will be able to open with no more than 20 people in a single area, plus those needed to operate the space.
Entertainment and cultural venues like galleries, museums, drive-in cinemas and historic sites will also be able to open their doors, alongside zoos and outdoor amusement parks.
Physical distancing and a limit of up to 20 patrons per space will apply, and indoor venues will be required to keep customer contact details.
Swimming pools will also open with limits of 20 people and additional safety requirements in place.
Community sporting activities will be permitted with up to 20 people in undivided spaces, provided the sport is outdoors, non-competition, non-contact, and people are able to play 1.5 metres apart.
Restrictions on professional sport will remain unchanged.
Beauty and personal care services like nail salons, spas, tattoo parlours will be able to open with up to 20 customers per space – with customer contact details required to be kept.
Auctions and open for inspections will also be subject to the 20-person limit – plus those required to conduct the activity – with agents also required to keep the contact details of everyone who attends.
Non-food and drink market stalls will also be able to open from 11:59pm on May 31.
“The whole way through this pandemic, our advice to Victorians has remained the same: ‘stay home’. Now, as we begin to settle into a new normal, our message is ‘stay safe’,” Premier Daniel Andrews said.
“That means maintaining your physical distance, using common sense, and as we ease restrictions, each of us playing our part to keep one another safe.”
Mr Andrews said the low rate of community transmission of COVID-19 had allowed the restrictions to be eased.
He said Victorians who could work from home must continue to do so, eat least until the end of June.
“I understand there’ll be questions about why you can go to the pub or the park – but not the office, but the health advice on this is very clear.
“We just can’t afford to have millions of people moving around our state – taking public transport or using the communal kitchen, let alone when you think about the logistical challenges of getting people in and out of lifts or lobbies.”
READ MORE: Andrews hangs tough on restrictions
Lachlan Moffet Gray 11.23am: $50m fund for Queensland community sport ‘return to play’
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has announced $50 million in funding to allow community sporting clubs across the state to “return to play”, as the state approaches stage two of its coronavirus restriction easing guidelines.
From June 12 groups of 20 will be able to train and participate in non-contact sports or use gyms and fitness centres.
The $51.3 million package will include $150 “fair play” vouchers for families financially impacted by the pandemic, allowing them to sign their children up for community sport leagues.
It will also provide $2000 to sports clubs across the state so they can invest in hand sanitiser and other cleaning materials to ensure government hygiene guidelines are able to be followed.
Grants between $5000 and $20,000 will also be made available to clubs who have been deprived of revenue so they can invest in necessary infrastructure.
UPDATE: As Queensland clubs warm up for the return of community sport, we’re ensuring the coming season is COVID-safe, with a $51.3 million Return to Play recovery assistance package for local sports clubs. For more information visit https://t.co/TO3eXAWRkt.#sport #COVID_19 pic.twitter.com/ol9LRBI0gA
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) May 24, 2020
The government will also bring forward planned payments to 77 state-level sports bodies like Queensland Rugby League to ensure they are able to re-establish competition.
“It is about getting our young children across Queensland returning to play,” Ms Palaszczuk told reporters on Sunday.
“We all know how important community sport is and a lot of children out there have been asking the questions about when, ‘When can we get back and have our team sports?’”
“As we start seeing the rugby league come back and the AFL come back, we also need to make sure we are giving our young kids every opportunity.”
READ MORE: 80 join Hanson’s border court battle
Rachel Baxendale 11.20am: Two new cases recorded in Victoria
Victoria has confirmed two new cases of coronavirus in the past 24 hours.
The state’s total number of cases has risen by one, to 1603, due to the duplication of a previously reported case, while 1498 people have recovered.
Victoria’s death toll remains 19, following the death, reported yesterday, of a man in his 60s.
The state has already exceeded its target of 150,000 tests between May 11 and May 31, having completed 174,000 tests since May 11.
More than 420,000 tests have been processed in Victoria since the pandemic began.
There have been 180 cases where no link to overseas travel or other known cases has been found, indicating community transmission.
READ MORE: Pandemic history ignored by premiers
Lachlan Moffet Gray 11.15am: Zoos, aquariums to reopen in NSW
Zoos and aquariums in NSW will be allowed to reopen on June 1 – but Koala-cuddling will be off the table, as the government seeks to restart the economy while maintaining social distancing.
Keeper shows like Giraffe feeding will also be put on hold to reduce the likelihood of crowd gatherings and guided tours will be replaced by audio guides, The Daily Telegraph reports.
However, at Sydney’s Taronga Zoo the famous bird and seal shows will go on with crowds made to sit up to two metres apart.
Environment Minister Matt Kean told The Daily Telegraph that the reopening of zoos, wildlife parks and aquariums turns on their development of a COVID-19 safety plan based on NSW Health criteria.
“I am sure zoos and wildlife parks right across the state will be excited to be putting out the welcome mat in coming weeks,” he said.
NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said the reopening of zoos was another important milestone for NSW.
“Taronga has a special place in the hearts of so many people – I know my own kids all have their favourite animals they can’t wait to see when we visit,” he said.
“With the June long weekend and school holidays not far away this is another step back to normality and will give parents and kids something else to look forward to, but it’s important people follow the rules.”
READ MORE: Government sticks with COVIDSafe app
Lachlan Moffet Gray 10.55am: Pandemic may lead to greater workplace equality: Gillard
Former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard says the coronavirus pandemic may lead to more gender equity in society as households and workplaces learn to balance duties between the sexes.
Speaking in her capacity as chair of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at Kings College, Ms Gillard said the pandemic has laid bare issues surrounding the division of labour between gender.
“This crisis comes on top of underlying gender inequalities, so things like domestic work are unequally shared between men and women and then you put homeschooling and lockdown on top of that, it means women are doing more,” she told BBC Newsnight.
“This crisis comes on top of underlying gender inequalities."
— BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) May 22, 2020
Former Australian PM @JuliaGillard says as we go back to 'normality' we need to consider how “gender and flexibility†can be carefully "planned in" to what work should look like post-Covid#Newsnight | #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/OssAzTLT5H
“Then when we look at the job losses in this crisis, many of them have been in industries populated by women … and around 70 per cent of the workforce in our health and caring profession are women.”
But Ms Gillard said that the increased popularity of workplace flexibility would allow society to reorganise tasks more equitably.
“But the note of optimism I would take is this: We are being forced to experiment in all ways with virtual working … everybody who was office bound, now working from home.
“We’re hoping that businesses can learn from this period and actually take the best of virtual and flexible working with them so we do enable women and men in the future to better balance work and family life.”
READ MORE: How to avoid WFH burnout
Lachlan Moffet Gray 10.50am: Over 6m Australians download COVIDSafe app
The Australian government’s COVIDSafe coronavirus track has now been downloaded and installed by six million Australians, federal health minister Greg Hunt has revealed.
The app – which keeps a record of fellow app users an individual has been in close contact with – was designed to be used by state health authorities to quickly contract trace and notify those who have been in close contact with a coronavirus case.
The #COVIDSafe app has reached 6 million downloads & registrations in less than a month.
— Greg Hunt (@GregHuntMP) May 23, 2020
Please consider downloading the app if you haven’t yet so as to help protect yourself and others.
Download here - https://t.co/vn3NoeQpal pic.twitter.com/LAU1cbZ6mu
It was released on April 26 and received more than one million downloads within a day.
Scott Morrison said he wanted at least 40 per cent of Australia’s 16 million population with smartphones to download and install the app – a figure of 640,000 that is now in reach.
Mr Hunt said the app is playing a significant role in Australia’s world-leading response to the pandemic.
“Australia continues to be a world leader in testing, tracing, and containing the coronavirus and I would encourage all Australians to contribute to that effort and download the COVIDSafe app today,” Mr Hunt said in a statement on Sunday.
READ MORE: COVIDSafe app target in sight
Richard Ferguson 10.40am: US threatens to disconnect over Vic-China deal
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has threatened the United States will “simply disconnect” from Australia if Victoria’s Belt and Road agreement with China affects US telecommunications.
Mr Pompeo has warned on Sunday that the Belt and Road agreement increases the Chinese communist regime’s ability to do “harm”, as Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews digs into the economic partnership.
The US Secretary of State said he did not know of Victoria’s agreement but warned it could impact his nation’s Five Eyes partnership with Australia.
“We will not take any risks to our telecommunications infrastructure, any risk to the national security elements of what we need to do with our Five Eyes partners,” he said.
“I don’t know the nature of those projects precisely. To the extent they have an adverse impact on our ability to protect telecommunications from our private citizens, or security networks for our defence and intelligence communities – we simply disconnect, we will simply separate.
“We are going to preserve trust in networks … we hope our friends and allies, especially our Five Eyes partners like Australia, do the same.”
READ MORE: China abandons growth forecast
Richard Ferguson 10.30am: Victoria-China deal risks nation: Pompeo
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has warned Victoria its continued insistence on signing up to China’s Belt and Road program will build the ability of the communist regime to “do harm”.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews’ commitment to the Belt and Road project – a key arsenal in China’s soft power attempt to grow its influence worldwide – has come under scrutiny in recent days due to Beijing’s trade actions against Australia.
Mr Pompeo – Donald Trump’s chief diplomat – told Sky News Australia on Sunday that each Belt and Road project would have an economic and security cost for Victorians.
“Every nation has its own sovereign right to make decisions for itself, and I suppose Victoria has some rights … but every citizen of Australia should know that every one of those Belt and Road projects needs to be looked at incredibly closely,” he told Sky News.
“Nearly every one of them has a cost. There is often money loaned at conditional rates or conditions placed in the debt documents.
“Or government concessions that have to be made to the Chinese Communist Party to get those Belt and Road initiatives built.
“That proposes real risk. Real risk to the people of that region, real risk to the country, and quite frankly it builds the capacity of the Chinese Communist Party to do harm.”
READ MORE: Pompeo declares US stands with Australia on China
Lachlan Moffet Gray 10.22am: NY Times’ front-page tribute to COVID-19 deaths
As the number of coronavirus deaths in the US approaches 100,000, The New York Times newspaper has paid tribute to the dead by publishing the names, ages and occupations of 1000 coronavirus victims on the front page of their Sunday edition.
The front page of The New York Times for May 24, 2020 pic.twitter.com/Mp4figjnQe
— The New York Times (@nytimes) May 23, 2020
“An incalculable loss,” the headline reads.
“They were not simply names on a list. They were us.
“Numbers alone cannot possibly measure the impact of coronavirus on America, whether it is the number of patients treated, jobs interrupted or lives cut short.
“As the country nears a grim milestone of 100,000 deaths attributed to the virus, the New York Times scoured obituaries and death notices of the victims.
“The 1000 people here represent just one per cent of the toll.
“None were mere numbers.”
In the US 97,048 have died of COVID-19 while more than 1.6 million have contracted the disease.
READ MORE: Hundreds come forward for COVID injections
Lachlan Moffet Gray 9.30am: JobKeeper error ‘very good news’: Taylor
Federal energy minister Angus Taylor has called the $60 billion “reporting error” in its JobKeeper scheme “very good news”, but has not shown enthusiasm for wanting to use the unspent money to extend or broaden the program.
The government admitted on Friday its JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme to assist business and workers through the COVID-19 pandemic will now be $70 billion rather than $130 billion and will now only cover 3.5 million people rather than 6.5 million that had been forecast.
“It means that businesses are in better shape than we might have anticipated when those original forecasts were put in place. It does mean that we’re in a better position as we work our way towards recovery,” government minister Angus Taylor told Sky News on Sunday.
Mr Taylor said the government was under no compulsion to spend the money as the $130 billion figure was only ever a “forecast.”
“This was a forecast, an update of the forecast, the original forecast was based on the best information available and this was a more subsequent update,” he said.
“This was not an objective or a target. Only the Labor Party could think spending more money is a target.”
With AAP
READ MORE: Jobshocker: $60bn gaffe offers recovery windfall
Lachlan Moffet Gray 9am: Security crackdown for peak hour commute
Peak hour commuters in Sydney on Monday will be met by hundreds of extra NSW Transport employees who will seek to enforce social distancing on trains, buses and ferries as more return to work and schools resume full time.
Last week the NSW Government announced that it would impose maximum passenger limits on all forms of public transport to ensure social distancing is maintained as patronage of the transport networks increases as lockdowns ease.
Large, green dots indicate where people can sit. A bus should have no more than 12 people, a train carriage 32, and a Freshwater Ferry, 245.
However, NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance said the system would be one governed by “self-responsibility” with no fines attached to violating the passenger limits.
To help encourage that self-responsibility, Mr Constance told The Sunday Telegraph that “marshalling response and support teams” will be rolled out at 20 major transport interchanges to manage crowds.
“This could mean forming lines at bus stops or limiting the amount of people who can enter onto a platform,” he said.
“Having those eyes there and guidance for people to be protected is what this is all about.
We’re not putting them there because people are engaging in bad behaviour – we’re putting them there to try and maintain the 1.5 metres around people and be there as a reminder for everyone.”
Mr Constance said that schoolchildren will not be left behind by full buses, although some commuters will be.
“I’ve sent a very clear message to operators in the past week that children are to be prioritised – we’ve got to prioritise their safety and we don’t want to see a child isolated anywhere on the transport network,” he said.
READ MORE: Chris Kenny — Nanny states in no rush to return our liberties
Agencies 8.30am: $50 million to support strugglings arts, culture sector
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has announced a $50 million package to support art and cultural organisations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The funds will be delivered in two stages, with the first stage to support not- for-profit art and cultural organisations to hibernate temporarily with the second stage to help them restart operations in the coming months.
“The NSW arts and cultural sector is an important contributor to the NSW economy as well as for our community’s wellbeing. We know that the arts is a place of refuge and a source of inspiration in these challenging times,” Ms Berejiklian said on Sunday.
The state government previously announced that from June, up to 50 people will be allowed in restaurants, pubs and cafes.
Regional travel restrictions will also ease while museums, galleries and libraries will also be allowed to open.
It comes as NSW on Saturday recorded a further three coronavirus cases, from 8995 tests.
All were overseas acquired – two from Pakistan and one from the USA – and were already in hotel quarantine.
READ MORE: The worst of times for the arts
Dow Jones 8am: Coronavirus is proving a boon for … Crocs
Now for an important update on Crocs.
As a slew of major brands hit the wall, Crocs have emerged as a surprise winner.
The foam plastic footwear, known for being easy on the feet if less so on the eyes, is one of the few major retail brands to navigate the COVID-19 era successfully. For some, Crocs are the perfect shoes to wear when no one can see you wear them. For others, a pair of the colourful clogs is a fashion statement.
“People are starting to think they’re cool,” said Karina Saucedo, 26 years old, who vowed she would never buy a pair when she first laid eyes upon Crocs about 15 years ago.
Last week, Ms. Saucedo, of Austin, Texas, caved, buying a pair of light-purple Crocs and a lemon-shaped charm, or Jibbitz, to go with it. “I consider them so ugly and such an ironic thing to wear,” she said, “but in the middle of the pandemic it’s something weird and nice to hold on to.”
Crocs was the only footwear brand among the top 30 tracked by researchers at NPD Group to record sales growth in March, a 14% increase compared with the same month in 2019. It was also one of the two companies, along with sheepskin bootmaker Ugg, to log growth in April — a month when many stores were closed. Last month search interest on Google for Crocs reached a 15-year high. They have returned to Amazon’s bestseller lists.
The brand was on the upsurge before the virus shifted many Americans’ shopping focus from getting the latest fashions to just finding enough food. Crocs Inc. reached a record $1.23 billion in revenue last year, more than a decade after the colourful shoes first became a global fad. “This has really been a turnaround story,” Crocs Chief Executive Officer Andrew Rees said in an interview.
READ MORE: Car rental giant Hertz hits the wall, files for bankruptcy
Jacquelin Magnay 7.20am: Top Johnson adviser caught breaching lockdown for trip
Boris Johnson’s authority has come under extraordinary scrutiny in a dramatic political scandal involving his Svengali-like chief advisor Dominic Cummings which threatens to undermine the government’s coronavirus strategy.
It has emerged that Mr Cummings took a 430km road trip, when possibly suffering from coronavirus, to stay near his parents in Durham, claiming the move was for child care, which has sparked a crisis of public confidence in the government.
Late Saturday night the Mirror reported Mr Cummings had returned to Durham for a second trip on April 19 after he had recovered from the virus and had been working in London. That second trip contravened official government advice at the time not to travel.
But as tone-deaf as Mr Cumming’s actions may have been, the resulting, almost incredulous response from key ministers lining up in concert to support him has been even more questionable.
The Health Minister Matt Hancock immediately supported Mr Cummings — the most powerful civil servant in the country — as did a host of other ministers from Michael Gove to Dominic Raab.
READ MORE: Dream of Venice without tourists becomes a nightmare
John Ferguson 6.30am: Kennett slams Premiers for border ‘madness’
Jeff Kennett has dismissed as “madness’’ the refusal of most states to open their borders and urged the nation’s leaders to drive a cohesive and creative reform agenda that ignites confidence when the pandemic welfare expires.
The former Victorian premier has dismissed as “grandstanding’’ the decision by the smallest states to keep their borders shut, arguing it is retarding small to medium businesses, potentially leading to the large-scale destruction of tourism and hospitality ventures.
Mr Kennett also has warned the political establishment that infrastructure alone will not resurrect the national economy, arguing for a two-pronged blueprint for recovery that inspires Australians to move forward once the virus is contained.
He said the need for swift, well-planned responses to the virus was exaggerated by Australia’s brawling with China, which he argued could have as severe an impact on the economy as the pandemic.
Read the full story here.
Jacquelin Magnay 5.45am: UK to claw back Huawei’s 5G network aspirations
Boris Johnson is to claw back Huawei’s involvement in Britain’s 5G network after extraordinary pressure from Tory backbenchers in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
The British prime minister has told civil servants to unwind Huawei’s involvement in the UK telecommunications network to zero within three years, putting the Chinese company’s 5G aspirations across the country in tatters.
This comes as the United States continued its pressure on Huawei; and western countries began supporting Australia’s lead for an inquiry into the coronavirus outbreak.
While Tory backbenchers have been persistently pressuring the Cabinet to reverse its earlier decision to allow Huawei as much as 35 per cent access to the 5G network; it is understood the US negotiations in the US-UK free trade deal were crucial in fresh decision-making.
The US wants the UK to align themselves with the US at the expense of trade relationships with China.
There has been concern across Europe that China has been exploiting the economic chaos wrought by coronavirus and suspicion about China’s trading ambitions on the continent as it buys key southern European ports. In Germany there are plans for new laws to stop the sale of critical infrastructure to China.
Australia had warned Britain that the Five Eyes intelligence arrangement would be under threat if the Huawei deal in UK telecommunications was allowed to continue.
The Johnson government’s reversal comes as MP’s demand an overhaul of the country’s relationship with the Chinese communist party.
British MP Bob Seely, who sits on the Foreign Affairs Committee said: “This is potentially very good news indeed and shows that there is a significant re-evaluation of our relationship with China.
“More generally, the evidence is now overwhelming that we need a root and branch reform of our attitude toward China.
“Huawei now needs to stop trying to ‘dig’ its way into the UK network as it has been doing. British telecoms firms now need clear guidance so we can build an advanced comms future without high risk, hi-tech from authoritarian states.
“Huawei is part and parcel of the Chinese state. It is a ‘high risk’ vendor in the UK’s infrastructure. There should be no place for it in the UK.
“Huawei in our 5G network is bad for data privacy, bad for our security, bad for human rights: glad the Government may now be thinking, ‘no way Huawei.”
READ MORE: Terry McCrann — ‘For China, it’s a no-brainer’
Colin Brinsden 5.30am: Crippling effect of pubs shutdown revealed
The beer, wine and spirits industry has suffered its worst month in history as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, with the loss of $8.5 billion in revenue in April.
The shutdown of pubs, clubs and bars to spare Australia’s from the worst of the deadly virus also cost the industry almost half a million in hospitality jobs, Alcohol Beverages Australia says.
“Despite some initial pantry filling in March, April has been the worst month on record for sales of beer, wine and spirit,” its chief executive officer Andrew Wilsmore said.
“The biggest category, beer, saw a 44 per cent drop in April and cider saw the biggest decline at 61 per cent due to the loss of social occasions.”
Small and medium sized wine produces who rely on restaurants as their main route to market also reported losses of up to 70 per cent.
Meanwhile, local distillers witnessed revenue declines of up to 80 per cent, with the shut down of regional tourism adding to the tale of woe.
“We knew that the total loss of trade from pubs, bars, clubs and restaurants was never going to be made up for by a brief, small surge in panic buying during the week people were concerned bottle shops would also close,” Mr Wilsmore said.
Faced with the “crippling” loss of jobs and revenue, Mr Wilsmore is calling on the nation’s political leaders to have a “laser-like focus” on job creation and minimising regulatory and tax burdens coming out of the crisis.
“This will be vital to our successful revival so that we can continue to provide employment opportunities and future careers for young Australians,” Mr Wilsmore said.
READ MORE: Premiers bordering on madness, Kennett says
Andi Yu 5.15am: Thousands tune into Powderfinger YouTube gig
Australian rock band Powderfinger has given its first concert in a decade to raise funds for those in the music industry affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
Frontman Bernard Fanning and bandmates Ian Haug, John Collins, Darren Middleton and Jon Coghill performed a 40-minute set of hits, streamed live on YouTube on Saturday night.
The five musicians were performing remotely from different locations.
From an empty hall in Brisbane, bassist Collinsencouraged fans to donate to Support Act, an Australian charity that gives crisis help to artists, crew and music workers.
“When this is over and we want to have a big world party, let’s get behind it and see some live music and get back out there and support them,” Collins said.
Fanning told the more than 86,000 viewers it was a “pretty strange time”.
“Lots of us are experiencing all sorts of different difficulties,” he said.
“If you know you’re struggling with your mental health, it may be the first time this has ever happened, that you’ve felt like this, seek support. “There’s experts at Beyond Blue. They can help you out.
“You wouldn’t be the first person, you won’t be the last. There’s no shame in it.”
The band played seven hits including These Days and My Happiness. Powderfinger’s last gig was in November 2010. — AAP
READ MORE: Phones run hot at getaway spots
Agencies 5am: NSW flags the reopening of gyms, beauty salons
The NSW government has flagged the “imminent” reopening of gyms and beauty salons as the state over the next two weeks prepares for a landmark easing of COVID-19 restrictions.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian has announced that from June 1, up to 50 people will be allowed in restaurants, pubs and cafes. Regional travel restrictions will also ease while museums, galleries and libraries will also be allowed to open.
That has been met with a chorus of industries clamouring for the government to allow them to resume trading.
Lobby group Fitness Australia on Saturday called for the Berejiklian government to allow gyms to re-open sooner than pubs, saying they already had a COVID industry framework in place.
The government is also under pressure to open beauty parlours, although Health Minister Brad Hazzard on Saturday said it would need to work with the industry given the close-contact nature of it.
“The government is keen that this state leads the way,” Mr Hazzard said. “The premier has made the point that she’s being lobbied about half the population on beauty therapists.
“It’s front and centre, we’re talking to the industry and have to make sure that we can get COVID safe plans and it’s imminent that we make some announcements in that regard.”
READ MORE: Pubs are back, with 70,000 reasons to have a beer
Dutton shrugs off new Labor scare campaign
Labor will launch the start of federal parliament for 2025 with a multi-broadcast scare campaign against Peter Dutton, as the Opposition Leader signalled he would not accept a public service workforce above 200,000.
Queensland cans hydrogen pipe dream
Australia’s largest green hydrogen project has collapsed, with Queensland’s Crisafulli government pulling funding from construction of the $12.5bn plant and pipeline in Gladstone.