Coronavirus Australia live news: Scott Morrison appeals to premiers to ‘make us whole’
As some states defy him on defining hotspots, Scott Morrison says national cabinet must create a roadmap to open borders tomorrow.
- NSW records 12 new cases
- Victoria records 113 cases, 15 deaths
- ‘Important to give Victorians hope’
- Pregnant woman arrested over lockdown
Welcome to The Australian’s rolling coverage of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Scott Morrison has appealed to state premiers for unity on state borders at tomorrow’s national cabinet meeting. Queensland’s deputy premier flags the state will pursue its rights at national cabinet as Gladys Berejiklian urges reopening.
Daniel Andrews says the lockdown will not necessarily end on September 14 as he addressed leaked documents of a draft exit plan.
Victoria records 113 new cases and 15 deaths. Queensland records two new cases and NSW records 12.
Stephen Lunn 11pm: Parents doubting their ability
More than a third of parents say they have lost faith in their parenting ability during the COVID-19 pandemic, a new report finds.
Tessa Akerman, Rachel Baxendale 10.30pm: ‘I don’t regret planning lockdown rally’
The Victorian Bar and Liberty Victoria have raised alarm about the handcuffing and arrest of a pregnant woman for organising an anti-lockdown protest in Ballarat.
Paul Kelly 10pm: Self-interested ‘fortress’ premiers betray our nation
Deny free movement and you deny the essence of nationhood. This is the sad plight to which COVID-19 has reduced Australia.
Rosie Lewis, Dennis Shanahan 9.30pm: Closed-border states reject Morrison’s plan
Queensland and WA have rejected Scott Morrison’s plan to reopen borders, vowing to keep their restrictions in place despite the most populous states.
Angelica Snowden 8.50pm: Life’s (still) a beach without foreign influx
Australia’s lifeguards and surf lifesavers are preparing for summer season despite international border closures holding back overseas tourists.
Patrick Commins 8.20pm: Treasurer must open wallets, set $80bn free
The Morrison government’s October budget must prioritise measures aimed at getting Australians to spend $80bn in precautionary household savings.
Ashley Mateo 7.50pm: How to stop eye strain from screens
Now that most of work and life has gone virtual, all that screen time is causing eye pain everywhere. Here are a few fixes.
Andrew McMillen 7.20pm: Pop-up gigs to serenade city streets
‘I’m just really happy to have a gig, to be honest, even if there’s only two people there,’ said country singer-songwriter Troy Cassar-Daley.
Henry Zeffman 6.50pm: Do-it-yourself vaccine
The search for a coronavirus vaccine has consumed scientists the world over. Many are backed by huge research bodies, but others are running rather leaner operations.
One group of researchers and science enthusiasts in Boston has developed a do-it-yourself coronavirus vaccine, which they are testing on themselves.
The vaccine was concocted by geneticist Preston Estep. After hearing predictions that a vaccine could take as long as 18 months to develop he wrote to colleagues suggesting a DIY project could move faster.
“We established a core group, most of them my go-to posse for citizen science, though we have never done anything quite like this,” Dr Estep, the co-founder of Veritas Genetics, a DNA sequencing company, told MIT Technology Review.
Working in borrowed labs using mail-order ingredients, he needed to come up with “a simple formula that you could make with readily available materials” which, he said, “narrowed things down to a small number of possibilities”.
The only equipment Dr Estep used was a pipette and a magnetic stirring device.
The vaccine he has developed is made up of fragments of the virus mixed with chitosan, a substance made by crushing crustacean shells and treating them with alkaline compounds.
It has been sent to 70 volunteers so far in the post, who then swirl the ingredients together themselves and spritz it up their nose.
One person who has done just that is George Church, another geneticist and Harvard professor who was Dr Estep’s doctoral supervisor. Professor Church, 66, said he had not left his house for five months because he believes “people are highly underestimating this disease”.
He added: “I think we are at much bigger risk from COVID considering how many ways you can get it, and how highly variable the consequences are.”
Professor Church said he thought the vaccine’s simplicity meant it was “probably safe” and that “the bigger risk is that it is ineffective”.
After reading a paper prepared by Dr Estep, Arthur Caplan, a bioethicist at New York University Langone Medical Centre, told MIT Technology Review that the plan was “off-the-charts loony”. He said there was “high potential for harm” and “ill-founded enthusiasm”.
The Times
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Oliver Moody 6.25pm: Sweden may relax restrictions for Christmas
The scientist in charge of Sweden’s coronavirus strategy has suggested the over-70s could be able to spend Christmas with their friends or families as the country prepares to relax its guidelines for vulnerable groups.
AFP 5.55pm: French PM unveils 160,000 jobs target
French Prime Minister Jean Castex has pledged to create 160,000 new jobs next year as his government prepares to unleash a massive spending plan for the coronavirus-hit economy.
The French government has earmarked €100bn euros ($161bn) to counter the devastating impact of the coronavirus at a time when daily virus numbers in France are on the rise again.
The sum, a combination of new spending and tax breaks, is four times the amount France spent over a decade ago to deal with the global financial crisis, and represents a third of its typical annual budget.
“I hope that the recovery plan will create 160,000 jobs in 2021 — that is our aim,” Mr Castex told broadcaster RTL on Thursday.“Relaunching the economy and fighting unemployment is the plan’s priority objective.”
The budget boost is separate from a €750bn EU plan agreed after acrimonious haggling in July.
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Rachel Baxendale 5.30pm: Anti-lockdown mum’s arrest ‘absolutely terrifying’
The arrest of pregnant Zoe Lee Buhler in front of her children is “absolutely terrifying”, and “the stuff of a police state”, Victorian opposition frontbencher Tim Smith says.
Mr Smith said no one should be protesting in Victoria amid the coronavirus pandemic, but that the same principle applied in June, when 10,000 people gathered in Melbourne’s CBD for the Black Lives Matter protest.
“The rule in June was that there was to be no greater gathering than 20 people outside, yet 10,000 people walked through the streets of Melbourne, and only three of them were fined,” Mr Smith said.
“Well, why now are people being arrested in front of their children at home for an inappropriate Facebook post?
“I mean, that is the stuff of a police state. It’s wrong.”
Mr Smith said Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Luke Cornerlius had used some “very tough language” in describing anti-lockdown protests as “batshit crazy”.
“Well, I think a lot of Victorians looked at that (police) activity yesterday, and will call it ‘batshit crazy’,” the opposition planning spokesman said.
Mr Smith said the Black Lives Matter protest organisers should “absolutely” have been charged with incitement, as Ms Buhler was.
“I mean, let’s be consistent,” he said.“If those that are trying to organise a protest this weekend, and they shouldn’t be ... if it’s good for the goose it’s good for the gander, and frankly, people that were organising the BLM protest in June, they should have the book thrown at them as hard as these people that are organising the anti-lockdown protest.
“The law should apply equally to everyone.
READ MORE: Is this democracy at work in Victoria?
Rachel Baxendale 5pm: Andrews deflects queries on arrested pregnant woman
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says the arrest of a pregnant Ballarat woman for allegedly inciting people to attend an illegal protest against his lockdown is an “operational matter for Victoria Police” and he cannot comment on whether they acted appropriately.
Mr Andrews said the subject of the protest should have no bearing on any punishment, but he also declined to say whether police had acted appropriately in refusing to issue fines to 10,000 people who attended a Black Lives Matter protest in Melbourne’s CBD on June 6, despite having supported Victoria Police’s position at the time.
Three organisers of the Black Lives Matter protest received $1652 fines for breaching coronavirus restrictions, but no other action was taken against any organisers or attendees.
Asked whether the organisers of the Black Lives Matter protest should have been charged with incitement, as Ballarat woman Zoe Lee Buhler was, Mr Andrews said: “I would need to refer you to Victoria Police in relation to what occurred with those people.”
“I’m not sure whether state of disaster versus state of emergency may have been a relevant factor there. I don’t know the answer,” Mr Andrews said.
Asked why he had supported the police decision not to lay charges or fine attendees at the time, the Premier said: “Well, I’m very clearly on the record as saying that those are matters that Victoria Police should have absolute control over.”
READ MORE: Call for a plan on travel resumption
John Durie 4.50pm: Meeting set to seal Virgin Australia fate
Bain Capital should on Friday take formal ownership of Virgin Australia after a creditors’ meeting which from day one was destined to be a sham, because the deal was already completed in late June. Read more here
Agencies 4.40pm: Summer of tennis clouded as event cancelled
Australia’s summer of tennis has suffered a setback with the Kooyong Classic exhibition called off due to the coronavirus pandemic. Read more here
The Times 4.30pm: Guidelines relaxed with a view to Christmas
The scientist in charge of Sweden’s coronavirus strategy has suggested over-70s could be able to spend Christmas with friends or families. Read more here
Rachel Baxendale 4.10pm: Eight Victorian LGAs see case net increase
There has been a net increase in active coronavirus cases in eight Victorian local government areas on Thursday, as was the case in different LGAs on Wednesday, indicating the virus is still not under control in parts of Melbourne, despite an overall downward trend.
The total number of active cases in Victoria fell by 120 on Thursday to 2295, but the number of active cases in regional areas increased by one, to 126.
Wyndham, in Melbourne’s outer southwest, recorded the highest increase in active cases, rising by seven, and still has the highest total number of active cases of any council area in Victoria, with 270 active cases.
Wyndham’s active caseload peaked at 929 on August 12.
Colac-Otway, in southwest Victoria, recorded a net increase of five active cases on Thursday to a total of 17, after 10 new cases were identified in the area late on Wednesday, one of which was linked to a worker at Bulla Dairy Foods - one of Colac’s largest employers.
Port Phillip, in Melbourne’s bayside inner south, had a net increase of four active cases to a total of 35, while Whitehorse in the city’s east had a net increase of three active cases to a total of 17, and Moonee Valley in the northwest had a net increase of two active cases to a total of 61.
Melton in Melbourne’s outer northwest, Latrobe in Gippsland in Victoria’s east, and Greater Bendigo in central Victoria all had net increases of one case.
The largest decrease in active cases was a fall of 21 cases tot a total of 109 in Whittlesea, in Melbourne’s outer north, and a fall of 18 cases to a total of 153 in Moreland in the city’s north.
READ MORE: ‘Democracy at work'
Max Maddison 3.56pm: This is a health warning: No dad hugs allowed
Hugs for Dad are off the Father’s Day agenda, says Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer Alison McMillan, as she urges people to find “new ways” to show your love for your dad.
With the milestone for this weekend, Professor McMillan said restrictions meant celebrations would have to be amended in order to “protect the most vulnerable”.
“We are going to have to do this a little differently. It’s important that you follow the current restrictions that exist within the state and territory you live but remember also that these are the times when we need to protect the most vulnerable,” Professor McMillan told a daily briefing on Thursday afternoon.
“So if your father lives with you in your household than a hug is OK but other than that, you’re going to need to find new and different ways to greet each other and those you love.”
Meanwhile, Professor McMillan said the number of cases among healthcare workers was “flattening”.
“The numbers are flattening down and we would expect to see some numbers continue given how many we saw,” she said. “ … on behalf of the Health Department in the Commonwealth and behalf of all health professionals, we are eternally grateful for the amazing work healthcare professionals do every way in putting themselves at risk to save others.”
READ MORE: Fathering a special day
Richard Ferguson 2.36pm: PM’s appeal to premiers: ‘make us whole’
Scott Morrison has called on the premiers and chief ministers to make Australia whole by Christmas, in the last question time before the October federal budget.
As some premiers defy the Prime Minister’s wish to develop a national approach to defining COVID-19 hotspots, Mr Morrison told parliament the national cabinet must create a roadmap to open borders tomorrow.
Evoking the founders of the federation, Mr Morrison said the nation was never meant to have internal borders.
“Australia was not meant to be closed, Australia was meant to be open,” he told the House.
“Australians want to see us open as the founding members of this place ensured it was.
And Australia must become whole again.
“As we gather again tomorrow, I want to thank all of the premiers and all of the chief ministers for the work they have done to become job makers with this government.
“We need to come together, we need to ensure that we are clear with Australians, that we will seek to make Australia whole again by Christmas this year.”
Anthony Albanese used the last question time to pursue Mr Morrison’s plan to cut the rates of JobKeeper and JobSeeker at the end of September.
“Australia is in the worst recession in almost a century. Does the Prime Minister take any responsibility for making the recession deeper and longer than it needs to be by cutting JobKeeper, cutting JobSeeker and cutting wages at the worst possible time?” he said.
Mr Morrison said JobKeeper and JobSeeker had to reduce to ensure workers and businesses had the incentive to seek employment.
“We must be sure that the supports we put in place to get Australians through don’t become a barrier to them ... don’t become a barrier to those businesses to be able to attract employees, whether it’s in regional areas or other parts of the country, or metropolitan areas” Mr Morrison said.
“Those opposite ... see the COVID pandemic as some sort of opportunity to lock in endless income support, and that is not a responsible thing.”
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Rachel Baxendale 3.20pm: Mystery over Victorian testing numbers
Victoria’s Department of Health and Human Services has sought to explain why 83,309 tests have on Thursday been added to the number of tests processed since the pandemic began, saying the number includes a “data correction of 47,962 tests conducted before 1 August; 17,249 delayed tests from one laboratory; and 17,098 received in the past 24 hours.”
“The data corrections had no impact on the timely notification of individuals at the time,” DHHS said.
Worst aged care clusters
There are 1121 active cases linked to 97 aged care facilities - a decrease of 56 active cases since Wednesday.
The 1121 active cases represent 48.8 per cent of all of Victoria’s current active cases - meaning almost half the state’s active cases are linked to aged care.
The worst aged care clusters to date include:
214 cases linked to Epping Gardens Aged Care in Epping, in Melbourne’s north;
213 cases linked to BaptCare Wyndham Lodge Community in Werribee, in Melbourne’s outer southwest (an increase of 16 since Wednesday);
205 cases linked to St Basil’s Homes for the Aged in Fawkner, in Melbourne’s north (an increase of two since Wednesday);
162 cases linked to Estia Aged Care Facility in Ardeer, in Melbourne’s west (an increase of one since Wednesday);
139 cases linked to Kirkbrae Presbyterian Homes in Kilsyth, in Melbourne’s outer east;
127 cases linked to Twin Parks Aged Care in Reservoir, in Melbourne’s north;
123 cases linked to Cumberland Manor Aged Care Facility in Sunshine North, in Melbourne’s west;
118 cases linked to Estia Aged Care Facility in Heidelberg, in Melbourne’s northeast (an increase of four since Wednesday);
117 cases linked to Japara Goonawarra Aged Care Facility in Sunbury, in Melbourne’s outer northwest (an increase of one since Wednesday);
115 cases linked to Outlook Gardens Aged Care Facility in Dandenong North, in Melbourne’s outer southeast.
Key Victorian outbreaks with new cases
Other key Victorian coronavirus outbreaks with new cases on Thursday include:
- 48 cases linked to Vawdrey Australia Truck Manufacturer in Dandenong South, in Melbourne’s outer southeast (an increase of three since Wednesday);
- 19 cases linked to St Vincent’s Private Hospital in East Melbourne. DHHS first mentioned it was investigating a cluster at this location on August 25, but has provided no public updates since. Earlier in August there was a cluster which reached 30 cases on August 3 at the nearby St Vincent’s public hospital in Fitzroy.
DHHS says it is also investigating cases linked to the following settings on Thursday:
- Mitchell House aged care facility in Morwell, in Gippsland in Victoria’s east;
- Albert Road Clinic in Melbourne;
- Melbourne Seafood Centre in West Melbourne;
- Wagstaff abattoirs in Cranbourne, in Melbourne’s outer southeast;
- NewCold cold storage facility in Truganina, in Melbourne’s outer west;
- Fresh Cheese Company in Broadmeadows in Melbourne’s outer north.
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Rachel Baxendale 3.05pm: Will Victoria follow leaked draft on case numbers?
Victoria’s deputy Chief Health Officer Allen Cheng has refused to say whether the Andrews government’s plan for easing coronavirus restriction will adhere to the case number thresholds mentioned in leaked documents published by the Herald Sun today.
The documents indicate that Victoria would only move to Stage Two restrictions following 14 days with average case numbers of fewer than five, and an average of three or fewer cases with an unknown source of infection.
Asked whether the advice was still current, Professor Cheng said: “That document is really a working draft from some time ago.”
“As you would expect, we do a lot of planning in advance, and we’re continually refining targets and things like that.
Pressed on whether the threshold of five cases and three unknown cases still applied, Professor Cheng said health authorities were “always considering thresholds” and “modelling risk”.
“We have been meeting late in the night and, you know, debating whether it’s 10, five, lower, higher,” he said.
Asked whether he had seen any updated plans produced since the leaked document, Professor Cheng said he had “probably seen dozens of plans since”.
“I think the themes are the same, but, you know, we’re not going to make any final decisions, and we’ll announce them on Sunday.”
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Rosie Lewis 2.54pm: AFL quarantine: ‘Ashamed to be Queenslanders’
Nationals leader Michael McCormack and his deputy David Littleproud have blasted the Palaszczuk government for allowing AFL officials to quarantine in Queensland at a Gold Coast resort while some Australians are unable to go into the state for healthcare, work or education.
“As a Queenslander I’m ashamed today when the Premier of Queensland can allow 400 AFL executives to swan around a resort in the Gold Coast but won’t allow teenage boarding school children to go home to see their parents in remote NSW. (It) is abhorrent, it’s wrong,” Mr Littleproud said.
“Australians don’t do that to other Australians, you’ve got to get your priorities right. This is about people, it’s not about a game of football, no one will remember two days after it.”
Mr McCormack added: “Why is it fair that AFL hierarchy can just go to the state of Queensland be allowed to go to a launch albeit of the AFL grand final and no one likes the AFL more than I do but when people can’t access health, when people can’t go to a funeral of a loved one, of a family member, this is just not right and it’s not fair.”
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Anthony Piovesan 2.46pm: Couple must wait two years for $28k cruise refund
Emails from Australia’s largest travel retailer have revealed a big-shot cruise operator “would not be able to stay afloat” if they offered full refunds on every trip cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The correspondence, seen by NCA NewsWire, comes after a Newcastle pensioner who purchased a European river cruise for his wife’s 50th birthday tried to get back the $28,026 he paid after the dream trip was cancelled.
Scenic offered full travel credit until December 2022 or a 50 per cent refund.
But Mr Jones said he could not take up the future travel offer due to a fluctuating auto-immune condition.
He also said his wife had battled two bouts of breast cancer, and travelling in the future “could never be a certainty”.
“How can Scenic sting us for 50 per cent of what we paid or hold all of our money for more than two years when we never cancelled the trip,” Mr Jones said.
“We both have challenges with our health – we don’t know what’s going to happen in two days time let alone two years – it’s just too risky for some unknown party to hold our money for that long.”
Mr Jones said he was then directed to get the rest of the money through his travel insurance, claiming $10,284 – but that left $5104 outstanding.
When Mr Jones tried to get the money back via Flight Centre, who he booked with, he was told in an email: “You would have to wait until the credit is about to expire to get the cash refund.
“The reason they (Scenic) are doing this is because during these difficult times if they refunded everyone, they would not be able to stay afloat.” — NCA Newswire
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Rachel Baxendale 2.43pm: State of Emergency legislation won’t pass today
Victorian Parliament’s Legislative Assembly will sit again on Friday in order to pass the Andrews government’s state of emergency extension legislation.
A spokeswoman for Premier Daniel Andrews said debate over the legislation was not expected to conclude on Thursday, with an extra sitting therefore scheduled for Friday.
Question Time will be held at 2pm.
The legislation is expected to easily pass the lower house, where Labor holds 55 of the 88 seats.
It passed the Legislative Assembly, where Labor holds 17 of 40 seats, 20 votes to 19, in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
State parliament usually only sits from Tuesday to Thursday.
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Anthony Piovesan 2.37pm: Jim’s Mowing: ‘I’ll cop the fine and fight it’
Jim’s Mowing founder Jim Penman says there will be “widespread civil disobedience” if harsh stage 4 lockdown measures in Victoria are extended beyond September 13.
Top-secret documents leaked overnight revealed another two weeks of lockdown, but the mowing mandate said his contractors had vowed to work and fight fines if restrictions were pushed out.
Mr Penman previously said between 615-800 contractors across the state were losing about $3000 a week since the Premier’s controversial workplace restrictions prevented cleaners and gardeners from working.
On Thursday, he told NCA NewsWire his contractors and franchisees “could not stand this any longer” and promised to fight their fines if they were slapped with infringements for breaching lockdown.
“They are desperate – most are getting no government support,” Mr Penman said.
“We aren’t objecting to masks, or social distancing – but the crazy overreach to ban us from doing our jobs when we have no contact with anyone while doing our jobs.
“It’s just madness and has gone on long enough, and I have sought legal advice which I will be providing to any franchisee or contractor who receives a fine.”
One of those franchisees Craig Sutton said he would be going out to jobs, even if lockdown restrictions – which prevented him from doing so – were extended beyond September 13.
“Regardless of the situation on Sunday I’ll be going out and tending to my clients,” he told NCA NewsWire.
“I’ll be breaking the law, but I’ll cop the fine and fight it and I don’t sit alone on this – there are many others alongside me who will be doing the same.
“I’m not wanting to be a martyr. This isn’t about Jim or money. The franchise is successful and always will be – we are doing this on behalf of the franchisors, the people who have trusted us and helped us get to where we are today – it’s about what is right.”
Mr Sutton said he had lost between $14,000-18,000 since lockdown started about five weeks ago.
“This is going to damage us bad,” he said.
“I’ve recently just lost four clients – to the total value of $1,100 – our clients are dropping and we can’t afford to lose anymore.
“I’ve got 200 clients in Melbourne from starting with Jim’s back in April and my permanent 45 ongoing clients all screaming at me for their properties to be upgraded – we’ve even got elderly clients who aren’t going outside because they’re gardens are so ill-maintained they’re scared of tripping over.”
Premier Daniel Andrews said today “was not the day” to release what restrictions could be eased – if any – despite documents leaked overnight forecasting another fortnight of strict lockdown.
He said the draft document was “out of date” and “certain” details would be announced on September 6.
“The documents that have been the subject of a letter of interest over these last few hours are out of date and have no status,” he said.
“We will on Sunday give people a clear road map with as much detail and as much certainty as we can possibly provide.
“It won‘t be guided simply by dates on the calendar, though, it will be guided by the science and the data. It will be guided by how many cases there are in Victoria and the types of cases.” — NCA Newswire
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Richard Ferguson 2.13pm: PM defends Colbeck after Senate censure
Scott Morrison has defended Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck after his censure by the Senate, saying the upper house has censured everyone from Paul Keating to John Howard.
Labor, the Greens, and all crossbench senators voted to condemn Senator Colbeck for his handling of the aged care COVID crisis and his failure to recall the number of deaths in retirement homes at an upper house hearing.
The Prime Minister said Senator Colbeck was a leading figure in bringing federal and state governments together to tackle aged care outbreaks, and an advocate for boosting funding.
He also listed a series of politicians who have faced similar condemnation by the Senate.
“The many serious issues that require addressing in aged care, and particularly the unacceptable circumstances that occurred in a number of facilities, are the very reason why the Aged Care Royal Commission was called in the first place,” Mr Morrison told the House.
“It is the very reason why the government - in particular, at the strong urging and recommendation of the Minister for Aged Care - has continued to increase funding for aged care by over a billion dollars every year, Mr Speaker.
“It is the reason why the Minister for Aged Care came to the cabinet and said we needed to do more in aged care in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and did so in response to the plan that was first launched back in March.
“John Howard has been censured by the Senate. Paul Keating was censured by the Senate.
Former foreign minister Gareth Evans was censured by the Senate. (Former environment minister) Graham Richardson has been censured by the Senate, my good friend, Graham Richardson.”
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Tessa Akerman 2.05pm: Crowd fund raises $8000 for pregnant protester
Public outcry over the arrest of Zoe Buhler has raised more than $8000 on a GoFundMe page and a top legal team, including Stuart Wood QC and solicitor Stephen Andrianakis, has been formed to fight the charges.
The Institute of Public Affairs has thrown its support behind Ballarat woman Zoe Buhler with policy director Gideon Rozner calling Victoria a “police state”.
“This arrest is a disgrace to the police force and a mark of shame on the Andrews Government,” he said.
“Under the guise of ‘public health orders’, police are arresting people for speaking out against the government.
“Zoe Lee’s fight against Daniel Andrews’ droconian lockdown restrictions is now everyone’s fight.”
Craig Kelly MP has also come out in support of Ms Buhler, posting on Facebook that her family contacted him last night.
“What’s interesting, while the Labor Luvies like to always claim the high moral ground on Human Rights, their silence on this issue is deafening - and it’s the conservatives standing up to protect Zoe’s rights,” he wrote.
READ the full story here
Rachel Baxendale 2.00pm: Man fined for catching train to go shopping
A man who told police he was taking an almost hour-long train trip from Melbourne’s outer east to the city to meet friends and “go shopping” is among 143 people fined by Victoria Police for breaching coronavirus restrictions in the 24 hours to Thursday.
The man was on a train heading to Flinders Street Station from Mooroolbark, more than 35km from the CBD, despite living in Doncaster East, which does not have a train station but is about halfway between Mooroolbark and the city.
Another of those fined was a man from Frankston, in Melbourne’s outer southeast, who told police he was getting a pizza when located 10km from his house during curfew hours.
Victorians living in metropolitan Melbourne have not been permitted to leave their homes for purposes other than permitted work, medical care, exercise and essential shopping since Stage Four restrictions came into effect on August 2.
There is a one hour time limit on exercise and shopping, which must be done within a 5km radius of people’s homes. An 8pm to 5am curfew also applies.
Those fined also included 24 people who received $200 fines for failing to wear a face covering and 46 people who received $1652 fines for breaching curfew.
There were 20,156 checks conducted on vehicles, with 11 fines issued at vehicle checkpoints.
Police conducted 4335 spot checks on people at homes, businesses and public places in the 24 hours to Thursday, with 374,540 spot checks conducted since 21 March.
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Imogen Reid 1.09pm: Premier weighs father’s day aged care restrictions
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said she hopes to provide an update on the health advice concerning aged care facilities in NSW ahead of Father’s Day.
It comes after the state’s Chief Health Officer indicated restrictions in nursing homes would be reviewed to allow family members to visit their fathers this Sunday.
Ms Berejiklian said she would be able to announce any changes either today or tomorrow.
She also said the state government was planning to provide a COVID-safe way for schools to hold events such as formals and graduation ceremonies.
“The health advice regarding Term 3 was based purely on the fact that we don’t want students stressing about their exams being cancelled or their schools shutting down in close proximity to the HSC,” Ms Berejiklian said.
“The more certainty we can give our students the less stress there’ll be.”
Ms Berejiklain said the health advice would be updated closer to the start of Term 4.
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Imogen Reid 12.51pm: Aussie actor Hugh Sheridan tests positive
Australian actor and television presenter Hugh Sheridan has tested positive for COVID-19.
The former Packed to the Rafters star, who is currently in hotel quarantine in Sydney, said he initially tested negative after arriving from the US two weeks ago.
“I’ve been quiet for the last few days cause I’ve been feeling all the varied emotions about my positive Covid test,” Sheridan wrote in an Instagram post.
“I had a negative result when I arrived. I now know all my friends including who took me to LAX airport are all negative so it’s been confusing for me, it’s scary, frustrating and lonely.
“Knowing now, that no one I saw back home overseas has it means I got it in a very short space of time (in transit or a surface) while I had minimal human contact.”
Sheridan, 35, thanked the staff at the RPA Virtual Hospital for being “amazingly informative and positive (emotionally)”.
“To everyone that received a positive Covid test, I now know how that feels, I wish we could all be together so we could offer each other a shoulder or even better a HUG!” he said.
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Richard Ferguson 12.46pm: Senate censures aged care minister Colbeck
The Senate has censured Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck for his handling of the COVID-19 crisis in retirement homes.
Upper house MPs voted in favour of a motion moved by Labor senate leader Penny Wong which denounces the Aged Care Minister for failing to recalled the number of aged care deaths in a senate hearing, and accuses him of “failing to take responsibility” for the crisis.
“(The Senate) censures the Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians for: failing to recall the most basic and tragic facts about aged care residents, describing his management of aged care as a ‘high water mark’,” the motion states.
“Dismissing deaths as a ‘function’ of aged care, and ailing to take responsibility for the devastating crisis in the aged care sector, which has caused death, grief and untold trauma for vulnerable Australians and their families.”
Senator Colbeck has apologised a number of times for failing to recall the number of aged care deaths, and Scott Morrison has repeatedly said he still has confidence in him.
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Richard Ferguson 12.30pm: Uni fee bill put off until after budget
Education Minister Dan Tehan’s radical overhaul of university student fees will not pass before the October federal budget, and will face a senate inquiry.
The senate’s education committee will scrutinise the bill and report back on September 25 — the government’s preferred date — in the time for the budget parliamentary sittings.
Mr Tehan was hoping to resist an inquiry as his reforms are due to take effect on January 1, 2021.
The Job Ready Graduates package aims to push students towards a post-pandemic job creating courses like maths and science by slashing fees for those subjects, and raising the costs of law and the humanities by up to 113 per cent.
READ MORE: Oldest unis lobby against fee reform
Sarah Elks 12.28pm: Queensland readies for showdown on borders
Queensland’s deputy premier and health minister Steven Miles has foreshadowed a showdown over borders at national cabinet, saying the state will look to “pursue its rights” to make its own decisions.
Announcing Queensland had recorded two new cases of COVID-19 overnight, Mr Miles said the state wanted Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young to continue to make decisions about borders. Currently, Queensland’s borders are closed to NSW, the ACT and VIC.
Mr Miles was asked how interested he was in coming to an agreement on a national definition of a hotspot.
“Those matters will be discussed by the state and territory leaders with the commonwealth at national cabinet, I’m not going to preempt that,” Mr Miles said.
“All I would say though is it is incredibly important that states have the ability to manage outbreaks in their own states based on the circumstances of those outbreaks.”
“It’s really important that our Chief Health Officer continues to have the powers that she needs to manage outbreaks here, based on the intelligence here, as well as what’s happening elsewhere, and we’ll look to pursue those rights.”
On NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s assertion that south-east Queensland was more of a risk to northern NSW than vice versa, Mr Miles disagreed.
“Yesterday NSW reported 17 new cases of COVID-19, we reported yesterday two, today two. It would be much harder to manage outbreaks, clusters, like the one we are, if we had cases coming in from other states, so those border restrictions are really important.”
He said keeping the border closed was helping the state’s economy.
“It is Queensland and the other states and territories with their borders closed whose economies have fared the best, that’s what was borne out in the data that was released yesterday. Not only is it benefiting Queenslanders to have Queensland kept safe for Queenslanders, but it’s benefiting the whole national economy.”
Mr Miles denied the government’s decision to keep the borders closed – so soon before the October 31 election – was political or an election strategy.
“Not at all,” Mr Miles said.
“We have, throughout this entire year now, more than 210 days, we’ve managed this pandemic with only one thing in mind, and that is keeping Queenslanders safe, so we can keep Queenslanders at work, and that’s what we continue to do.
“Our decisions, whether they relate to local declarations of hotspots, or how we manage the health response locally, or restricting people coming from other states with larger case numbers, our decisions are made by our Chief Health Officer each and every day, and in the case of borders, at the end of every month, with only one thing in mind and that is how to keep Queenslanders safe.”
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Sarah Elks 12.18pm: Uber advises drivers, passengers wear masks
Ride-share company Uber has advised Queensland drivers and passengers to wear masks.
In a statement, the company said its new advice was prompted by Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young’s recommendation that people wear face masks where physical distancing was difficult to maintain.
“In light of this guidance, we’re encouraging all driver-partners and riders to wear face masks or coverings while using the Uber app in Queensland,” the statement says.
Uber has also made staff available full-time to “support public health authorities” with contact tracing if necessary.
READ MORE: Victoria fuels online shopping surge
Rosie Lewis 12.13pm ‘Trust your health system, tear down borders’
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has urged her state counterparts to have confidence in their health systems during the coronavirus pandemic and “take their borders down”.
Ms Berejiklian also said Queensland was “putting on us a pretty big ask” after the Palaszczuk government called for 28 days of no community transmission in NSW before removing its border controls.
“I didn’t get a sense or a hint that they would relax their borders any time soon,” she said after talking with Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk about border issues on Wednesday afternoon.
“The guideline that’s been set by the Queensland government in relation to when they reopen their border is a pretty tall order. I don’t know anywhere on the planet where society can function openly and productively during a pandemic and give an assurance that you’re going to have zero cases of community transmission for a prolonged period.
“I encourage all of my colleagues to trust the health system. If you have confidence in your health system, if you have confidence that contact tracing is something you can do within your state, there shouldn’t be a reason for you to keep your border closed given the lower rates of community transmission currently in NSW.
“We’ve demonstrated for two months nearly that you can actually maintain a good control of the virus and keep your economy going. I hope other states have the confidence to take their borders down and do the same.”
National cabinet will meet on Friday to consider a single definition of a COVID-19 hot spot being pushed by Scott Morrison and worked on by Acting Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly, which would then be used across the country to lift or introduce border restrictions.
Ms Berejiklian also backed a national agricultural workers’ code, which she said NSW and Victoria wanted after some state chief health officers rejected a proposal put forward by Agriculture Minister David Littleproud.
“We have to make sure that it happens across the nation so that no state is disadvantaged, no farmer is disadvantaged and no primary producer is disadvantaged,” she said.
“This is the first time in three or four years where less than half the state is in intense drought. That is actually something positive for the regions, we’re expecting a bumper harvest in many parts of NSW, the likes of which farmers have not seen for years and ironically the regional outlook for demand for labour, for growth is looking more positive than it has for years.
“I don’t want NSW to lose that opportunity because unfortunately other states aren’t being open minded on the opportunities they have to develop their own state’s economy.”
Ms Berejiklian attributed the smaller hit to the economies of states like Queensland and Western Australia in the June quarter to good commodity prices, whereas those states have linked their results to their border closures.
“Those states which haven’t experienced contraction in their accounts or their economies have been mainly due to the commodity prices,” she said. “If you take that factor away, jobs are at risk in every state across the nation.”
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David Rogers 11.59am: Trade balance drops to $4.61bn as exports fall
Australia’s July trade balance fell to $4.61bn from a downwardly revised $8.15bn in June, undershooting Bloomberg’s consensus estimate of $5.35bn.
Exports fell 4pc versus an expected 3pc fall. Imports rose 7 per cent versus an expected 8pc rise.
READ MORE: Trading Day — ASX lifts 0.7pc
Imogen Reid 11.37am: Church, cafe among six new NSW venues of concern
NSW Health has issued a warning to anyone who visited a church in the city’s south-west on Sunday after a positive case that was reported yesterday attended an afternoon service.
Health officials are advising anyone who attended the Life in the Spirit Ministry, 13/7 Lyn Parade, Prestons, on 30 August from 12.30 to 2.30pm is considered a close contact and must be tested for COVID-19 and self-isolate for 14 days even if the test is negative.
Six new venues have been added to NSW Health’s list of impacted venues. Anyone who attended the following venues is considered a casual contact and must monitor for symptoms and get tested immediate if they develop:
Westfield Chatswood on Thursday, 27 August from 1pm-1.50pm
Gram Café and Pancakes, Chatswood Station on Thursday, 27 August from 11.10am-12.15pm
Balmain Community Pharmacy, 273 Darling Street, Balmain, on Monday, 31 August from 11am-11.20am
God’s Power Ministries Heckenberg, 18/7-9 Progress Circuit, Prestons, on Sunday, 30 August from 2.50pm-3.30pm
Quality Suites Camperdown in the foyer, 108 Parramatta Rd Camperdown on Saturday, 29 August 3.15-4.30pm
Leaf Café & Co, Lidcombe Shopping Centre on Monday, 31 August from 11.30am-1.30pm
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Rosie Lewis 11.25am: ‘I don’t agree with border closures’: Keating
Former Labor prime minister Paul Keating has rejected border closures as a method to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, saying the economy will be stronger if people can move freely around the country.
“I’m not one for border closures. I basically don’t agree with border closures anywhere,” he told ABC radio.
“It is a national economy and the economy’s going to be stronger if people can move. Unless you had big emergencies, and we had an emergency on the NSW-Victorian border which is now abated broadly I think, the case for keeping border closures like this is I think is a very poor case.”
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Rosie Lewis 11.22am: Use common sense on hotspot definition: Nationals
Nationals senators are demanding national cabinet adopt a “common sense” definition of a COVID-19 hotspot on Friday, saying there should be unimpeded travel between towns and cities with no community transmission.
“I just have a simple request for the premiers tomorrow at national cabinet and that is to take off the football jerseys and put on the little Johnny Australian tracksuit for a change,” Queensland senator Matthew Canavan said.
“You have these absurd inconsistencies at the moment driven by artificial state borders where you can fly from Brisbane, where there is community transmission, to Rockhampton to Townsville, where there is not community transmission, no restrictions, no restrictions at all … Whereas you can’t drive from Tenterfield to Toowoomba, right through areas where there’s no COVID cases at all, that’s apparently too big a risk.”
Senator Canavan said Queensland’s economic hit in the June quarter of 5.9 per cent, which was worse than results for the ACT, Northern Territory and South Australia, was not due to its border restrictions but mining investment.
He accused the Queensland government of “double standards” for allowing AFL officials from Melbourne into the state while Australians in communities with no coronavirus cases were prohibited.
“Queenslanders can see through the double standards here. It’s an absolute slap in the face to Queenslanders that hundreds of people from an area where there is significant community transmission have been permitted to travel into Queensland while others have to suffer through travel restrictions, and including those in NSW,” he said.
“Certainly Queensland and Western Australia had a lower impact (in Wednesday’s national accounts) but that was almost exclusively down to the strong performance of the mining sector in the first half of the year and they are our mining states. It had nothing to do with the border closures.”
Victorian Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie, the party’s former deputy leader who lost her position following the sports rorts saga, said she had asked every premier to provide her with the medical evidence they had based their border restrictions on.
“We’re talking about movements from one COVID-free community to another COVID-free community and insane advice from state service providers to primary producers and families about having to head down to hotspots like Melbourne and Sydney to be able to access regular services,” she said.
The Nationals Senate team, including Senators McKenzie, Canavan, Perin Davey and Sam McMahon, appeared at the press conference without their leader Michael McCormack.
READ MORE: Health chiefs reject ‘code’ for farmers
Imogen Reid 11.14am: NSW records 12 new coronavirus cases
Twelve new cases of coronavirus have been reported in NSW overnight, taking the state’s total number of infections to 3902.
Of the new cases, three were locally acquired, including two in a south-western Sydney family and a case in Parkes, with no known source. One infection is linked to previously reported cases in Sydney’s south-east whose source is still under investigation.
Five of the new infections are linked to a known case or cluster, including three that are close contacts of previously reported cases linked to the CBD cluster, which is now associated with 52 infections.
Three are returned travellers in hotel quarantine.
NSW Health has advised that one of the 12 new cases reported today is a contact of a student from St Paul’s Catholic College Greystanes who was diagnosed with COVID-19 and a case linked to Girraween Public School.
“Close contacts are isolating, and the schools have been cleaned and will re-open today,” NSW Health said.
“The source of the original infection has not been identified at this point.”
The total number of infections linked to the two schools is now 12.
READ MORE: Retail sector warned of sales slide
Staff writers 11.01am: ‘Ending lockdown on September 14 not instant’
Daniel Andrews says the lockdown will not necessarily end on September 14 as he addressed leaked documents obtained by the Herald Sun of a draft exit plan.
“Sunday is the day the government will announce our road map, both for metropolitan Melbourne and different settings for regional Victoria,’’ he told reporters in Melbourne.
“It won’t be guided simply by dates on the calendar, though, it will be guided by the science and the data.
“It will be guided by how many cases there are in Victoria and the types of cases.
“There is an enormous amount of modelling going on at the moment, that does take quite some time, literally thousands of scenarios are run through various computers and processes, and that does take some time.’’
Mr Andrews said that any early opening up of business would result in a new spike in coronavirus cases.
“I know everyone wants to open up tomorrow, I understand that,’’ he said.
“But if we were to do that, these numbers would explode and we would have a couple of weeks of sunshine and we would we be back most likely in an even worse position than we were four or five weeks ago.
“And I know it is frustrating, I know it’s difficult. There is an acknowledgement, we absolutely understand that, there is no question about the difficulty these settings, that these rules, are causing.’’
Mr Andrews flagged that lockdown would not necessarily end on September 14.
“The aim here, and one that I am confident we can achieve, all of us together across the state, is to ease out of this stage four in a steady and safe way find a Covid normal, which will take some time, he said. “It is not something that occurs from 14 September, it is not an instant thing that we can simply move to, essentially, a normal.’’
READ MORE: Airlie sewage tests detect COVID-19
Rachel Baxendale 10.46am: 14 of today’s Victorian deaths linked to aged care
Victoria’s 113 new coronavirus cases on Thursday have brought the total since the pandemic began to 19,336.
The 15 new deaths, which have taken the state’s coronavirus death toll to 591, include nine deaths which occurred prior to Wednesday, including eight linked to a single aged care facility.
Of the 15 deaths, 14 have been linked to aged care.
The deaths include those of four men in and three women in their 80s, and two men and six women in their 90s.
There are 361 people in Victorian hospitals with coronavirus on Thursday, including 20 in intensive care, 15 of whom are on ventilators.
This compares with 406 people in hospital on Wednesday, including 18 in intensive care, of whom 13 were on ventilators.
The number of coronavirus tests processed in Victoria since the pandemic began has increased by 82,309 after a large batch of negative results were added to the tally.
The total is now 2,331,261.
Of the 82,309 cases added on Thursday, 17,098 were processed in the previous 24 hours.
This works out to a positive test rate for Thursday of 0.66 per cent, up from a low last Thursday of 0.44 per cent, but well down from the peak of 3.72 per cent from 18,000 tests and 673 new cases on August 2.
There have been 4361 cases in Victoria where contact tracers have been unable to establish a source of infection - an increase of 10 since Wednesday.
There are now 2295 active cases of COVID-19 in Victoria, down 120 since Wednesday and down from the record of 7880 active cases on August 11.
The number of active cases in health workers has increased by five since Wednesday to 337.
The number of active cases in regional areas has also risen by one case to 126.
There are 38 active cases in Greater Geelong, including two new cases since Wednesday, although the overall number has fallen by two due to people recovering from the virus.
Greater Bendigo has nine active cases, including one new case, while Ballarat has four active cases.
There are 34 active cases in residential disability accommodation, including 22 in staff and 12 in residents.
This compares with 35 active cases linked to disability accommodation on Wednesday.
Of Victoria’s 113 new cases on Thursday, 43 have so far been linked to known outbreaks, while the remaining 70 are under investigation.
The overall total of 19,336 COVID-19 cases in Victoria since the pandemic began has increased by 112 since Wednesday, due to one previously notified case being reclassified.
There are 16,370 people who have recovered from the virus - an increase of 218 since Wednesday.
Of the 2295 active cases in Victoria - a decrease of 120 since Wednesday - 2125 are in metropolitan Melbourne, 126 are in regional Victoria, 38 are from unknown locations or subject to further investigation, and six are interstate residents.
Of the total 19,336 cases since the pandemic began, 17,981 have been from metropolitan Melbourne and 1166 have been from regional Victoria, while 9228 (47.9 per cent) have been men and 10,044 (52.1 per cent) have been women.
There have been 3241 cases in health workers - an increase of 35 since Wednesday, representing 16.8 per cent of all of Victoria’s cases.
There are 337 active cases of coronavirus in Victorian health workers on Thursday - an increase of five since Wednesday.
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Rachel Baxendale 10.30am: Andrews ‘hypocritical’ over pregnant protester
Victorian Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien has accused the Andrews government of “hypocrisy” and “double standards” after a pregnant woman was arrested in front of her children yesterday for allegedly inciting protest action through a Facebook post, but 10,000 people were not fined for attending a Black Lives Matter protest in Melbourne on June 6.
Ballarat woman Zoe Lee Buhler, 28, was arrested at home on Wednesday in front of her partner and children after posting about plans for a protest on Saturday against Victoria’s lockdown, which was to be held in the regional town, which had five active cases on Wednesday and is under Stage Three stay-at-home restrictions.
Mr O’Brien described the footage, filmed by Ms Buhler’s husband, as “confronting” and said the situation was “probably pretty distressing” for the couple involved, but made it clear he did not support their cause.
“I’m not a supporter of any protests at this time, but what strikes me is the double standards of the government,” Mr O’Brien said.
“The government holds up a red card when it comes to people protesting against Daniel Andrews, but they roll out the red carpet when it’s Black Lives Matter protesters.
“It’s just a complete double standard. If the government had’ve been as hard on the organisers of the Black Lives Matter protest, you wouldn’t have had 10,000 people in the city, so I just think it’s the hypocrisy and the double standards that people object to.
“Let me be very clear: I am not supporting any protests, any protests at this time, no matter how good the cause, but the government should be treating people even handedly, and they’re just not doing that.”
Three organisers of the Black Lives Matter protest were issued with $1652 fines for breaching coronavirus restrictions, but none of them were charged with incitement, and police opted not to issue fines to any of the 10,000 attendees - a decision supported by the Andrews government.
Asked whether the Black Lives Matter organisers should have been charged with incitement, Mr O’Brien said: “Everyone’s supposed to be equal before the law. That’s what people are supposed to be in this state. Clearly it’s not the case.”
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Tessa Akerman 10.04am: Pregant protester: ‘I had a bimbo moment’
Pregnant Ballarat woman Zoe Lee Buhler admitted she had a “bimbo moment” when she posted on social media about plans for a lockdown protest. But she isn’t remorseful about her actions.
Ms Buhler was dramatically arrested in her pyjamas in her home on Wednesday afternoon in front of her children and husband.
She told radio station 3AW the ‘Freedom Day Ballarat’ event was a protest against lockdown and for human rights.
“I didn’t actually realise I was not allowed to do that though,” she said Thursday morning.
Ms Buhler said she knew protests weren’t permitted in Melbourne but thought Ballarat’s lighter restrictions would allow a protest if people wore masks and socially distanced.
“I suppose I had a bit of a bimbo moment and didn’t realise it wasn’t okay,” she said.
She said police were just doing their job and they were “very nice to me off camera”.
However, she said police could have made contact with a simple phone call.
Ms Buhler said she didn’t believe COVID-19 was a hoax but wanted to protest about the impact of the lockdown on employment, suicide and domestic violence.
“I wish I could see a happy medium,” she said.
Ms Buhler was open in saying she wasn’t remorseful about her actions and maybe the event would be a slap in the face for Premier Daniel Andrews
“I probably wouldn’t change anything to be honest,” she said.
READ the full story here
Sarah Elks 9.47am: How many can watch grand final? CHO has the call
Queensland cannot guarantee 30,000 people will be able to watch the AFL grand final at the Gabba on October 24.
The state’s Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said it would be her call, depending on what the COVID-19 situation was in Queensland at the time.
She said she was comfortable that at least 20,000 people would be able to watch the game at the stadium, but the additional 10,000 was still up in the air.
Dr Young said she was confident the event would be able to be held safely in Queensland.
“Today you can have 20,000 people at the Gabba, that’s been done multiple times and very very safely,” Dr Young said.
Dr Young said the hundreds of people who flew into Queensland from Victoria for the AFL grand final was necessary to put the event on.
The AFL was paying for a separate hotel for those people to quarantine in.
Dr Young said there was not a double-standard for the state’s border exemptions.
“The standard is we keep Queensladners safe,” she said.
“The highest risk of bringing the virus into the state are from areas that have the highest amounts of community transmission.”
Queensland Deputy Premier Steven Miles declined to say how much taxpayers’ money had been spent to lure the grand final to Brisbane. But he said it was less than the modelled financial return from hosting the event.
READ MORE: AFL’s grand plan for night shift
Rachel Baxendale 9.40am: Andrews to front media at 10.15am
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews is due to address the media at 10:15am.
The press conference is taking place earlier than usual because the lower house of state parliament is sitting for the first time since June.
Question time is due to be held at midday.
It is the first time the Legislative Assembly has sat since Victoria’s second wave of coronavirus, caused by breaches in the Andrews government’s hotel quarantine program.
The second wave has so far claimed the lives of 572 people.
READ MORE: Overington — Is this how democracy works in Victoria?
Imogen Reid 9.30am: Leaked draft exit plan ‘out of date’
The Victorian government says the leaked draft blueprint of the state’s lockdown exit plan is out of date.
“This is an out of date draft document,” the spokeswoman said.
“We know every Victoria wants certainty about the future — for them, for their family and for their work. By the end of the week, we will lay out a plan to re-open our state.”
The plan, leaked by the Herald Sun, revealed Victorians could be spending another two weeks under the current lockdown.
However, the Victorian Chamber of Commerce also told Triple M the suggested two-week extension of the lockdown is not what the government has proposed.
BREAKING - The Victorian Chamber of Commerce says a reported Government plan of a two-week extension of Stage Four (as reported by @theheraldsun) is not what the Government has been proposing behind closed doors. @mmmhotbreakfast
— Seb Costello (@SebCostello9) September 2, 2020
Premier Daniel Andrews will announce the state’s roadmap out of the crisis on Sunday.
READ MORE: Pregnant protester’s arrest ‘overkill’: Lambie
Sarah Elks 9.08am: Lockyer Valley aged care worker tests positive
An aged care worker in southeast Queensland’s Lockyer Valley has tested positive for coronavirus.
The Carinity worker, at the private Karinya Place aged care at Laidley west of Brisbane, did not work while experiencing symptoms, the company said.
Some staff and one resident are now self-isolating as a precaution.
Deputy Premier and Health Minister Steven Miles said the aged care worker was one of two new cases, with 30 active cases across the state.
Mr Miles said it was two weeks since the first case linked to the youth detention centre in Brisbane, and he said it seemed the state’s “rapid response” strategy was working. There were only continuing small numbers of cases, he said.
Sewage tests by the University of Queensland have shown there may have been a COVID-19 test in Airlie Beach, in north Queensland, and a fever clinic will be set up as a precaution.
Mr Miles said the new fever clinic was to ensure there wasn’t undetected community transmission in the tourism centre, but he said the risk was low.
Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said while it was too early to say Queensland had “solved” its latest outbreak linked to the detention centre and correctional training centre, it was “under control”.
Both of the new cases were linked to previously known cases, Dr Young said.
She said fortunately the aged care worker did not work while symptomatic, but people are infectious before they show any symptoms.
Of the sewage testing, Dr Young said Airlie Beach had stood up a fever clinic to increase surveillance, to allow for increased testing of tourists and locals.
“We’re just not sure where this might have come from, but it doesn’t really matter, the response is the important thing,” Dr Young said.
The Laidley aged care staffer was not in contact with residents, but all of the residents will have to get tested as a precaution, Dr Young said.
Dr Young said she believed the current detention centre-correctional training cluster was linked to the three young women from Logan who allegedly lied about Melbourne.
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David Ross 9.03am: Keating blasts suggestion of super rise delay
Former prime minister Paul Keating has blasted suggestions that the rise in the superannuation guarantee be delayed, saying the Liberal party was puting “a cleaver” through the savings program.
The architect of the superannuation program, introduced to Australia in the immediate wake of the 1991 recession, said now was not the time to be delaying an increase to super.
“In an economy like this you want everyone pulling along. You want everyone trying and having a go, the last thing you want is some bitchy performance from the Liberal party,” Mr Keating told Fran Kelly on ABC Radio National today.
“Superannuation is a structural change not a cyclical policy, you don’t take it down when things are bad and lift it up when things are good. You want superannuation tugging away at this economy now.”
Mr Keating said it was all the more important to ensure a growth in the rate of superannuation given how 600,000 Australians had drained their long term savings in recent months.
“What the Libs are up to is to pull the plug out of the bath and turn the tap off at the top of it. We’ve got the fourth biggest group savings in the world the best personal savings scheme and these monkeys want to destroy it,” he said.
“These people have been forced to raid their savings these young people are mostly low paid, mostly renters, forced to carry their HECS debt and carrying 10% GST around their necks.”
He said the Liberal party was using the pandemic as cover “to put a knife through people’s savings”.
“Because of their ideological obsession with super, they said it’s your money, take it out,” he said.
“They’d like to crack it open for housing deposits, for savings, they want to crack it open to get rid of it.”
Mr Keating said the government had used people’s personal savings to shift the cost of supporting the economy away from government coffers.
“The recovery will come, what we’ve got to do is support people on the way through,” he said.
“We’ve got to see the wave into the beach. What the government shouldn’t do is do the dumper which is what I think they’re getting ready to do, which is to pull JobKeeper back.”
READ MORE: Ditching super changes ‘heartless, unfair’
Imogen Reid 8.58am: Berlusconi in isolation after testing positive
Italy’s former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has tested positive for coronavirus.
The 83-year-old is currently in isolation in his house in Arcore, near Milan, his staff said in a statement on Wednesday.
The statement said Berlusconi will still contribute to the electoral campaigns of candidates for his Forza Italia party at local elections scheduled for September.
Turkey is seeing the second peak of its coronavirus outbreak due to “carelessness” at social gatherings like weddings, the country’s health minister said.
“The outbreak is increasingly continuing. The virus is spreading to more people each day,” Fahrettin Koca said.
“Our test numbers are rising every day, our new patient numbers are not falling.”
Turkey’s new coronavirus cases rose by 1596 in the last 24 hours, while the death toll increased by 45 to 6462.
Madrid’s president has warned most children returning to school are likely to catch coronavirus.
“Over the course of the year, it’s likely that practically all the kids will get it one way or another,” Isabel Diaz Ayuso said.
“That will probably be because they pick it up over the weekend at a family gathering, or in the park in the afternoon, or from a classmate. We just don’t know because the virus can be anywhere.”
A major study has found that steroids helped cut death rates among critical COVID-19 patients.
The analysis, which took data from trials of low doses of hydrocortisone, dexamethasone and methylprednisolone, found steroids reduced the risk of death by 20 per cent in patients in intensive care.
“This is equivalent to around 68 per cent of the sickest patients surviving after treatment with corticosteroids, compared to around 60 per cent surviving in the absence of corticosteroids,” the researchers said.”
Globally, there have been more than 25.8 million people infected with the virus, while the total number of COVID-19 deaths is 858,552.
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Rachel Baxendale 8.44am: Victoria records 113 new cases, 15 deaths
Victoria’s number of new coronavirus cases has risen above 100 for the first time this week, with 113 new cases on Thursday.
There have also been 15 deaths, taking the state’s death toll since the pandemic began to 591.
The 113 new cases follow 73 cases on Monday and 70 cases on Tuesday - the lowest number in more than two months.
#COVID19VicData for 3 September, 2020:
— VicGovDHHS (@VicGovDHHS) September 2, 2020
Yesterday in Victoria there were 113 cases reported. We are sad to report 15 deaths and we send sincere condolences to those affected. More information will be available later today via our media release. pic.twitter.com/G0sVP5rS3c
The cases also see Victoria’s seven day daily average pause at exactly the same number as on Wednesday, at 95.3.
Wednesday’s figure was the first seven day daily average below 100 since July 6, and had followed a steady fall since the peak on August 5, which saw a seven day daily average of 573 cases, and a record 725 new cases that day.
Imogen Reid 8.26am: Blanchett hails ‘miracle’ of Venice film festival
Cate Blanchett says she is astonished it took the world so long to react to the situation unfolding in Italy at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, pointing the finger at humans and their inability to “learn by painful experiences.”
The Australian actress, who is heading the jury at the 77th Venice Film Festival, donned a surgical mask while posing for photographers at the Lido.
Asked whether she had concerns over coming to Italy, which became the epicentre of the virus after it broke out in Wuhan, she said she had to be “courageous.”
“Every time one starts a project, whether it’s in a pandemic or not, it always feels like the first day of school,” Blanchett said.
“I think we’re a very strange species that we don’t learn by the painful examples, for example, of the terrible stress Italy was under.
“We often behave in quite obtuse and fragmented and destructive ways, which is not particularly helpful.”
Blanchett said it seemed “miraculous” the festival has been able to go ahead despite the devastating impact the pandemic has had on the industry.
“We are here and we did it,” said Blanchett in Italian, before switching into English.
“Being here tonight seems like some kind of wonderous miracle,” said the Academy Award-winning actress, her jury seated in the theatre’s first row of seats due to coronavirus regulations.
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Ellen Ransley 8.09am: Queensland adds nine locations for contact tracing
Nine new locations across Queensland’s southeast have been added to an extensive COVID-19 contact tracing list, as pressure over the state’s border closure reaches boiling point.
Two people tested positive to the virus on Wednesday, including a 30-year-old health worker, understood to be the partner of a 37-year-old nurse who was diagnosed earlier in the week. The 30-year-old tested positive yesterday but had been in quarantine for a number of days.
A student from Staines Memorial College in Redbank Plains, in Brisbane’s southwest, was also confirmed as a new case on Wednesday, the third connected to the school.
It’s understood both new cases are linked to the growing Queensland Corrective Services Academy cluster.
An Ipswich Woolworths store has been deep cleaned, after a positive case visited the store on two consecutive days. A number of food outlets, a pharmacy and spa retailers have also been placed on Queensland Health’s contact tracing list.
Yesterday Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said she was “comfortable” with the latest outbreak, insinuating it was contained.
The pressure will be on to keep the cluster under control, with the AFL grand final to be moved to Adelaide if cases balloon in Queensland.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison and state and territory leaders will meet for national cabinet on Friday, where Mr Morrison will present a plan for a national COVID-19 hotspot definition, with a traffic-light style system for border closures.
Earlier this week, Ms Palaszczuk said the border closure would not change anytime soon.
“I will continue to keep our borders closed to keep Queenslanders safe. I won’t be moved on this,” she said.
“There was a Federal Court decision that states can rely on the health advice to keep their borders closed, that’s exactly what we’ll continue to do.”
NEW CONTACT TRACING LOCATIONS
If you’ve visited one of these locations at these times, Queensland Health advises you to get tested:
August 29, 10.30am-11am: Spa Choice Pacific Highway, Springwood
August 29, 11am-11.30am: Spa World Compton Rd, Underwood
August 29, 11.55am-noon: Dosa Hut, Springfield
August 29, noon-12.05pm: Indian Spice Shop, Springfield
August 30, noon-12.20pm: Woolworths, Yamanto
August 30, 11.45am-12.30pm: Dominos, Yamanto
August 31, 11am-11.15am: Woolworths, Yamanto
August 31, 11.20am-11.40am: Country Market, Yamanto
August 31, 11.40am-11.45am: Priceline, Yamanto. —NCA Newswire
READ MORE: Benson — How do you spend if you’re locked out
Imogen Reid 7.40am: Frydenberg: Eliminate border double standards
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says a common definition of COVID-19 hotspot and border ban exemptions will help the recovery of Australia’s decimated tourism sector, which has been hit by $55 billion.
Mr Frydenberg said eliminating the “double standards” associated with hard borders would also lead to better economic outcomes as well as health and wellbeing outcomes.
“It’s just not on that you can have a four-year-old boy who is being treated for cancer separated from his mother because of border closures,” he said.
“It’s just not on that a woman loses an unborn child because of confusion at borders. It’s just not on that a school teacher from Victoria who lives 2 kilometres away from the South Australian border is not deemed an essential worker to go and teach her class.
“And today we hear of a grandmother of seven who is recovering from brain surgery who asked to be quarantined and recover at home but is being forced into hotel quarantine while football officials can sit by the pool bar in Queensland.
“It seems to be double standards.”
READ MORE: Tourism dying as states defy PM
Imogen Reid 7.10am: ‘Important to give Victorians hope’
Josh Frydenberg has given a cautious welcome to Victoria’s exit plan as leaked documents reveal curfews will remain but some restrictions will be eased.
The preliminary draft of Melbourne’s lockdown exit road map reveal the changes currently contemplated after September 14 will keep the current curfew and restrictions on business
but will allow two hours of exercise per day, split up into two sessions, and give single people and single parents the right to have a nominated visitor at home.
After the Herald Sun leaked the documents, Mr Frydenberg reiterated the importance of showing Victorian residents there was a road out of the crisis through a plan that provides them with “certainty and confidence.”
“It’s important that it’s a fair dinkum plan,” he said.
“It’s important that it’s a plan that gives Victorians hope, that it shows Victorians that there’s a road out of the crisis in their state. It’s important that the plan gives certainty and confidence to businesses to open their doors and get people back to work.
“That’s what people are looking for from the Andrews Government. They want to hear more about the road out and less about the longer road in.”
The documents reveal that Daniel Andrews’ government is working towards wider changes from September 28.
Melbourne’s curfew would then be lifted and people would be allowed to socialise outdoors with five people from a maximum of two households.
Childcare would reopen without permits and a phased return to school would begin – subject to further health modelling – in Term 4. Similar changes would be made in regional Victoria along the same timeline.
But there is no definitive date for retail, hospitality or entertainment venues to reopen with case numbers to guide that.
READ MORE: Contact traacing built into phones
Jacquelin Magnay 7.00am: Stranded expats deride ‘last resort loans’
Angry stranded Australians have derided the federal government’s new assistance measures, claiming that offers of means tested interest free loans were “ridiculous’’ and akin to “putting a bandaid on a bullet-wound’’.
Foreign Minister Marise Payne announced on Wednesday that Australians trapped overseas by the COVID crisis would be able to get access to new government loans to buy airline tickets and cover their living costs while they wait for flights.
But hundreds of Australians have furiously responded on the Australian High Commission’s social media pages saying the new Hardship Fund was disingenuous and would load already struggling Australians with further debt which has been directly caused by decisions made in Canberra.
Federal government caps on the numbers of incoming Australians has resulted in thousands of people bumped off flights at the last moment, leaving many without work or places to live and no immediate prospect of an airline set.
READ the full story here.
Jacquelin Magnay 6.15am: Berejiklian: COVID has made me braver
NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian says she has become more courageous in her decision-making through dealing with the responsibility of the coronavirus pandemic, but worries about how teenagers and children are coping with the trauma.
Ms Berejiklian said coronavirus had exacerbated underlying conditions in society and there was enhanced anxiety in the community about separation and loneliness in recent months, as well as a much needed spotlight on the care of the elderly.
“How do you deal with sustained trauma? It is difficult for adults, but how teenagers and children coping is beyond me, “ the Premier told the former British prime minister Theresa May in a webinar for the Coalition for Conservation on Wednesday night.
Ms Berejiklian said the various measures dealing with coronavirus produced a particular concern for school leavers and she questioned how young ambitious people would begin their careers.
“I worry about this generation not getting a foot in the career ladder and what it means for them,’’ she said.
Ms Berejiklian said the pandemic, and also dealing with the bushfires in January, had sharpened her focus and she had changed her style of leadership to be more flexible.
She said: “All of us have adjusted to massive change, as citizens with fear of the virus and what it means to families. I have seen extended family members worry about jobs and what that disruption means. I have learned to humanise decision-making, to care less about the commentariat.’’
She added that if health experts recommended a change in course or a logistic issue, she would be accused of a backflip, but it was no longer a personal concern.
“I have become more courageous when it’s life or death matters and to boost the economy,’’ she said, adding she tries to get enough sleep and to keep as healthy as possible.
“You’ll never get 100 percent agreement but it’s important not to be stubborn and pig headed, but to be collegiate and bring people together.’’
READ MORE: Let’s get back to Berejiklian’s way
Geoff Chambers 6.00am: Tourism dying as premiers defy PM
State and territory leaders are preparing to defy Scott Morrison’s bid to have national cabinet agree to a single hotspot definition at Friday’s meeting amid new warnings that border closures will cost the tourism industry up to $33bn this financial year.
Tourism Research Australia data shows the industry is on track to lose a combined $54.6bn — at least 40 per cent of the tourism market — from ongoing international and domestic border bans if government-imposed restrictions are not eased.
The modelling, released ahead of Friday’s national cabinet showdown where the Prime Minister will try to break the impasse on borders, came as the West Australian and Queensland governments pushed back over criticism of their states’ lockdowns.
Mr Morrison wants national cabinet to adopt a COVID-19 hotspot definition on Friday so that states introduce more targeted travel restrictions on Australians, rather than blanket bans that have caused chaos for workers and people trying to access interstate medical care. Coalition MPs have blasted the Queensland government for using its ban on NSW and ACT residents as a “blatant attempt” to win votes ahead of the state election on October 31.
READ the full story here
Staff writers 5.55am: Pregnant woman arrested over lockdown protest
A pregnant woman has been arrested for incitement ahead of anti-lockdown rallies planned for this Saturday in Ballarat.
Video has emerged on social media of Zoe Lee arguing that she had an ultrasound appointment as she was handcuffed in her Ballarat home.
Wearing pink flannelette pyjamas, Ms Lee breaks down in tears and asks the officers not to arrest her, saying she did not know she was doing anything wrong.
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“I didn’t realise I was doing anything wrong. This is ridiculous,” Ms Lee said.
“I am happy to delete the post. This is ridiculous. My two kids are here.
“I have an ultrasound appointment in an hour.”
A police officer can be heard telling Ms Lee she is under arrest for incitement and that all electronic items including mobile phones and laptops would be seized as evidence.
Ms Lee is listed as the organiser of a “Freedom Day Ballarat” planned for Saturday.
“As some of you may have seen the government has gone to extreme measures and are using scare tactics through the media to prevent the Melbourne protest,” the event page reads. READ the full story here.
Geoff Chambers 5.30am: Business calls for urgent tax cuts
Australia’s largest business and employer groups are urging the government to bring forward income tax cuts to stimulate the economy and calling for major tax and regulatory reform to be the centrepiece of Josh Frydenberg’s October budget.
With economic growth, consumer and business confidence plunging to record lows, industry groups and unions on Wednesday called for a comprehensive plan to support jobs and investment.
Business Council of Australia chief executive Jennifer Westacott said the recovery plan must be driven by the private sector and harness increased co-operation on tax and regulation reform.
“We need a recovery plan that is driven by the private sector, focused on job creation and getting investment going again — and we don’t have any time to waste,” she said. “Only a growing economy will allow us to pay down debt and begin replacing lost jobs and hours.”
ACTU president Michele O’Neil said the government must produce a “national economic reconstruction plan”.
“These are the worst economic figures ever recorded, we are in an unprecedented economic and public health crisis, and yet the Morrison government has no plan for a way out,” she said.
“We need leadership from the federal government, and a commitment to investment which will create jobs for the millions of working people who will need them in the coming months and years.”
READ the full story here.
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