Coronavirus Australia live news: Border limits hit NSW; Health authorities hunt missing link to new cases
New Zealand pauses travel bubble, Qld imposes limits to some arrivals; Authorities trace a ‘missing link’ to two Sydney cases.
- New Zealand pauses travel bubble
- Masks compulsory over missing link
- Travel ban challenge set for Monday
- Tas clotting case linked to Astrazeneca
- Qld man suffers blood clots from AZ vaccine
Welcome to live coverage of the latest developments in Australia’s battle with the coronavirus pandemic.
New Zealand has paused its travel bubble with NSW, while Queensland has imposed some limits as another community case is reported. Masks are again mandatory and restrictions return to Sydney as NSW health officials scramble scrambling to determine how a Sydney man contracted coronavirus, having ruled out the “usual routes of transmission”. More cases are expected to emerge in the coming days. It comes as the federal government considers using Darwin’s Howard Springs facility to exclusively quarantine returned travellers from India.
Jacquelin Magnay11.50pm:India ban to end on May 15: Payne
Australia will lift the ban on arrivals from India, and the threat of five years’ jail and heavy fines, on May 15, Foreign Minister Marise Payne said in London overnight.
Senator Payne, who had discussions with her Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Wednesday, said that on the basis of health advice the current ban would not be extended beyond the May 15 timeline.
“The operation of that temporary pause, under the Act automatically expires at the beginning of the 15th of May, and based on the advice that we have at this point, we fully expect it not to be extended beyond that date, and we intend for facilitated flights to resume beyond,” she said.
Senator Payne said the Indian government was very much focused on their domestic situation and had not raised Australia’s threats against its own citizens currently in India.
“The Indian government did not ask us to lift that ban. My discussions with my foreign minister counterpart yesterday spoke more about the circumstances that they are dealing with and the challenges that they are dealing with.”
Senator Payne said Australia had “deep concern” about the challenges that India is facing.
“We express again our full support to India, we were pleased to be able to progress the delivery of some important medical supplies that India needed, and in consultation with their authorities, which arrived via Qantas flight yesterday.’’
AFP 11pm:UK alcohol deaths hit 20-year high in lockdown
Alcohol deaths in England and Wales have reached the highest levels in 20 years following a sharp rise since the start of COVID-19 lockdown, according to government data released on Thursday.
The figures from the Office of National Statistics showed 7423 deaths directly caused by misuse of alcohol — a 20 per cent rise from 2019.
The steep rise was driven by a 17 per cent increase in the second quarter of the year, after Britain began its first coronavirus lockdown in March last year, with 22 per cent and 28 per cent rises in the quarters that followed.
Sadie Boniface, head of research at the Institute of Alcohol Studies, called the report “alarming”, and said the increase “coincides with the beginning of the pandemic”.
The ONS figures outlined that most of the deaths were related to long-term alcohol abuse and dependency inducing alcoholic liver disease, alcohol poisoning, and mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol.
Ms Boniface said the increase “is not explained by people who previously drank at lower risk levels increasing their consumption during the pandemic,” despite what she described as “substantial changes to drinking patterns during the pandemic”.
She said the reasons for the rise were “likely to include further increases in consumption among people who were already drinking at higher risk” and “around access to health care”. READ MORE: ACTU leads push for pent-up wage increases
Carla Mascarenhas10.25pm: India flight ban dominates Q+A
The Morrison government’s Indian flight ban was the hot topic on ABC’s Q+A on Thursday night.
Liberal MP Fiona Martin – whose NSW electorate of Reid has an Indian community that makes up 5 per cent of the population — admitted there had been a backlash to the ban.
But Ms Martin said the “penalty, not the ban itself” had been at the core of the backlash.
Labor MP Linda Burney said the ban highlighted that the Morrison government had not “handled quarantine well and certainly repatriation very poorly”.
She questioned why the government announced significant fines if they had no intention of using them.
Other topics included superannuation, paid parental leave and whether coercive control should be criminalised.
An audience member who emotionally recounted “25 years of verbal, emotional and in the end physical abuse” questioned whether criminalising coercive control would fix the problem.
Journalist Jess Hill said it wasn’t about fixing the whole system but a “broken part of our criminal system”.
Ms Hill said criminalising coercive control would change a perception of what domestic violence constitutes.
“The general public understands domestic violence through the lens of assault,” she said.
Author Bri Lee said it would “broaden the type of evidence that can be brought up” in a case but questioned whether it would require a “huge extra commitment of resourcing”.
Ms Burney and Ms Martin back criminalising coercive control. But Ms Martin went one step further, suggesting “legislation that children are not recipients of corporal punishment”. She argued children who were victims of corporal punishment often go on to become victims of domestic violence.
READ MORE:Dollar falls on China’s Belt and Road retaliation
Max Maddison 9.40pm:Patient transport ‘the weak link’
The mystery surrounding the “missing link” at the heart of the virus’s escape into the community has NSW health authorities racing to solve the puzzle, but immunology experts say the patient’s transport between quarantine hotels is the likely point of weakness in the system.
While two positive cases of the virus have been identified since Wednesday, NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said the decision to impose restrictions across Greater Sydney was predominantly because of an inability to explain the chain of transmission between hotel quarantine and the community.
“What we’re concerned about is that there is a missing link. We can’t find any direct link between our case, so what we’re concerned about is there is another person as yet unidentified that infected our case,” she said on Thursday.
Rachel Baxendale 8.55pm:CQV chief’s breach ‘not significant’
The acting minister in charge of Victoria’s hotel quarantine program says the actions of disgraced health bureaucrat Matiu Bush “did not constitute a significant breach” of infection prevention and control protocol, despite his being stood aside.
Acting Police Minister Danny Pearson’s comments in question time on Thursday come a day after he stood the COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria general manager of infection prevention and control aside in response to The Australian’s publication of CQV documents that revealed Mr Bush had been reported to authorities twice since March, having defied a Defence Force request for a mandatory COVID-19 test and breaching infection-control protocols.
Asked by Opposition Leader Michael O‘Brien why he had only stood Mr Bush aside after his actions had been made public, Mr Pearson said Mr Bush had done “two things wrong”.
“He did not get a test when he was asked to do so by a member of the ADF at a hotel,” he said.
“What he did, though, is he then went to another hotel, because in a management role he can work across hotels, and he got a test that day. So he was compliant with the rules but he should not have behaved in that way when asked to do so by an ADF member.
Carla Mascarenhas 8.15pm: Restaurant added to exposure list
NSW Health have added restaurant XOPP in Haymarket as a venue of concern linked to the Sydney COVID-19 case.
Anyone who attended the eatery on Wednesday, April 28, needs to get tested immediate and self-isolate until a negative result is received.
NSW Health have also updated advice for a number of venues. Anyone who attended at the times listed is a close contact who must immediately get tested and self-isolate for 14 days, regardless of the result.
● XOPP, Mezzanine Level 1, Little Pier Street, Haymarket, on Wednesday, April 28, between 1.30pm and 2.30pm
● Alfresco Emporium, 1021 Pittwater Road, Collaroy, Tuesday, May 4, 1pm-2pm
● The Stadium Club, 122 Lang Rd, Moore Park, Monday, May 3, 11.30am-12.30pm
● Barbetta, 2 Elizabeth Street, Paddington, Friday, April 30, 1.30pm-2pm
● The Royal Sydney Golf Club, Kent Rd, Rose Bay, Monday, May 3, 5.20pm-10pm
● Figo Restaurant (downstairs, Rushcutters Bay, 3/56-60A Bayswater Road, Rushcutters Bay, Friday, April 30, 8.45pm-11pm
● HineSight Optometrist, Phillip Street, Sydney, Friday, April 30, 12pm-1pm
Anyone who attended the following venues at the times listed is a casual contact who must get tested immediately and self-isolate until a negative result is received.
● Barbeques Galore, Parramatta Road, Annandale, Saturday, May 1, 2pm-3pm
● Smith Made, 14/28 Roseberry Street, Balgowlah, Tuesday, May 4, 2.30pm-2.45pm
● Events Cinemas, Bondi Junction, Westfield Bondi, Friday, April 30, 6pm-8pm
● Barbeques Galore, Casula, 12B Parkers Farm Place, Casula, Saturday, May 1, 3.35pm-4:05pm
● Chemist Warehouse, New South Head Rd, Double Bay, Tuesday, May 4, 4.05pm-4.15pm
● Woolworths, Kiaora Lan, Double Bay, Tuesday, May 4, 4.05pm-4.15pm
● BP Runway, Cnr Butler Road, General Holmes Dr, Mascot, Saturday, May 1, 4.30pm-5pm
● Azure Café, 122 Lang Road, Moore Park, Monday, May 3, 12.30pm-1pm
● Figo Restaurant, Baysway Road, Rushcutters Bay, Friday, April 30, 8.45pm-11pm
● The Royal Sydney Golf Club, Kent Rd, Rose Bay, Monday, May 3, 5.20pm-10pm
Public Health Alert - new and updated cases locations in NSW. pic.twitter.com/3y0CQkDxrt
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) May 6, 2021
READ MORE: Australian cricket players escape India
Tom Dusevic7.30pm:Interest rates must stay low to boost jobs: RBA
The Reserve Bank says expansionary monetary policy is pushing up house prices, hurting non-homeowners and raising concerns in parts of the community, but it will still keep interest rates ultra-low until 2024.
In a speech on Thursday evening, RBA deputy governor Guy Debelle said while house prices may not rise as fast without monetary stimulus, unemployment would definitely be “materially higher” without it, and that other tools can be used to address the distributional consequences of a red-hot property market.
“The recovery in the Australian economy has significantly exceeded earlier expectations, reflecting the sizeable fiscal and monetary policy support, as well as the favourable health outcomes,” Dr Debelle said.
“But significant monetary support will be required for quite some time to come”.
In the Shann memorial lecture, Dr Debelle explained that rising housing rices “are part of the transmission of expansionary monetary policy to the economy”.
“They help encourage home building, along with government grants such as the HomeBuilder policy, which boosts activity and employment. There is plenty of evidence of that here in Perth,” he said.
Carla Mascarenhas 7pm: Senator backs ‘decoupling from China’
Concetta Fierravanti-Wells says she is not surprised Beijing has suspended the China-Australia Strategic Economic Dialogue.
The suspension followed the Morrison’s government’s scrapping of Victoria’s Belt and Road deal and review of the 99-year-lease of the Port of Darwin port by the Chinese company Landbridge.
“I think that post-COVID certainly, it cannot be business as usual with the Communist regime in China,” Senator Fierravanti-Wells told the ABC Radio National on Thursday.
“We still have a way to go before we re-establish and decouple from China and reduce our dependency on the Communist regime.”
Senator Fierravanti-Wells urged her own government to cancel the 2011 trade and investment agreement China struck with Western Australia.
“I think that the agreement should be cancelled,” she said. “Bearing in mind, the bulk of that agreement referred to a potential arrangement between the Western Australian government and private companies between Chinese state-owned enterprises and private companies in China.”
“This is really where a lot of the so-called arrangements are of concern that we’ve had and do need scrutiny but our foreign relations legislation doesn’t deal with arrangements.”
READ MORE: China suspends economic accord with Australia
Brighette Ryan6.21pm:Australian cricketers, officials en route to Maldives
Australian players, coaches, match officials and commentators are on their way to the Maldives from India, Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers’ Association have confirmed in a joint statement.
Official Update | We can confirm that Australian players, coaches, match officials and commentators have been safely transported from India and are en route to the Maldives. pic.twitter.com/mZQT2RlvBv
— Cricket Australia (@CricketAus) May 6, 2021
AFP6.04pm:Biden backs plan to waive Covid-19 vaccine patents
US President Joe Biden’s administration on Thursday announced support for a global waiver on patent protections for COVID-19 vaccines, offering hope to poor nations that have struggled to access the lifesaving doses.
India, where the death toll hit a new daily record amid fears the peak is still to come, has been leading the fight within the World Trade Organisation to allow more drugmakers to manufacture the vaccines — a move that pharma giants oppose.
US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said while intellectual property rights for businesses were important, Washington “supports the waiver of those protections for COVID-19 vaccines” to end the pandemic. “This is a global health crisis, and the extraordinary circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic call for extraordinary measures,” she said.
Anthony Keane5.50pm:Why you could work until you die
Rising numbers of Australians face the brutal prospect of working until they die if they want a comfortable lifestyle beyond retirement age.
Low median superannuation balances, COVID early-release super withdrawals and record-low interest rates are leaving many savers without enough money to retire comfortably.
Unaffordable housing and retirees saddled with mortgage debt compound the problems, say super specialists, who urge people to take a closer look at their nest eggs.
The latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows the median super balance of men aged 55 to 64 is $183,000 and for women it’s $118,600.
However, to retire comfortably an individual requires $545,000 and a couple $640,000, according to widely-respected calculations from the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia.
Rhiannon Tuffield5.20pm: ‘She should go’: Quarantine boss under fire
The Victorian opposition has called for the head of the state’s hotel quarantine scheme to be sacked amid damning flaws in the system being aired publicly this week.
Liberal Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien on Thursday said he had “no confidence” in the head of COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria, Emma Cassar.
“I don’t think there’s been enough sackings in hotel quarantine, I think there should be more,” Mr O’Brien said.
“Emma Cassar is really a political public servant, more interested in acting as a spin doctor and protecting the Labor government than she is in actually delivering safe outcomes.
“She should go.”
Staff Reporters4.55pm:How the latest vaccination statistics look
Carla Mascarenhas4.45pm:‘No damage done’ to relationship with India
The deputy high commissioner of India Karthigeyan Subramanyan said he did not think there would be long-term damage to Australia’s relationship with India because of the flight ban.
“It is a difficult decision but we are quite hopeful the temporary ban will be lifted as soon as possible,” he told the ABC’s Patricia Karvelas.
Mr Subramanyan said he was getting frequent requests to take up the ban with relevant authorities.
He also used the interview to chastise the media for not focusing on India’s vaccination drive.
“It crossed 62 million doses yesterday,” he said.”I don’t think many media have bothered to focus on this matter.”
Mr Subramanyan said once the situation in India returned to “some level of normalcy” he would lobby the Morrison government to increase flights between Australia and India so international students can return.
Max Maddison4.30pm:NSW ‘out-foxed’ over Qantas HQ arrangement
NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet has been accused of being “outplayed, out-foxed and out-manoeuvred at every turn” after Qantas extracted major benefits from the NSW government to keep their headquarters in Sydney.
Despite the Treasury spending over $621,000 of taxpayers dollars on “external advisers” to negotiate with Qantas, the airline’s chief executive Alan Joyce managed to extract major concessions from the state government, while deciding not to move any of its offices.
Opposition finance and small business spokesman Daniel Mookhey said advisers for both Treasury and Qantas had “won the jackpot”, while saying the Treasurer had been “gamed” into handing Qantas a “no-strings attached taxpayer-funded handout”.
“Forking out $600,000 to advisers makes Qantas’ special deal even more expensive. Mr Mookhey told The Australian. “What message does Qantas’ special deal say to the thousands of businesses who create jobs, pay their taxes and don’t ask for a special handout?”
“The Government should release every detail about this special deal straightaway. If taxpayers are paying for it, taxpayers have a right to see it.”
In a statement, Mr Perrottet heralded the decision by Qantas to keep its headquarters in Mascot, calling it a “strong vote of confidence in the future of aviation in our city”.
READ MORE:Blow for Qantas flight routes
Rachel Baxendale4.15pm:Matiu Bush’s actions ‘not a significant breach’
The acting minister in charge of Victoria’s hotel quarantine program says the actions of disgraced health bureaucrat Matiu Bush “did not constitute a significant breach” of infection prevention and control protocol, despite Mr Bush yesterday being stood aside from his senior role.
Acting Police Minister Danny Pearson’s comments in question time on Thursday come a day after he stood the COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria general manager of infection prevention and control aside in response to The Australian’s publication of CQV documents which revealed Mr Bush had been reported to authorities twice since March having defied a Defence Force request for a mandatory COVID-19 test and breached infection-control protocols.
Asked by Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien why he had only stood Mr Bush aside after his actions had been made public, Mr Pearson said Mr Bush had done “two things wrong”.
“He did not get a test when he was asked to do so by a member of the ADF at a hotel,” Mr Pearson said.
“What he did, though, is he then went to another hotel, because in a management role he can work across hotels, and he got a test that day. So he was compliant with the rules, but he should not have behaved in that way when asked to do so by an ADF member.
“The second issue was that he left a hotel, which was not commissioned, which was not in operation, for a coffee. He came back. He was asked to change his mask and he refused. Now those matters were raised because we have got a policy in COVID Quarantine Victoria (CQV) that if you see something, you say something. That was elevated to the senior management team and Mr Bush at that time was counselled.
“Now, those matters were not raised with me because they did not constitute a significant breach of infection control protocols.
“The issue was that there was no significant ICP breach. It was brought to my attention, and I felt that it was important that in terms of CQV and that management team that they lead from the front and they set a good example to the staff.
“I feel that the public are entitled to have confidence in this program, and I felt that in this particular case Mr Bush was required to be stood down while we conduct a review in order to work out whether he can improve his behaviour. And that can be determined accordingly in due course,” Mr Pearson said.
Asked whether Mr Bush would still be in charge of infection prevention and control in Victoria’s hotel quarantine program had his “flagrant disregard for health rules” not been made public by The Australian, Mr Pearson said: “Look, all processes have been followed. He was counselled at the time. I took the view that public confidence is vitally important in our program, and action was taken. Mr Bush has been stood down, and the matter is being reviewed.”
READ MORE:Health official stood down
Carla Mascarenhas4.05pm:Brett Lee makes his exit from India
Former Australian cricketer Brett Lee is on a flight out of India.
It is not known where he will be going, but given the Australian government’s flight ban, it won’t be Australia.
Carla Mascarenhas3.55pm:New Zealand pauses travel bubble with NSW
New Zealand has announced it will put on hold the travel bubble with NSW. The pause will be for 48 hours, effective 10pm Sydney time tonight.
Covid Response Minister Chris Hipkins said the pause would stop while the source of infections of the two cases announced in Sydney in the last two days is investigated.
The bubble will be “under constant review”, a statement by Mr Hipkins said.
Robyn Ironside3.30pm:ACCC delivers setback for Qantas over Japan routes
The competition watchdog has flagged its intention to reject a planned partnership between Qantas and Japan Airlines (JAL) because it is unlikely to benefit consumers.
The two carriers had applied to co-ordinate flights between Australia and Japan under a five-year joint business agreement.
In a draft decision, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said it would only authorise such a deal if the public benefit outweighed the harm to competition.
“At this stage we do not consider that Qantas and Japan Airlines’ proposal passes that test,” said ACCC chairman Rod Sims.
“Granting this authorisation would seem to eliminate any prospect of Qantas and JAL competing for passengers travelling between Australia and Japan, as they did before the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This elimination of competition would benefit the airlines at the expense of consumers.”
READ the full story
Paul Garvey 3.20pm: WA restrictions wound back from Saturday
Covid restrictions in Western Australia will be significantly wound back from Saturday after the latest outbreak of the virus appeared to come under control.
From Saturday, people in the Perth and Peel region will now only be required to wear masks on public transport and events or venues with more than 1,000 people, and in hospitals, disability and aged care facilities.
If you have been to a potential exposure site, or you feel unwell, it’s important you get a test.
— Mark McGowan (@MarkMcGowanMP) May 6, 2021
Please continue to check the list of potential exposure locations online regularly at https://t.co/BxpzVwdsqt.
The remaining measures will stay in place until May 15.
Households will now be able to host up to 100 guests from Saturday, up from 30 at present, while major stadiums will be able to host up to 75 per cent of their full capacity.
WA premier Mark McGowan said the state was closely monitoring the situation in NSW, where a man and his wife have tested positive to COVID, but the border remains open at this stage.
All 115 close contacts linked to the latest infection of a Perth quarantine hotel security guard and two of his housemates have tested negative.
READ MORE: Why hotel quarantine is still a mess
Anne Barrowclough3.10pm:No new local WA cases: border stays open
WA has recorded no new local cases for the fourth striaght day. Three new cases have been recorded in hotel quarantine.
WA Premier Mark McGowan said the two new NSW cases would not result in closed borders but arrivals who had been to the exposure sites in Sydney must quarantine for 14 days.
Great work WA - with 2,367 tests conducted yesterday, I can confirm that WA has again recorded zero new local cases of COVID-19 overnight.
— Mark McGowan (@MarkMcGowanMP) May 6, 2021
We have recorded three new COVID-19 cases related to overseas travel – they remain in hotel quarantine. pic.twitter.com/xiwW9lmfYR
Adeshola Ore 3.00pm:Albanese supports restrictions, not flight ban
Anthony Albanese says he supports restricting incoming flights from India but not a total ban on repatriation.
The government’s emergency powers could see Australians who have been in India in the previous fortnight jailed or fined if they return home. But the government has played down the likelihood of anyone facing these penalties for breaching the restrictions.
“We think it’s sensible to place restrictions on commercial flights.That’s occurred, with the UK, it happened with the United States,” he said.
“But even when it came to Wuhan, at the height of this outbreak, we had flights, charter flights, to bring Australians back home.”
The government will make a decision on lifting the flight ban before May 15.
READ MORE:Hotel quarantine breaches exposed
Rhiannon Down2.10pm: Lawsuit against travel ban could prevent extension
Sydney University constitutional law expert Anne Twomey says a legal challenge brought by an Australian man stranded in Bangalore will deter the government from extending the India flight ban beyond May 15.
“One of the reasons for actually bringing these proceedings would be to encourage the government not to continue it afterwards,” she told ABC.
“Partly this is a pressure point on the government so that it is conscious of the fact that if it doesn’t end it at that stage, if it does try to extend it, there’s already litigation in the court which might well stymie their ability to do this”.
Mr Newman’s lawyer Christopher Ward SC argued in an urgent hearing before Justice Stephen Burley on Wednesday afternoon, that Greg Hunt did not do the due diligence required before introducing the ban.
Ms Twomey said the government would defend the ban because it was justified by the emergency threat level.
“The government would argue on the other side, and this was made clear in (Clive Palmer’s) case about crossing state borders,” she said.
“They say, ‘Well, because this is an emergency law and it was enacted all the way back in 2015 where we couldn’t anticipate the nature and the extent of different types of emergencies, then we need to have very broad powers that can encompass all sorts of different constraints’.”
“And the other side would argue, ‘No, if you’re going to restrict common law fundamental rights, you have to be really specific about how you do it’.”
READ MORE:Andrews ‘close’ to returning to work
Adeshola Ore 2.00pm:Five new cases of AZ clots: TGA
Therapeutic Goods Administration head John Skerritt says there have been five new cases of blood clotting, over the past week and a half, believed to be linked to the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine.
A total of 11 cases of blood clotting have occured since Australia’s vaccine rollout began. The five people, all of whom have been hospitalised, include today’s reports about a 66-year-old man in Townsville and a 70-year-old man in Tasmania who have been diagnosed with the rare blood clotting disorder after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. The other clotting cases were in a 74-year-old man, a 51-year-old woman and a 64-year old woman.
“You’ll notice that all of those people, one just over 50, but if you step back and think about who is now getting the AstraZeneca vaccine, it is only, with a few rare exceptions, people aged over 50. So it is obvious that future cases will be in the over 50s,” Professor Skerritt said.
He said for every 1,000 doses of the Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccine administered, the TGA received on average 6-7 adverse event reports.
“These are people who have felt unwell or have presented to a doctor or hospital after being vaccinated. And overwhelmingly these are the sorts of things that are associated with any vaccination are generally fever, joint pain, muscle soreness, tiredness, maybe nausea, and vomiting,” he said.
He said more adverse effects had been reported for AstraZeneca compared to Pfizer. But he said on a “per vaccination basis” the rates were the same for both vaccinations.
Of the cases previously reported, four have already gone home from hospital, two are back at work and the fifth is receiving medical care but stable.
READ MORE: Five suffer clots in a week
Ben Packham 1.55pm:Australia backs generic Covid jabs
The Morrison government has joined an international push to fast-track the production of generic COVID-19 jabs, backing a waiver of intellectual property rights for the drug companies behind the vaccines.
The move came as the United States announced its support for the proposed IP waiver, aimed at making it easier for developing countries to manufacture their own COVID-19 vaccines.
Trade Minister Dan Tehan, who recently discussed the proposal with World Trade Organisation head Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said Australia supported the plan championed by India and South Africa, which is now backed by more than 115 countries.
READ NEXT
“We welcome this positive development and look forward to working with the US and others to find solutions that boost the global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines,” Mr Tehan told The Australian.
READ the full story
Anne Barrowclough1.50pm:Trans-Tasman bubble won’t burst over NSW cases
NZ Minister for Covid Response Chris Hipkins says flights between Australia and NZ won’t be paused amid ongoing concerns over the two new NSW cases.
The Sydney case has been genomically linked to a traveller from the US but contact tracers are yet to find how the virus was transmitted between the two people.
Good news, NZ Minister for Covid Response Chris Hipkins has announced no pause in flights for the travel bubble #COVID19Aus
— Chris Reason (@ChrisReason7) May 6, 2021
However Mr Hipkins said NZ officials were still monitoring the situation “very closely” and were still talking to their Australian counterparts on Thursday afternoon.
“We’ll continue to monitor it, and obviously we’ll make decisions where we need to,” he told reporters.
Adeshola Ore1.45am:Vax doses ramped up from Monday
Commodore Eric Young says ramping up the distribution of AstraZeneca vaccines to GPs will help protect more Australians.
From Monday the dose allocation for GPs will triple for small practices and double for medium-sized practices.
“Next week will see a 157 per cent increase in the vaccines distributed across the country. That will be our biggest week of distribution by far,” Commodore Young said.
Will Glasgow1.30pm:Beijing suspends economic accord with Australia
Beijing has announced it has suspended all activities under the China-Australia Strategic Economic Dialogue – formalising the diplomatic freeze Xi Jinping’s administration has imposed on Canberra since relations imploded last April.
China’s main planning body, the National Reform and Development Commission, announced the escalatory move in a statement posted on its website on Thursday.
Beijing’s peak planning organisation accused Australia of carrying out a “series of measures to disrupt normal exchanges and cooperation” and said the Commonwealth government had a “Cold War mindset” and practised “ideological discrimination”.
“Recently, based on the Cold War mentality and ideological prejudice, certain people in the Australian federal government have launched a series of measures to disrupt normal exchanges and cooperation between the two countries,” the statement said.
“Based on the current attitude of the Australian Federal Government towards China-Australia cooperation, the National Development and Reform Commission has decided to suspend indefinitely all activities under the China-Australia Strategic Economic Dialogue mechanism,” it said.
READ MORE: Don’t pick fight unless we have to
Rhiannon Down1.20pm:Albanese delivers pre-budget economic pitch
Anthony Albanese has criticised the government’s track record on work and education outcomes in his pre-budget address.
“There are fewer people undergoing apprenticeships or traineeships today than when this government took office,” Mr Albanese said in Sydney.
My approach to governing will be based on the values and principles formed during my upbringing.
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) May 6, 2021
I was raised here in Sydney in council housing by my mother, a disability pensioner.
She taught me the value of hard work. pic.twitter.com/7rieYS8Xzv
“Over eight long years of coalition rule our once proud manufacturing industry has shed 90,000 jobs in the same period.
Out of pocket health costs have risen by more than a third, childcare costs have gone up but 36 per cent, fees for some university degrees have doubled, and household’s have taken all record levels of debt.”
The Opposition Leader also accused Scott Morrison of attempting to “distract” from the government’s failures when it came to issues such as the vaccine rollout.
“Scott Morrison wants headline grabs to distract from the leadership crisis,” he said.
“Where he’s failing on the immediate issues of the vaccination rollout, hotel quarantine and of course stranded Australians, and to distract from his failure to outline a future policy agenda for the country.”
Mr Albanese said that Labor would revitalise the economy, creating “secure jobs” and building economic growth.
“In stark contrast Labor has a plan to build a brighter more optimistic future,” he said.
“Embracing the potential of our abundance of natural resources, building things in this country by reviving manufacturing and turning the scientific breakthroughs of our brightest minds into the products and services, that will generate economic and social benefits for current and future generations.”
Rhiannon Tuffield1.15pm:When Dan Andrews will return to work
Acting Victorian Premier James Merlino has given an update on Daniel Andrews’ condition as he recovers from a nasty fall. Read more here
Rhiannon Down1pm:Tasmania reports vaccine-linked blood clotting
A 70-year-old Tasmanian man has been diagnosed with the rare clotting disorder that may be linked to the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.
The man reported symptoms seven days after he received the jab and presented to hospital with a suspected case of thrombosis with thrombocytopaenia syndrome (TTS).
Tasmanian health authorities said the man remains in a stable condition.
“Information about the case was notified to the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) for assessment, including to determine whether the case is linked to vaccination,” Tasmania Health said.
“The TGA has today confirmed that this case (together with 4 cases from other states) has been assessed as TTS, likely to be linked to the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.”
Staff Reporters12.40pm:WA has zero new community Covid cases
Great work WA - with 2,367 tests conducted yesterday, I can confirm that WA has again recorded zero new local cases of COVID-19 overnight.
— Mark McGowan (@MarkMcGowanMP) May 6, 2021
We have recorded three new COVID-19 cases related to overseas travel – they remain in hotel quarantine. pic.twitter.com/xiwW9lmfYR
Charlie Peel12.30pm:Queensland announces limits on NSW arrivals
Anyone entering Queensland from NSW from 1am on Friday will be required to go into hotel quarantine if they have been to any of the venues visited by anyone linked to the NSW COVID-19 cluster.
Queensland #COVID19 update 6/5/21
— Queensland Health (@qldhealthnews) May 6, 2021
Queensland has recorded 3 new cases of COVID-19 today. pic.twitter.com/z44nKbPeiC
Those who visited those venues at the times listed by NSW Health but are already in Queensland should self-isolate for 14 days.
Queensland Health Minister Yvette D’Ath warned anyone planning on travelling to Sydney over the weekend to consider their plans and said the hotel quarantine direction would apply to anyone who comes into Queensland from Friday who has been to any new venues added to the NSW Health list.
“If you were considering travelling to greater Sydney over the next few days you should consider your plans because we don’t know what’s going to happen over the next few days,” Ms D’Ath said.
“People shouldn’t be travelling from NSW if they’ve been to those venues.
“Anyone from NSW who has been to any of those venues will need to go into hotel quarantine from tomorrow morning.
“We will have police and health workers meeting flights coming into Queensland to meet with travellers and check if they’ve been to those venues.”
READ MORE:Watchdog’s line in the sand on Qantas
Rhiannon Down12.20pm:Man suffers blood clots after AstraZeneca vaccine
A 66-year-old Townsville has been diagnosed with blood clots after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.
Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said the man was hospitalised with thrombosis after he received the AstraZeneca vaccine.
“So he has been admitted to the ICU in Townsville and TGA has confirmed with me that they believe that his illness is a direct result of the AstraZeneca vaccine,” Dr Young said.
“He received the first dose of the vaccine on 30 March, subsequently developed some abdominal pain and presented to the Townsville hospital.”
Dr Young said the Therapeutic Goods Administration would provide an update on the man’s condition on Thursday afternoon.
Rhiannon Down12.10pm:Berejiklian takes shot at WA, Qld over lockdowns
Gladys Berejiklian has maintained that “unlike” her interstate counterparts NSW will not be going into lockdown.
“If this was WA or Queensland, they would have shut down the whole city,” she said.
“They would have said stay at home. They would have said don’t go about your business. We’re saying the opposite. We’re saying go about your normal business. Enjoy Mother’s Day. Enjoy what you do normally.”
The NSW Premier made the remarks as she announced new health orders for NSW that included a return to mandatory masks indoors and a ban on singing and dancing.
“Unlike other premiers, we’re not shutting down the city,” she said.
“We’re not changing the two square metre rule. Quite the contrary. We’re saying to everybody business as usual but just do a few things extra to make sure that until we identify those cases.”
Staff Reporters11.55am:Masks mandatory again on public transport
NSW chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant says all seats on public transport are allowed to be occupied, but passengers are asked to wear a mask from 5pm.
NSW Health was notified yesterday evening that fragments of the virus that causes COVID-19 have been detected in the Marrickville Sewage Network
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) May 6, 2021
Premier Gladys Berejiklian weighs in: “Look, we appreciate that for some people they will have to go out of their way and get a mask.
“Most workplaces have them. Most shops have them, it’s pretty accessible. We’re in the middle of a pandemic. I think people will work it out.”
Rhiannon Down 11.30am: ‘You can still enjoy Mother’s Day’: Berejiklian
Gladys Berejiklian has urged NSW residents to “go about their business”, as health authorities hunt the missing link that infected a man in hotel quarantine.
“People can still enjoy Mother’s Day,” the NSW Premier said.
“They can go about their business. Outdoors you can do what you do now. If you’re in an indoor setting, know that that’s high risk. Wear a mask.
“If you’re going to the supermarket, wear a mask. These are precautionary measures until the experts find information.”
Restrictions will return to Sydney for three days from 5pm on Thursday.
Ms Berejiklian said it was a matter of great concern while at least one undetected case continues to circulate in the community.
“It’s been amazing that our health experts have identified who we believe was the original source of the infection,” she said.
“But what we also know is that at least one person with the virus has been going around their business and we haven’t found them yet.
“We don’t know where they’ve been. We don’t know if they’ve been to major events. We don’t know who they’ve sat next to.
“We know for sure that someone with the virus has been moving around the community and doesn’t know they have it and they may have infected many other people.”
READ MORE: Hotel workers in vaccine scare
Rhiannon Down11.20am:Sydney infection sourced to returned traveller
The Sydney man’s infection has been sourced to a returned traveller from the US, but Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant says despite the genomic link, health authorities have not been able to establish how the infection passed from the traveller, who stayed at the Park Royal at Darling Harbour, to the man.
“We can’t find any direct link between our case, so what we’re concerned about is there is another person that is as yet unidentified that infected our case,” Dr Chant said.
“And then the hypothesis is that our case passed it onto the household, which is what we would believe because of the greater risk in households.”
Dr Chant said the traveller arrived on April 26 expanding the exposure window for the case, adding several venues to the list of exposure sites.
NSW Health urges everyone in NSW with even the mildest symptoms, such as headache, fatigue, cough, sore throat or runny nose, to come forward immediately for testing, then isolate until they receive a negative result.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) May 6, 2021
Rhiannon Down 11.15am: COVID-19 restrictions return to Sydney for 3 days
COVID-19 restrictions will return to Sydney with home visits capped at 20 people and singing and dancing at indoor venues no longer allowed.
Gladys Berejiklian announced the new rules will come into effect from 5pm on Thursday until Sunday.
The public will be required to wear a mask indoors under the health orders.
Bars and pubs will also require patrons to be seated when drinking indoors.
“We know that transmission in the family home is a high risk,” the NSW Premier said.
“I appreciate that it’s Mother’s Day but we also appreciate that 20 people within the home is manageable for people to celebrate that important day.
“There will be no singing or dancing in indoor venues, including places of worship and entertainment venues.”
Rhiannon Down11.05am:Wife of infected man tests positive
NSW has recorded one case of local transmission, after the wife of a man in his 50s who tested positive for COVID-19 also returned a positive result.
The case was the only one of the man’s close contacts to test positive so far, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said.
However contact tracers have been able to trace the source of his infection, she said.
Restrictions have been brought back including compulsory wearing of masks.
Rhiannon Down10.55am: Vic, Qld record zero new cases
Victoria has recorded zero cases of local transmission and two cases in hotel quarantine.
Some 19,402 tests were received in 24 hours to 8pm last night.
Reported yesterday: No new local cases and 2 new cases acquired overseas (currently in HQ).
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) May 5, 2021
- 8,163 vaccine doses were administered
- 16,400 test results were received
More later: https://t.co/2vKbgKHFvv#COVID19Vic#COVID19VicDatapic.twitter.com/DmOjVITVxY
Meanwhile, Queensland has also recorded no local cases and three cases in returned travellers acquired overseas.
Queensland #COVID19 update 6/5/21
— Queensland Health (@qldhealthnews) May 6, 2021
Queensland has recorded 3 new cases of COVID-19 today. pic.twitter.com/z44nKbPeiC
The results come as NSW braces for its daily tally, after a Sydney man tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday.
Rachel Baxendale10.50am:Merlino: Impossible to get hotel quarantine 100pc right
Acting Victorian Premier James Merlino says it is not possible to have 100 per cent of hotel quarantine staff adhering to infection prevention and control protocol 100 per cent of the time, following revelations of a series of breaches and incidents in the state’s system in recent months.
Mr Merlino said he had absolute confidence in COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria Commissioner Emma Cassar, despite the standing down on Wednesday of CQV infection prevention and control general manager Matiu Bush after The Australian revealed he had been reported to authorities twice since March having defied a Defence Force request for a mandatory COVID-19 test and breaching infection-control protocols.
The incidents involving Mr Bush are disclosed in confidential reports that also reveal how unvaccinated contractors have been allowed to perform hotel maintenance work, that a nurse tried to give a returned traveller a banned nebuliser, and that a frontline medical officer defiantly vaped inside a quarantine hotel despite being warned by health staff the e-cigarette mist could promote “viral spread”.
Asked to comment on the revelations on Thursday, Mr Merlino said they were “a reflection of the hotel quarantine system not only in Victoria, but right across the state, where we do have breaches of infection prevention control where we do have human error, mistakes, people doing the wrong thing.”
“You can’t have 100 per cent of the people doing 100 per cent right, every single day. It just doesn’t work like that,” Mr Merlino said.
“We do have people making mistakes, we have people doing the wrong thing. It’s a reflection also of the fact that hotel quarantine is not a fit for purpose model.
“It’s the best model we had at the time, but it’s not fit for purpose and that’s why we’re advocating to the Commonwealth for an alternate quarantine hub, but what we do have in hotel quarantine are very strict protocols, and a system where if anything, even the the smallest thing, the smallest mistake, someone doing something wrong, immediately, it’s reported, it’s escalated, and it’s actioned, and that’s what’s important.”
Mr Merlino said he “absolutely” had confidence in Ms Cassar.
“She’s doing an incredible job,” he said.
Asked how Mr Bush had come to be appointed to his senior infection prevention and control role despite having used the hashtag #f.ckrisk to criticise the health sector’s risk averse approach to infection prevention and control during a 2019 interview, Mr Merlino said he “wasn’t part of the process of employment”.
“What I can say is that that behaviour, that attitude, the leadership which this individual displayed in a number of instances within hotel quarantine, in my view it was appropriate that this person be stood down,” Mr Merlino said.
READ MORE: Vic official stood down over breaches
Rhiannon Down10.45am: PM: Sympathies with Indians, not Slater
Scott Morrison says while he understands Michael Slater’s frustrations with the border ban his sympathies lie with the people of India.
“I’m even more understanding of the many, many, many hundreds of thousands, millions of Australians of Indian descent or heritage and have so many family members who are affected, and will be remaining in India,” the Prime Minister said.
Mr Morrison said the government would continue to provide medical assistance to India, and were speaking with authorities regularly.
“That’s why I’m pleased that over a thousand ventilators have already touched down in India and that has been welcomed by the Indian government,” he said.
“The foreign minister of India and our foreign minister met yesterday virtually in the UK.
“That was a positive meeting and the government was very appreciative of the support Australia is giving to India.”
READ MORE: Perrottet in isolation
Rhiannon Down10.40am:Hotel quarantine ‘fit for positive Indian returnees’
Scott Morrison has stood by the nation’s hotel quarantine system, saying it is fit to contain new infections from India once the flight ban is lifted.
The Prime Minister said the facilities were just “one link” in the nation’s defences, which have stood up to the test of previous outbreaks.
The remarks come as The Australian reveals serious flaws in Victoria’s hotel quarantine system.
“I can understand the anxiety, given the second wave,” he said.
“But let’s not forget here in Victoria, while there was absolutely the breach of quarantine
that occurred here and the reports of that and the reviews that have been done set that out, but that is not the only protection.
“Even more importantly, because there will be occasional outbreaks from quarantine, is the furthering of containment, which is the testing and the tracing.
“There have been outbreaks in New South Wales, there have been outbreaks in Western Australia, in Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, but it didn’t progress to the second wave proportions that we saw here in Victoria.
“Quarantine is one link in the chain. It’s not every link in the chain. And Australia’s hotel quarantine has a 99.99 per cent success rate.”
READ MORE:Infections chief: take more risk
Adeshola Ore10.35am: PM: Commonwealth liasing with NSW over India travel
Scott Morrison says the commonwealth is liasing with the NSW government on its plan to resume commercial flights from India after the state reported its first mystery community infection in almost three weeks.
Prior to the federal government’s flight ban, Sydney was the only destination accepting direct flights from India. But the state’s health authorities are now anticipating a growing number of Covid cases after a mystery infection was reported yesterday.
Mr Morrison said NSW had some “challenges” at the moment.
“We’ll work through those issues as we always do with NSW government,” he said.
“Equally, if state government are in a position to want to be able to take repatriation flights back into Australia, whether here in Melbourne or elsewhere, that opportunity will obviously be there for them to take that.”
Mr Morrison said the government would make a decision on lifting the travel ban before May 15.
“It was always put in place as a temporary ban. A temporary ban to ensure that we will be able to sustainably bring Australians home safely to Australia,” he said.
Mr Morrison said the National Security Committee would meet this afternoon and get an update on how the ban was progressing. National cabinet, which is meeting tomorrow, will also be updated on the flight ban.
“The information I already have is that the pause is working,” he said.
READ MORE:Pregnancy rules make no sense
Olivia Caisley10.30am: Legal challenge to travel ban set for Monday
The legal challenge to the Morrison government’s controversial ban on flights from India will go ahead in the Federal Court of Australia on Monday morning.
Melbourne man Gary Newman, 73, who is stranded in Bangalore, formally filed a lawsuit against Health Minister Greg Hunt’s emergency determination, which prevents people who have been in India in the past 14 days from entering Australia.
The Morrison government has invoked the Biosecurity Act to stop travellers who have been in India, which is being overwhelmed by coronavirus cases, from coming to Australia, with those that flout the rules facing potential penalties of five years in jail or $66,000 in fines.
Mr Newman is challenging the travel ban on four grounds, including two arguing Mr Hunt improperly exercised his powers.
Mr Newman also contends the ban is an over-reaction to the public health risk in circumstances where less intrusive measures were available, and that it is unconstitutional.
The hearing is expected to take between half a day and a full day. The travel ban is in place until May 15 (next Saturday).
READ MORE: Infection chief’s motto: Take more risks
Rhiannon Down10.20am: Burke lashes pace of vaccination rollout
Labor MP Tony Burke has criticised the pace of the vaccine rollout, saying it was key to resuming international travel.
It comes as Finance Minister Simon Birmingham flagged that international travel might not resume until 2022, saying the government would not give Australians “false hope.”
“But there is no doubt the health advice will be informed by the pace of the vaccination,” he told Sky News.
“The vaccination rollout we were told we were going to be in the order of 4 million by the end of March we got to the end of March and the end of April, we’re now well into May.
“We are way behind on the vaccination rollout and that will have an impact on us travelling around Australia not just overseas.”
READ MORE:Swift response to NSW virus case
Adeshola Ore 10.10am:PM: States, territories ‘welcome’ to take India returnees
Scott Morrrison says the federal government would welcome states and territories accepting repatriation flights from India when the pause is lifted.
The government is anticipating that its India flight ban will end on May 15.
Mr Morrison said Australians returning from India would “principally” quarantine in the Howard Springs facility near Darwin. This month the facility will more than double its capacity.
“If any of the other states and territories wish to take repatriation flights into their states, then of course we would welcome that,” he told 3AW.
“We’re focusing our attention on bringing them through the facility we’ve established with that 2,000 person capacity.
Mr Morrison also said he anticipated NSW Gladys Berejiklian would be keen for her state to resume incoming commercial flights from India when the ban ends.
READ MORE: Vaccine to return to Torres Strait
Rhiannon Down 10.00am:McCormack sympathetic to Slater position
Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack says he understands Michael Slater’s frustrations, after the cricketer renewed his criticism of the government’s India flight ban.
Agriculture Minister David Littleproud called Slater a “spoiled brat” on Thursday who needed to “get over himself”, as tensions over the controversial ban mounted.
“I understand he’s upset. I understand there’s a lot of concern amongst our Indian community,” Mr McCormack said.
“I understand Michael went across to the IPL to commentate. And people have the right to do that.
“But also the Australian Government has the right also to its Australian citizens, to the broader national interest at large, and we’re doing what we said we would do.
“We are following the best possible medical advice. That’s important and we’ll continue to do that.”
READ MORE:‘Slater needs to get over himself’
Adeshola Ore9.50am: PM blames media over travel ban fears
Scott Morrison has blamed the media for over emphasising the penalties in the government’s emergency order for Australians returning from India.
The government’s emergency powers could see Australians who have been in India in the previous fortnight jailed or fined if they return home. But the government has played down the likelihood of anyone facing these penalties for breaching the restrictions.
Asked why the government highlighted the harsh penalties in its press release, Mr Morrison replied: “We didn’t, but the media did to be fair.”
“There was simply a statement of what the Biosecurity Act does as a way of fact, this is not something that was accentuated by Greg Hunt or me or anyone else. It was picked up on in the media and they’ve highlighted that.”
Government sources briefed media on the emergency powers on Friday afternoon as they were being considered by Health Minister Greg Hunt.
They noted that, if invoked, it would be the first time the particular section of the Biosecurity Act had ever been used and a person who breached the law faced up to five years in jail or a $66,600 fine.
Rhiannon Down9.45am:‘Possible’ link of new case to hotel quarantine
Sydney University immunisation expert Robert Booy says it is “possible” that a man who tested positive for COVID-19 contracted the virus at an optometrist he visited which is below a quarantine hotel.
“The chances are possible, not probable,” he told Channel 9’s Today. “There was, in 2002, with the original SARS outbreak in Hong Kong, spread of virus from one floor to the other of a hotel through the ventilation system.
“So having a window open there might have been just one weird window of opportunity where the virus was sneezed or coughed out by someone with the disease and then it spread through the air for a few minutes, not normally more than a few hours.”
Professor Booy said the surfacing of the new case in Sydney, the source of which remains unknown, highlighted the importance of testing.
“It illustrates the importance, if you’ve got a symptom, a sore throat or runny nose, a cough, a fever, get tested within hours,” he said.
“Don’t wait for a day or two. That’s too long because you could transmit infection.
“If you think you’ve got a respiratory infection, sore throat, cough, fever, get tested sooner rather than later and isolate until you have the result.”
Adeshola Ore 9.35am:PM silent on timeline for repatriating stranded Aussies
Scott Morrison has refused to give a timeline on how long it will take to repatriate the 9,000 stranded Australians in India.
The government’s pause of incoming flights from India is due to end on May 15. The Australian has reported that the Howard Springs facility could be used exclusively to quarantine returned travellers from India under an overhaul of travel arrangements being considered by the federal government.
Asked how long it would take to get the Australians from India back on home soil, Mr Mrorison said repatriation had been a “challenge all the way through.’
“Every time you know you get 1000 people home and another 1000 people go on the list, and that’s been the challenge,” he told 3AW radio.
Immigration Minister Alex Hawke earlier conceded it would take “some time” to repatriate stranded Australians in India and noted the “mathematics was relentless”.
“More people have come onto the list sometimes... The logistics of India are very difficult. People can be in remote towns and villages and to get them safely to an airport is a very difficult undertaking.”
Rhiannon Down 9.30am: ‘Vulnerable Aussies priority’ after ban lifted
India High Commissioner and former NSW premier Barry O’Farrell says vulnerable Australians must be given first priority once the flight ban is lifted.
“Our prioritisation of passengers to return to Australia has been to start with the vulnerable,” he told Channel 9’s Today.
“The numbers of vulnerables have increased from 600 to 900 over the past week, which is
not surprising given the anxiety levels across this country.”
Mr O’Farrell, speaking from the embassy compound in New Delhi, said it had been another “grim” night for the country, as the death continued to climb.
“On an embassy compound it is pretty safe, but outside the walls here in Delhi where we not only had one of the fastest growing rates of infection across India but we have also had that oxygen crisis in hospitals it’s pretty grim,” he said.
“It’s been a grim day overnight for India (with) 412,000 new infections, something like 290 every minute.
“Of course, regrettably last night almost 4000 people died. That’s a significant challenge.”
READ MORE:Bullies made workplace toxic
Max Maddison 9.20am:NSW Treasurer isolating after contact with positive case
NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet has been forced into self-isolation after coming into close contact with the positive COVID case in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
Mr Perrottett went into isolation at home yesterday evening after dining out at District Brasserie in the Chifley Complex on Friday, April 30. While he has since returned a negative COVID test, he will continue to self-isolate for the remaining 14-day period.
NSW’s 17-day streak without a case of community transmission was snapped on Wednesday morning, after a man in his 50s returned a positive COVID test. With the source of the infection unknown, health authorities were scrambling to how the man contracted the virus.
Breaking: NSW Treasurer is isolating after going to an exposure site in Sydney pic.twitter.com/cTsV3ITw2d
— Laura Jayes (@ljayes) May 5, 2021
Rhiannon Down 9.15am:Queues form at Sydney testing sites after alerts
Queues have already formed at testing sites across Sydney, after a man in his 50s tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday.
Sydney remains on high alert after dozens of hotspot sites were identified where the man had visited while infectious including a cinema, several BBQ shops, and a petrol station.
There are more than 300 COVID-19 testing locations across NSW, many of which are open seven days a week. To find your nearest clinic visithttps://t.co/LmeATIQK4Z or contact your GP.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) May 5, 2021
The source of the infection remains unknown as the man is not believed to have recently returned from overseas and he is not a health or hotel quarantine worker.
The Eastern suburbs man presented for testing on Tuesday after he experienced symptoms of COVID-19, and was considered to have been infectious since Friday April 30.
Gladys Berejiklian has renewed calls from health authorities for anyone with any symptoms consistent with COVID-18 to get tested.
“We need to make sure everyone with the mildest symptoms is getting tested,” NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said on Wednesday.
READ MORE:Shot in the arm for Pfizer
Adeshola Ore9.05am:PM ‘understands upset Slater’ over travel ban
Scott Morrison has said he understands Slater is “upset” and “frustrated” over the hard India ban.
“I understand that particularly those in our cricket community have deep connections with India,” he told 3AW radio.
“I understand the deep feeling. But as Prime Minister, I have to make decisions for Australia’s national interests. I have to make sure we keep Australians safe and we can bring Australians safely home.”
“I understand that Michael disagrees with my position. I respect that. He’s a fellow Australian and I look forward to him being able to return safely home after having spent the time where he’s had to spend the time.”
Asked if he had thought of calling Slater, Mr Morrison replied: “I’ve been a bit focused on actually managing the pandemic itself and the many other challenges we have here.”
Mr Morrison also refused to put a date on when the first repatriation flight will touch down in Covid ravaged India.
The government’s emergency powers could see Australians who have been in India in the previous fortnight jailed or fined if they return home. But the government has played down the likelihood of anyone facing these penalties for breaching the restrictions.
Mr Morrison said he was confident that repatriation flights would resume on May 15 when the pause is due to end.
“I can tell you, the pause is working. It was the right decision for Australia’s health and safety,” he said.
READ MORE:Premier in backlash from India born voters
Rhiannon Down9.00am:Govt planning how to repatriate Aussies from India
Tourism Minister Dan Tehan has confirmed the federal government is discussing how to pull Australians out of India once the flight ban is lifted.
“The planning has been undertaken now to see how we can go about making sure that we can repatriate those vulnerable Australian,” he told Channel 9’s Today.
“That work is being undertaken now and as soon as the temporary ban is lifted on 15 May, if that’s when the medical experts say we can do it, then I would assume those repatriation flights would resume thereafter.”
The Australian has revealed that the government is considering using Howard Springs exclusively to quarantine returned travellers from India and ferrying stranded citizens and residents back on airplanes carrying aid.
Mr Tehan defended the government’s policy, saying it was directed by health advice, as the India flight ban comes under increased fire.
“Once again, we will listen to the medical expert advice. That’s what’s got us through this pandemic,” he said.
“I travelled to Europe a couple of weeks ago and I can tell you that the rest of the world is looking at Australia and thinking what a fantastic job we have done in managing this pandemic.
“That’s because we have listened to the expert medical advice and that’s what we will continue to do as a government.”
READ MORE:Howard Springs could be used for India returnees
Adeshola Ore 8.50am: Hawke: no racial consideration over travel ban
Immigration Minister Alex Hawke says there is no “racial consideration” in Australia’s India flight that has sparked heavy backlash.
The government’s emergency powers could see Australians who have been in India in the previous fortnight jailed or fined if they return home. But the government has played down the likelihood of anyone facing these penalties for breaching the restrictions.
Mr Hawke has been having roundtable discussions with the Indian-Australian community about the ban.
“They didn’t suggest it was racist. They reflected on some of the commentary that there was a discussion about race but no one is really putting their voice to the Australian government making a decision based on race,” he told ABC Radio.
“There’s no racial consideration at all. The flight ban affects anyone coming from India, whether they’ve come from other countries or transiting through India. It’s a safety measure for public health.”
READ MORE:Unfit for purpose facilities prevent travellers’ return
Adeshola Ore8.45am: India travel ban right decision: PM
Scott Morrison has refused to put a date on when the first repatriation flight will touch down in COVID-ravaged India.
The government’s emergency powers could see Australians who have been in India in the previous fortnight jailed or fined if they return home. But the government has played down the likelihood of anyone facing these penalties for breaching the restrictions.
Mr Morrison said he was confident that repatriation flights would resume on May 15 when the pause is due to end.
“I can tell you, the pause is working. It was the right decision for Australia’s health and safety,” he told 3AW radio.
READ MORE: India’s hope of pandemic relief
Rhiannon Down 8.35am:Littleproud tells ‘spoilt brat’ Slater: Grow up
Agriculture Minister David Littleproud has blasted Michael Slater, calling the cricketer a “spoilt brat” after a series of fiery Tweets sparked a war of words over the India flight ban.
Slater launched a fierce attack on Scott Morrison this week, accusing him of having “blood on his hands” for abandoning Australians in India.
He issued a fresh call on Twitter overnight, calling on the Prime Minister to “take your private jet and come and witness dead bodies on the street”.
“Michael Slater needs to get over himself,” Mr Littleproud told Channel 9’s Today.
“He is acting like a spoiled brat. No one is underestimating the harrowing impacts on the Indian people, or on the Australians stuck there.
“But the Australian government’s primary responsibility is to keep its people safe.
“Sometimes we have to make tough decisions for the greater good.
“Michael Slater can sit on the beach and slam us over here in Australia. These are tough decisions and we’re very empathetic with not only Australians there, but also those thousands of Indians that are dying every day.”
Mr Littleproud said Slater should take responsibility for his own decision to travel during a global pandemic which carries considerable risk.
“But this is a pandemic that he knew he was travelling in,” he said.
“Yes, we granted him authority to travel. But there’s a thing called personal responsibility. So take some personal responsibility.
“He actually has the resources to look after himself. And we’re going to try to look after those Australians that are over there and we’re also going to try to help those Indians but he is acting like a spoiled brat and he needs to grow up and think about the big issues at play.”
READ MORE:Urgent virus alert for Woolies, chemist
Rhiannon Down 8.25am:Tehan: Mystery case won’t burst trans-Tasman bubble
Tourism Minister Dan Tehan has moved to allay fears a mystery Covid case in Sydney could pop the trans-Tasman bubble.
“The travel bubble has stood the test of time so far,” he told Channel 9’s Today.
“We have had some small outbreaks and it’s remained open. I think it is a credit to the way New Zealand and Australian officials have been able to operate the bubble.
Mr Tehan said the quarantine free travel arrangement was vital to getting the country’s tourism industry back on track.
“My hope is that we will be able to continue to do it in that way, make sure that we continue to talk, make sure our medical experts continue to share information. So far so good.
“That gives people the confidence they need to be able to travel. That supports the 600,000 jobs here in our tourism industry, which is so important.”
READ MORE:Hotel workers in vaccine scare
Adeshola Ore 8.20am: Birmingham: Don’t plan overseas travel before 2022
Finance Minister Simon Birmingahm has flagged that international travel will not resume until 2022, noting the global Covid situation is now more unreliable than it was a few months ago.
Speaking to Sky News, Senator Birmingham said the government would not make promises about reopening borders that would give Australians “false hope.”
“I think Australians would be surprised if it resumed at the end of this year or frankly any earlier than that,” he said.
“We’re dealing now, in May of 2021, with arguably a more uncertain environment in the management of Covid than we had a few months ago.”
READ MORE:Indian travellers to get their own territory
Rhiannon Down8.00am: ‘Come witness the dead’: Slater’s fresh attack on PM
Cricketer Michael Slater has launched a fresh attack on Scott Morrison over the government’s tough India travel ban.
Slater called on the Prime Minister to come to India to witness first hand that the “panic, the fear of every Australian in India is real”, challenging Mr Morrison to a debate.
“How about you take your private jet and come and witness dead bodies on the street,” he said on Twitter.
Amazing to smoke out the PM on a matter that is a human crisis. The panic, the fear of every Australian in India is real!! How about you take your private jet and come and witness dead bodies on the street!
— Michael Slater (@mj_slats) May 5, 2021
The renewed attack is the second the cricketer has made against Mr Morrison, with Slater slamming him for having “blood on his hands” earlier this week.
Slater accused the government of greed, saying: “Your government granted me permission to work so I can pay for (three) beautiful children through school and pay a mortgage,” Slater added.
“So where does common sense lie. Not on my end.”
And did just read greed over common sense! Your government granted me permission to work so I can pay for 3 beautiful children through school and pay a mortgage. So where does common sense lie. Not on my end!
— Michael Slater (@mj_slats) May 5, 2021
Slater has reportedly flown to the Maldives after he became trapped in India after the IPL was called off due to rising case numbers.
READ MORE: Players fly out tomorrow, Hussey sick and stranded
Brent Read7.45am:Roosters players, officials ordered to undergo testing
Sydney Roosters players and officials have been ordered to undergo testing amid a Covid scare in Sydney that could have ramifications for plans to shift the entire competition to Brisbane next week for Magic Round.
NRL officials were still piecing together information but it is understood Roosters players and officials have been told to stay away from the club’s headquarters in the lead-up to their game against Parramatta on Friday night.
While that game is the immediate concern, Magic Round is the bigger issue given the Queensland government has been quick to close their borders whenever Covid has reared its head.
The entire competition is due to be played at Suncorp Stadium over three days next week. In the short term, the NRL wants to make sure Roosters players and officials are given the all-clear before Friday night’s blockbuster against the Eels after it emerged that an eastern suburbs man had tested positive for Covid.
The Azure cafe in the Entertainment Quarter at Moore Park is one of the locations that visited by the man - it is a regular haunt for Roosters players and officials.
READ MORE:Maldives escape plan leaves Hussey stranded
Rhiannon Down7.35am: Fauci: Governments obligated to accept returning citizens
President Joe Biden’s Chief Medical Advisor Anthony Fauci says governments such as Australia are obliged to accept their own citizens returning from overseas.
Dr Fauci said Australia’s tough India flight ban, which threatens returning citizens with fines and jail time, would be “very difficult” to enforce under US law.
“It’s very difficult to do that according to our own laws and our own tradition to ever prevent American citizens from coming back into the country,” he told Sky News.
“So I don’t think that was ever a consideration. You are obligated to receive your own citizens back to the country, so we never considered a complete block of all people coming from India.”
However Dr Fauci refused to attack Australia’s flight ban, saying the country had managed the threat of COVID-19 with success since the start of the pandemic.
“It sounds like the Australians are very very serious about not letting people into the country who might be a risk in the sense of spreading infection,” he said.
“I don’t really want to criticise what Australia has done. They generally have handled the outbreak quite well with some significant success so I don’t think it’s to me to make any critique of the system.”
READ MORE: PM leaves citizens in the lurch
Rhiannon Down7am:‘Corrections’ needed in vaccine rollout: Fauci
The US’s top infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci says it’s too soon to rule whether Australia’s vaccine rollout has been a “failure”.
Dr Fauci said despite low vaccination rates in Australia compared to the US, there was still time to tweak the rollout.
“I wouldn’t really call it a failure as what you need to do, and I’m sure the Australian authorities are working on this, is to figure out a way to get a good flow of vaccines into the arms of people,” he told Sky News Australia.
“When we started off, right away in December, to try and vaccinate people we did not have a comprehensive plan about getting it into the community level.
“Once you get a good plan going you’ll see that the rate of daily vaccinations will go up, so I think it’s probably too early to say if it’s a failure or not.
“It obviously needs to have some course corrections but I would give them the chance to do that before calling it a failure.”
READ MORE:Vaccine rollout returns to Torres Strait
Rhiannon Down6.35am:Two positive cases in Indian G7 delegation
The Indian delegation at the Group of Seven summit in London has been forced into isolation after two members tested positive for COVID-19.
The three-day G7 summit, which is being attended by Australian foreign minister Marise Payne, was to be the group’s first face-to-face meeting in two years.
Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar revealed on Wednesday that he would have to attend the summit via video link, after he was possibly exposed to the virus.
“Was made aware yesterday evening of exposure to possible Covid positive cases,” Mr Jaishankar said on Twitter.
“As a measure of abundant caution and also out of consideration for others, I decided to conduct my engagements in the virtual mode. That will be the case with the G7 Meeting today as well.”
Was made aware yesterday evening of exposure to possible Covid positive cases. As a measure of abundant caution and also out of consideration for others, I decided to conduct my engagements in the virtual mode. That will be the case with the G7 Meeting today as well.
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) May 5, 2021
READ MORE:G7 foreign ministers call on China to respect human rights
Max Maddison5.10am:Covid mystery: How did Sydney man contract virus?
NSW health authorities expect more coronavirus cases in Sydney after the emergence of the city’s first mystery community infection in almost three weeks.
Health officials were scrambling yesterday to determine how the man in his 50s from Sydney’s eastern suburbs contracted the virus, with NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant saying NSW Health had ruled out the usual “routes of transmission”.
With no apparent links to the hotel quarantine or healthcare system, urgent genomic testing was being undertaken to determine the source of the infection.
“He hasn’t returned from overseas. He hasn’t worked in border or quarantine roles. He has not had any contact with the hospital system,” Dr Chant said.
“All the usual routes where we would expect someone to have acquired infection are not clear.”
There were concerns the man could have come into close contact with hundreds of people after attending 11 venues while infectious from Friday, April 30, to Sunday, May 2.
The man is not thought to have attended his workplace while he had the virus.
His Saturday shopping excursion included a raft of barbecue stores across Sydney — in Silverwater, Annandale, Casula and Mascot — in addition to attending Event Cinemas in Bondi Junction and Figo Restaurant in Rushcutters Bay on the Friday night prior. Last night, venues such as Royal Sydney Golf Club were also declared venues of concern.
Read the full story here.
Rosie Lewis5am:India travellers to get their own territory
Howard Springs would be used exclusively to quarantine returned travellers from India under an overhaul of travel arrangements being considered by the federal government.
Another option under consideration is using flights carrying aid from Australia to help ferry stranded citizens and residents back after the travel ban is lifted.
The proposals will be discussed amid the first legal action against the commonwealth’s use of emergency powers, which prohibit Australians from returning if they have been in India any time in the past fortnight, with the threat of fines and prison sentences for breaches.
About 9000 Australians are stuck in India, 900 of whom are considered vulnerable. The country had more than 350,000 coronavirus cases on Wednesday, nearly half of the world’s total.
Read the full story here.
Simon Benson4.45am:Employment surge to slash coronavirus welfare bill
The nation’s $32bn COVID-19 welfare bill will be more than halved over the next four years and JobSeeker recipient numbers returned to pre-pandemic levels, with a rapid rebound in the jobs market to be revealed in next week’s federal budget.
But the Morrison government has warned it will not jeopardise the economic recovery with a rush to re-open international borders amid global outbreaks and uncertainty about the speed of the vaccine rollout and its effectiveness.
In an interview ahead of his first budget since he replaced Mathias Cormann, the nation’s longest-serving finance minister Simon Birmingham said the pace of economic recovery would slash the forecast welfare bill triggered by last year’s COVID-19 shutdown.
He said that while the budget would show a quicker than expected recovery, the government would still take a cautious approach to the reopening of Australia as COVID-19 outbreaks in India and Papua New Guinea forced a reshaping of the country’s outlook.
Read the full story, by Simon Benson and Geoff Chambers, here.
Additional reporting: Adeshola Ore
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